♦♦♦

　Good morning, I am Leafa. Allow me to introduce myself in a bit more detail. My name is Leafa=Alfheim, the second princess of the elven kingdom of Alfheim.

　Last night, I was given a certain important mission by my father, the Elven King. I must marry Haruto-san, a classmate at the Ifrus Magic Academy where I study magic, within the next three weeks or so. By the way, Haruto-san just married Tina-sama, a hero of the elven race, yesterday.

　As for why I have to marry Haruto-san, who is still in the honeymoon phase—

　Let me tell you the whole story.

　──＊＊＊──

　Last night, my father and the ministers were discussing the future of Haruto-san and Tina-sama. I happened to overhear their conversation.

　”Do not lay a hand on Haruto and Tina! I have told you many times already!”

　”But Your Majesty. We cannot simply let two people with that much power roam free. We need some kind of wedge to ensure they do not become hostile to our country!”

　”That’s right. If he won’t accept a title, then we have no choice. Let’s use the Bracelet of Subordination to bind that human. Then Tina-sama should also obey.”

　”I will never allow such a thing!”

　Th-this is terrible! The ministers are running wild. My father is desperately trying to stop them, but it seems all the ministers are intent on restraining Haruto-san.

　I have to tell Haruto-san and Tina-sama!

　Even if it means betraying my country, I want to help them. The Bracelet of Subordination the minister mentioned is one of the magical treasures passed down in Alfheim. Anyone who wears this bracelet is continuously subjected to powerful brainwashing magic, making them unable to defy the one who put it on them.

　Elves are a race with resistance to mental attacks, but the Bracelet of Subordination is effective even on us. If they were to use such a magical tool on Haruto-san, a human—

　Even if the bracelet were removed, he might never return to the Haruto-san he was before. I tried to go to their room.

　But at that moment, it seemed something entered my father’s office.

　”—!?”

　”N-no way!”

　”Sylph-sama. W-why are you here?”

　It seems Sylph-sama has manifested.

　I could feel the ministers’ panic even from outside the room.

　”Hey. What was that just now?”

　”Wh-what do you mean by ‘that’?”

　”That talk about using the Bracelet of Subordination on Haruto… Are you serious?”

　A cold murderous intent washed over me. Sylph-sama is furious. My legs were trembling, and I couldn’t move from the spot.

　”W-we have no choice! It will be the end of us if that man becomes an enemy of this country. After all, our only viable countermeasure, Tina, has joined him.”

　”Hmm. So you guys think Haruto will become an enemy of this country.”

　”W-we must eliminate possibilities as much as we can! There is a high chance that he, being a human, will turn against this country for the World Tree.”

　”Well then, if you’re going to assume Haruto will become an enemy of this country, you should also assume that I will become your enemy.”

　”””…Huh?”””

　A collective voice of confusion rose from the ministers.

　The World Tree, and our guardian deity, Sylph-sama, turning into an enemy?

　W-why would that be?

　”Haruto is my contractor. If you say Haruto is an enemy, then I will consider you my enemies.”

　—!?!?

　What in the world. He’s saying that Haruto-san has a contract with Sylph-sama. I know that Haruto-san has contracts with the Fire Spirit King Ifrit-sama and the Water Spirit King Undine-sama.

　And now, even Sylph-sama… It’s so amazing I can’t help but laugh. It feels presumptuous of me to have been worried about Haruto-san.

　After that, I crawled back to my room. My legs wouldn’t move as I wanted them to because of Sylph-sama’s murderous aura. I was a little… just a LITTLE bit surprised, so I had to change my underwear.

　Sylph-sama was… scary.

　I called a maid to help me change and bathe, and I somehow managed to lie down in bed. I think I’ll forget everything I heard today.

　And just as I was about to sleep—

　”Leafa, are you awake? I need to talk to you.”

　My father came to visit me.

　”Father, what is it?”

　My usually cool father was sweating profusely, looking terribly flustered.

　”Leafa, I am sorry. Please become Haruto’s concubine!”

　”…………Pardon?”

　W-what is he saying?

　I heard the reason from my father. After I left the front of the office, my father and the ministers kept apologizing to Sylph-sama, and her anger seemed to have subsided. However, in exchange for forgiving them, Sylph-sama gave them a condition.

