"Breakfast is ready!"
Roughly an hour later, the three girls' quiet conversation was interrupted by Leon's call from the kitchen.
Jeanne rose first, taking Aura's hand as naturally as breathing, and guided her toward the dining room. Laurier followed close behind.
"Come on, you two. Your bodies are still weak, so make sure you eat plenty." Jeanne's voice was warm, gentle.
A full night's rest had done them both good. Laurier and Aura were still pale, but at least they could walk on their own now without needing someone to prop them up.
Leon's dining table was a long rectangle. Everyone took their seats across from one another, and he waved them in with a grin.
"Don't be shy. Eat as much as you want. If there's anything you don't like or can't eat, tell me. I don't know much about elven dietary habits, so consider this my chance to learn."
Adventurer or not, Leon's curiosity never rested.
Back when he'd been a solo operator, every spare moment went to the Great Gnome Library. History, geography, biographies, pulp hero epics, obscure reference texts... he devoured them all without discrimination. In the eyes of the gnome librarian, the young adventurer who perpetually haunted a corner of the reading room was a bookworm of the purest breed. The fact that he could sit through the most tedious personal memoirs and oddball journals without complaint only cemented the impression.
"Thank you."
Aura remained a touch stiff, her elven sense of propriety keeping her reserved. Laurier, on the other hand, had already dug in with abandon.
"Mmm! This is amazing! What is this wrap thing, Leon?" She took a huge bite, salsa smeared across the corner of her mouth.
He handed her a napkin. "A taco. It's a type of flatbread wrap. I tweaked the recipe a bit, so feel free to call it Leon's Special Taco."
"Leon's Special Taco? I love this." Laurier hoisted the taco overhead like a trophy, making her declaration to the room.
Jeanne smiled along. "Have as many as you like."
For someone who cooked, a satisfied eater was the highest compliment.
Watching Laurier inhale her food, Aura began to eat as well, taking small, elegant bites. Her expression gave nothing away, but her pace told the real story. She liked it.
Elven eating habits aren't as extreme as I expected... not that different from humans, really. Maybe a slight preference for lighter fare?
Leon filed the observation away between bites.
The table was warm, easy, and unhurried. Everyone soaked in the quiet comfort of a shared morning.
...
"Ahh, I'm so full. That's the first time I've ever eaten until I couldn't move."
After breakfast, Laurier and Aura tried to volunteer for dish duty, but Jeanne shooed them both to the couch on the grounds that they were still recovering.
Now the elf girl sprawled across the soft cushions, one hand rubbing her stomach, sighing with contentment.
From the sink, where she stood washing dishes alongside Leon, Jeanne glanced over with curiosity. "How is that possible? Even if elven villages are hidden deep in the forests, surely the young ones aren't going hungry?"
This time it was Aura who answered, not Laurier. She sat upright beside her friend, legs together and angled to one side, slippered feet resting neatly on the floor, hands folded on her knees, spine straight. Every inch the picture of proper elven bearing.
"In the village, our staple diet was bread and vegetables. Fruits as well. The older generation preferred to keep things simple."
The moment Aura brought it up, Laurier couldn't contain herself.
"That's exactly why I left! Those stubborn old traditionalists never change. You'd never taste anything like this back in the village!"
Leon chuckled. So Laurier was a foodie at heart.
And Aura, for all her silence on the matter, clearly shared the inclination. Why else would she have joined the journey? The two couldn't have been more different in temperament, but that made the pairing all the more entertaining.
...
Close to eight o'clock, Leon and Jeanne finished the housework, took a brief rest, and moved on to the day's real business.
First priority: the Falna ceremony for Aura.
The steps were familiar by now. A silver needle pricked his fingertip. A drop of blood fell. Hieroglyphics took shape on skin. The ritual completed, the Falna transcribed to parchment, and the lock set in place.
After so many rounds of practice with his Magic, Leon handled the process with effortless confidence.
"Aura, here's your Falna."
Aura accepted the parchment, but before she could so much as glance at it, Laurier's face was already hovering over her shoulder.
"Let me see, let me see!"
Aura's expression tightened. She shot Leon and Jeanne a look that clearly begged for rescue.
He smirked. "Relax. Within the Familia, Falna data isn't a secret. Letting her look is fine."
Then his tone shifted. The amusement vanished, replaced by something hard and serious. His gaze swept across both elves.
"But outside these walls, remember this: if anyone tries to pry into your Falna, you refuse. No exceptions. I've locked your Falna. Under normal circumstances, no person or god can force it open without my permission."
"That said, nothing is absolute. There's a contraband substance on the black market called Status Thief that can bypass a Falna lock. The supply is extremely limited, so the odds of that happening are slim, but it exists."
"Every member's Falna is the highest-level secret of their Familia. That's an unspoken rule shared by every god and every Familia in Orario. Understood?"
Laurier and Aura exchanged a glance. Their expressions sobered instantly, and they nodded.
"Understood. I didn't realize Falna data carried that much weight."
Jeanne chimed in with a timely addition.
"It does. Think of it this way. Every Adventurer has their own hidden cards: their Magic, their Skills. Now imagine an opponent gets hold of your Falna data. Not only is your intelligence compromised, they can tailor their tactics specifically to counter you. In an evenly matched fight, that kind of leak means you've lost before the battle even starts. Worse, it drags your whole team down and hands the enemy every advantage."
The practical example hit home. Both girls turned the logic over in their heads, and the more they thought about it, the more the implications unsettled them.
Leon watched Jeanne put the fear of the gods into the two girls and had to suppress a grin.
No matter how tough or composed they act, they're still green. In terms of experience, tactical thinking, and street smarts, they've got a long way to go. At their current level, any veteran with half-decent stats could run circles around them with the simplest tricks in the book.
While he mused, the two elves' attention had already locked onto the parchment.
Name: Aura Moriel Alias: None Race: Elf Class: Mage Affiliation: Hart Familia Level: Lv. 1 Floors Reached: None
Basic Abilities: Strength: I 0 | Endurance: I 0 | Dexterity: I 0 | Agility: I 0 | Magic: I 0
Development Ability: None Weapon: None Equipment: None
Magic:Feast of the Bacchanal Harvest: Rapidly generates countless vines using magic power, tormenting enemies within range through ensnaring punishment while draining their stamina and magic to restore the caster. Wide-area annihilation magic. Rite of the Bacchanal Ecstasy: Induces a state of "revelry" in all allies within range, boosting all Basic Abilities, increasing attack power and attack speed, dispelling fear, and numbing pain. Wide-area augmentation magic.
Skills:Beloved's Crest (Hidden): Hinders investigation. A divine disguise of ordinariness that deceives the gods, blocking divine lie detection and probing. Enhances potential and accelerates growth. Increases latent potential and the vessel's capacity, enabling rapid development. Fairy Aria: Amplifies magic effectiveness. Increases the efficiency of Mind consumption. Crest of Phantasm: Doubles the effect of all magic after consuming alcohol. Expands magic range. Dreaming Succubus: All Basic Abilities enhanced. ...