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 moment she made that promise, she suddenly realized that just like Filvis, Bell had also been silently enduring pain and struggle all this time.
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 seemed 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 moments piled up in her mind, Bell's figure seemed 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 same Familia, even if they were only pretending to be lovers, an indescribable desire had begun to grow in her heart.
She had to become stronger.
Not as a burden, but as someone who could stand beside him and support him as much as possible.
"Bell Cranel, please teach me 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 same thing too."
Lefiya blinked.
She remembered 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 something.
When he chanted [Argo's Ship], he could move around with surprising ease...
His thoughts stretched back into memory.
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 something his grandfather, who taught him, had emphasized again and again.
Bell searched through his memories, yet he could not find any trace of ever receiving training in Concurrent Chanting.
Was it because of [Luck], or had he simply forgotten something?
An ocean of memories 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 memory were missing.
He had originally assumed that was just a side effect of excessively harsh training.
That was, until he experienced the death brought by [Sacred Flame].
Bell kept feeling that he had once dreamed of someone extremely important.
But no matter how hard he squeezed his thoughts, he could not grasp even the faintest fragment of that memory.
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 me, 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 someone good at overthinking, she suddenly realized something.
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 remember this promise. If you don't believe me, we can prove it with a ritual."
"A ritual...?"
Lefiya frowned in confusion.
"Right. In my hometown, 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 me or calling me 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 times. 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 mean Lefiya-san wants to do the ritual we talked about?"
Bell stopped shouting and asked softly.
"The ritual means... ? 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.