Chapter 19 – Denatus and Patrol
----- Astraea POV -----
"Now that the boring matters have been taken care of, let's get started on the thing we're all here for. The naming ceremony!"
Here it is.
The crux of the Denatus, where gods meet once every three months in Babel to discuss the state of the city, exchange information, and see which adventurers have levelled up while giving them an alias or changing a previous one.
The last activity being called the naming ceremony.
After Evilus was completely eradicated from the city, the state of the city has been essentially constant, only reporting constant growth after having healed from the Great Feud three years ago.
This also means that with such serious topics no longer being discussed, the naming ceremony has not only taken the focus in terms of time but also excitement, which is bad news for Sirius.
Many of these gods like to have fun with children, especially with those not their own.
Although the naming of high-level adventurers, usually level 4 and above, has always been given serious thought, lower-level adventurers' naming is essentially viewed as entertainment in the form of comedy.
Unfortunately, Sirius falls under the second category.
Remembering his desperate plea for me to get him an alias he can use with at least a minimal amount of pride, I renew my determination to grant that child his wish.
"From the Phanes Familia, 19 years old Saral Kahler, became a level 2 last month and has been an adventurer for 5 years, and fights with a spear! Any suggestions?"
"Please go easy on that child, he has worked so hard to get to this point!"
"Nope!"
Phanes looks down with a fallen expression, seemingly conceding to what was about to occur.
"How about Ultimate Piercing Lance?"
"Or Shiny Prince of the Lance?"
"Oh, I got a good one! Fate Weaver of the Luminous Night!"
""Yes!""
"W-Wait! Isn't that practically a sentence?"
""Too bad!""
Phanes' feeble attempt to save his child from their fate was futile, causing many of the Gods to laugh at his misery.
Scary.
I just have to believe in my Familia's status as not only among the top in strength but also for the safety and stability we have constantly provided for the city.
The Denatus continued like this for a while, only a few adventurers getting names they wouldn't have shame in using, those all being level 4's.
"Now, this is our last one, just reported a couple of days ago. From the Astraea Familia, 16-year-old Sirius, no last name, and he's a male!? What the hell Astraea? So the rumours were true!"
"Yes, he is a kind child, I can trust him to be with my girls."
"Well if you say so, anyways he fights with the sword and a stellar magic enchantment, quite rare. He's been an adventurer for 5 months!? It says here that you're his first Familia too?"
Murmurs break out across the room, either doubting the credibility of the information or revelling at a new record breaker, while some just watched on in amusement.
"Yes, he has worked incredibly hard to make such progress."
"So he beat my Ais's record!? Dammit! Anyways, he beat an irregular Infant Dragon to level up, quite impressive. So, everyone, have at him."
The room starts descending into madness.
"Shining Light of the Descended Heavens!"
"Starbound Sword of Justice!"
"Slashing Sword Slasher!"
No! Anything but those!
Standing up tall while sending a pulse of divinity, I silence the room to end this madness.
"After everything my girls have done for this city, I would expect you to treat a child of mine with the proper respect. You all agree, no?"
That seems to have calmed them down, with many sitting down with embarrassed expressions.
I never like to flaunt our status as the protectors of the city, after all, we do so in the name of justice, not to gain prestige.
But it was getting quite ridiculous.
"Ahh, calm down Astraea! We were just playing around!"
After that, a moment of silence enveloped the room as the Gods began to think seriously of a proper alias for the boy, the same treatment the level 4's got earlier.
"How about Limit Breaker?"
"Hmm, nah, except for his record-breaking, it has nothing to do with him."
"Something to do with stars and swords. Hmm."
Just then, a voice that can charm even fellow Gods speaks up.
"How about Celestial Sword?"
"Great! As expected of the beautiful Freya."
Multiple words of praise are thrown toward the Goddess of love and beauty while she turns toward me.
"That would be acceptable, no? Short and sweet, just like your other children."
"That is, good, yes. Thank you, Freya."
"Of course, our Familias are both shields to Orario, no?"
"Ok, then Sirius of the Astraea Familia will henceforth bear the name Celestial Sword. And that is the end to this Denatus, see you guys in three months!"
Leaving the hall with a smile on my face, I am met with a large group of adventurers, all there to escort their Gods back to their homes.
Searching for my escort, I eventually find Alise fiddling with her sheathed sword off to the side before perking up at my appearance.
"Hey Mother, how did it go? Did he get a good one?"
"I think it went well."
"Sweet! So? What's his alias?"
"Celestial Sword."
"Ahh, that sounds so cool! C'mon, let's get home and tell him the good news! You should've seen how nervous he was when I left to pick you up, everyone was laughing at him!"
"Hmm, I do hope he likes it. Should I tease him and say he got one of the other ones?"
"Ooh? I like that idea. What one were you thinking?"
"Slashing Sword Slasher."
"Oh god, that's perfect."
Like that, we made our way back home.
It was quite an amazing sight when I told Sirius his fake alias, but with how dead his face became and all the girls rushing to console him, the facade was impossible to keep up.
