Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

The boy let his white hair fly wildly and ran away like a rabbit.

Lefia let out a strange cry.

Seeing the human boy display impressive running speed, the elven girl also dashed off in one stride.

"Stop right there!!"

"Eeee ...

In a quiet corner of the city late at night, a fierce chase ensued.

The distance that had been created during the starting sprint was halved in the blink of an eye. The boy turned around and looked behind him, exclaiming in astonishment.

The boy appeared to be Lv.1, and couldn't possibly be a match for Lefia, who, despite being a mage, was at least Lv.3 in terms of speed. The gap between them continued to narrow.

Judging from his expression, he definitely knew some reason why Ais was visiting this corner of the city.

Lefia instinctively thought so. She had originally thought the boy seemed kind-hearted, polite, and simple, but now the girl who idolized the swordswoman (Ais) retracted those comments and regarded him only as an "rude barbarian."

Its sharp, azure eyes were fixed on the white rabbit desperately trying to escape.

"Eee ...

"This guy...!?"

The boy ran around aimlessly, turning into a maze of paths several times, and Lefia was unable to catch up with him.

Watching that figure running at full speed, surprisingly able to hold on, Lefia shouted in her heart:

—This guy is very good at running away!

His use of back alleys was as if he'd honed his skills in the maze-like streets (Daedalus Road), and he possessed a burst of speed when escaping. Seeing his escape style, Lefia really wanted to ask him, "He's only Level 1, what kind of monsters are they chasing? How come they can't catch him?"

However, the distance between the two sides is now less than five meters.

At this critical juncture, no matter how much he struggles, he can't shake himself off.

"I'm almost there!" Lefia exclaimed confidently as she charged into the dead-end alley the boy had turned into.

"Huh... no, it's gone!?"

The view shifted to a new path, and the boy suddenly vanished into thin air.

Where did they go?! Lefia was shocked and anxious. She noticed a side road and frantically swung her arms, then took off running again.

When the topic of Ais came up, she lost her composure and became oblivious to the situation.

There is a small space in the shadows of the building, which is a dead angle when viewed from the side path.

There was an old stone well there, with its bucket and pulley creaking and groaning.

◆

Ah... Good morning.

"Haa, haa, haa...!? Good morning...!!"

"...What happened?"

"N-No! I was just chased by forest spirits for a while...!"

"An...spirit?"

"It's beautiful, but also terrifying...!!"

"Uh, um... are you alright?"

"Could... I rest for a bit...?!"

"Uh, um."

Before the intense workout began, a little incident occurred on the city wall.

"Haa, haa, haa...!?"

I ran for about three hours.

As the sun began to rise and the sky gradually turned white, Lefia, who was searching everywhere for the boy, was panting heavily.

After a long period of running at full speed, even her Lv.3 stamina was almost exhausted. She was covered in sweat and swayed unsteadily.

"Where did they go...!?"

The beautiful elven girl was unwilling to accept this.

All her indomitable willpower was in vain, but Lefia still refused to give up and wanted to find Ais and the boy.

However, at that moment, she inadvertently sensed a human presence.

There were exactly two people.

She was startled—a bad feeling arose in her heart—and in a moment of panic, she hid in the shadows.

Lefia peeked out and took a look.

There stood the white-haired boy, with his arm around the shoulder of the person he admired (Ais).

(Huh—huh?!?)

Boom! A gigantic bolt of lightning, seemingly from the imagination, struck Lefia on the head.

She was struck by an unusually strong shock, and her whole body stiffened, turning deathly pale.

A closer look would reveal that Ais was merely supporting the battered and immobile boy, letting him lean on her shoulder... However, to Lefia, it appeared as an illusion of the two of them embracing each other intimately.

Lefia even heard laughter of "Ahahaha woohoo" and turned into a living stone statue in the shadows.

As for Ais, she was frustrated because she had hit too hard and didn't notice the younger elf, so she walked past her dejectedly.

◆

That night.

The members of the Loki Familia had dinner in the main dining room.

In a corner of the grand restaurant, a listless, gloomy young girl sat, looking so dejected that it was almost unbearable to look at her.

"...What's wrong with her?"

"N-I don't know..."

Lefia hung her head in dejection, while Dione and Diona whispered to each other, shoulder to shoulder, right in front of her. Ais, sitting next to the Amazon sisters, now showed obvious signs of panic, her expression usually devoid of emotion.

Not only the other female members, but even the other male members around her, such as Bert and Raul, were a little intimidated by her and kept their distance.

"...Lefi, Aya? What's wrong?"

