* * *

Hatsuko's POV!

—————————

While destroying our way out of the floors, we finally made it out of that dungeon.

Other than Akemi and me, none of the other girls could actually fly. That's why I had no other choice but to use my powers in this kind of situation.

It was a bit tiring, but before we could even realize it, we were already out of the dungeon.

“Hatsuko! There was no need to use your powers to get us out of there!” And the first one to scold me was Chloe.

Ever since we found out about my conditions, she had gotten overprotective of me. It felt a bit unusual for someone to feel that way towards me, but somehow… it warmed up my heart. That's why I couldn't help but warmly smile back at her.

This caught off guard Chloe as her cheeks slightly blushed from her angry look she had a few moments ago.

“You say that, but look behind us. We would’ve been buried in there if I didn't make a way out of there.” There wasn't enough time to come up with another plan, that's why I had to do something really quick.

I'm sure that everyone already understood that, but they seemed to be a lot more concerned about me than themselves.

After seeing if any of us had any injuries, I noticed a significant amount of spirits that were floating some meters away from us, and Alette who was flying towards us really fast.

"Is that…?" Ichika tried guessing while looking at the small spirit coming towards us.

And before we could realize it, Alette flew towards Chloe’s face without stopping.

"W-wha?!" Chloe reacted from the sudden crush of the spirit flying towards her face.

“Chloeeeee!!! I’m so glad that your okaaayyy!!!!” The small spirit cried, continuing to hug Chloe’s face with all of her might.

Chloe’s body was pushed away a bit from the spirit’s speed that just clashed into her face. Chloe didn't take any other injuries as Alette’s body was way too small to hurt her.

“W-wah?! A-Alette?” Confounded by the way Alette came towards her, Chloe regained her composure and held the small spirit between her hands.

The small spirit continued crying out loud without a care that there were many other spirits standing some meters behind her.

But we all understood that, what happened to us down there wasn't something that Alette was aware of.

“I'm sorry to have you worried.” And like the kind soul Chloe was, she simply gave the small spirit a gentle smile that smoothed everyone’s heart.

“Sniff… C-Chloe…” Even Alette calmed down a bit from Chloe’s gentleness, but it didn't take long before more tears began rolling down her face. “I was so worrieeeed!! WAAAAAHHH!!!”

“There, there.” And to calm her down, Chloe warmed the small spirit by moving her closer to her own cheeks.

While me and the other girls were looking at that unusual pair, I noticed the other spirits slowly approaching us as well.

“How…” The first one to speak was none other than the queen who seemed confused about us.

The other spirits were heavily armored as if they were prepared for a great war. I could see it in their faces that they had many different complex emotions going through them.

And since the queen couldn't seem to finish her question, the spirit next to her showed signs of despair and fear as she was about to talk.

“How are you alive?” Those were the words that came out of that unusual spirit with her eyes that seemed frozen into a single emotion.

While It was wearing quite a lot of armor, I immediately recognized the face of the spirit who brought us to the last floor of that dungeon.

I won't lie that I feel annoyed by the fact that this small thing tried to trick us like that, but I already realized what was going on from the way she was acting. To begin with, it was our plan to complete a spirit dungeon with a powerful opponent. So hating that spirit wasn't something that I felt right now.

“How are we alive? What kind of question is that?” And to respond back to that confused spirit was none other than Akemi. Her face showed a lot of confidence, and I could see what she was trying to do right now.

Now that we basically conquered their dungeon, and aside from the fact that they tried using us as bait, it wouldn't be weird that we wanted to have some clear explanation regarding this.

“H-how did you get out of there?” The spirit asked once again, ignoring Akemi’s question. “The calamity was there… there’s no way you could’ve escaped unscratched from it! So how?!” She continued asking questions, afraid to hear an answer from us.

There was silence for a few seconds before the queen approached us unarmed, without any ill intention. “I’m sorry about my daughter’s rudeness.” She slightly bowed to us as she apologized.

“We don't mind.” I responded back to the queen without a care about that spirit.

But the other spirits didn't seem to be taking the queen’s action that well. The fact that someone who was greatly respected and loved lowered herself that much, was something not pleasant.

“But… I hope that we’ll get a proper explanation about your children's actions towards us.” I could see guilt in the queen’s eyes after I tried provoking her.

“I don’t expect you to forgive us for our sinful actions, but before that. Please lend us a hand in order to kill the threat that is trying to destroy our world.” The queen bowed once again, in tears about the things that she had done. I could feel that she was truly sorry about this, and despite that, she still prioritized her world’s safety before herself.

