The next day. Early morning.
Just as the sky was starting to lighten, Leo woke up as usual.
"...Another ordinary morning."
After staring at the ceiling for a while, Leo got up briskly, grabbed his washing kit, and left the room for the washroom.
On the way, Familia members greeted Leo one after another just like yesterday, and Leo returned each greeting in turn.
When he started washing up, Leo ran into Raul again.
"How'd it go? Did everything go okay yesterday?"
Raul looked Leo over as if trying to spot whether anything had gone wrong, his words full of concern and worry.
"It went okay." Leo spat out his mouthwash and smiled at Raul. "Just wandered around the first few floors. What could happen under normal circumstances?"
As for what happened when the circumstances weren't normal, there was no need to mention that.
Whether with Ais or with Raul, Leo had no intention of bringing up how the Dungeon had set him up the previous day.
So he said it casually, and the honest Raul believed him on the spot.
"As long as you're okay. I was worried all day yesterday."
Raul said it with a wry smile, which got a laugh out of Leo.
"I might be a rookie newbie who just got his Falna, but I've been in the Familia for a year now whichever way you slice it. I've learned swordsmanship from Ais. On top of that, I've got the gear and potions you all kindly chipped in for. Handling the first few floors of the Dungeon isn't going to be a problem."
At that point, Leo also gave Raul a round of thanks.
The small shield Raul had given him had been a real help. Without it taking the hits from monsters out front, Leo really would've had to put a lot of effort into dealing with those monsters. And that wasn't even counting the potions.
Especially that High Potion. Without it, after dealing with that corner he was backed into yesterday, Leo would've had to drag his battered body out of the Dungeon. There was no way he could've kept exploring, let alone reached Floor 5.
The short sword had also been a huge help. If Leo had used the standard-issue weapons handed out by the Guild yesterday, he would've had to hit a monster's vital point to take it down in one strike. Otherwise he'd have needed two or three swings to finish off each one. Whether he could've gotten through that many Kobolds yesterday under those conditions was a real question mark.
He might've even broken his weapon partway through.
So Leo was grateful to the senior Familia members who'd given him such good equipment and supplies.
"Glad it helped you." Raul scratched his head, a bit embarrassed, then said in a tone that might have been envy or might have been wonder, "Come to think of it, you're really close with Miss Ais, huh? Getting her of all people to teach you swordsmanship."
"It's all right, I guess." Leo's tone was matter-of-fact. He even added, "Ais isn't unapproachable or anything. If you went and asked her, I'm sure she'd be willing to teach you guys too."
Raul's Level was lower than Ais's, but he was several years older than her, and he'd joined the Familia early. Word was he'd joined at thirteen, and he'd been with them seven or eight years by now. Compared to Leo, who'd only been around for a year, Raul had spent way more time around Ais, who'd also been in the Familia for close to ten years. So Leo figured Raul had to know that the girl people called the doll was actually warm on the inside, cold on the outside.
That was why Leo said what he did.
But Raul looked downright alarmed.
"L-let's just not. If I bothered her for no reason like that, I'm worried the other guys in the Familia would tie me up and burn me at the stake."
Raul gave a full-body shudder at whatever he'd just imagined.
In the Loki Familia, Ais was an extremely special presence too.
The other executives didn't actually have that big a gap from the regular members. Especially a certain pair of Amazoness twin sisters, who would mix in with the Familia members on their own and roll around with them like one of the gang. The members respected them, sure, but they weren't intimidated. Unless those Amazoness sisters lost their tempers...
But Ais was different. Her quiet personality and her inability to express emotion meant the Familia members would always feel a distance from her. Not to mention that goddess-like beautiful face was expressionless every single day. Anyone without some nerve would have to work up serious courage just to say a single word to her.
For the regular Loki Familia members, Ais was both a prodigy who'd become an executive at a young age and a goddess-like beautiful idol. Most of them treated her like a Princess shut away in a royal palace, only daring to admire her from a distance, never to approach her recklessly.
Then there was Leo. He'd only received his Falna yesterday and gotten promoted from trainee to full status, and yet he could approach the Doll Princess with a calm, normal attitude. He could even learn swordsmanship from her. Plenty of people admired and envied him for that, but at the same time it made plenty of others grind their teeth in jealousy and wish they could throw a sack over his head some night and dump him in the moat.
Raul did not want to be the target of jealousy, especially jealousy from his fellow Familia members.
What he didn't realize was...
"That attitude of yours is what makes Ais feel lonely, you know..."
