“Although I am some distance from you, I must disappoint you, for I heard everything.”
At that moment, a clear, cold female voice came from the other side.
The voice was pleasant to the ear, but the tone was rather serious, carrying a hint of authority.
At the edge of the lake, a goddess with water-blue hair, wrapped in a white bathrobe, approached the circle of girls, interrupting their conversation.
Her perfect figure was showcased flawlessly beneath the bathrobe, and her emerald-green eyes, like gemstones, held a mix of calmness and severity.
A goddess with a strict personality.
One needed only a single glance to realize this.
There was an essential difference between gods and mortals.
Even without any identifying marks, even simply walking among a crowd, even as an ordinary person, one could perceive this distinction.
Leading to exclamations of “Ah, this is a deity” and feelings of awe.
“…”
The moment that voice was heard, the brown-haired girl who had just weakly complained immediately deflated.
Like a child caught doing something wrong by a parent, she raised her hands to her cheeks, putting on an adorable “I know I messed up” expression.
“Sorry, Lady Artemis…
I was wrong~”
“Too late!
Come see me before you go to sleep tonight, Chloe!”
The goddess with water-blue hair cascading over her shoulders wore a very stern expression.
With an undeniable tone, she lightly parted her lips and pronounced the brown-haired girl’s fate.
“Yes…
I understand.”
The brown-haired girl named Chloe replied pitifully, already mentally preparing for her impending misfortune.
A lecture from the goddess was no trivial matter.
It seemed she wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight…
To be precise, she wouldn’t be getting a good night’s sleep.
Even lying in her tent, her ears would probably be filled with the goddess’s teachings, wouldn’t they?
This wasn’t an exaggeration but a proven law confirmed by her companions in the familia one after another!
After Chloe, Artemis’s stern gaze swept over the many girls who had made “dangerous” remarks earlier.
Like a teacher memorizing the faces of potentially misbehaving students in advance, she noted them in her mind while giving them warning looks.
The girls felt guilty under her stare, none daring to breathe too loudly.
Who knew if they would be next?
It was better to play it safe for now~
After a while, the seemingly serious and authoritative goddess finally withdrew her gaze.
She glanced at her captain, Rethusa, as if wanting to say something but ultimately held back.
Sighing inwardly, she left first.
After she left, the girls first looked around furtively, especially staring intently in the direction Artemis had gone.
Confirming there was no sign of the goddess returning, they began chattering again.
They might temporarily play it safe, but the girls’ enthusiasm wasn’t so easily suppressed, you know~
…
Having changed into her clothes on the shore and now strolling back to the campsite with her bathrobe in hand, Artemis freed one hand and rubbed her brow with a hint of helplessness.
“Just wait for time to pass…”
The goddess murmured softly.
As the deity of the familia, she naturally understood the situation of the girls in her care very well.
Did they think she didn’t know their thoughts just because they pretended to be well-behaved?
What a joke.
More than half of the girls in this familia had grown up under her watch.
How could she not know?
She just didn’t say it out loud…
Of course, there was also the reason of not knowing how to say it.
After all, Artemis was a virgin goddess who had never even experienced love~ (laughs)
At times like these, the goddess would attribute the girls’ behavior to the restlessness of adolescence, trying to suppress it while patiently waiting for this phase to pass.
Originally, Artemis had thought of asking Rethusa to check on the young man they had rescued today later.
But now it seemed that if she really asked, it wouldn’t be just Rethusa going.
Because this Mama-san was also extremely indulgent toward the girls of the familia, rarely refusing their requests, let alone a small matter like “just taking a look.”
Would she have to go herself, then?
This thought flashed through the goddess’s mind.
And, surprisingly, from the feedback of her own heart, Artemis felt no sense of rejection toward this idea—something even she hadn’t noticed.
Inside the temporarily set up tent camp.
Artemis didn’t take long to return here, as the campsite wasn’t far from the lake.
After placing her bathrobe back in her own tent, the goddess, with mixed feelings, approached a tent at the edge, lifted the flap, and entered.
There wasn’t much to describe about the scene inside the tent—it was rather plain.
After all, it was something used only at night and packed away during the day.
The rescued blond young man still lay on a beige cotton sheet, a small white bandage on his forehead, covered by a quilt.
He showed no signs of waking.
“…Hmm?”
Quietly squatting beside the young man, Artemis took in his appearance and felt something was off…
but she couldn’t pinpoint what.
This feeling had arisen the first time she saw this young man, but she hadn’t paid much attention during the battle.
Now, quietly reflecting, she found the feeling particularly pronounced.
It was strange…
Unconsciously, Artemis, lost in her own thoughts, began to daydream.
Meanwhile, Asta teetered on the edge of wakefulness.
He was in a state of wanting to wake up but also feeling too lazy to resist a little more rest.
However, this feeling didn’t last long.
Soon, Asta’s consciousness slowly surfaced.
The darkness in his vision gradually receded, his mind momentarily empty.
Blinking two or three times, the outside world finally came into clear focus.
A fabric ceiling…
He was probably lying inside a tent now?
Asta assessed his current situation.
He must have been saved by someone, right?
Although he regretted not seeing clearly at the time, he vaguely remembered someone being by his side before he passed out?
No…
Not just then, someone was by his side even now!
A touch of blue at the edge of his vision made Asta involuntarily turn his head, and with a slight tilt of his head from his supine position, he could fully capture the unearthly beauty.
However, the other party seemed to be lost in thought and did not react immediately to Asta’s startled gaze.
“Hiss…”
Taking a deep breath, Asta couldn’t help but narrow his eyes slightly and lean back tactically.
…Or perhaps lean against?
Regarding the issue of waking up from unconsciousness to find a goddess by his side, who could explain it to him?