Journey to Planar World

The woman placed her finger on her chin and gently said, "Are you the one who saved the women kidnapped by bandits the day before?"

"That's right, I did it."

Knowing he couldn't lie in front of the gods, Charlie spoke frankly.

"Great! You have saved the lives of innocent girls."

Hearing the answer she wanted, the woman stepped forward and hugged Charlie's arm with both hands.

'Sigh... Do all goddesses not know the boundaries between men and women? They behave intimately with anyone... No, perhaps for them, the gender of the inhabitants of the lower world doesn't matter. Just like humans don't care much about the gender of the animals they keep.' Charlie thought while enjoying the soft sensation on his wrist.

Even through the thick robe the woman wore, he could feel the softness of her chest hugging his arm.

To be honest, he was already used to being flirted with by Aphrodite, so the actions of this mysterious goddess only surprised him a little. He wouldn't show any of tantrum when around women, unlike most harem protagonists who were mostly beta males.

"Ahem... Your praise is too much, goddess. I'm not that great; my reason for helping them wasn't based on noble intentions, but just coincidence."

"No matter the reason, the fact is you helped them. There's no need to deny your own achievements, young man."

"..."

Not wanting to debate this, Charlie chose to remain silent.

"What is your name, young man?"

Releasing his hand, the woman looked at him with a soft gaze.

Charlie bent slightly in front of her.

"I'm sorry if I was rude, goddess. My name is Charlie Avalon."

"Impressive name." The woman nodded appreciatively.

"Well, now it's my turn to introduce myself. You may not have heard of me since I've been wandering since leaving Orario, but I am Astraea, the Goddess of Justice."

"Goddess Astraea... I'm sorry, I don't know."

Thinking for a moment, Charlie realized he knew nothing about Astraea from the original work. It wasn't surprising. After all, he had only watched the first season of the anime.

"Fufufu~, no need to be formal; I prefer you to speak casually with me." Astraea covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled.

As the Goddess of Justice, she loved those who upheld justice for the oppressed. That's why her attitude towards Charlie was very friendly.

"You wiped out the bandits in this fortress, right?"

"Mm."

"Thank you, Charlie. Thanks to you, the surrounding village will be safe from bandit attacks."

"Goddess Astraea, I—"

"Stop making excuses; just accept my thanks. You deserve it."

Astraea scolded Charlie with a worried tone.

"I... Never mind." Charlie muttered.

"It's impossible for someone without Falna to clear out all the bandits in this fortress alone. Which Familia are you from?"

"Hera Familia."

"Sorry? Can you repeat that?"

"Goddess Astraea didn't hear wrong; I am a member of Hera Familia."

"..."

Her eyes continued to stare at him in disbelief. No matter how incredulous she was, Astraea did not detect any lies from him.

"As far as I know, Hera only accepts women into her Familia, just like me."

Her relationship with Hera was quite good. Astraea Familia and Hera Familia often collaborated to eradicate Evilus, which caused chaos in Orario.

If Hera Familia was known as the strongest Familia alongside Zeus Familia, then Astraea was known as the police force of Orario, dealing with those who caused trouble and were well-liked by ordinary people in Orario.

"How is Hera doing these days?" Astraea asked with concern.

"Goddess Hera is doing well. She resides in Olympia."

"Olympia... I see. So what are you doing here, Charlie?"

"Training."

While saying that, Charlie pointed to dozens of slash marks on the ground.

"Judging by the intensity of your attacks, you are a First-Class Adventurer, Level 4 or Level 5."

"..."

In response to Astraea's speculation, Charlie merely smiled and chose not to answer.

It was not surprising that the other party misjudged his level. Not a single Level 3 adventurer could leave such severe damage with just sword slashes.

In short, normal standards could not assess Charlie's true strength.

"Charlie, tell me about yourself; I want to know more."

Although Astraea seemed kind and gentle, her playful nature was no different from other gods.

Now that she found someone interesting, how could she let him go just like that?

Not only that, but she knew that the young man in front of her actually had a strong sense of justice in his heart. As the Goddess of Justice, Astraea had a passive ability to see a person's sense of justice, much like Freya's passive ability to see the nature of a person's soul.

However, Astraea felt the sense of justice in Charlie's heart was like a candle flame that could be extinguished by a gust of wind at any moment.

"It is an honor for me to share stories with Goddess Astraea."

Since he didn't know his innate nature was clearly visible to Astraea, Charlie treated every God and Goddess he met with a certain standard, except for Aphrodite and Hera.

Then, he used Earth Spirit Arts to create chairs and a table.

"Please take a seat, Goddess Astraea."

"Magic without chant? As expected from Hera; she wouldn't choose an ordinary man."

Astraea was impressed to see him perform magic without any chant.

"..."

Only after Astraea sat down did Charlie dare to sit. He also served food and drinks stored in the Space-Time Cache.

"Spatial storage... Oh my~, you are showing something very interesting, Charlie."

Sipping her drink, Astraea looked at him with narrowed eyes from behind the edge of her cup.

"The times have changed. Spatial storage is no longer just a myth; there are people who have created it." Charlie did not mention that he was the one who created it.

"Let's discuss that later. First, tell me about your encounter with Hera." Astraea asked with a playful smile before turning serious.

"It all started a month ago... Bla Bla Bla..."

Since the gods could detect lies, Charlie was careful in choosing what to say and kept crucial information like reincarnation and the fact that he was from another world a secret.

As for his abnormal growth rate, he didn't need to hide it. After all, Astraea didn't live in Orario.

❀❀❀

One hour later.

Astraea was very pleased to hear Charlie's more colorful experiences compared to adventurers who repeated their monotonous routines every day.

It explained Charlie's leveling speed that surpassed all adventurers.

A Level 1 adventurer challenging a Floor Boss Goliath equivalent to Level 4?

Astraea had never heard of anyone doing such a reckless act. And now there was one person in front of her.

To be honest, she was a bit envious of Hera. She wished she had been the first to discover Charlie.

"I know you want to become strong as quickly as possible, but you are too reckless! Do you understand, Charlie?" Astraea showed her concern for him.

"I will be more careful in the future."

"Sigh... You're lying."

Astraea closed her eyes and sighed while raising her hand to her temple, as if Charlie's stubbornness had given her a headache.

"If you are aware of the dangers but still want to continue, then who am I to stop you?" She asked before looking at him with a nostalgic smile.

"I almost forgot how stubborn you kids are... always fighting against difficulties... right, Alise?"

"..."

That murmur wasn't directed at him, so Charlie pretended he didn't hear it. However, he couldn't ignore how her eyes glistened with sadness.

'She lost someone, just like I did.' Charlie thought as he looked at her sorrow.

Loss was not something foreign to him. After all, he understood it. He had once loved and lost someone very precious in his life.

If Astraea loved humans to the point of sadness, then she couldn't be like the selfish gods like the Evil God.

'Hera also lost her followers... For some reason, I got involved with a goddess who lost her children.' Charlie lamented, feeling toyed with by fate.

"It has been decided."

"Gulp... W-What has Goddess Astraea decided?"

A bad premonition arose in his heart, swallowing his nervousness; Charlie stammered as he asked.