The waxing gibbous moon hung high in the night sky. Laplace, however, didn’t know the proper terms for the lunar phases—those were established after her time. To her, it was just “slightly less than full.”
She stood on the balcony of her hotel room. Up there on the top floor, it felt like the moon was just a tiny bit closer. The night air felt good against her skin.
“Hey, um... Laplace?”
Behind her stood Nadine Amaryllis, their newest companion.
“Hi, Nadine. Did you get Tanya into bed? Merci beaucoup, mon ami.”
The other woman nodded. “She got a bit too drunk tonight, didn’t she?”
“Hahaha! A bit is an understatement.”
After “declaring war” against Ryan, Tanya had downed drink after drink. Eventually, the conversation turned to the subject of Nadine herself.
At Level 3, she’d had a miserable time looking for work. Everywhere she went, people had assumed that, because she was a woman, she would probably quit her job a few months in. Granted, her extremely low level was fairly uncommon—but nonetheless, she knew men with similar stats got adventuring gigs with little difficulty. They were recruited into parties all the time; working at the Guild, Nadine had witnessed it many times.
Low stats weren’t a deal-breaker as long as you were male—no, as long as you weren’t female.
Every detail of this story had infuriated Tanya to the point that she had kept making comments like, “Fuck that! That’s so stupid! Let’s kick all their asses,” all the while ordering bottle after bottle of wine.
“For some reason I just... accepted it, you know? All of it. I just shrugged my shoulders,” Nadine said after a moment.
“Mmhmm,” Laplace replied softly.
Side by side, they leaned against the railing. The scattered stars twinkled like rock candy as the moon’s warm, honey-hued light shone down upon them.
“The sky’s beautiful tonight,” Nadine murmured, staring up at it. Then, after a moment, she continued, “Her wild drunkenness aside... it made me really happy that Tanya would get so... so furious on my behalf, you know?”
“Oui, je sais. That’s one of the things I like most about her.”
“Likewise. I mean, at Level 3, I’m completely useless as a Healer. You saw me—I could barely manage to get Tanya to sober up. So when she invited me to the party, I was both happy and... and scared.”
“Mmhmm.”
“But she agreed to my terms... and then she actually got Alisa into the Imperial Magic Academy, and I thought... you know, maybe she’s not the kind of person who would stab me in the back or abandon me. Tell me, is she... someone I can trust?” Nadine’s fingers tightened around the railing.
“You’ll have to decide that for yourself, I’m afraid.”
“In that case, I suppose I’ll just have to put her to the test.”
Laplace giggled. “Now then... I know that’s not the only thing you wanted to ask me, correct?”
“How did you know...?” Nadine swallowed. No point in trying to hide it now, she thought. “Laplace, are you... are you really the Great Sorceress from the myths?”
“Oui, c’est exact. It’s the honest truth, but whether you believe me is up to you, of course.”
A passing breeze ruffled their hair. Tonight Nadine had traded her braids for a half-ponytail; she chuckled faintly as the lavender locks tickled her skin. “Coming from you, I’m almost inclined to believe it.”
“Okay then, I’ll prove it.”
Laplace reached over—
“Wait, what?!”
—and lifted Nadine into her arms. Then she slowly floated into the air.
“Wh... what the?! Am I flying?!”
“Consider this a token of my gratitude for babysitting our drunk friend—a free gift from the Great Sorceress!” With a snap of her fingers, now Nadine was levitating, too.
She floated out of Laplace’s arms and skillfully regained her balance.
“Bien joué! You’ve got some good reflexes, don’t you, Nadine?”
“Huh? Wha?!”
“Now then, it’s time to fly! What say we race all the way to that clock tower?”
“What?! W-Wait—Laplace, slow down!”
The clock tower was an iconic Ode landmark—the perfect place for a midnight rendezvous, and in midair, no less.
“That was incredible,” Nadine breathed later, as they landed back on the balcony.
“Hee hee! Just don’t tell Tanya, okay?” Laplace set a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Nadine bit back a yawn. “Oh, okay... Good night, Laplace... Oh, actually...”
“Hmm?”
“The truth is, I’d heard of Tanya before we met. That’s why I felt safe asking her to help Alisa. Back in adventuring school, she was practically a legend.”
“Oho! Somehow I’m not surprised.”
“She was just some country bumpkin—no magical lineage at all. Then she showed up and trounced all the guys in her class. Whenever I asked, my teachers all said her prowess wasn’t natural-born talent; it was achieved through sheer effort. And... they’d always say...” Nadine hesitated, then leaned forward and whispered, “‘What a shame someone of her aptitude was born a woman.’”
“Yikes. If Tanya finds out, she’ll be quite furious.”
“Yeah... She already got angry enough on my behalf, so...” Nadine pressed her index finger to her lips. “Let’s keep this between ourselves.”
“C’est bon, d’accord. I’m pretty good at keeping secrets.”
“Alright. Good night for real this time.” And with that, Nadine headed back into the hotel room.
As she crawled into bed, she thought back to that amber moon painted upon the indigo skies and wondered...
What color will my future be?
✦ ✦ ✦
In the week leading up to the Sparring Tournament, the three women had their work cut out for them. Lilium was a brand-new party, and as such, they needed to get some quests under their belt. And so, over the next few days, the three of them paid frequent visits to the Adventurers’ Guild, and snatched up every Rank C quest they could get their paws on.
Frankly speaking, these quests were so far beneath their level it was kind of hilarious.
“Good morning!”
Once again, they had arrived at the Guild bright and early—but this time, everyone turned to stare. Possibly they were mystified by the idea of an all-female party. Some of them murmured in surprise at the sight of Tanya’s oversized sword.
“Heh heh heh... It would seem my personally handcrafted greatsword is a huge hit,” Laplace smirked. Evidently she was feeling rather pleased with herself. “Maybe I should think about a career in weapon design!”
“Not to change the subject, but—”
“Hey! Don’t just ignore me!”
“—what is a Magi-Knight, anyway?” Nadine finished.
This was perhaps a gauche question, considering a max-level Magi-Knight was literally standing right there in front of her.
Tanya chuckled. To be fair, every quest thus far had been quickly managed either by one snap of Laplace’s fingers or by one simple sword spell, courtesy of Tanya herself. Hence, she hadn’t had much opportunity to showcase a Magi-Knight’s full capabilities. After all, she didn’t need to.
“Are you, like, a Mage who can wield a sword, or a Knight who can cast magic, or what?”
Tanya grinned. “C’mon, Nadine! Isn’t it obvious? A Magi-Knight is...”
With a smile, she proceeded to—
“It’s... uh...”
—fumble the question.
She didn’t have an answer to that. Hell, she didn’t even know the answer herself. She could still cast magic the same way she always had, except now she could use it to boost her physical agility, too. She realized she’d been thinking of herself as a Magi-Knight without really questioning what exactly that entailed.
She shot a pleading look at Laplace, who sat beside her eating a slice of chocolate cake.
“Nom nom... Mmm, this cake is great...”
“Uh, Laplace? Hello?”
“Hmm?” Laplace tilted her head inquisitively, licking the chocolate from the corner of her lips. Sexy. “Oh, that? Easy. Let’s get a quest that’s actually challenging for a change.” Grinning, she held up both hands in double peace signs. “I’ll explain it all on the battlefield!”
Another free gift from the Great Sorceress, apparently.