Lelouch accepted Alice’s hand.
It was not complete acceptance.
Much less was it unconditional trust.
As far as he was concerned, he had agreed to only three things: meet the goddess Astraea, hear what she had to say, and make his decision after seeing the Familia with his own eyes.
Alice, apparently, had interpreted the gesture rather differently.
“Everyone’s going to be so surprised!”
The red-haired girl practically skipped through the streets of Orario, looking less like someone escorting an amnesiac young man with negligible combat ability and more like an adventurer returning from the Dungeon with some priceless treasure.
“I went out for my usual market patrol and came back with a new member.
Lady Astraea is definitely going to praise me!”
“One moment.”
Lelouch’s voice came from behind her.
“I distinctly remember agreeing only to meet your goddess.”
Alice turned around and continued walking backward.
“But you took my hand.”
“That is generally considered the polite way to accept an invitation.
It is not equivalent to signing an enlistment contract.”
“Same thing to me.”
“They are not remotely the same thing.”
“Don’t overthink everything, Lelouch.
Life’s more fun if you learn to go with the flow.”
“Advice from someone who invited a man with no background into her armed organization within ten minutes of meeting him is not particularly persuasive.”
Alice puffed out her cheeks.
A moment later, she laughed again.
“You really don’t hold back, do you?
I’m starting to understand why those guys pulled swords on you.”
“Their lack of self-control is not my responsibility.”
“That still doesn’t mean you had to provoke them until they wanted to cut you in half.”
“I needed their attention away from the mother and child.”
“I know.”
That answer silenced him.
Alice turned forward again.
Her back was completely exposed to him as she walked.
Yet Lelouch did not mistake it for carelessness.
She was simply confident.
Confident that if he attempted anything, she would stop him before his fingertips ever reached her.
And judging from what he had witnessed earlier—
She was probably correct.
The sky above Orario had turned a deep orange.
Shops along the streets began lighting their lamps, while crowds gradually made their way home before nightfall.
Lelouch observed several patrol groups passing them.
Some wore Guild uniforms.
Others bore the insignia of different Familias.
Far too many armed people for a city supposedly at peace.
Several buildings still carried scorch marks and blast damage beneath recent repairs.
Wanted posters covered the street corners.
One name appeared again and again.
Evilus.
Orario was not merely the city of dreams for adventurers.
It was a battlefield where no one had formally declared war.
“What exactly does the Astraea Familia do?” Lelouch asked.
“A bit of everything,” Alice replied.
“We enter the Dungeon, take Guild missions, help civilians, and deal with scum who think receiving a god’s blessing means they can do whatever they want.”
“So you function as a peacekeeping force.”
“If you want to make it sound boring, sure.”
“And you’ve made many enemies.”
“Mm-hm.
More than I can count.”
She spoke about danger with all the concern one might show toward tomorrow’s weather.
“Are you scared?”
“Fear is useful.
It encourages people to evaluate risk before acting.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“If you’re asking whether fear will make me turn around, then no.”
A satisfied smile appeared on Alice’s face.
“Now I really want to see everyone’s expressions.”
That sentence immediately gave Lelouch a bad feeling.
“How many members did you say the Astraea Familia has?”
“Eleven right now.”
“And the ratio of men to women?”
Alice stopped walking.
She did not turn around.
“Alice.”
“It’s a tiny detail.”
“Turn around and answer the question.”
The red-haired girl slowly faced him.
Her eyes suspiciously drifted to the side.
“Zero to eleven.”
Silence.
“…Zero male members?”
“If we count you, it’ll be one.”
“We are not counting me yet.”
Lelouch answered immediately.
“Why would a Familia consisting entirely of women consider allowing an unidentified man to live among them?”
“Well…”
Alice raised one finger.
Then abruptly pointed toward a large building farther down the road.
“Lady Astraea can explain that herself!”
“You are quite transparently transferring responsibility to your superior.”
“It’s called respecting the goddess’s authority to make decisions.”
“An impressively irresponsible interpretation of delegation.”
The Astraea Familia manor stood slightly removed from the main road.
It was a three-story building of pale gray-white stone surrounded by a wide garden.
It was not extravagant enough to resemble a noble estate.
Instead, it projected solidity.
Warmth.
Light shone from several windows and spilled across the grass.
Above the entrance was an emblem of scales surrounded by stars.
One section of the outer wall bore clear evidence of an attack.
The damage had been repaired, but the newer stones were visibly different in color.
A thick iron gate.
Reinforced shutters on the ground-floor windows.
Small alarm bells hidden throughout the garden.
A home that looked warm—
And remained perpetually prepared for siege.
Alice opened the front door without knocking.
