Chapter 130 : walking in circles part 1

Sasuke walked through the bustling streets of Orario, the city of adventurers, where the towering walls of Babel loomed in the distance. The sounds of life—merchants haggling, adventurers boasting of their latest conquests, and the distant hum of taverns overflowing with patrons—surrounded him. Yet, despite the liveliness around him, Sasuke's thoughts were filled with annoyance as Ryuu had refused his offer.

Even with the memory of her fallen friends fresh in her mind, she had chosen a different path—a path aligned with the ideals of justice, upheld by her captain and the comrades she still had by her side.

As he passed by a group of adventurers sharing a hearty laugh, their armor clinking with every movement, Sasuke couldn't help but wonder, *Was it a mistake to save her friends?*

As Sasuke continued down the road, passing the tall buildings and vibrant market stalls, he felt a pang of uncertainty. *Was he expecting too much?* Or was it simply that their paths were never meant to converge? His steps brought him to a secluded location, and he entered the system space to get freshened up, as he couldn't stay with the Astraea Familia after the clear rejection.

Back in the Astraea Familia's residence, after sending Ryuu to sleep, Alise entered Astraea's room once more, this time more composed, ready to receive her next order from her goddess.

Astraea thought to herself, *That little boy's suggestion of revenge and help is good, but it wasn't justice. With her remaining family members, she wouldn't be able to seek justice for her own Familia. Perhaps I should involve other Familias and try a different approach.*

Looking down at Alise, who was waiting for her order, Astraea spoke, "Go and inform the Ganesha Familia that we need to discuss what happened in the dungeon."

Alise, obeying her goddess, asked, "If I leave, who will protect you during this time? Those dark Familias might attack because of our current weakness."

"There is no need to worry. Ryuu may be feeling down right now, but as long as I stay here, she should be able to protect me, and I will also protect her," Astraea said in a gentle voice.

Trusting her goddess, Alise took out a new set of armor and a sword. After donning them, she left for the Ganesha Familia.

At the same time, Sasuke, sinking his body into a bathtub, was thinking about what to do. In this world, gaining strength is quite easy—just join any Familia, receive the God's blessing, and defeat monsters. But it would be risky since his strength without blessings is almost level 3 or 5, depending on what type of power he is using, especially his physical abilities, which are only as good as level 3. Then there is also the mission of Wonder Woman. Let's just say going to her world is a suicide mission. If in the Harry Potter world he was confident nobody could defeat him, and in the Naruto world he was confident he could run away, a world where the strongest people's strength is a million times greater than his is really dangerous for someone like him. The best suggestion for him would be to go to the Marvel world and get a Time Gem—not to use its power, but to turn it into an artifact that would allow him to observe the timeline. It should be enough for him, but before he could go to any of these two worlds, the first thing is to improve his little strength.

Leaving the bathtub, he prepared a new set of clothes, which was a Jōnin uniform, including a fitted long-sleeve top, pants, and a tactical jacket. The only difference was that the color of the entire outfit, whether the jacket or pants, was black. After that, he put on a cape since he liked capes, and it was also enhanced with magic—it should be able to help him.

Leaving the system space, his mind was filled with thoughts about which goddess to choose. Since Goddess Hestia hadn't come down yet, he couldn't join her, leaving him with a few choices like Loki, Freya, Hephaestus and Demeter. First, he crossed out Loki—the flat-chested goddess. Unless she threw herself into his arms, he didn't want to get involved with her. As for Freya, things were a little complicated. If he joined her and found her attractive, he might not mind killing all the men she had slept with. Now, that left Demeter and Hephaestus. Let's say he didn't know much about Demeter, so the only candidate left was Hephaestus, the goddess of blacksmiths. The only problem would be that she was a very good-natured god, so she might not accept the way he did things.

'What an annoying time to come into this world,' Sasuke said to himself as he came to the guild to gather some information and buy some land to set up his base.

Inside the guild reception, Alise had a disappointed expression as the Ganesha Familia couldn't help them. At the current time, they didn't have much manpower. After all, the dark factions were quite active, which had thinned out their forces. And even if they had a little manpower, they wouldn't want to help, as some of them had received lots of bribes. For their own sake, they couldn't do anything against the dark faction.

While leaving the reception, Alise's mood worsened after the refusal. She wasn't a fool; she understood what was going on.