“Family. From before I was a sorcerer. But that’s all.”
He had completely forgotten about it until now, had never even tried to remember. Having it weigh on his mind now after all this time was surely far too convenient for him. That’s why Zagan held his hand out to Nephy.
“Shall we go back?”
Right now, he already had a family. There was no value in digging up the pains of his past.
“I also want to go back to the castle already,” Foll added.
“Is your hunger alright now?”
“I’ve had enough of this weird diet. I want Raphael’s food.”
Well, looks like she got enough mana from these snacks, so it should be fine.
Zagan pet Foll’s head.
“Then let’s go home. Back to our castle.”
No matter how much he dug up the past, that was his home.
◇
A girl stood still in a windy, grass covered plain. In her hand was a single white flower that she had plucked from somewhere or other. And sitting on the horizon were a great number of swords sticking out of the ground. They were grave markers.
One could tell that these were the graves of Angelic Knights who had fought here. They hadn’t been there very long, yet not a single one of them was pristine and undamaged.
It gave a glimpse to just how fierce the fighting here was. The girl walked through the grave markers before coming to a stop at a certain spot. What stood there wasn’t a sword, but a grave marker made of a wooden cross. It was simple, but nevertheless, it could be seen that the one buried here was treated with more courtesy than the others.
However, there wasn’t a single blade of grass around it. The girl listlessly looked over the grave marker, and before long, she opened her mouth with a whisper.
“It has been a long time, my dear brother.”
Just how long had it been since they’d met like this? One of them was forever asleep, and these siblings would never again have the chance to exchange words.
“You have changed quite a lot haven’t you, brother...? Or perhaps, you haven’t changed at all.”
Behind her words was a helpless tone. And as if to punish him, she flicked the grave marker.
“...I met those children. They’re just like we were, truly, they are.”
She closed her eyes, and recalled them as if it were just yesterday. That person was there, and so was another, there was her brother, and a girl. They were happy days. But also, a broken memory. The Wise Dragon fell, and the Eldest passed. These were memories that only remained within this girl. And yet, they were memories she couldn’t allow to be forgotten.
“Those children have also begun chasing after Azazel.”
The girl put her hands to her chest as if to pray. As if to wish that they do not arrive at the answer.
If they do, they’ll meet the same fate as me.
And after praying, the girl let out a small sigh and laughed.
“Oh my, now that I think of it, just who does the Night Clan pray to? Alas! How comical.”
She then gave a red kiss to the flower in her hand, and placed it at the grave.
“No matter how much I long for it, I cannot go to that side. All I can do is disappear from this world. But...”
I survived.
It was a comical word for the undead to use. Nevertheless, her golden eyes were certainly filled with determination.
“Yes, I understand. I do not know how much time is left for me, but I will show you that I can protect them.”
The girl pinned down the sides of her chest. Just that portion of her black dress had gotten wet. Even though blood should not have been flowing through her body, it was as if her life was spilling away. However, that pain was proof that she was here in this world.
“I am here. I am here, Azazel!”
So please, please ignore those children.
Her lamenting prayer reached none, and vanished in the wind.
Afterword
Long time no see. I’ve come to bring you ‘An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride’ volume 7. My name is Fuminori Teshima.
The beach! Swimsuits! Yukata! Is it not the very essence of love power to betray one’s teacher and come running over? Granny Gremory is truly beginning a battle with her life at stake. Yet what is it that awaits her at the beach in a foreign country?
Anyway, that’s how our summer arc (though it’s set in winter) starts up.
This time around, we’ve got an old man who’s our first new Archangel in a while, and a bit of a punk sorcerer whose delusions have gone a bit too far. How stuffy. But we’ve got everyone in swimsuits and yukata, so it paints a nice and pretty picture anyway. Please do not worry. Also, you can’t smoke until you’re over 20, okay?
