Chapter 9

"About the Falna... You said I need to gain excelia to Level Up, but is that really all there is to it? Or was that just an oversimplified version?"

Sitonai sipped her juice leisurely, her eyes glinting with curiosity.

"Do you want a more detailed explanation?" Alfia's tone was calm, almost indifferent, but her gaze was sharp.

Sitonai nodded in response.

"When you obtain a Falna, no matter how strong you were before, everyone starts at I0. For every 100 points, you move down a letter grade until you reach S999. If you want to go beyond S, you'll need unique skills or special circumstances."

Sitonai listened attentively, nodding along.

"When you level up, your stats reset, but your overall strength increases. However, you need at least a D-rank stat to qualify for a level up."

"That's... way simpler than I thought," Sitonai admitted, blinking in mild surprise.

"You can also gain skills and magic when you level up, though it's not guaranteed. What is guaranteed is a developmental skill, which is based on the excelia you've accumulated."

"Ah, so in the end, it's all just gacha..." Sitonai sighed dramatically.

"Gacha?" Alfia repeated, visibly confused.

Sitonai shivered slightly, waving a hand dismissively.

"Nah, you don't need to know about that…"

Alfia's confusion lingered for a moment before she simply let it go.

Sitonai waved her hand to disperse her ice.

Silence settled between them, only for Alfia to break it with an unexpected question.

"I have a question."

Sitonai blinked. Alfia initiating a conversation was rare—unheard of, even.

"Is there something strange about the food? I haven't needed to use the restroom at all... and it's been three days."

"Oh, that," Sitonai chuckled knowingly. "The food I conjure isn't 'waste'. Your body absorbs everything efficiently, so there's nothing left to expel."

Alfia's eyes widened slightly. "I see..."

"Yep!"

"You see how impressive I am now?"

Sitonai smirked, her arms crossed in pride.

Alfia rolled her eyes, before starting to walk.

"We should reach Rivira by the end of the day. We can leave the dungeon tomorrow."

Sitonai hummed thoughtfully.

"Wait, isn't that elf called Rivira? And how do you even know what time it is down here?"

"Her name is Riveria, not Rivira," Alfia corrected with a sigh. "As for the time... I have an internal clock."

Sitonai hummed in acknowledgement.

"So what's Rivira?"

"It's a small city on the 18th Floor and the closest safety point to the surface."

...

Their surroundings shifted, revealing a massive waterfall cascading down the rocks.

"Woah, this place looks pretty cool~"

Sitonai's eyes sparkled as she looked around, every step leaving a trail of frost.

Alfia's sigh was practically a reflex at this point.

"The 27th floor and the 25th are connected through this waterfall,"

Alfia sighed before explaining, feeling more like a tourist guide every time Sitonai "Woah'd" at anything.

But Alfia didn't mind, it was annoying at the beginning, but humans were existences of adaptation, and she quickly got used to briefly explaining each section.

Sitonai's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"So, if I froze the waterfall, could we just skip the 26th floor?"

Alfia's response was immediate—and dry.

"I wouldn't recommend it."

"Heeh~"

Sitonai's curiosity was far from satisfied.

She stopped abruptly, eyes glinting with an idea.

"Wait."

Alfia paused, glancing back. "What is it?"

"I'm as slow as a normal person. But you're, like, Level 7, right? Couldn't you just... carry me?"

A rare silence fell.

Alfia paused.

She hadn't thought of that.

With Sitonai's magic being at the level where Alfia would assume that she would be around Level 7 or 8, Alfia had slyly forgot the comment when Sitonai had said her physical abilities where just a little better than a normal person's.

"..."

"..."

Sitonai sighed dramatically.

"We could've been out of here days ago..."

Alfia, crossing her arms defensively, countered smoothly.

"And what about that bear you summoned? If it could beat Cadmus, why didn't you call it sooner?"

Sitonai flinched, eyes darting away.

"Wait that's not my fault, I didn't realize it earlier cause the output was the same, but my total input is way less!"

Alfia's skeptical eyebrow raised higher with every excuse Sitonai spouted.

