Chapter 119 - Encounter with Astraea Familia!
"This is truly a find."
The two, heading north, finally saw the coral cluster Ais had spotted from the sky.
Clusters of pale red coral gathered together, resembling a short red forest.
Luke was genuinely moved; their venture into the dungeon had been anything but smooth, with hardly any gains so far.
However, with this 'Under Coral', their adventure could now be deemed a profitable venture.
Especially since he saw more than one white shell embedded within the Under Coral.
However, just as Ais was happily preparing to collect them, Luke held her back.
Simultaneously, voices of other adventurers came from another direction of the Under Coral.
"Wow, we're going to make a fortune, it's really Under Coral!"
"Really, after selling this, I can buy some new clothes~"
"Come on, you guys, look over there. Another team got there first."
The newcomers were a team of eleven adventurers, all female, and among them, Luke recognized an elf lady he had seen before.
As Luke noticed them, they clearly spotted him too.
"Yo~! It's rare to encounter other adventurers in the lower floors."
The team's leader, a dazzling redhead girl with hair as bright as the sun, Alise, from the Astraea Familia, greeted Luke first.
"It's not often we see adventurers who can make it to the lower floors."
"Ah, only two of you? Where's your team?"
Alise, with her lively steps and swinging her red ponytail, came in front of Luke and Ais.
After seeing the situation of Luke's small team, she asked with a bit of surprise:
"Did you two get separated from your team, or were others in your team wiped out by monsters? Or, it can't be that just the two of you came down here, right?"
"...It's indeed just the two of us."
Hearing the girl's unabashed questions, Luke replied somewhat helplessly.
However, his response was misunderstood by others as an excuse.
As a member of Astraea Familia responsible for diplomacy, the pallum Lyra immediately came forward to explain.
"Sorry, our captain tends to speak without thinking, but she means no harm. Alise wasn't cursing you; she was just asking if you two needed any help."
"After all, we are from Astraea Familia, and I believe our familia has some credibility."
While saying this, Lyra showed Luke the sword-wing badge unique to Astraea Familia.
Alise, nudged by Lyra, also realized her mistake and made an embarrassed gesture with a slight tongue out.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm Alise Lovell, the captain of Astraea Familia."
"By the way, which Familia do you two belong to? If you're really in trouble, please don't hesitate to ask for help."
Although Luke and Ais were well-known figures in Orario, not many had actually seen them.
The two, who often dived into the dungeon to level up, were famous but not frequently seen.
So it was understandable that Alise and her team didn't recognize them.
Just as Luke was about to explain, a crisp voice rose from behind Alise.
"They are the two super rookies from Loki Familia, their names should be Luke Ashburn and Ais Wallenstein."
"Eh? Ryuu, you know them?"
Approaching from behind was a familiar elf girl, Ryuu Lion, who had encountered Luke a few times but had never spoken to him.
"Not really, we've just met a few times."
Responding to her captain's question, Ryuu shook her head, denying any acquaintance with Luke and Ais.
"Loki Familia, if I remember correctly, it's not time for their expedition yet, which means you two really made it here by yourselves?"
Unlike their captain, who missed the point, Lyra instantly grasped what Ryuu was implying and sought confirmation from Luke.
Seeing the conversation finally getting back on track, Luke also quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yes, it's just the two of us."
Luke was confident in his and Ais's abilities and knew that Astraea Familia was one of the few that could be fully trusted.
If even the most representative Familia of the side of justice and order in the city couldn't be trusted, then there would be no trustworthy Familias left in Orario.
"I see, I understand the situation now."
"Since our captain made her introductions, Lyra played the role of a good guy, and Ryuu provided clarification. Now it's my turn to act as a villain, right?"
As Luke finished speaking, another female stepped forward.
With neatly arranged bangs and long black hair that reached her waist, this girl, embodying the classic image of a Yamato Nadeshiko from the Far East, was the vice-captain of Astraea Familia, Gojouno Kaguya.
However, the moment she began to speak, she shattered the elegant impression she had previously given.
Malice, sarcasm, and even rudeness were all present in her tone, exactly as she had described herself, entirely in the manner of a villain.
"It's time we talked about the distribution of this Under Coral."
With Kaguya's words, the atmosphere gradually cooled down.
Even the previously enthusiastic Alise fell silent.
What is before everyone's eyes is a difficult choice that they, as adventurers, cannot avoid.
"There's nothing to distribute here. Since someone else got here first, the loot naturally belongs to them."
"Or are you, as a member of Astraea Familia, planning to commit the 'evil deed' of plundering someone else's belongings, Kaguya!"
The speaker was none other than Ryuu, who adhered to 'absolute justice.'
In her eyes, the facts were clear: what belonged to others was theirs, and one couldn't use any excuse to claim a share.
Such behavior, in Ryuu's view, was absolutely 'evil.'
"Do you really dare to say that you can declare ownership of something just by seeing it but not owning it?"
"And who saw the Under Coral first is still debatable."
"Besides, I never said we should drive them away and monopolize this wealth. Even if we were to divide it based on the current number of people, our side should get the majority, right?"
Ryuu's statement elicited a scoff from Kaguya.
Having held a high position in the Far East, Kaguya was accustomed to the political struggles and deceit among humans.
Kaguya was also on the side of justice, willing to fight against 'evil' and even sacrifice her life if necessary.
But that didn't mean she had to be selflessly generous, considering it foolish to give away gains that were within reach.
In Kaguya's view, Ryuu's 'noble' idealistic justice was indeed respectable but not 'practical.'
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