“Everyone!
I’m back!”
Conversation and the clatter of dishes from deeper inside abruptly stopped.
Alice removed her boots, placed her sword somewhere within easy reach, and proudly announced,
“I brought back a new membership candidate!”
Several sets of footsteps approached.
The first person through the dining-room doorway was a tiny Prum girl carrying a wooden spoon.
There was sauce on her cheek.
“A new member?
Let me see, let me see!
Is she a cute little—”
Her gaze landed on Lelouch.
The wooden spoon slipped from her hand.
Clack.
A golden-haired elf following behind her froze mid-step.
Behind the elf stood a black-haired woman from the Far East, a katana hanging at her waist.
Several more women gradually gathered in the entrance hall.
Every pair of eyes focused on the lone guest.
Earlier that day, Lelouch had been surrounded by three armed men in the street.
For reasons he could not explain—
Being stared at simultaneously by eleven women somehow felt considerably more dangerous.
The Prum girl broke the silence first.
“Alice.”
“What is it, Lyra?”
“I may be small, but my eyes work perfectly fine.”
“I know.”
“That handsome life-form standing behind you is a man, right?”
Alice turned toward Lelouch as if checking for herself.
“Probably.”
“Don’t answer like you only just noticed!”
Lyra’s shout snapped several members back to their senses.
The atmosphere did not relax by much.
The golden-haired elf stepped forward.
“Alice.
Explain.”
Her voice was composed.
Her gaze toward Lelouch was not.
“The Astraea Familia has never accepted a male member.
This is also our shared home.
Surely you didn’t bring a stranger here merely because you thought it would be amusing.”
“Of course not, Ryu.”
Alice planted both hands on her hips.
“Lelouch is a good person.
He stood in front of a sword to protect a mother and her child even though he doesn’t have Falna.
So I brought him here to meet Lady Astraea.”
“He stood in front of a sword?”
A wolf-eared beastwoman squeezed past the others.
She took a small breath, apparently testing his scent.
Alice enthusiastically launched into the market incident.
Every time she reached one of Lelouch’s lines, she added increasingly dramatic gestures until it sounded as though he had faced an entire army rather than three low-class adventurers.
“And then Lelouch said, ‘The only ones who have the right to draw a blade are those prepared to have one turned against them!’ His expression was so serious that those villains practically—”
“They were not stopped by my words,” Lelouch interrupted.
“They continued charging with the intention of killing me.
You were the one who incapacitated all three.”
“Don’t remove the parts that make the story sound cool!”
“I am correcting the information so that it remains consistent with reality.”
Lyra covered her mouth.
She failed to suppress her laughter.
“Interesting.
Someone can actually keep Alice’s storytelling under control.”
Ryu did not join in.
“His actions are admirable.
That does not eliminate the risk.”
She looked directly at Lelouch.
“He has no Falna.
No identification.
And he claims to have lost his memory.”
Her expression hardened.
“With Evilus currently infiltrating organizations across the city, we cannot invite someone into our home simply because he performed one good deed.”
“I agree.”
The black-haired woman from the Far East spoke next.
“If an enemy intended to insert a spy, arranging for that person to be seen helping civilians in order to gain our trust would hardly constitute an elaborate plan.”
Her sharp gaze fixed on Lelouch like the point of a blade.
“Or perhaps our captain has simply allowed this man’s face to impair her judgment.”
“Kaguya!”
“I merely offer a possibility.”
Lelouch sighed quietly.
“Your concerns are reasonable.”
Both Ryu and Kaguya raised their eyebrows.
“I possess nothing capable of proving my identity.
Nor is there any practical way to prove amnesia.”
Lelouch’s tone remained calm.
“Allowing an unknown individual into your base during a period of unrest is objectively careless.
If our positions were reversed, I would object as well.”
“At least you understand your circumstances,” Kaguya said.
“However, if you intend to accuse me of being an assassin, I recommend selecting a more plausible scenario.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“A man who becomes exhausted after walking through a forest for half an hour is particularly poorly suited to assassination.”
Lyra burst out laughing.
Several others smiled despite themselves.
“A spy doesn’t need to be physically strong,” Ryu countered.
“An intelligent person can do great harm without ever holding a sword.”
Lelouch met her gaze.
A cold sense of familiarity passed through his mind.
An intelligent person could destroy a nation without personally lifting a weapon.
He knew that.
Far too well.
Even though he could not remember where he had learned it.
“Correct.”
Lelouch gave a slight nod.
“Which is precisely why being cautious around me is appropriate.”
Ryu appeared surprised that he made no attempt to defend himself.
“If my presence makes the people living here feel unsafe, I will not demand acceptance.”
