At the Albert Mansion in the Royal Capital of Sinfonia, the head of the house, Lilia Albert, was deep in a training session with her best friend Sieglinde and their maid, Lunamaria.
The three of them cycled through several pairings for their mock battles. Once they had put in enough rounds, they took a breather to hold a post-session review.
"Goodness, Sieg, you’re becoming remarkably strong," Lilia remarked. "The fruits of your special training are really starting to show."
"Yes, thanks to Chrome-sama and Funf-sama, I can truly feel myself growing," Sieglinde replied. "I feel as though I’m finally making steady progress, however small those steps might be."
Through the regular guidance she had been receiving from Kuromueina and her sparring sessions with Funf, Sieglinde’s combat ability had improved dramatically. She had once been just a step below Peerage-class, but she had since sharpened her skills to the point where she was now potentially on par with the upper echelon of the demon world.
"On the other hand, Luna, you seem to be out of form," Lilia noted. "How should I put it? Your movements are much stiffer than usual. Are you feeling unwell?"
"Ah, no... I’m simply struggling a bit with a certain assignment."
In contrast to the high-performing Sieglinde, Lunamaria’s movements had lacked their usual brilliance. To Lilia and Sieglinde, who knew her better than anyone, she appeared to be in a significant slump.
Lilia tilted her head, looking puzzled by the maid's response and the wry smile she wore. "An assignment?"
"Yes. Well, to put it simply, I’ve also been receiving a bit of instruction lately, much like Sieg. The task I’ve been given is proving to be quite difficult."
"I see. What kind of task is it?"
"To put it simply... it’s 'continuing to think,' I suppose."
"Huh?" Both Lilia and Sieglinde tilted their heads in unison.
Lunamaria clearly had no intention of elaborating further. She spent the rest of their break evasively sidestepping their questions as they finished their tea.
Lunamaria did not live at the Albert Mansion; she commuted from her own home and usually headed back as soon as her shift ended. Normally, she would go straight home, but today was her once-a-month appointment. On these designated days, she traveled to see the individual who had become her secret master.
Following the directions on a card delivered to her through a specialized method, Lunamaria navigated the backstreets of the capital. She eventually reached a secluded spot enveloped in an eerie silence.
As she took a steadying breath, a single card suddenly came flying toward her. It wasn't moving at a lethal speed, allowing Lunamaria to snatch it out of the air. Immediately after, a voice rang out from the darkness.
"How many patterns did you just imagine?"
"Fifteen... I’d say."
"Still a long way to go. You should be able to visualize at least ten thousand patterns of what might be written on that card by the time you catch it."
Alice emerged from the shadows at the end of the alley, her expression unreadable behind her mask.
"So, how has it been? Regarding your assignment... I assume you couldn't move like you usually do, right?"
"Indeed. To be honest, I couldn't move the way I wanted to at all. It truly is a difficult thing, keeping one's mind in constant motion like that."
"Well, that’s how it goes in the beginning. Honestly, I expect it to stay that way for several years. Even so, you must keep thinking. Your opponent’s next move, the options available to you, the state of your surroundings... keep your mind working incessantly. At first, your body will feel sluggish, but if you persevere, your thoughts will eventually connect like a bolt of lightning. Your thoughts will begin outstripping your actions."
Alice spoke in a light, casual tone as she retrieved the card from Lunamaria’s hand.
"Once you reach that stage, you must increase the variety of your thoughts. You have to consider every possible outcome for every action—even possibilities of less than a fraction of a percent that you would normally dismiss as impossible. When you can do that, your processing power will rise to a level that can be called future prediction. By then, you will have shed your status as a weakling and become truly strong."
"I understand. It would be quite frustrating to be left in the dust by Lili and Sieg forever, after all."
"Very well. Then, shall I take a look at your progress? I’ve instructed you a few times now, so you should know the drill. I’m not as soft as Kuro-san. If you don't concentrate... you’re going to get hurt."
Alice snapped her fingers, and a spatial isolation barrier instantly transported them from the alleyway to a vast, empty void. Within that space, Lunamaria quietly shifted into a combat stance, but a sudden curiosity prompted her to ask one last question.
"By the way, I never did ask... why did you decide to train me, Phantasm King-sama?"
"Well, Lilia-san is the type to get stronger on her own through study, and Sieg-san has Kuro-san's guidance, so it felt a bit sad to leave you behind. That’s part of it, but... mostly, it’s because I feel like you resemble me the most. It made me want to look after you a bit."
Alice wore a small, hidden smile. As she watched Lunamaria struggle with her task, she saw a reflection of her own past—the person she was back when she, too, had been a weakling. It was a strangely heartwarming sight.
Serious-senpai: "Wait, what? You were doing this? And you’ve been at it for several months? You’ve been training her since way back?"
???: "I started right around the time Kaito-san returned to the mansion. As for Sieg-san, Kuro-san's style is a better fit for her, so I was going to suggest she study under her eventually if the beach trip hadn't happened first."
Serious-senpai: "Isn't your training going to break her? She’s a side character, you know."
???: "As long as I’m not starting from absolute zero, she’ll be fine."