"Ah, we can all hope for that, of course," said Eliabelle with a nod. It would be lovely if they didn't need to worry about too much fighting anymore. But at the same time, the people deserved someone who could keep them safe. The guards deserved someone they could look up to, a shining beacon of justice. That was what the Knight-Captain of the Iron Roses was, wasn't it? That blazing light of righteousness, as much of a star as the legendary Starlight Saint, who led her order against injustice time and time again. "But looking to the Starlight Saint is something I would think anyone would do in her position."

It was about then that... a little girl approached? Wait, that sword... Eliabelle stared for a moment as the little girl loudly proclaimed how successful Fanilly had been in leading the knights for the first time, and destroying the bandits. Even facing off against the Three-Hundred Man Slayer. Eliabelle had heard such a man had been there, but she hadn't known many of the details. Simply that he had been killed. To know that Fanilly had faced off against him and gotten the better of him... Eliabelle couldn't help but be inspired once more. A girl no older then herself doing such things...

"Ah, I'm so glad to hear that! But... er..." she paused for a few moments. She didn't want to be impolite, but... "... If... if you really are the only person I know to wield a sword like that... you're... er, much smaller then I thought!"

Any excitement felt at speaking to the Immortal Knight was somewhat dampened by confusion.

[hr]

Soon enough, both Christina and the odd little girl had arrived at the table. Upon it, there sat a number of different sweets. Various forms of biscuits, a large multi-tiered cake decorated with the purple and white of Thaln's flag, various tarts, waffles, and an array of cupcakes. The little girl immediately set about gathering a plethora of sweets into her tray, excitedly. There was a gleam in her green eyes as she stacked a tray high with sweets, and then eyed the cake eagerly.

Before doing anything more, she spun on her heel and turned to face the knight, smiling brightly as she did. "You helped me out a lot! All those people were just all over the place, it was really inconvenient!"

Her smile widened into a grin.

"Thanks, Christina!"

Wait... when had the little girl heard Christina's name?

"By the way, you might want to keep an eye on that Princess~"

With that, the girl, the sweets she had gathered, and the entire cake were suddenly gone. Well... all aside from a single slice, which had someone found its way onto a tray, that was somehow in Christina's hand.

A few people nearby, including those looking on in bafflement at the sudden lack of a cake, would hear strange, somewhat childish laughter.

"Fufufu~"

[hr]


"F-four hundred and fifty magil..." Bethany repeated to herself, nodding somewhat more firmly. Her cheeks were still flushed with embarrassment, but when she turned back to face the knight, she had a look determination on her face. Right. This was a way in which she could assist the Iron Roses!

"Y-you can do better!" she declared, more loudly(thought still in a wavering tone) then before, "Th-that's above the average b-baseline, meaning you have a l-little more mana to work with, wh-which means that y-you should be able to cast more efficiently w-without wearing y-yourself out even wh-when up close! A-and if you're in b-back you can do even more!"

She clenched her fists, her confidence swelling... a little bit, at least.

"A-and with how you use your catalyst... y-you can do a lot better!"