Pale green walls stretched out ahead.
This was Bell's first time stepping onto the sixth floor of the Dungeon. Standing beside him was an elf renowned for her beauty. Lefiya Viridis. Her deep golden hair was tied in a ponytail, and her leaf-shaped ears, paired with her delicate skin, formed a striking picture. They had only just met, yet for some reason, her sea-blue eyes held a faint hostility.
"Viridis-san, are you upset?"
Before setting out, Bell had exchanged names with the members of the Loki Familia accompanying him.
"...Lefiya." The blond elf knit her willow-like brows.
"Hm?"
"Just call me Lefiya. I don't want anyone outside my kin using my clan name."
"Then, Lefiya-san, are you angry?"
Bell asked again.
Taking Bell's level into account, Loki Familia had agreed to slow their pace on the Upper Floors—they would be staying in the Dungeon for a while anyway. They widened their formation to avoid unrelated adventurers and left the monsters to the boy. For anyone above level 5, these low-level creatures were basically worthless. Only when they reached floors Bell couldn't handle would Loki Familia step in to clean up.
Finn and the others led the way and chose their route, while Ais guarded the rear, taking out stragglers or newly spawned monsters. The one assigned to accompany Bell was the level 3 Lefiya. Bell never expected that the moment they entered the Dungeon, this blond elf would already be radiating hostility.
"I'm. Not. Angry. At. All!"
Lefiya forced out each word, her beautiful face twisted with anger.
"Did I do something?" Bell asked tentatively.
"You've got some nerve saying that! I heard everything! You—you pretended to be pitiful so Ais-san would let you rest on her lap!"
Lefiya leveled her accusation straight at him.
"...That was beyond my control."
Bell had been nothing but a victim. If anyone deserved blame, it should be whoever had coaxed that airheaded blonde girl into doing it.
"Beyond your control? You even climbed onto Ais-san's back and rubbed up against her!"
Lefiya leaned in angrily, her eyes filled with accusation.
"?!"
"I was just asleep! How did that make me the one taking the initiative?" Bell insisted on his innocence.
Lefiya ignored him completely. Overwhelmed by some emotion, her words grew sharper and louder.
"Ais-san is a First-Class Adventurer! She's strong, beautiful, elegant! And you actually made her carry you!"
Her crisp voice kept pouring out.
"Sleeping, yeah right—you were definitely faking it! You were probably touching Ais-san here and there behind her back, and even brushed your lips against her neck while moving. Ah—so enviable... no, so shameless!"
"..."
Only then did Bell understand where that hostile look had come from.
"To desecrate the noble Sword Princess—you're a beast, a... a shameless wretch! You should be on your knees offering Ais-san a proper apology!"
The insults spilled out nonstop, and tears shimmered faintly in Lefiya's blue eyes.
"The word you want is 'scum.' Also 'human trash.'" Bell noticed she was running out of vocabulary and supplied the words for her.
"...You! Do you have no shame as a human?!"
Lefiya shut her eyes and shouted.
But right at the height of her fury, Bell simply said, quietly, "Lefiya-san, you really like the Sword Princess, don't you?"
"...?"
The golden-yellow haired elf froze, her expression turning into a bewildered "What on earth is this guy talking about?" The jealousy and anger surging inside her were extinguished in an instant by the boy's unexpected words.
Coming to her senses, Lefiya gasped for breath after talking so much in one go.
The boy didn't give her time to think and continued, "You must be very close to Ais-san, right?"
"...Not as close as you think," Lefiya replied, her tone much calmer now.
"Can you tell me what happened?"
"Well, during the last expedition..."
Lefiya hesitated for a moment. She had just been scolding the boy—so why was she suddenly confiding in him? But the moment the topic turned to that beautiful blonde swordswoman, it was as if a switch flipped. She couldn't stop herself from talking.
Bell could hear pure admiration in the blond elf's voice. In short, when Lefiya had been struck, sent flying, and surrounded by monsters, Ais stepped forward and rescued her from danger. A cliché situation. Yet in Lefiya's blue eyes, he sensed an unusual fervor.
"Ais-san is truly formidable."
Bell praised without holding back.
"Right? You think so too, don't you? When I look at that beautiful figure, I always feel like… ah, I'm still so immature."
Without realizing it, the golden-yellow-haired elf had already fallen into step beside him.
"I think you're strong too. Since you're here with me in the middle of the formation, that means Lefiya-san's level isn't that high, right? But you're already able to join frontline adventurers on expeditions—that's really impressive."
Bell explained his reasoning.
Lefiya blinked. She hadn't told this boy her level, yet he had guessed it so accurately. Only then did the elf realize—when she felt the sincerity in his praise, her cheeks instantly turned red.
"S-Stop… stop it! I'm nowhere near Ais-san's level. Even if you praise me, you won't get anything out of it."
Bell let out a small laugh.
"Then let's see which of us catches up to her first."
"...A level 1 against a level 3?"
Lefiya fell silent for a moment, then found herself drawn in by the boy's determined gaze. He was serious. Not only that—he had acknowledged the elf girl's goal.
Lefiya often spoke of her admiration, but she never dared share her true feelings with anyone. After all, her goal was the beautiful, dazzling Sword Princess. She was clumsy and timid, yet she wanted to approach Ais, a prodigy praised by all. Forget others—even Lefiya herself didn't believe in such a dream.
But the boy was different. He seemed to be telling her: One day, we will walk alongside the Sword Princess.
What an idiot.
Her own steps were so slow—how could she possibly catch up to that faraway figure? The gap between Lefiya and Ais would only grow wider. And the boy so far behind? That was even more impossible.
"What? You don't believe it?" Bell seemed to read the golden-yellow-haired elf's thoughts.
"Who would? Only heroes in fairy tales could do something like that!"
"Eh—what if we're the ones?"
"No way, you idiot."
Lefiya hid her smile, not wanting the boy to see her warm cheeks.
She never expected that simply having one more fool like herself could make her this happy. Holding her staff close, Lefiya walked with noticeably lighter steps.