Chapter 0171: God of War—Takemikazuchi
The next day, early morning.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
The sound of blades and swords clashing echoed in the backyard of the Astrea Familia. Two figures, one black and one white, were engaged in an intense clash—
The black figure was Erina, dressed in black training clothes and black traditional Beijing cloth shoes;
The white figure was the Goddess Astraea, wearing white fitted pants and a top.
"So impressive—"
Alise, sitting at the edge of the training ground, propped her chin on her hand and said to Maryuu Reage beside her, "Maryuu-chan, if it were you, could you fight like this against the Goddess?"
"..."
Maryuu twitched the corner of her mouth, then covered the lower half of her face with her sleeve and said with a smile, "Alise, did you accidentally slam the door on your head when you went out?"
Which deity hasn't existed for hundreds of millions of years? They've all honed their specialized skills to perfection—to give a simple example, if the goddess Ishtar were to straddle an ordinary man, she'd only need to sway her hips three times to make him tremble and enter a state of post-climactic clarity!
Similarly, as the goddess of justice, Astraea's swordsmanship has naturally reached the pinnacle! What currently limits her is the restriction of being in the lower world where divine power cannot be used, leaving her with only the physical capabilities of an Lv.2 (or possibly Lv.3) adventurer.
"Huff... huff..."
After less than five minutes of combat, both Erina and Astraea had begun to pant, their intense exchange having consumed a great deal of their stamina.
"Truly astonishing." Astraea wiped the sweat from the corner of her eye, then looked at Erina with admiration, saying, "Erina, have you really never received any divine blessing?"
"Didn't I already show you my back?" Erina, holding the high-level blank weapon she brought from the Overlord world, replied with a helpless expression, "I'm truly starting from scratch right now."
"Sorry, I'm not doubting you, it's just..." Astraea expressed her heartfelt amazement, "It's just, this is truly incredible! Even when Alise spars with me, she never puts this much pressure on me!"
...
...
Alise: "??"
Thank you, but please don't mention me!
Nearby, Kaguya smiled cheerfully while covering her face, then leaned close to the prum Lyra's ear and said: "Hear that? Our captain seems pretty weak in the goddess's words—the combat power unit Alise?"
"Pfft—"
Laira covered her mouth, making sputtering sounds.
"??"
Alise turned to look at her good teammates and said discontentedly: "What do you mean combat power unit! I'm the strongest in our Familia!"
"Ah yes yes yes—"
Kaguya and Lyra nodded perfunctorily, making Alise stomp her feet in anger.
Nearby, Ryuu Lion watched her teammates joking around so casually and couldn't help but lift the corners of her mouth slightly.
Hayashi, watching this scene, showed a touched expression. He felt like he was watching a light yuri intimate moment.
'This is so nice!'
Thinking carefully, the Astrea Familia members are all girls! So if we were to film a relaxed, slice-of-life spin-off with them as the main characters, it would definitely be light yuri intimacy—absolutely not School-Live!! Never!
...
...
"You flatter me, my skills are still far from adequate." Erina smiled wryly and shook her head, saying: "Only after sparring with you did I realize how immature I am."
Actually, not just Erina, even Hayashi had similar thoughts.
After undergoing dual training in both the Konosuba world and the Overlord world, their substantially improved physical abilities caused all four of them to experience a "mind and body" mismatch—they couldn't utilize 100% of the power contained within their bodies.
Simply put, they were more than capable of bullying weak opponents, but insufficient for life-or-death battles.
"No problem, I'll keep sparring with you until you're satisfied." Astraea showed a faint smile and said: "Don't think this is special treatment though—I also really want to spar with opponents who are evenly matched!"
That was a lie.
This was Astraea's way of repaying Erina for saving her life—how could Erina possibly deserve to be called an "evenly matched opponent" by Astraea, a goddess who had studied martial arts for hundreds of millions of years?
'This isn't an evenly matched spar, but rather a senior guiding a junior!' Erina pursed her lips, then took a deep breath and said: "Astraea, I'm coming!"
"Come on!"
Astraea cheerfully raised her weapon, issuing the challenge response.
...
...
Afternoon.
Hayashi approached Astraea who was resting on the corridor,
"Goddess..."
"Hmm?" Astraea looked at Hayashi with dissatisfaction.
"Alright, alright, Astraea." Hayashi helplessly raised his hands and said, "Could I trouble you to introduce me to a few more deities?"
Astraea showed a subtle expression: "Introductions again? Last time it was Hephaestus, who is it this time?"
"Ahem, don't misunderstand! I just got a bit of an itch after watching your spar with Erina." Hayashi scratched his head, looking at Astraea with anticipation as he said, "So, I was hoping you could introduce me to some deities who are particularly skilled in hand-to-hand combat!"
