“Lefiya’s really working hard.”
“Yeah, but…that damn wolf isn’t holding back at all.”
They looked down at the scene in the courtyard from a stone sky bridge that connected different parts of the home.
Curious about Lefiya and Bete’s ongoing training, they watched without breaking for lunch.
“I wondered what sort of training a mage and a warrior with no magic would do, but…”
“At the moment, it’s a lot more reasonable than I expected. Lefiya’s movements are a bit better than when they started…as a fighter and as a mage.”
Tiona leaned against the railing with an annoyed grimace while Narfi and Alicia talked. Like the pouting Amazon, they were initially against Lefiya and Bete training. However, as they kept watching, it was clear that there were improvements in Lefiya’s movements and spellcasting. Her fellow elf Alicia could see that it was the seed of what would eventually become tricks and techniques in Lefiya’s repertoire.
“It seems Bete has put some thought into the training program in his own way.”
“No way, Aki! He’s just lazy!”
Tiona immediately disagreed with Anakity, who was on the other side of Alicia and Narfi.
The training Bete had set for Lefiya was extremely simple. Lefiya’s only goal was to land a blow on him with either sword or magic.
Even if she managed to get off a spell, Bete’s Frosvirt would absorb the magical effects. And if she limited herself to just Arcs Ray, there was no chance of causing damage to their home. And he would handle it the same way if she self-destructed in an Ignis Fatuus.
It was rough around the edges, but his training program made sense.
“C’mon, Tiona, Bete was the head of Víðarr Familia before. He’s not that dumb…seriously.”
“Then he should demonstrate some of that leadership more often…”
It was not entirely clear if Raul was covering for him, and Cruz just crossed his arms with an awkward look on his face.
Many members of Loki Familia had gathered on the long skyway, like a crowd enjoying a show.
Tiona and Tione. Alicia and Narfi. Anakity, Raul, and Cruz.
And:
“Lefiya…Lefiya…with Bete…Just like Bell…? Bell…Lefiya…everyone…is it Bete’s time now…?”
“Aiz! Aiz?! What’s going on with you?!”
Elfie desperately called out as Aiz turned pale from yet another shocking development.
She had been murmuring random things like that in a daze ever since Bete had agreed to train Lefiya.
The mildly airheaded girl who had mistaken Bell Cranell’s goal to become like Bete was currently feeling like the pathetic master who had her beloved disciples stolen away by the Bete School of martial arts. Aiz was despondent, while inside her, a young Aiz in a Far Eastern martial arts outfit lay slumped on the ground.
“Just leave her be, Elfie. She’ll be back to normal if you buy her a Jyaga Maru Kun.” Tiona suggested a random solution as Lefiya rolled violently across the ground.
“How long is this training going to last, do you think…?” Raul grimaced sympathetically.
“Until Lefiya is satisfied, of course.” Anakity sighed, concern visible etched on her face.
The number of people watching them was a testament to her ability to make friends and a likeable personality. And her friends on the sky bridge weren’t the only ones watching, either. Others were keeping an eye on her from here and there around the home.
Lefiya Viridis was a model student, for better and for worse.
She was kind to everyone and cared for by many. She was widely loved, which was uncommon for the notoriously fastidious elves.
But that might more accurately describe the old Lefiya Viridis.
“Right now, she’s working so hard, and there’s no stopping her, but…I’m scared,” her roommate, Elfie, murmured, looking down. “It seems like she’s changing…like she might go someplace far away…”
No one could answer her.
Tione and Tiona, Raul and everyone, they were all silent.
In that sense, Bete was the correct training partner for Lefiya right now. And the worst possible one. The precarity they were feeling in Lefiya, he would affirm it. The two of them would go as far as they could. Even if it was someplace far, far away.
And that was surely what Lefiya wanted.
Recovering from her absentminded babble, Aiz could only look on as she saw something very familiar in the face of Lefiya, who was pouring herself into training down below.