Astrea Familia Headquarters — the Garden of Stars Afternoon sunlight filtered through the stained glass windows depicting the goddess, spilling across the deep crimson carpet of the great hall.
The Astrea Familia, that wind of justice sweeping through Orario, kept blowing to its own stubborn rhythm today as well, even in an Orario mired in the Dark Age.
“Hmm-hmm-hmm~ Another day in Orario with absolutely nothing happening—” Alise Lovell, captain of the Astrea Familia, was in a splendid mood.
The easygoing girl sat perched high on the windowsill, swinging her booted legs, her red ponytail swaying with the motion as she gazed out at the peaceful stretch of street below.
Kaguya, the vice-captain, seated on the sofa in the center of the hall, offered no agreement to that sentiment.
The black-haired beauty from the Far East simply polished the katana in her hands with a white cloth, something thoughtful in her eyes.
Then— “Only the two of you?
Where is everyone else?” Crisp footsteps announced her as a blonde elf in a green cloak pushed the door open.
Ryuu, just back from the morning patrol, pulled off her gloves and looked around the unusually quiet base as she spoke.
It was Kaguya who answered, her attention still elsewhere.
“Lyra is out hunting for bargains at the market.
Everyone else went with Lady Astrea to volunteer at the orphanage nearby.” She slid the polished blade back into its sheath with a soft click.
“As you can see, I am the only one left in the Familia, here to report yesterday’s events to a certain captain who has nothing better to do than sit by the window.” “Who’s got nothing better to do?
I’ll have you know I am maintaining constant vigilance against any unusual developments outside.” Alise puffed out her cheeks in protest and hopped down from the sill.
“Besides, Kaguya, weren’t you just finishing up about those sewer rats?” “Developments… do you mean the Evils faction operating in the upper floors and middle floors lately?” Having been among those waiting at the Babel exit yesterday, Ryuu had some idea of what Kaguya meant.
Kaguya and Adi had run into each other on the upper floors and apparently disrupted a smuggling operation by the Evils faction.
“Mm.” Kaguya nodded.
“Those bastards are smuggling monsters from the lower floors — even the deep floors — through some channel we know nothing about.” “The intelligence the Hermes Familia provided only covers suspicious locations.
Even now we have no idea how they move through the lower floors without drawing attention.” The Floor 18 of the Dungeon, the safe level and the only route from the lower floors up to the middle floors, had been under heavy watch since this troubled period began.
A scout or two slipping through under a false identity, she could accept.
But Kaguya genuinely could not picture how anyone hauled that conspicuous cage around the Dungeon without being seen.
Was there some means of movement in the Dungeon that they still knew nothing about?
“Ugh… a secret passage for the Evils faction, huh—” Alise folded her arms, brows knitted, her whole face screwed up in thought.
The hall fell into a silence that lasted about three cups of coffee.
In the end it was Alise who broke the deadlock, clapping her hands together with a sharp smack.
“All right!
I’ve got it!” “Alise, did you notice something suspicious?” “Nope!
I’ve come to terms with it — I’ve decided to give up agonizing over a problem I’m never going to solve no matter how hard I think!” After brief and profound deliberation, the captain of the Familia of justice had arrived at her answer: stop thinking.
“Like our goddess says: meet soldiers with generals, meet floods with earth.” Alise drew the one-handed sword at her waist, Crimson Order, and leveled it at the window with high spirits.
“Those snakes in the Evils faction are always one step ahead of us.
But even so, our Justice will never admit defeat!” “Where there is evil, we cut it down.
We protect the smiles of the people of Orario.
That is the mission of the Astrea Familia.” “As for all those tangled schemes and plots — we can slice them apart once they actually happen!” “But forget about the headaches down in the Dungeon.” Alise sheathed the sword and leaned in close to Ryuu with a conspiratorial look, those emerald eyes brimming with curiosity.
“Lion, haven’t you noticed something’s been a bit off lately?” “Off?
Hasn’t it been rather peaceful recently?” The blonde, blue-eyed elf had no idea what her captain was getting at.
Orario in the Dark Age still had its undercurrents, but on the surface things had been calm.
Alise patrolled more often than anyone in the Familia — she of all people should know that.
“Not that!
I mean people!
Relationships!” Alise lowered her voice as though divulging a world-shaking secret.
“I’m talking about Adi!
Adi Varma!” She gestured with both hands, her face alight with the glow of gossip.
“You two patrol together all the time, don’t you?
So you really haven’t noticed anything different about that clingy little girl lately?” “Different, you say…” Ryuu thought back seriously.
Whenever their patrol schedules overlapped, Adi was always waiting for her at the street corner, as reliable as clockwork.
She still launched herself at Ryuu for a hug the instant they met, still walked straight up to any troubled passerby without hesitation, still delivered a properly righteous fist to any petty thief they came across.
All exactly as it had been since the day she first met that girl from the Ganesha Familia.
“Apart from her appetite being slightly larger than before, everything is as usual.” After a moment’s consideration, Ryuu — dubbed the stiff-necked elf by her colleagues — delivered an answer of impeccably Lion-like precision.
“Honestly, Lion, you understand nothing about a maiden’s heart!” Alise slapped the table like a teacher despairing of a hopeless student.
