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CHAPTER 1 A SCENE AT THE CAMP 

“Guahhh…” 
Lefiya was listless. 
She still had Mind to spare, but her body was exhausted from all the Concurrent Casting. 
“Good work, Lefiya!” 
“You were a huge help out there. Here, dinner.” 
“Ah, thank you…” 
Tiona and Tione encouraged her. 
A moonlit night had fallen. Loki Familia’s camp had been set up at the edge of the plain, a position that would let them stare down at the Rakian army. Ares Familia’s encampment was visible in the distance, but the surrounding tents lit by campfires and magic-stone lanterns all belonged to Orario’s familias. 
Lefiya had been maneuvering around the battlefield to launch her attacks since the very start of the fight. All according to Finn’s plan. She had satisfactorily fulfilled her role by providing mobile fire support, blowing holes in the enemy’s defenses and their strategy as well as training her Concurrent Casting ability. 
“But really, you were amazing today, Lefiya! As your roommate, I’m proud.” 
“What are you feeling proud for? Well, this isn’t exactly making the best of a less-than-ideal situation, but I think the captain probably intended to use the battle to put Lefiya on display for everyone in and outside Orario.” 
“You mean as ‘the successor of the city’s strongest mage,’ right?” 
“Oooh, I get it. Like announcing to the world that Loki Familia’s still got it. Telling everyone ‘check out our future first-tier adventurer.’” 
Some of the familia’s girls were sitting down together. Lefiya’s roommate, the magic user Elfie; the other human Narfi; the catgirl Anakity; and the elf Alicia all chimed in as Lefiya quietly sipped at her stew, looking down. 
“What future first-tier adventurer?…I’m nowhere near that yet. I didn’t even manage to do everything the captain asked without messing up today…” 
“You performed perfectly today, Lefiya. You did your job just fine.” 
“But I couldn’t completely control my magic; the spells kept getting too big…And I think I accidentally got other familias caught in the cross fire as well…” 
Alicia, the spotter for Lefiya’s support fire, started to smile. 
Apparently, Orario’s merchants and merchant familias had made a mysterious request for them not to kill any of the enemy soldiers. This came as a relief for Lefiya, who had never killed another person, but it required a precise control on her spells. Finn had also issued his orders with the intent to force the enemy to fall back and withdraw. 
Alicia was considered a veteran even when counting the entire familia. She gently tried to soothe the younger elf, but Lefiya was her own harshest critic. 
Not to torture herself, but because of her intense drive to improve. 
“I dunno about the details, but I thought you were amazing! You were flinging out spells with Concurrent Casting left and right like Riveria, and the other side just kept screaming!” 
“Yes, it was amazing when you blew them away. Us front-liners didn’t even get to do much.” 
“Um, I think Mister Gareth took on a whole squad of knights or something…” Lefiya countered. 
“Well, Gareth’s a special case. Ahhh, to have the captain rely on you…I’m sooo jealous~.” 
Tiona looked up with a smile, pausing between bites of stew, jerky, and fruits to speak while Tione seemed a bit sulky as they both reassured the young girl about her contribution to the battle. 
While Lefiya had been in the spotlight with her eye-catching support-fire mission, Tione and the other first-tier adventurers had gone to work elsewhere, acting as a diversion and aiming for weak points, which, in a sense, had prevented the enemy from achieving their true objectives. It was clear that Finn had put a heavy emphasis on pursuing a strategy that would prevent the situation with Rakia from getting any worse, but that was irrelevant for the Amazon who had a burning desire to be useful to the person she loved. 
Lefiya laughed nervously as Tione glanced over at the boys’ group, where there was one other person whom Finn valued highly—at least that’s what she thought. 
“Bete, let’s have a meal together!” 
“How about a drink?!” 
“Shut it! Leave me alone! Don’t crowd me, you losers! The hell’s gotten into all of you?!” 
“Give it up already, Bete. It was over once Loki tricked you. If ye don’t want to get along with the greenhorns, then give me a hand and get me seconds.” 
Across from Lefiya’s group, the guys had formed a lively cluster around Bete. 
“Don’t get cocky, old man!” 
The werewolf howled as Gareth joined in on the fun. 
“…They sure are in high spirits.” 
“To think we’d see a day when everyone wants to be around Bete…” 
Anakity was exasperated while Narfi’s response was filled with trepidation. 
Since the recent incident, the other members of the familia had begun to idolize him. Men and women alike. Bete’s bluntness had not changed, but it was having the opposite effect on people now. 
Lefiya was starting to feign a laugh when a certain girl suddenly appeared, approaching Bete from behind. 
“Hwa! Lena arrives on the scene! Yoo-hoo, Bete Loga!” 
“Gah?! The hell are you doing here?!” 
“When armies are on the march, prostitutes always follow! I tagged along with Aisha and the others when they decided to go fishing for men. All I had to do was ask, and High Novice let me right in.” 