When I then told him that it was one of the suggested ones and gave him his actual alias he thanked me on his hands and knees, nearly to the point of tears.
Us Gods can be quite cruel, can't we?
----- Sirius POV - 1 Day Later -----
With me having gotten used to my new strength during my past two days of training, and with me being unable to go into the dungeon until my armour was finished, I was itching to do something.
Especially after that alias scare.
How horrible can the Gods be to have that be a suggestion?
Just thinking about what could have been makes me shudder.
Thankfully such a fate was avoided thanks to Mother Astraea, although Celestial Sword is still slightly cringy, I think any title would be.
In comparison to some other aliases out there, mine is pretty great.
Entering the living room, I am greeted at the sight of Ryuu and Celty both reading together on the large couch while Alise was drawing in her sketchbook.
From the way she was looking out the window, it seemed that she was doing a perspective landscape of the garden.
Off to the side, I can also see Kaguya folding a piece of paper.
Over my time here, I've come to learn that the Far East in this world is essentially the same culture as Japan, with Kaguya enjoying hobbies from her homeland like origami, Japanese art style, and calligraphy.
Rather fitting activities for such a diligent and proper girl.
That is until she gets mad and starts spouting swear words in ways I never thought possible.
Ending my internal monologue, I call out to Alise.
"Hey, Alise."
"Hmm? What's up, Sirius? Need something?"
"Kind of, I'm bored so I'm wondering if there's anything I can do."
She then pauses her drawing and brings her hand to her chin in a thinking pose.
"Hmm, well with you being a level 2, I guess you can start patrolling. I was originally going to introduce you to it after the expedition but I suppose doing it now is fine too. You are studying the upper floors, right?"
"Don't worry, Lyra made sure that I knew everything. From helping her with your guys' last expedition I already knew most of what I needed."
"Alright, well our team was gonna go on a patrol later after Iska's group get back, so you'll be joining us!"
"'Us' being?"
"Ah, my team is me, the beautiful Scarlet Harnel herself, Ryuu, and Celty. So I guess you'll be our temporary fourth member, Slashing Sword."
"Please don't call me that."
"Fine fine, it was just too hilarious, you should've seen your face last night!"
"Yeah ok, by the way, I know Ryuu's alias is Gale, but what's Celty's?"
"Oh, hers is the Crimson Monarch, due to having amazing fire magic despite being level 3, though she gets even shyer whenever she hears it, so use it sparingly."
"I see."
After waiting around for a while, with me going over the plan for the expedition, Iska's group returned, meaning it was our turn to go patrol.
With Alise breaking the news to Celty and Ryuu about my joining for the day, we headed out to look after the city, with Alise giving me many tips and expectations for what to do.
"Now, while we are protectors of the city, the Ganesha Familia are the actual police force. Essentially, we patrol the city when we can and answer any calls for help from them, while the Ganesha Familia handles the containment and punishment of criminals. They also guard the gate and patrol the city, they are a large Familia after all."
"Ok, so what exactly is our purpose, it sounds like they can do everything on their own."
"Well, any bit helps, but most importantly, the people who handle the patrolling around the city from the Ganesha Familia are only level 2's, while fine for most things, if there are any stronger adventurers they would be kinda screwed."
"So we are essentially the elite backup?"
"Precisely! So while we do patrol, we can only see so much, so if you ever see a red flare in the sky, that means that a Ganesha patrol unit needs help from us. Though you won't be of much help until you get to level 3 so don't worry about that for now."
I think I understand.
The Astraea Familia are essentially the SWAT force of Orario while Ganesha are the regular police.
Except that the SWAT force here patrols when they can as well.
"Wait, what happens when we go on expeditions?"
"We make sure to tell the Ganesha Familia, they have just as many stronger adventurers after all. The guild also manages expeditions to ensure that not too many strong adventurers are gone from the city at the same time, it's for that reason you need to notify the guild whenever you go to the dungeon for more than a day or leave the city, but that comes once you reach level 4."
Continuing our walk, with Alise, Ryuu, and Celty showing me various parts of the city, it was an enjoyable time.
We only had to break up one argument so far, it seems that seeing the Astraea Familia is enough of a deterrent to cause trouble.
Seeing the happy and peaceful expressions of all of the civilians, I think I can understand better why these girls love being a part of this Familia so much.
This strength is granted through the Gods and our hard work, it feels good to put it to such a use.
Eventually, I spot a group of five people entering an alley.
Three middle-aged men around their 30s, one woman looking in her late 20s, and a young Renard girl dressed in a fairly expensive dress with her face downcast.
At first glance, it doesn't appear too suspicious.
Even at a second glance it only looks like a young miss being escorted through the alleys to avoid the populace.
But my intuition is telling me that something is wrong, the feeling increasing whenever I see the Renard child.
Seeing my inquisitive stare, Ryuu sent me a questioning look.
"What's wrong, Sirius?"
"Yeah. Those five, I have a bad feeling about it."
