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Once I was done with the beds, I made a suggestion to Haumea.

I felt bad for utilizing a hard-to-refuse position they were in after we shared the room, but I just couldn’t let this chance go.

“Right, Miss Haumea. It’s about what we talked about before.”
“Oh, you mean a mock battle? You want to reopen that match?”
“No, not that. I heard about elves having special archery techniques, so I wanted to ask if you could teach it to Michelle.”
“To her? If the rumors about her skill are true, isn’t she more skilled than me?”
“Michelle’s bow skill is great, but she’s utterly helpless in close-quarter battles. I heard elves had close-quarter combat techniques that used a bow…”
“I see… That’s quite a scarce information, so I wonder where you heard it.”
“Well, I have my ways…”

I gained that knowledge in my past life. My cover would be blown if she kept pursuing the matter, so I dodged the topic while wandering my gaze.

“Also, won’t you teach Cloud some magic? I can only use the interference type magic, so I’m not fit to teach him.”
“Hmm, many half-demons certainly have a magic aptitude, but when they don’t they thoroughly don’t.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll give up.”

Just like it was with me in my past life, many half-demons had extremely high abilities both magically and physically.

I was more the extreme physical type who poured everything including the magic ability into agility instead. But because of that, I suffered when it came to endurance, so my comrades had a hard time evaluating me overall.

Though I feel like they’ve been beautifying my past nowadays.

“Of course, I don’t mind even if it’s only when you have free time. Could you do it?”
“Well, we are on our way to the United Three Nations.”
“We are heading to the Tarkashire domain too. So please, even if only until then!”

It would probably take us two days until our destination at a leisurely pace. As long as they learned the basics in that time at least, their actions in battle would become drastically better.

And I could even supplement it later. Archery was outside of my specialty, but I was a professional when it came to the close-combat battles. As long as Michelle learned the basics of how to use a bow in close quarters, I could just correct her myself later on.

“Oh, I’m fine without magic.”
“Why?”

But then Cloud suddenly turned it down. He has surprisingly big ambitions so he has challenged many fields until now. And yet, he was giving up on magic, which even surprised me.

“I mean, I hold a sword and shield. I can’t use magic with my hands full. And I have no time to construct a magic cycle, so I’d rather learn a different battle style along with Michelle.”
“Ugh, you have a point I guess. But it may come in handy if you learn it, don’t you think?”
“Besides, I can’t even get a sense for magic in mere two days. I’d rather learn things I can actually learn in that time.”
“Grrr… You’re cheeky despite being just Cloud.”
“How did it come to that?”

Joking aside, Cloud’s reaction left a favorable impression on me. He started to give proper thought to his battle style and chose to learn the skills he ought to choose. He just learned what I taught him before, so his growth impressed me.

Thus, I couldn’t ignore his opinion now. It was my duty as a teacher to accept his opinions and cooperate.

“Alright then. If that’s what you want, it’s not like I won’t respect your opinion, I guess?”
“Nicole, are you a tsundere?”
“Where did you learn that word, Michelle?”

I feel like the pure Michelle I knew started to get contaminated as of late. I had to eliminate the source of pollution ASAP.

Though I think Cloud would be the first on that list.

“Um, could you not leave us hanging here.”
“Oh, my bad.”
“But, right… It will take about two days until the Tarkashire domain. I don’t mind teaching until then. Do you have objections, Cole?”
“No, nothing.”

Cole sounded as unsociable as always, but I was relieved that he didn’t seem dissatisfied. Just as I thought we were finishing up, Haumea raised her finger and started with a wink.

“Well, in exchange, let’s just call it… the carriage outside is yours, right?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“If you let us ride on it, we’ll teach them.”
“If it’s just that, be my guest.”

Elves seldom left Raum. It’s not like they never interacted with the outside at all, but their unique techniques did not spread to the world very often. So I wanted to make use of this opportunity to learn from them.

Michelle gaining close-quarter combat understanding would serve to aid me as well, so letting them ride along on the carriage was a cheap price to pay.

Just as I answered instantly, Finia started to speak up.

“Um, could you instruct me as well?”
“You too? But aren’t you using a spear?”

Finia changed her dagger into a spear when we were wary of the visitor. She had no time to cancel it, so it was clear to tell that she was a spear user.

“Yes. But I have some interest in the magic and close-quarters combat combination.”

Certainly, as Finia could use magic too, she would have an interest in elven combat techniques that mixed magic and bows in various ways. She was also an elf, but being an orphan, she never had a chance to learn such skills.

“I don’t mind. Teaching one or two is not much different.”
“What he said. Not a problem.”

Haumea added playfully.

Like this, it was decided that they would be teaching the bow and magic skills to our group.