The summer days were gradually drifting away.
As evening approached, the dim sunlight always converged with the chirping of cicadas. Accompanied by the calls of birds that would occasionally perch on the large tree on one side of the courtyard, it always gave rise to a lazy sense of drowsiness.
"How is it, Ryuu? Does it look good?"
Reflected in the mirror was the Elf girl's lovely, beautiful face.
At this moment, it was completely different from before.
As that head of messy and heavy blonde hair, which had lacked any care, was carefully trimmed by the Goddess, it was transformed into a refreshing and becoming short bob.
Ryuu, in a trance, realized that her appearance had "changed."
That version of herself who was always filled with anger and killing intent, who hated everything at every moment, had now vanished.
Replacing it was the self from her distant memories—ah, it really was exactly the same as before.
The Elf girl thought this.
Accompanied by the orange glow of the sunset falling into the room from the window, Ryuu's eyes, cyan-blue like precious diamonds, flickered. Her gaze constantly rested on the Goddess reflected in the mirror standing behind her, who was currently bending down slightly, tilting her head, and revealing a warm smile on her face.
Just as always.
Goddess Astrea's soft, long walnut hair hung down, and amidst her flawless, breathtakingly beautiful features, there was always an incomparably gentle affection.
Ryuu was still somewhat dazed.
She recalled several days ago, when she followed Isagi back to the Familia, inside that cramped house located in a messy, remote corner of Daedalus Street.
The Lady Goddess was sitting on the worn-out long sofa, mending clothes, when she looked over at her.
She had been stunned.
Clearly, Astrea hadn't expected the boy to suddenly bring the Elf girl back either.
However, what Ryuu heard next was neither a rebuke nor cold words.
Instead, it was an incomparably warm and gentle greeting.
"Long time no see, Ryuu."
The Goddess of Justice and Stars smiled faintly.
"Welcome home..."
...
Whenever she thought of this, Ryuu felt an impulse to cry out loud.
She originally thought the Goddess would rebuke her.
She had fled from the responsibility Alise and the others had entrusted to her, abandoned the Familia, and cared only for throwing herself into the abyss of revenge. While burying her head in slaughter without a care for anything else, she had been bent on seeking death, completely casting the Goddess and the Familia out of her mind.
Just like a willful child.
Looking back, Ryuu realized just how foolish she had been.
Just as Isagi had said, there were many methods of revenge, yet she had chosen the clumsiest and most stupid way—excessive grief had made her even give up on thinking, and giving up on oneself was the easiest thing in the world.
Conversely, bearing responsibility, thinking properly, and trying one's best to do everything well was the most difficult.
How shameful.
Even though she was the senior, she was "educated" like this by a junior.
Ugh...
Thus, Ryuu, filled with shame and facing the Lady Goddess who was so accepting of her, choked up so much she could almost speak no words.
And in response to this, Astrea simply and gently pulled the Elf girl into her embrace, softly telling her that everything was already over.
That night.
Because rooms were limited, the Elf girl and the Goddess stayed in the same room.
Ryuu only remembered that she and Lady Astrea talked about many, many things. Although for both Elves and gods, a period of over a year could not be considered very long.
But in reality, for them, it felt as long as a lifetime apart.
Ryuu still didn't want to talk much about her life of revenge. Recalling the past, she found that the only things she could talk about were these few months spent with Isagi.
The Goddess, on the other hand, spoke of events from back in the City of Swordsmiths.
From the silly Cecil coming to her crying and asking to join the Familia, to a certain day when the girl suddenly shouted that a strange person had appeared in the forest. When the Goddess went to look, she discovered it was Isagi.
"That child was wearing quite strange clothes at the beginning. When he heard I was a Goddess, he even showed an incredibly confused expression."
"He seemed to be muttering something like, 'How can there be someone calling themselves a Goddess? Is she brain-damaged?'"
Astrea herself laughed.
Because later on, Isagi had said that was indeed what he thought at the time.
Hearing this, Ryuu was greatly shocked, thinking, Did this Familia junior hold even the Lady Goddess in such low regard?! No, wait, he ran to Goddess Demeter's home in the middle of the night before, didn't he? Who does things like that?!
"I initially thought that child, Isagi, was some god who had just descended to the Lower World."
But as it turned out, he wasn't.
The boy joined the Familia almost as a matter of course, because he had nowhere to go and clearly knew nothing about this world.
"Although it was not far outside the City of Swordsmiths, I was always worried that if that child left, he might die."
There were quite a few monsters outside the city.
Although most were weak, for ordinary people without [Falna], they were still quite dangerous existences. Naturally, the Goddess of Justice could not sit by and watch, so she took him into her own Familia.
