The next day, Duncan woke from sleep and stretched lazily. In the Great Tree Sea, being able to sleep this comfortably—today made it the second time. The first had been when Zald took the night watch.
Sleeping soundly in a forest crawling with monsters was never easy. You needed reliable companions, and you needed a strong heart. When Bell went on his first expedition, even though Duncan stayed awake to guard the camp, Bell still couldn't sleep well. Sometimes it wasn't distrust—it was simply the mind, and the body's instinctive awareness of danger.
Duncan could now sleep through to dawn, yet the moment danger appeared, he would still react instantly. One of the very first lessons he'd been taught about being an adventurer was this: unless you're inside a secure base, you never let your weapon leave your reach.
"Wiggle Finger."
The first thing he did after getting up was refresh his absurd magic. Under normal circumstances, Duncan refreshed in the morning and emptied his mana at night. During an expedition, he avoided using magic to keep his body from dipping into that drained, sluggish state. And now that he had other spells and skills, he conserved his mana even more—unless he faced a situation where he absolutely needed whatever spell his "Wiggle Finger" had rolled.
Still, not using it didn't mean he'd skip the daily free roll. A free draw was a free draw.
"Duncan, you're—awake…?"
Artemis approached from outside when she heard movement. Because Duncan was the youngest in the group by apparent age, she, the goddess herself, was the first to greet him. It didn't look like it at a glance, but many of her children had been raised by her from infancy. In the truest sense, she was their "mother."
"…Is that some sort of novel greeting gesture?" Artemis narrowed her eyes, gaze sharpening.
Since Duncan's tent wasn't fully closed, the first thing she saw was him pointing and "wiggling" his finger right at her. As a goddess who had once lived in Orario, she knew exactly what that gesture could imply—provocation. If Duncan had been an adult man, she would have already acted. Only his childlike appearance stayed her hand.
"No—this is my magic," Duncan blurted out, realizing the misunderstanding.
As Artemis's expression darkened, Duncan hurried to explain. Right on cue, the spell began to activate: a golden light wrapped around his finger, lingered for several seconds, then faded away.
"I see… I misjudged you. My apologies," Artemis said, a little embarrassed now that she'd witnessed the light.
Duncan gave a strained smile. "I don't understand why I even have a magic like this, either."
When the light vanished, the words Wiggle Finger disappeared from the "spell slot" in his mind—replaced by a new spell that would remove stains from clothing until it was perfectly clean.
How to put it… the chain of results was bizarrely consistent.
Even though Duncan was long used to it, moments like this still made him marvel at the sheer audacity of the system. It had a "if I roll fast enough, reality can't catch me" kind of energy.
Artemis didn't ask what the spell did. Even after traveling together, prying into someone's magic remained taboo—arguably a more sensitive taboo than asking their familia.
Her restraint made Duncan quietly exhale in relief.
It wasn't that he feared Artemis knowing his magic.
He feared Artemis knowing his magic.
Language was funny like that.
The fear wasn't "my secret will be exposed."It was "I will die of embarrassment."
If the amusement-seeking gods ever learned that one of the spells carved onto his back was a life utility spell, they'd laugh about it for a week. It would become the kind of joke that got retold forever.
After washing up and eating breakfast, the group packed and set out again. With the first day's delays gone, their pace increased. With a party this large, no monsters were foolish enough to pick a fight. Duncan could feel presences lurking around them, but none dared approach.
Artemis held a longbow with an arrow nocked, ready to loose at any moment. Duncan and another Level 2 member flanked her as close guards and scouts. But as they pushed deeper, Artemis gradually fired less and less.
First, because wild beasts had nearly vanished. In their place were creatures like magic wolves—monsters that offered no usable food supply. Killing them would yield magic stones, yes, but it would also slow the party's advance, and worse, might draw unwanted attention. Their goal was to investigate a ruin, not farm monsters for profit. The sooner they reached the site, the sooner they could finish the commission. Compared to the reward for a long-range, high-risk job, a few magic wolf stones were barely worth mentioning.
"Lady Artemis… so you're here under a commission from Orario to investigate the ruin?" Duncan asked, surprised, during their midday break.
After two days together, the two sides had clearly grown more familiar. Hearing the backstory from Artemis herself, Duncan couldn't help but be taken aback. According to what Zald had told him, the Guild of Orario could only issue commissions to familias registered in Orario—its authority didn't extend to factions outside the city.
"Mm. It's a periodic commission," Artemis replied softly. "Orario gathers information about the Lower World by sending search-oriented factions to various ruins and sites at set intervals. Even though we're not currently based in Orario, we're still registered there, so the Guild can assign us jobs in nearby regions. We happened to be in the area, so we accepted."
"And the Guild is stingy when it comes to exchanging stones and materials," Letsa added from the side, "but these types of commissions pay well. The distance is far, and the risk is high—very few familias would come out here just to investigate. If the pay weren't high, no one would take the job."
Letsa's gaze flicked toward Artemis, and her tone softened slightly.
"But Lady Artemis doesn't care about the pay. She's afraid the ruin might fail and harm people nearby."
"But the ruin is deep in the Great Tree Sea," Duncan pointed out. "It's nothing but monsters and forest. How could there be people?"
"Even if it's only a possibility, it's unacceptable," Artemis said. Then she hesitated, as if swallowing the rest of her words. "And…"
"And?" Duncan pressed.
Artemis shook her head, choosing not to answer. Instead, she shifted the topic—directly onto him.
"Duncan. About you—your familia. We still don't know it. Letsa told me not to pry, but we'll be together in this forest for a long time. For my children's sake, I must be certain you are not affiliated with an evil god."
"I…" Duncan started.
He opened his mouth, then stalled.
Zeus had warned him repeatedly: do not reveal that you are Zeus's child. It wasn't only for protection—it was to keep Zeus Familia entirely out of the gods' sight.
Years had passed since he left Orario, but the prestige and fear surrounding the old King and Queen factions ran deep. The gods didn't truly believe that a familia that dominated for a thousand years could simply vanish from history so easily. Eyes in Orario were still searching—watching for traces, following rumors.
And somewhere out there… was a certain god whose obsession bordered on madness.
After a brief silence, Duncan looked Artemis in the eye and asked carefully:
"Lady Artemis… can you swear you won't tell anyone about my familia?"
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it