Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 131
Chapter 131: Alice’s Feelings
She fell asleep…
She must have been extremely tired, as the silver-haired adventurer quietly sleeps on Kuro’s lap, and Kuro gently strokes Sora’s head.
Actually, recently, she had known that Sora was pretending to be fine, even though he had been pushing himself too hard.
It was probably due to the influence of using the ?Raphael? skill during the battle with the ?Great Calamity of Envy? Leviathan.
Without realizing it, Kuro had become able to feel the presence of Sora’s ?Detection II? skill. She could sense it, not just nearby, but even from a distance. Even today, more than 10 meters away, it didn’t disappear.
This meant that she had been continuously scanning a wide area. Her purpose was likely to protect Alice and Satanas, as well as to search for Ilya.
In that state, performing those movements… any normal person would have already collapsed long ago.
“Sora…”
With a heart full of emotions that couldn’t be put into words, the girl softly murmured her name as she slept.
Just then, suddenly, a cheer rose from the front.
When Kuro turned her gaze toward the source of the sound, she saw two young dragon girls standing at the prepared stage, surrounded by an unusual energy.
Both were wearing the same attire: a white robe on top and red shrine maiden hakama on the bottom.
To adventurers who were familiar with real shrine maiden garments, the only noticeable difference was the presence or absence of a hole for a reptilian tail that swayed to the sides.
Standing on the right side from Kuro’s perspective was the red-haired, golden-eyed girl, the princess of this nation, Alice Fafnir.
On the left stood the younger girl with a different skin color, Satanas, who was still feared and called a cursed child by some. The two stood side by side.
The two girls held fans, which were allowed only on this day for the dance performed by the dragon princess.
The coloring was based on white, symbolizing the heavens, with red and gold accents representing the dragon kin, and designs inspired by dragons were intricately crafted onto the fans.
As for their rarity, before they arrived here, Sora had used her ?Insight? skill to determine that these were ?S-rank? items.
Gripping the fans tightly in their hands, the two dragon shrine maidens slowly ascended the wooden stairs, step by step, toward the stage in front of them.
Once they both reached the stage, the bustling central square, which had been lively just moments before, fell silent at once.
With the system’s assistance, even from a distance, their faces were clearly visible, and both Alice and Satanas appeared to be quite nervous.
Alice-chan, Satanas-chan…
As Kuro watched the stage where her friends and companions would perform, she clasped her hands together in a prayer-like gesture, silently sending her support.
And under the setting sun, the slow start of the ?First Dance? began.
……………………
As Alice Fafnir, the dragon princess, danced the ?First Dance?, she remembered the words her father, the Dragon King Otter, had once spoken to her.
When the four dragon jewels were gathered, Alice’s heavenly mission of traveling would come to an end.
At that point, her future would likely be spent focusing on studies as the next princess, serving the country within the castle.
In other words, this was her father’s indirect way of notifying her that she would need to disband her party with Sora and Kuro, and stay in the castle from then on.
Indeed, the reason she was with them now was due to a mission from the heavens.
However, when she actually heard those words, she felt a slight, almost painful prick in her chest, as if she had been stung by a needle.
This feeling was different from the one she had experienced when her mother was gone.
It was a feeling she had never encountered before.
As she became aware of it, memories of the many things she had experienced with them over the past few weeks began to flood her mind.
They had fought monsters together.
They had chatted about trivial things inside the carriage.
They had toured the village as a group of four.
They had soaked in the hot springs as four.
And they had won first place together at the ?Dragon King Festival?’s stalls, surrounded by many people.
It had been a long, yet short adventure.
Each of those moments shone brightly, and now, they had become something very important to Alice.
‘…Ah, I see now. This is what it is.’
As Alice entered the second part of the ?First Dance?, she finally understood the meaning behind her best friend, Aria, the ?Wind Spirit Princess? of the neighboring country, had once told her over a communication link: ?It was really painful.?
Countless adventurers had been sent by the heavens to save this world from the Demon King.
Adventurers were meant to travel.
They never stayed in one place. They were always on a new journey, given missions from the heavens, and constantly moving forward.
