"How is it broken again?!"
The girl who had just come downstairs looked with disbelief at the completely shattered breastplate on the boy's body, then revealed an expression of grief and indignation.
Isagi's weapons and armor were all forged by her own hands.
To a blacksmith.
Equipment hammered out blow by blow was as precious as a child. And of course, more importantly...
"You're like this every time you go to the Dungeon!"
"Cecil is just too worried about Isagi."
"I am not!!"
The girl's pretty face began to flush; evidently, her inner thoughts had been instantly exposed by the Goddess, causing the latter to cover her mouth and chuckle softly.
And the more the Goddess laughed.
Cecil's cute round face, which still retained some baby fat, turned even redder—riper and softer.
So, she quickly let out a heavy "Hmph!"
The girl trotted over and skillfully helped him strip off the armor he was wearing. Seeing how angry she was, Isagi knew exactly what to do; he quickly produced the katana dropped by the goblin as a spoil of war.
"Here."
"Good stuff!"
The blade, glinting with a dark, cold light, made Cecil's eyes light up involuntarily—it was the unique expression of delight a blacksmith showed when spotting "good materials."
"That's more like it... Hmph... I'll count this as payment for repairing the armor, barely! Damn it, don't you dare break it next time!! I was planning to go to sleep!!"
The girl swung her small, sky-blue ponytail.
Her deep red eyes were as cute and dazzling as a little rabbit's, and even her speech was a bit sticky and sweet, completely at odds with the "ferocious" tone she was trying to convey.
Therefore.
Seeing both the Goddess and Isagi looking at her with smiling, "doting" gazes, the girl—who didn't understand what that look meant at all—hmphed again, puffed out her small chest, hugged the armor Isagi had broken, and hurriedly ran back upstairs.
See, she's pacified.
Isagi clearly knew how to handle Cecil; after all, the two of them had joined the Astrea Familia together.
A year ago, the Goddess, having left Orario, eventually arrived in the City of Swordsmiths, Solingen, and shortly thereafter, accepted Cecil and Isagi into her Familia.
Originally, Astrea intended to live there for a long time while preparing for "that."
But she never expected this.
More than half a year later, she had returned. All of this stemmed from a single sentence Isagi had spoken—
[You must not run away!]
The boy had said it as if reprimanding her. In the end, somewhat forcefully, he dragged the Goddess and the girl back to this Labyrinth City...
...
The Astrea Familia was once a premier, powerful Familia in Orario. Although few in number, every member was an elite high-level adventurer.
Especially after experiencing the [Great Feud] three years ago and thwarting the conspiracy of the Dark Familias to overthrow the city, everyone had leveled up.
Including the Captain, the Vice-Captain, and the elf girl named Ryuu Lion, the Familia boasted a total of nine Level 4 adventurers and two Level 3s.
With their talent, advancing to the ranks of Level 5 first-class adventurers in the future was only a matter of time.
Yet, just one year ago, an accident occurred.
The remnants of the Dark Familias laid a trap specifically targeting them, luring the entire group to the 30th Floor of the Dungeon. The result was the near-total annihilation of the Astrea Familia; only one person survived and returned to the surface.
That person was Ryuu Lion.
That night, the elf girl begged the Goddess to leave Orario. From that day forth, the Astrea Familia of the past ceased to exist.
Thereafter.
The Goddess eventually traveled to the City of Swordsmiths and settled there.
Meanwhile, Ryuu, still in Orario, began her revenge.
Even back in Solingen, Isagi had heard about her. The elf girl was single-handedly investigating anyone connected to the remnants of the Dark Familias—be they merchants, adventurers, or even Guild employees.
Then, she would kill them by any means necessary.
Ambushes, poisonings, explosions...
The girl abandoned the nobility of a kin to the Goddess of Justice. With slaughter as her goal, she fought alone, tirelessly.
And so, a full year had passed.
Even in the City of Swordsmiths, far from Orario, one could see the wanted posters for [Gale] Ryuu Lion. The bounty was 80 million Valis—and that was just what the Guild published publicly. In the black market, the price was likely even higher.
To this day, that vengeance continues.
Isagi did not know exactly what happened to the girls of the Astrea Familia in the Dungeon a year ago.
However.
He did not agree with Ryuu's actions of sending the Goddess away to pursue "revenge" alone in Orario.
This was not out of a desire to protect the Goddess.
When gods descend to the mortal world, they cannot use their Arcanum, making them physically no different from ordinary humans. However, due to the existence of "Divinity," no mortal in the Lower World can harm or coerce a god.
So, Ryuu didn't make Astrea leave the city because she feared the Goddess would also be attacked by the Dark Familias.
It was simply...
That she believed she should shoulder all the pain and avenge her companions herself. Simultaneously, she felt that such a version of herself was too "ugly" to operate in Orario as a dependent of the Goddess of Justice and Stars...
Whatever!
Isagi's thinking was simple: since there is revenge to be had, everyone should do it together!
That was exactly what he meant when he told Goddess Astrea, [You must not run away!]
We must be together!!
No matter what, since we are members of the same Familia, we must face things together. That mindset of thinking only you should bear all the pain alone—it's too melodramatic!!
"Restoring the glory of the Astrea Familia is my bounden duty!"
Facing the hot-blooded words shouted by Isagi, even Astrea, as a Goddess, felt inexplicably embarrassed...
She had goosebumps!
"Isagi is only Level 1 right now; it's too early to say such things."
"Oh, right."
The Goddess was telling the truth. It had been several days since they arrived in Orario, and he hadn't even broken through the 1st Floor of the Dungeon.
Although it had something to do with his Skill.
But Isagi understood that, compared to the negative effects, the boost it brought was actually greater...
"Alright, take off your clothes."
Astrea skillfully moved behind him, pricked her finger, and let a drop of bright red ichor fall onto his back.
"Time to update your Status."
Flowing light suddenly emerged, followed by obscure hieroglyphs incomprehensible to mortals floating up from his back.
The gods came from Heaven to the earth, bestowing upon the children of the Lower World the power known as "Falna," enabling them to fight against the monsters surging from the Dungeon.
And thus...
Isagi's status panel, which was difficult even for a god to understand, appeared once again before Astrea's eyes.
___
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