"Uh..."
Hearing her friend's question, a drop of cold sweat instantly popped out on Hestia's forehead.
However, her skin had recently been tempered by Levi to become thicker and thicker, so she actually started spouting nonsense.
"Shock (Jingxia)... well, it consists of Jing (Surprise) and Xia (Scare). Jing means a pleasant surprise, while Xia means frightening. When put together, it means that when a pleasant surprise reaches a certain degree, it becomes somewhat frightening."
Astrea crossed her arms:
"When we were in Tenkai, I didn't know you were so glib."
"Hehehe~" The Blue Ribbon gave two dry laughs, "Isn't this because I've been changed by my Levi?"
At the mention of the 'Hero King', Astrea's expression involuntarily changed.
If facing Hestia, the Goddess of Justice could still barely maintain her composure—after all, as fellow deities, she knew very well that her friend couldn't exert much influence on the Lower World.
But when she looked at the pale-gold haired youth standing beside the twin-tailed Goddess, the brown-haired Goddess revealed a rarely seen hostile gaze.
"'Hero King', Levi Bright?"
Levi lowered his head slightly, showing respect to the deity:
"Answering Lady Astrea, that is indeed me."
"If I guessed correctly, my children were stripped from the Reincarnation System and summoned back to the Lower World by you, right?"
Levi did not deny it:
"Yes."
When he spoke, his expression was extremely calm.
It was the same as before; at the present moment of obtaining the 'Valkyrie Class Card', he actually held an attitude of complete indifference regarding whether he could summon the other eight deceased members of the Astrea Familia.
It was only because he had previously promised Alise and Gojouno Kaguya that he was tentatively coming to the Astrea Familia to give it a try.
The Goddess presiding over Justice had obviously sensed Levi's attitude as well.
At this moment, her eyes narrowed slightly:
"Regarding the matter of disturbing the peace of the dead, you seem to not care at all?"
"Answering Lady Astrea: whatever exists is reasonable. Since I have mastered the magic to pull people from the Reincarnation System, out of consideration for the development of the Familia, I will naturally choose to utilize it."
Astrea's brows furrowed slightly:
"In other words, if necessary, you also plan to continue summoning others?"
Levi looked at the other party calmly:
"Yes."
"In fact, I came to meet Lady Astrea today hoping to receive your permission, and subsequently summon the other eight adventurers under your command who passed away five years ago as Heroic Spirits."
Hearing this, Astrea couldn't help but laugh.
She laughed out of anger.
"Saying right in front of the Goddess of Justice that you want to disrupt the Reincarnation System... Hestia, your child really dares to say anything."
Seeing the fire spread to her, Hestia hurriedly raised both hands, putting on a helpless expression on her face as she said:
"It can't be helped. Who told me to have descended to the Lower World not long ago? In order to rapidly expand the Familia, Levi could only adopt some unconventional means."
"Do you think I'll believe that?" Astrea sneered.
"A Familia containing the dignified 'Hero King'... as long as he is willing, perhaps it wouldn't even take half a day to easily pull together a team of a hundred people."
Hestia spread her hands:
"What you say is indeed correct, but my child... don't look at how he can even defeat Freya's 'The Fierce', he actually doesn't trust other adventurers very much."
"Really?" The brown-haired Goddess looked suspicious. "But how do I recall that your family has already registered several members at the Guild?"
"They all signed employment contracts." Hestia said while patting her lover's hand.
The latter took the opportunity to take out the contracts previously signed with Alise and Gojouno Kaguya and handed them to Astrea.
The Goddess lowered her head and scanned them quickly.
She discovered that the content of the contract itself was not harsh; it was just that the employment period was as long as 20 years, and wishing to terminate it early would require paying a very high penalty for breach of contract.
Only then did her heart settle slightly.
Of course, on the surface, she still maintained that angry appearance.
"What Alise and Gojouno signed were these contracts." Hestia explained, "As for Cassandra and Daphne who joined later, they are living people after all, so the conditions in all aspects are a bit looser."
Astrea raised the parchment in her hand:
"If simply signing a contract allows one to join the Hestia Familia, presumably there would be quite a few adventurers in Orario who would choose to agree. Even so..." While speaking, she paused slightly, divine light seeming to flow within her eyes.
"Do you still wish to summon my children?"
The instant the Goddess of Justice utilized her Divine Might, Alise, Gojouno Kaguya, and the side-ponytail girl who had previously led the group into the courtyard froze in place.
Aside from the two Goddesses, only Levi kept an expression that remained indifferent.
Upon hearing the question, his attitude was respectful, yet his words were permeated with the will of a human:
"This is the agreement I reached with Alise and Gojouno after summoning them to the Lower World back then. Therefore, I do not intend to go back on my word."
Astrea did not speak; staring at the youth before her, the Divine Might on her body became increasingly thick.
To onlookers, the brown-haired Goddess was already angry to the extent that it seemed she would unseal her Divine Power in the next second.
But Levi, who had long since heard about Astrea's true personality from Hestia and Hephaestus, merely stood his ground and returned a calm gaze.
Time passed by, second by second.
The atmosphere inside the hall gradually became oppressive.
Just then.
"Haa..."
A sigh escaped from Astrea's mouth, and subsequently, the surrounding terrifying Divine Might dispersed like clouds and mist.
"Let the matter of you arbitrarily summoning Alise and Kaguya back to the Lower World end here. I presume that even I would not be able to persuade them to return to the cycle of reincarnation."
Seeing the topic turn to themselves, the two girls couldn't help but reveal awkward expressions.
Alise scratched her cheek: "Ahaha, after all, it is a chance to do it all over again, so sorry, Lady Astrea."
Gojouno Kaguya also followed up: "I am sorry, I am just a human."
Just as Astrea had said, for the two of them to live again, it was impossible for them to choose 'suicide'.
And they even wanted to pull their former friends out of the sea of suffering as well.
Even the side-ponytail girl, who had nothing to do with the Justice dependents' resurrection event, revealed a peculiar expression on her face.
She had previously watched Levi's performance in the War Game through the Divine Mirror and understood that the youth before her was very strong.
He had even mastered magic that helped people regenerate severed limbs.
However, although that magic was the only case in the world, it could after all still be categorized within the scope of Healing magic.
But the matter of summoning the dead from the Reincarnation System... no matter how one thought about it, it had already touched upon the authority of the Gods.
If this matter were to be exposed, the side-ponytail girl had no doubt that the entire Orario would fall into madness.
____
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