Among the group, Shirou was tolerant, the Black and White Knights didn't care about anything unrelated to Goddess Freya, and Ryuu… well, Ryuu really was just an uneducated weakling.
As for Riveria, this elven princess was rare in that she was holding in a belly full of anger due to the elves.
After some time, Emiya opened his eyes. At this moment, an endlessly extending forest, like a boundless sea, appeared in their field of vision. The adventurers had already arrived at the edge of the Great Tree Sea.
"The scent of the forest is not right," As the princess of the forest-dwelling race, Riveria immediately sensed the discordant atmosphere, and the other elves did as well.
"This sound is too abnormal."
Hedin spoke: "This is absolutely not the sound of animal migration."
"It's monsters," Friana said. At this moment, through the shade of the trees, the silhouettes of black monsters could already be seen.
"They should be moving towards the village we just passed…", Hedin spoke softly.
He looked at Friana. The white-haired elf nodded at him, and Hedin nodded in response. Then, he began controlling the wyvern to descend.
"The rest of you, continue forward…"
Friana began speaking, but at this moment, someone was even faster than her voice.
The goddess Artemis had already jumped off the wyvern.
———
"I'm very sorry!"
Artemis called out in fear and trepidation, performing a full dogeza before the adventurers.
Both hands pressed forward in front of her body, forehead tightly touching the ground, knees bent to the maximum extent, feet stretched straight and pressed flat against the ground, waist sinking as much as possible, and her butt slightly raised.
Her posture was extremely standard, to the point that even the noble lady Sanjouno Haruhime from the Far East would be unable to find any faults with it.
It made people seriously wonder just how many blunders this goddess had made since descending to the mortal realm to have perfected this movement to such an extent.
Artemis was currently apologizing because her reckless action of jumping off the wyvern had caused a great deal of trouble for the adventurers.
Originally, Hedin had intended to use his magic to deal with the group of monsters below them.
[Caelus Hildr], [White Fairy's Magic Wand]—one of the three magics Hedin possessed, capable of summoning powerful spheres of lightning imbued with immense thunder energy.
For an adventurer of Level 6 like Hedin, the lightning spheres he summoned had enough power in a single strike to incapacitate Level 3 or Level 4 second-rank adventurers, and he could release hundreds of such spheres in mere seconds.
Because of this formidable magic, Hedin was considered a magic caster on par with Riveria in the dungeon city.
In terms of raw power in a single strike, Riveria was stronger. However, in terms of sustained magical attacks, area-of-effect damage, and total mental energy, Hedin held the advantage.
Moreover, the most terrifying aspect of [Caelus Hildr] was not just its exaggerated power and range, but the fact that, despite its sheer might, it was a super-short chant magic.
[Eternal Strife, Undying Thunder Soldiers]
Its incantation consisted of just this single short phrase, practically instantaneous in battle.
However, this time, the White Fairy's Magic Wand's famed casting speed nearly caused a serious problem, at the very moment Artemis jumped down, Hedin had already finished casting his magic.
Following right behind the goddess as she fell were hundreds of terrifying lightning spheres.
The good news: the monsters were completely wiped out.
The bad news: the goddess was almost wiped out too.
Fortunately, Friana's casting speed was even faster. She had released a barrier magic just in time, protecting the goddess within it.
However, even this barrier had not been able to completely block all the lightning, and the goddess still got lightly zapped. Her hair now stood completely on end.
Additionally, to protect the goddess, Hogni and Ryuu had immediately jumped down from the wyvern, both of them taking several unnecessary electric shocks.
Luckily, Hedin's lightning magic had been widely dispersed, and both Hogni and Ryuu were first-rank adventurers with high endurance. Being struck a couple of times wasn't enough to injure them.
Afterward, the goddess immediately demonstrated her well-practiced dogeza before the adventurers.
Friana held her forehead in her hand, "Goddess-sama, were you trying to rush down there and deal with those monsters?"
