Chapter Thirty Four: Friendly Competition

Even though they are both of the elven race, individual elves can hold vastly different beliefs. 

Lefiya was born in the Wishe Forest, where the inhabitants possess exceptional [magic power], even among the elves. Her homeland was situated at a key point in the forest that had already been opened as a travel hub long before she was born. 

As a result, since she was a child, Lefiya had many opportunities to interact with other races, giving her an open mind and no racial biases. She even longed to explore the outside world.

Lefiya also had open-minded parents who not only encouraged her to pursue knowledge of the outside world but also supported her in attending the [School District] for further education. So, at a young age, Lefiya left the elven-occupied forest and embarked on a global adventure along side the [School District]. 

Aside from her monstrous magic power, Lefiya is an elf who doesn't conform to typical elven standards. She isn't well-versed in the traditional customs of the elves, doesn't shy away from physical contact with other races, and feels no particular loyalty toward the Elven royalty.

Her revered toward the Elven royalty is limited to Riveria, but that is because in her eyes, Riveria is a respectable teacher. Lefiya doesn't have any deep-seated loyalty toward the other Elven royalty. She has never touched a bow and doesn't think that "bows" hold any special significance for elves.

On the other hand, Alicia embodies the traditional elven mindset more closely. In fact, her loyalty toward the Elven royalty is rare even among the elves. 

As a master of archery, she has a particular obsession with the bow. To Alicia, the bow represents a core part of elven tradition and a way of life, even more so than magic. 

She has spent more time hunting with a bow in her homeland than Shirou has been alive, so how could she allow a fellow elf like Lefiya to place a human's archery above her own, much less that of Lady Riveria? Even the idea of comparing them is outrageous!

Alicia is not like the ignorant elves who remain in the forest and hold prejudices against other races; she respects all her comrades and friends, regardless of race. However, when it comes to matters regarding Riveria and elven pride, Alicia refused to budge.

It's fair to say that Lefiya who was taught to "follow the facts" at the [School District], and Alicia who was raised in the elven forest, have fundamentally different values.

At the moment, there is also a vast difference in their positions. Alicia is a veteran adventurer assisting Riveria in managing the familia and serves as her second-in-command in the [Fairy Force], while Lefiya is merely a newcomer to the Loki Familia.

"Syr, who is Riveria?" Shirou asked quietly.

"She is the vice-captain of the Loki Familia, the elven princess, alias [Nine Hell], and a Level 6 adventurer," Syr whispered .

Shirou nodded, relieved that the Riveria they were discussing wasn't the same person he knew with the same name. It was just a coincidence they shared names.

"By the way, your elf friend seems to have gotten herself into big trouble because of you," Syr gently reminded Shirou. Lefiya's bluntness had left Syr with a better impression of the young elf.

On the other side, Alicia took a deep breath and resumed her graceful posture.

"My apologies, Shirou. I did not intend to belittle you, and I'm sorry to you as well, Syr, for making such a spectacle," Alicia said with polite but cold formality.

"Alicia-chan is also very skilled with a bow, right?" Syr suddenly asked, using her sweet and endearing tone that could make even an unreasonable request seem forgivable. 

"Alicia-chan, don't listen to Lefiya-chan's silly words. Shirou is still a rookie adventurer, who had just received his divine blessing not too long ago, so if it's possible, could you please mentor him a little?" 

Syr clasped her hands in front of her and gave Alicia a pleading look. For a brief moment, Alicia was memorized and, for some reason, felt like she couldn't refuse Syr's request.

No matter what the request was, Alicia felt like she should immediately agree.

"As you wish, Lady Syr," Alicia responded with a gentlemanly gesture, placing her right hand on her chest, Syr's smile became brighter.

As expected, whenever she was with Shirou, something interesting always happens.

....

"So, we ended up back in the dungeon?" Shirou muttered to himself.

"There's no helping it," Lefiya replied. "The city doesn't have much space for adventurers to roam freely, and high-level adventurers aren't allowed to go outside the city at will."

Although Orario was the largest city in the world, it was also packed with citizens. The city could be described as a place where every inch of land was precious, and there was no room for facilities like an archery dojo.