Lelouch looked around the entrance hall.
“I ask only to meet Goddess Astraea, as I was invited to do.
If her answer is no, I will leave.”
The whispers around him grew quieter.
The wolf-eared woman beside Ryu sniffed the air again.
“He smells like soil, exhaustion, and hunger.”
She thought for a moment.
“No blood.
No metal from a hidden weapon.
I think he’s telling the truth about waking up in the forest.”
“Thank you, Neze!” Alice said immediately.
“I only said he isn’t carrying a weapon.
I didn’t say you could put him in the room next to mine.”
“We can decide the rooms later.”
“You were actually planning to?!”
Lelouch pressed one hand against his temple.
“Let me ask again, Alice.”
“Mm?”
“Why did you bring me to a Familia composed entirely of women?”
Every member turned toward their captain.
Alice, so confident until seconds earlier, began avoiding their eyes.
“Because I think you’d fit in with us.”
“That is not an explanation.”
“And…”
She raised one finger.
“Lady Astraea once told me that if I ever found someone willing to help others without thinking about what they’d gain from it, I should bring that person to meet her before judging them by anything else.”
“Lady Astraea did say that,” Ryu murmured.
Kaguya continued frowning.
“Surely that did not mean you should collect every man who performs one good deed and bring him home.”
“I haven’t collected everyone.
Lelouch is the first.”
“That does not make it sound better,” Lelouch said.
“Anyway!
Lady Astraea can explain everything else!”
Before anyone could object again, Alice seized Lelouch by the wrist and started pulling him upstairs.
Ryu and Kaguya exchanged glances.
Then followed.
“Why are you two coming?” Alice asked.
“For Lady Astraea’s safety,” Ryu replied.
“And to prevent our captain from making another arbitrary decision,” Kaguya added.
Lelouch nodded.
“Both are excellent reasons.”
“Lelouch, shouldn’t you be on my side?!”
“I am not on anyone’s side yet.”
Astraea’s room was on the second floor.
The door bore neither gold nor jewels.
Only a small set of scales carved into the wood.
Alice raised one hand to knock.
“Come in.”
A gentle voice came from inside before her fingers touched the door.
The room was simpler than Lelouch expected.
Bookshelves.
A writing desk.
A fireplace.
A small table beside the window for receiving guests.
Several stacks of petitions from citizens lay across the desk.
Beside them rested a child’s cloak, only half mended.
A woman sat beneath the lamplight.
No crown.
No throne.
No overwhelming halo compelling mortals to kneel.
Her pale dress was simple.
Her long, soft hair fell down her back.
Yet the instant she looked up—
Lelouch understood that the woman before him was not human.
It was not because of terrifying power.
Rather—
It was the serenity of someone who should not have been able to remain so calm while living inside a city filled with fear and hatred.
Her eyes rested upon everyone in the room without judging them.
They did not search for weakness.
They did not demand submission.
They were so gentle that Lelouch—who instinctively examined every person for intention, leverage, deception—could find nothing hidden behind them.
“You’re back, Alice.”
“Yes, Lady Astraea!”
“And it seems you’ve brought a guest.”
“His name is Lelouch.
I’d like to recommend him for membership in our Familia!”
Alice declared it outright, conveniently omitting every objection raised downstairs.
Astraea looked at her captain.
Then at Ryu and Kaguya behind them.
“Judging by everyone’s expressions, I assume matters are not quite that simple.”
“My apologies, Lady Astraea,” Ryu said.
“We do not intend to belittle this man’s intentions.
However, accepting a man with no known background into a household occupied entirely by women…”
“Your concern is justified, Ryu.”
The goddess did not reprimand her.
Astraea placed the needle and child’s cloak aside.
Then she rose and walked toward Lelouch.
“Welcome to my home, Lelouch.”
“Thank you for agreeing to meet me, Goddess Astraea.”
He bowed politely.
He did not kneel.
For one brief instant—
His body tensed without permission.
The word god awakened resistance somewhere deep inside his soul.
White light.
A voice pronouncing judgment.
His fingers went cold.
Astraea merely smiled.
“You don’t need to be so tense.
No one here will force you to worship me.”
Her words struck directly at a suspicion he had not voiced.
“Can every god read human thoughts?”
“No.”
She laughed softly.
“But people trying very hard not to appear suspicious tend to check doors, windows, and their distance from armed individuals more often than usual.”
Lelouch stared at her for a moment.
“You observe people far better than your demeanor suggests.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
….
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….
I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length.
If you’re following a particular series, please wait your turn a little If there’s a particular novel you’re enjoying on Patron, please give it a ‘like’ so I know to focus on it