　”You said a wedge was needed so Haruto won’t be hostile to this country, right? Then by the same token, a wedge is needed so this country won’t be hostile to Haruto and the others. For now, let’s have a princess of this country marry Haruto.”

　That’s what Sylph-sama apparently said. The ministers vehemently opposed it. But—

　”If you don’t want to, that’s fine. As punishment for trying to unilaterally subordinate my master (Haruto), I will no longer give you the blessings of the World Tree.”

　At those words, the ministers were at a loss. It can’t be helped. If the blessings of the World Tree were to disappear, Alfheim would be destroyed.

　The country is protected from monsters by the sacred aura emitted by the World Tree, which monsters dislike. Also, the soil in this region contains a lot of miasma that rots plants, so normally, no crops would grow at all. The World Tree purifies the soil, allowing us to farm and obtain food in this land.

　That’s why my father decided to send me to Haruto-san’s side.

　I had prepared myself to be married off in a political marriage. I am a princess of Alfheim, after all. I had given up on the idea of a free romance long ago. However, I’ve had many conversations with Haruto-san at the magic academy, and he has also saved me from monsters. It’s somewhat of a relief to go to someone I know, even if just a little.

　Haruto-san is a good person, and above all, he is the husband of Tina-sama, whom I admire. Tina-sama will be the legal wife, and I will probably be a concubine, but that’s no problem. To have the same husband as Tina-sama, isn’t that a little wonderful?

　I was looking at this marriage proposal positively.

　”However, I have been told not to force myself on him. I must be liked by Haruto and build a bond with him.”

　The hurdle has been raised a bit. But I think it will be okay. I’ll take my time to get along with Haruto-san and have him marry me as well. I am Leafa=Alfheim, the Second Princess of the Kingdom of Alfheim. I have also learned the art of seducing men. Although, I don’t have any practical experience… yet.

　”It is for the sake of the country. Please leave it to me.”

　”Oh, my daughter Leafa. Thank you! Ah. By the way, it is Sylph-sama’s command that you marry him while you are staying in this country.”

　”Eh?”

　”Also, I actually asked Haruto yesterday if he would take you as a concubine, but he turned me down. I think it will be quite difficult, but I want you to do your best.”

　”W-what have you done!?”

　W-what should I do!?

　There’s no time. And it seems I’ve already been rejected by Haruto-san without my knowledge.

　I took a slight mental blow.

　──＊＊＊──

　Two days have passed since I married Tina. Yesterday and the day before, Tina and I spent our time relaxing together. During that time, our classmates seemed to have gone out for shopping and strolling in the town.

　And today, since we are in the land of the elves, we decided to do something with our classmates that can only be experienced here. Speaking of the elven country Alfheim—yes, it’s the World Tree. The World Tree that soars high into the sky in the center of this country. We decided to climb it.

　Can we climb it? Apparently, we can.

　By the way, in Alfheim, it is forbidden not only to climb the World Tree but even to touch it.

　So why were we able to climb the World Tree—

　Because Sylph told us to climb to the top since we were here. I confirmed with the Elven King, and it seems that if Sylph says it’s okay, we can climb the World Tree.

　We entered the interior of the World Tree through a huge hollow at its base. Inside the World Tree was a dungeon. There were monsters, but they didn’t attack us when they saw us.

　”To think there was a dungeon with monsters inside the World Tree…”

　Leafa murmured. That’s true. Who would think that monsters lived in the tree they were protecting?

　According to Sylph, this dungeon was a bonus stage for the heroes of old. They could take as many rare items as they wanted, collected by fairies from all over the world, without being attacked by monsters. The monsters in the dungeon are said to be taking care of the World Tree. By the way, defeating them apparently gives a lot of experience points, but I feel bad about defeating docile monsters that don’t attack, so I think I’ll pass.

　And Sylph also said this.

　”Come on up to the top. You can take home any items you find along the way. Do your best exploring!”

　It seems we too can enjoy the bonus stage for heroes.

　”Haruto, can we look for items too?”

　”Why not?”

　Everyone’s excitement rose at my answer to Ryushin’s question.

　”We shall search for treasures of national-treasure class!”

　””Youko-san, we feel a strong magical power from over there!””

　Mai and Mei went to explore with Youko. It seems they’ve become good friends at some point. I’m a little happy that my contracted demon and spirits are getting along.

