[LU-EL@LIVESTREAM - GODDESS’S VESSEL]

Luvira@Goddess: Just because there was a blonde girl character who looks like Marin, that doesn’t mean it was her! Or based on her!

Luvira@Goddess: It could be Asuna from BA, Evelyn from ZZZ, or Lynae from WuWa!

Poru@Sage: Those four girls all have different shades of blondeness!

Poru@Beast: Are you gonna say that Kanae could be based on Rio from BA, Miyabi from ZZZ, or Chisa from WuWa?

Luvira@Goddess: EXACTLY!

Poru@Sage: That’s BS!

Poru@Beast: Hanae is my dress-up darling Marin so Kanae is Komi, and she adorably can’t communicate!

Poru@Undead: Now that they mentioned it, doesn’t Kaori look like Mizuhara?

Poru@Knight: And what about Saber’s combat dress outfit and Fern’s mage outfit?

Luvira@Goddess: Just a coincidence.

Poru@Knight: Just admit it already, Luvira-sama. You and your fellow game developers got lazy and lousy with character design!

Luvira@Goddess: INSOLENCE!—How dare you all accuse me of being a lazy and lousy goddess!

Poru@Ghost: CUM ON—I think it’s fine. Isn’t it gonna be more fun this way?

Poru@Astronaut: Besides, it’s not like they’ll have the same character background and story, right, Luvira-sama?

Luvira@Goddess: ...

Poru@Ghost: Luvira-sama?

Luvira@Goddess: ...

Poru@Astronaut: Don’t tell us...

Luvira@Goddess: Grrr~... I’m gonna smite you all with stomachaches tonight!

***

PFFT—HAHAHA!

"Is something funny?" Weed said, noticing Lu-el grinning.

No matter how much he tried to restrain himself, Lu-el couldn’t help but feel delighted, laughing internally while watching the lazy and lousy goddess get cornered by his loyal viewers.

Setting aside the ongoing conversation he could see on the holographic screen at the corner of his vision, Lu-el focused his attention on the opening ceremony of the Goddess’s Trial.

A bit earlier, after the head maid finished greeting the visiting nobles, a group of maids and butlers began distributing the magic item bracelet that would be used for the Goddess’s Trial ritual.

The bracelet was not only meant to restrain the enhanced strength of those who already had a lover or more, but also to conduct the first stage of elimination.

"I just remembered something funny," Lu-el said in response to Weed.

"What could that be?"

"It’s nothing. Anyway, this is the magic item you were talking about, right?"

Usually, it was the goddess who provided information about interesting magic items at the pleading of Lu-el’s loyal viewers. But with the ongoing squabbling between them, Lu-el had no choice but to continue asking Weed and his friends for information.

"How is this bracelet gonna sort out who’s in or out?" Lu-el said while curiously gazing at the silver-white bracelet on his left hand.

"I’m a hunter, not a priest. How am I supposed to know about such a magic item?" Weed said, maintaining his mock confidence despite his ignorance, only to be immediately shot down by one of his friends.

"You’re just an idiot, Weed."

"I don’t exactly know how it works," one of Weed’s friends continued, "but Lady Mikoto said the spell in the bracelet should react to Lady Mio’s desire."

"Desire?"

Not only Lu-el, but Weed and the other young hunters also didn’t understand what it meant.

"It means Lady Mio’s preference in men."

This ritual might be harsher than us fighting each other, Lu-el thought, already foreseeing a brutal first stage of the Goddess’s Trial.

***

Not long after the maids and butlers distributed the bracelets to all participants, Mio stood from her seat on the stage and stepped forward to accept the bracelet from the head maid.

The moment Mio wore it, all the bracelets—including hers and those of the participants—released a faint glow.

A few seconds later—CRACK!

Half of the over a thousand participants, including some young hunters from Daifuku Village, had their bracelets crack and then shatter.

"GAHHH!—NO!"

"I guess that means they’re out, right?" Lu-el said, watching Weed act smugly toward his fellow young hunters who had unfortunately failed to pass Mio’s preference.

"This is unacceptable!" one of the participants shouted. Everyone assumed he was a noble, but his rant was immediately shut down by the head maid.

"Are you questioning the ritual of the Goddess’s Trial and the Goddess Luvira herself?" the head maid said, causing the noble brat to grind his teeth and clench his fists in frustration.

I guess questioning that scammer goddess’s name is a crime in her holy kingdom, Lu-el thought as he watched the noble brat walk away, along with others who accepted the results without complaint.

Still, there were others foolish enough to want the harsh truth made public.

"Can you at least tell us why?" demanded one of those who refused to leave without knowing Mio’s exact preference. Since their group was larger, the others could not oppose them.

Mio instantly became embarrassed, her face, ears, and neck blushing even brighter than her pink-blonde hair.

Even Hanae and Kanae looked flustered, imagining themselves in Mio’s situation—having to reveal their preferences in front of thousands of spectators as part of the Goddess’s Trial ritual.

The head maid quickly approached Mio, intending to hear her preference and announce it herself to lessen Mio’s embarrassment.

Still, understanding that the Goddess’s Trial existed because of her, Mio resolved herself and continued her role in the ritual.

She stepped closer to the microphone magic item.

With a flustered face and teary eyes, she looked at all the participants with dignity—those who wished to claim her as their lover.

And with trembling lips and a stammering voice, Mio spoke her preference in men.

"If you aren’t 170 cm in height or taller... and 6 inches in size or bigger... please forfeit peacefully in the Goddess’s Trial," she said before running completely mortified toward the backstage, followed by her stepsister.

***

"That guy dug everyone’s graves," Lu-el said, looking at the man who demanded the truth be revealed, now being glared at by other failed participants—until suddenly, Lu-el felt a murderous intent directed at him.

Not that Lu-el felt intimidated; his laid-back demeanor didn’t shift into panic or anxiety.

Following his instincts, Lu-el soon spotted the source of the murderous intent—Reiji, glaring at him with eyes full of hatred while standing with a separate group that appeared to be his companions.

[Poru@Undead: So who is that guy?]

[Poru@Ghost: Right, you still weren’t around back then.]

[Poru@Astronaut: He’s Reiji. Our dude netori Kaori from him—not that he was Kaori’s boyfriend.]

[Poru@Undead: Damn it—did anyone record that?]

[Luvira@Goddess: Probably no one, since they were all touching themselves back then—PFFT!]

[Poru@Beast: WAIT—why is 3.5 Jack still has his bracelet and not eliminated?]

[Poru@Sage: He probably found a way to cheat the magic item bracelet.]

[Poru@Knight: Or miraculously found a way to make his rod grow bigger.]

Wherever this conversation is going... Lu-el thought, growing worried about what quest his loyal viewers might vote for next.

Just don’t involve Reiji’s rod in it.