After the sun rose, a new day arrived.
The Guild announced the results of its investigation into the incident last night where a god was devoured by the Dungeon—
[The remnants of the Dark Familias fought amongst themselves in the Dungeon, resulting in one of their gods being sent back.]
In short, it was a case of dog-eat-dog, so it was treated as a non-incident. The Guild's first priority is to ensure the stability of the city, and this was also the intention of the current Guild Head, Royman Mardeel.
As for the truth?
For the populace, the truth is never important.
And so, the city's residents only knew that a god from a Dark Familia had been sent back. Many began small celebrations and went to pay their respects to the relatives and friends who had died a few years ago during the [Great Feud] era.
But for the gods of the city, they could guess the general outline of what [Gale] had done without needing the Guild to confirm it. A child of the lower world had actually carried out "revenge" by sending a god into the Dungeon to be killed.
This would probably be a topic of gleeful discussion among the gods for a long time, as they speculated on how it was accomplished, constantly theorizing and trying to recreate the process. For them, there was no greater entertainment.
As for the dark god devoured by the Dungeon?
The other side broke the rules first.
It had been clearly agreed, "The affairs of the children of the lower world are to be resolved by the children themselves; the gods must not interfere by force."
As a result, during the [Great Feud], the Dark Familias directly targeted the city's gods, using bombs to forcibly send six deities back to Tenkai. This caused their Familia members to lose their Falna on the battlefield and be slaughtered in a one-sided massacre.
The gods of the city naturally could not accept such an act. Since that fellow Magatsuhi was a dark god, failing to return to Tenkai and being devoured by the Dungeon instead could only be called deservedly unlucky.
Besides, isn't this also one of the 'possibilities' of the children of the lower world?
So, coming back to the point, how exactly was a god sent into the Dungeon and killed? For a very long time (even for the gods), this remained one of Orario's unsolved mysteries…
"The Cat Person assassin sent the god in, and the Dungeon did the deed. It has nothing to do with us. Even if there's a crime, it won't fall on our heads, right?"
Ryuu looked at the black-haired youth beside her and heard him say.
"I was saying, Ryuu-senpai."
"Isn't deicide a great sin? That your soul gets stained with the color of a sinner, and you'd be recognized even after returning to Tenkai and being reincarnated..."
"I don't know, I can't see souls."
"I think it's fine."
Isagi sat up in bed, looking at the elf girl who was now slumped over the table, drowsily about to fall asleep. The afternoon sun was just right.
It fell upon her messy, scattered blonde hair. For a rare moment, after so long, he could see a peaceful expression in his Familia senior's eyes.
From a frenzied puppy, she's become a quiet kitten.
"What kind of thing is that to say?"
Ryuu couldn't help but roll her eyes, thinking, What's with this Familia junior? Lady Astrea must have such a headache. In the future, as his senior, I'll have to discipline him properly...
The elf girl fell asleep.
She dreamed of Kaguya again.
Was it a day from the past, or something that had never happened? Ryuu couldn't remember at all. She only knew that a drizzling plum rain was falling from the sky, and she was walking down the street with a girl in a kimono.
Just from her appearance, one could tell she was a young lady from a noble family.
There were few pedestrians on the somewhat dim long street, perhaps because of the rain. So why was she walking with Kaguya?
Ryuu couldn't say.
"It rains often in your hometown, Kaguya, doesn't it?"
That's what the books said. Ryuu had read some travelogues and stories about various parts of the world. In them, the Far East was always a drizzly, decaying country.
[Yes. What about your hometown, Ryuu?]
"Not good at all. It's terrible."
Ryuu came from Lumina Forest. Like most elven settlements, it was traditional and rigid, shunning outsiders and living a life of aloof isolation.
Ryuu didn't like that, so she had a big argument with the other elves and left home.
The journey to Orario was full of hardships for the young elf. And just after she had painstakingly arrived in the city, she was nearly abducted by traffickers and sold elsewhere.
In the end, after being saved by Alise, she, who knew nothing at the time and was always acting out like a stray cat, made a fool of herself many times.
I could just die! It's a dark past she couldn't bear to look back on!!
Kaguya was covering her mouth, laughing.
Ryuu thought she was about to glare with her crimson eyes and call her a fool and a useless elf, but she didn't.
[None of that matters anymore, does it?]
[What matters is the present. You must cherish the people who are still alive, Ryuu. Because no matter how much you miss the dead, it's meaningless...]
"No, that's not it..."
Muttering.
When Ryuu woke up, it was already evening. The orange sun cast its light into the room from the window. In the distance, she could still hear the familiar sounds of the boy and the Cat Person girl bickering.
Through the window, Ryuu saw Isagi teaching that waitress girl from the tavern how to make pan-fried potato pancakes again.
Anya, right?
Isagi had told her her name.
The two were squatting in an empty space not far from the farmhouse, having lit a small stove. They mashed boiled potatoes, shaped them into round patties, added a secret seasoning—and most importantly, brushed them with oil.
Then they fried them in a small pan.
It looked very difficult. Ryuu saw Anya flicking her little cat tail, learning with extreme concentration, but in the end, she failed completely. Not a single one was fried properly.
The cat girl was furious. Before leaving, she puffed out her cheeks and stomped her foot, muttering.
"Damn it! Ahh, I'll definitely get it right! Wuuuuuuuuuu!!"
Ah.
In the end, all the failed potato pancakes (mostly because they fell apart or were overcooked) were eaten by Isagi and Ryuu for dinner.
Watching the boy eat the potato pancakes while diligently noting the mistakes in his small notebook. It seemed he planned to properly point out Anya's mistakes next time.
"Isagi is very serious."
"Mm... because Anya is also very serious."
For the dummy cat girl, making a grand meal for Mama Mia, who had always taken care of her, and for everyone at the tavern, was the most important thing.