　”I’m gonna go search over there!”

　”I will go with you.”

　”Then, me too!”

　Luna and Luke seem to be going with Meldy. They seem to be relying on Meldy’s sense of smell as a beastman.

　”Ryushin, what are you doing! Let’s go!!”

　”O-oh!”

　Dragged by Ryuka, Ryushin ran off. For some reason, Ryuka is all fired up. Is she interested in treasure?

　Everyone ran off in different directions. For now, we’ve arranged to meet in an hour at the area to proceed to the next floor. The only ones left here are me, Tina, and Leafa.

　”Aren’t you two going treasure hunting?”

　”We elves feel incredibly fulfilled just by being near the World Tree. To not only touch it but to be able to enter its interior…”

　Tina held her body and shivered.

　”Me too. I’m so fulfilled, it feels strange.”

　Leafa seems to be in the same state as Tina.

　”Are you okay to move around?”

　”That’s not a problem. It’s just that with every step, I feel a little more pleasant.”

　Isn’t that a problem?

　—As expected, it was a problem. Leafa couldn’t move.

　”S-sorry. I’ll stay here, so you two please go ahead and explore.”

　Her cheeks are flushed, and her breath is short. There’s no way I can leave her alone in this state. Leafa is, after all, the princess of this country. Even if the monsters don’t attack, this is still a dungeon. We don’t know what might happen.

　”I’ll stay with Leafa, so Tina, you can go and explore.”

　”No. I cannot leave my student, Leafa-san, in this condition. Besides, I’m also finding it a bit hard to walk, so I was thinking of resting until I get used to it.”

　”Then let’s rest for a bit. We can always explore another time.”

　I have set a teleportation magic marker, so we can come to Alfheim anytime.

　”Haruto-sama, you can go explore by yourself, you know? I will—”

　”There’s no way I can leave my wife when she’s not at her best, right?”

　When I said that, Tina looked a little happy. Since I was with two elves, I took the opportunity to ask them various things about this country.

　From Tina, I heard about the country in the old days.

　From Leafa, I heard about the recent situation of the country.

　What both stories had in common was that Sylph was an absolute being, and all the people revered her.

　”Wow. So every house has a statue of Sylph.”

　To me, Sylph seems like an honest and cute girl, but it was interesting that she was deified in this country.

　”Ehehe, amazing, right?”

　”—Eh!?”

　”S-Sylph-sama?”

　As I was talking with Leafa and the others, Sylph appeared out of nowhere.

　”What, you were here?”

　”It’s not ‘you were here’! I told you to come up, but you’re not coming at all!”

　Sylph usually stays at the very top of the World Tree. It seems she’s a rare type of Spirit King who is always manifest.

　”Well, you’re the one who told us to explore as we climb, right? Everyone went off to look for treasure. We were planning to take our time exploring on our way up…”

　”But I’m bored! I was looking forward to you guys coming to play!!”

　Are you a child!? —I thought, but she was a child. Sylph is apparently very young for a Spirit King.

　”Then why don’t you climb this dungeon with us?”

　When I said that, Sylph’s face lit up.

　”That’s a great idea! I’ll go on an adventure with everyone too!!”

　Even if you call it an adventure, this place is like your home. I thought so, but Sylph looked so happy that I decided to keep quiet.

　”Yeah, nice to have you. But Leafa and Tina aren’t feeling well, so let’s wait a little longer before moving.”

　”Okay! Tina, Leafa, are you alright?”

　Sylph worried about the two and flew over to them.

　”Sylph-sama, thank you for your concern. It’s not that I feel sick, but… for some reason, I can’t walk.”

　”Hmm. It seems a large amount of mana is clinging to you two. The mana of this tree loves elves, so when elves come, it seems to surround them like this.”

　”Does being surrounded by mana do this?”

　”It’s like what you’d call mana sickness, I guess.”

　Mana sickness is a symptom that appears when a large amount of another person’s magical power is taken into the body. Symptoms vary from person to person, such as feeling good, feeling sick, or feeling dizzy.

　Suddenly, Sylph sprinkled a golden aura on the two of them.

　”How is it? Do you feel better?”

　”Ah, my body feels light!”

　”I feel refreshed somehow.”

　It seems Tina and Leafa’s condition has improved.

