A few days had passed since Judas returned to Orario.
Today, a heavy rain poured down over the city of heroes, dark and ominous clouds hanging low overhead.
But inside the Hostess of Fertility, a lively celebration was underway, completely shutting out the dreary weather.
"Congratulations to Lyra for ranking up to Level 5!"
Alise shouted, raising her mug high.
"Congratulations!"
The other members of the Astraea Familia cheered in unison.
Every face was bright with a happy smile, and even Goddess Astraea herself was present to share in the joy.
"Congratulations, Lyra."
Ryuu said softly, approaching the table with a tray piled high with food.
"Come on, Lion, celebrate with us! I can ask Mama Mia to give you a break for today."
Alise said with a grin as she scooted over, leaving space beside her for Ryuu to sit down.
"Don't worry, I already took care of that… I had a talk with Mama Mia earlier."
Ryuu replied with a soft smile as she placed the tray down and sat beside Alise.
"My… my… now that my precious familia is finally complete again, the celebration can truly begin."
Astraea said gently with a warm smile.
Hearing this, Ryuu lowered her head slightly.
"Lady Astraea… I am no longer a member of your familia, remember?"
She spoke quietly, trying her best to suppress the shame threatening to appear on her face.
"Well, to me… you still carry my blessing engraved upon your back, so you will always be my precious child."
Astraea replied softly, raising her glass of juice to take a sip.
"Hey… this is my level-up celebration… let's keep the atmosphere positive, will ya?"
Lyra spoke up with a grin, looking slightly drunk already.
"So Lion, how does it feel to finally get surpassed by me? You jealous?"
During the incident when the Dungeon rampaged because of Artemis' divine power and nearly unleashed a massive army of monsters onto the surface…
It was during that battle that Lyra earned the feat necessary to finally rank up from Level 4 to Level 5.
After spending some time raising her stats further, she had finally decided to level up.
"Hehe… I bet you regret quitting adventuring and leaving the familia now, getting one-upped by a mere Pallum like me."
Lyra teased, hoping for a reaction, but to her disappointment, Ryuu's happiness over her progress was completely sincere.
"I am simply happy that my dear friend has grown stronger."
The elf replied with a smile directed at her, causing Lyra to sigh, though the corners of her lips still curled upward at those words.
"Did you get lessons from Judas or something? I've noticed you've gotten better at handling our teasing lately…"
Lyra muttered, her words trailing off as she shifted her gaze.
'Speaking of which…'
She looked toward Judas across the table, seated between Alise and Kaguya, looking slightly out of place.
"Is it really alright for me to be here? This feels like something only members of the same familia should be celebrating."
Judas said with a raised brow.
"What are you talking about? You'll always be welcome here with us, Judas."
Alise replied in her usual cheerful tone.
"Hmph! I'm disappointed. You had such an amazing adventure and even slew such a powerful monster, yet you didn't take us along."
Kaguya added while folding her arms and turning her head to the side.
'Is she pouting?'
Judas noticed her cheeks subtly puffed out.
"If you want to blame someone, blame Hermes. He's the one who arranged the quest in the first place."
He said, casually shifting the blame onto Hermes.
After the events from a few days ago, when the whole city of Orario celebrated their return…
Among the crowd, Judas had met up with Finn, Gareth, and several other male members of the familia.
Afterward, he returned to the Twilight Manor.
But as he walked through the hallways, he realized the mansion felt half-empty.
It was only after asking Finn that he learned Loki and the rest of the women in the familia had gone to Melen, the port town, for a mission.
When Judas asked whether he should help out, Gareth had slapped him squarely on the back, his stomach rolling with hearty laughter.
"You workaholic! You just returned from a mission that could probably be compared to the Three Great Quests themselves… just rest up for a while, you've earned it."
"And besides, if we keep relying on you, our skills might dull a little… leave some things to us."
Gareth had patted him a few more times to emphasize the point, but with the Level 6 strength of a dwarf, Judas felt like his skeleton was being rattled loose with every impact.
'I know Gareth didn't mean anything by it, but damn… I can still feel it even now.'
Judas thought, subconsciously rubbing his shoulder.
"Hehe… why shouldn't you be here? After all, you're our savior, and besides, as the person being celebrated, I can invite whoever I want."
Lyra chimed in, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Plus… I don't want to be surrounded by women all night. Having a man as good-looking as you around makes for great eye candy."
Lyra said with a grin while raising a mug filled with ale, her face flushed from drinking.
"Lyra… I think you should slow down on the alcohol."
Ryuu warned, but Lyra pretended not to hear her and downed the entire mug in one go.
"Aaaaah!"
Lyra slammed the empty mug onto the wooden table with a refreshed sigh.
Ryuu shook her head, watching her friend with a look of growing concern.
"What is going on with Lyra?"
Ryuu whispered to the others.
"She seems a bit off. She usually isn't this excessive, even for a celebration."
Hearing this, the members of the Astraea Familia exchanged awkward smiles.
"Tsk… the Pallum is bummed out because she got rejected again."
Kaguya, who was known for having absolutely no tact, was the one who broke the silence.
"…"
Ryuu blinked several times before immediately understanding what Kaguya meant.
After all, it was no secret that Lyra had openly chased after Finn for years, only to be rejected every single time.
"Oh…"
She shifted her gaze toward Lyra, who was already half-asleep over the table.
"But Lyra gets rejected all the time and usually takes it in stride… what makes this one different?"
Ryuu asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"Yeah… I think it's because she swore that once she became a first-class adventurer… she would confess to Finn one last time. And if it still didn't work out… she'd finally let go of her first love."
This time, it was Alise who answered.
Hearing this, Ryuu let out a quiet sigh.
"I see…"
'I heard letting go of one's first love is the hardest.'
Now understanding her friend's situation, Ryuu couldn't help but pity her slightly as she gently patted Lyra on the shoulder.
"Eh? Why is everyone suddenly getting all gloomy? It's celebration time! Come on guys, get loud!"
Lyra suddenly barked, snapping awake out of nowhere and hoisting her empty mug back into the air.
Hearing this, everyone exchanged smiles before the celebration continued, laughter and cheers echoing throughout the tavern.
The earlier conversation was quietly pushed to the back of their minds, tacitly agreeing never to bring it up again.
Now fully energized again, Lyra boisterously bragged about her exploits during the great battle where nearly every adventurer in Orario had fought to keep the Dungeon's hordes from invading the surface.
Naturally, the conversation eventually tdrifted to Judas and his battle against Antares.
The moment he began to speak, the other waitresses in the tavern and even the neighboring customers subtly craned their necks, straining their ears to listen.
"To think such a terrifying monster was sealed inside some ancient ruin…"
"How scary nya~"
Judas didn't embellish a single detail and simply recounted the events exactly as he remembered them, though he deliberately left out his encounter with the Dis Sisters.
After all, the fact that Evilus was still active remained hidden from the public.
Lyra, seated across from him, looked at Judas with a half-drunk smile as she slowly licked her lips.
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