The woman in front of him was definitely a goddess.
Duncan only needed a single glance to reach that conclusion. Every deity who descended to the Lower World had their divinity sealed, but to children of the Lower World, it was still easy to tell whether someone was a god. Beyond mannerisms and presence, there was also that faint, indescribable something that lingered around them—an aura that served as one of the clearest indicators.
Duncan wasn't a native of this world, but through his time with Zeus, he'd come to understand the differences well enough.
When the goddess entered, Duncan turned slightly aside, dipped his head in a small, respectful nod, and yielded the way so she could pass first.
"You…"
The goddess froze for a fraction of a second at his polite gesture. Then her brows knit together. There was a feeling about this boy—an aura she found uncomfortably familiar—but she couldn't immediately place which god's Familia he belonged to.
Still… judging by the irritation rising in her chest, whoever his patron was, that god had definitely caused her trouble before.
Then again, most gods did.
"Lady Artemis?! Why are you here?!"
The red-haired woman startled, then hurried over.
Artemis. Goddess of the Moon.
Duncan immediately understood. Seeing the two clearly about to talk, he tactfully lifted his foot and started toward the exit.
"Letesha, you lot are taking too long," Artemis said, turning her head toward the red-haired woman. "So I came to check on you."
"What—? We only broke up less than thirty minutes ago," Letesha muttered under her breath.
"The boy over there—please wait a moment."
Just as Duncan stepped out the door, Artemis suddenly raised a hand and called out, almost reflexively, stopping him.
The weapon shop went still.
Every member of Artemis's Familia stared at their goddess as if they'd just seen the sun rise in the west. Letesha, the leader, was so shocked she fumbled the weapon in her hands and let it clatter to the floor.
"My weapon!"
Gill yelped and rushed to pick it up.
A weapon wouldn't be damaged by something like that—if the shop sold goods fragile enough to break from a light drop, they wouldn't survive here. But the roughness still made Gill, a smith through and through, wince in pain.
A weapon could be destroyed in battle.
But it shouldn't be treated so carelessly.
That was his rule.
"Ah… sorry," Letesha said apologetically.
It wasn't that she'd overreacted for no reason. Their goddess was famous for being allergic to men—not only rejecting male gods who tried to get close, but also forbidding men from joining her Familia, and even prohibiting her own children from casually interacting with males. She practiced "chastity" like it was doctrine carved into bone.
And now, this lofty, pure goddess had just called out to a male—
Well, a boy, at this age.
Even so, it was enough to shock them.
"Are you… talking to me?"
Duncan stopped and looked at Artemis, then glanced around at the empty space near him. He pointed at himself, confused.
Since arriving in this world, Duncan hadn't interacted with any other gods. Zeus had warned him—sure—but more than that, Duncan had spent most of his time living deep in the mountains, barely seeing ordinary people, much less deities.
This was his first time seeing Artemis.
Being stopped like this left him genuinely unsure what was going on.
"You… which god's Familia do you belong to?"
After hesitating, Artemis asked softly.
"Wait, Lady Artemis!"
Letesha hurriedly pulled Artemis aside and whispered urgently in her ear. Duncan couldn't hear the words, but he could guess the content: directly asking an adventurer's affiliation was both rude and potentially dangerous.
Not all adventurers were allies. Beyond the dark factions, there were rival Familias, prankster gods, and strange adventurers who lived for trouble. Especially in the Dungeon, meeting another party often meant competition, not camaraderie. Towns were more polite for the sake of appearances, but even so, bluntly asking still crossed a line for many.
"I'm sorry. I disturbed you."
After Letesha's whispering, Artemis turned back with an apologetic expression. In truth, she'd regretted it the moment she spoke. She didn't know every custom of the Lower World, but she did understand this particular rule—at least in broad strokes.
She'd asked anyway because her reaction had been instinct.
There was something about the boy's aura that irritated her. It felt like the residue of a patron god who had caused her endless trouble—so much so that even with Duncan's harmless, childish face, she had an almost uncontrollable urge to march up and… mess with him.
Duncan's body was, strictly speaking, around ten-ish.
But Zeus had insisted Duncan claim he was twelve whenever giving information. One reason: Duncan leveled up at an absurd pace. Even if this rural area wasn't like Orario—where adventurers' basic information tended to circulate—Duncan would eventually go to Orario.
If he sounded older, it would soften the shock.
After all, Level 7 at sixteen and Level 7 at seventeen were worlds apart. The latter had been achieved before; the former would be an unprecedented record. And Duncan's current speed—already Level 2—would cause a sensation in Orario.
As for that "monster" who reached Level 7 at seventeen…
He was probably in some unknown little cabin right now, shouting for someone to cook him something.
Duncan understood the rule: the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
Without overwhelming strength, quietly developing in the shadows was always the safest plan. So he readily accepted Zeus's suggestion.
"Farewell."
Since Artemis didn't press further, Duncan bowed again and quickly left the shop.
The moment he was gone, Artemis's girls swarmed in.
"What was that? What was that?!"
"Lady Artemis—why did you stop that kid?!"
Most of them had been taken in young by Artemis and raised under strict rules to avoid men. Even the Amazons among them followed the discipline seriously.
But discipline was discipline.
They were still girls in the bloom of youth, and the hunger for gossip was practically instinctive. In fact, the harder real romance was forbidden, the more fiercely the appetite for rumors burned.
They usually lived off the drama of people around them.
But now their goddess had dropped a bombshell in public.
The shop practically boiled over.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Even Artemis—normally calm and composed—took two steps back.
Her children's faces were openly screaming Tell us everything. Their eyes glittered with barely restrained excitement. Even for her, this was a first.
"We're just curious!"
"Yeah! Just curious!"
"Lady Artemis—do you know that boy?!"
Faced with her goddess's glare, her Familia—who should've obediently quieted down—did the exact opposite and pressed harder.
"I don't know anything!"
Artemis, who had never flinched from Level 2 or Level 3 monsters and would stand with her children against enemies, fled in panic for the first time in her life.
....
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