Upon leaving the shop, Shaka bumped into Cecil, who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
Cecil raised her little head: "Where's the captain?"
Shaka looked away shyly, scratched his face, and said softly, "Are you calling me?"
"What?!"
The girl's eyebrows shot up immediately: "What are you pretending for? The moment you officially became a member of the Familia, you should have addressed me by my formal title!"
Cecil had clearly been waiting for this moment for a long time, deliberately waiting outside the door.
Regarding this...
"Sorry, there's been a small problem. I might not be able to hand over the leadership position to you so easily."
"Hmm." Cecil puffed out her cheeks, her face full of disgust. How could someone who goes back on their word become Lady Astraea's follower? I'll never accept such a leader!
At this moment, Astraea also spoke up: "Cecil-chan, I'm sorry, but for some reasons, Shaka-chan has a reason why he must become the captain..."
"What reason…" Cecil muttered.
"Regarding skills..." Astraea glanced at Asfi, hesitated, but then clasped her hands together:
"That's it, so please!"
"Even Lady Astraea…!!" Cecil's eyes widened.
The young girl looked like a country wife who had supported a scholar through the imperial examinations, only to be cruelly abandoned after he passed. Her face was full of resentment.
Shaka was really embarrassed and suggested:
"How about this, we'll have a fair competition for the position of captain. It'll be a three-month period. Whoever recruits the most members for the Astraea Familia will become captain."
"Of course, this member must be approved by Astraea; no one is allowed to be just a placeholder!"
Although Cecil was dissatisfied, she still softened when she saw Astraea clasping her hands together and looking at her pleadingly.
"Alright! Three months is the timeframe, it's a deal!"
Cecil glared at Shaka fiercely, then snorted, crossed her arms, and tilted her head back. As a mere newcomer, you have no advantage over a seasoned blacksmith like me! Besides, Swordsmith City is my home turf I have the upper hand in connections! Plus my rare skill! This is in the bag!
Cecil was confident, recalling her awakened rare skill:
[Sword Forging]
• When forging swords and other weapons, proficiency increases rapidly.
• When forging swords and weapons, there is a low chance of upgrading the material level to enhance equipment attributes.
Although she didn't have [Forging] so her weapons would all be plain white items with no special attributes Cecil was sure she could attract enough adventurers with high-quality plain white weapons!
As for Shaka, he was also confident, and a rather bold plan slowly took shape in his mind.
The two members of the newly formed Justice Familia high-fived each other, establishing their competitive pact.
"Cough cough."
At this moment, Asfi, who had been watching the show for a while, coughed lightly.
"You're still here."
Cecil and Shaka both opened their mouths to complain at the same time.
"Why were you two so tense just now, and now you're all in sync!"
Asfi rolled her eyes and retorted:
"Ah, although bringing someone here was just a side trip, it's really disheartening that you guys used me and then left me aside like this."
Ha, woman, don't you have your own ulterior motives? Shaka rolled his eyes back: "Isn't that obvious? We're partners from the same familia!"
Cecil added: "Exactly!!"
"Tsk." Asfi clicked her tongue, but didn't intend to delve into it further: "Since you're alright here, I'll go back and report to Lord Hermes. I really don't know what Lady Astraea sees in you."
"You'd only be bothered if I failed my interview, right?" Shaka said, his eyes narrowing.
"Snort."
With a haughty snort, Asfi was about to turn around when Astraea's voice rang out behind her: "Excuse me, please wait a moment."
Astraea stepped forward and pleaded, "I heard that you're delivering a letter. I'd like to write a reply. Could you wait a moment?"
Upon hearing this, Asfi's face fell, and her glasses slipped down halfway: "Really, even Lady Astraea is like this..."
"So I'm sorry, I can only ask you for help, Asfi-chan."
Astraea took the letter from Cecil, read it carefully, and then took out parchment and a quill to think about how to reply.
Shaka followed curiously, casually taking out a pencil case and a notebook from his bag and gesturing for the goddess to use them.
"This seems more convenient."
The goddess didn't mind. She switched to the new tools and began to write, word by word. The elegant and dignified script appeared on the snow-white paper just like her gentle and beautiful self.
The contents of the letter were as tender as a mother's concern for her child traveling far away.
Lady Astraea looks a lot like my mother. It was only when Shaka was truly close to the goddess that he felt more at ease. In short... she has all the qualities of a wife.
The goddess was writing, but she got stuck on one part, occasionally resting the pen tip on her chin in thought, as if troubled.
"Are you having trouble?" Shaka asked.
"Yes, it's a letter to a senior member of the familia. For various reasons, that child has stopped moving forward. However, in recent letters, it seems she has finally paused and started to look for direction."
Astraea recounted Ryu's story little by little, then said with distress, "But how should I reply? That child is also very concerned about what's going on here with me."
Shaka smiled and said, "Why don't we tell her about us? It's something to be proud of that the familia has new blood."
"Oh, right?" Astraea's eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands together happily.
So the text quickly appeared on the paper, introducing Cecil and Shaka including Shaka's ambitions. However, the wise goddess concealed Shaka's abilities.
Having witnessed his "dark past" being exposed again, Shaka could only sigh in exasperation.
"Why do you have to tell her everything? Please write more good things about me. If I can increase Senior Ryu's favorability towards me, wouldn't I instantly gain impressive ability stats?"
"Right!"
Astraea slapped her forehead, but didn't change the original text she simply added a lot of praise for Shaka afterward.
To be honest, as a typical orphan protagonist, Shaka didn't dislike the feeling of a mother showing off her son and sharing interesting stories. However, when he saw the goddess's last words: "That child, like Alicia, has hair as passionate as flames," Shaka fell silent.
He seemed to understand why the goddess had been so accommodating when he applied to join the familia with that reason.
"I hope that when Senior Ryu sees this letter, she won't have too bad an impression of me."
"No, Ryu is a very gentle child. Although she can be a bit stubborn," Astraea said with a smile, covering her mouth.
I hope so... Shaka sighed. If all went well this senior who was far away in Orario and whom he had never met should be able to provide him with a considerable amount of ability points. That's a peak Level 4 adventurer who already has the potential to level up!
"It should be at least 1-10%, which is an average increase of 100-1000 points in all abilities. It's like ascending to heaven in one step."