Anyone could understand such feelings.
Ryuu understood too.
So she just quietly watched the boy sample the strangely shaped, slightly cold potato pancakes in his bowl, while seriously recording the problems and ways to improve.
As the stars and moon gradually climbed into the graying sky, in the candlelit room, only the faint, rustling sound of the boy's quill pen could be heard from time to time.
How nice.
Ryuu didn't know why it was nice, just that the scene before her felt incredibly precious.
It was something she had never experienced in her year of vengeance. The elf girl subconsciously touched the small kodachi at her waist, a memento from her friend that she had never drawn, and seemed to understand a little of what her words meant…
Several days passed.
Isagi only planned to venture into the Dungeon again tomorrow.
He had actually wanted to go earlier, but Goddess Astrea said that after returning from the Dungeon, he should rest for a few days and not keep his body in a constant state of tension, as that would also be detrimental to combat.
He thought that made sense.
However, during these past few days, Isagi hadn't just been lazing around at home; he had returned to his previous daily routine.
In the morning, he sold fried potato snacks. In the afternoon and evening, he trained with Anya and Ryuu-senpai outside the city.
When night fell and the silly cat girl had to go back to work at the tavern, Isagi would have combat training with Ryuu, who had finished her day's investigation.
Because he heard his Familia senior was a magic swordsman.
Isagi initially wanted to ask his senior for advice on things like magic infusion techniques.
The combat arts he had previously read out with magic were all instant-cast, so he never had to consider such things. But the greatbow Cecil had forged for him had a combat art that involved such techniques.
The speed and quality of the magic infusion would affect the charging speed of the greatbow's [Star Stream] combat art, the power after charging, as well as the speed and power of each instant shot…
To this, Ryuu, of course, did not refuse. But very quickly, Isagi discovered why even Goddess Astrea would complain that when it came to "teaching others," his Familia senior was a complete "useless elf."
In the first training session, less than three seconds in, he nearly had to use a revival chance. The elf girl had absolutely no sense of restraint.
At the same time, Isagi also confirmed one thing: at the same Lv. 4, Ryuu was much, much stronger than Anya.
Holy crap!
After a few more days of being beaten up, Isagi felt it was fine. He'd get his chance to beat her back eventually!!
It was just that on this night, before they were to set off for the Dungeon tomorrow.
During his status update, Isagi heard Astrea's stifled laughter. The Goddess definitely knew why his [Endurance] had risen so much after a few days of training.
But besides that—
"See for yourself, Isagi."
The Goddess handed over the transcribed status sheet.
Normally, Isagi was too lazy to look, because it was just numerical growth. But today was different, because he had acquired a new skill.
[Atheist:
—Dungeon affinity increases.]
"?"
What does this mean? The extremely brief skill description was incredibly confusing. Did it mean that from now on when he went to the Dungeon, a dialogue box would appear with four options?
Isagi was dumbfounded.
To this, Astrea didn't understand either. She could, of course, guess that her child's new skill was definitely related to the dark god devoured by the Dungeon earlier.
She was actually somewhat mentally prepared for this. After all, when Loki first came to visit, Isagi had asked her if it was "possible to kill a god."
That wasn't a joke.
Astrea, who had lived with the boy in Solingen for over half a year, could feel that Isagi was truly different from the other children of the lower world. He had absolutely no respect for the gods.
The boy, perhaps, came from a distant place where there were no gods.
Shaking her head. Astrea couldn't really say much. A god couldn't interfere with a child's actions, and he hadn't done anything wrong.
The Goddess could see that the boy was a person of integrity. That was enough.
"Alright, Isagi, go get Lefiya. I'll update her status too."
"Okay."
Leaving the Goddess's bedroom. Isagi called over the elf girl, who had also just returned and was sitting at the table chatting with Cecil.
Then, he saw Cecil beckoning him over.
On the living room table, many bits and pieces were laid out.
They were all drop items he had brought back from the Dungeon before, mainly materials containing 'magic power,' like the Heart of the Meat Cup Princess, the Relic of the War Shadow Saintess, and so on.
"What's wrong?"
Isagi said.
In the city, there were many shops run by witches and magic craftsmen. Appraising these materials containing magic should have been their job.
Cecil was a blacksmith; it was normal for her not to be very knowledgeable, as it wasn't her specialty.
But, as it happened, Cecil actually knew a little.
"You can't take this outside!"
The girl said urgently.
Because when she joined the Familia, she had made a promise to Goddess Astrea to forge a First-Class Armament for Ryuu Lion—the Goddess believed that if Ryuu could move on from her sad past and start anew, she would definitely need new strength.
As a god, it was only natural to contribute to that.
Cecil had agreed in one go at the time. So, during this period, besides forging and maintaining weapons and equipment for Isagi, she was also studying everything about "how to forge weapons for a magic swordsman."
Naturally, she had also mastered many of the basic principles of 'magic.'
So, the magic contained in these stones is very unusual!
It was rare for Isagi to see the silly Cecil with such a serious expression.
"Light, Flame, Wind, Water, Dark, Earth… These are the magic attributes possessed by the first six Great Spirits."
"But the magic in these things Isagi brought back doesn't belong to any known type. They belong to unknown magic."
Because it was unknown, she didn't dare to act rashly. Of course, the most important thing was that she herself only half-understood it, which made her feel at a loss.
And Astrea was naturally aware of her child's troubles.
So, when the Goddess finished updating Lefiya's status and returned to the living room, she looked at the pile of bits and pieces on the table, which indeed contained strange magic, and thought for a moment.
Then she spoke.
"How about we go ask a professional."
"What professional?"
"Lord Ouranos's envoy."
Astrea said.
"He is a rather elderly sage, from a great nation of magic…"
___
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