After being shouted at by another goddess, the girls finally calmed down. They all retreated a few steps—though the excitement on their faces didn't fade in the slightest.
They glanced at their own goddess, who was still hiding inside her carriage and refusing to come out, then looked at Faen—shielded behind Furina, and exchanged knowing looks.
This was huge.
Their goddess… was changing. And that meant this was a good beginning.
Maybe… just maybe, they wouldn't need to leave the Familia someday in order to date freely.
After all… if the goddess herself fell in love first, wouldn't that so-called taboo collapse on its own?!
Thinking that, their eyes locked onto Faen again—like they were staring at a priceless treasure.
Lanti led the charge. She pumped her fist at Faen and lowered her voice to "encourage" him:
"Go for it, Captain! Hurry up and win our goddess over!"
"Yeah! Our happiness is riding on you!"
"We support you in spirit!"
Hearing those absolutely unhinged lines, Faen wanted to cry.
What even was this?!
He and Artemis weren't like that at all.
After tonight's chaos, he was certain of one thing: the chaste moon goddess probably wouldn't make contact with him again for a long time.
...
That night's commotion ultimately ended with Artemis locking herself inside her carriage, while Furina forcefully "rescued" Faen from being mobbed.
And just as Faen predicted—
For the rest of the journey, Artemis never once came to speak with him on her own.
She returned to her usual cool aloofness.
In the daytime, she either rode at the very front of the convoy, clearing the path ahead, or stayed inside her carriage without lifting the curtain even once.
The more she acted that way, the more Lanti and the other girls grew restless, constantly signaling Faen with frantic eyes—urging him to take the initiative.
Faen could only give them a wry smile.
A god's pride was far stronger than mortals imagined.
That "social death" scene from the other night had probably left a serious shadow in the moon goddess's heart.
Trying to approach her now would only backfire.
Even if conversation had been cut off, Faen still had plenty of chances to witness—firsthand, just how terrifying the hunting goddess truly was.
Once they left the far north behind, monsters began to appear sporadically along the trade route.
One time, as the convoy passed through a dense forest, a lurking Claw Bear attacked.
It was a monster strong enough to force an ordinary Lv.1 party into a hard fight.
The moment Letessa drew her sword and prepared to direct the formation—
A flash of silver light slipped out from the goddess's carriage.
Thk.
A soft sound—an arrow biting into flesh.
The Claw Bear, which had just burst from the brush roaring, abruptly stiffened… then crashed to the ground.
A plain-looking arrow had shot straight into its open mouth mid-roar, pierced through, and destroyed its brain.
One shot. One kill.
Most of the convoy hadn't even seen Artemis move.
"As long as I draw my bow, there is no target I cannot hit."
Earlier, during casual conversation, Artemis had once said that to Furina.
Only now did Faen truly understand the weight of that sentence.
It wasn't arrogance.
It was a statement of fact.
That was divine-realm archery.
Even without her Arcanum, even with her physical abilities suppressed by the rules of the Lower World to a mortal level—the technique soaked into her soul would never disappear.
In raw combat power, Artemis, despite possessing an ordinary mortal body—was arguably stronger than Letessa, the Familia captain and a Lv.3 adventurer.
She was the undisputed strongest force in the Artemis Familia.
And that was completely different from most Familias, where the deity served only as a symbol and never fought.
The gods of the Lower World each held different Authorities, and their talents varied wildly.
There were combat gods like Artemis, born with divine-level combat skill; there was Hephaestus, peerless in forging; Miach, famed for medicine; Soma, unrivaled in brewing.
In their respective domains, they surpassed the limits of mortals.
And then there was his own—Fufu.
Ahem. Not "singing-dancing-rap"… but essentially no special talent at all, aside from being cute and granting Falna—an utterly "useless" goddess.
During the first few days of travel, Faen also volunteered to fight.
Even before receiving Falna, he had trained for years—his physique far beyond normal people.
After receiving Falna, every basic stat improved by leaps and bounds.
But the monsters outside the Dungeon were simply too weak.
Most were only Lv.1-class threats, no stronger than goblins from the first floor of the Dungeon… and often even weaker.
Faen only needed one swing of his sword to cut them cleanly in two.
The monster would dissolve into black ash, leaving behind a pitifully small magic stone.
That level of enemy had no value as training.
After all, they were traveling a busy, well-patrolled trade route. Any powerful monsters along the way had long since been cleared out by generations of adventurers and guards.
After a few encounters, Faen lost interest completely.
Long-distance travel was dull.
But perhaps because that night had "broken the ice," the girls of the Artemis Familia became noticeably bolder than before.
Once they confirmed their goddess seemed to be turning a blind eye, their courage only grew.
A group of girls who had never had meaningful contact with a male before, like explorers discovering a new continent—took turns approaching Faen, asking endless questions about boys.
Favorite foods. Hated weather. Combat habits. Plans for the future.
Even questions about how men and women supposedly "think differently", the kind Faen didn't even know how to answer.
Sometimes, their enthusiasm became so overwhelming that Faen could only keep shooting pleading looks toward Robin for help.
And Robin always appeared at exactly the right moment.
She would smile, join the conversation, and with gentle but measured words steer the topic toward safer ground.
Or she would simply say the captain needed rest, and rescue Faen cleanly.
After several such saves, Faen felt genuinely grateful to his thoughtful, capable companion.
One time, after Robin successfully saved him again, he said—half joking, half sincere:
"Miss Robin, from today onwards, you're the vice-captain of the Focalors Familia."
Robin's lake-green eyes curved into a beautiful crescent as she happily accepted the appointment—
Even though the entire Focalors Familia, including their goddess, only had three members.
And so, after a month of travel... dusty, exhausting, and without any delays, they finally arrived at the center of the world:
Orario, the Dungeon City.
When the convoy crested the final hill and the full grandeur of the city spread out before them for the first time—
Even Faen, who had prepared himself mentally, couldn't help holding his breath.
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