*
Out of the possible many futures, she believes this to be the ideal. Grasping at a miracle that was completely unseen before. A chance offered by the heavens to regain everything she lost.
"Then it's a deal." (Lastia)
"... A verbal promise holds no weight. Still, I want to know why you agreed.
You'll likely face elite ex adventurers sent by the family. Engage in more battles of life and death. Peace is easy for you grasp, just associating with me has... " (Leslie)
The concept of adventurers hadn't been eradicated. It was a recent memory in the public conscious when they got incorporated into the national army. The alternative was local mercenary groups, regional armies and the like. Any militant force that could be mobilised by the nation was acceptable.
The title of elite still held some consideration, powerful individuals that could choose beyond being conscripted, that the kingdom let them join mercenary groups or form their own mercenary companies. There was a requirement of a certain number of employees, but in its current state the kingdom couldn't oversee everything. It all came down to whether the recruiter was higher in level in the end to intimidate the adventurer...
She's too wrapped up in herself to begin questioning why Lastia did this. If she were in a normal frame of mind, Lastia was sure Leslie would easily see through it. What benefits did she gain for helping Leslie? The long term goal was for Leslie's blood ties to qualify her into the city's governance. A tie to the one at the top would be most helpful in the coming war with the demons. It sucks that she'd have to kill capable individuals that the family will send after them, but Lastia was the hero. She can make it up by defeating the demon king, no one else can assure that.
"Don't think too hard about that. You aren't going to die, you will return to the highest seat in this city, and you will owe me that favour." (Lastia)
"A favour, is that enough?" (Leslie)
"... I don't have many wants or needs. I could sneak into anywhere, but I still chose an assuming place like this.
We might have to share a bed though, sorry if it's too crammed." (Lastia)
Leslie's thoughts raced for a second, before calming down. For a sheltered girl like her, today's escape was certainly the most thrilling thing she had ever accomplished in life, not to mention the fight with Lastia. She was honestly glad that Lastia turned out to be a nice person that didn't take her life, she worried that she might have to sell herself to survive, but now she even had a chance to strike back at the enemy.
Her situation now was completely contrary to her expectation. She had already formulated some tactics in excitement. To preserve a 1v1 or 2v1 situation was paramount, so Lastia wouldn't die in their first encounter with a group of mercenaries. Her years of studying magic will shine through. In the fight between them, Lastia told her to use her enchanted dagger, she likely instantly foresaw Leslie's level of training. A few low level spells weren't going to achieve much, at least with her
Lastia didn't even notice, but gaining a skill with just an instruction? Leslie was much of a genius to have picked up magic in her insulated home environment, and to learn fighting to this degree just from their encounter. It was practically unheard off. The world awarded skills to those that were capable, in other words her body was inherently able to create an elemental sword with Mana in the first place, the skill awarded by the world just gave that ability a name and a possibility of growth.
"Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that. I just didn't want either of us to sleep on the floor, please put up with it..." (Lastia)
She spoke hurriedly in a fervour. They were strangers after all, it was natural to have some suspicion or rejection to the whole idea, even if they were fully clothed in their sleep. Though, Lastia was the only one getting red. To Leslie, they were both girls after all, an inclination for the same sex was beyond uncommon or at least openly so in this society. She stared questioningly at Lastia, as if question marks were visibly floating above her head.
"... You're clean and you don't have bad odour, I'm tired but I don't mind." (Leslie)
Too strong! She's way too open minded about this kind of thing, or maybe Lastia's mindset of saving her chastity for the right one was naive in this world? Maybe in another world and time, she'd have imposed her fantasies on Leslie... But yeah, she's taken by Arin after all. She was also a little drowsy after the fight and all that talk. Leslie had explained a bit about her circumstances before making this deal with her, and about other trivial things such as hobbies and the like.
They hit it off surprisingly well, and before she knew it Lastia offered up her ability as a warrior. Leslie didn't know Lastia was the hero yet, she didn't have an appraisal skill, even then Lastia's higher level appraisal was set to block any low level inspection attempt.
"... I'm tired, so I'm resting. I've been travelling for the past 3 days in the woods... Goodnight." (Lastia)
"... Goodnight." (Leslie)
It was the first time Leslie slept in a bed with someone. She wasn't completely unfamiliar with bed duties, it was in her education in recent years as she was expected to sire an heir eventually.
"Do you still need the light? I'll put out the candle." (Lastia)
"Yeah, just for a bit..." (Leslie)
It was then, she learned that people did indeed wear linen undergarments. Naturally none of them survived in the burning village, the poor often had only access to one set and those were stained with blood and other fluids when the village was invaded. She didn't loot their corpses nor did she inspect what they wore, she only saw the outer layer meant to keep on warm in the open environment. She's going to have to buy some tomorrow.
Holding her palm out to the candle, a single black thread shot out like lightning, taking out the fire instantly. The room fell dark as her thoughts slowed to a crawl, taken by the sleep.