So hungry...
When was the last time I ate?
She could no longer remember.
The small Pallum girl staggered forward step by step. Ever since leaving the Prison City, she had been drifting through the outside world, with no fixed place to call home.
Yes, the Prison City—Bergen.
It was a massive facility located in the eastern part of the continent, a great prison that held countless brutal criminals. Some gods even claimed it was warmer than hell itself.
And for some reason, it always gave people the feeling of an asylum...
Unlike the criminals imprisoned there, the girl had been born inside that city and had lived a harsh life since childhood.
If not for her sharp mind, she would have died in that hell long ago, rather than walking out of Bergen alive as she had now.
No one had given her a name, so she chose one for herself.
Lyra.
That was the girl's name. Supposedly, in some holy scripture, it meant "sacred." Lyra felt the name suited her—someone who threw herself into desperate battles without hesitation.
Now, after unrelenting effort, Lyra had finally escaped the Prison City. The price had been her friend's life.
Before dying, her elven friend named Ryuulu had kept saying something about not becoming a bad person...
Seriously, you were in the Prison City too, weren't you? And you still said something like that?
But no matter how much Lyra complained, it was useless. Ryuulu was no longer in this world.
Now, Lyra only needed to live for herself.
And the first thing she had to do was fill her stomach. She had once thought that would be simple, but in reality, it was incredibly difficult.
After drifting for who knew how long, Lyra finally arrived at a city called Orario.
The outside world was rather warm. At least, that was how Lyra felt.
People lived lives completely different from those in the Prison City. They did not have to worry about dying the next moment.
Even when she occasionally saw a bit of evil, it was trivial trash compared to what she had witnessed.
As long as you were only a little "bad," you could live quite well.
That was the conclusion Lyra had drawn after observing the outside world.
So she acted. If she did not eat soon, she would truly starve to death.
With her small frame, Lyra easily blended in among the customers at an apple stall. While the shopkeeper was distracted, she quietly moved beside the counter and hid her body.
"The owner isn't looking this way..."
A small hand slowly reached out toward an apple at the edge of the counter...
Good! No one saw!
Her hand snapped back with the apple. Neither the owner nor the customers noticed a thing.
Keeping one eye on the shopkeeper, Lyra slipped the apple into her clothes.
It had to be said—just a single apple had transformed her from flat as a board to a respectable C+. Truly terrifying.
After succeeding, Lyra quickly turned her back so the owner would not see her movements. She wiped the apple in her arms with her hand.
"I'm starving to death... finally, something to eat."
She opened her small mouth, ready to bite into the stolen apple, but...
Lyra... don't become a bad person...
Her friend's final words echoed in her mind, freezing her movements.
She silently closed her mouth and covered her eyes with her hand.
Seriously... why did you have to tell me that?
Now I can't even eat properly...
So Lyra made another decision—one completely unsuited to her.
She returned to the apple stall, handed the apple back to the owner, and sincerely apologized.
"You dared to steal from me?"
The owner, having realized what happened, did not speak kindly to her. He viciously kicked her.
Dodging would have been easy, but after days without food, Lyra no longer had the strength.
The frail Pallum was sent flying by the kick, rolling onto the street with blood trickling from her nose.
The surrounding pedestrians merely looked at her with contempt. No one did anything for Lyra.
"Seriously... if I don't become bad, I can't survive? This world really is awful!"
Lyra did not blame the owner for kicking her. After all, she had been the one at fault. Being punished was only natural.
"But that punishment was a bit heavy..."
After going so long without food, Lyra clearly no longer had the ability to work. Judging from the attitude of the people on the street, no one would take in a dirty Pallum like her either.
Before long, I'll probably die, won't I?
Lyra lay on the ground in a spread-eagle position, staring blankly at the sky above the city.
It really is beautiful. Even in such a terrible world, there are always some beautiful things...
Ryuulu... I'll be seeing you again soon, right?
As her consciousness began to fade, the face of her once-living friend surfaced before her eyes. Gradually, however, that face changed—and flipped upside down...
What?
Sensing something strange, Lyra widened her eyes.
A goddess...?
"Hey, you there. Why did you return the fruit you stole?"
Hearing that, Lyra understood. This goddess must have witnessed the entire process of her theft. Beside her stood two human girls—one with red hair and one with black hair.
They were Alise and Gojouno Kaguya.
"I've never seen someone like this before!" That was Alise's reaction. It was hard to tell whether she was genuinely surprised or just playing along.
Kaguya was more direct. Her hand had already rested on the hilt of her iaito. However, perhaps because she had not expected Lyra to return what she stole on her own, she now looked somewhat at a loss.
"Because I don't want to become a bad person..."
Perhaps aware that one could not lie before a god, Lyra spoke her true thoughts.
Her answer clearly caught the goddess off guard, but soon she smiled.
"I didn't expect you to be such a good child..." Astraea sighed. In her eyes, Lyra's soul appeared in an entirely different state.
Though wrapped in countless sins, its core shone with pure white...
Another child filled with a heart of justice!
"Hah? What use is being good?"
"I'm still about to starve to death, aren't I?"
Lyra curled her lips in disdain at Astraea's words. At barely over ten years old, she had already experienced things others might never face in a lifetime. She understood better than anyone how hard it was to live.
At her words, Astraea simply smiled and continued, "Not necessarily. There are still many good people in this world. They are not inferior at all."
"Yes, there are always exceptions. I agree with you, Lady Goddess. But I probably won't ever meet them, right?"
"That's not certain." Astraea extended her hand toward the Lyra lying on the ground. "You may very well meet many of them in the future."
"So, would you like to join us?"