"Do you see that tower ahead, Elise?"
Astraea pointed toward the unmistakable structure in the distance.
"That is the tallest building in Orario—Babel."
"Let's land outside Orario!"
"Alright!"
It had to be said, Prana was incredibly convenient.
In Elise's hands, it could be used not only for flight but also for many unexpected applications. For example, she could turn partially translucent to achieve an invisibility effect. If one did not look carefully, it was nearly impossible to notice her.
Elise chose an uninhabited spot outside the city to land. Before fully descending, however, she carefully observed the city.
Orario as a whole was almost a perfect circle. The outer walls were extremely tall, yet Babel at the center soared even higher—far above the surrounding walls!
Moreover, Babel served an essential function here.
The deeper one went into the Dungeon, the larger each floor became. Babel, positioned at the Dungeon's entrance, acted like a "lid," completely sealing it and preventing monsters from emerging.
Combined with the prayers and divine authority of the ancient god Ouranos, the Dungeon was kept in a relatively stable state.
The tower was not hollow, either. Inside were shops run by smithing Familia, treatment facilities for adventurers, and even a grand hall where the gods held meetings.
In other words, this tower was the most important building in Orario.
"After all, we're here to join this city. If we resort to improper methods, it would greatly damage our Familia's reputation."
Anyone entering Orario—whether mortal or god—had to register. The Guild would also keep a record.
Elise and Astraea had just arrived in Orario, and their Familia was still in its infancy.
Fortunately, their starting position was far better than those penniless gods.
Back in that distant, unnamed kingdom, they had acquired quite a considerable amount of valis... Ahem!
It was thanks to the king of that country. In gratitude for Elise eliminating the monsters and moved by Astraea's preaching, he had granted them a large sum of funds.
Although purchasing a large building outright was unrealistic, covering rent and food for a year or two would pose no problem at all.
Thus, one goddess and one girl easily rented a small house southwest of Babel. It was not large, but it could accommodate five people. The rent was modest and quite economical.
The house was fully furnished. Standing inside, Elise and Astraea could even feel a sense of fulfillment—it at least resembled the beginnings of a proper Familia home.
"When we have enough valis, let's buy this place, Elise!"
"Mm!"
"But for now, we have something more important to do, don't we?" Astraea said with a smile, extending her hand.
"Of course, Lady Astraea."
After speaking, a pale blue light shone from Elise's body. The patterns gathered upon her chest, forming the image of a sword.
It was none other than the contract between Elise and Est!
The next second, a white-haired little girl appeared in the room, carefully examining her surroundings.
For Est, who had come to another world for the first time, everything here was novel. However, because of her sister's instructions, she rarely appeared outside.
Now, that was no longer an issue. The matter Elise had worried about—"being discovered by the gods"—had not occurred, so there was no longer any need to hide Est.
During their flight to Orario, Elise had already informed Astraea that she had an elemental companion.
However, she concealed matters concerning other worlds and the Lord God Space. She also warned Est that "gods can see through lies," instructing her to speak as little as possible around them.
"So you're Est?" Astraea's expression brightened as she looked at the white-haired girl before her.
When Elise mentioned having a younger sister, Astraea had assumed she would be around Elise's age. She had not expected her to be this small.
Did Astraea like children?
She probably did.
Elise thought so, recalling that in the story, Astraea often visited orphanages to care for children—though she claimed it was merely a hobby.
So how would Astraea react to Est's childlike form?
"Nice to meet you. My name is Astraea."
The goddess reached out, intending to pat Est on the head, but Est swiftly dodged.
"That's Sister's privilege!"
Est hid behind Elise with a vigilant expression, peeking out cautiously at Astraea.
Enemy!
Although Est had not appeared much recently, from within Elise's body she could clearly sense everything happening outside.
Especially this large presence before her!
Sister's attitude toward her was different from how she treated others!
If Elise had not reminded her not to attack gods, Est might truly have drawn her sword against the goddess.
"Ah, it seems that will not be possible for now."
Astraea could see Est's hostility and withdrew her hand.
"But we still have important business to attend to!"
"Take off your clothes. I'll update your ability values!"
After her battles with monsters, Elise's ability values had surely increased—though by how much, she did not know. There had been no paper to print them at the time.
Astraea pricked her finger with a needle and began writing upon Elise's back.
[Name: Elise Holiness]
[Affiliation: Astraea Familia]
[Race: Human?]
[Level: Lv1]
—Ability Values—
[Power: I-0 → G-297]
[Endurance: I-0 → G-297]
[Dexterity: I-0 → G-297]
[Agility: I-0 → G-297]
[Magic: I-0 → G-297]
—Development Abilities—
[None]
—Magic—
[Scales of Judgment]
[None]
[None]
—Skills—
[Power of the Stars]
[Contract: Est?]
[Saintess of Scales]
To be honest, when Astraea imprinted the results onto paper and showed them to Elise, Elise was stunned.
Her ability values and skills could be considered outstanding, couldn't they?
Faith was Elise's innate talent. Perhaps it did not qualify as a skill, so it did not appear.
But the rest of it was somewhat unusual.
Especially the magic Scales of Judgment and the skill Saintess of Scales, which made Elise glance at Astraea several times.
She knew that in official settings, Astraea bore a title related to the scales of justice, while she herself was called the Saintess of Scales.
Recalling Astraea's attitude toward her over this period of time, Elise began to understand why the goddess treated her so well.
And then there were those skills and magic she herself did not fully understand...
[Saintess of Scales]
- When gaining ability values, they are evenly distributed across all attributes.
- When walking the path of a saintess, all abilities greatly increase, and growth speed greatly increases.
[Scales of Judgment]
- Short-chant magic. Buff/Debuff magic.
- Select a single individual and conduct a good-or-evil judgment.
- After the judgment concludes, you may choose whether to activate the following effect.
- Those deemed good/evil will have all abilities slightly increased/decreased.
Although she did not understand why she possessed such abilities, they suited a saintess quite well, did they not?