☀️ Arselia and Akonia

- Are you alright? - asks a younger phantom, rushing up to the priestess. - Are you hurt anywhere?

After spending a few seconds carefully visually inspecting the pile of embers and tentacles to make sure they are dead, and then the water surface - to see if anything with an aura is visible anywhere beneath it, she finally allowed herself to relax a little and put the katana back in its scabbard - but not her hand from its hilt.
- ...yes. That is... yes - no problems or incidents, I didn't even have time to take a dip. Listen, I didn't even notice what caused them to fall in one go. And you are strong! - she nods approvingly. - For a moment, I was worried myself, but you turned out to be too much for this thing.

- Whew, that was unexpected, - said Sonata, wiping sweat from her forehead, - is everyone okay?

- Praise Kami for guiding our hand, - she says privately to Sonata, looking at her figure with relief. - We should have taken care of water breathing, but it somehow slipped our minds. It would have been absolutely terrible to lose you in the very first phase, even if we could have brought you back later... But "unexpected" is definitely the right word. This warm-up should give us a good lesson.

- Matthias-kun, how are you? - After examining the boy for injuries, she finally nods. - And you are a man of action, aren't you? I won't bet on whether it was tactically correct - your mentor might have a different opinion, and you should listen to him rather than to my civilian one. But from me - thank you. In a crisis situation, left without guidance, you were able to make a decision, that's an excellent quality. My only request is that there is a line beyond which the ability to make quick decisions turns into recklessness. It is very important to be able to distinguish between the two and not cross it - this is the skill that needs to be honed as soon as possible. But I think you won't have any problems with that, you won't make mistakes. You are quick-witted, - she emphasized her words with an approving smile.

- Bors-san, you did a great job. You are as precise as can be - not a microgram more, not a microgram less. Accuracy is politeness of kings, but apparently not only theirs. Or am I missing something about you?..

Also, nodding separately to Miyuki and the others who participated - as well as those who spent these turns in reserve, she says to Yūnyu and Kayase:
- I didn't see what was happening at the entrance later, but in the end I understood. You both seemed to read my mind! Although maybe it's not that unexpected, - she winks at Kayase and nods gratefully to both of them. - Arigato.

- How are you? - to Tenoku and Bajene. - Okay, I take back my words - or thoughts - you really are very strong, - glancing at the pile of corpses, she says to Bajene and offers a handkerchief. - Uh, keep it... Take a second one, Tenoku-kun.
Waiting for them to recover, with some regret, and even more gratitude, she says to Bajene:
- Yes, it would have been more unsettling here without you... - she calls out to Muda-kun. - You owe me... eight candies. Four for her, four for him. We need to move on in as perfect shape as possible.