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"Am… amazing—I've never seen you before!"
Alise blurted in delight, scarlet ponytail swishing as she stared up at Takumi in frank surprise. Then, as if suddenly remembering her manners, she straightened her back, pushed out her chest, and introduced herself with bright, ringing clarity:
"I am Alise Lovell, captain of the Astraea Familia. Very happy to make your acquaintance!"
"My name is Takumi, of the Hestia Familia," he answered leisurely. "At the moment I probably count as the captain, too."
Considering his familia currently had exactly one person, Hestia probably wouldn't object to the title.
After the simple exchange, Takumi looked at the adorable redhead, hesitating a fraction as if debating whether to say something more. Just as he opened his mouth, Lyra chimed in from the side, tone deadpan and merciless.
"Quit beaming and chatting, Alise—your clothes are on fire."
"Eh!?"
Alise lowered her eyes and only then noticed that the parts of her outfit not covered by armor had been licked by the earlier flame-blast and were actively burning. With her fire resistance so high, she hadn't felt the heat.
"Yikes—!"
She took off in tight circles on the spot—tap tap tap—running fast enough to blow the flames out with the wind she made herself, the sight so dizzying that the others' eyes nearly crossed. When the last tongue of flame fluttered out, she exhaled in relief, planted her fists on her hips, and put on a straight face again:
"Phew—well, sometimes you slip up! As the saying goes, failure is the mother of success. With this, I'm one step closer to my ideal!!"
Takumi watched her irrepressible optimism and almost lost his composure. He didn't comment; he merely let his eyes wander, appreciatively, over the scenery that the half-scorched outfit now failed to conceal. Skin like newly fallen snow glowed in the firelight. The slim, flat belly carried elegant lines of muscle—faint, beautiful. When she'd been spinning a moment ago, the smooth plane of her back had been laid completely bare in his field of view.
Unfortunately for the rest of the world, everyone present besides him was female; the men were either unconscious or pinned to the ground. No one else got to share the view.
For a boastful captain, Alise had nerves of steel, but Lyra, flicking her short hair with a world-weary little sigh, saw straight through the act and never missed her chance:
"Our captain's planning to brazen it out again…"
The entire aura of the tiny Pallum girl was "I've seen through the mortal world," which sat hilariously at odds with her cute, round face.
She gave Alise a look that mixed resignation and sarcasm. "I don't follow what you're saying. But I will say this: I'm honestly impressed you can proudly proclaim every single glorious victory. Also—I'm tired of this endless brawl."
Hearing that, the sun-bright confidence on Alise's face dimmed a notch; sorrow slipped through.
"…Yeah. We let the Dark Faction get away with it again. If we'd moved just a bit earlier, we could've kept the damage down."
With the tone that had been as bright as daylight fading to a hush, Lyra didn't push. Silence spread for a heartbeat—and then a breezy, sing-song voice sliced right through it.
Kaguya Gojouno stepped forward: silk-smooth black hair cascading against a deep crimson kimono; a smile that always looked composed; a voice light and pleasant, like the pluck of a lute. Every gesture balanced and refined—the very picture of an eastern yamato nadeshiko. She turned, smiling sweetly, and aimed her barbs at the blonde elf.
"It isn't your fault, Captain. Obviously some elf was dragging us back."
Ryuu raised a pale brow; her gaze, which had been following Takumi, returned to Kaguya with a faint chill. "Kaguya… are you saying I did poorly?"
"My, did you not notice?" Kaguya's smile didn't budge.
"I'm the one who charged the enemy! I was the one who locked the warehouse down fastest! Where exactly did I do poorly!?" Ryuu shot back, uncharacteristically heated.
Kaguya's smiley mask flipped a clean one-eighty in an instant.
"My, my—such spirit. Then forgive my bluntness… you idiot!!"
The sudden spike in volume and the whiplash change in expression stunned Ryuu for a second.
And then Kaguya's words poured over her like a crashing tide.
"What did you do wrong? Try everything, you blockhead!"
"What?!"
"And who cleaned up after you charged in hot-headed because you were mad? Hmm? Who? Me!"
"Y-you—!"
"Quit strutting around, you dope! No—useless. Elf."
"U… useless!?"
Kaguya's true nature, revealed without warning, shattered Takumi's mental image of a demure yamato nadeshiko in one blow. Her language would've made even a certain notoriously foul-mouthed netizen proud. She went at Ryuu head-on, showing zero mercy.
Face flushing red, Ryuu snapped back. "Y-you're the one who fought so hard you caused extra collateral damage—losing sight of our objective! Who are you to lecture me!"
Kaguya curled her lip and tossed the words out like a blade. "Big talk for a useless elf—"
She stretched the last words out to an infuriating length, and Ryuu's blood pressure visibly spiked. "Don't call me useless—!!"
What had been a verbal duel instantly tipped toward a physical one. Two Lv.3 adventurers exploded into motion—bam, bam—their back-and-forth so tight that, for a moment, it was impossible to tell who had the upper hand.
Seeing the chaos, Lyra—who had seen this brand of argument more than once—did what she always did: she refused to get dragged in. Instead, she turned back toward Takumi and Lili, her eyes sparkling with interest.
"Pleasure meeting you, Takumi. Name's Lyra—make sure you remember it, okay~ Looks like you're on good terms with us Pallum girls~"
Under Lyra's frank gaze, Lili's shoulders tightened; she ducked her head and turned slightly away, looking extremely guilty. Afraid of accidentally triggering the master–servant curse again, she hurried to explain in a whisper, words tumbling.
"I—I'm just Takumi-sama's supporter. And earlier… I betrayed him and ran.
After I got here, he caught me, and… and he saved me."
By the end, Lili's head was practically pressed to her chest; small as she was, she now looked exactly like a trembling little animal, tail tucked, ears drooping.
Lyra froze, her expression turning complicated—half exasperation at the girl's self-sabotaging honesty, half relief that she'd survived, and a thread of curiosity about the man who inspired such fear and such reliance at the same time.
At that moment, a large, warm palm descended lightly onto the crown of Lili's head.
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