Orario.
Within the Astraea Familia.
Today was a special day. Aside from a few members who were exploring the Dungeon on their own, many of the others had stayed behind at the Familia home. They sat together in the living room, smiling as they looked at the newly arrived golden-haired girl.
Being stared at so inexplicably made Ryuu extremely uncomfortable. In the end, she simply fixed her gaze on the goddess before her.
"Your name is?"
"Ryuu Lion. Just call me Ryuu!"
Even so, the pressure was still immense.
Ryuu sat properly on the sofa, her posture stiff, nervously looking at the walnut-haired goddess in front of her.
Astraea!
This was the goddess of justice Elise had told her about. Only at such close distance could Ryuu properly observe her. The title "goddess" truly seemed tailor-made for her.
"I see..." Astraea glanced at Elise beside her before asking, "Are you certain you want to join my Familia?"
"Yes. I've already learned about the conditions for joining a Familia from Elise. Please accept me, Lady Astraea!"
"Very well. Then come with me into my room."
Astraea rose from the sofa and took Ryuu's hand, leading her into her room.
As Ryuu felt the warmth from Astraea's hand, her gaze unconsciously shifted aside.
Once again!
Her obsession with cleanliness did not flare up when touching this goddess. That proved Astraea was truly pure. So Ryuu silently followed her inside.
Everyone present understood what would happen next. Their goddess would engrave her divine blessing upon the back of the girl named Ryuu.
She would become one of them.
"I didn't expect the next member to be an elf..." Asta's expression grew more serious. Though she was usually the honest one of the Familia, as a dwarf she still carried a subtle competitive awareness toward elves.
Generally speaking, elves possessed exceptional talent for magic. Most of them pursued magic-related professions. Few were frontline tanks like dwarves.
"Celdia may not be high-level, but the power of her magic can already rival Lyanna's, right? So what kind of talent will this Ryuu, who is joining us now, have?"
"Probably some amazing magical aptitude, I hope. If that's the case, I can pass on more of my magical knowledge!" The one speaking was Lyanna, the Familia's pure mage. Only she and Celdia specialized entirely in magic.
As a result, they interacted more than most, often discussing magical theories no one else could understand. As the junior, Celdia respected Lyanna deeply for teaching her so much.
"My thoughts are a bit different from yours." Layla picked up the conversation. "I kept watching her earlier, and she feels like a very troublesome person."
"And didn't our captain mention it? That Ryuu has quite severe cleanliness issues. Kaguya, what do you—hm?"
Layla was about to ask Kaguya's opinion when she realized Kaguya hadn't responded at all. Turning her head, Layla saw something that startled her.
Kaguya's eyes were widened unusually, fixed intently on Astraea's room.
What was going on?
Kaguya was among the stronger members of the Familia. Even she reacting like this immediately drew everyone's attention.
"What's wrong, Kaguya?"
"Did something happen?"
Although Kaguya could be hot-tempered, she usually wore a smile. It was rare for her to show such an expression.
"She's really similar..." Kaguya lowered her head slightly, the expression on her face gradually fading.
She recalled her past—the boy she had once liked, who often wore an expression very much like Ryuu's.
This feeling can't be wrong...
"Even though it's our first meeting, that girl is definitely my destined rival!"
"Why though, Kaguya?!"
The moment Kaguya said that, someone beside her became visibly displeased. Alise rushed to her side almost instantly and grabbed her hand.
"Your destined rival should obviously be me, right?"
"And I was here first!"
Alise, who in this timeline was not the Familia captain, was even more of a live wire than in the original story. Though Elise's guidance had tempered her somewhat, her true nature was hard to suppress.
Aside from Elise and Asta, Alise and Kaguya had been the earliest to join, so their relationship was excellent—both comrades and rivals.
But what was with Kaguya's current attitude? Just because of Ryuu's arrival, she had changed this much?
"You're just going to abandon me like this, Kaguya?!"
"Cut it out, you violent woman! I meant personality-wise!"
The others burst into laughter at Alise shouting things like "How did it turn out like this?" This was the Alise they all knew.
Just as everyone was chatting and joking, Astraea's door opened. The smiling goddess stepped out with a somewhat uneasy Ryuu.
"Everyone seems to be in high spirits," Astraea said cheerfully. It seemed she had seen something interesting while engraving the divine blessing onto Ryuu.
"How is it, Lady Astraea? What's the newcomer's aptitude like?"
"Mm, Ryuu is a very talented child. If she works hard, her future achievements may not be lower than yours, Alise."
"That's incredible! She has that much potential? Haha, our Familia has gained another powerhouse!"
"And not just that," Astraea continued, "Ryuu is also a very well-behaved child. Everyone, make sure you don't... bully her too casually, all right?"
"Of course! How could we bully a newcomer for no reason?"
The others nodded with mischievous smiles. Astraea's words were hardly reassuring.
...
That evening, after everyone had returned, the members of the Astraea Familia began acting exactly as promised.
"Please don't panic. This is just a little something I made myself. After watching it, I'm sure you'll gain a whole new understanding of our Familia's newest member!"
Elise took out several items from her spatial backpack—things none of them had ever seen before.
"Let's begin!"
As Elise pressed a button, images suddenly appeared on the wall directly in front of them.
Could it be...
"Sob sob! Sob sob!"
"A little... gentler..."
An overwhelmingly impactful scene appeared before everyone's eyes. The next instant, loud laughter erupted throughout the room.
Only Ryuu stood frozen in place. Then—
"Ahhh! Don't look!"
Congratulations to Ryuu for joining her new Familia.