Last time, the story was a bit serious, so... I guess, maybe it wasn’t this time? I tried to have everyone get really into the summer event. And when it comes to summer events, we start with endless worrying over a trivial encounter! Actually, this is the first time those two are being put front and center like that.
At any rate, we had Granny Gremory going wild all she wanted throughout the whole volume, so the words were practically spilling out of me as I wrote. Even I was quite surprised. My editor was telling me, “Even if you write it that fast, we can’t do nothing with it, ya know!?” as he gave me a bitter smile.”
Having said that, it seems this series will go on for quite a while, so we had a few important meetings to get things setup and put in some foreshadowing for upcoming volumes. Though, rather than setting things up, it was more like flipping over hidden pieces of paper from a while ago.
Even the new character who got named here was someone who was talked about back in volumes 1 and 2. But, when I do foreshadowing without being able to really reveal anything, it gets quite difficult because things have to be left so vague.
Thanks to all that, we had to rush out the character design for someone seeing that the manga adaptation was hitting one of those foreshadowing scenes, so I had to trouble COMTA and Itagaki to work things out together. But thanks to their work, I think that the manga has a great setup for volume 7 now.
So please take a look at Elf Bride’s manga version too, courtesy of Comic Fire and NicoNico Seiga! (Sudden advertisement!)
Now then, back to the story. We were hoping to put a grin on people who recognized the foreshadowing. I was planning to stop if my editor yelled at me, but we kind of just went along with it without telling anyone. None of it really means anything to a brand new reader, so it’s just there to please my fans.
Phew, I guess that’s about it. It’s been a while since I’ve had so many pages for an afterword, so I got to talk about the content more than usual.
As for my current status as an author... Well, there’s nothing particularly important to report. We can’t really go out and announce things just because a manuscript for something is done in this business. So if you look at it from the outside, I might just look like a NEET fiddling with plastic model kits...
Oh, speaking of plastic models, I got an honorable mention in a contest the other day! I made my modeller debut with a rookie of the year award! I seem to be linked by fate to honorable mentions... But I am doing my job too, okay?
As for the next volume, well, if everything goes well, it should come out next spring. Maybe I’ll be able to announce something more interesting in that one.
Now then, let’s get to thanking everyone.
To the one I’m always so deeply obliged to, K. To the illustrator COMTA, who I burdened with all these new clothing designs for swimsuits and yukata (Everything was fantastic! Even the draft!). To the mangaka Hako Itagaki, whose updates I look forward to so very much. To the chief editor at Comic Fire. To everyone who took part in the cover design, proofreading, publicity, and such. To Kirio and Rikka, who invited me out to an event. To my children, who go shopping with me even now. And to you, my dear readers, who are holding this book in your hands.
T
hank you very much!
Next time! Zagan is hunting for clues on his old friend Marc. But as a shut-in, he has no idea that a special date for couples is approaching... Christmas!
November 2018: On an evening where I dragged out the kotatsu — Fuminori Teshima
Bonus Short Stories
A Size too Big
“Come now, little lady. Put this on.”
Due to certain circumstances, Foll ended up growing to about Zagan’s normal size. And since she was no longer able to wear her usual clothing, she wound up borrowing clothes from Gremory.
“Thanks. Your clothes look all frilly and fun. I wanted to try them on.”
Even though her body was bigger, Foll was still the same as usual on the inside, so she was holding up Gremory’s clothes in amusement.
“Hnngh, the little lady is playing with my clothes. What beautiful love power! But we must hurry. If Lady Nephy finds us, it’ll all be over.”
“Mm. Nephy’s scary when she’s angry. I’ll change right away.”
Foll began tossing off her torn clothes in a hurry and picked up Gremory’s outfit.
“Gremory. I don’t know how to put this bra on.”
“What!? Uh... so it’s fine if I’m the one who teaches you, right? Won’t Lady Nephy get mad? No, wait, we don’t have time. This is just an act of god! We have no other choice!”
Gremory began huffing from her nose as she took her bra in hand.