At her gaze, Sitonai became more nervous, spouting excuses.

"I could probably keep up Shirou for like 20 minutes before running out... I used to keep Shirou constantly active but the world somehow made it so I need mana to materialize him."

"The food?"

"That's just using the authority of Freyja..."

"The Ice?"

"That's Sitonai and Louhi's..."

"..."

Alfia sighed.

Sitonai felt much stronger when she had first met her, more inhuman, fleeting.

Now, she just felt like any other person.

Not that Alfia disliked it.

Rather, knowing that Sitonai didn't feel like she would disappear all of a sudden made Alfia content.

The tension eased, however, when Alfia unexpectedly bent down, sweeping Sitonai into a princess carry with effortless grace.

"W-Wait—!"

"Hmm?"

Sitonai's face turned a deep shade of red, hands instinctively flying up to cover her cheeks. Alfia, meanwhile, seemed completely unaffected, though a faint smirk played at the corner of her lips.

While Alfia was a Level 7 Adventurer, one of the strongest in existence and tall for a woman, Sitonai was small and light, barely reaching her chest.

Holding Sitonai in a princess carry, Alfia could barely feel any weight on her arms, but she could feel Sitonai's existence, as she brought her arms close.

It was solid.

It was these moments that Alfia could see Sitonai as an actual being, not fleeting, as Alfia could feel Sitonai's warmth, despite her ice abilities.

Sitonai was blushing at the sudden contact, covering her face to prevent Alfia from looking.

Even combining her past life and her gained memories and experience as Sitonai from the Lostbelt, no one had come this close.

"You're light." Alfia commented nonchalantly, but her eyes softened almost imperceptibly.

"Cute."

Sitonai removed her hands before glaring at Alfia.

"W-Who are you calling cute?!"

Sitonai's indignant glare was as threatening as a kitten's hiss—especially with that blush dusting her cheeks.

Alfia blinked, momentarily startled.

'Did I... say that out loud?'

"Yes, yes you did."

Sitonai's flat look answered that question without a word.

"And no you didn't do it again, your expression just tells me you were thinking that."

A rare chuckle escaped Alfia's lips—soft, barely audible. Sitonai's pouting only deepened.

"...I see."

Gradually, Sitonai relaxed in Alfia's arms, the warmth and steadiness of the hold surprisingly comforting.

"I can't believe it... the modern citizen and the all mighty High Servant has degraded into this..."

Sitonai muttered, a mix of exasperation and resignation.

While Sitonai's personality had shifted to match Illyasviel von Einzbern's, she still retained memories of her past life as a modern citizen.

The problem was... she couldn't, for the life of her, remember which country that was. Was it Japan? Canada? Somewhere in Europe?

The more she tried to recall, the fuzzier it got—until she finally gave up with a sigh.

"Well, that's gone forever," she muttered, thoroughly unimpressed with her own memory.

"So that 18th floor estimate was based on my pace, right?" Sitonai asked, eyebrows raised.

Alfia nodded.

"Okay, but what if you ran?"

Alfia considered it for a moment.

"Six hours, give or take."

Sitonai stared at her blankly, brain screeching to a halt.

"…25 floors in 6 hours?"

Alfia gave a small, almost nonchalant nod, as if this were a completely reasonable thing to say.

Sitonai's shoulders slumped, resignation clear in her eyes.

"So we wasted three days when we could've just gotten out in one?"

"Not... necessarily," Alfia corrected, though it sounded more like an excuse. "It gets harder the lower you go."

Sitonai's mood was written all over her face—pure betrayal and exhaustion rolled into one. Alfia, of all people, felt a twinge of guilt and did something she never thought she would do: offer reassurance.

"But that's still basically one day..."

She abruptly shut her mouth, realizing that wasn't helping.

Sitonai just let out a long, suffering sigh, eyes dull.

"I feel like I've been scammed…"

Alfia averted her gaze, deciding that silence was the best option for now.

"So, what's the plan when we reach the surface? You'll need a temporary disguise." Sitonai mused, smoothly changing topics.

