“Then let’s have Filo class-up first.”
“Yay~!”
Filo returns to her monster form and slowly reaches out to touch the Dragon Hourglass.
The moment when Filo laid her hand onto the glass, the sand inside glowed brightly as the light rippled out from where she touched.
“We will now commence the class-up ritual.”
As per the queen’s orders, the soldiers stood around the perimeter of the hourglass before pouring some sort of liquid into the magic circle-like grooves on the floor.
Filo slowly closes her eyes and spreads her arms wide open.
The hourglass then emits a faint light, and that light travels through the magic circle on the floor. Filo stands in the center of it, and the light starts to envelop her.
“Now then, choose your desired future.”
“Wow! Filo can see something!” said Filo who had her eyes closed.
Various icons appeared in my view, but I refused them all.
“Wow! There’s a lot~!” exclaimed Filo happily, who then proceeded to choose her future possibilities.
I could have made the decision for her, but Filo’s life is hers to decide.
While I was thinking that, the crown feather on Filo’s head, which was the cowlick on her head in human form, started shining brightly.
“Eh?”
The light became stronger and flashed over our eyes. For a moment, my eyes were blinded. After blinking several times, I looked towards Filo.
Her appearance changed somewhat? She still retained the form of a Filolial Queen, but she was now shorter. From being noticeably taller than me to being slightly shorter than me, Filo’s back could barely fit one person at this point.
Her crown feather became a little more luxurious. Like a mini-crown… that’s how it looks to me.
“It seems like the class-up has been successful.”
“I see, so people shrink after a class-up has been completed.”
“You know… Filo couldn’t choose…”
When I was trying to see her abilities, Filo, who had returned to her human form, came over to me and muttered in a crying voice.
“What happened?”
“Filo wanted to be able to spit poison, but it started moving on its own! An option that wasn’t in any that Filo could see suddenly appeared and chose itself.”
It seems like Filo had romanticized the notion of being able to use poison, reflective of the characteristics of the powerful monsters she has fought so far.
Don’t worry about it. Though you may not be able to spit out poison conventionally, your sharp mouth can still spew toxicity.
“I did see your cowlick glowing back there, after all.”
“Boo…”
Raphtalia soothes Filo, who looks disappointed.
“Alright, Raphtalia is up next.”
“Y-yes… I have a bad feeling about this, but I’ll do it.”
Raphtalia touches the hourglass just like Filo.
The soldiers poured liquid in the same way, and the magic circle faintly shined. As expected, icons float in my field of vision.
At that moment! Filo’s cowlick splits in two, and one jumps into my field of vision.
As the cowlick dispersed within my field of vision, one icon popped up from the area of possibilities that shouldn’t have been selectable.
That light flew from me to Raphtalia.
“Kyah!?” Raphtalia lets out a scream.
It then released a blinding flash of light before creating a column of smoke. It looked a little different to how it went for Filo.
When the smoke cleared, Raphtalia was there, coughing while looking towards me.
But…
“You shrunk a lot.”
“Eh!?”
The one who stood there was the Raphtalia from back when we first met. The clothes she had been wearing are now so baggy for her to the point that her hands don’t even stick out of her sleeves.
“What is going on!?”
“It looks like your growth was seemingly reset.”
So that’s why Filo had also shrunk in height.
They’re back to an age-appropriate appearance? … I’m not too worried about Filo since she can just transform into her human form which wasn’t affected by the changes, but the same can’t be said for Raphtalia.
“Yes. Demi-humans who have grown rapidly do run into this kind of problem… but I believe it shouldn’t cause much of a hindrance with regard to combat,” the Queen explained.
“All of that growth I had gone through to be like Naofumi-sama was just made pointless because of this!”
“It doesn’t matter even if you’re small, Raphtalia.”
“Hmm~? Onee-chan has shrunk?”
“Yeah.”
Filo approaches Raphtalia and holds her hand. “If you’re this big, you won’t be an Onee-chan anymore~”
“Even so, I’m still older than you.”
“Nice to meet you, Raphtalia-chan~!”
“Nice to work with you again, Raphtalia. Let’s get you a lunch set with a flag at the restaurant on the way back.”
“Ugh… Naofumi-sama is treating me like a child even more now…”
“What are you talking about, Raphtalia?”
“Huh?”
“Are you not… a child in the first place?”
“I don’t care anymore!”
With a heave of frustration, Raphtalia began to stride off in anger for some reason, forgetting about her now baggy clothes, which caused her to trip and fall.
“Oww!”
“See… it’ll be hard for you to move around if you don’t change your clothes quickly. I’ll help you get changed, alright?”
“Please stop! Don’t treat me like a child!”
“What a nice, heartwarming scene this is. Fufufu.” The Queen looked at us and smiled for some reason.
Well, I think Raphtalia at this age is more heartwarming to look after, as I’m acting as a replacement for her parents.
—
Conclusion: Raphtalia becomes a little girl.
