The moment Xien saw the looks on everyone's faces, irritation flared in his chest.
He rose to his feet at once, a trace of anger in his voice.
"I didn't do all this so you could sit around feeling depressed, all right? Pull yourselves together!"
That single sentence stunned everyone present.
They had never seen Xien face them with such force.
Was this really still their well-behaved, thoughtful little brother?
Before they could recover, he continued.
"I only did what I'm good at. The only reason I did any of this was so that the people I love dearly—you—would have a better chance of surviving in this cruel world. I don't want to end up regretting one day that I didn't work hard enough, after losing any one of you."
"If you really think of me as your little brother, then get back on your feet. Use what I've given you to keep living. Use it to grow stronger. Zeus Familia and Hera Familia failed, yes—but I believe we can succeed. Aren't we supposed to face the final Black Dragon together someday? Compared to just maintaining the status quo, isn't that the true 'justice' we adventurers ought to carry out?"
For a moment, no one could speak.
They could feel it—a presence they had never sensed from him before.
He was still young, still the youngest among them, and yet in that instant he seemed like a giant standing alone before them, someone they could only look up to.
And he was right.
If they kept growing stronger, and one day truly slew the Black Dragon, then even if the world never became completely peaceful, it would at least continue to exist. It would no longer live under the threat of extinction.
How could that not count as carrying out justice?
While they themselves were still fumbling in the dark, trying to figure out what "justice" even meant, their youngest brother had already chosen a goal and begun acting toward it.
And yet—
"Could we really do it?" someone asked.
There it was: the crushing reality before them.
The overwhelming power of the Black Dragon, that disaster-like gulf of strength. That was an enemy even the ancient heroes had failed to overcome.
But Xien only smiled.
"Why not? It's just a dragon. It isn't a creator god. It isn't the embodiment of a law of the world. It doesn't possess some concept of absolute immortality. Is it only because it has overwhelming strength? Then we just have to train until we can withstand its attacks. Learn until we can see the path of its strikes. Grow until we can strip away its scales and pierce its hide."
Compared to certain greater evils, what was one Black Dragon, really? At most, it was a boss fight from the early stages. He had a system. He had the power of Abundance. In the grand scheme of things, the Black Dragon was only one obstacle.
The room fell silent again.
What was he talking about?
Creator gods? Rules of existence?
In his eyes, were those the only things that counted as truly absolute powers?
Did he really see the Black Dragon as nothing more than a monster with great strength?
Their blood started to heat.
Their hearts pounded.
"Or do you think the gap between us and it is one of species? An unbridgeable divide? A heavenly decree that says we can never reach it?"
He swept out an arm, guiding their eyes to the one seated among them.
"Isn't our goddess right here? Why did the gods descend to the lower world in the first place? Wasn't it because they saw infinite possibility in us? Do you really think human reason, human wisdom, human strength, human resources, human talent—our very existence itself—is not enough to defeat the embodiment of despair?"
"Then why do hero stories exist? Why do ancient epics exist? Are our lives so insignificant that they can amount to nothing?"
"Answer me!"
The burning words ignited the heat in their hearts.
As they looked at the bright, confident smile on his face, a thought slowly rose within them.
Maybe it really was possible.
No one's reaction was fiercer than Ryuu's.
Her gaze on Xien had turned completely molten.
At the head of the room, Astraea sat perfectly still.
And yet her body was trembling.
She had seen it.
That eternal flame.
Tempered, sheltered, and refined by the many different forms of justice around it—at last, at last, it had begun to reveal its true brilliance.
And behind Xien, unseen by anyone else, the trait called Brave was changing.
"Xien... so you truly are…"
At that moment, Astraea became more certain than ever.
Ouranos, I've drawn it.
The one and only trump card—the strongest one of all.
A long silence followed.
Then Alise laughed softly.
"Well, this is embarrassing. To think the day would come when I'd be lectured by my junior. I really am getting worse with age."
"Yeah," another voice followed. "He's right."
"Being surpassed by a junior doesn't suit my image at all…"
"Xien's right…"
Smiles slowly returned to their faces.
They were responding to his expectations.
Astraea watched the scene in silence, but inside, she was more moved than anyone.
At this moment, justice itself was changing.
"Then let's make a promise here," Alise said, seizing the moment. "One we'll swear so we never betray the expectations of our beloved junior!"
"That means…"
"Yes. At a time like this, we should speak our vow."
She called for everyone to stand.
No one hesitated.
They rose and joined hands in a circle.
In the past, this oath had felt embarrassing to speak aloud.
Now it felt solemn beyond words.
"To fulfill our duty, to set the scales aright, until the day we become stars!"
They began to chant together.
It was the song of justice—the proclamation and proof of Astraea Familia.
"Like trails across the heavens, like footprints of stars adorning the earth!"
The words no longer felt difficult to utter.
Now, for the first time, they seemed to understand what they truly meant.
"By the sword and wings of justice, we swear—"
These were the vows engraved in their hearts.
"Under the witness of justice, we shall answer the expectations of our companion. May justice flow without end!"
Watching them, Xien understood.
He smiled as he always did.
