Prologue: Volunteering

"I object!"

Inside the meeting room of Loki Familia, a certain young elf with her amber long hair tied in a ponytail, Thousand Elf Lefiya Viridis, slammed her hands on the table in front of her as she exclaimed loudly. Her action gathered the eyes of the other occupants around the table, including the familia's top-ranked members.

"Why do Aiz-sama have to go with that... that...human out of the city?! This is ridiculous!"

A pair of golden eyes widened slightly as she heard her name being mentioned by the uncharacteristically hot-tempered elf,

"Lefiya..."

The childlike male sitting at the head position of the table, Braver Finn Deimne, answered her calmly behind his steepled fingers,

"As I said, the quest was issued by the guild to reduce the chance of unrest among the city's adventurers. Hestia Familia is growing at an incredible pace with Bell Cranel on its helm, the news that he had reached Level 4 and rumor of him having survived the deep level alone despite not having the proper equipment or resource for it had propelled him straight to the top of the "person of interest" rank."

The elderly dwarf sitting on his left, Elgarm Garreth Landrock, nodded in understanding as he continued,

"Aye... there was also that battle in Knossos. Every single adventurer in there had heard the grand bell of his and more than a dozen of em saw him destroy that 8th spirit with a single attack. Considering that Loki said that the base of that spirit was a lesser dragon, it was nothing short of an incredible feat to pull off."

Finn nodded before continuing where he left off,

"However, it was not a secret that Loki and Hestia-sama were almost always on each other's throat, quite literally sometimes. In fact, just a few days ago, they were caught having a fist fight right in the middle of the square. It was creating quite an unrest among the people, so the guild decided to step in and issued a joint quest for both familia."

"Even so...!"

Finally, the mature-looking elf sitting on Finn's right, Nine Hell Riveria Ljos Alf, spoke authoritatively,

"That's enough, Lefiya. You're being too demanding, right now. Sit down."

At the elf queen's rebuke, Lefiya had no choice but to deflate as she sat down. However, it was clear that she hadn't given up yet as she spoke,

"... but Riveria-sama... why does it have to be Aiz-sama? Can't we send Raul instead? Or Aki? Surely that should be enough, right?"

Finn sighed as he answered her,

"I've considered it but both of them were scheduled to lead the second string group in an expedition to the 36th floor. Besides... it's just a hunch on my part but while Bell Cranel's official data is that he turned level 4 just recently... I suspect his real ability is closer to veteran level 4 or even higher. It means that Raul and Aki would just hold him back."

"Then... What about Bete-san?"

The moment she said it, the young elf immediately realized her mistake as the entire table turned silent. As if to drive the point home, Finn spoke again,

"Can you even imagine Bete working together with Rabbit Foot...?"

As the prum asked her, everyone on the table couldn't help imagining the scenario in their heads. Almost in unison, all of them shook their heads while releasing a sigh. Forget clearing the quest, the werewolf was more likely to create more problems instead.

"Anyway… as long as Aiz doesn't mind then…."

The sword princess was about to nod when suddenly, they heard Lefiya speak again,

"Me…"

Finn turned at her once again as he asked,

"Hmm? What is it, Lefiya?"

The elf girl raised her eyes toward her leader as she spoke again,

"What about me?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if I'm the one going to the quest with him instead?"

This time, everyone around the table raised their eyebrows as they stared at the girl almost incredulously. The fact that the little elf's sense of rivalry against the rubelite-eyed human was bordering on hatred was well known to everyone. Hearing that same elf was offering to work together with him was so unbelievable that Riveria even asked her to confirm that she wasn't hearing things,

"Are you sure about that, Lefiya?"

Lefiya seemed to pause for a moment as if reluctant but eventually nodded as she answered,

"Yes… I… can do it… no, I will do it."

Seeing the girl's determined look, Finn leaned back and crossed his arms as he judged the proposed idea.

"Hmm… theoretically, it is a good idea…. Both of you are similar in skill level and if we're going with the scenario where you're covering his back and he acts as the vanguard, it could even be called an effective and complimentary…."

