A Villainess Should Be Strong

Chapter 178: Selection

"This light is... Woah," Estelle herself couldn't help but gape in awe as she watched the twinkling lights enshroud both of them, only diminishing by a little amount after a minute had passed.

They were practically glowing like lightsticks. As if each balls of light were alive and had a mind of its own, they also began to scatter all across the room.

Shirley looked left and right, worried if she had done anything wrong for this type of grand reaction to sprout out.

"Is... Is this supposed to happen? It's a great feeling, but is this bad?" Shirley questioned.

"Shirley, you are the Constellation's first member. That's why I was surprised with the reaction it gave. I have never seen it before either," Estelle calmed down the older woman and giggled.

"Is that so... Wait, I am the- what did you say?! I am the first one?? I, I do not deserve that great of a title! How could such a thing... Oh my goodness," Shirley covered her mouth up in shock.

"Don't freak out like that. I don't think who the first member is will matter. All that's important is whether or not you are competent and willing to serve, and I think you have both of those qualities. I expect a lot from you, my dearest Queen,"

Being called in such an endearing tone made Shirley flush up. She nodded, feeling extremely giddy as she had just received this great achievement. To her, who was practically raised and brainwashed to love the Moon Goddess, Estelle was basically someone she could lower her head to no matter what the occasion was.

"Of course, I will accomplish my duties. Your orders are absolute to me, Leader," Shirley gave a royal salute to Estelle.

"Thank you for agreeing. You will be of great help to me," Estelle nodded. "Now then... Since I've proven that I can start recruiting members, I actually need to speed the process up.. to garner twelve people's agreement. With that and the Vaitral's jewelry piece, I will finally be able to rest easy," Those were the remaining goals that she had in mind right now.

The rest were only smaller details that she could chase in the future when she became stronger. As of now, she was still stuck in this particular dilemma.

Who to recruit?

"Who do you have in mind for the next candidate, my Goddess?" Shirley asked, curious as to exactly who was going to become her fellow  coworker.

"There is one confirmed candidate. He's someone you know. Heine. The former Spirit King. I'm sure you are already aware of his arrival in Alfheim? Although I can't say for sure what his true intentions are.. he is very deeply connected with me, and he will certainly become one of the Constellation's members. It's inevitable,"

"Then.. when you met him in the forest, was he tailing you?" Shirley's gaze turned cold as bloodlust started to surge from her entire body.  "And.. his addition to the members being certain, why is that so?"

"No, no. I don't think that he tailed me. I think that he has something to do in Alfheim. I don't know whether it's a good thing or not, but he holds me in a great importance. I believe that if I tell him not to create chaos, he will act appropriately," Estelle sighed. She doubted that Heine would fully listen to her, but now that she was starting to gain her position, she thought that it was possible to control the unruly man.

Especially after he is bound to her by the Constellations' law.

Estelle thought back to the Ruler, who she spent a lot of time with. The being told her that Heine was a necessity to her progress no matter whether she liked it or not, and she also understood this thing.

"About the certainty, it's because Heine is an essential figure that I can't afford to lose for my progress. He is also someone who knows about my past as the Goddess, because he is.. I'm sorry, I can't tell you further than this," Estelle said. Although the instructions did tell her that telling Shirley about the confidential matters wouldn't be too much of a big deal, she hesitated on conveying Heine's infomation.

Then, the other candidates would be Minerva and Yulia. Considering all that has happened, it would be normal if they were part of the Order, the members she was destined to recruit.

They were strong and had influence over the world with their connections. Including Shirley, she would have four immediate members under her.

Eight more to go. She imagined the world's map inside her head and began to assign the current member candidates to each country, mapping out the lacking ones.

There were already one from Sylvania's descent, one from Alfheim's descent, her being from Alynthi, and the Eire sisters being a free-willed pair.

Naturally, some countries would have more members than the others, but in the end, each country would have to be represented by a member. There was a clear limit given to her. Twelve people. She had to consider the next following candidates carefully as to not make a mistake she couldn't revert back from.

"Shirley, if I were to pick another candidate from Alfheim, who would it be?" Estelle asked. Since there were only six countries, then if it were to be divided equally, Estelle could afford two representative from a country.

Exceptions like Minerva and Yulia, who weren't tied down to any country could hinder her calculations.

"I suppose... My brother, Aleksei, or Frey Agatha, the Witch," Shirley answered after weighing her options. Those two did fill the qualifications.  "Although I don't think they would want to join. They love their freedom, and Frey has clearly stated that she hated organizations. I suppose it derived from her experience in the Elysium Order, but... All in all, there's a low chance of her agreeing to it. Let alone taking care of the entire world, my retainers even had to beg her to put up the spatial magic around the country. She's hard to work with, and everything depends on what she wills,"

"Then, what about your assistants?" Estelle questioned. She was particularly quite interested to some individuals that stood out to her eyes as of the current moment.

Aleksei and Frey were a given, since their prominence was as clear as day. Next, it would Niki and Neil, who proved to be useful time and time again. They had high efficiency, but they were lacking as of now.

"Neil and Niki, my Goddess? Do they qualify for the criteria?"

"As of now, I reckon not. But can't they develop from now on? That would still count. Right, Shirley, do you feel any sort of difference after you became a member?"

"Hmm.. I can't tell yet. Maybe something will happen as time passes, but as for now.. there's not much I can say. I suppose.. I feel a bit strengthened. As if my body is adjusting to something. Your divinity, my Goddess?"

"..First of all, could you stop addressing me as a Goddess? I will allow it if we are isolated away from the others, but I worry that conversations in public could be overheard. To be safe, just don't call me that, okay?" Estelle requested, to which the Queen replied with tact and agreed.

"About the change, I would appreciate it if you could report to me every single time you feel a shift within yourself. I am still not aware of any complications being a Constellation member would yield, and I myself am constantly trying to figure out more about it. I am sorry that you are currently somewhat in an experimental position," Estelle admitted her shortcoming, to which the Queen rapidly shook her hands and denied the girl's apologies.

They got out of the Sanctuary quickly after that. The room hadn't cleared itself up from the blinding lights even after many long minutes had passed. The abundant mana that scattered all around the room was clear to see.

Estelle walked alongside Shirley, who maintained her original attitude back and made it seem like nothing had happened inside the Sanctuary. Since the room was completely shut and did not let anything leak, the guards did not know what had happened.

Then, as they walked through the corridor, a beautiful, familiar figure was caught in the corner of her eyes.

Minerva Eire, the Crimson Witch, and one of her potential member candidate.

"Ah, Estelle..." Minerva's voice was weak as she greeted the girl with a longing face that was completely unlike the bubbly ad lively character Estelle was familiar with when she thought of the name Minerva Eire.

"...Minerva," Estelle called out. The redhead nodded as a reply, but did not speak any further. The tension was definitely there, the awkward atmosphere that clouded up their visions. "It's good to see you. I have something that I want to tell you,"

"That... Can I not go?" Minerva was uncomfortable, and although she felt hesitant in voicing out her complaints, she still did so in the end.

"We need to talk. Come with me," Estelle said, approaching the older woman and walking past her without checking if the woman would follow her or not.

The child knew that considering Minerva's stance on matters and her usual personality, she would definitely follow even without further persuasion.

The left behind Shirley was somewhat taken aback by Estelle's sudden change and sensed that something was not right, but she did not want to interfere with Estelle's matters. As such, she parted ways with those two and left for the opposite direction.