"I see! Now I understand." Astraea nodded, thoughtfully saying, "There are many deities skilled in hand-to-hand combat, but I'd recommend you seek out Takemikazuchi or Indra—other martial deities either specialize in weapons, haven't descended yet, or have such eccentric temperaments they're difficult to deal with."
Hayashi scratched his head, then said with some distress, "Astraea, I have a bit of decision paralysis. Which do you think is better, Takemikazuchi or Indra?"
Astraea thought for a moment and said, "Takemikazuchi! He's famously good-natured. That Indra fellow is a bit troublesome personality-wise—he enjoys watching others make fools of themselves."
Hayashi showed an expression of sudden understanding. Got it, Indra's a troublemaker who enjoys others' embarrassment.
"In that case, let's go ask Lord Takemikazuchi!" Hayashi said with eager anticipation, "Astraea, when are you free?"
Astraea pushed herself up from her knees and said cheerfully, "Right now! Let's go!"
...
...
Orario, one of the fried potato ball branch shops.
"Oh my, isn't this Astraea?"
Seeing Astraea leading Hayashi over, Takemikazuchi with his horn-like hairstyle showed a brilliant smile and said, "Would you like some fried potato balls? I highly recommend the classic red bean cream flavor—never get tired of it! If you prefer something new, I recommend the latest chocolate-filled version to satisfy your chocolate cravings!"
Wow, Hayashi couldn't help but marvel inwardly!
What kind of model employee is this! The first thing he does when seeing an acquaintance visit is start promoting his products!? Incredible!!
Recalling the taste of the fried potato balls he had yesterday, Hayashi couldn't help but step forward and say, "I'll have one red bean cream flavor, one chocolate-filled flavor, and one each of the vanilla matcha and taro purple potato flavors too!"
"Coming right up!" Takemikazuchi nodded with immense enthusiasm, happily saying, "I'll prepare them for you right away—will that be for takeout or to go?"
Hayashi: "Huh?"
Takemikazuchi paused for a moment, then repeated: "Will that be for takeout or to go!"
Hayashi opened his mouth, hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "Um, isn't there an option to eat here?"
Hearing this, Takemikazuchi froze, then let out a mournful "Aah—" as he clutched his head with both hands, saying, "Shimatta! I messed up! No wonder the customers have been looking at me strangely these past two days..."
"Pfft—"
Hayashi couldn't hold back his laughter. "So this is how you've been asking these past two days? And here I thought you were employee of the month! Truly worthy of being Hestia's friend—equally unreliable, huh!"
Astraea nearby also showed an expression of barely suppressed amusement, saying, "Takemi, I never knew you had this side to you."
Takemikazuchi painfully packed the fried potato balls Hayashi wanted into a paper bag, muttering, "This is the darkest chapter of my life—"
Astraea didn't spare his dignity, instead remarking lightly, "You seem to have quite a few of those dark chapters."
With a dark expression, Takemikazuchi placed the wooden skewers into the paper bag and handed it to Hayashi, complaining, "Astraea, couldn't you save me some face in front of the child?"
Hayashi was astonished to see this. This person really is employee of the month! To still handle work precisely even in such moments—truly professional!
He reached out to take the fried potato balls, and Astraea casually paid the bill.
"?"
Takemikazuchi looked shocked as he took the valis Astraea handed over, then said with an exaggerated expression, "The great Astraea actually paying for another man? Could it be that..."
Astraea glanced at Takemikazuchi and said calmly, "He saved my life, that's all there is to it!"
Takemikazuchi's expression quickly turned serious. He leaned forward slightly and asked, "You were in danger?"
"Almost got sent back to heaven." Astraea nodded. She didn't mind telling her friend about such matters—if doing so could increase her friend's vigilance against danger, it would actually be a good thing. "Thanks to his help."
"Oh! Then thank you very much!" Takemikazuchi gave Hayashi a thumbs-up, then said enthusiastically, "Let me give you a few extra fried potato balls as thanks!"
Astraea said softly, "Takemi, I brought him here this time to seek your help."
Takemikazuchi, who was about to bag the potato balls, paused his movements and looked up curiously. "Seek help? Astraea, I haven't even established my own Familia yet! What could I possibly help you with?"
Astraea didn't speak, instead turning her gaze to Hayashi—at this point, it's your turn to take over.
Hayashi nodded. He stepped forward and said seriously to Takemikazuchi, "Lord Takemikazuchi! I heard from Lady Astraea that you're a God of War skilled in martial arts, so I'd like to ask you to teach me combat techniques! Please—"