　”Sylph, what did you do?”

　”I put up a barrier-like thing around Leafa and Tina with my divine protection. This will stop the over-interference from the mana. But you can still use magic by calling out to the mana.”

　Leafa called out to the mana to gather magical power from the space and tried using magic. Even with Sylph’s barrier, it seems magic can be used without any problem.

　”Thank you very much, Sylph-sama.”

　”Thank you very much!”

　”Good, good. Now, let’s go on an adventure!”

　”””Yeaa!”””

　We also began our search for treasure.

　──＊＊＊──

　”Oh yeah, I told the king to make Leafa Haruto’s bride.”

　”…Huh?”

　While exploring the World Tree’s dungeon with Tina, Leafa, and Sylph, Sylph suddenly started saying something incomprehensible.

　”Sylph-sama, why now…”

　”W-what do you mean?”

　Leafa seemed to know something, so Tina asked. Leafa looked troubled about how to answer.

　”Leafa is a favorite of mine, you see. I’ve been watching over her since she was little. And there was talk of her being married off.”

　”Eh?”

　Apparently, Leafa was surprised, as she didn’t know about it either.

　”Well, I think it can’t be helped that she’ll eventually marry someone somewhere. But since the groom was said to be from the royal family of Apulistos, I wanted to stop it.”

　Apulistos is the human kingdom closest to Alfheim (the elven kingdom). In recent years, it has been waging war on nearby small countries and expanding its territory, and there was a possibility that its spearhead would be directed at Alfheim. Until now, Apulistos’s military strength was supposed to be at a level that Alfheim could defend against with ease.

　However, recently, Apulistos has suddenly expanded its military power, and the ministers of Alfheim, fearing an invasion, proposed marrying Leafa off to the royal family of Apulistos.

　”I don’t hear good rumors about that country, and the wind mana say it feels kinda creepy. I don’t want to send Leafa to a place like that. Besides, the ministers were trying to use the Bracelet of Subordination on Haruto—”

　”Bracelet of Subordination?”

　”It is a magical tool of brainwashing that is effective even on us elves, who have a strong resistance to mental attacks. Sylph-sama, were the ministers of this country really trying to use that on Haruto-sama?”

　Tina was angry.

　”It seems so. But don’t worry! I threatened the ministers so they wouldn’t do such a thing.”

　H-hey, hey. What are you doing…

　Well, but it’s probably an action Sylph took out of consideration for me.

　”So you were protecting me without me knowing. Thanks, Sylph.”

　I said as I patted Sylph’s head.

　”Ehehe.”

　Sylph, looking happy, was cute. Seeing her like this, I almost forget she’s one of the Spirit Kings.

　”And so. I got a reason to give a penalty to this country that tried to do something terrible to my contractor Haruto. I got an excuse to let Leafa escape!”

　”So you told them to make Leafa my wife?”

　”Yep!”

　”I just got married to Tina, you know.”

　”Haruto seems capable, so it should be fine to have two wives!”

　”Capable… I’m still a student, and I don’t have any income, you know?”

　”Well, for that. I’ll give you leaves from the World Tree, so you can just sell them, right?”

　That’s not what you call my capability!

　No, before that—

　”Leafa’s feelings are the most important thing, right? It’s a pity to be married off to some strange place, but Leafa might not want to come to me even so, right?”

　”If it’s with Haruto-san, I would like to get married!”

　You’re okay with it!? That surprised me a little!

　Although I turned down the Elven King’s offer, I have no intention of refusing if the beautiful elf girl Leafa wishes to marry me. However, even if Leafa and I are okay with it, there is still a problem.

　”Leafa-san.”

　Tina spoke to Leafa.

　Yes, just as important as Leafa’s feelings, no, what I want to cherish even more is the feeling of my wife, Tina.

　This… is Tina going to keep Leafa in check? Tina is surprisingly possessive, after all. She probably wouldn’t allow me to marry someone else. However, it’s also a pity for Leafa to be forced into an unwanted marriage, so if she wishes, I was thinking of at least going along with a fake marriage. I was prepared to persuade Tina for that.

　”When we sleep, I am fixed on Haruto-sama’s left side. Haruto-sama’s right side will be a rotation of four people: Youko-san, Mai-san, Mei-san, and Leafa-san, is that alright?”

　—Hmm??

