Chapter 42

You Love Her, Don't You?

"You call that RUNNING!?" Lambda shouts at the new recruits for Shadow Garden. "You run like grannies! Run another lap immediately!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" the three new recruits say and start dashing off, despite being out of breath.

"Now then…" She turns around toward a certain beautiful blonde human woman with lovely curls and dressed in a slime bodysuit like the rest. "No. 666! Your agility needs work! You are 3 seconds off! That's not NEARLY good enough!" She points to the large tires placed on the ground for her agility training.

"M-Ma'am, 3 seconds to spare is just fine, right?" No. 666, formally known as Rose Oriana, tries to protest, but Lambda scoffs, crossing her arms under her bosom.

"Just fine? In battle, do you really think the enemy would care for 3 seconds? Hell no!" Lambda yells at the new Shadow Garden member. "You need to be even FASTER! Come on! What am I raising!? A bunch of fucking babies!?"

"N-no, ma'am!" No. 666 says.

"Then do it again! For the 11th time!" Lambda points a finger at her. "Nu! Time her so she can get it at least under a minute! 45 seconds is the limit! No, make it 30! That's how fast she should go!"

"Right!" Nu nods and holds out a stop watch.

"I'm taking a break," Lambda sighs. "Makes sure she gets it right, got it?"

"If I may ask," Nu asks as she looks at the former princess, hopping from one tire to the next. "Maybe you should keep it to a minute? I know you're trying to get her go as fast as us in the future. But putting this much pressure on her like this?"

"Fine, whatever," Lambda sighs. "I'm going out for a bit. You keep watch on No. 666, got it?"

"Understood," Nu nods and turns back to the blonde trainee.

**At the Palace**

The dark elf sighs for the third time as she sits down on the couch in the common room, hanging her head low. Training newcomers is a lot of hard work, but that doesn't stop Lambda from doing her job. As a former military veteran, she HAS to be strict to her students. That's how Shadow Garden operates if they want to get stronger and defeat enemies that are ten times stronger than them.

Just then, she hears some footsteps coming toward her. Lambda looks up to see Alpha greeting her with a smile and sit down next to her.

"How's it coming along?" Alpha asks. "I mean with No. 666?"

"It's going fine," Lambda answers. "No. 666 just needed to work a little more on her agility."

"Ahhhh, so she can be as fast as us," Alpha nods her head. "How is she doing on that?"

"She's improving…if only be a little bit," Lambda answers again. "I need her to perfect this agility training. Otherwise, what's the point? She will have no chance against the enemy if she's off at even 3 seconds."

"Ufufufu~" Alpha giggles elegantly with a gloved hand.

"What's so funny?" Lambda raises an eyebrow.

"I'm just laughing at the fact that you are being THIS hard on her~" Alpha says. "You have never been this hard on the other girls before. What's making you feel the need to have No. 666 succeed so badly?"

"To be honest…I'm not quite sure myself," Lambda says. "I thought I was training her like I'm doing with all the other new recruits."

"Yet you are being rougher on No. 666 than the rest of them," Alpha points out. "You know what I think? I think it's way more than just training No. 666. If you wanted her succeed that badly, why didn't you do the same for all the rest, hm~?"

"Well, I…" Lambda starts, but Alpha cuts her off.

"You love No. 666, don't you~?" Alpha coos, making the dark elf blush.

"Wh-wh-what!? Alpha-sama!" Lambda stutters. "D-do not assume things like that! Come on, now!"

"Ufufufu~!" Alpha giggles. "I may be wrong, but all of that tough talk is the form of love inside~"

"Don't be ridiculous," Lambda crosses her arms and turns her head away. "I'm just training No. 666. That is all."

"Alright then," Alpha scoots closer. "Let me ask you this: you never have been in love, have you?"

"N-no…" Lambda shyly admits. "S-so what!? You were the one who tasked me to train new recruits! How can I have any time for love!?"

"You're on break right now," Alpha says. "How about a little practice? How about loving me, first~?"

Lambda turns toward the fearless leader, her beautiful face just inches close to hers, which surprises her. "A-A-Alpha-sama!? T-too close!"

