Heavy footsteps echoed by her ears.
Lefiya could feel the rise and fall of the boy's breathing.
So while she had been carefree, he had been carrying all of this in his mind.
"Bell Cranel, I'll definitely stand on your side."
Lefiya answered softly.
The mont she made that promise, she suddenly realized that just like Filvis, Bell had also been silently enduring pain and struggle all this ti.
Bell was aiming for a harem, and yet he had no choice but to doubt his own lover.
This matter was still buried in fog, and he could not drag anyone else into it.
The only one who could understand Bell now was Lefiya.
"Bell Cranel..."
An invisible thread seed to tie the two of them together. Lefiya empathized with him, and a wave of sadness rose in her heart.
"What is it?"
Bell asked gently.
"Mm..."
Lefiya pressed her lips together.
This journey had been full of danger.
Bell had dealt with the Violas and the attacks from Evilus, taken down the giant flower and Olivas, and thrown himself into battle against Goliath without a thought for his own safety...
As all those monts piled up in her mind, Bell's figure seed as towering as a hero's in Lefiya's eyes.
But now, there was no distance left between them.
Lefiya realized that even her not-so-great [Strength] was already enough to carry Bell on her back.
No matter how astonishing the Excelia Bell had achieved was, he was still only flesh and blood.
He felt pain. He went through suffering.
Every step Bell had taken had been filled with hardship.
Lefiya wanted to support him.
Even if they were not in the sa Familia, even if they were only pretending to be lovers, an indescribable desire had begun to grow in her heart.
She had to beco stronger.
Not as a burden, but as soone who could stand beside him and support him as much as possible.
"Bell Cranel, please teach Concurrent Chanting!"
Lefiya finally voiced her request.
"My magic is a bit unusual, so I'm afraid I can't teach you."
Bell answered honestly.
"Eh? But you can dodge while charging it, right? And when you chant magic, you can do the sa thing too."
Lefiya blinked.
She rembered it very clearly. To save the green-haired elf, Bell had used Concurrent Chanting and charged straight into the Evilus group just before they exploded.
Because of that, Lefiya had felt depressed for quite a while afterward.
She was a mage, and even after studying for so long she still could not use Concurrent Chanting, yet Bell had done it so easily.
"Mm... about that..."
Bell stopped halfway through his sentence, suddenly realizing sothing.
When he chanted [Argo's Ship], he could move around with surprising ease...
His thoughts stretched back into mory.
When Bell had first used that magic together with Airmid, he had already been able to boost his speed with a short chant while continuing the rest of the incantation as he ran.
Could it be that this magic was just special?
How strange...
For humans without talent, magic could only manifest after receiving a Falna.
That was sothing his grandfather, who taught him, had emphasized again and again.
Bell searched through his mories, yet he could not find any trace of ever receiving training in Concurrent Chanting.
Was it because of [Luck], or had he simply forgotten sothing?
An ocean of mories churned in his mind, and a silent stabbing pain crashed over him like a tidal wave.
"Bell Cranel? Are you okay?"
Lefiya asked in a panic.
"I'm fine..."
Bell shook his head and stopped himself from digging any further.
If he kept probing, there were still far too many mysteries with no answers.
Could a human without a Falna really understand magic and train themselves in the technique of Concurrent Chanting?
Was his almost miraculous skill in cooking really nothing more than natural talent?
Bell had noticed before that parts of his mory were missing.
He had originally assud that was just a side effect of excessively harsh training.
That was, until he experienced the death brought by [Sacred Fla].
Bell kept feeling that he had once dread of soone extrely important.
But no matter how hard he squeezed his thoughts, he could not grasp even the faintest fragnt of that mory.
Left with no choice, Bell pulled his mind back to the present and said,
"Lefiya-san, I can only teach you the feeling of Concurrent Chanting. If you don't mind..."
"Of course I don't mind! I've never been able to find anyone to teach , and everything Riveria-sama says is way too hard..."
Before Bell could even finish, Lefiya hurriedly answered.
Bell smiled lightly.
"That's because you're a magic idiot."
"Mm..."
Lefiya had no strength to argue against being called a magic idiot.
Not being soone good at overthinking, she suddenly realized sothing.
Bell had never really argued with being called a permanently horny rabbit either...
Could it be...
But even when the two of them were alone together, Bell had never done anything overly forward.
If anything, for a boy chasing after a harem, every single one of his actions was incredibly gentlemanly.
Even when he fed her, he had been so gentle...
Mm, why am I thinking about weird things again?!
Ignoring her burning cheeks, Lefiya spoke up.
"Bell Cranel, then it's a promise. No backing out."
Lefiya looked just like a little girl asking for a promise.
Seeing how adorable she looked beside him, Bell could not help wanting to tease her a little.
"Of course. I'll definitely rember this promise. If you don't believe , we can prove it with a ritual."
"A ritual...?"
Lefiya frowned in confusion.
"Right. In my hotown, to show how important a promise is, people kiss the other person on the cheek."
Bell explained softly.
"Th, there's no ritual like that!"
Lefiya replied in a fluster.
"Oh, did I give myself away? I thought a magic idiot would definitely fall for it. Looks like Lefiya-san is actually pretty smart."
Bell laughed openly.
"Uuu... now I can't even tell whether you're praising or calling stupid..."
Lefiya answered with a whine.
She lowered her head so Bell could not see her expression.
"Lefiya-san? I was praising you, you know?"
Bell had not expected her to grow dejected so quickly.
The speed at which her mood changed was exactly like that of a little girl.
"Really?"
Lefiya sniffled softly.
"Of course it's true."
Bell replied at once.
"Then say it ten tis. Lefiya-san is a very smart person..."
Lefiya kept walking forward.
Bell had already figured it out. This golden-haired elf was teasing him back by acting spoiled.
He cleared his throat and shouted loudly toward the ceiling.
"Lefiya-san is the smartest person in the world!"
"Mm...?! Fine, I was wrong, so stop shouting like that, idiot!"
Lefiya cried out, blushing as she tried to stop him.
She had originally planned to tell him after he was done that it had all just been a prank.
What she had not expected was for Bell to shout it so loudly that everyone else turned to look...
"So, does that an Lefiya-san wants to do the ritual we talked about?"
Bell stopped shouting and asked softly.
"The ritual ans... ? Mm?! There's no way I'd do that, idiot!"
Lefiya puffed up her cheeks and snapped back.
Laughter surrounded the two of them.
Even though she had refused the promise ritual, Lefiya understood.
Bell would definitely keep his promise and teach her the technique of Concurrent Chanting.
As soon as she thought that, Lefiya's steps grew much lighter.
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