Although the line in front of the city gate was long, the guards carrying out the inspections were just as efficient.
Those who could guard the city gates here were naturally guaranteed to possess both strength and experience.
After doing this same work day after day, the entire process had long since become second nature to them.
The long line before the gate, which looked like a winding dragon, dispersed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Before long, when Ize and the other three arrived at the gate, only a few people were still waiting in line.
“Come here for a moment, Ize.”
Seeing that it would soon be their turn to be inspected, Artemis suddenly turned her head and beckoned to Ize.
Ize immediately understood.
He took two steps forward, turned slightly to the side, and brought the backpack on his back in front of the goddess before saying, “If you’re looking for the pass and the Guild certificate, they should both be in the second compartment.”
“Mm, I know.”
After spending more than half a month together, the relationship between Ize and Artemis had grown by leaps and bounds.
Whether in terms of speed or direction, that growth was rather abnormal.
In any case, it was not the usual relationship between a proper goddess and a mortal.
It was more like…
Ahem.
Some things were better left understood without being said.
It was just that neither of them had pointed it out yet.
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that neither of them was ready to point it out?
Ize was not stupid.
He could feel that Artemis treated him differently, and it was not one of those three great illusions of life or anything of the sort.
Over these past few days, almost every girl in the entire Familia had seen it.
It was one thing for him alone to be blind, but it was impossible for such a large Familia of twenty girls to all be blind too, right?
But it was strange, because Ize could not understand why.
What was it that made this goddess, who presided over chastity, draw close to him?
There was a layer of doubt in his heart.
Before he solved the mystery, Ize felt that maintaining this silent understanding was the best way to handle things.
Artemis was the same.
For some unknown reason, she always felt that there was a mysterious attraction about Ize.
She could not explain it clearly, but it did indeed exist…
Even the well-informed goddess found herself troubled by this matter and chose the same method of handling it as Ize.
The tacit behavior between the two could not help but make Rethusa and Lante, who were behind them, narrow their eyes and reveal knowing auntie-like smiles. Get faster updates on g.com.
They did not care what the two people involved thought.
They only believed in what they themselves believed.
For example, the situation now.
In their eyes, it was nothing more than their goddess finally becoming enlightened and gradually beginning to understand what “love” was.
As for the possibility that Ize might win over their goddess, Rethusa and Lante not only felt no anger at all, they even wanted to encourage him to work harder.
Great Immortal Ize, please subdue this goddess!
That way, she would no longer have the mind to care about whether the members of her Familia fell in love or not.
When that time came, the sea would be wide enough for fish to leap freely, and the sky high enough for birds to fly as they pleased.
The entire Artemis Familia was delighted to see this happen.
After being suppressed for so long, they had finally caught sight of a small sign of liberation.
How could that possibly be easy?
…
With their pass and the certificate issued by the Adventurer’s Guild, the four of them smoothly entered Orario.
After passing through the long passageway at the city gate, their field of vision suddenly opened up.
Then, the true appearance of Orario unfolded before Ize’s eyes.
The scene before him was a thriving cityscape impossible to imagine from the outside.
The exotic charm of this otherworldly city immediately drew Ize’s gaze.
A broad, bustling avenue extended out from the plaza before the gate, with pedestrians coming and going across the neatly arranged stone pavement.
All kinds of races entered Ize’s eyes.
The strong dwarves and beastmen were directly ignored by him, while his appreciative gaze mainly focused on elves and female adventurers.
After all, he was a normal man.
No matter how one looked at it, there was no reason for him to keep staring at those burly men.
On both sides of the street, all kinds of distinctive shops stood closely packed together.
For a time, Ize looked around excitedly as he walked.
Quite a few beautiful women who advocated the freedom of three-point clothing immediately looked over at Ize with gazes as though they were eyeing prey after seeing him.
The southern district of Orario was actually quite colorful.
It was not only a bustling commercial area, but also had entertainment facilities such as casinos and grand theaters.
Right next door, in the southeastern district, was the famous “Red-Light District,” also known as the Pleasure Quarter.
The headquarters of the Ishtar Familia, the largest brothel in all of Orario, was also located there.
Most of the women staring at Ize like hungry wolves and fierce tigers came from the red-light district next door.
Feeling a bit pressured by the gazes of those prostitutes, Ize recalled that he was currently still in a state where he barely had the strength to truss up a chicken.
At once, he sheepishly restrained some of his excitement and moved a little closer to the goddess.
There was such a thing as human trafficking in Orario.
Although it was something people looked down on, if the target was a helpless civilian with no one to rely on and no real strength, then even if they were knocked out with a club, no one would bother to care.
Ize had every reason to believe that, with his handsome, dashing, elegant, graceful, outstanding, refined, cultured, talented, sword-browed, starry-eyed, dignified, heroic, imposing, and extraordinary appearance, those prostitutes had more than enough reason to make a move on him!
Some of them were even members of the Ishtar Familia who had received Falna.
With Ize’s current small body, he could not resist their demonic claws at all.
It was safer to stay closer to the goddess.
Sensing his movement, Artemis raised a brow slightly and rolled her beautiful eyes, but she did not say anything.
At present, the road beneath Ize’s feet was a long avenue that led directly to the white chalk tower, Babel.
Orario as a whole was a nearly circular city.
Its walls were very high, and at its center stood the even taller Babel.
Around Babel was the Central Plaza, large enough to hold tens of thousands of people.
Eight main streets radiated from the city center, extending in eight directions until they reached the city walls surrounding the town.
The directions of the streets corresponded to their names.
Starting from due north and moving clockwise, the entire city was divided by these main streets into the First through Eighth Districts.
The place where the four of them currently stood was the South Main Street.
Their destination was Northwest Main Street, also known as Adventurer’s Street.
That was because the Pantheon, the headquarters of the Adventurer’s Guild, was built there.
Artemis intended to take Rethusa and Lante to the Guild to submit their commission and collect their reward, while Ize was going to the Guild to ask about joining a Familia.
Although Ize and Artemis had grown much closer, it seemed they had not yet reached the point where the goddess would break her principles for him.
“A Familia of twenty people is already enough.
If there are any more, I won’t be able to look after everyone properly.
Besides, as a boy, it would be inconvenient for you to be alone in my Familia.”
Those were Artemis’s exact words when they had once discussed this topic while alone.
To put it simply, she was telling Ize not to think about joining her Familia.
After all, if a Familia made up of twenty pure-hearted maidens suddenly had a man added to it, what would that even be?
Eden?
No matter how one looked at it, Artemis was unwilling to see such a thing happen.
Therefore, if Ize wanted to complete his mission and uncover the enormous potential buried within his body, he had no choice but to find another way.