Class Change (Lyuka, Suzanne)

Well then, the battle was over.

Which meant… the fun part: level-ups.

Maybe because we'd just waged a large-scale field battle, the level-ups didn't trigger right away…

After we'd finished the whole ceremony and made it safely back home…

Pikon

…

The level-ups all came rolling in at once after the fact.

Colette LV36→40

Colette had learned a skill like this.

An absurdly strong buff! Five turns for a total of 375% UP, and on top of that it couldn't be dispelled… Since it was optional activation, she could keep the buffs up while defending.

Wonderful. Farewell, Heat Slash… I couldn't recall using it outside of mock battles. At the very least, please come back as big damage.

Luna LV43→45

Luna had learned a skill like this.

The effect itself wasn't all that great, but the optional activation was nice. It could be used any time, so it didn't get in the way at all.

Farewell, Vanish. It had been useful for clearing out small fry, and since I didn't usually use Saint Mist that way, I'd been torn, but the impression of it helping her endure Holy Light was strong.

For attack, Balmung and Cláu Solas were simply too strong…

I still had Divine Ray and Cross Blade, so that was more than enough for clearing small fry.

Patty LV42→44

The skill Patty learned… or rather, the one that evolved, was this.

Oh, for Patty, whose movements were basically sluggish thanks to a certain part of her body, learning first-strike was a huge help.

The three of them had leveled up nicely. Good, good. And then…

"Yes! Here we go! Lyuka!"

"Lyuka, you did it!"

Sawako was hopping up and down with even more excitement than Lyuka, in extremely high spirits.

"All right, should I have Lyuka explain this herself, or have Yuria explain it…"

… Somehow, the way Lyuka froze when she saw this display was bothering me.

"Well, Great Sage is mine, and Faerie Princess is fine for Lyuka.

"Great Sage is the same kind of job as my Great Sorcerer. A balanced offensive and defensive Top-Tier Job from the magic-user line.

"It's just the standard evolution up to now, so it shouldn't need much explanation.

"… All right Lyuka, you go next."

Yuria's explanation was a bit perfunctory. Well, if it was just the standard evolution from Mage, there probably wasn't much else to add.

This was the first time I'd seen Lyuka, of all people, who loved giving explanations, explain something so gloomily.

"Faerie Princess, hm…

"I told you before that I'm of the Faerie race, didn't I.

"… Normally I keep my wings stowed away, but I can pull them out any time I want."

Pasa,

Lyuka brought out her beautiful butterfly wings.

"That said, I can't fly the way Luna or Suzanne can.

"At best, all I can do is slow my falling speed.

"… Well, faeries aren't all that different from humans, just an ordinary race like that.

"Since the Faerie race has so many people…

"It probably needs some level of organizers. Faerie Princess is what amounts to one of those organizers.

"They're like a one-step-up group leader.

"Even so, there are over ten of them in the world; it's a perfectly common existence.

"Above this there's the Faerie Queen, and above that the Faerie Goddess, so…

"It's middle management, basically.

"In other words, just an ordinary Top-Tier Job, nothing too remarkable.

"Faerie Princesses and Faerie Queens come in five varieties: bow type, staff type, sword type, spear type, and whip type.

"I'd most likely be the staff type.

"It's a perfectly ordinary class with respectable proficiency in magic… It's not all that different from a Mage."

… That was how Lyuka explained it.

Hmm～? It wasn't that I doubted Lyuka, but… something about this felt unsatisfying.

"… She's not exactly lying, sure…"

Yuria was making a very complicated face.

"You really do have a knack for it, explaining the 'Faerie Princess,' of all things, in such low evaluation."

She let out a sigh, looking exasperated.

"… In that case, wouldn't it be better if Yuria explained it?"

Lyuka turned her face away with a pui.

This reaction of Lyuka's… It seemed like, even though it was a fairly strong class, Lyuka herself didn't really want to become it?

"… Fine, then I'll explain.