"Ufufufu~" Alpha giggles. She caresses the dark elf's cheek and leans closer, her large breasts pressing against her own. "Lambda…you can learn to love. Do not shut yourself off by exclusively training the new recruits. Sound good~?"

"Alpha-sama…" Lambda almost swoons at the beauty of her fearless leader.

"I love you, Lambda~" Alpha coos again, leaning closer and closer. "I'm very glad…we freed you and have been part of our group for a long time~"

With that, she kisses Lambda on the lips, much to the dark elf's surprise. But then, her open eye closes and she relishes in the kiss Alpha is giving her. Both of the elves embrace each other as they continue to kiss until they pull away, a string of saliva connected to their bottom lips. Lambda gasps and pulls away further, touching her lips with two fingers.

"A-Alpha-sama…was that…?" the dark elf breathes.

"Yes…that was your first kiss~" Alpha replies with a smile. "I apologize for taking it so suddenly, but I just wanted you to know what love is like."

Lambda blushes and turns her head away. "I…I don't know if I could really love…one of my very own students. It feels…very wrong somehow…"

"It may be wrong," Alpha says. "But you should realize that love is love, no matter what. If you love No. 666, you should accept it. If not, that's okay, too. But do not keep these feelings bottled up inside forever. It's not a good thing."

"I see,"' Lambda says. She stands up from the couch. "Well…I should be heading back to see what No. 666 is doing."

"And…what are you going to do?" Alpha asks.

"I'm going to do what I usually do," Lambda answers. When she looks over at the fearless leader, who is smiling sweetly at her she blushes. "B-but…well…I will let her know…just a little bit…how much…I love her. Just a little bit. That's all. We do not need to sweat the details."

"Ufufufu~" Alpha giggles. "Just do the best you can to express your true feelings. I'm sure No. 666 will accept you despite you being very hard on her."

"Y-yeah…" Lambda is still red in the face as she takes her leave.

**Meanwhile**

"Haaah…haaah…how was that…?" No. 666 pants heavily after hopping over the last tire for the 20th time now.

"Sadly, still 3 seconds off…" Nu says.

"No!" The blonde drops to her knees, sitting wariza pose. "If I cannot perfect this, she's going to be so angry with me…" She then looks up and sees the person she's talking about. She gasps and gets right to her feet, straightening herself up. "M-Ma'am! M-m-my apologies! I did not mean to speak about you that way! I was just training like you asked and then, and then…!"

"Silence!" Lambda booms, making No. 666 be quiet. "Now then, in regards to your agility training, it most certainly wasn't at your best. You need to be more faster on your feet. In fact, so fast that not even your enemy can read your moves."

"But…!" No. 666 starts but Lambda cuts her off.

"If it's that impossible for you, then at the very least…" Lambda takes a breath and then exhales, crossing her arms. "At the very least…try to wise up on where you move, how you move. The enemy can be unpredictable, so you must prepare yourself for the worst. It won't matter how much time as long as you keep on your feet. Are we clear?"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" No. 666 says.

"Good," Lambda crosses her arms and turns away, her side pony-tail fluttering. "Know that I will train you even harder than earlier. You have to be ready for anything and…everything. Do not let my teachings go in vain. Are we clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" No. 667 nods.

"Alright," Lambda says. "Go rest up. You have a big day tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am! Thank you, ma'am!" With that, No. 666 salutes and takes her leave.

Nu approaches her with a smile. "You acted a little different this time. What was it~?"

"Alpha-sama…" Lambda blushes. "Alpha-sama taught me…the meaning of love…"

"So the very reason why you were so hard on her is because….you love her~?" Nu asks.

"D-d-dont say that out loud, damn it!" Lambda says. "It's embarrassing enough as it is!"

"Ufufu! I'm sure you were trying your hardest to express even a little bit of love there~" Nu giggles. "I like that. It seems you are warming up to No. 666~"

Lambda blushes, turns her head away and puts a fist on her chest, feeling her heart beat. "Yeah…I guess you're right…"

A/N: Doing Lambda is kinda difficult since I'm not a strict person myself. I tried my hardest on Lambda, plus her trying to express her feelings. Rose is part of Shadow Garden, so I have to remember to put her in my one-shots every once in a while.

Have a nice day.