Now that they were alone, they could forget their positions for a moment and simply be themselves.
Alisa Ragast.
She was two years older and used to be in the same class as Lefiya. They had been roommates and became fast friends ever since Lefiya enrolled.
The School District, managed with support from the Guild in Orario, was a collective of several familias. As the principal and the school’s representative, Balder stood at the top, but no familia was considered higher or lower—though they each had quirks.
And within the School District, familias were normally referred to as classes. Iðunn Familia became Iðunn Class, Bragi Familia became Bragi Class, and so on.
The students received falna from their respective deities while going about their school life. It was a peculiar familia structure that was only found here.
Lefiya and Alisa had both belonged to Balder Class.
“But it’s a relief to see you here, Alisa. I imagine there are hardly any people left from our era. I was always getting into trouble with you and Bardain and the others.”
“Ha-ha! Rulebreaker Bardain! You’re so softhearted that you always got wrapped up in his shenanigans and got treated like a convenient cannon for blowing things up. He was always diving headfirst into nests of monsters and everything else.”
If Lefiya was a model student, Alisa was the student council president who always took charge. Her skill in alchemy was unbelievable, and while she paled in combat ability compared to Lefiya, the teachers always considered her uniquely suited for a career in industrial manufacturing.
“Look at you, a prefect now.”
“Yes, somehow. I was lucky.”
“You were the smartest of us all, Alisa. It was skill. I’m sure you can become a teacher here like you always wanted.”
“That’s not true at all. I have my hands full just trying to do everything I can!”
Walking down the hallway, Lefiya noticed the armband around Alisa’s left arm.
The ray of light and ship crest—the emblem of Balder Class—was proof she was a prefect, something none but the chosen few could become.
They were student representatives who served as the bridge between teachers and students in each class. They had the authority to discipline students as they deemed necessary. It would not be wrong to describe them as quasi-teachers.
In familia terms, the teachers were like the core leadership, and the prefects were candidates for future promotion to leadership. In Loki Familia’s case, they were in a similar position as Raul and the other second-string members.
Lefiya had left for Orario, aiming to be an adventurer while Alisa had remained in the School District to become a teacher.
Becoming a teacher there had the same low odds as joining one of the more powerful factions in Orario. Of course, it required the proper qualifications, but countless people dreamed of being like the wonderful instructors and deities who had guided them through their student life.
Becoming a prefect could be considered the most direct route to becoming a teacher.
“The LFC is still going strong, I imagine?”
“Of course! Managing an unofficial organization requires official influence! I’m the head of the Leon Fan Club! It’s not an abuse of authority, though! It’s a prefect’s job to hear the students’ voices and manage things so friction doesn’t build between them and the instructors!”
“Right…do try to keep it in moderation…”
Right around when she met Lefiya, Alisa was crushing on a certain instructor.
She originally set her sights on becoming an teacher because she wanted to get closer to him. But even if that yearning was the spark, her determination to become an instructor was genuine.
Watching her first love moved her deeply, and it wasn’t long before she became interested in working in the same field as him.
She was still striving earnestly to become a teacher here, to achieve her dream.
Lefiya was happy for her, almost like it was her own dream.
The Alchemy Department’s ace and a prefect.
Those were Alisa’s current titles.
“Did you hear, Lefiya?! Before Orario sent the request for a recruiter, Hestia Familia’s Bell Cranell snuck in without permission!”
“Huh?”
“The Record Holder was so well known in the countries and towns we’ve been to lately! To think he was so thoughtless! It was such a disappointment! Do you know him?”
“No, not at all. Not even a little. I don’t know anything about that lewd, peeping, terribly rude rabbit.”
“I—I see…”
While talking about recent events and just generally chatting, they stepped out onto a terrace halfway up Breithablik. There wasn’t a single cloud in the perfect blue sky. Down below, the schoolhouses Lefiya had attended for years were the same as ever, and she could see students walking around here and there.
And a suspicious-looking vermilion-haired goddess was constantly hitting on them.
“There is still so much I want to talk about. I don’t know what to do. I can’t even say it all. And it’s only been three years apart.”
There was a fond, openhearted glint behind Alisa’s glasses as she held down her hair, which the sea breeze seemed eager to carry away.
Right…it’s already been three years…
Only three years. Or already three years.
Different people would see it their own way. But Lefiya was in the latter camp.
All those turbulent days spent adventuring in Orario were filled with countless experiences that left her head spinning.
Joy, sadness, failure…and loss.
Remembering that beautiful, hideous girl, Lefiya averted her eyes.
“Lefiya…you’ve changed.”
“Eh?”
“Like I said before, I didn’t recognize you at first. You feel like a different person…or maybe it’s that you’ve grown up?”
Alisa carefully chose her words.
“No…you’ve become an adventurer,” she said with a lonely laugh. “You took the lead. It’s…frustrating. I’m sure you’re the person from our generation who has grown the most. Maybe you were right to choose Loki Familia.”
Alisa didn’t mean anything by those words. She was simply speaking her mind. But even though she knew that, Lefiya could only manage a fake smile.
“…It’s not something right or wrong.”
It was true.
If she had not become an adventurer, she would never have met Aiz and everyone else, and she would never have needed to experience such crushing loss.
But at the same time, even if she could have escaped that pain, she couldn’t say with conviction that would be the right choice.
It was no exaggeration to say that the city might have been destroyed had Lefiya not been there. And not just her. If any single person had been missing, things may have ended very differently.
So she had no idea what was correct or right.
If it seemed like she had changed, then it was because she regretted something so much that she couldn’t forgive herself. It was only after realizing something far too late that she found herself standing here in front of Alisa.
To Lefiya, that was not something worthy of praise. Not at all.
Lefiya didn’t notice the self-deprecation creeping into the smile on her face.
When Alisa saw that, she realized she had said something she shouldn’t have and clammed up.
“…But your fame is spreading all over the world. Really, in all sorts of places. Can you believe it? Hearing stories about my roommate from the Empire to the Kaios Desert!”
“That’s…I’m sure they’ve been embellished. I’m not that famous…”
“There was one about how Altena was targeting you out of jealousy!”
“Ah, that one is true…”
Feeling apologetic as Alisa cheerfully changed the topic, Lefiya smiled.
After smiling for a while, she looked out at the scenery of the school.
I accepted it and understood the responsibility, but I already regret coming here.
This was a place too filled with memories.
Everywhere she looked evoked scenes from the past, easily dredging up old memories.
Just talking with Alisa like this—looking out at the School District from this terrace—brought back too many.
It wasn’t Alisa’s fault. The cause was Lefiya’s sentimentality, her shame.
Here, she was forced to confront her old self, no matter how much she wanted to look away.
The naive student who knew nothing and saw only a brighter future, believing in a better tomorrow with anticipation in her eyes.
Confronting her naive self right now was unpleasant.
It was painful when she had just lost her.
What about me has changed?
As she asked a question she could not begin to answer, Lefiya’s mind slipped into memories.