"The moment that child heard about [Falna] and such, he agreed to become an adventurer in the blink of an eye. He even said something like, 'To be able to embark on cultivation so easily, not bad.' I really don't know what on earth he was talking about."
Because the words the boy spoke back then were too unintelligible, they instead left an unforgettable impression on the Goddess.
What a headache.
Cecil was okay; the silly girl was just a bit of an idiot, and her personality was a little stubborn and tsundere.
But Isagi was an existence that truly gave Astrea a headache.
Most importantly, the Goddess realized she couldn't beat him anymore, so the chances of educating him in the future would likely become increasingly slim.
Listening to so many past events regarding her "juniors," Ryuu also felt a bit dazed.
Although she was being called "Senior" with every breath.
The Elf girl really didn't have much mental preparation. After all, in the past, she was the last to join the Familia, belonging to the juniors among juniors...
She completely couldn't put on the airs of a senior.
Moreover.
She, who still completely did not know what [Justice] was today, was still on the path of pursuing it.
In contrast, the juniors were each firm and unwavering in their hearts, even more reliable than herself...
A few days after Ryuu returned to the Astrea Familia, everyone moved back to the Familia's original base, the [Courtyard of Stars].
It was located on the side of the city's North Main Street, within the First District near the city wall.
From a distance.
One could just happen to see the Loki Familia's Twilight Manor, with its scattered and somewhat bizarre towers, as well as the western-style buildings connected to them.
There weren't many members in the Astrea Familia in the past.
Therefore, among the Familia bases in the city, especially among the bases of powerful Familias, the [Courtyard of Stars] was considered the "exquisite and petite" type.
Deep within the quiet and spacious street, surrounded by exquisite and gorgeous western-style buildings.
A two-story villa sat right there.
Within the spacious lawn and garden, flowers and plants raised by the Goddess herself were planted—now, a small patch of field had even been cleared to plant vegetables and fruits.
Astrea even prepared to set up a grape trellis in a few days, and then learn how to cultivate grapes from Goddess Demeter.
The structure of the house was a bit strange.
The first floor contained the dining room, kitchen, bathroom, toilet, storage room, and so on.
The living room, however, was placed on the second floor, including the reception room, inside a massive room full of floor-to-ceiling windows on the side facing the main entrance.
In the past, the girls would always rest here, discussing what [Justice] was. Arguments would always erupt, and they would always end in strange ways.
How nostalgic.
Opposite this large living room, along the straight corridor, were everyone's respective rooms.
On the day of the move, Cecil very "wittily" arranged Isagi's room at the deepest end of the corridor, opposite the "Divine Chamber" where the Goddess lived.
As for the girl herself, she dragged Lefiya and Ryuu to live next door to Isagi—as the girl who came to clean up in advance, she naturally also took on the task of purchasing furniture beforehand.
All the things in the original house had been left unused for over a year, so most naturally needed to be replaced.
And Cecil changed the beds in the bedroom to those bunk beds found in dormitories, and there were two of them, so four people could live in one room.
It seemed she really did it to prevent Goddess Astrea from letting Lefiya or Ryuu-senpai go live in the same room as Isagi.
Sometimes, one really doesn't know what Cecil, this idiot, is thinking!
All in all.
The girl felt this was the safest! Even if new Familia members joined in the future, if they were pretty girls, she could just make them continue living in this one room!!
It was even preparing for a rainy day!
When Cecil first thought of this, she couldn't help but proudly puff out her not-so-small, soft chest, thinking she was truly smart!
Hehehehe~
On the first day, everyone cleaned the house and then ate a big meal together (basically all cooked by Isagi).
Only on the second day did they begin to build a new forging workshop in the corner of the yard.
The small brick house was quickly piled up in the hands of adventurers, followed by the purchase of various forging equipment—
Looking at the brand new "worksite," Cecil rolled up her sleeves, prepared to go all out!
Next up, she would be busy.
The girl planned to forge brand new armor for Isagi with the strength of a Second-Class Armament. Besides that, she also had to upgrade all the weapons he used—although he had already obtained quite a few new weapons from the Dungeon, some types were still missing, such as gauntlets, short swords, spears, daggers, and so on.
There were also the blueprints for something called the "[Legion Prosthetic]" that Isagi had given her before; she could start forging that too.
And most importantly.
Isagi and Ryuu-senpai's First-Class Armaments.
The boy still seemed far from Lv.5; no matter what, it would take at least another half a year, right?!
But on the Familia senior's side, it was—
On the first day Ryuu returned, the Lady Goddess updated her status. She didn't level up, because her [Excelia] was still a little short.
But it was just a little.
According to Astrea's prediction, she estimated that going to the Dungeon with Isagi one more time would be enough.
