To Alise, what exactly was Cid to her?
A brother without blood ties. A fellow familia member who'd grown up at her side. More than that—family.
Within the Astraea Familia, even though the goddess herself was gentle, her status was still lofty and untouchable.
The rest of the familia were people Alise cared for—no matter their age.
On the surface, Cid looked like the weakest one—the one most in need of Alise's protection.
But judging from Alise's own lived experience… she felt it was actually Cid who had been taking care of her.
There were emotions she couldn't speak aloud—things she could only vent to Cid.
Because Alise had been under enormous pressure lately.
No—more accurately, the recent stirrings and ominous rumors had the entire familia, and even all of Orario, spooked and on edge.
After all, Alise and the others were still girls who hadn't fully matured yet.
And yet, at this age, as the familia of a goddess of justice, they were forced to stand on the front line and fight darkness head-on.
As captain, Alise bore the heaviest burden by far.
In the Astraea Familia, Alise's optimism and enthusiasm weren't just personality traits—they were responsibility.
For the sake of everyone's morale, she couldn't even allow herself to show discouragement.
But if the sunshine girl's smile could heal others…
Who was going to heal her?
No one could stay endlessly upbeat.
Even fire needs fuel to keep burning. The "red of justice" needed motivation too, if it was going to keep blazing.
Cid—who had lived with her since childhood—understood that pressure better than anyone. So he usually let her bully him as she pleased.
Besides, Alise did have a sense of limits.
Like right now: Alise was laughing freely, and the stress that had piled up in her chest felt washed away.
As long as she could come home and mess with her beloved little brother, the sky wouldn't fall.
"By the way, Cid—there's a meeting tonight. Do you want to come too?"
After hesitating for a moment, Alise finally asked.
"A meeting? No, no. Meetings are the most boring thing in the world."
Cid shook his head rapidly.
He was the kind of person who acted the moment he had an idea. For him, sitting in meetings was simply wasted time.
Sure, meetings could provide useful intelligence—but as the Eminence in Shadow, Cid understood something fundamental:
Whether righteous or wicked, darkness's greatest strength was its ability to hide.
Alise might know plenty, but it would never be enough.
Otherwise, even if the Ganesha Familia couldn't solve the current mess, they wouldn't be running around like headless flies doing nothing but patrols.
The intel he wanted, Cid would investigate himself.
"Not going, huh… that's fine."
Alise didn't press him further.
In her eyes, her little brother didn't know much, and he wasn't particularly strong either.
If he got involved in what was coming, he might help a little—yet there would also be a real risk to his life.
Still… the situation was dangerous, and they were short on hands.
No matter how "weak" he was, Cid was still Level 2—he could contribute some fighting strength.
On that point, her thinking didn't perfectly match Astraea's.
To Alise, even if Cid's ability was lacking, his mentality was mature enough.
Under all that pressure, she truly wanted Cid to stand beside her and ease her burden.
At the very least, with him nearby, she'd have more courage—more passion.
And it wasn't just for her own sake.
The Astraea Familia was on the front line. Their performance would shape Orario's future.
It was responsibility—as captain of a justice familia—that made Alise speak up.
But since Cid refused, she didn't bring it up again.
Perhaps even the "red of justice," sincere and blazing as she was… held a sliver of private hope that her little brother could live somewhere safe.
Seeing Alise loosen slightly, Cid decided to lay his cards on the table—just a little.
"By the way, sis… I'm planning to leave the Astraea Familia."
Alise: "???"
Ryuu—fresh out of the bath: "???"
The two girls immediately formed a left-right pincer around him, trapping Cid in the middle like some kind of "sandwich formation."
"Cid, why are you leaving? Did your sister not do well enough?"
"Cid, I know you didn't mean what you said earlier! We're not rejecting you, so please don't go!"
Cid hadn't expected such an intense reaction.
Alise, sure—she was always like this.
But Ryuu Lion's response genuinely caught him off guard.
She had never been this close to him before.
There still wasn't any physical contact… but even this distance alone was seriously not normal.
Now not only were his clothes getting damp—he could actually smell the clean fragrance of Ryuu right after her bath.
He could finally understand why she was usually so on guard.
"This isn't that strange, is it? I just want a change of environment."
Cid tried to retreat—get a little farther from Ryuu.
This shy, repressed elf hadn't fully processed things yet. Once she snapped back to her usual mode, she might get embarrassed and headbutt him again.
Why again?
That was another sad story entirely.
"…Could it be… really because of me?"
Ryuu twisted awkwardly, conflicted—yet she couldn't stop herself from asking.
She wanted to say that even though she always looked like she disliked Cid, and even though she was always wary of him…
After all this time, she had long since accepted him as an irreplaceable member of the familia.
Just as "Startling Wisdom" couldn't handle switching members in Crychic, Ryuu couldn't accept an Astraea Familia with someone missing.
And Ryuu understood it clearly:
On the surface, the one who seemed most rejecting of Cid… was herself.
If Cid was leaving because of her—
Ryuu glanced at the floor.
Astraea had cleaned it. It wasn't dirty.
Kaguya had once scolded her: some of Ryuu's mistakes, back in her homeland, couldn't be atoned for with a mere bow.
You'd have to apologize in dogeza.
She'd even called Ryuu a hopeless elf.
Because she couldn't let that nickname go, Ryuu had specifically looked up what "dogeza" was supposed to look like.
If she apologized in dogeza now… would Cid forgive her?
And if she still couldn't be forgiven, then—watashi!
"It's not because of that," Cid hurried to explain. "I told you—it's just that I want to change environments."
"I'm too weak. I can't keep up with everyone. If I join another familia, I think I'll feel more accomplished."
Cid kept his tone earnest.
If he let the mood keep drifting the way it was, he had a bad feeling something truly outrageous was about to happen.
The real reason, of course, couldn't be spoken.
Only comrades who walked in the same darkness were allowed to know the identity of the Eminence in Shadow.
But on the surface, Cid felt this excuse should be convincing enough.
Humans were social creatures. Most people longed to belong—to be needed.
And the facts proved Cid right.
Hearing that reason, both Alise and Ryuu fell silent.
In the world of adventurers, levels were a hard dividing line:
Level 1 could almost never defeat Level 2. Level 2 could basically never stand against Level 3.
And even among the same Level 2s, the gap could be enormous.
The Astraea Familia had few members, and their strongest fighters were only Level 3—
But because they were all young, every single one of them could be called a genius. Their combat power far exceeded the average of their level.
By comparison, the talent and combat strength Cid displayed looked no different from a typical newly promoted Level 2.
Not weak—yet clearly behind them.
That gap was the wall called "talent."
Countless people would toil for half a lifetime and still never cross it.
Because even if Cid worked hard to catch up, they were working just as hard—so the gap might only keep widening.
"I see… So you want to go be the main force in another familia," Alise said softly. "Maybe you could even become that familia's captain someday."
Maybe it was old memories blurring her vision—Alise's eyes turned a little wet.
But in the end, she forced herself to pull it together and show her brightest smile.
As a sister, how could she possibly stop her little brother from becoming better?
"Tonight I'm busy with the meeting. Tomorrow we'll throw you a farewell party—so look forward to it, okay?"
-------
Promotion Valentine's Month Sale: 20% off for 7 days. Apply now!
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (123 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (72 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (92 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (93 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (75 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (115 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (105 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (105 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (42 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (50 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (54 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (47 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (40 Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (40 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (46 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (40 Chapter)
From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (43 Chapter)
Lord Shadow Descends on DanMachi (30 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it