“Do you expect us to help you without any compensation?” I narrowed my eyes a little as I tried getting a deal out of the queen.

Based on their reactions, they still believe that the zombified spirit that we fought was still alive.

“Hatsuko…”

“About that..”

Some of the girls like Ichika and Chloe didn't seem to like the way I was treating the pitiful state of the queen, but that wasn't my objective at all.

“I’ll offer you whatever your heart desires. If it's power, then I’ll gladly give you the secrets of our spirits.” The queen seemed determined and serious as she was trying to get on my good side.

“M-mother!” But some other spirits still didn't like the way she was willing to give everything for our help.

“If it's knowledge, then we’ll provide you with all of our books. And if you wish for my body…” Slight hesitation and courage was seen in the queen’s eyes. “Then I’ll gladly give it to you together with my heart!”

Even though the queen must be thousands of years old, her face right now was that of a pure maiden offering her body with an innocent look.

Ichika, Hina, Chloe, and the other girls were blankly staring at me, waiting for my response to the choice of words I used towards the queen.

Maybe I took it a bit too far?

“Ahem, we won't be helping you kill your sister.” I cleared my throat as I decided to tell them that we already defeated the boss of the dungeon.

“W-why?! Aren’t my offers enough?! Or am I perhaps unattractive to you?” The queen questioned the reason behind me refusing her request. Her face showed many different expressions which made her look uncertain about her own looks, also scared that they didn't have anything that could compensate us.

“No, It's not because of your looks or your offers.” Since I didn't want to tense the atmosphere any longer, I decided to explain to them the truth.

“Then why?” The queen gently grabbed my hand, anxious to know the reason behind my answers.

…

And like that, I began explaining to the queen and the rest of the spirits that the enemy that was threatening their lives, was already dead. The fact that me and the other girls were still alive, was proof of that.

“That's… impossible!” The spirit who tried tricking us gasped in disbelief as cold sweat dripped down her face.

The queen together with the other spirits also found it weird that we had already defeated the zombified spirit.

But they didn't know that all of the girls were already way stronger than normal humans, not to mention that one of the strongest dragons was within our group.

“It's not that weird for a dragon like me to defeat that small fry.” The statement that Akemi said shook all of the spirits that were unaware of the fact that she was an actual dragon. “But I won't lie, everyone gave a great help in defeating that thing.”

Some of the spirits fainted after seeing Akemi’s eyes, while some could be seen trembling in fear that a powerful dragon was already inside this world.

“A d-dragon!” But the one who was scared the most, was the spirit who wanted to trap us at the last floor of the dungeon.

That's how scared the spirits were from Akemi, but the moment I looked at the queen, I saw that she was standing still unfazed by what was just said.

She moved a bit closer to us and bowed once again. “Thank you so much! We’ll never forget this huge help that you have done to us, spirits.”

Me and Akemi were a bit confused since we never expected the queen to act this calmly about a dragon being in this world. They also believed us about the fact that the dungeon boss was already dead.

“Hahaha! That's right! You should be thankful that a dragon like me has offered you this much help!” And Akemi who couldn't seem to contain how she felt, smirked as she proudly looked up at herself.

“We’ll gladly do whatever your heart's desire.” The queen lowered her eyes once again, accepting anything that we would request her to do.

“M-mother, how are you so calm?” One of the spirits that was on the verge of collapsing from fear, suddenly asked the queen as she couldn't hold her own emotions back. Even though she was scared, she still cared more about the queen.

“If the great dragon wanted to kill us, she would’ve done that already. I believe in Hatsuko and his friends. That's why I believe that they won't be causing us any harm.” The queen calmly explained to the little spirit.

“....” We’ve been floating in the sky for quite some time now. And as we were explaining everything that had happened until now, I felt something weird going around my head…

I wasn't sure if I had used too much of my energy, but as we were floating in the sky, I used the last bit of my strength to safely land everyone in the ground.

“H-hatsuko?”

Everyone looked a bit weirdly at me before I could feel my eyes getting heavier to the point where I couldn't see anymore.

That's when I realized that I no longer had the strength to move or talk anymore.

The last thing I remember was looking as I was falling into the ground while hearing everyone call out my name in a worry.

Even though this might be the last time I get to see light, I’m glad that I got to meet everyone.

They showed me many things that I had never experienced before, that's why I had no regrets if this was the last time I…

I… see… them…

…..

Sleepy…

.

.

.

.

.