Jeanne noticed Leon's awkward hesitation.
She stepped forward, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently took Laurier's trembling hand in hers.
"It's all right, Laurier. You're safe now. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Leon watched the scene with a faint smile.
The Holy Maiden, ladies and gentlemen. Charisma maxed out. She's known this elf for all of five minutes and the girl's already dropping her guard. I've got a long way to go in that department.
His gaze drifted to Laurier, then to the unconscious Aura.
Neither of them carried even a trace of an Adventurer's edge. They read less like green rookies and more like sheltered newcomers who'd never set foot outside their village. The wide-eyed, trusting kind who didn't know the world had teeth.
No wonder they'd walked straight into a trap.
While his thoughts wandered, Jeanne's gentle presence worked its quiet magic. Laurier's breathing steadied. The trembling eased. And slowly, haltingly, she began to tell them what had happened.
...
...
When she finished, Leon nodded.
"More or less what I figured. And honestly, don't be too hard on yourselves. You were lucky. The people who grabbed you were just as green as you are, newcomers to Orario who probably haven't even found their footing yet. That's the only reason you got a chance to run."
"Take this as a lesson. Where I come from, there's an old saying: a hard fall makes you wise. What you went through was brutal, but it'll forge you into something stronger."
Laurier bit her lip and nodded hard. His words rang true.
"I... I understand."
The mood had settled into the right place. Leon let a smile surface and made his move.
"Laurier. You and Aura. How would you feel about joining our Familia?"
"Huh?"
The pivot caught her off guard. She blinked, looking from Leon's easy smile to Jeanne's encouraging nod and back again.
"I..."
Her fingers twisted together in her lap. Words hovered at the edge of her lips but wouldn't come.
Leon read the hesitation and kept his tone open. "No pressure. Joining a Familia is a life-changing decision, and it goes both ways. Ask whatever you need to. If it's not classified, I'll give you a straight answer."
Something like courage gathered behind her eyes. Laurier lifted her gaze to meet his.
"Which... which Familia do you and Miss d'Arc belong to?"
Leon had expected that. It was always the first question.
Choosing a patron god was deeply personal, and it came down to luck more than most people liked to admit. If your wavelength matched your deity's, things worked out. If you drew a god who treated the mortal world like a comedy show... well. Best of luck.
He considered his words for a moment, then spread his hands.
"The simple answer is that, on paper, we belong to the Demeter Familia. Demeter. You've heard the name?"
Laurier nodded. Even as a newcomer, she knew the harvest goddess's reputation.
"The real situation is more complicated, and that touches on Familia secrets." His tone shifted, turning serious. "But I can swear on Lady Demeter herself that we have zero ties to Evilus, grey-market syndicates, or any faction a decent person would call villains."
"Of course, if you want the full story..." He paused, gave her a wink. "You'll have to join to find out."
"..."
If anything, the explanation left Laurier more confused than before.
But one thing she was sure of: Leon and Jeanne weren't on the wrong side.
Her trust didn't come from any force of Leon's personality or some silver-tongued pitch that swept her off her feet. It came from Jeanne. That warmth radiating off the woman, the kind that put even an elf at ease, couldn't belong to anyone who served chaos and cruelty.
If Leon had known what was going through Laurier's head, he'd have laughed. Charisma really is some kind of arcane stat.
"All right. I'll join."
The words came quiet but certain.
Leon and Jeanne both broke into genuine smiles.
"As for Aura," Laurier added, her voice firm with conviction, "I'm sure she'll make the same choice. She'll join too."
The unconscious Aura had no idea her best friend had just volunteered her.
But luck was on Aura's side.
Had Leon been a more devoted anime fan, he might have recognized who Laurier and Aura really were. Compared to the fortunate golden-haired girl, the white-haired elf's future, without Leon's intervention at this exact moment, would have spiraled into a darkness too terrible to imagine.
...
...
The Falna ceremony for Laurier went smoothly.
Still, for an elf, the ceremony itself was mortifying enough.
"I have to... to... to show my back? What kind of god came up with this ritual? This is so embarrassing..."
With Jeanne's help, Laurier lay face-down on the bed, her back exposed to the air while the rest of her was cocooned in blankets. Leon, naturally, had been "escorted" out of the room until the positioning was done.
He pricked his finger with a silver needle, let the blood fall, and began inscribing the Hieroglyphics with his magic. "As for whose bright idea this was," he said dryly, "probably some god with a questionable sense of humor. Lord Ouranos, the one who oversees the Guild, might know the answer."
He'd done this enough times now that the process was second nature.
A wash of luminous light, and the ceremony was complete.
"Welcome to the Hart Familia, Laurier Swall."
He transcribed the Falna data onto parchment, waited for Jeanne to help Laurier dress, and handed over the sheet.
"Wait. The Hart Familia?" Laurier stared. "I thought you said you belonged to the Demeter Familia?"
Leon's smile turned cryptic. He pressed the parchment into her hands.
"Who says your patron god is always who you think it is? You're young, kid. The waters in Orario run deep."
Laurier's brain short-circuited. Her eyes held nothing but innocent bewilderment.
Name: Laurier Swall Title:Race: Elf Class: Adventurer, Magic Swordswoman Familia: Hart Familia Level: Lv. 1 Deepest Floor:Basic Abilities: Strength: I0 | Endurance: I0 | Dexterity: I0 | Agility: I0 | Magic: I0 Development Abilities:Weapons:Equipment:Magic:Hurricane Aria: Cloaks the body in an invisible armor of gale-force winds. Boosts all Basic Abilities while deflecting attacks. Massively increases attack power, attack speed, and movement speed. Enchant-type magic. Finishing move: Tempest Bloom.
Skills:Beloved's Crest (Hidden): Blocks detection. A mundane disguise that deceives the gods, obstructing divine lie detection and observation. Unlocks hidden potential and accelerates growth. Expands the vessel's capacity while dramatically increasing the rate of development. Faerie Whisper: Amplifies magic effects. Increases Mind efficiency. Hurricane's Shadow: Enhances perception. Perception range and sensitivity dramatically increase while magic is active. Boosts movement speed and attack speed. Increases Agility and Dexterity. Wind Fury Dance: Boosts all Basic Abilities.
...
...
Outside of a handful of outright monsters, Laurier's stat sheet ranked among the best Leon had ever seen.
His guess was that the results owed partly to Laurier's natural elven heritage and her own exceptional latent potential, but his skill had played a massive role too.
That skill being Beloved's Blessing.
Beloved's Blessing: Bestow a beautiful blessing upon those cherished. Grants protection to all members of the same Familia. The more female members in the Familia, and the higher the bond, the stronger the protection.
The pattern was obvious. Beloved's Blessing and Beloved's Crest were a linked pair. As long as the prerequisites were met, every member of the Familia would receive the Crest.
Leon was starting to form a theory about what those prerequisites were.
As for the cost?
Well. If you knew, you knew. And if you didn't, explaining wouldn't help.
During the Falna bestowal, the guidance process must have triggered a chain reaction between her innate potential and the skill. That's the only explanation I can come up with.
He decided to stop overthinking it. Something this arcane had too many unknowns to unravel. The changes were positive. Better to let it ride.
Laurier clutched the parchment in both hands, staring at her own Falna data.
She could barely believe it. Was this really her? Was this still Laurier Swall? The numbers felt like they belonged to a stranger.
She'd always had a rough sense of her own talent and potential. As the village elders used to put it: decent enough, but nothing extraordinary.