"I said the Faerie race has a huge number of people.

"The reason there are so many is…

"Because 'Human race' and 'Faerie race' are, in a sense, paired antonyms.

"In this world, everything outside here… outside the human territory we live in is called monster territory.

"If we set human territory at 10, monster territory is said to be about 200 in size. That's just an estimate, and some say it's even larger.

"And even so, humanity has expanded our territory roughly threefold over 300 years.

"At the start, the ratio was reportedly 50 to 1.

"… That said, calling everything outside human territory monster territory is a rough way to put it.

"In reality, there are other races that aren't as hostile to humans as monsters are, but they aren't humans either.

"… Those are the Faerie race. Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Fairies, and so on; they break down further within that, but Lyuka is a Fairy.

"There's a faerie territory where these faeries live.

"Its size is said to be about 70% of human territory. The faerie population is said to be around 1/100 that of humans, so for them to maintain 70% of the territorial spread, the faeries are that strong and that excellent.

"It's basically a race made up only of Garumon, ruled… reportedly… by the Faerie Queen.

"When they wanted to leave children behind, they used to abduct human Masters, so in the old days there was conflict, but… at present they have built friendly relations with humans.

"Humans want strong, beautiful, excellent Garumon, and faeries want the seed of excellent Masters; their interests align.

"In actual fact, on extremely rare occasions, faerie Masters are also born… well, that's not really relevant right now.

"There can be up to five Faerie Queens, and currently I think there are three.

"There's a legend that when all five Faerie Queens are gathered, the Faerie Great War is held, and the queen who wins it can become the Faerie Goddess.

"The Faerie Goddess, who would rule all of faerie territory, is a dream race that may someday come into being.

"In other words, the practical apex of faerie society is the Faerie Queen.

"… And the Faerie Princess is a candidate for Faerie Queen, the No. 2 position.

"There are about ten of them currently, true, but that's a level of existence equivalent to S-Class and A-Class Masters in our world numbering over a hundred.

"Out of the Faerie race's total population, said to be ten million, they're nearly at the top.

"And among Top-Tier Jobs, with the exception of edge cases like the Phantom Performing Princess class, the Faerie Princess can without question be called the strongest race.

"The staff-type Faerie Princess is no exaggeration to call a perfect upgraded version, with magic on par with a Great Sage plus the unique faerie traits and special magics on top.

"… The evolution choice, considered normally, is Faerie Princess and nothing else."

So Yuria explained.

"… The impression I got from Lyuka's explanation was completely different…"

"… Just as Yuria said, that side of it does exist."

Apparently she'd known all along and had been glossing over it.

"… Could you tell me what's going on? No matter how useful the class is, if Lyuka doesn't want it, I won't pick it."

"… No, Faerie Princess is fine. Please make it Faerie Princess. As for me, if I can be useful to you, Naoto-san, I don't mind even if I have to swallow mud.

"It's just that what I don't want, I don't want. I know that myself. I just want to throw a tantrum, that's all…"

Lyuka let out a deep sigh.

"What do you want to do? Should I explain everything?"

"… Please. I'd rather not say it from my own mouth. If necessary I'll add to it."

"… Lyuka is, naturally, from faerie territory. Her mother's name is Elfina. She's one of the three currently existing Faerie Queens, the sword Faerie Queen."

"… Hee, then she really is a princess."

"Yes, that's right. Children leaving faerie territory for human territory and becoming Garumon or NPCs haven't been rare ever since faerie-human relations turned friendly. And Lyuka admired human territory and wanted to go there herself.

"But naturally, sending a precious princess who was almost certain to become a Faerie Princess off into human territory was unthinkable! She was scolded and refused, needless to say.

"Lyuka pushed back fiercely and ran away from the castle, going off to human territory.

"… That's where she met me, I contacted her mother, and Lyuka became a faerie-born Mage NPC."

… Which meant Lyuka and Yuria went back a long way, close ties from way back.