"While I trust your instincts, we can't exactly arrest them without evidence. What do you suppose we do?"
Thinking about what would likely happen in different situations, I quickly formed a plan.
"I have an idea. If you guys go to ask them they'd likely clam up due to your power and fame. But they don't know me, or if they do I'm just a newbie level 2 to them. I'll go alone and provoke them with you guys watching, if they take the bait then great, if not we can just follow them some more. I can't explain it, I just know something's wrong."
"Don't worry Sirius, we trust you."
"Thank you, Alise."
I then part ways with the three and follow the suspicious group into the alley they had just gone into.
Quickly catching up to them, I make my presence known.
"Hey, you guys."
The four adults turn to face me while the girl keeps her head down, staying silent.
Yeah, definitely suspicious.
"What do ya want kid?"
"I know what you guys are doing, if you don't hand over the girl then I'll tell the Astraea Familia what's going on."
Their laid-back demeanour instantly shifts into hardened gazes, collectively turning their bodies to face me while pulling out weapons.
It seems that my hunch was right.
Kidnappers maybe?
"I don't know how you know our faces around here, but you should've gone and told someone before coming to face us."
"You're dead now kid."
"Are you sure? He could probably get something for him."
"We don't handle goods with connections, you know that."
Bringing out Infinite Eclipse, I prepare for battle.
Though it seems that my preparations are unnecessary.
Plunging from the roof at blistering speeds, Alise and Ryuu run down on opposite walls.
Each taking down an enemy on their landing, flattening their heads onto the ground, judging by the crack from the point of contact, I don't think they will be getting up any time soon.
While the two girls rush to defeat the final two enemies, I speed towards the girl, flaring stellar magic.
The four enemies have roughly the strength of low-level 2s. Even I could beat them, much less the two high-level 4's facing them right now.
The only way the enemy could get an advantage would be a hostage, hence why I am rushing to protect the Renard girl.
Holding the girl in my arms, I see she is surprised, eyes wide curiosity and astonishment.
But there is something, lost, in her expression.
They said before they 'don't handle goods with connections'.
Could that mean this girl's family was killed?
How horrible.
Either way, I think it's time to take her to Astraea, something is telling me not to let her get away.
Is this intuition related to those 'foggy memories' the goddess of Earth mentioned?
Although I can't exactly remember the entire conversation from back then, after all, I was fighting what could be akin to a walking disaster right after.
The girls finish up their fight, if you could even call it that, before tying up the criminals and firing a blue flare in the sky while Celty drops down from the roof.
From Alise's teachings during our walk, I know that's the signal for Ganesha Familia members to come over.
Not a minute later, two Cat People show up and after Alise described the situation, they both left with a criminal in each hand, dragging them away.
Alise then turns to me.
"It seems your intuition was spot on, great job. Now, what do we do with the girl? Does she have anybody to go to?"
"I doubt it, you heard from them, right? 'No connections'."
"Ah, I see, I guess we'll take her to the Ganesha Familia, or maybe an orphanage?"
"No! Sorry, the same feeling, my intuition is telling me to not let her go."
The three girls then begin to look at me with disgust before Ryuu speaks up.
"Disgusting, is she not too young for you?"
Taking a moment to process the situation, I hastily try to explain myself.
"No! Nononono, not like that! I'm asking to bring her to Mother Astraea, I think she might be able to figure something else."
"So you want her in the Familia?"
"Ideally, yes. I just, I can't explain the feeling."
"I get it, I get a gut instinct too sometimes. But you should probably ask her first."
Looking down at the girl, she's currently pressing her head against my chest, hiding her face from the world while holding onto my shirt for dear life.
I hesitantly pat her head, causing her to look up at me with a teary expression, one filled with worry and fear.
I continue to pat her head until her face softens, eyes closed in a pleased expression while her tail wags slightly from side to side.
Cute.
"Ahem!"
Oh yeah, I should probably ask her quickly before Ryuu starts to think I'm a pedophile or something.
"Hey, would you like to come home with us? You can tell us your story there, we have a very nice Mother who will absolutely take care of you, and we will too."
She looks up at me again, faces clouded in doubt as if searching for a hint of deceit.
After a few seconds, she hesitantly nods.
I then take her hand and begin walking home with the three girls taking the lead, although Ryuu is looking back at us with a scrutinizing expression.
Scary.
I distract myself by trying to learn more about the Renard girl.
"Hey, we should probably introduce ourselves. My name is Sirius, the girl with green hair is called Celty, the one with red hair is called Alise, and the pretty yellow-haired girl staring at us is Ryuu."
That seems to catch Ryuu off guard.
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise before snapping her head forward, playing off my teasing with a stoic demeanour.
But you know Ryuu, I can see your ear turning red from here.
"Anyways, we're all adventurers and part of the Astraea Familia. Would you like to tell us your name?"
Looking down at the girl, she carefully takes in my words before responding.
"S-Sanjouno H-Haruhime. N-No, just Haruhime."