“Raul! You dumbass! Don’t just let this thing come into our camp!” 
“Sorry, because of the issue with the key, I couldn’t just turn her down…” 
“Aisha and the others went hunting for Rakia’s knights, but don’t you worry—I’ve only got eyes for you, Bete Loga! If you’re all tense from standing on the battlefield, then just let me take care of you tonight…!” 
“Beat it!” 
“Hng-waaah!” 
Lefiya’s false laughter faded as Lena cried out, her yelp tinged with an edge of pleasure. The girls lost the thread of their conversation as pandemonium unfolded on the boys’ side of the camp. Shaking their heads, one after the other, they wrapped up their supper and stood to put away their dishes. The last to finish, Lefiya stood to follow the others. 
…If only I had more power… 
Trailing behind Tiona and the others as they chatted, Lefiya pondered the conversation they had been having earlier. 
More people might have been saved if only I…Leene and the rest might still be here with us. 
She understood it was a presumptuous and meaningless hypothetical, but she couldn’t help herself from thinking about it. No, everyone else was surely thinking it, too. 
And of course, the werewolf who couldn’t stand any weakness must have felt it even more keenly than she did. They were all simply holding themselves together in order to focus on the Rakian invasion as consummate professionals. 
But because Lefiya was engrossed in her hunger to improve, she never noticed. 
The old Lefiya, who used to respond nervously or withered and lost her nerve at any mention of her being Riveria’s successor, was gone. Her azure eyes only looked higher. 
As the night deepened, she turned upward. 
The starry sky and the beautiful, distant flickering of the heavens spread before her. 
“…I want to be…stronger.” 
Softly, she whispered this to herself. 
Except for the lookouts, the camp fell into slumber. 
The fragrance of the grassy plains, foreign to Orario, drifted on the wind as a dim darkness enveloped everyone. 
And among the sea of tents, the light of a magic-stone lantern seeped out of one of them. 
“Lefiya…Are you still awake?” 
Sheets rustled as her roommate, Elfie, turned to glance at her. 
The sound startled Lefiya, who had been on her stomach reading a book by the light of a magic-stone lamp. 
“S-sorry, Elfie, everyone. You can’t sleep with the light, right?” 
“Nah, I’m fine with a night-light, so it isn’t a problem, but…” 
The book was a treatise on magic. As Lefiya dimmed the light, Elfie and the hume bunny Rakuta made odd faces. 
There was no need to obsess over developing her skills in a situation like this. 

Lefiya could tell exactly what they were thinking. 
They were right. Whatever she could stuff into her head right now would not allow her to gain mastery over much. It was far more important to sleep and restore as much stamina for the next day as possible. 
However, Lefiya could not help but be irritated at doing nothing as time slipped away. 
Loki Familia didn’t have a moment to waste on venturing outside the city and getting into conflicts with other countries. They needed to develop the means to combat the groups trying to destroy the Labyrinth City or else devote their time and energy to further improving themselves. With this in mind, something resembling a compulsion had seized Lefiya. 
Like I suspected, I’m bothering them, she thought. 
“I’m just having a bit of trouble sleeping. I’ll try getting a little fresh air,” she said, picking up the thick book she had been studying. 
Waving at the lookouts she passed, she headed to the edge of the camp and sat on a comfortable-looking stump. It was decently far from the closest patrol, so she probably wouldn’t be questioned. 
Along the way, she had turned on the portable magic-stone lantern she had borrowed, and now she started reading again. 
“Ah…Miss Aiz.” 
After a short while, a breeze blew through. As it brushed aside her long hair, Lefiya happened to glance in the direction of the wind and noticed the golden-haired, golden-eyed girl standing there. 
Aiz had volunteered to keep watch because she had hardly done anything during the day. The Level-1 and Level-2 members of the familia were uncomfortable to have someone in the leadership on watch duty, but they eventually gave in to her request. Though no one had mentioned anything, Aiz probably noticed that the lower-level adventurers were getting more nervous than they were during their usual dungeon crawling. Finn had also granted his approval. 
“…” 
Aiz was gazing out into the plains, in the direction of the Rakian army. 
But Lefiya could tell that wasn’t where her eyes were focused. Since long ago, Aiz’s gaze had always been fixed onto a place far off in the distance. 
Lefiya was beginning to understand a bit now that she had experienced a similar feeling. 
Normally, she would have gone over to greet Aiz, but tonight Lefiya only lowered her head and immersed herself once more in her attempts to absorb more knowledge. 
“What are you doing, Lefiya?” 
“Gyaaa!” 
However, a voice from behind gave her a fright. 
She spun around frantically and came face-to-face with Riveria, her long jade hair glimmering in the darkness. Lefiya hadn’t noticed her approaching at all. 
