DanMachi: The Epic of the Heroic Spirits of Emiya Shirou

Her sky-blue eyes were even clearer than Ryu's, captivating the viewer like the starry sky.

The pristine white coat, untouched by filth, accentuated the curves of her feminine form while concealing her soft limbs. Her every gesture evoked the image of a chaste and noble woman, with only the prominent mounds forming deep valleys being somewhat distracting.

The title "Goddess" was created specifically for her.

She possesses a purity, incorruptibility, and beauty that cannot be overstated.

Goddess, Astraea.

Ryu is the supreme deity, a transcendent being who governs "stars" and "justice".

Astraea maintained her gentle smile.

"Hello, Goddess Astraea."

Suddenly meeting such a legendary deity, Emiya was somewhat at a loss for words.

Astraea hugged him.

The soft and warm embrace left Emiya at a loss for words.

"I see the brilliance of stars in you."

Astraea said softly, "Thank you for everything you've done for Ryu, Shirou."

The light emanating from the boy was not perfectly pure; within its dazzling brilliance lay a suppressed, heavy, and even distorted darkness. But Astraea felt that Ryuna was more suited to follow such a light.

From the perspective of a transcendent being, Astraea saw Emiya's most fundamental quality—unwavering resolve.

His will and spirit are like an unyielding holy sword, unshaken by any words or divine pronouncements. This absolute resilience and unwavering spirit are exactly what Ryu needs most.

Changing Ryu's stubborn personality is no easy task; she needs a guide, and in Astrea's view, Emiya is the best candidate.

"I returned to Orario not only for Ryu, but also to see you."

Astraea said, "Now, I feel confident in entrusting Ryu to you."

"...Thank you, Lady Astraea."

Emiya gently embraced Astraea.

Hephaestus: "Ahem, that's about enough, Astraea, come and take a look at this."

The Goddess of Fire coughed twice, separating Emiya from Astrea, and then handed Aisha's note to Astrea.

Astraea picked up the note and began to read it, her delicate eyebrows quickly furrowing.

"How could such a thing happen..."

Hephaestus shared her concerns with Astraea, and the goddess of justice tilted her head slightly, pondering for a moment.

“【Lijie】Aisha seems to be sincere. Just in case, I can go and meet her.”

Astraea said, "Hephaestus, it would be a bit obvious if you showed up, but if I did, it would go unnoticed."

The gods can easily see through the lies of beings in the lower realms, and Astraea, who has entered Orario in disguise, can act in secret.

Astrea: "If the information from [Lijie] can be confirmed, I can think of three ways to deal with the Ishtar Familia."

82

Chapter 82 Astrea's Plan.

"One method is to directly wage war against the Ishtar Familia, launch a Familia War, and snatch Sanjou Haruhime from their hands before the next full moon night."

The goddess Astraea explained her three strategies.

"However, both the Ishtar Familia and our Hephaestus Familia are extremely large factions that control important industries in the city. If war breaks out, the impact will be enormous and uncontrollable."

Hephaestus thought for a moment, then began to speak.

The Ishtar Familia is not the Soma Familia. Regardless of the outcome of the war, even if our side wins a great victory, the very act of "destroying the Ishtar Familia" is far too significant. The subsequent impact and chain reaction may be too much for the Hephaestus Familia to withstand.

As a goddess, Hephaestus had to consider the needs of her many followers.

"Well, that's true."

After listening to Hephaestus's concerns, Astraea nodded and continued:

"Another strategy is to disclose the information about Haruhime Sanjou, or directly hand it over to one of the Freya Familia, Loki Familia, or Ganesha Familia, preferably Freya Familia, and then—"

Astraea made a decapitation gesture.

"Watching Freya's Familia destroy Ishtar's Familia will make everything end."

It's common knowledge in the city that Freya and Ishtar are sworn enemies. Ishtar's clan is preparing the Killing Stone, which must be to deal with Freya's clan. As long as Freya's clan knows about Haruhime, the goddess Freya will naturally deal with Ishtar in the most ruthless way.

"However, this might not be a good outcome for the child named Haruhime. Moreover, the balance of the city would be significantly affected as a result."

