The Dark Faction thugs only saw a flash of silver—then collapsed to the ground, never moving again.
Cid's hand, which he'd just lifted to cast a spell, slowly lowered.
Right in front of him, Ais had already cut down four enemies in the blink of an eye.
Cid wanted to provide magical support, but Ais was simply too fast. With the casting speed he was publicly supposed to have, there was no way he could keep up.
And if he did keep up, it would be impossible to explain.
So Cid could only stop short—again and again.
After it happened several times, the way Cid looked at Ais began to change.
His mood was like this:
You grind through a full day of work, go home, boot up a MOBA hoping to climb ranks… and realize the whole match is full of red-ping disasters, with the kill count looking cursed from the start.
"Defeat you all!"
The tiny swordswoman charging in front had blood splashed across her face, yet her expression didn't change even a little.
In battle, she discarded even emotion—pursuing nothing but greater strength.
If this were a cultivation fantasy, her style screamed "heartless demonic prodigy."
But Ais wasn't truly demonic.
She only crippled everyone's legs, taking away their mobility and ability to fight.
"Ais! Don't push so far ahead!"
Riveria watched in alarm.
She'd warned this child time and time again. Ais listened seriously every time—then never actually took it to heart.
"It's fine. I can do it!"
Ais heard Riveria calling, but still plunged into the enemy line.
Several Dark Faction squads were scattered by her assault; in the time it took to blink, they were all wiped out.
The group they'd found this time wasn't anything special—just ordinary scum.
They lacked the guts to face Orario head-on.
But when it came to bullying regular civilians while Orario was distracted? Their courage was endless.
Against enemies at that level, Ais didn't even use magic or sword techniques. She simply moved and swung faster than they could react—clean, brutal, efficient.
"Enemies… all defeated!"
Ais stood before Riveria with blood all over her face, wearing a determined look.
Riveria held back—barely—and still chopped her on the head.
When Ais looked up with confused, wronged eyes, Riveria's blood pressure spiked.
"Charging ahead alone, abandoning your teammates, zero coordination—Ais, did you do that expecting me to praise you?!"
"…Yes."
Ais nodded.
She really had expected that.
If anything, she didn't understand why Riveria was punishing her when she'd beaten everyone.
"Who taught this child to be like this…?"
Riveria felt a headache forming.
She had taught her seriously. Seriously.
So how had she still turned out like this?
This wasn't what Riveria taught!
After a moment, Riveria forced herself back into calm.
Because there was something more important than anger.
"Ais… hurting people feels awful, doesn't it?"
"…Yeah."
"Feeling troubled is a good thing. It proves you're still human—that your heart hasn't fallen. Don't forget how you feel right now."
After delivering what she considered the most important lesson, Riveria turned to Cid for help.
I can't handle this child. Save me.
Cid, as an outsider, actually guessed why Ais had rushed ahead. It wasn't to steal credit.
For someone as pure as Ais, "merit" meant nothing.
"Ais… Riveria-sama is injured, so you wanted to protect her. That's why you attacked first, right?"
Children's thinking was often painfully simple.
And Ais's could be summarized as:
Cut everything down.
If you kill all the enemies, isn't that the best protection?
"Mm-hm. That's exactly it."
Ais nodded hard.
That was the reason she'd acted—and she still didn't understand why Riveria was angry.
Wasn't she helping Riveria?
With Riveria wrapped in bandages, Ais had been furious.
So even though she didn't like killing humans, once she decided to act, she acted without hesitation.
Riveria wanted to say something… but didn't know what.
Ais's gratitude and loyalty made her feel a little relieved, even touched.
But the problem was that Ais had her own logic—and her logic was usually catastrophically wrong.
Other than correcting her bit by bit over time, Riveria had no idea what else to do.
Cid asked, softly but mercilessly:
"Ais. If you want to protect Riveria-sama… why are you running farther and farther away from her?"
Ais froze.
She thought about it for a long time and still didn't understand.
Finally, she just stared blankly at Cid.
"…You're right. Why?"
The answer was simple: she had basic awareness of the world—but no awareness that her own thinking was "cut the whole map down."
When it mattered, she moved on instinct.
Cid confirmed it again: Ais's heart was pure—pure to the point of seeming abnormal, almost obsessive.
She reminded him of himself, back when he'd been desperately chasing "magic" in his previous life.
Cid had already graduated from that obsession—because he'd found magic for real.
But if he'd been born into a world without magic, he knew he'd have become obsessed again.
That shared "unreasonable purity" made Cid feel oddly close to her.
As for her stealing his kills earlier…
Fine. He'd forgive her.
"If you can't figure it out, then stay beside Riveria-sama. Your charge distance can't exceed twenty steps."
Cid gave the order.
"Twenty steps… okay!"
Ais agreed instantly.
With her speed, she could cross twenty steps in an instant—meaning she could return to defend immediately.
"…You convinced her that easily? Just like that?"
Riveria didn't fully understand, but she was genuinely stunned.
"Ais is a child. Of course you persuade her with simple logic."
Cid said it like it was obvious.
Just like the way to stop him from obsessing was to give him magic, the way to make Ais listen was to understand what she truly wanted—then offer a solution that satisfied it.
What Ais wanted right now wasn't "battle."
It was "protect Riveria."
Once you understood that, the rest was easy.
Compared to a wild, unstoppable child-Alise who didn't listen to anyone, Ais was actually very reasonable—people just couldn't comprehend her reasoning.
What "normal" person would guess she was charging deep into enemy lines to protect her teammate?
Fortunately, Cid wasn't exactly normal either.
"…Honestly, only you can manage her."
Riveria still didn't get it, but she suddenly had a powerful urge to hand Ais over to Cid permanently.
Dealing with Loki's pressure was just comic relief.
Taking care of Ais was true stress training.
Even with Riveria's temperament, she'd almost broken down several times.
Cid's ability to understand Ais so effortlessly was… absurd.
Sadly, Loki would never allow Ais to leave the Familia, and Riveria could never openly "poach" her.
In the end, Riveria alone would bear the burden.
They searched for a while longer.
Every Dark Faction thug they found was promptly taken down by Ais.
A few quicker ones either got blasted by Cid's magic, or were hunted down by Ais in an instant.
Then, while Ais chased a Level 3, Riveria stopped her from going any farther.
"Ais—don't go that way!"
Ahead of them lay Orario's Third District.
The area held the labyrinthine Daedalus Street—
and the headquarters of the Ishtar Familia.
....
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