“Because just now, on my way back, I saw Adi with my own eyes — carrying a huge bag of freshly fried potato balls, beaming, humming to herself, running off toward the Dungeon!” “And the key thing is that expression!
That dreamy little smile!
That is absolutely not the face a normal adventurer makes when heading into the Dungeon!” From which the captain drew her astonishing conclusion: “Any way you look at it, she’s going on a date in the Dungeon!!!” “…” The room went quiet for a moment.
“Calm down, Alise.” Ryuu pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed, trying to wake her captain’s reason with plain common sense.
“I have never once heard Adi speak of anything like that.
And besides, a date inside the Dungeon… what normal adventurer would do such a thing?
That place is a den of monsters and danger.” “Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Lion, you don’t have a single romantic bone in your body.” Alise raised one finger and delivered utter nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
“The Dungeon, you see, is a vast and wondrous place—” “Just picture it.
In that environment full of danger and the unknown, two people stand back to back against a mighty foe.” “That’s the suspension bridge effect the gods are always going on about!
All that pounding of the heart — isn’t that the greatest date spot there is?” “There’s nothing wrong with seeking encounters in the Dungeon!” “…Alise, perhaps you are right.” Ryuu regarded her with a perfectly flat expression, then delivered a question aimed straight at the soul.
“But why must I sit here and listen to someone with zero romantic experience hold forth about romantic Dungeon dates?” “Pfft.” Kaguya, off to the side, failed to hold in a laugh.
“Uh, good question—” Alise’s face froze for half a second before she fired back, refusing to yield an inch.
“Then, Kaguya, Lion, do either of you have any romantic experience?” The two exchanged a glance and honestly shook their heads in unison.
One a swordswoman of the Far East with a twisted personality, the other a rigid elf with a germophobia carved into her bloodline.
Both of their romantic histories amounted to a pitiful zero.
“Well, since nobody’s raising their hand—” Seeing both of them fall silent, Alise sprang back to life and planted her hands smugly on her hips.
“See?
We’re all amateurs here, so none of you is qualified to refute my theory.” “And since you’ve got nothing to say, that means my idea is correct!” “Another day where my Justice has persuaded everyone!
Ha ha ha ha!” “…In what world does that count as persuasion?” Ryuu could barely muster the strength to object.
“Still, Captain, the stubborn elf did say one correct thing.” Kaguya spoke up then, slow and unhurried.
“If you are this curious about Adi’s situation, why not simply go down to the Dungeon and see for yourself?” “You’re telling me to tail Adi?!” Alise’s eyes lit up, then wavered.
“But wouldn’t that be a bit wrong?
It is her private business, after all…” “And if it is for a friend’s safety?
What if this date of hers turns out to be a bad man?” Kaguya, who already knew the whole story, coaxed her along step by step.
“Kaguya?” Ryuu caught the scent of something at once.
“That look on your face… you definitely know something you aren’t telling us!” “Who can say?” Kaguya narrowed her eyes, deliberately leaving the hook dangling without answering Ryuu at all.
“You’re right!
For Adi’s sake, so she doesn’t get swindled by some awful man, as a comrade of justice and that girl’s friend, it’s my duty to go inspect him!” Alise, whose capacity for action was permanently maxed out, was sold on the spot and turned to charge outside without another word.
“Wait, Alise, I’m coming too!” Ryuu was hardly about to let her captain run wild alone.
And as Adi’s friend, she was every bit as concerned about this person Kaguya claimed was meeting Adi in secret down in the Dungeon.
She moved to follow without thinking.
“Lion.
You are staying here.” Kaguya’s arm shot out to block her, and those wine-red eyes held an authority that permitted no argument.
“Kaguya?
Why?” Ryuu stared at the woman standing in her way, uncomprehending.
“Because there are some matters that will go far better if a simple idiot like our captain handles them alone than if you go.” “Let us not complicate things—” Kaguya understood the situation perfectly well.
No matter how well Artorias understood human nature, in the eyes of most people he still fell squarely into the category of monster.
If the two of them actually met, Ryuu would probably shatter any possibility of conversation with a single spell.
“Besides…” Kaguya picked up the beloved blade she had just finished maintaining, a warlike smile spreading across her face.
“Since we both reached Level 3, we haven’t had a proper bout, have we?” “It’s rare for everyone to be out.
No one will come disturb us outside the base.” “A good chance for a long-overdue sparring match.
Let me see whether the sword arm of a certain Miss Fairy, who’s been so busy patrolling she’s hardly explored the Dungeon at all, has gone rusty.” “Well, if Kaguya says so, Lion, be a dear and keep her company!
Leave Adi to me!
Bye-bye~” Alise, who had been itching for an excuse to slip out and play, was not about to let the opportunity pass.
She tossed the cheerful line over her shoulder while the two of them were occupied with each other and blew out the front door like a red whirlwind, leaving nothing behind but a dashing silhouette.
“Alise!
Wait—” Ryuu looked at the empty doorway where her captain had been, then at the battle-hungry Kaguya in front of her, and let out a resigned sigh.
Her gaze hardened.
“Very well… then I shall be in your care, Kaguya.” “I’ll teach you that provoking me carries a very steep price.” “Heh.
Who do you think you’re talking to, Miss Germophobic Blockhead Elf?” And with that, the beauty of the crimson blade wore the same old sneer she always wore when facing a worthy opponent.
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