Artemis: "Y-yes…"
Riveria sighed helplessly, "I understand that you are a combat-oriented god highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat and archery. Even with your divine power sealed, your strength is still not weaker than that of a Level 2 upper-rank adventurer… but, have you forgotten our levels?"
Artemis: "Ugh… no… It's just that, when I thought about those monsters possibly attacking the village, my mind went completely blank…"
Hearing the goddess's words, everyone fell silent for a moment.
Then, Ryuu spoke, "Artemis-sama, you really are a useless goddess."
Everyone turned to look at Ryuu, 'Is this 'Useless Elf' actually calling someone else useless?'
This truly turned the world upside down.
———
Late at night, the quietest moment of the entire world, Emiya inexplicably woke up.
He covered the blanket over the dark elf sleeping beside him in an upright sleeping posture, then got up and walked out of the tent.
After Emiya left, Hogni slowly opened his eyes. He glanced at the sky outside the tent before closing them again.
The sky had only a dim crescent moon, leaving everything in darkness.
"Trace, on."
Emiya projected [Tsubame Gaesghi]. When using this sword, he gained the developmental ability [Night Fight], which increased his combat power at night and granted him night vision.
The camp was built near a water source. Emiya walked toward the river.
"Hedin-san, is it your turn to keep watch?", At the edge of the makeshift camp, Emiya spotted [White Fairy's Magic Wand] Hedin Selland, leaning against a tree with his eyes closed, resting.
Night watch duty was rotated among the first-rank adventurers, excluding Riveria, for whom the Black and White Knights of Freya Familia refused to let their princess take such a role.
Not wanting to disturb others' rest, Emiya kept his voice low. Hedin's long ears twitched slightly before he slowly opened his eyes.
Most people thought the Black and White Knights of Freya Familia were difficult to get along with, and after traveling with them, Emiya found this to be quite true.
Hedin possessed a sharp mind and an exceptional eye for the essence of things. At the same time, he was only interested in very few matters.
For anything outside his interest, Hedin showed absolute indifference, unwilling to waste even a moment of time or energy.
Hogni, on the other hand, was even harder to interact with. He was mostly silent, and when he did speak, it was often incomprehensible to others.
Yet, through sparring and dueling, Emiya sensed the fire hidden deep within Hogni's heart. Beneath his cold exterior was a sensitive soul.
As for Hedin, his true thoughts were buried even deeper. If the White Fairy's Magic Wand ever plotted something, even Freya herself might not notice.
However, one thing was certain. Both knights were respectful to Emiya, and their training duels were completely serious, without holding back.
Emiya's stats had risen by over a thousand points in just half a month, thanks largely to their assistance.
Hedin lifted his gaze toward Emiya, then, after a moment, turned his head toward the river.
Following his gaze, Emiya unexpectedly saw an unforeseen figure.
"Goddess Artemis…"
Emiya took two steps forward. Looking at the goddess's figure, he seemed somewhat hesitant.
At this moment, Hedin, from behind, used his staff to push Emiya's shoulder.
"You should get used to interacting with the goddess."
Emiya stumbled forward a few steps. Hearing the noise, the goddess turned around, and their eyes met directly.
Hedin had already turned away, hiding his figure behind a large tree.
The goddess's eyes were slightly red, with crystal-clear tears still hanging at the edges. Seeing Emiya, she was briefly stunned, then hurriedly wiped away her tears.
Emiya walked toward Artemis. The goddess instinctively tried to avoid him, and then—
Plop!
The goddess, who had been standing at the water's edge, fell straight into the river.
Emiya was momentarily stunned. He quickly ran over, jumped into the river, and lifted the "glug! glug!" drowning goddess up.
"Goddess Artemis, are you all right?", Holding the goddess, Emiya returned to the shore. The goddess's hair was soaked with water, clinging to her body, outlining a beautiful curve.
Suddenly, Artemis grabbed the collar of Emiya's shirt, "I messed up."
The goddess's voice trembled.
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