Chapter 215: Astraea’s request

A girl about the size of my finger floated in my face. She was wrapped in scarlet flames. Her golden eyes sparkled every time she blinked. She flew toward the hot blade and touched it. All the heat inside dispersed in a moment.

"You absorbed the heat?"

She didn't answer my question and landed on my shoulder. Surprisingly, my clothes remained safe despite her flames. I picked her up and put her on my palm.

"Little fellow, can you speak?"

She just tilted her head.

(She can't. She is just created, so her soul isn't that well-developed.)

'I see. She can grow.'

I rubbed her little head with a finger. God walked into the room with his eyes fixed on my greatest creation.

"Asahi… how did you?" God asked. "That shouldn't be possible."

"I mixed Life with Fire. This is the result."

That's the gist of the process, so I'm not lying.

"Tell me. Are you perhaps a child of some god?"

"I'm not… I'll tell you more about myself when the time is right."

"Hah, it seems I am not trusted."

"Exactly."

"How cruel."

I shrugged at his fake act of depression. He shook his head and grabbed the curved blade.

"Not bad for a newbie."

The sword I poured everything into was "not bad." according to him. I clicked my tongue. "Wait for the day I surpass you."

He chuckled. "Don't keep me waiting for too long. It's too lonely up here all alone."

"..."

"Want me to refine this for you?"

I snatched the blade from him. "No. It's for my wife. I want to finish this myself."

"Hmm… how many wives do you have?"

"Twelve."

"Still less than Zeus."

"Hey, I care about my women. Not like that scumbag who rapes them once and then forgets about them."

"That's true," he said with a nod. "Let's finish your training."

"Okay…"

—x—x—x—

After a small, albeit destructive training session, I returned to my room in Astraea Familia. The little flame girl skirted around my neck.

"You are late."

I turned to the voice. Astraea sat on our bed with a book on her lap.

"Astraea-sama."

"You don't have to add 'sama' when we are alone. It feels odd coming from you," she said and yawned. "This bed is really something. So fluffy. I want to sleep here."

Well, it was the most premium bed made by Klyscha. It cost a whopping 12,000 KP, which meant nothing to the current me.

"Do you want one? I can make another."

"You made it?"

"...Yes."

"Amazing."

It embarrassed me to steal Klyscha's achievement.

(Everything of mine belongs to my love.)

"Then please do. I will pay for—"

"Don't worry about that. It's the least I can do for you after you chose to protect us from other gods."

Although I didn't need it, she helped me in keeping the pests from troubling us in the future.

[—Astraea: Affection +4]

Astraea's gentle smile melted my mental fatigue. "The girls have already left. You should chase them."

"Ah, sorry. I'm going. Wait, I need to shower first."

I might reek of blood that God shed with his sword.

Astraea chuckled as I ran around the room for my clothes and then dashed to the bath. The little fire elemental, who had not been named yet, hung onto my hair.

—x—x—x—

I tore through the crowded streets of Orario and arrived at Babel. The pink-haired Misha beamed a smile at me from her desk.

"Long time no see."

"I'll see you later."

I jumped over the queue and dashed into the dungeon. The girls were on the 3rd floor, so I sprinted through the 1st and 2nd floor. Gae Bolg insta-killed everything in my way.

On the 3rd floor, I activated my life sense skill to the fullest. It wasn't hard to find the white dot that signaled my wives' position.

"Asahi-sama, here!"

The stalker Aimi's voice echoed in the narrow caverns. Of course, the human tracker found me before others.

Alise put her arms on her waist. "Where were you?"

"I went to meet my uncle."

Nao stared at me as if inquiring this new uncle who popped out of nowhere. I quenched her doubts with telepathy.

"You have an uncle? Saeko said you were… an orphan," Alise said.

"He isn't blood-related."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's nothing," I said, smiling at her rare apologetic expression. "Let's go, Captain."

[—Alise Lovell: Affection +3]

"...Captain," she muttered and her lips lifted in a wide smile. "Yes, I'm your Captain now. Follow my orders and don't stray further," she raised her sword and proclaimed.

Shiori suppressed her giggle at Alise's out of character appearance. While my doubt of her being lovestruck strengthened a bit more.

I shrugged my shoulders. It might just be a simple crush.

Kaguya narrowed her eyes at me before she turned around and followed Alise.

"Aa-chan." Rika drew closer and reached out to my neck. "What is this little thing?"

She saw through the stealth skill concentrated on the little elemental. As expected of a sniper, her eyes were sharp.

I grabbed her hand. "Don't play with fire."

She returned a blank stare.

"I'll explain later, kay?"

"Let's talk in the bed. Miss Samurai will need some relief after battling," Rika said, looking at Saeko.

Saeko dodged my gaze with an awkward smile. "I will be relying on you again… Husband."

She hid her flushed face, turned, and sprinted toward Alise's group.

My heart almost stopped from the dose of extreme cuteness.

…

Alise led us around the dungeon while giving small tips on engaging with different monsters. Nothing posed a challenge for our party on this floor, or the next, or even the next. Floor by floor, we traveled down the dungeon. Alise and her group felt plenty surprised at how easy we slew the monsters while I admired their teamwork. Each of them fought like they could predict the other's attacks and struck in advance. Ryuu, though, flashed everywhere with her wind magic. She was equal or stronger than Ais at this time. The event ruined her potential as well as her life.