In the forest, beyond the lush, dense trees, a small, clear waterfall spilled down from between the mountain rocks, like a beautiful strip of white silk.
Its spray scattered like pearls, misting into the air and turning into a hazy veil of water vapor, draping the mountain stream and woodland in a thin layer of gauze.
Below the waterfall, a lake dyed emerald green by the surrounding forest was shrouded in mist.
The sound of running water striking the lake’s surface intertwined with the laughter of girls playing in the water.
Ripples spread across the lake’s jade-green surface.
Unfortunately, there was no one there to properly admire such a beautiful sight.
After battle, slowly washing away the filth left on their bodies with clean water was always a part of the day the girls never tired of.
During the process, they could also mix in cheerful playfulness and gossip about all kinds of things that had happened throughout the day.
Normally, during this sort of time, the girls would be washing themselves while chatting about interesting things that had happened in nearby villages, or perhaps discussing what they should eat for dinner.
But today was different.
They had a new topic to talk about.
“Uwaaah, my whole body feels sticky and gross now~ This doesn’t feel good at all…”
The one who let out that miserable cry with a bitter little expression was a half-elf girl with light blue hair and pointed ears.
Beside her, several elven girls nodded in deep agreement.
For elves, who were especially fond of cleanliness, having their entire bodies covered in sweat after a long battle was an extremely unpleasant thing.
“Lante, don’t use such strangely suggestive wording.
If Lady Goddess hears you, you’ll be scolded.”
At the center of the group of girls, a red-haired human woman warned her in an exasperated tone.
“Ehehe~”
Hearing even her own captain speak up, the half-elf girl called Lante reached up, scratched her head, and stuck out her tongue with an awkward little laugh.
She was trying to act cute and get away with it.
Lante was the youngest girl in the Familia, only thirteen years old.
In the past, she had been an abandoned child picked up by Lady Goddess on a desolate mountain.
However, after all these years, under the goddess’s care and the warm atmosphere of the Familia, she had grown into a cheerful and lively girl.
Especially recently.
Perhaps because she had reached puberty, or perhaps because her rebellious phase had arrived, she was always trying to let herself run wild whenever certain topics came up.
“It’s all that human’s fault!
Our dragon hunt was going perfectly fine, and then he suddenly jumped out of nowhere and scared everyone half to death.
Not only that, he even brought so many Gray Wolves with him!
How outrageous!”
Lante waved her small fists around in the water.
She felt that if Ize were standing in front of her right now, she would not hesitate to give him a proper beating with her little fists!
Though perhaps, by then, she might end up kneeling on the ground and begging Ize not to die.
After all, while Lante was a girl, she was not only someone who possessed a god’s Falna, but also an upper-class adventurer who had reached the realm of Level 2.
Her physical abilities were completely different from those of an ordinary person, like the difference between heaven and earth.
Even if Ize’s physical condition far surpassed that of ordinary people for certain reasons, if he were placed in front of her right now, he would still not be enough.
One had to know that, in this world, a god’s Falna could practically be called a Cheat Engine granted by the gods.
It allowed one to increase their strength by fighting monsters and develop the latent potential hidden within their body.
Calling it a Cheat Engine was not wrong at all.
In truth, Lante was not that angry about Ize dragging monsters over and pulling aggro.
What really left her speechless was the fact that Ize had no real strength, yet still dared to run around blindly in the depths of a monster-infested forest like that.
When Ize had fallen unconscious earlier, Lady Goddess had already confirmed that there were no traces of a god’s Falna on his body.
He had never joined a Familia.
He was just an ordinary person.
And for an ordinary person to run around in a dense forest where monsters appeared, wasn’t that basically an old man hanging himself because he thought his life was too long?
“Maybe that boy simply got lost in the forest, then had the bad luck of running into a hunting pack of gray wolves.
Besides, the Wyvern was successfully hunted in the end, wasn’t it?
Lanti, stop bringing it up and complaining about it over and over.”
The red-haired human woman, Rethusa, shook her head helplessly and tried to soothe the half-elf girl.
As the captain, as well as the oldest member of the Familia in terms of seniority, Rethusa often played the role of a mother hen together with the goddess.
After all, the other girls were all younger than them.
Quite a few were even still minors.
“I know that, but it still feels like we were suddenly handed a monster delivery for no reason.
I can’t help feeling a little upset…”
Lante pouted, her small expression carrying a trace of resentment.
In the end, she was only thirteen years old.
Asking her to consider things from another person’s perspective and take care of their feelings like Rethusa did was still too much for her.
It had nothing to do with strength.
It was simply a matter of experience and mentality.
The other girls in the Familia more or less understood this, so at that moment, they all very wisely chose not to get involved in the conversation between the two and instead continued whispering with their own friends.
“Speaking of which, that boy was really handsome.
He’s exactly my type~”
“Ah!
I felt that too!
The way he desperately rushed forward and fought the wyvern was so cool!”
“Just like a hero from an adventure story, right?
I totally understand~”
Around the edge of the lake, these genuine maidens blushed slightly as they began discussing with increasing enthusiasm.
When it came to topics related to romance, none of these girls could avoid becoming deeply interested.
That was because their goddess was a deity who governed chastity, one of the three great virgin goddesses known throughout the world: Artemis.
Under the pressure of this strict and disciplined goddess, the Familia had rules prohibiting romance and forbidding the seduction of men—even handshakes were not allowed.
These girls, who were at an age when love naturally began to stir, had been suppressed for far too long.
As a result, in private, their enthusiasm for romance had only become even stronger.
If one day the goddess Artemis were to finally come around and allow romance, they would probably all spread their wings like birds freed from their cages and immediately let themselves go.
When that time came, perhaps the first thing they would do after finding boyfriends would be to bring them before Lady Goddess and unleash the sour stench of love right in front of her~
Seeing that the girls’ discussion was showing signs of growing more and more intense, Rethusa spoke up again with considerable helplessness.
“You girls, know when to stop.
Lady Goddess is not far away.
Are you trying to get scolded as a group?”
This was the second time in a short period that she had brought out the name of their patron goddess.
But who could blame her when the goddess’s name was more effective than her own as captain?
Or perhaps it should be said that, whenever the topic involved romance, unless she brought up the goddess, there was simply no way to suppress their enthusiasm.
“What does it matter…?
Lady Goddess is so far away.
There’s no way she can hear us~”
One brown-haired girl in the Familia weakly grumbled.
“Although I am some distance away from you, reality may disappoint you, because I heard everything.”