Hearing her leader complimenting her idea, Lefiya's expression visibly brightened as she spoke almost excitedly,

"Then…!"

However, Finn raised his palm to stop her before continuing,

"… but there is still one problem… I chose Aiz because she worked well with Cranel. She had experienced facing him AND working together with him on separate occasions. Not to mention…."

Finn glanced at Aiz and Tiona briefly, both of which immediately understood his implication. Perhaps out of consideration for the two, the prum didn't elaborate but instead, turned back to Lefiya before continuing,

"Anyway, the point was that she knew his abilities to a fault and therefore able to coordinate with him well in battle. You should know that more than complementary abilities, compatibility between the parties involved is more important in a cooperative battle. Frankly, I'm not sure if you'd be able to fight together with Rabbit Foot effectively…."

Lefiya stayed silent for a moment as she bit her lip before finally replying,

"… there's no problem with that…."

"Hmm?"

"I've… fought with him before… together… at the 18th floor."

"Oh? You mean when you two fought against the monster?"

Lefiya nodded before she decided to tell the story of when the human and her had been trapped in a hole while fighting against a plant monster, then unnamed, Venenthes. When her story ended, most of the people around the table had their eyebrows raised once again. Considering that Bell Cranel had been a mere level 2 at that time, it was actually quite a feat of skill and guts to even face a potentially level 4 monster that would have killed him instantly had he made a single wrong move. Moreover, he did it to protect someone who wasn't even an ally or even remotely friendly toward him, it was an act of self-sacrifice that many would easily call foolish.

"... anyway, it was the first and only time that we fought together but our compatibility shouldn't be too bad since we did kill the monster and survived."

The trio sitting at the head table exchanged glances with each other as if communicating with their eyes before Finn finally spoke,

"Hmm... taking that into consideration... I guess I can have you take Aiz' place for the quest... do any of you has any problem with that?"

Everyone around the table exchanged glances with each other before one by one, they shook their head. For some reason, Aiz looked slightly uncomfortable about it but she too nodded her agreement to the change of personnel. Finally, Finn sighed almost in relief,

"Well, that's decided then. Lefiya will be joining Bell Cranel to complete the guild-issued quest... Honestly, it is quite a relief for us to have you going instead of Aiz... I feel bad about saying this but as one of our main core of the familia's force, having Aiz instead of you available is more... comforting for us overall."

Lefiya nodded in understanding, it was an undeniable fact that a level 6 Aiz is stronger than her level 4 self. Therefore, if one was to take the familia's situation into account, anyone would feel safer having the stronger between the two available on hand. Finn then clapped his hands before standing up,

"Well, with that, this meeting is adjourned. I'll be informing the guild of the change in personnel and Lefiya, I'd suggest you start preparing for your trip out of the city right after this. Riveria, Gareth, can you stay behind for a bit?"

Soon enough, everyone else other than the top familia leaders left the room. Once they were alone, Finn spoke to the other two,

"What do you think about Lefiya's story?"

Riveria tapped her chin as she answered the prum,

"She said they worked well together... but... wasn't it their first experience working together?"

Gareth nodded as he ran his fingers through his beards,

"Yes... I don't think she realized it but... a level 2 vanguard and a level 3 mage worked well enough together to defeat a possibly level 4 monster... such a feat was unheard of. It would require them to be able to know each other's actions to the point of near perfection. Such cooperation would, should, have taken years to nurture..."

Finn nodded in agreement before replying,

"I agree... I heard that they both had been trained by Aiz... but no matter how many traces of Aiz could be found within their movements, they both would still possess their own style. The movements and habits which belong to themselves, much like how I relied on my thumb to warn me of danger."

Riveria shook her head as she spoke again,

"If those two really managed to pull off such teamwork at their first try... then I have to wonder if they had been related to each other in their previous life... or probably even soulmates..."

Finn and Gareth turned toward the elf queen with widened eyes before shaking their heads. All three of them looked toward the door before Finn spoke again,

"... let's not tell Lefiya about this..."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."