"That's the general version of the story… and I'll tell the other one too. With Naoto, that's fine, isn't it?"

"… Understood. Please."

There was more?

"I mentioned that Masters occasionally appear among the Faerie race. On our side, Masters are rare at one in ten, but in faerie territory they're even rarer at one in ten thousand.

"So in faerie territory, faerie Masters are extremely well-treated.

"… Specifically, to the point where if someone says they want a particular princess, that request gets through.

"The reason Lyuka pushed back so hard she even ran away is that, without anyone asking what Lyuka herself wanted, she was about to be made the Garumon of some Master she didn't even know."

"… I have unresolved trouble with faerie territory.

"By becoming an NPC Mage, I escaped my mother's authority. And of course, I'm now your Garumon, Naoto-san.

"Even if I become a Faerie Princess, I won't return to my mother's control.

"However, faerie territory is capable of detecting the birth of a new Faerie Princess.

"… If I become a Faerie Princess, there's a chance new trouble will rain down on you, Naoto-san."

"That doesn't bother me at all. Bring on the trouble. I'll protect everything."

When I said it lightly, Lyuka smiled happily.

"Well, there are other examples of Faerie Princesses and Faerie Queens working as Garumon in human territory… I don't think it's bound to turn into trouble, necessarily."

Yuria added.

Faerie Queen…

"Ah, this person?"

I pulled out the section on the 24 Strongest Garumon in the Garumon Yearbook.

An outrageous beauty. So much my type! … Held by S-Class number 3, Sairas. Hmm… so far away…

"That's right. Faerie Princesses might be one thing, but a Faerie Queen becoming a human's Garumon really is unprecedented…

"It was precisely because there were precedents like this that I came to admire the human world too."

Apparently Lyuka had known about this from the start.

Whoops, the conversation had gone off track.

"… What I'm worried about is, ultimately, the reason Lyuka doesn't want to become a Faerie Princess. Do you think you don't want to have any contact with your mother or faerie territory, even a little?"

"… No, it's really just a tantrum.

"When I left my homeland, I'd thought I had overcome being a faerie.

"Insisting 'I'm not a faerie' or things like that felt like the opposite, like being chained to being a faerie, so I made it a habit to identify normally as a faerie while behaving as if it were nothing.

"… After taking such pains not to be conscious of being a faerie, ultimately falling back on being a faerie just doesn't quite sit right with me… that's all it is.

"But I have to overcome where I came from someday.

"With you, Naoto-san, I think I can overcome it.

"In order for me to face myself properly… please pick Faerie Princess."

If she'd resolved herself that far, there was no problem.

"All right, I'll go with Faerie Princess."

"Yes."

Pochi, I clicked.

Pika—…

In that moment, Lyuka's body gave off a radiance. And then…

Fuwa… basa…!

Her originally beautiful butterfly wings became even more splendid, more beautiful, more vivid.

And then…

"Mn, kuh… ha, aah…"

Since the battle was over, Lyuka had been wearing her Mage robe properly again, but… it came off.

Lyuka's robe had slits cut into it so it could be shed in one motion if necessary during battle.

… So it had come apart. It couldn't be helped.

Because, after all…

She had gone, without drinking a growth potion, from a roughly twelve-year-old loli body with breasts almost flat as a board to a sixteen-year-old buxom, voluptuous body, all at once.

Her Spirit Garb couldn't keep up with the sudden change either, and came off too…

So Lyuka was completely naked.

"… L-Lyu-Lyuka… w-wait, your clothes, your clothes…!"

The unexpected ambush threw me completely off balance.

"Class changes can sometimes alter your appearance somewhat. The Faerie Princess in particular is a class with various large effects, so…

"It's not as if you don't see this body all the time in the bedroom anyway, so what's the issue?"

"No, I'm not so jaded that I won't get flustered when an unparalleled beauty's full nude is sprung on me!"

I hurriedly draped a blanket over Lyuka.

