As Alise carefully unwrapped the weapon case, several other girls, each rocking their own unique style, came down the stairs one after another, revealing themselves as the rest of the Astraea Familia members.
Among them was the elven lady who had once brought back that dragon liver, but at this moment, she looked completely different from the unfathomable tavern waitress in Noah's memory and totally different from how she had acted the last time they met.
With a stubborn look plastered on her face, she bit her lip and argued hatefully with a Japanese-style girl with long black hair.
"Kaguya! I told you, in the word chain game, the letter was G, not K! You said a K-word! No one would ever say that, so you lost!"
Noah: "..."
The black-haired girl, Kaguya Gojouno, appeared to be a few years older than the other girls and was dressed in a traditional kimono from the Far East, with her fair skin and slender shoulders making her look incredibly delicate and pitiable.
Yet, the absolute garbage that came out of such a beautiful girl's mouth wouldn't even pass basic censorship if it wasn't bleeped out.
"Shut up, you useless elf! You [bleep], and also [bleep]... If you keep nagging me, I'll completely [bleep] you!"
As a supposedly noble elf, Ryuu was practically devastated upon hearing such a wild string of profanities!
'Gulp.'
Noah suddenly felt a terrifying surge of anger radiating from the goddess sitting right across from him, the sheer pressure was completely immense.
Astraea looked toward the stairs and spoke in a terrifyingly dark tone.
"Kaguya, Ryuu, we actually have a guest right now, so could I ask you two to make up immediately?"
"Eek!"
The two of them totally froze like cats caught in the act, acting as if they had just been grabbed by the scruff of their necks by fate itself, because even though the goddess hadn't actually unleashed her arcanum, they still felt a fatal threat, making them feel like they could literally die in the next second.
"Yes! Lady Astraea!"
"We get along great!"
"Aye!"
The goddess watched their comical panicked performance, nodding with a terrifying smile that absolutely didn't reach her eyes as she said.
"That's good, then."
At that exact moment, Ryuu finally noticed Alise's current state—wearing thin pajamas with way too much of her figure totally unconcealed—and she rushed to her captain's side like a gust of wind.
"Alise! We have a guest! You're a girl, so you really need to be more mindful of how much skin you're showing!" Ryuu first harshly lectured Alise, then immediately turned her glaring eyes to Noah.
"Noah-san, I deeply apologize for letting you see such an indecent sight, but please refrain from letting your eyes rest on any parts that might cause a misunderstanding!"
Noah was absolutely sure that the sharp glint flashing in the elven lady's eyes was what normal people would call pure killing intent.
'Ahem.'
He was a totally decent man.
'See no evil, hear no evil.'
Completely ignoring them, Alise held the hilt resting quietly in the box with both hands and gently lifted it right in front of her.
"Huh? There's no blade?" Ryana voiced her total confusion from the side.
Indeed, the hilt itself was exceptionally exquisite, making it way more easily accepted as a priceless work of art rather than an actual weapon, and with just a little more work, the hilt could truly look exactly like a pair of magnificent scales.
Aside from Alise herself, even the goddess Astraea wore a highly surprised expression, leaving only the girl holding the golden-red hilt to show absolutely zero disappointment in her eyes, simply because this was the "first love" she had completely fallen for at first sight.
Noah had been watching her carefully the entire time, witnessing every single expression cross her face from beginning to end, before turning to look at the Crimson Guardian in the girl's hands and thinking, 'Just as I thought, she really is the most suitable one for this.'
"Huh?"
Suddenly, a really strange look appeared on Alise's face as she tightly held the hilt, staring blankly at the metal in her hands but completely unable to find the answer she was looking for, though fortunately, its creator was sitting right here.
"Noah, I feel a bit strange... my strength, stamina, and all that... it literally feels like they've all suddenly increased a lot, so is it because of this sword?"
Noah just smiled and calmly explained all of the sword's crazy abilities, while at the same time handing Alise the exact same paper with the weapon's busted stats that he had once shown to Hephaestus.
After the members of the Astraea Familia all gathered around to read it, every single one of them wore a shocked look on their face as if their entire worldview had just been totally shattered.
"Are you fucking serious..."
"This sword is way too damn strong!"
"Alise, quick, try infusing it with your magic!"
"Mm, okay, I understand."
The red-haired girl nervously tightened her grip on the heavy sword and slowly poured her raw magic right into it.
A blinding crimson blade violently erupted, rapidly condensed and perfectly converged into shape, looking completely different from a regular physical blade because the beautiful blade made purely of magic didn't reflect any light at all and thus failed to reflect the girls' utterly astonished faces.
Alise stared in awe at the fully released Crimson Guardian, feeling her own magic flowing seamlessly within the sword and experiencing the crazy sensation of the weapon acting as a literal extension of her own body.
'So beautiful.'
'This is truly the sword that makes my heart race the absolute most.'
At this point, Alise also finally noticed the little blessing inscribed inside the box and smiled knowingly.
"Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Noah. This is the absolute best gift I've ever received."
"I'm glad you're satisfied," Noah totally interrupted her before she could even finish her sentence.
Just like when he had first arrived, he had explicitly said he was in a hurry, and he absolutely wasn't lying, considering he still had to completely finish the development of the launcher and produce a sufficient amount of various custom ammunition since his time was incredibly tight.
"I can totally understand how you feel, and I'm sure you were just about to say some really sentimental things, but I'm sorry, I'm genuinely in a massive hurry right now. So, considering you guys gave me the Amphisbaena's dragon liver for free and also happened to save my life once, I'll go ahead and give you a huge 50% discount, meaning the final total will be a mere 40 million valis."
Alise: "..."
Kaguya: "..."
Ryuu: "..."
Ryana: "..."
Neze: "..."
And literally everyone else: "..."
"F-Forty million... valis?!"
Thump.
"Wait, hey, Noa! Get a hold of yourself!"
"Captain! Noa just fainted!"
"Ryana?!"
"Alise, what the hell do we do?! Ryana just fainted too!"
With a single, casually dropped sentence, Noah had effortlessly taken out the entire Astraea Familia.
"A fifty percent discount... forty million, haha..."
Forget about the others, even Alise herself was starting to feel incredibly dizzy, because the Astraea Familia was definitely not some insanely wealthy Familia, considering there were only eleven of them in total!
Sometimes, after returning from a brutal trip to the Dungeon and paying for all their equipment repairs, they would even find themselves looking at a totally negative income!
After a massive discount, plus factoring in the major favor of saving his life, all added up together, the price still came out to an unbelievable 40 million valis!
Alise suddenly felt like the expensive sword in her hand was getting a bit too hot to handle, feeling even hotter than its glowing crimson blade, but she just couldn't bring herself to let it go.
'Gulp.'
'Maybe I should just sell myself to him to pay off this insane debt.'
For a very fleeting desperate moment, Alise actually genuinely considered that thought!
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