But since Shirou didn't want to use the familia's training grounds for personal matters, they decided to venture through the large opening at the base of Babel and into the dungeon's labyrinth. 

This wasn't unusual, as high-level adventurers from large familias often used the dungeon as their own "training ground" or "gym."

Although the dungeon is dangerous, for adventurers above Level 3, the upper floors hold almost no threats. 

Even though Shirou and his group had ventured as deep as the twelfth floor, which is close to the middle floors, it still couldn't really be called an "adventure" since their team had two Level 4 upper class adventurers, Ryuu Lion, also known as [Gale], and Alicia Forestlight, known as [Elleaf]. 

Both were elves, and with Lefiya in the group as well, that made three beautiful elven girls, the ratio of elves in this team seemed a bit too high.

Shirou was the only human, as Syr, being a non-adventurer, was not allowed to enter the dungeon. Though she tried to sneak in, Ryuu firmly refused to let her.

Even after Syr used her forbidden skill, "begging", Ryuu still didn't budge.

Frustrated, Syr had no other choice but to return to the tavern, and to make matters worse, she had to work on her precious day off due to being the one who encouraged Ryuu to skip work. 

However, she entrusted Ryuu with the task of "protecting"Shirou, though her real intention was to warn Ryuu about the two elves from the Loki Familia. Yet Ryuu seemed to have completely misunderstood and thought Syr was talking about protecting Shirou from monsters.

Inside the dungeon, sandwiched between the three elves, Shirou felt somewhat awkward.

"Miss Ryuu, are you good with a bow?" Lefiya, curiously asked her fellow elf, whom she was meeting for the first time.

"No, I've never used a bow," Ryuu replied. Although she looked to be around the same age as Lefiya, Ryuu was actually much older, having left her homeland at a young age, just like Lefiya.

"I see. I thought I was the only elf who couldn't use a bow," Lefiya sighed with relief. "It's comforting to know that not every elf spends 'decades' practicing archery."

The phrase 'decades' unintentionally sparked Alicia's death glare: "What are you implying, young girl?"

"Eek!" Lefiya hid behind Shirou in fright.

Alicia hummed in annoyance, thinking, "I only stayed in my homeland for a few extra decades. Even now, I'm still a youthful eighteen-year plus three hundred months old young lady!" 

There's a curious phenomenon among female elves: those who are two hundred years or older don't mind discussing youth or age. 

While elves aged thirty to forty up to around one hundred are more sensitive about their age. 

Despite this, you could never tell from appearance whether an elf was twenty, fifty, or two hundred year old; they all look the same.

After glaring at Lefiya, Alicia turned her gaze toward Shirou.

"Shirou, even though you're not an elf, I'm pleased to see someone interested in archery. I'll teach you everything I know without holding back," Alicia said. "First, let me see your archery skills."

Though she held some internal disdain for any non-elf archers, Alicia's personality was far more forgiving than most elf. She took pride in her skills but wasn't selfish about them. 

After all, archery was a rare weapon choice among adventurers, and as one of the few archers in Orario, Alicia genuinely enjoyed seeing someone interested in the craft. She was happy to mentor a young adventurer.

As for Lefiya's earlier comment, Alicia didn't take it too seriously, chalking it up to Lefiya's lack of experience. 

However, when Shirou followed Alicia's advice, picked up a bow, and drew the bowstring, aiming at a distant stone wall, Alicia's attitude began to shift.

"This can't be…this boy… Just from his stance, I can tell he's incredibly strong!"

Alicia's eyes widened as she watched Shirou's movements—fluid and graceful, with taut, solid muscles and a sharp, hawk-like focus in his eyes. Everything about his stance and movements stirred something deep within Alicia, igniting the soul of the archer inside her.

"Shirou, why don't we have a friendly competition?"

—————-

(Fun Fact: Not sure if it's true, everywhere I look it said Alicia is 25 years old, but a  Chinese comment said her real age is over forty and she falsely reported her age. IDK, can't find the source, but the author of this novel set her age at forty something.)