Elma and the Echo is the one hundred and ninth chapter of Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon.
Summary[]
Elma prepares for her wedding with Jida.
Plot[]
Elma remembers that she was born in the ocean and thought she was part of the water, free and shapeless, but noticed she had definite shape and found others with similar bodies that called her Elma and told her she was part of the Harmony Faction and she grew to envy water. It cuts back to the present where Telne tells Elma she has a super cute dress for her because Elma doesn't care for stuff like that and because cute things are so nice they can stop battles. Telne then asks if Elma is mad at her and apologizes because Elma is frowning but Elma denies saying she didn't even notice and tells Telne she understands her life and knows everyone in the Harmony Faction will understand too. Elma then remembers her younger self, being a part of the Harmony Faction so she must cherish the home she was given because Telne has trust in Elma and so she decides to be a role model but someone asks her if she really wants to spend her life like that which breaks her trance. Telne then calls out to Elma asking if she really mad but Elma says its nothing while Telne thinks to herself why Elma doesn't call her big sister and Elma changes the subject that she hears that the Dragon Slayers like to make human sacrifices and Telne already knows about it and won't let them get their way. Telne explains that they do them to get the magic inside humans and Elma adds that if they don't change she will beat him up and enters a portal and thinks that the Harmony Faction will hold her in higher esteem so she will stand out more than usual and remembers how she started traveling the world. Some Harmony dragons talked about how human do human sacrifices to make a wish and even sometimes eat the flesh afterwards and that someone needs to stop them so Elma volunteers to help and everyone is happy for her as she goes to her first mission, helping some humans get some water and only asks for food, a simple piece of bread which she finds delicious and is amazed and for an instant she didn't care about the Harmony Faction and got scared because she changed her character and reminds herself that she isn't water. She began to be known as The Holy Sea Miko and that there were dragons flying freely which means that Chaos dragons don't have to make destruction but Harmony dragons must stop them and Elma thought is was unfair because when she finally met one she wasn't struggling with her identity and could change her character and envied but admired Tohru for being almost like water but it doesn't matter to her anymore. She knew since she was born she would never be like water so her only option left was to let everyone's expectations define her so she can keep being herself and enters the Harmony Temple, greeting her family and some of them complain about the temple's curse keeping them in their human forms to imitate human culture and Jida agrees as he walks inside, telling his lackeys to wait outside and get ready to take over the Harmony Faction as Lumineis appears as the wedding's priest. As everyone watches Elma walk down the aisle in her wedding dress telling her she looks very cute, Elma only grow more stiffer and inflexible until she is at the point of no return and joins Jida at the altar, starting to convince herself this is fine while getting ready to kiss and engrave her crest on him even if she doesn't like him and its not Tohru until she smells the familiar smell of the bento Tohru made for her and suddenly her stomach growls, realizing she hasn't ate since her fight with Tohru. Elma starts to cry and scream she doesn't want to get married and that she is hungry and Jida tries to tell her to calm down and leave as soon as they get married but Elma says he looks shady when Jida realizes needs to engrave the crest by force as everyone watches Elma cry chastising herself in her head for not noticing how hungry she was but never cared about the tasty food or caring how much her character changes except to live in the human world and calls out to Tohru. Tohru breaks into the temple telling Elma she is unbelievable as she teases her saying Elma's rumbling stomach is louder than her cries.