บท 173: The Goddess's Blessing!

Chapter 173: The Goddess's Blessing!

As one of the influential goddesses in Orario, Astraea knew better than anyone the difficulty of the word "revival."

If Alise and the others had returned to Orario unscathed, it would have been fine, and one could even say that "revival" would have been effortless.

But now... once the news spread and other Familia and organizations confirmed the true situation of the Astraea Familia, they wouldn't even be able to protect themselves.

"However, I'm still quite surprised."

"Hmm? Surprised?"

Luke looked at the goddess's gentle smile with some confusion.

Seeing his reaction, Astraea nodded as if she were very satisfied.

"You're even more outstanding than I imagined. I'm a little envious of Loki now."

Astraea looked at Luke and chuckled softly.

"You know, an oath made in the name of god cannot be broken."

"So just now, you could really have asked me for anything, even something ecchi~"

A sly glint flashed in the goddess's blue eyes, as if she wanted to see if Luke showed any signs of regret.

"Anything..."

Luke, who hadn't thought much about it, was stunned for a moment, but then he realized what the brown-haired goddess was referring to.

"Ah... no... I didn't mean that..."

Luke's reaction made Astraea feel a bit helpless.

Although she had guessed this would be the result, she still felt a little speechless.

"I heard that Loki Familia has many beautiful girls, and you don't seem like the type who isn't interested in the opposite sex. Why would you react like this..."

"...Forget it, just take it as I was saying nonsense."

Astraea didn't really intend to do anything with Luke.

Although not as straightforward as Freya, Astraea was also quite good at seeing through people's hearts.

The reason why she swore in the name of god was because she saw through the "justice" in Luke's heart and knew that he wouldn't make any excessive demands.

However, it was precisely because of this that Astraea was startled when Luke said "I'll accept your offer."

She almost thought she had misjudged his character.

But fortunately, he didn't ask for anything strange.

"But, do you really have no regrets?"

"I really didn't have any thoughts about that..."

Hearing the goddess's question again, Luke smiled wryly and shook his head.

But he suddenly paused halfway through his sentence.

At first, Luke really didn't think about it in that direction, because of his usual habit.

You know, since coming to this world, he's had almost no exposure to that aspect.

The only women he could talk to regularly were Riveria and Ais.

Riveria was more like an elder, and she always considered herself as such, although this "elder" was always "bullied" for various reasons…

But due to the elves' strict rules and the etiquette of the elven royal family, Luke and Riveria rarely had any physical contact.

On the other hand, Ais had been in the form of a loli for a long time, and it was only recently that she had slowly begun to develop into the form of a young girl.

And with the dungeon as a holy land for getting stronger, and without any opposite sex around him to "intimately interact" with, Luke had lived this boring adventurer life for several years.

After fighting monsters and leveling up gradually became a daily routine, Luke's thoughts in regards to the opposite sex gradually faded.

Unlike in Asterisk City where he could access all kinds of entertainment options anytime and anywhere, in this world, the extremely monotonous life makes it easy for people to form a 'habit'.

So when he later met Alise and the others, Luke habitually didn't think about that aspect.

So much so that when Astraea teased him just now, Luke didn't even react to what she was saying at first.

But after being "awakened" by the goddess's words…

Suddenly realizing this problem, Luke looked at the goddess's beautiful face and curvaceous figure, and when he heard her ask him again for the second time if he regretted it…

Maybe... there was a bit of regret?

After all, the chance to have an intimate relationship with a beautiful and virtuous goddess like Astraea openly is quite rare.

The attentive goddess of justice immediately noticed the change in his mentality.

"Hehe~"

Realizing that she was the reason for his change, Astraea suddenly laughed.

She stood up and walked in front of Luke, reached out and put her arms around his neck, and gently whispered in his ear, "It's too late to regret it now~"

After saying that, Astraea gently kissed Luke on the forehead, pouring out her feelings of gratitude and maybe something more.

"This is a thank you gift for saving Alise and the others, and also a blessing from me."

"Luke, may justice always guide you."

The moment Astraea's lips touched Luke's forehead, a new skill awakened in the skill section of his personal panel in the main god space.

'Goddess's Kiss'

A blessing from the goddess of justice, Astraea.

Your actions have been blessed by the gods, and will have a magical effect in any world that does not reject divine power.

…

Everything that needed to be said had been said, and everything that needed to be done had been done.

Luke left the Stardust Garden with Astraea.

They didn't waste much time on the way, and soon arrived at the Dian Cecht Familia's pharmacy.

The moment Ryuu saw her goddess, she knelt on the ground full of guilt and wept uncontrollably.

In the end, the gentle goddess of justice gently embraced her.

Alise and the other two were currently undergoing treatment and it wasn't appropriate to meet them, so Astraea could only comfort the elf girl while waiting outside for the treatment to end.

As for Luke, he said goodbye to them with Ais and prepared to return to Loki Familia.

This incident had temporarily come to an end.

And after Alise and the others' treatment was over, Luke would visit them again.

By then, it would probably be time to say goodbye to the members of Astraea Familia.

…

Walking on the way back to his Familia residence, Luke subconsciously touched his forehead.

He could still feel the softness of Astraea's lips and the fragrance from the goddess's body when she approached him.

Her "action" made Luke temporarily break away from the "habit" he had developed over the past few years.

Astraea's kiss evoked various memories in Luke.

From rescuing Alise and Kaguya to Ryuu, the things that had happened while taking care of the girls in the dungeon echoed in his mind.

As his thoughts diverged, some things that happened in Loki Familia on a daily basis also gradually became clear.

After all, no matter how strong he was, it couldn't change the fact that Luke was a teenager now.

Even adding the nearly five years he had spent in this world plus the time he spent in Asterisk City, Luke was only in his twenties.

And this age was the time of "restlessness."

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