　I couldn’t understand what Tina was saying.

　”Y-yes! I understand!”

　Leafa replied energetically.

　What did she understand?

　”Also, you will be sharing the housework and other duties.”

　”Of course! However, in the castle, I left everything to the maids… I have almost no experience with housework.”

　”Please leave that to me. I will guide you properly.”

　”Thank you, Tina-sama.”

　”Yes! From now on, as a family that will support Haruto-sama together, I look forward to working with you.”

　”I am inexperienced, but please take good care of me.”

　”Ah, no. It is I who should be saying that, please take care of me.”

　H-huh? Is this the flow for me to marry Leafa too? …Eh, seriously?

　After that, Tina was teaching Leafa how to do housework at the mansion and my food preferences.

　”You did it, Haruto. You got your second bride!”

　Sylph spoke to me in a cheerful voice.

　”Ah, yeah… I guess so.”

　I could only give a noncommittal reply, stunned.

　──＊＊＊──

　After a while, everyone in the class came back.

　””Sylph-sama, what are you doing here?””

　”Hey there. I thought I’d go on an adventure with everyone too!”

　”Oh. If Sylph-sama, the master of this place, is with us, we won’t get lost anymore.”

　Ryushin, did you already get lost?

　Sylph said the first floor was made quite simple…

　”Um…”

　Leafa pulled on the sleeve of my clothes. She probably wants me to tell everyone that I’m marrying her.

　Do I really have to say it?

　I looked at Leafa, and she nodded repeatedly.

　…Alright, I’ll brace myself.

　”Ah, everyone. Actually, I’ve decided to marry Leafa.”

　”””Eh?”””

　Mai, Mei, and Youko froze. I want them to get along since we’ll be living together.

　”Huh? Wait a minute, Haruto. You just married Tina-sensei and now—”

　Luke closes in on me.

　”It’s not fair that you’re the only one marrying a beautiful, bishoujo elf! W-why? What happened!?”

　”W-well. How should I put it… it just happened.”

　”Don’t just go and marry an elf because it happened! Dammit. I thought Leafa was cute too.”

　”Oh, really. My bad, somehow.”

　Knowing my best friend was aiming for Leafa, I feel a little bad.

　”Luke-san. Thank you for your feelings for me. But I would be happy if you could bless my marriage with Haruto-san.”

　”O-of course I’ll bless it!!”

　When Leafa apologetically asked Luke with an upward glance, Luke was smitten.

　”Alright! From now on, I’ll defeat anyone who harms Haruto’s family. On the name of the sage’s grandson!!”

　Oh, I don’t know why, but my family has gained a powerful backer. Luke will eventually become a sage. It’s very reassuring to have someone like that protecting our home.

　”Thank you very much. Um, if you’re interested in elf girls, I can introduce you to a few.”

　”S-seriously!?”

　Luke bit at Leafa’s suggestion. Luke is a good guy. As long as he has the chance to meet someone, spring will come soon for him.

　After that, Ryuka and Luna and the others peppered Leafa with questions about what she found attractive about me. It seems she came to like me at some point, and it’s a little embarrassing to listen to. Leafa’s face was also red as she spoke.

　”Hey, let’s go on an adventure soon.”

　Sylph started to get bored. This is inside a dungeon. It’s not right to keep talking about love here, so we decided to continue the conversation at Sylph’s place.

　”Well then, let’s go for my house!”

　With Sylph in the lead, we resumed our dungeon conquest (?).

　We proceed through the dungeon with Sylph’s guidance.

　”Oh, there’s a treasure chest in that room over there.”

　There was a treasure chest containing a high-grade recovery potion.

　”Left here, then right at the next one.”

　Turning as she said, there was a passage leading ahead.

　”There’s a hard-to-see room on the side there with a treasure chest, but it’s empty, so ignore it.”

　”…………”

　What is this. When the navigation is too good, it doesn’t feel like I’m conquering a dungeon. However, our goal is to reach the top of the World Tree. And if we can get rare items, there’s not much of a problem. Besides, Sylph, who is guiding us, is so lively, so this is probably fine as it is.

　Sylph seems to think she’s on an adventure and is very enthusiastic. In reality, she’s just guiding us through her home… I want to take her on a real adventure someday, a journey to an unexplored land that will make her heart pound with excitement. She seems to be more than capable as a fighting force, too.

