Lefiya felt like a true fairy-tale heroine as she faced a small horde of monsters alone.
Slash, cut, spin, thrust.
These four basic movements, combined with her devastating magical abilities, allowed Lefiya to easily eliminate any monster foolish enough to get too close.
After piercing the last enemy, she stopped, feeling exhaustion finally catch up to her.
She had been so excited during the fight that she had completely forgotten her fatigue. Now, as she paused, it was as if a wave of weariness washed over her all at once.
Even so, Lefiya maintained a radiant smile. After all, she had overcome her cowardice—she had finally become strong.
Suddenly, she remembered Shirou, the one who had helped her reach this point. She turned to thank him for his training.
However, when she looked back, she saw Shirou talking with Ais, Tiona, and Tione a short distance away.
"Huh? Why is Miss Ais here?"
Hearing Lefiya's surprised voice, the four turned to look at her. Shirou, spotting her, waved with a smile and gestured for her to come closer.
As Lefiya trotted toward them, Shirou said with his usual calm smile:
"They were passing by, but after seeing you in action, they decided to stay and watch."
"Who said we're only here to watch?"
With an indignant look, Tiona hopped to Lefiya's side, grabbed her arm, and loudly declared:
"I'm here to make sure you don't steal away our future great mage!"
Lefiya's face turned bright red at those words.
"Great mage? I'm still far from that…"
"I can only be called that once I reach Riveria-senpai's level."
"There's no need to be so modest," Shirou said encouragingly as he stood up. "Riveria herself said your magic already reaches the offensive power of a Level 5 spell. She's acknowledged you."
"S-seriously? Riveria-senpai actually said that?!"
Lefiya's eyes sparkled, and she clasped her hands to her cheeks, visibly moved.
"Of course she did!"
"I heard Riveria say it too," added Tione, joining in and boosting Lefiya's confidence even further.
Ais, as silent as ever, was even more straightforward. She reached out and gently patted Lefiya's head, smiling faintly.
"Lefiya has gotten stronger."
"Thank you so much!"
With praise coming from all sides, Lefiya felt deeply touched.
Even when she hesitated or faltered, everyone here had always supported her.
No one had ever considered giving up on her.
That thought moved her deeply.
Reflecting on it only strengthened her resolve. Gripping her staff tightly, Lefiya promised herself she would not let anyone down.
"Shirou-san, please continue training me."
"I want to become an exceptional mage—someone everyone can rely on."
Hearing her request, Shirou felt genuine satisfaction.
Having a clear goal was essential—that's what kept a person moving forward.
The real problem was when someone lost their way and, no matter how hard they tried, could no longer find the path back.
"In that case, let's head to the middle floors. The upper floors aren't challenging enough anymore."
"Yes!"
"Hold on, we're coming too," Tiona said excitedly.
Shirou cast a pleading glance at Tione and Ais, silently hoping they would restrain their friend.
Unfortunately, both were hopeless cases by nature.
When they noticed his look, the two simply turned away, pretending they hadn't seen a thing.
"Didn't you want to explore the dungeon? The middle floors won't help you two get stronger."
"That doesn't matter. We came back from the last expedition two days ago, so today I'm on break," Tiona replied cheerfully, giving Shirou a friendly pat on the shoulder.
Seeing this, Tione and Ais silently nodded in agreement.
With no way out, Shirou could only sigh and accept it.
"…Alright. Let's go together, then."
"Yes!"
Having gotten her way, Tiona let out a loud laugh. "Lefiya, we're going to train you properly. I've already thought up a bunch of super fun training methods!"
"Huh?! What do you mean by that?!"
Lefiya paled. Her future training suddenly felt terrifying.
Compared to Shirou, Tiona was far less trustworthy.
"As I thought…"
Shirou knew Tiona well enough to predict this. That girl was definitely going to cause trouble.
(Poor Lefiya… her fate just got a lot darker, Shirou thought, resigned.)
---
"Ugh, Tiona-senpai, that was cruel! How could you do that?!"
Outside the dungeon, Lefiya was still complaining nonstop. The Amazons had gone too far.
"She's right, Tiona! You threw Lefiya right into the middle of a monster pack! Look at the state she's in!"
Walking ahead, Shirou reprimanded Tiona with a serious expression—though the smile tugging at his lips betrayed him.
The sight of Lefiya surrounded by Almirajs had been downright hilarious.
"I had no choice. Lefiya's attribute suppression is so strong that she can defeat 13th-floor monsters with ease. How is she supposed to grow without a little pressure?"
In the middle floors, the problem wasn't just monster strength—it was the constant, relentless attacks. Still, with the four of them there, Lefiya never had to face them alone.
After adapting quickly, she was already able to handle multiple Level 2 monsters.
That's when Tiona carefully chose a group of Almirajs without their stone axes and tossed Lefiya right into their midst.
Without weapons, the rabbits posed far less danger, making them perfect sparring partners for her training.
The result? Lefiya took several kicks from the rabbits.
From there, Tiona's training became even more creative—and brutal. Unique Amazon techniques started to appear, each more outrageous than the last. The intensity was so extreme that Shirou had to cover his eyes… though he still peeked through his fingers.
"I never want to train with Tiona and Tione again…"
Looking at the completely worn-out Lefiya, Shirou stifled a laugh and tried to comfort her:
"Don't be so upset, Lefiya. Even if it looked brutal, everything was under control."
"Look—now you can react much faster to enemies that get close."
That was precisely the goal of the training Shirou had planned for her.
This kind of exercise was designed to help Lefiya overcome her fear of high-level monsters getting near. Once she could react instinctively, she would no longer freeze mid-cast.
After hearing Shirou's words, Lefiya began to calm down.
As he had said, even if it had been intense, she hadn't taken any real damage.
With that in mind, all her resentment toward the Amazons faded.
The two, walking ahead, sighed in relief when they noticed this.
Yes—they had gone too far.
Now that they thought about it… they truly regretted it.
As for Ais, she walked calmly as if nothing had happened.
At that moment, Shirou deeply envied her unshakable composure. When she wanted to hide something, no one could ever tell.
Before long, the five of them returned to the Twilight Manor.
When the rest of the familia saw Lefiya covered in dirt and utterly exhausted, chaos immediately broke out.
---
(End of Chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."