Astrea continued, "Not only that, but once the Ishtar Familia is destroyed, the situation in the Pleasure District, which has finally started to improve, will probably take a sharp turn for the worse."

The Freya Familia is slightly stronger than the Loki Familia and the Ganesha Familia, but the gap is not insurmountable, and a delicate balance is maintained among the three major factions in the city.

If any of the three major clans were to obtain Haruhime, it could disrupt the balance of power at the top of the city's hierarchy, leading to unpredictable consequences.

Moreover, despite the problematic practices and character of some members of the Ishtar Familia, they also stood on the side of justice during the dark times of the past.

Today, the Ishtar clan is an important force in this city, objectively playing the role of maintainers of order.

At least for now, Orario, which has just begun to regain some peace, still needs the Ishtar Familia to manage the pleasure district, which is inherently the dark side of the city.

Perhaps the goddess Ishtar and her kin did not have the subjective intention to do good, but they did reshape Orario's "Pleasure District." As the guardian goddess of prostitutes, Ishtar protected the women who constituted the red-light district but were in a vulnerable position.

Before the rise of the Ishtar clan, merchant guilds and gangs controlled this red-light district, where women lived in extremely miserable conditions. Human trafficking and forced prostitution were rampant and far worse than they are now.

Girls who yearn for the city arrive in Orario and are immediately targeted by merchants or gangs. They are then tricked or forced to sign contracts full of traps, quickly ruining their innocence and bodies, and ultimately owing the merchants a huge sum of money. This kind of situation has been common before.

Now, at least within the territory of the Ishtar Familia, anyone who dares to be so arrogant should just wait for the Lv.3 battle prostitutes to come knocking on their door with swords.

Although Astrea and Hephaestus are goddesses of justice, they are not pedantic. They understand that in Orario, where adventurers gather, the need for entertainment districts will always exist.

Despite the wicked side of the goddess Ishtar, she is indeed the only deity who has both the ability and the will to protect these women—because this goddess and her retinue genuinely regard "prostitute" as a sacred, noble, and great profession.

The current Ishtar Familia lacks a single upright Level 1 adventurer capable of inheriting the faction's influence; their only Level 5 is a morally and intellectually flawed individual. If the Ishtar Familia were to perish now, the Pleasure District would likely revert to its more brutal and chaotic past.

“Indeed… Besides, I also have my own selfish reasons. If possible, I hope that the child named Haruhime can join the Hephaestus Familia and come to our side.”

Hephaestus was quite outspoken about this.

The goddess used the phrase "our camp".

The reason for saying this is that Ryu is not a member of the Hephaestus Familia, but because of her relationship with Emiya, she undoubtedly belongs to his side.

Ryu alone constitutes 99% of the Astria Familia's fighting strength. After leaving the labyrinth city of Orario, the Astria Familia recruited some new members, but those girls were only Lv.1 children, none of whom were advanced adventurers who had yet achieved a higher level.

Therefore, the Astrea Familia can be directly considered as part of our side, which is another reason why Hephaestus trusts Astrea, besides believing in her divine status.

The Fire Goddess's statement was also a hint to Astraea: she hoped that the goddess Astraea would consider staying in Orario.

Currently, the Astrea Familia has only one member in Orario, Ryu, who is at level 5 and is under the protection of the "Abundant Mistress" tavern, so they are fearless.

Although Ryu's stats haven't been updated yet, Hephaestus had already assumed that [Swift] was a Level 5, Tier 1 adventurer the moment she met Astraea.

With the Lv.5 [Gale] and the support of the Hephaestus Familia, the Astrea Familia should be able to establish itself quickly.

Astrea remained noncommittal to Hephaestus's hint and continued discussing the Ishtar Familia: "If you want Haruhime Sanjou to join the Hephaestus Familia, then the Hephaestus Familia cannot easily take center stage."

"Shirou can act in his personal capacity, but he must have a reasonable excuse."

Astraea looked at Emiya.

“In addition, Ryu can also participate in it in her personal capacity…”

Astraea pondered, "The basic idea behind this strategy is to address the nature of the incident at the 'personal level' rather than escalating it to the 'familia level'."