　”Ah, there are stairs to the next floor just ahead.”

　Just as Sylph said, after walking a little, there were stairs. It seems there’s no floor boss.

　──＊＊＊──

　And so we came to the fourth floor. Just like the floors up to the fifth, the monsters didn’t attack, and with Sylph’s support, we didn’t miss any rare items. It’s going very smoothly. After exploring for a while, we reached the center of the sixth floor.

　Unfortunately, none of us had such an item. By the way, this dungeon has six floors, and from the sixth floor, we can move to Sylph’s dwelling.

　”For some reason, the fairies don’t bring rare items to this floor. So just ignore all the rooms.”

　Saying that, Sylph floated off. We follow her, but—

　”Hmm?”

　It was just a wall, no different from the surroundings, but for some reason, a part of it caught my attention.

　”Haruto, what’s wrong?”

　”Yeah, just a sec… Ah!”

　When I touched the wall, my hand was sucked in.

　”I can get in here.”

　I put my foot in and confirm that there is ground on the other side of the wall.

　”Eh, I can’t get in?”

　”Me neither.”

　”Nor can I.”

　Luke, Leafa, and Youko try to enter the wall just like me, but they can’t, as if it were just a normal wall. Even Sylph couldn’t get in.

　Why only me?

　I don’t know, but I feel like something is calling me from beyond the wall, so I entered the wall.

　Inside the wall, there was a room. A small room of about three meters square. There was a recess in the back wall of the room, and a brightly shining red ruby was placed there.

　Treasure get!

　An item found in a hidden room on a floor said to have nothing. It feels super rare. I pick up the ruby.

　…Somehow, it looks familiar.

　I had that feeling, but I figured everyone would be worried, so I decided to leave the room quickly.

　I was able to return by passing through the wall normally. I was wary of the possibility of it being a trap where you can only enter but not exit, but I didn’t feel any ill will, and in the worst-case scenario, I have teleportation magic, so I thought I would be fine.

　”Haruto-sama, I’m glad. Welcome back.”

　When I left the room, Tina was worried about me.

　”Haruto, welcome back. Did you find anything?”

　”Yeah, this was there.”

　I show the ruby I picked up to Sylph and everyone.

　”Ah, this. So it was here.”

　Sylph seemed to know what this was.

　”This is called the Dragon King’s Eye, an item that can seal any magic. The demon lord of old used to wear them as earrings, and they come in a pair… was there only one?”

　”Isn’t the other one this?”

　Tina takes out a pendant from her chest. It’s the magical tool that broke when I destroyed the training ground. Indeed, the jewel on Tina’s pendant looked very similar to the ruby I found.

　”Yeah. No doubt, it’s the same thing. So Tina had it. Since it’s cracked, it means it’s been used.”

　Tina’s pendant had sealed the absolute defense magic of a hero from another world. When she tried to protect the central street of the magic academy from the magic I cast without holding back, Tina’s life was in danger, so the absolute defense magic activated, and the ruby broke.

　”I’ll put a new magic in this and give it to Tina as a present.”

　”Thank you very much. I’ll look forward to it.”

　I’ll imbue it with magic that can protect Tina no matter what. With that thought, I carefully wrapped the ruby in cloth and put it in my bag.

　By the way, why was I the only one who could enter that room? It’s also strange that the hero had only one of a pair of items. Come to think of it, I don’t know much about the hero who was adventuring with Tina. I’ll have to look into it when I have time.

　──＊＊＊──

　We’ve come to the sixth floor of the World Tree dungeon. Same as up to the fifth floor, the monsters don’t attack, and with Sylph’s support, we haven’t missed any rare items. Everything is going smoothly. After exploring for a while, we arrived at the center of the sixth floor.

　There was a large, white stone monument. Standing as if to protect it was a slender golem. It was an earth-type golem, but with green ore embedded in places. It’s an Arc Golem, a higher-class golem. This one would probably be no match for an average adventurer.

　Its strength is such that multiple A-rank adventurer parties would have to gather and form a raid to fight it, and even then, victory would be uncertain. Normally, we would have to defeat this to get to the top of the World Tree, where Sylph’s dwelling is.

　—Yes. Normally.

　”Good work! Thanks as always.”