“Gremory. That’s embarrassing. Do it properly.”
“Okay... Um, first, slouch over. Yes, like that. Next, line up with the cups. Now, if you just fasten the latch on the back... Th-The latch on the...”
WH-WHAT...!? It won’t reach?! Is this girl bigger than me? To think that such an innocent little girl would surpass even me... What love power!
There was no way the bra would fit with her current size, so Gremory put her sorcery to use to somehow succeed at getting the bra to latch in place.
“Gremory. It’s too tight.”
“Grrrr... I’ll look for something that fits better later, so put up with it for now.”
“Okay. Oh...”
The bra wasn’t able to bear her mass, and the latch on her back pitifully broke apart.
“Gah! I’ll tie it together with string! That way, it’ll hold for at least a few hours. Anyway, get changed quickly, little lady!”
Foll picked up some more clothes after being urged on by Gremory, but for some reason, she suddenly pressed her face into them.
“...Smells like Gremory.”
“Hnngh! Lady Foll... can you put on the rest yourself? That was... wonderful love power...”
Gremory sank away into a sea of her own blood.
Later on, Nephy gave them a terrible scolding, but for now, she was happy.
Snow and the Beach
“Hey, Miss Nephteros! This is, like, super tasty! You should totally have some!”
The one on the sandy beach of the uninhabited island with a huge smile plastered on their face was the siren Selphy. Even though Nephteros looked annoyed, she took the bowl into her hands.
“What is this? Noodles...? Or not. Did you put syrup on snow or something?”
The bowl had what looked like a mound of snow in it with a red sauce poured over it. Seeing Nephteros look at it like a completely mysterious object, Selphy’s eyes shot open in surprise.
“It’s shaved ice. You’ve never had any?”
“I’ve never even seen anything like this before... You can eat it?”
“Of course! I made it for you to eat!”
Nephteros picked up the spoon and scooped some up easily. And as she brought it to her mouth...
“C-Cold!”
It was also sweet. And yet, it melted away the moment it went in her mouth. The tips of Nephteros’ ears instinctively quivered at the piercing cold feeling accompanied by the rich sweetness, leading Selphy to put on a broad grin.
“Eheheh. Guess you like it, huh?”
“...Is it that fun to look at my face?”
“Well, yeah? It, like, makes me happy to watch someone enjoy something I made, okay? Your face is totally telling me it’s super tasty.”
“Am I really making that sort of expression?”
Nephteros herself intended to maintain her usual composure.
“It’s delicious... Is snow also this soft and sweet, I wonder?”
“Nope. If you don’t put any syrup on, it’s got no taste all.”
“So you’ve tried...” Nephteros replied in shock, which made Selphy tilt her head to the side.
“Huh? Hey, Miss Nephteros, have you never seen snow before? A lot of people try when they first see it...”
“I haven’t ever had the chance to. Well, it’s not impossible to make some with sorcery, but...”
“It’s not any fun to just make it with sorcery. Oh, I know! Why don’t we, like, watch it snow together the next time it happens! It should be winter by the time we get back to the castle, so we should have the time.”
Unable to beat Selphy’s carefree smile, Nephteros simply accepted the bait and smiled back.
“You’re right. So, next time it snows, let’s enjoy ourselves.”
“Yaaay! This is the first time you said you’d play with me!”
“I didn’t say anything about playing... W-Well, whatever.”
And so, Nephteros continued eating her shaved ice as the sun beat down on her.
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Copyright
An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 7
by Fuminori Teshima
Translated by Hikoki
Edited by DxS
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 Fuminori Teshima
Illustrations Copyright © 2018 COMTA
Cover illustration by COMTA
All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published in 2018 by Hobby Japan
This English edition is published by arrangement with Hobby Japan, Tokyo
English translation © 2019 J-Novel Club LLC
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Ebook edition 1.0: August 2019
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 7 (Premium) Page 19