"The excuse of 'I can't keep up with everyone' really is enough to convince them."
Seeing that Cid seemed to have a lot on his mind, Astraea first nodded, acknowledging what he'd said earlier.
Within the familia, aside from Cid, everyone else was female.
Including Cid, among the twelve members there were only three Level 2s—everyone else was Level 3.
Cid had only just reached Level 2 recently. He couldn't be compared to the other two, who would be able to reach Level 3 the moment they achieved a feat.
As for Alise and Kaguya, they were only a feat away from becoming Level 4.
Combat power was even more obvious: the "lazy-looking" Cid was nowhere near the eleven girls who served as the familia's main fighting force.
Astraea suspected Cid was hiding something—but if he was hiding it, she had no intention of prying.
Once, a long time ago, purely by accident—she hadn't been snooping.
She had seen Cid alone, covering his face while letting out a goofy "Keh-heh-heh…" laugh, muttering nonsense like "Eminence in Shadow" under his breath.
The goddess of justice thoughtfully chose to ignore it and never brought it up.
After that, Astraea stopped probing into his little secrets.
In her eyes, what Cid was hiding was probably just some strange personal hobby.
Later, she also realized he'd been playing mental chess with her all this time, desperately trying to keep those "little quirks" concealed.
Astraea had always cooperated with his tiny schemes.
Because, honestly, it was kind of cute.
Back to the point: at least on the surface, Cid's combat ability really couldn't match the others' tempo.
From a rational standpoint, him wanting to leave was "understandable," and that excuse really would convince Alise and the rest.
"Then what's the real reason?" Astraea asked. "Did someone outside—or perhaps another god—say something they shouldn't have?"
Astraea's eyes narrowed slightly.
If anyone—mortal or divine—had been talking, she'd bring a sword and "discuss justice" with them.
As a goddess of justice, she had some basic swordsmanship.
The gods came down to the Lower World with their power sealed, but even without divinity, Astraea's combat strength was still respectable.
Not too strong… just strong enough to make her own Level 3 children cry.
Among the sealed gods, there were very few who could face Astraea head-on.
Her "ferocious reputation" was well-known.
And she'd demonstrated that toughness more than once.
At the regular assemblies of the gods, once someone reached Level 2, the gods would grant them a nickname.
Most gods in Orario lived for entertainment, and sometimes they'd give laughably ridiculous titles.
To win her children a decent—at least serious—nickname, Astraea had thrown hands before.
That was what it meant to "persuade with (physical) reason."
In fact, when Cid leveled up, Astraea had wanted to stand up for him and get rid of the nickname "Mob."
But Cid liked it, so she could only let it be.
"This time… are they getting restless again?"
In Astraea's loving eyes, a faint trace of coldness flickered.
The gods—having lived for ages beyond counting—had tried everything in pursuit of stimulation.
To say nothing else, the vast majority of them had attended wild "music parties."
Humans wouldn't deliberately seek self-destruction, but gods flocked to it.
In another setting, every one of them would be a follower of "joy."
But there were exceptions—some gods still retained a pure past.
Astraea wasn't one of the three great virgin goddesses, but she was still famously a "pure" goddess.
It was only because, back in heaven, she hadn't sworn eternal purity alongside those three that she never became the "fourth."
Even without anyone spreading it, it was normal for gossip to arise when a "pure" goddess had a male child in her familia.
The moon goddess, who was often mentioned in the same breath as Astraea, had no men in her familia.
Astraea's familia had twelve members—and only Cid was male.
In that environment, if people talked, and Cid felt pressured, Astraea could understand.
In her view, it was probably some bored gods letting their own children mock her familia—itching for trouble.
And that itch wouldn't go away until it got beaten out of them.
"No. It's not that," Cid said, choosing to tell only part of the truth. "It's just… Astraea Familia is too conspicuous. I don't want that kind of life."
In Orario, Astraea Familia was far too popular—more popular even than Ganesha's.
His sister Alise was practically a celebrity in the eyes of the public.
And that fame splashed onto Cid, too.
He could walk down the street and be recognized by a little girl he'd never even met before.
Was that reasonable?
He'd worked so hard—yet he still couldn't become the ultimate, most perfect background extra.
If he was this attention-grabbing, how was he supposed to be an Eminence in Shadow?
And Sister Alise was far too enthusiastic.
Because she clung to him so much, Cid had to squeeze out personal time like wringing water from a sponge.
When the request from Ganesha came in, Alise wanted to drag him into patrol duty as well.
Cid only won a bit of freedom for private training after arguing it out—because he couldn't stand being the center of attention, and because his surface-level strength genuinely couldn't help much.
Even so, it still wasn't enough.
Cid needed more time to gather intelligence—and to resolve whatever crisis might be coming.
So he had to leave Astraea Familia. Only then could he get the freedom he needed.
An Eminence in Shadow had to protect everyone around him in a cool, dramatic way!
More than that—an Eminence in Shadow was meant to rule the darkness from within the shadows!
"I see…" Astraea said softly. "We'll talk about this later. First, we'll wait until Alise and the others come back. For now… do you want to eat first, or bathe first?"
"Same as always. I'll bathe first. Otherwise that repressed elf won't be able to handle it."
With that, Cid headed toward the bath.
Everyone in Astraea Familia was a good person—none of them really rejected him.
If he had to name someone, the one who "rejected" him the most was Ryuu Lion.
This repressed elf was usually serious, but at critical moments she'd reveal her true nature.
Her head was full of weird thoughts.
When she was first recruited, the moment Ryuu learned there was only one male in the familia—Cid—she'd turned red on the spot.
Who knew what she'd been imagining.
Before she could even speak, Vice-Captain Kaguya saw her blushing and tore into her.
Ryuu immediately earned the nickname: "Repressed Elf."
Even though she hated it, inside the familia people teased her with either "Repressed Elf" or "Useless Elf."
Ryuu had to live with at least one of the two—she'd even regretted joining because of it.
Cid chose to call her "Repressed Elf" for a simple reason.
After their first meeting, once Ryuu had joined the familia, she'd privately approached Cid and wanted to establish a few ground rules.
Astraea Familia's home wasn't very large, and there was only one bath.
So Ryuu demanded that Cid always bathe before her.
At the time, the two of them had exchanged—
"I'm not going to drink your bathwater. You don't need to be that nervous."
"D-Drink bathwater?! How can you even say something that disgusting?! I just think you'll… you'll sniff the smell after I've bathed!"
"…."
Cid had assumed that, as a "pure" elf, Ryuu coming to speak with him alone meant she wanted to discuss something important.
He hadn't expected it to be something so trivial.
If anything, she should've been worried about "night raids" or something on that level!
Ryuu's behavior even made Cid start doubting the entire elf race.
Maybe elves weren't as pure and spotless as the outside world claimed.
At least, mentally, they weren't that pure.
Still, after that, Cid had indulged Ryuu's demands.
He always returned a little earlier than everyone else—just so he could be the first to use the bath.
Astraea watched Cid leave. The smile on her face slowly faded, and she let out a long sigh.
After a long while, the corners of her mouth rose again—into a smile that looked slightly forced.
"…Isn't this fine, too?"
-------
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