　Sylph calls out to the Arc Golem. The golem clears the front of the stone monument and salutes Sylph.

　”Come on, let’s go!”

　Ah… so we don’t have to fight it after all.

　We passed by the saluting Arc Golem, moved to the side of the stone monument, and, as prompted by Sylph, placed our hands on it.

　”Everyone, did you touch the monument? Then here we go!”

　The stone monument began to glow. I closed my eyes from the brightness.

　I was assailed by a sensation of my body being pulled somewhere. A few seconds later—

　The feeling of my body being pulled subsided, so I opened my eyes to find myself standing on a huge tree branch. We had been teleported here from the dungeon inside the World Tree. Teleportation is a unique skill of heroes from another world, but in dungeons managed by high-ranking spirits like Sylph, it seems that movement like teleportation connecting specific places is possible.

　I look around. Even higher than the branch we are on, thick branches were growing, overlapping each other. The gentle light of the sun leaked through the gaps between the branches, making it much brighter than the dungeon just before. It’s so stable that it’s hard to believe I’m standing on a tree branch. The tips of the branches are naturally thin, but it looks like I could easily walk on them for about a kilometer. I am once again amazed at the size of the World Tree. And at the tips of the branches, there were a large number of slightly misshapen palmate leaves. These leaves, which seem like I could pick as many as I want just by reaching out, are the super-rare item, the “World Tree Leaf.”

　”Everyone, this way.”

　Called by Sylph, I walk towards the trunk of the World Tree.

　At the trunk, there was what looked like a wooden elevator. A wooden box that could fit about ten people had vines attached to it. The vines seemed to be connected to the upper part of the World Tree. To me, who knows elevators from my original world, it was a very crude construction.

　W-wait, are we getting on this?

　”I made it so that people could ride it when someone comes. I’ll take everyone to the top with this! The view from the top is the best, so look forward to it.”

　When someone comes?

　Does that mean no one has ridden it yet?

　I became a little—no, quite anxious.

　”Alright, get in, get in.”

　”Eh, wait a minute.”

　Pushed by Sylph from behind, we were crammed into the elevator-like thing.

　S-seriously, we’re going up in this? Wouldn’t Tina’s flight magic be better?

　For some reason, Sylph didn’t get into the box. In the first place, Sylph is always flying, so there’s no need for her to use an elevator.

　”Well then, here we go!”

　Sylph formed a magic circle under the box we were in.

　Wait, could it be… the vines attached to the top of the wooden box are just for decoration?

　I learned that my prediction was correct in the worst possible way. A tremendous gust of wind blew out from Sylph’s magic circle, pushing up the box we were in at an incredible speed.

　”””Uwaaaaaaaaaah!!?”””

　The box ascends at high speed. We can’t withstand the acceleration and are pressed against the floor of the box.

　Suddenly, the surroundings became bright. We had passed through the gaps between the branches and emerged above the World Tree. Poof, the acceleration disappears. The box we were riding in had broken apart as it passed through the dense cluster of the last leaves.

　The eleven of us were thrown into the air.

　”…It’s beautiful.”

　Words escaped me at the sight of the city of Alfheim and the surrounding scenery, looking down from even higher than the giant World Tree. This must be what Sylph wanted to show us.

　From there, the fall begins.

　”Tina! Everyone!”

　I shouted towards Tina, who was about to fly to me. She heard my voice and turned back. At that moment, I saw it.

　A dragonified Ryushin had grown wings from his back and was flying, holding Ryuka. Mai and Mei had become spirit forms and had just collected Youko and Leafa. Luke was using flight magic and flying, holding Luna.

　Eh, everyone can fly!?

　Tina went to help Meldy. And I am falling.

　I wonder why? No one is coming to help me. Could it be they think I can fly too? I can’t even fly!?

　Tina, finally realizing this, flies over in a hurry—but before Tina could save me, I was enveloped in wind, and my fall stopped.

　”Sorry, I misjudged the power. Tehee.”

　Sylph is flying next to me.

　It’s not “tehee”!

　”Well. But still, everyone can fly.”

　”Yeah… I just found out for the first time too.”

　”Conversely, you can’t fly, Haruto.”

　Being told that by Sylph, I felt a little down.

　No, isn’t it normal not to be able to fly?

　I took this opportunity to resolve to learn how to use flight magic.