Alfia thought for a few seconds.

"Just a mask and a cloak will do," Alfia replied smoothly. "I'm fast enough that no one will notice my movements."

"Hmph. If you say so." Sitonai grinned mischievously. "Your face is already perfect, so it'd be a shame to change it too much."

Sitonai didn't know if it was her past life's memories encroaching unto Illya's personality, but she had a preference, and Alfia was it.

Alfia's ears tinged pink at the casual compliment, but she managed to maintain her stoic expression.

"...Thank you."

Alfia had been revealing sides of herself she hadn't even known existed—fragile, unguarded pieces that surfaced without warning.

But strangely enough, she didn't find it unpleasant. It was unfamiliar, yes, but not unwelcome—just something new.

Sitonai pumped her fist.

'Let's go!'

"So, anything else?" Sitonai asked casually, tilting her head.

Alfia hummed softly, a rare note of hesitation in her voice.

"Hmm..."

After a moment's pause, she finally spoke.

"Could you... cover my ears?"

Sitonai blinked, momentarily stunned.

"Huh?" Her confusion was clear, eyes wide with surprise.

"That's... a pretty unique request."

Alfia's gaze drifted to the side, a faint hint of embarrassment coloring her cheeks.

"I usually prefer silence."

The words were blunt, straightforward—as was typical of Alfia—but Sitonai's eyes widened further, guilt creeping into her expression as she remembered the past few days.

"Ah—sorry for talking so much, then..." Her voice trailed off, sheepish.

But Alfia's next words were unexpectedly soft, almost tender.

"You're an exception."

"Wha—?" Sitonai's breath caught, her face warming instantly.

Her eyes darted to Alfia, half-expecting to see a smirk or some sign that she was being teased. But Alfia's face was turned away, pink dusting her usually stoic expression.

'Is she... embarrassed?' Sitonai thought, her heart skipping a beat.

A soft giggle escaped before Sitonai could stop herself. She shook her head with a fond smile.

"Alright, alright." Her voice was warm, affectionate. "I get it."

Reaching up carefully, Sitonai's small, cool hands came to rest over Alfia's ears.

The touch was gentle—almost reverent—and Alfia's eyes fluttered shut for a moment, her shoulders relaxing at the sensation.

The world seemed to quiet, leaving only the soft sound of Sitonai's breathing and the faint chill of her fingertips.

For a moment, Alfia could almost forget the darkness of the dungeon, the weight of her past and regrets.

Peace. That was the only way to describe the feeling.

Sitonai's eyes softened as she watched Alfia's tension melt away, her own heart warming at the sight.

'Ah... she's surprisingly cute like this.'

--+--

A/N: Think of Alfia as someone who always has Gif Blessing on, cause of her constitution, and since Sitonai's near she keeps reseting Alfia's condition.

So since in this state she's basically level 9. or something close to that. 6 hours and 25 floors is a mad underestimation. If bell could run from the 5th floor to the surface in like an hour, Alfia probably could in like way less.

THIS IS YURI EVERYONE!!! 

Idk if I should do harem, because there's a lot. I mean A LOT of hot ahh women in this world.

Like a milf top and a (pseudo)loli bottom.

Like something like yandere top and mesugaki bottom?

Or mesugaki top and unexperienced bottom?

Then transitions to assertive top and then mesugaki bottom? Something like domination loss would be fun to write.

I personally don't like lolis.

But technically even Illya in F/SN is 18.

I don't consider Illya a loli from F/SN but prisma illya is def a loli. Idk why I think like that, but Illya from F/SN feels way more mature than prisma illya.

So I guess as long as she doesn't act like a child it's okay?

But damn is Sitonai short AS HELL! She's 133cm, and Alfia is 169 like GAH DAMN.

My favorite dynamic is yandere top and bottom mc tho, so while Sitonai has the noble phantasm to be on par with Level 6-7, it's just a gimmick. Sitonai herself is pseudo level 1.

--+--

Also I have to admit, the fight scenes are AI. I can't write fight scenes to save my fucking life.