Leo muttered.
"What was that?"
Raul hadn't caught what Leo said and asked, puzzled.
"Nothing." Leo shook his head. "Are you guys staying in today?"
"Yeah. The recent expedition just ended not long ago, so there's a lot of cleanup work to handle. Plus it's a rare chance to rest and recover. So most of us, myself included, will be sticking around home lately." As he answered, Raul asked, "You're planning on hitting the Dungeon today again, right?"
"Of course." Leo splashed water on his face and smiled. "I finally got my Falna. Now's exactly the time to put in the work, isn't it?"
"Go for it, newbie." Raul gave Leo's shoulder a pat in encouragement. "You're the one Miss Ais brought back and personally recommended for the Familia. That's a first in the whole history of the place. A lot of people are watching you. A lot of them are looking forward to fighting alongside you, too."
Leo gave a faint smile and replied.
"I will."
...
Before long, Leo had changed in his room, taken up his weapon, armor, and waist pouch, left the tower, and stepped into the courtyard.
In the courtyard, Ais was right where he'd expected her, swinging her sword in the shade of the trees, cutting through the wind with each stroke.
Leo stopped to watch for a moment. He was about to step forward to say hello when he noticed a figure curled up in the corner.
She was a girl of about fourteen or fifteen, looking younger than either Leo or Ais.
She had long, fine flaxen hair tied back into a ponytail that hung down her back. Slender, leaf-shaped ears poked out from between the strands of hair at the sides of her face, marking her as a member of the Elves, the race famed for their beauty.
She was still young, with a small and delicate build, slim and slight. But none of that could hide the natural good looks of her race. The slightly childish beauty quietly gave off its charm in the morning light, drawing the eye.
Right now, though, this beautiful young Elf girl was hiding in the corner with the unmistakable air of someone up to no good, sneaking glances at the courtyard like a thief.
The figure her faintly glowing eyes were fixed on was clearly the golden-haired swordsman practicing in the shade of the trees.
Watching this, Leo raised an eyebrow, and his expression shifted into something between a smile and not a smile.
He stepped forward quietly until he was standing behind the girl, and immediately heard her voice.
"Miss Ais... still so beautiful, still so strong."
The voice that came out was a little feverish, worshipful, even fanatical. It sounded just like a stalker fan spying on her idol.
"Already that strong, and she still works that hard at sword practice every single day. Truly the strongest female swordsman in Orario. If only..."
She had drifted off into some kind of fantasy and was practically drooling. Even Leo couldn't quite stand to watch.
"What are you doing hiding over here?"
So Leo spoke up.
"Eek!"
The girl jumped at the sudden voice, her spine snapping ramrod straight, and let out a thin shriek.
"Y-you?!"
She scrambled to turn around. The moment she saw Leo, her pretty wide eyes flew open, full of shock, surprise, and a trace of barely concealed hostility.
"W-why are you here?"
She glared at Leo, puffed up with indignation in a way that was utterly cute.
"Shouldn't that be my line?" Leo narrowed his eyes and said bluntly. "Spying on Ais again, Lefiya?"
Lefiya Viridis. That was the girl's name.
She was fifteen this year, one year younger than Leo, and yet her presence in the Loki Familia was anything but small.
This Elf girl was only fifteen, and though her Level was only Lv.3, she was a prodigy Mage known as the Thousand Elf. She was said to have firepower rivaling a Lv.5, and she also possessed a very special Magic. She'd been marked early on as the successor to the Familia vice-captain Riveria, and the senior members of the Familia had high hopes for her.
Her personality was wonderful, too. By all rights, with such outstanding looks, and as one of the natural magic race, the Elves were a proud race with extremely high self-esteem, who would only let those they accepted touch them. But she was friendly and cheerful, kind and warm. She didn't have the haughtiness or fastidiousness of other Elves, and she could get along well with most people in the Familia. She was an exceedingly rare social-type Elf.
But this girl, with her excellent looks, talent, and personality all combined, just didn't get along with Leo.
No, more accurately, it was that she had a one-sided hostility toward Leo.
"W-who's spying?!" Lefiya shot back fiercely. "I'm just here normally admiring Miss Ais's hard work!"
This Elf girl was, on the quiet, a little fan who looked up to Ais.
At the same time, she was the ringleader of those who ground their teeth in envy and jealousy at Leo for being able to approach Ais so often, the ones who would have happily thrown a sack over his head some night and dumped him in the moat.
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