The Goddess was also puzzled. Logically speaking, Ryuu chasing down those Dark Familia members over the past year was actually dealing with adventurers who were generally Lv.1 or Lv.2, so naturally, it couldn't count as any Great Deed.
Even though the two of them later "murdered a god" together, such an action was too vague, and it wasn't accomplished by her own strength, so Astrea felt it shouldn't count either.
But when she heard that before returning, the girl had gone to the Dungeon with Isagi once and encountered a quite formidable "Special Monster," the Lady Goddess was no longer surprised.
Sigh. The [Excelia] that even the strongest exploration Familias like Loki and Freya lacked incomparably.
For her own child—no, accurately speaking, for Isagi, it was quite "abundant," even giving a feeling of overflowing excess, leaving the Goddess unsure if it was good or bad.
Because this meant that the boy's Dungeon was always full of powerful monsters like the [Monster Rex], and fighting such dangerous enemies had become his daily life.
However.
Even without leveling up, the revenge of over a year... or perhaps, the tragic past of losing all her companions.
Allowed the Elf girl to obtain a new Skill—
[Justice Patrol]:
Instrument Resonance*
Amplification of Familia Skill effects with the same Falna within a certain range.*
Amplification of Familia Magic and Mind with the same Falna within a certain range.*
Moderate amplification of resistance to Mental Magic for Familia members with the same Falna within a certain range.*
Active at all times.*
Amplification, bonuses, grant rate, and effect range change with level.*
As well as a brand new Magic—
[Astrea Record]:
Allows the user to utilize the Magic of 10 past members of the Astrea Familia.*
Justice Succession.*
Chant—*
If the Skill was understandable, as similar abilities were rare but not non-existent.
For example, Riveria, the vice-captain of the Loki Familia, possessed an ability called [Alf Regina], which could amplify the magic power of Elf mages of the same race around her, and convert their consumed Magic into Mind to replenish them.
This was one of the reasons why she had an entire unit of Elf mages.
But the Magic that followed...
Powerful, yet it also confused the Goddess. However, because Isagi, this guy, was there beforehand, it actually made the Lady Goddess less surprised.
After all, compared to the boy.
Other people's Magic and Skills were relatively much easier to understand. And in a sense, it was actually somewhat similar to Lefiya's "Summoning Magic" that could use the Magic of her compatriots...
With the Astrea Familia effectively "returning to the city."
At least, it could be considered to have started operating again.
Thus, Captain Cecil, Vice-Captain Isagi, member Lefiya, and old member Ryuu Lion held the "First Assembly" of the Justice Familia!
"Ohhhhhhh!!"
As Cecil's enthusiastic lead applause ended, Isagi stood up and first determined the primary policy for the Familia's development.
That was recruitment!
Looking at the long table where four people sat sparsely, no matter how one looked at it, the current Goddess of Justice and Stars Familia was truly a bit "too pitiful."
Although the Astrea Familia followed an elite route, and Isagi indeed didn't plan to expand the scale and recruit too many adventurers.
But after all, "Souls-like logic is correct."
Currently, with Ryuu joining, his stable adventurer squad consisted only of Lefiya, Tiona, and the senior—three teammates.
A four-man squad felt like it was missing something—although, Miss Ais had already reserved a spot, so it should be a five-man squad.
But Ais and Tiona weren't from his own Familia!
That's right...
Speaking of this, Isagi, Cecil, and Lefiya all revealed expressions of sudden realization.
Wait!
Looking at the "I got it!" look on the Familia juniors' faces, and then that tacit understanding between them that needed no words, Ryuu couldn't help but think in her heart.
They wouldn't be thinking to—
"Wouldn't it be fine just to let Tiona and Ais join us!"
Even the idiot Cecil thought of it!
That's right!!
Isagi felt there was absolutely no problem, because Ryuu-senpai's new Skill gave buffs to all members of her own Familia!
To benefit from this bonus, at the very least, it was absolutely necessary for all squad members to belong to one Familia, okay!!
And in response to this.
Ryuu was dumbfounded, thinking, What on earth is this situation?!
It had only been a few days since she returned to the Familia, yet the first meeting held was actually the Captain and Vice-Captain leading a discussion on how to poach from other Familias?!
Th-th-th-this... How is this an act of [Justice]?!
She almost blacked out.
But Ryuu's objection was completely useless, because under Isagi's suggestion, the current Astrea Familia adopted the most fair, just, democratic, and free "voting" method.
"I agree!"
"Agreed!"
"I also agree!!"
Three against one.
Looking at the two girls who supported Isagi completely unconditionally, Ryuu once again fell into immense confusion.
Could it be that her way of thinking was truly the problem?!
___
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