As the miasma emanating from the girl made the atmosphere increasingly awkward, Ais made up her mind and took action.

"Oh!" Under the admiring gazes of her fellow members, Ais approached Lefia and timidly called out to her.

Despite Ais's question, Lefia still refused to look up.

Just as Ais was really starting to rack her brains—

"Miss Ais... who was that boy (human) you secretly met this morning...?"

She asked slowly, lowering her voice.

「!?」

A strong sense of oppression startled Ais, and she panicked, thinking: How did she know?!

The younger girl lowered her chin, covered her eyes with her bangs, and was surrounded by an indescribable dark aura, waiting for Ais's answer. The unspoken pressure made Ais even more hesitant.

Tiona and the others looked at Ais and Lefia with confusion, which made Ais even more flustered. She had no choice but to take the hand of the younger girl.

Under the watchful eyes of others, Ais pulled Lefia away from the grand restaurant.

"Refia... how did you know...?"

Ais sneaked into an empty room in the headquarters and asked her nervously.

Compared to Ais, whose expression was unusually uneasy, Lefia still refused to look up.

Just as Ais was sweating from the heavy pressure on her body, the girl parted her lips slightly:

"This morning, I followed Miss Ais to the northwest of the city... and saw a beautiful swordswoman with gorgeous blonde hair and golden eyes hugging a strange human boy."

「!?」

"Miss Ais, please tell me... Does Miss Ais have a younger or older sister who was separated from her...? Or is this just my imagination...? I've thought about it all day, but I can't find an answer that I can accept..."

"Rei... Refia... calm down?"

"If that's Miss Ais herself... I... I...!!"

Lefia amplified the already heavy pressure, closing in on Ais step by step.

The battle-hardened Level 1 adventurer was now sweating profusely, the shadow of the elven girl's body looming over her.

The girl approached Ais, and when she looked up, her azure eyes were filled with tears.

She looked like a child who had lost her beloved older sister, as if she might cry and hug herself at any moment, which inexplicably frightened Ais.

Driven by fear, Ais knew she could no longer hide it from the girl in front of her, so she quickly resigned herself to her fate and confessed the truth.

"...Are you two training on the city wall?"

"Uh, um."

"...So, why were you two hugging this morning?"

"Uh... that child couldn't walk anymore, so I lent him my shoulder to lean on..."

Ais explained the whole story, her words laced with almost interrogative questions from the young girl. After a while...

The black mist emanating from Lefia... no, it was miasma that was gradually thinning.

Perhaps because the misunderstanding had been cleared up, the girl's empty eyes finally regained their light.

"So... you want to teach that human how to fight before the 'Expedition' begins... is that right?"

Hearing Lefia's clear confirmation, Ais nodded repeatedly.

Seeing that Lefia had finally regained her composure, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Ais felt a great weight lifted from her heart.

(Clearly, they're from another [Family]! How dare they ask Miss Ais for advice...!!)

—As for Lefia, I'm not at all at ease.

They actually sought guidance on combat techniques from members of other factions—asking for free help is incredibly idiotic. If there were a close relationship between the main god or the two factions, that would be understandable, but this time it's not like that. Where did the [Hestia Familia] even come from?

Besides the positions of both sides, the difference in status is also a major issue.

One is a novice adventurer from a small-scale [Family], and the other is a cadre of the city's strongest faction and a first-level adventurer.

Upon hearing this, everyone else would surely say in unison, "You should know your own limitations."

This is outrageous! I can't believe it! It's utterly shameless!!

Recalling the white-haired boy's face she saw this morning, Lefia cursed several times in her mind.

(He actually got to spend time alone with Miss Ais! ...I'm so envious...no, I'm so shameless.)

She came up with a bunch of reasons.

But to be honest, she was just envious of the adventurer who could have Ais all to himself and ask her to train him, even if it was only in the morning.

Lefia was jealous of the unknown white-haired boy.

"No, that's not it. I was the one who said I wanted to teach him, so..."

The boy did nothing wrong; it was I who dragged him into this mess.

Ais noticed that Lefia's expression was changing rapidly between anger and jealousy, and quickly told her.

Seeing her desperately protecting the boy, Lefia became even more dissatisfied, "Gurgle!"

Lefia was unhappy that Ais cared so much about that boy.

"Please, Lefia. Don't tell Loki and Finn... don't tell anyone else?"

Ais's beautiful eyebrows drooped, and her golden eyes swayed.

She seemed genuinely eager to continue training with the boy, pleading weakly with Lefia.