When she saw the students who had come up behind her staring at her with such glimmering eyes, she felt a little out of sorts.
They were in an empty classroom inside one of the academic layer’s many multipurpose buildings.
The students waiting there as Lefiya entered alongside Leon and Alisa were in high spirits.
“I joined the Combat Studies Department because I wanted to become a mage like you! It is an honor to meet you!”
“Ah, that’s not fair, Mimi! It’s an honor for me, too!!!”
“Your fame has reached far beyond Orario! I’ve decided I’m going to join Loki Familia for sure!!!”
A pampered, high-class-looking elf girl, a human girl who seemed almost childish, and an androgynous werewolf boy had come up to passionately greet Lefiya. Her response was neither shock nor bewilderment but a smile.
When she saw their excited, bright-eyed determination to join Loki Familia, she felt like she was seeing herself from three years ago. She politely coughed rather than express her less-than-enthusiastic inner thoughts.
It is not nearly as glamorous as you think.
They all cocked their head at the hollow smile the alum they looked up to had on her lips.
“As you know, Lefiya, those who choose combat disciplines are arranged into four-man cells in addition to their individual classes. You will be instructing Seventh Squad.”
Leon smoothly explained the situation as she met the students for the first time.
She looked with genuine nostalgia at the 7th Squad wearing their accustomed white uniforms. She had always struggled with fighting, but the massive amount of magical power she could call upon drew attention, and thanks to her rowdy friends, she and Alisa got pulled into a combat squad. They regularly fought monsters and clashed with rough characters. She couldn’t even begin to list all the incidents she had faced as a student.
As she fondly remembered those times, Alisa added, “These children have all leveled up. And two of them are Level Three.”
“Two Level Threes?”
Lefiya’s deep blue eyes widened.
She was genuinely surprised.
There were many second-tier adventurers in Orario, but only a handful could be found beyond its walls. For the rest of the world, Level 3 was a clear dividing line separating the strong from the ordinary. Such people were desperately sought after by every organization across the entire world, not just familias in Orario.
That was why Balder had been so confident they could be useful in combat right away.
If they had the strength of second-tier adventurers, then they could get by in Loki Familia as well.
“Why don’t you introduce yourselves to Instructor Lefiya? Nano, Luke, as Level Threes, you can take the lead.”
“Y-yes, Professor!”
At Alisa’s direction, the human girl answered with a squeaky voice, and the human boy who had not joined the welcome earlier stood up from his seat as well.
“I am Natalinoe Cladfield. Please, call me Nano!”
She was smaller than Lefiya and sported soft, strawberry-blond hair that was a more vibrant color than Misha’s, who was a receptionist at the Guild. Her self-introduction was nervous but cheerful.
“…I’m Luke Fowl.”
The ashen-haired boy’s introduction could not be more different. He exuded a tough, dauntless air, even as he appeared to be a handsome, almost pretty, young boy.
Lefiya could tell by the way they carried themselves that the girl had a backline role while he was a vanguard fighter.
It was not what Lefiya had expected.
Between Nano’s garbled speech and how young she appeared, she did not seem like a Level 3. Given the nature of falna, there was an iron rule among adventurers to never judge a book by its cover, but given Nano’s general demeanor, Lefiya had assumed she wasn’t Level 3.
The remaining two were the elf Miliria and the werewolf Cole.
“Level Three as a student…that’s incredible. How long have you been enrolled?”
From Orario’s perspective, the options for leveling up in the outside world were extremely limited—all the more so when trying to reach Level 3. Lefiya had leveled up before joining Loki Familia, but Level 2 was her limit.
Even as she wholeheartedly praised it, she suspected it was not something that could have been achieved in a mere year or two.
“I’ve been here for five years. In fact, I’m older than you, ‘Instructor.’” The student straddling the line between boyhood and manhood answered her curtly.
“L-Luke!”
Even as Nano warned him he was being rude, he looked straight at Lefiya and continued.
“You may not have known about us, but we sure knew you, Ms. Model Student.”
“…My apologies. However, I would prefer it if you do not call me that.”
Even Lefiya grimaced at having her embarrassing school-era nickname brought up. Alisa, who had hung back thus far, could not keep from interjecting:
“Luke, Lefiya is most certainly your senior by virtue of her accomplishments, and she has taken time away from her familia in order to provide instruction here. That attitude is unreasonable.”
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“I’m sorry. I simply was unsure how I should interact with an instructor who is younger than me.”
“You…!”
Alisa’s eyes flared as an argument brewed between her and Luke.
Nano, the other students, and Lefiya tried to stop it, but he refused to budge. Leon watched without comment.
Before the mood could grow any tenser, Lefiya quickly changed tack and finished the introductions before calling their brief meeting to a close.
The whole time, Luke watched her with cold eyes.