บท 176: Throwing Away 'Justice'!

Chapter 176: Throwing Away 'Justice'!

Several days later.

The treatment of Alise and the others had now reached the final stage.

During this period, Astraea, as the goddess in charge of her Familia, also updated the status of the four girls.

Just as Luke had guessed in the dungeon, Alise, Kaguya, and Ryuu successfully crossed the threshold of first-class and became Level 5 adventurers.

At the same time, Lyra also upgraded to Level 4.

The four remaining girls of Astraea Familia had all raised their levels by one.

After becoming a first-class adventurer, an adventurer's physical fitness undergoes another qualitative transformation.

This was not due to the increase in ability values, but rather the act of "ranking up" itself.

Simply put, the process of "ranking up" would give an adventurer a percentage increase in all their basic attributes, including hidden ability values.

And this increase was also one of the main reasons why high-level adventurers were so powerful.

Thanks to their level-up, the recovery of Alise, Kaguya, and Lyra's injuries went very smoothly.

However, this "very smoothly" was only a relative term.

The irrecoverable damage they suffered was something that even the famous Dian Cecht Familia was powerless to do anything about.

The loss of internal organs meant that Alise would have serious side effects even after the treatment was over, and it was hard to say whether she would be able to exert even 50% of her strength as a first-class adventurer.

Kaguya, who had lost both of her arms, and Lyra, who had lost both of her eyes, were even worse off.

If Alise could still be considered to have retained some combat capability, then the two of them were completely crippled.

The only one among the three who had any hope of an actual recovery was Kaguya.

Slightly different from Lyra, who lost both her eyes, Kaguya could still choose to install prosthetic limbs.

The most advanced prosthetic limbs can even be made exactly like the arms of ordinary adventurers.

However, it was important to note the keywords "most advanced" and "ordinary adventurers."

Kaguya was now a first-class adventurer standing at the top of Orario.

In terms of level alone, only five people surpassed her in the labyrinth city.

The physical strength of a strong adventurer of this level has reached a very terrifying level.

With the current technology of Dian Cecht Familia, although prosthetic limbs could be made to be seamless, it was impossible for them to reach the strength of a first-class adventurer.

And to achieve no sense of disobedience, the most advanced prosthetic limbs had to be used.

As for the price…

Actually, the Astraea Familia is actually able to afford such prosthetic limbs.

If they were really determined to get one, they wouldn't even have to go bankrupt.

They would only need to take out 80% or 90% of all the Familia's savings to buy a top-of-the-line prosthetic limb.

However, Astraea and Alise's proposal was rejected by Kaguya herself.

Her reason being…

"I'm not shameless enough to use up all of our Familia's savings for myself."

"Besides, do you think I won't notice?"

"In our current state, how can we settle outside affairs without these savings?"

Faced with her goddess's proposal, Kaguya refused without hesitation.

Leaving Orario was inevitable, and she saw this even more clearly than Alise.

"Even though I'm crippled, I can still deal with one or two Level 2 or Level 3 adventurers. It's more than enough to protect myself outside of Orario."

"But without money, how can adventurers like us, who know nothing except fighting, survive?"

"Even if we want to make a living by hunting, we at least need to find a suitable place to settle down first, right?"

"What about all the expenses during this period of journey?"

"A cripple, a blind, and a useless person who can't fight for long periods of time, are you going to make us sell our bodies outside?"

"Or, Astraea-sama, are you planning to work alone and support us?"

Kaguya looked at Astraea and smiled softly.

"Let alone me, Alise would be the first to object if you wanted to do so, right?"

For Kaguya, who used two swords for high-speed combat, balance and coordination were the most important things.

If she were to get prosthetic limbs, she would either get a pair or not get them at all.

Otherwise, it would seriously affect her sense of balance, and ultimately, Kaguya might need to spend several years readjusting her body memory and instincts.

"So, about the prosthetic limbs, if you really want me to install them, then choose a cheap pair."

"Anyway, there won't be many opportunities to fight outside..."

…

Leaving Orario, this was something that everyone in Astraea Familia had already realized.

While Astraea was trying to persuade Kaguya to get expensive prosthetic limbs…

On the other side.

Alise called Ryuu over alone.

Alise was lying in bed, while Ryuu was sitting by her bedside.

The two girls looked at each other in silence for a long time.

Suddenly, they both spoke almost at the same time:

"I hope you can stay in the city."

"I want to stay in Orario."

Hearing what the other person said, both girls were stunned for a moment.

"Alise, is this what you think too?"

Thinking that her best friend had the same idea as her, Ryuu's tone was a bit excited.

"No, my thoughts are different from yours!"

However, Ryuu's words were firmly rejected by the red-haired girl.

"Lion, go join Loki Familia or Ganesha Familia."

"You're different from us who are injured. You can still move forward with your life."

"Joining another Familia won't delay your growth."

"I think Loki Familia is very good. You hugged Luke before, right? That's the second other race you've touched in your life. If you miss it, you won't..."

"Alise, are you asking me to betray Astraea-sama!!!"

Ryuu interrupted Alise's words excitedly.

"How could I possibly join another Familia!"

"I want to stay in Orario, but that doesn't mean I want to betray Astraea-sama!"

"I intend to..."

"Lion, you're planning to 'take revenge,' right."

Alise sighed deeply.

She had already guessed Ryuu's current thoughts.

Just as Alise herself would have prioritized "revival" if not for Luke's persuasion, Ryuu's first priority upon returning to Orario would definitely be "revenge."

Elves are a very extreme race.

They are strict with themselves, upright, and kind.

Although they are extremely difficult to get along with, they are undoubtedly a trustworthy race.

Similarly, if their hearts were broken, they could easily fall into another extreme.

"Lion, are you going to throw away 'justice'?"

"H-How can you say that! I will never abandon the 'justice' in my heart!"

Looking at the emotional elf girl in front of her, Alise sighed again with heartache.

"If you do this, you'll only hurt yourself."

"But if I don't do this, I'll never forgive myself for the rest of my life!"

There was no firmness in Ryuu's eyes.

Only regret, anger, self-blame and sadness flickered in the elf girl's eyes.

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