"Why did you break it again?!"
The girl who had just come downstairs stared in disbelief at the boy's chest armor—now completely shredded to pieces—then promptly put on an expression of tragic outrage.
Evan's weapons and armor had all been forged by her own hands.
To a blacksmith…
Equipment hammered out blow by blow was as precious as a child.
And, more importantly—
"You do this every single time you go into the Dungeon!"
"Cecil's just worried about Evan," the goddess said lightly.
"I'm not!!"
The girl's pretty face immediately flushed red—like her thoughts had been exposed in a single poke—making the goddess cover her mouth and chuckle.
And the more she teased like that, the redder Cecil's cute, slightly baby-faced round cheeks became… softer too, as if they were about to melt.
Before long, she let out a forceful—
"Hmph!"
She trotted over and, with practiced hands, began helping Evan remove the broken armor he was wearing. Seeing her sulky anger, Evan—who clearly knew how to handle Cecil—quickly produced the katana the goblin had dropped, offering it up as a trophy.
"Here."
"Oh, that's good stuff!"
The dark, cold gleam along the blade instantly lit up Cecil's eyes—the exact kind of delighted expression only a smith made when they saw good material.
"…Fine. This is more like it… Hmph… I'll accept this as payment for fixing your armor!"
"Jeez—next time you're not allowed to break it again!! I was already planning to go to sleep!!"
She swished her small sky-blue ponytail.
Her deep red eyes were bright and cute like a little rabbit's, and even her voice had a sticky sweetness to it—completely mismatched with the fierce tone she was trying so hard to put on.
So…
When both the goddess and Evan smiled at her with openly indulgent looks—without understanding what that even meant—Cecil still puffed up her small chest, hugged the ruined armor to herself, and hurried back upstairs.
See? Calmed down.
Evan clearly understood Cecil well.
After all, the two of them had joined the Astraea Familia together.
A year ago, the goddess who had left Orario eventually arrived at the sword-forging city of Solingen, and not long after, she accepted Cecil and Evan into her Familia.
Astraea had originally planned to stay there long-term, quietly making preparations for "that."
But no one expected that half a year later…
She would return to Orario anyway.
All because of one sentence from Evan—
[You can't run away!]
That was what he said, almost like he was scolding her.
In the end, he rather forcefully dragged both the goddess and the girl back to the Labyrinth City…
…
Once, the Astraea Familia had been one of Orario's strongest.
Their numbers were small, but every member was an elite, high-level adventurer.
Especially after the Great Feud three years ago—when they crushed the Dark Familias' attempt to overthrow the city—every one of them had leveled up.
Including the captain and vice-captain, and an elf girl named Ryuu Lion, the Familia had nine Level 4 adventurers and two Level 3.
With their talent, reaching Level 5 and entering the ranks of first-class adventurers was only a matter of time.
And then, one year ago—
Something happened.
The remnants of the Dark Familias laid a targeted trap, luring them all to the 30th floor of the Dungeon.
The result: the Astraea Familia was almost completely wiped out.
Only one person survived and returned to the surface.
That person was Ryuu Lion.
That same night, the elf girl begged the goddess to leave Orario.
And from that day on… the Astraea Familia of the past ceased to exist.
After that, the goddess eventually went to the city of swordsmiths, and settled there.
And Ryuu—still in Orario—began her revenge.
Even back in Solingen, Evan had already heard about her.
The elf girl investigated anyone connected to the Dark Familia remnants—merchants, adventurers, even Guild employees.
Then she would kill them by any means necessary.
Ambushes. Poison. Explosives…
She abandoned the noble purity she'd once held as a follower of the Goddess of Justice, and fought alone—tirelessly—only for the sake of slaughter.
A full year had passed like that.
Even in the sword-forging city far outside Orario, you could see wanted notices for "Gale" Ryuu Lion—a bounty worth eighty million valis.
And that was only the Guild's official number.
On the black market, the price likely climbed even higher.
Even now, the revenge continued.
Evan didn't know what had truly happened in the Dungeon a year ago—what the girls of the Astraea Familia had endured.
But—
He didn't agree with Ryuu's choice.
Sending the goddess away, then staying alone in Orario to "take revenge."
It wasn't because he thought the goddess needed protection.
Gods who descended to the lower world couldn't use divine power, and were no different from ordinary people in that sense.
But because of their divine presence, no mortal in the lower world could harm or force a god to do anything.
So when Ryuu made Astraea leave the city, it wasn't because she feared the Dark Familias would attack the goddess too.
It was simply that—
Ryuu believed she should carry all the pain herself.
That she should avenge her companions alone.
And that the version of herself doing such things was too "ugly"—unworthy to act in Orario as a child of the Goddess of Justice and Stars…
But whatever!
Evan's thinking was simple.
If it was revenge—
Then everyone should do it together.
That was what he'd meant when he told Goddess Astraea:
[You can't run away!]
Stay together!
No matter what—if you're members of the same Familia, you face it together.
This whole "I'll bear all the pain alone" mindset was just way too edgy, too chuunibyou.
"Restoring the glory of the Astraea Familia is our sacred duty!"
Even Astraea, as a goddess, felt an indescribable secondhand embarrassment hearing Evan shout those hot-blooded words…
Her skin was crawling.
"Evan is only Level 1 right now," she said. "It's too early to talk like that."
"Yeah…"
She was telling the truth.
He'd been in Orario for several days now, and he still hadn't even made it past the first floor of the Dungeon.
It was partly because of his skill.
But Evan understood—
Compared to the negative effects, what it brought him was actually an even bigger boost…
"All right, then. Take your clothes off."
Astraea moved behind him with practiced ease, pricked her finger, and let a drop of crimson divine blood fall onto his back.
"It's time to update your status."
A flowing radiance flared into existence.
Then, from his back, obscure divine script—unreadable to any mortal—began to surface.
The gods descended from heaven and granted the children of the lower world a power called "Blessing," so they could stand against the monsters that poured out of the Dungeon.
And so…
Evan's status—one that even the gods themselves struggled to understand—appeared once more before Astraea's eyes.
-------
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