"… That form?"

"As I said. It seems class changing transformed my body.

"… If anything, while I was rejecting the Faerie Princess class change, my growth was halted, and once I accepted it, I grew. Although, with the magical power of a Faerie Princess…"

Shururu…

In an instant, Lyuka was back to her original twelve-year-old form.

"Changing my age that much is well within my ability. Whichever form, please cherish me in whatever shape you prefer, Naoto-san."

So Lyuka offered.

"Eh, e-erm… h-honestly, you're incredibly attractive either way, so either is fine, really… but go with whichever is your natural form, Lyuka."

"… If you mean natural…"

Lyuka shifted to her sixteen-year-old form.

"This form, the one I grew into after class changing to Faerie Princess, is the natural one. Is that all right?"

"… Y-yes, it is…"

I… I really did… love big breasts after all…

Once again, my heart pounded at Lyuka's beauty.

… R-right. Her reaching LV50 meant that tonight, I…

Crap, my heart was racing.

Now then, two skills had changed, and so had the trait.

First, Shining → Divine Art Eternal Shine. This one looked extremely useful too.

But… what was beyond ridiculous was Light's Blessing → Holy Sanctum, plus the new trait, Faerial Light.

Holy Sanctum was Light's Blessing expanded to all allies.

And Faerial Light was the Light Magic Major UP effect doubled and expanded to all allies.

Since it was a complete upgrade, Light Magic Major UP had apparently been absorbed.

… And that was just too strong. Granting Light-element to everyone with Holy Sanctum meant everyone's attack power went up by 100%. A total of 150%!

If limited to one turn, this surpassed Setsuna's Soul Refrain and Dance of Exhilaration.

On top of that, since it was the Light-advantage element, it had no negative effect even against opponents weak to Light.

Lyuka, who'd been excellent to begin with, had become even more excellent…!

I was looking forward to the next battle. But for now, I was looking forward to tonight.

… Moving on.

"Oh, here we go, Suzanne!"

"A, aaah…"

Suzanne hung her head in despair.

"Eh? What's wrong?"

"Like that… after putting on such a disgrace, such a pathetic display… how could I… It's no good, no good… at this rate I could never become a Seraph…"

Suzanne seemed to be deeply regretting having been knocked out in the battle.

"No, I heard about it later, but that was unavoidable… she clearly used four skills, and one more was a self-destruct technique? There's no way anyone could have predicted that!

"… That she used a trump card like that just shows what a threat you were, Suzanne.

"If I were the enemy, I think I'd try to take Suzanne out first too.

"Suzanne is that strong, so… have confidence, you'll definitely be okay."

After guaranteeing it that far, what would I do if she came out as a Cherubim or something…

In that case, I'd reject it, I supposed. Or maybe I should aim for a historical first, a Cherubim → Seraph class change…

No, if I didn't believe in Suzanne, what would even be the point! In all this world, no angel suited Seraph more than Suzanne and Luna!

I tapped the message.

…

…

…

"Huh? No reaction."

"… Eh?"

No way… a freeze? Surely not.

What in the world… the system's response had always been perfect up until now, and something like this had never once happened.

"Wh-what's going on? Why…? D-did I… get abandoned even by the system?

"Because of how poorly I fought back then…

"No, no way…"

Yoyoyo… Suzanne broke down in tears.

No, seriously, what was happening? Couldn't it at least show me an hourglass? I couldn't tell whether it was frozen or processing.

"… Ah, I get it."

Right then, Yuria cut in.

"But Suzanne being unusually shaken is cute, so I won't say. Fufufu…"

Yuria poked at the weakly sobbing Suzanne, tsun tsun, playing around.

… Just a minute or so felt unbearably long.

And then…

"… Haaaah…"

I went so limp from relief my hips nearly gave way. I'd been super tense too…!

Crap, my hands were shaking…

"What, what is it, what is iiit…"

Suzanne looked like she was about to cry again at my reaction.