Because of that, farewells were inevitable, Aria had said with a wry smile.
But now, Alice realized that she had grown so accustomed to being with them that it had become second nature, and she could hardly bring herself to say anything about Aria.
She understood it in her head.
But when the thought of parting from the two of them came up, a tight, painful feeling gripped her chest.
Now that the jewels had been gathered, it was inevitable that the two of them would leave this place once the matter with the ?Demon Dragon King? Belial was over.
She could not follow them on that journey.
As the princess of the ?Hephaestus Kingdom?, it was impossible for her to remain by their side.
Just thinking about that caused a natural swell of loneliness and sorrow to rise from within, and tears began to well up inside her.
While dancing, Alice murmured to herself in her heart.
Ah, Aria is strong.
Having experienced this and overcome it, she was now diligently studying to become a princess.
Once this dance was over, Alice, too, would have to walk that same path.
But there was one thing that made Alice different from Aria.
As she transitioned from the second part of the dance to the third, her gaze followed the figure of the girl dancing beside her.
Next to her, though clumsy, was Satanas, dancing with all her might just as she had been taught.
At first, when Alice had met her, she had felt a strange sense of familiarity and had been somewhat unsettled by it.
Deep down, she had been wary, wondering if this was the skill of the child.
However, when she had unconsciously hugged the crying Satanas, who was haunted by nightmares of being chased by dragons, the scent of her mother had suddenly reached Alice, and all those worries had disappeared.
From the next day onward, she found Satanas’s affection to be comforting, even feeling as though this was how it might have been if her younger sister, who had died before birth, had lived. And so, Alice had started treating her gently.
As her level increased, Alice began to feel more strongly the bond she shared with Satanas, something that had been vague at first.
But above all, what convinced her was that from time to time, she saw the image of her mother in Satanas’s smile.
Alice had become certain and had come to this conclusion about Satanas’s true identity.
This child might be her younger sister, who died in her mother’s womb ten years ago.
Logically speaking, it was impossible.
If she were to say it out loud, everyone would surely worry that she had fallen into some kind of confused state.
But Alice, who was her mother’s daughter and had always been by her side, didn’t think that this idea was a mere illusion or mistake.
Moreover, if this was the case, it would somewhat explain why Satanas had woken up alone near the volcano where the ?Demon Dragon King? was sealed.
As she danced, Alice let out a wry smile.
Looking back, it seemed highly likely that her father had known about Satanas’s true identity from the start.
Because when they returned from their mission, just like he had done for her in the past, he gently stroked Satanas’s head.
Really, that man…
Alice couldn’t help but feel a bit exasperated toward her father.
One of the reasons he had kept quiet was probably because Satanas was his real daughter, making it easier for him to accept her as the “cursed child”.
If it had been made public, of course, those who believed cursed children were harbingers of disaster would not have stayed silent.
If that happened, not only her own position but also the positions of Alice and Satanas would become precarious.
They couldn’t say anything openly.
That’s why Alice had decided to dance with Satanas here today.
The dance at the ?Dragon King Festival? was a ritual that empowered the ?Dragon Crystals? and was meant to prepare for the arrival of tomorrow.
If they could complete it successfully, perhaps everyone would accept her from the bottom of their hearts.
With this thought in mind, Alice brushed off the disapproving people from the castle who shunned Satanas.
“Satanas, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine!”
“Stay close to me and keep up.”
“Got it!”
After finishing the third part, the dance reached its final conclusion.
As their dance reached its climax, the magical energy generated by the festival that enveloped the kingdom gathered and surrounded them, swirling around in a dazzling display.
The sight was so fantastical that it felt as though two massive dragons were following the shrine maidens, manifesting before them.
And then, as the dance neared its final moments…
The two dragons, in tune with the shrine maidens’ movements, scattered across the kingdom, bestowing power once more to the ?Dragon Crystals?, which had been running low on energy.
When the dance ended, the cheers of the people shook the ground, and the two shrine maidens were met with a warm and generous applause.
As the tension lifted, Alice caught Satanas, who was on the verge of collapsing, and was about to offer her words of encouragement when suddenly…
—A gray girl descended from the sunset sky, right before them.