"Sigh~ What am I supposed to do...?"
Beneath a large tree next to a building, a young girl with sea-blue hair tied into a cute side ponytail held her head in her hands, groaning in sheer frustration. She wore a predominantly white outfit that perfectly balanced elegance with a combat-ready style—the official uniform of the Astrea Familia. The emblem of justice shone brightly on the single-shoulder cape draped over her left side.
This girl was none other than the Captain of the new generation's Astrea Familia, Cecil Brakelisa.
"That guy's custom weapon... it's still not finished, and it's past the deadline by who knows how many days..."
Cecil scratched at her hair in irritation, looking exactly like a child terrified of being caught misbehaving by her parents. "No wonder Dad and the others still treat like a total rookie..."
"But it's also a fact that I just can't bring myself to make it... I an, why should I forge a weapon for a guy who abandoned his patron deity?"
The girl's voice brimd with grievance and confusion. She let out a long, heavy sigh. She felt like her entire life was a piece of scrap tal sitting in a forge, beaten for hours but never taking shape.
Suddenly, the crisp sound of shattering glass echoed from the two-story wooden cabin, startling her out of her thoughts.
"What happened? What's going on?! Oh no, Goddess Astrea is still inside!"
She bolted upright from the ground, her previous worries and complaints completely replaced by panic. Stumbling over her own feet, she burst into the wooden cabin.
"Lady Astrea, what happened?!"
Cecil frantically pushed the door open, only to freeze at the sight before her.
Her Goddess—the breathtakingly beautiful deity with walnut-brown hair who looked like a fairy stepped out of a painting—was standing completely motionless. Hot water and tea spilled across the floor, pooling around the shattered remains of a teapot and teacup at her feet.
Her slender, flawless hands were currently scalded red by the boiling water, yet the Goddess herself seed completely oblivious to the pain. With her beautiful eyes, she simply stared blankly toward the distant west—the direction of Orario.
"Lady Astrea, are you okay?"
Seeing her Goddess's reddened fingers, Cecil's heart ached unbearably, and she rushed forward. She looked completely lost, wanting to touch the Goddess's hand but terrified of causing her more pain, wanting to find dicine but not knowing where it was kept. She seed a bit clumsy, but her genuine, heartfelt concern overflowed.
"Why... what just happened?"
Astrea did not respond to Cecil. She simply muttered to herself, her voice trembling with shock and disbelief. "Alise... your Falna... why...?"
Just monts ago, she had been leisurely pouring tea, enjoying the rare tranquility of Zolingan. Yet, without any warning, a deeply dormant and frozen connection within the depths of her divinity suddenly flared back to life. It reignited like dying embers, reestablishing a faint link with her.
That incredibly familiar sensation allowed her to identify exactly whose Falna it was in an instant. It belonged to her radiant, sun-like first child, who had passed away nearly five years ago.
It was this very shock, one capable of overturning a deity's common sense, that caused her to drop the teapot in disbelief.
Hearing Cecil's panicked voice, Astrea finally snapped out of the world-shattering revelation.
"Ah... I'm sorry, Cecil. I made you worry." She offered the flustered girl a soothing smile. "I'm fine. I just spaced out for a mont."
"But your hands..." Cecil stared heartbrokenly at her Goddess's scalded red hands, on the verge of tears. "It's all my fault. If I had just co in sooner..."
Astrea shook her head gently, disregarding the burns on her hands. Her smile faded, and her expression turned more serious than ever before.
"Cecil, I need to ask you for a favor."
Seeing the solemn look on her Goddess's face, Cecil imdiately cast all her self-bla aside. She puffed out her modest, still-growing chest and patted it firmly.
"Leave it to ! Lady Astrea's business is my business. I'd cross mountains of blades and seas of fire without hesitation!"
"It's not quite that dramatic," Astrea chuckled at the girl's display, but quickly regained her serious tone. "Please call Shion, Uranda, and Iselina back here. I have sothing very important to announce."
Soon, thanks to Cecil's efficient summons, all the mbers of the new Astrea Familia were gathered in the first-floor lobby of the Stardust Retreat.
"Everyone, I apologize, but we might have to make a trip back to Orario." Astrea looked at the young girls before her—so naive, so quiet, so energetic—with deep apology in her eyes.
"Eh? Did sothing happen, Lady Astrea?" Shion, a Prum girl with short green hair, tilted her head in confusion.
She knew very well that their Goddess had specifically stayed in this City of Swords to help the Elf girl back in Orario forge a weapon to accompany her new life. But the weapon clearly wasn't finished yet, so why were they suddenly going back?
"Because sothing has happened that forces to return." Astrea shook her head gently, a trace of complex emotion in her voice that even she couldn't fully comprehend. "I'm sorry, I don't know the full details yet, so I can't explain it clearly right now."
She wasn't lying.
Alise's Falna returning to life without warning was simply too bizarre; she had no way to explain it. But combining this with the letters she had recently received from Orario regarding the frequent Dungeon anomalies, Astrea was certain that so earth-shattering change was underway.
She could no longer sit idly by. She had to go back and uncover the truth.
"It doesn't matter. We'll follow you wherever you go, Goddess." The athletic Werewolf girl, Iselina, with her tanned skin, was the first to state her stance, her fluffy tail wagging excitedly behind her.
Uranda, a curse-weaver whose black hair obscured her eyes, also nodded silently, indicating her unconditional obedience. To them, their Goddess's will was absolute.
However, as the Captain, Cecil's face was twisted in conflict.
Returning to Orario? That legendary cca for adventurers? She instinctively gripped the hem of her clothes, a war waging within her mind.
Do I really have the right to go to Orario? I'm still so immature, and I haven't even finished the commissioned weapon...
She hadn't even earned the approval of her father and older brothers, nor had she completed her task.
Astrea quietly watched Cecil, knowing exactly what this stubborn child was struggling with. But this was a hurdle she had to overco herself as Captain.
Finally, after a fierce internal struggle, Cecil snapped her head up. The fire reignited in her crimson eyes.
"Even though I think I'm completely unreliable, and even though I haven't gotten Dad and my brothers' approval yet... but..." She looked at the Goddess who was watching her so tenderly. "For Lady Astrea's sake, I'll accept going to Orario early!"
"I agree, Lady Astrea. We shall depart for Orario imdiately."
"Thank you, everyone."
Seeing that they all agreed to her request, Astrea blood a smile as gentle as a spring breeze. The smile seed to carry a certain magic, instantly dispelling all the anxiety and doubt in the girls' hearts, maximizing its healing effect.
Looking at their Goddess's breathtakingly beautiful smile, Cecil and the others couldn't help but blush, their hearts suddenly filled with motivation.
.....
BOOM!
Inside the 19th Floor of the Dungeon, two figures engulfed in crimson flas collided back and forth within the massive cavern.
The sound of clashing blades rang out sharply in dense succession. Every impact erupted with blinding sparks, and the red sword trails carving through the air released such intense heat that it warped the surrounding space.
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