“L-Lady Riveria! Why are you here…?” 
“A little while ago, Elfie came to visit me. She said you were burying yourself in books again.” 
“Ah…” 
Beneath Riveria’s stern gaze, Lefiya wilted like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. 
“Rest. You worked harder than anyone today. If you don’t recover enough Mind by tomorrow, then you will not be doing anything.” 
“I am truly sorry…But…” 
“But what?” 
“I cannot stay like this…I feel like if I don’t get stronger as a mage, then I’ll lose even more important things…” 
“…” 
“I cannot just…do nothing.” Lefiya shared what was bothering her. 
Before Riveria could respond: 
“—Ya sure are diligent, Lefiya. Even though your boobs are already this big…” 
“Kyaaa!” 
All of a sudden, someone grabbed her breasts from behind. 
It was Loki. With a lewd little snort, the goddess’s hands started moving. Lefiya was caught off guard, since it had been so long since this had last happened, and she didn’t hold back at all as she threw Loki over her shoulder. 
Sounding like a squashed frog, her muffled groan reverberated in the darkness. The various lookouts, including Aiz, started to respond to the noise but, recognizing the voice as Loki’s, just continued their patrols as if nothing had happened. 
“Ha-ha-ha…You’ve really grown, Lefiya. Escapin’ my breast bind in a flash!” 
“What are you doing all of a sudden?!” 
“Loki, don’t butt in if you intend to behave like that. It’s unbearable to watch.” 
“I’ve got nothin’ else to do, so I’ve gotta fondle me some breasts.” 
Lefiya and Riveria glared at Loki as she writhed on the ground where she had landed without even a hint of remorse. 
Lefiya turned bright red and covered her chest as the goddess hopped back up and retrieved the book that had fallen in the shock. 
“Even after comin’ this far, you’re studying, huh? Heh-heh…Sorta reminds me of how Aizuu used to be.” 
“Huh?” 
“I know you’ve been tryin’ yer best until now, but this is the first time you’ve shown that stubborn side. That’s what makes me think of Aiz all those years ago. Right, Riveria?” 
“…Yes. I can see what you mean.” 
Surprised at the turn the conversation had taken, Lefiya froze up. 
Being told that she resembled the very person she longed to emulate made her heart skip a beat. 
“You wouldn’t know it from seeing her now…but Aiz has really improved her manners. When she was younger, she was quite unruly. Never listening to us, always going overboard…” 
Lefiya couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Sure, Aiz was a bit hardheaded sometimes and occasionally made decisions without consulting others, but as a general rule, she always listened to what Riveria and Loki said. Lefiya simply could not imagine an Aiz who constantly disobeyed. 
She couldn’t help glancing at the golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman who was calmly standing in the distance. 
“We were at our wits’ end who knows how often. Right, Mama Riveria?” 
“Quit it, Loki. Don’t tease me.” Riveria knit her eyebrows as Loki grinned up at her. “Anyway, she used to be very similar to how you are now, constantly rushing in and making mistakes that were unbearable to watch. Do not try to force things, Lefiya. It’s fine to work hard, but don’t mix that up with overwork.” 
Flustered for a few seconds, Lefiya made up her mind. 
“U-um, then…Could you tell me a bit more about how Miss Aiz used to be?” 
“Hmm?” 
“I mean, if I could hear a bit more, it might be a useful lesson for me. I-it’s certainly not just become I’m curious about her. I mean, o-of course I’m curious, too, but…” 
Lefiya started to trip over her tongue as she tried to explain herself. 
She wanted to learn about the connection between the Aiz she knew now and the Aiz of the past who she had never known. She couldn’t deny that it was partly because she wanted to hear more about her idol, but she also thought there might be something useful in looking back at how the Sword Princess came to be. 
Riveria looked troubled by the request, but— 
“It’ll be fine to tell her a bit. Just think of it as a lullaby. Will ya go to bed after ya hear it, Lefiya?” 
“Y-yes!” 
And that was when Loki threw her a bone. 
As the goddess sat on the stump, the high elf vice captain sighed. 
“Just one story. I am sure Aiz would rather not have embarrassing old stories about her spreading around. That means you cannot go sharing it, either. If that’s okay with you, then I can tell you a little bit.” 
“P-please do!” 
Lefiya leaped at the opportunity to learn more about her idol that had just fallen into her lap. 
Glancing over at where Aiz was standing watch, Riveria said, “Let’s go elsewhere so she doesn’t overhear us and try to cut us to pieces.” 
Lefiya could not tell how serious she was as she started to move. The young elf followed along with Loki to the second-in-command’s personal tent. 
Riveria lit a lamp, glancing at Loki in annoyance as the goddess made herself at home. 
“It was nine years ago when we first met…A lot of things happened leading up to that winter day when Aiz was placed in our care.” 
 



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