… Crap, the usually strong-willed Suzanne with such a meek face… this might be cute. Yeah, it stirred up a mischievous urge to leave her like that for a while.

… But no. No being mean.

"… Congratulations, Suzanne."

"Well, of course! Setting me aside, no Garumon could possibly be more suited to Seraph, none at all…!"

Suzanne instantly regained her confidence.

Yeah, Suzanne really had to be like this.

"All right then, I'll… tap yes."

"Yes!"

Pochi.

In that instant, Suzanne's figure shone. And then… her wings multiplied to six. More divine, more beautiful… no, she'd been too beautiful from the start, so I didn't really think there was much of a difference, but somehow she'd become more divine and more beautiful, at least that's how I wanted to put it.

Whoa… t-this had gotten strong. Wouldn't this kind of break the game balance? Seriously.

Two skills had changed, plus the trait.

Seraph of Holy Flame: God- and Fire-element damage +100% UP… well, this was about as expected.

This one was already amazing. Even just being the God-element version of Tempest was amazing, and on top of that it was guaranteed-hit with 10 uses. Very convenient.

A super-evolution from Vanish, way too much of an upgrade.

And then. The most dangerously busted of them all was this.

… What was so dangerous about it? The multiplier was x2! And… not 1/battle, but up to 2!

Thought it wasn't so different from Angel Halo?

No, it was incredible. True, x2 and 100% UP gave the same result when used once from baseline.

… However, 100% UP added based on the original stats. x2 actually doubled the current stats.

In other words…

Used twice, it wasn't 200% UP, it was x4!

And that was all stats! Defense and speed x4 too! With Speed x4, you got 3 attacks per turn.

Attack power x4 with 3 attacks… 12x damage, just on the third turn!

What's more, this directly multiplied any buff applied with Setsuna's, etc. Outrageous.

And on top of that, neither debuffs, nor status ailments, nor even dispels like Sawako's Tranquil could prevent that x4 stacking… what was I even supposed to do? That kind of feeling.

I might want to limit myself to using it only once, put a self-imposed restriction in place…

"With this, I'll never disgrace myself again!"

Suzanne laughed happily.

… Truly, I was so glad. So glad this smile of hers wasn't clouded over…

If this confidence-driven girl couldn't have become her long-cherished Seraph, just how badly would she have been crushed?

Of course, I knew she had the strength to stand back up from there.

But if I'd let her be crushed even once, I'd never have forgiven myself.

I was truly glad I'd been able to protect this smile.

"So anyway, what was that freeze in the system about?"

"… Ah, the position of Michaela in the world is held by only one. While the previous Michaela, Michaela Hilde, was being promoted to Goddess, you were being made to wait."

"Ahh, I see…"

So that was it. A deadlock waiting on the other side's operation.

"… That woman… interfering with me right to the end! Well, fine!"

Suzanne was furious, puripuri.

"… Michaela Hilde… a different name now, huh. Are you on bad terms with her?"

I tried opening her entry in the 24 Strongest Garumon section.

Held by S-Class number 1, Satoru. Far away, huh.

"Of course! That woman is my fated rival.

"My ultimate goal is, of course, to surpass even Mother and become the world's strongest Garumon! But before that there's a wall I have to surpass, and that's where she fits.

"… Tch, knowing I helped that woman become a Goddess… how infuriating. Honestly!"

But, well, that meant I'd now obtained the race that S-Class number 1 used to hold.

… Whoa, wasn't that pretty incredible.

That I… had the qualifications to aim for the top of S-Class too. Wasn't that what it meant?

"… Of course! Onii-sama is the Master I, of all people, picked out! I shall absolutely escort you to the top of the world!"

Suzanne laughed as she said it.

"Ahh… I can't very well let you keep escorting me forever, of course.

"But with you, Suzanne, I promise I'll aim for any height."

And then, to the long-awaited Seraph Suzanne, I gave the first kiss.