“Sanjou Haruhime… perhaps we can work on this child’s background.”

Astraea thought of her former clan's vice-captain—Gojou Kaguya.

Kaguya is a "princess" from the Far East, so Astraea knows something about that distant country.

Kaguya Gojou's hometown is a country in the far east, a nation composed of several islands.

The ruling body in the Far East is a state-type "familia" (or clan), whose chief deities include Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, and many other deities. It is a large-scale, complex faction.

Among them, the nine oldest families, as high-ranking nobles, controlled the national government and shouldered the important responsibility of steering the country.

Kaguya Gojou belongs to the Gojou family, which is one of the Nine Families.

In matters of governance, the various families had a clear division of labor. For example, they were responsible for the administration of the capital, the sacrificial rites related to the gods, and sending troops to quell local powerful clans and evil spirits who were not yet stable.

Of the many tasks, the fifth one is responsible for firefighting.

As a mediator, its duty is to swiftly eliminate all friction that could harm stability, regardless of whether it is within or outside the court.

Moving between various organizations, he has always been known for his remarkable achievements in peaceful and efficient mediation, earning him the reputation of "If the five principles are lost, there is no way to avoid disaster".

Sanjou Haruhime's surname is similar to Gojou Kaguya's. Astraea remembers that the surnames of the Nine Families in the Far East are all related to numbers, and Sanjou is one of them.

"Why would a child from a noble family like Sanjo end up running a brothel, the Ishtar clan of the pleasure district? There must be some hidden story behind this."

Astrajaya analyzed.

Hephaestus: "Could it be human trafficking? If so, then there's something to it."

The buying and selling of people is strictly prohibited by the laws of Labyrinth City. Now, thanks to the efforts of the various clans, the situation is much better than during the Dark Ages. However, it is difficult to truly eradicate transactions in the shadows, and the Pleasure District is definitely a disaster area.

Some things, however, seem insignificant on the scale, but once weighed, they can weigh a ton.

“I remember now. At the last Gods’ Conference, there was a ‘Takemikazuchi’ who had just arrived in Orario from a country in the Far East. His leader was Level 2, so he was qualified to participate in the Gods’ Conference.”

Hephaestus recalled the strong god who shed tears at the Great Assembly of the Gods because the leader was given the shameful title of "War God."

“Is he from the Takemikazuchi Familia? We can ask him for information about Sanjou Haruhime.”

Astraea said, "Perhaps we can obtain crucial information, and their clan might even play a surprisingly effective role..."

Emiya remembered the name Takemikazuchi.

"But the key to everything is you, Shirou."

Astraea looked at the boy: "You need to do something very important. Considering that the next full moon is in seven days, you need to start tonight... It may require some sacrifices from you."

Emiya asked earnestly, "Yes, what do I need to do?"

Astraea: "Let's go to the entertainment district for the night, we'll go tonight."

Emiya: "Okay... what?"

"A chirp!"

Liu, who was far away in the tavern, sneezed violently.

After Emiya left, the goddess Hephaestus asked softly.

"Do you think Ishtar would believe you if you told Shirou to act in a 'personal capacity'?"

"The important thing is not whether she believes it or not, but whether she is 'willing' to believe it."

The goddess Astraea spoke calmly.

“I will give Ishtar two choices: either believe that Shirou acted in a ‘personal capacity,’ and that Ryu ‘coincidentally’ defeated the ‘Man Killer’ at the same time.”

The goddess Astraea raised her hand, as if her fingertips were adjusting a scale.

"Or, face the hammer of the Hephaestus Familia and the sword of the Astrea Familia."

She looked out the window: "And there's that towering tower."

83

Chapter 83 Liuli Ang, Lv.5.

"Hey, you useless elf, I'm giving you half a day off today. You can make it up to me next weekend."

Mia suddenly walked up to Ryu and said this.

The tall figure of the dwarf female boss gave Ryu a great sense of oppression, and what the boss, Mia, said was even more incomprehensible to Ryu.

The boss voluntarily gave me a day off—is the sun rising in the west?

"That's not fair, Mommy Mia! Cats want a holiday too, meow!"

"Cats are cats too, but there are too few holidays, meow!"