Chapter 589

Chapter 596: Goddess Astraea (Please Subscribe)

After Izay and Ryu entered the room together, not long after, a drizzle began to sprinkle down. The sound of water drops falling on leaves and eaves played on endlessly.

Whether it was outside the house… or inside…

Orario, shrouded in rain, exuded an unusual sense of stillness.

And it wasn’t just within the Labyrinth City.

Even across the vast continent surrounding Orario, this night was exceptionally quiet.

Beneath the calm surface, something seemed to be quietly changing.

It was also deep into the night, far to the east of Orario, near the World Secret Realm known as the “Sea of Great Trees.”

Here lay a sea made of wheat fields.

The rice stalks bore plump fruits, swaying ceaselessly under the raindrops. Cold winds whistled through windows and doors, reaching every household. The people living at the edge of the lush tree sea closed their windows and doors tightly.

There was one exception—a wooden house located at the edge of the village.

The neatly arranged log cabins still had a hint of newness about them. It was easy to see from the exterior that this house was likely built in recent years.

At this moment, the lights were still on inside, casting the shadow of a beautiful woman through the window.

Her chestnut-colored shoulder-length hair, sapphire-like eyes, full yet well-proportioned figure, and a well-tailored white dress accentuated her graceful and delicate curves.

The woman’s facial features were very soft, like a chrysanthemum in late autumn, giving off a gentle and friendly impression at first glance. Around her white neck was a silver-gray collar necklace, connected to a black strap supporting her bust.

Perhaps because she was at home, the woman didn’t bother with excessive modesty, exposing her snowy shoulders and delicate collarbone as she stared blankly out the window at the rainy scenery.

As the owner of this small house, Goddess Astraea was unable to sleep tonight…

A vague, indescribable feeling lingered in her heart.

It wasn’t exactly worry… describing it as a bad premonition would be going too far. In short, it was a rather peculiar sensation.

Thanks to this feeling, during the usual hours when she should have been sound asleep, she felt no drowsiness.

(It’s been so long since I’ve felt this restless… what could be causing it? Or is it simply insomnia!?)

A touch of sorrow involuntarily creased Astraea’s brow.

“Ah? Lady Astraea… you haven’t slept yet?”

Just then, there was movement from the staircase. A young girl with flaxen hair descended from the second floor of the house, wearing pajamas and looking clearly surprised upon seeing the light downstairs.

Astraea turned around from where she sat by the window. Seeing the girl, she smiled: “Nymph, what’s wrong? Did I disturb you?”

“Of course not! It has nothing to do with Lady Astraea, I woke up myself because I needed to use the restroom…” Nymph scratched her cheek, slightly embarrassed.

“Lady Astraea, why aren’t you sleeping this late?”

With a twist of words, the girl redirected the topic back to the goddess.

Astraea shook her head with a smile: “I can’t fall asleep… it must be insomnia. Rare to experience something like this.”

“Eh—? Insomnia!? That sounds terrible! Lady Astraea… staying up late will ruin your skin, oh, but that probably doesn’t apply to you… ugh, so jealous!”

Nymph originally wanted to indirectly advise using concerns about skin that most women would worry about, but halfway through her sentence, she remembered that all these human rules didn’t apply to a goddess.

She ended up envying herself.

Staring at her nutty performance, Astraea’s previous solitary melancholy dissipated somewhat, unknowingly comforted.

This girl named Nymph was a human, someone Astraea found among the villages outside during the five years she spent away from Orario, becoming the newest member of her Familial Group.

Kind-hearted and helpful, she was a righteous child.

The first thing she did after receiving the blessing was to drive away all the monsters ravaging around her village, demonstrating a belief in protecting others.

One should say that the lower realms are filled with encounters and partings.

Even though Astraea hadn’t fully recovered from the sadness of her children leaving, she couldn’t refuse the girl’s request to protect others.

Moreover, the girl’s talent wasn’t bad either.

She possessed the potential for Magic.

In her first battle after receiving the divine blessing, she achieved victory against a group of invading Gray Wolf Greyhounds.

Though it was with some guidance from Astraea nearby, the invasion consisted of only about a dozen gray wolves, and magic was heavily relied upon.

But overall, victory was victory, and none of these could overshadow the girl’s potential.

Almost five years of close interaction later, Astraea had completely opened her heart to her.

Now the girl was the leader of the newly formed Astraea Familial Group, possessing Level 3 strength, recently promoted to this level.

She was among the strongest few outside Orario.

However, in her daily life, she was somewhat clumsy, even described as cute and naturally air-headed.

As the leader, she was often teased by the other two members and couldn’t argue back against them.

She lacked the authority expected of a leader—quite amusing.

Astraea gazed at the girl before her and smiled faintly.

“If there’s nothing else, Nymph, you should go back to bed. As you said, staying up late ruins your skin. I’ll return to my room soon too. Even if I can’t sleep, I can rest a bit in bed.”

Through her words, the goddess gently dismissed the girl’s worries about her and indicated that she would rest soon, without any visible flaws in her actions or demeanor.

To put it plainly, Astraea was preparing to send Nymph back to bed.

As for herself… she had plenty of time to think about what to do next, right?

Since she couldn’t sleep anyway…

This obvious excuse didn’t raise much suspicion in Nymph, who believed it without question.

The girl nodded understandingly: “Then Lady Astraea, please make sure to get some rest early. Tomorrow, when Alyssa-nee and the others return, I want to welcome them with you!”

“——”

For a moment, Astraea’s usually gentle expression clearly faltered.

“Where…”

“Hm? What did you say, Lady Astraea?”

“WHERE DID YOU HEAR THAT NAME!!!”

The goddess abruptly stood up from the window, her expression filled with urgency, excitement, and confusion.

She didn’t remember ever mentioning this name to Nymph.

It was the name of her former Familial Group leader.

The issue was that since she left Orario five years ago, she had never told anyone about the details of her past Familial Group.

Nymph, along with the other two new Familial Group companions, Milo and Nerwen,

They only knew that she once had a Familial Group which dissolved due to certain reasons.

That was all.

Before meeting her, the three girls born in the eastern part of the continent only had a vague concept of Orario in the far west. They were children who didn’t understand the significance of Astraea’s Familial Group. (Just like a rabbit from the countryside)

Moreover, the Familial Group that perished before they grew up five years ago wouldn’t have been something they could have learned about…

Yet now, how did Nymph mention Alyssa!?