This was the family that had never once let him down.
Outside Orario, a procession was slowly emerging on the distant road.
On the banner they carried was the emblem of a drawn bow.
At the very front of the group walked a striking woman with blue hair, a beautiful face, and a heroic bearing.
Her figure was too perfect to belong to any ordinary mortal.
There was no doubt about it.
She was a goddess.
At last, they had returned to Orario.
"All units, stay alert! We'll be inside the city soon, so hold yourselves together!"
"Yes, Lady Artemis!"
Artemis Familia, returning from a mission beyond the city walls, was finally coming home.
Somewhere deep underground, in a place no one else knew—
A report was being delivered.
"My lord, all preparations are complete."
"You're certain this time? If what happened last time repeats itself…"
The god's gaze grew cold.
Though his subordinate possessed little personal strength, that look alone was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat.
"I swear it won't happen again."
The last chance had been perfect, and they had failed at the final moment. The operatives handling the final stage of the operation had all died at once. Their plan to strike Orario at its weakest had collapsed before it could even begin.
Worse, there had been no trace of the culprit.
No bodies.
Nothing but blood.
Not even signs that corpses had been removed.
It was as if a ghost had done it.
The failure had cost them dearly, and in the aftermath they had all become paranoid.
But with their ally's help, they had finally regained their footing.
Now they were preparing to act again.
This time, however, they had kept their ally out of the details.
They still had their doubts.
This time, they had to succeed.
This step was critical to their greater plan.
"Good," the god said. "It's time to give Orario a taste of fear."
"Let them remember."
"Let them remember the terror they felt at the beginning."
A twisted laugh rang out.
"They will. Just wait for our good news."
With their direction set, life in Astraea Familia resumed in orderly fashion.
In the end, the matter of the new elixir was entrusted to Lyra and Kaguya.
For the sake of convenience, Lyra arranged a storage room for Xien. All he had to do was place the finished elixirs there. When they were needed, Lyra would come retrieve them herself.
That way, everything stayed efficient.
If a particularly large batch was needed, she would come speak to him directly.
Xien agreed to the arrangement immediately.
At the same time, to prepare for whatever emergency might come next, he spent the entire night producing another batch.
He made sure every member of the familia had at least three doses on hand, just in case.
At Loki Familia's estate, the three great leaders and their goddess were gathered in the captain's office.
"Tomorrow's event," Finn said, "according to Astraea and Ganesha Familia, needs more personnel stationed at every key junction…"
Grim-faced, he turned to the others.
"What do you think?"
The dwarf elder already knew what the answer was going to be.
Sure enough—
"I've got a bad feeling too," Finn admitted. "So tomorrow we'll need one of our heavy hitters leading a deployment."
"That makes sense," Gareth said. "It's the first major event after everything that happened. If it gets hit, morale will collapse. All right, I'll take that route."
"As for the area around Babel Tower, leave that to me…"
Everyone turned at once toward Riveria.
"What?"
She looked baffled.
Loki, however, practically threw herself forward.
"No! Mama can't go out! She'll get stolen!"
Riveria froze, then slowly realized what Loki meant.
A flush spread across her face.
And in the next instant, she drove her fist down onto Loki's head hard enough to flatten her goddess against the floor.
"So in your eyes, I'm that vulnerable?" Riveria said coldly. "It was merely an accident. Even if I run into him again, I'll… I'll be perfectly fine. Yes. Absolutely fine."
The other two watched in silence, drenched in sweat.
That absolutely did not sound like someone who was fine.
Finn could only sigh.
"Riveria, are you sure? In your current state, can you really endure that temptation?"
"This is exactly how one overcomes it," she replied, forcing herself to stay composed. "If it's only meeting him, nothing will happen."
Finn considered her for a moment.
"All right. We'll try it. If you can get through this, it'll be a huge step forward for you. Your request is approved."
To be honest, the main reason he dared allow it was simple:
He trusted the other party not to do anything improper.
A boy taken in by the goddess Astraea ought to be fundamentally kind. In that case, Riveria meeting him again shouldn't cause any real trouble.
The next morning, just as Xien was heading out to fulfill the guild commission and collect the storage-type magic item he'd been promised, he noticed something unusual.
The streets were lively.
People were laughing. Merchants were out in force. The atmosphere was bright.
He quickly understood.
There must be some sort of event going on.
That made sense. Orario was a city that celebrated festivals frequently—mostly the ones tied to the gods. The grandest among them were the Two Great Festivals.
The Goddess Festival and the Elegy Festival.
They were paired events, but their meanings were completely different.
The Elegy Festival draped the city in sorrow. It was held after major disasters each year, a day of mourning for the dead.
The Goddess Festival followed immediately after and functioned as a kind of harvest festival.
It was called the Goddess Festival because it was led by goddesses associated with abundance. They presided over the opening rites and distributed freshly harvested crops and produce to the people.
That was why the citizens looked forward to it so much.
After remembering the dead—heroes and adventurers alike—and grieving for the past, the people celebrated the harvest in order to reaffirm their belief in a brighter future.
That was the meaning of the Two Great Festivals.
....
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