Layla raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly.
"Oh, you do have some backbone after all~"
"But anyone can say nice words. Don't despair and give up just because you can't see Rod's back!"
Lili glared at Layla, huffing.
"Lili won't! You just wait and see!"
Alise glanced at the time, stood up, and shouted energetically.
"Everyone, it's time for patrol! Today is also the day for Orario to witness our incorruptible and righteous figures, let's do that thing together!"
Facing Alise's radiant smile, everyone uncharacteristically showed expressions of annoyance and avoidance.
"Do we really have to do that usual thing? That… I-I feel a little embarrassed and I'm not very good at it…"
"Don't worry, me too."
"Layla, Hekate, please take it seriously! I, I… don't feel embarrassed at all!"
Ignoring Ryu, who said this with a completely red face, Alise put her left arm around Rod's, and took Lili's small hand with her right.
"And you two come along too!"
Rod vaguely guessed what they wanted to do next, and after a brief moment of embarrassment, a sense of anticipation subtly arose.
While it might have been a bit too chuunibyou for his younger self, for his adult self, it felt just right.
Lili looked bewildered, passively standing beside everyone.
Twelve girls and one man gathered in a circle, witnessed by the Goddess Astrea.
Alise shook her shining red hair and extended her right hand.
"Fulfill our mission! Rectify the scales! Until the day we fall as stars!"
They sang a poem of purity and justice.
It was their declaration and proof as members of the Astrea Familia.
Moved by the warm and dazzling atmosphere, Lili unconsciously joined everyone in shouting.
"Ride abreast with the sky, and strew this land with starlight!"
It was the innocent yet stubborn oath etched into their hearts.
""We swear by the sword and wings of justice!""
After the chuunibyou yet earnest ritual, everyone would head to their respective patrol areas.
Rod, Ryu, and Lili were assigned to the second district so they could go directly to the Hephaestus Familia after their patrol.
"Rod, don't bully our clean-freak elf!"
"Selty!!!"
"Lili, don't do bad things, don't become a bad person."
While the two silly elves were bickering, Layla suddenly said this.
Lili was a bit bewildered, but meeting Layla's serious gaze, and then looking around at everyone else who waved goodbye with concern, as well as Rod who was smiling at her.
She took a deep breath and nodded firmly.
"Although I'm not qualified to be a member of the Familia, Lili will remember everyone's oath!"
Layla showed a relieved expression, then instantly changed to a look of disgust, waving her hand.
"Alright, hurry up and go. Just looking at you, I don't know why, but I feel tired…"
"Oh, by the way, although I used to scoff at the stories of the Fianna Knights, I still hope you'll read it seriously."
"Even if it's just an old story, cliché and imperfect, you'll definitely gain what you're looking for."
At this moment, Lili didn't understand the hidden meaning in Layla's words. She just hugged the picture book tightly and nodded firmly, reluctantly bidding farewell to the new girls she had met.
What Lili found difficult to express was that when she was with this Pallum, she felt a genuine sense of closeness and joy from the bottom of her heart. Even with her guard up, she involuntarily felt a sense of trust, and could even boldly bicker with her.
She didn't understand why.
She just thought, perhaps this was what friendship felt like… right?
The two adults and one small person bid farewell to the others and left.
Layla watched Lili's small figure from afar, sighing softly.
"The key is already in your hands. How you choose is up to you in this lifetime."
The moment she learned about Lili's magic effect, Layla couldn't help but think of a bold possibility.
She could transform into any form similar in physique to herself, even mimicking racial characteristics.
What are racial characteristics?
The Pallum's eyesight, the Beastman's stamina…?
Just as she was thinking about how to use this magic to make Lili stronger, Layla suddenly remembered the magic spear of the Fianna family that Rod had once mentioned.
That was an angry magic spear born in the reincarnation of humans, not based on divine will, a curse that had plagued the Fianna lineage for generations!
Is this… also a characteristic?
At first, Layla was startled by her own conjecture.
But if her understanding was correct.
Then, even in this lifetime where the curse in the soul was inherited by Finn, Lili could, by her own will, recreate Fianna's Red Spear!