Is It Wrong to Explore the Dungeon Even Though I’m Overpowered? (Danmachi SI- WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 2: On the Road and Decisions

“Yes. Yes, I did.”

Artemis interrupted me confirming the fact that she had just given me a Falna which left me speechless for a moment.

“Artemis-sama while I greatly appreciate you thinking I’m worthy enough to receive your blessing, won’t it bring you problems with you being a Virgin Goddess who has never blessed a man before?” I asked with some worry turning around to face the goddess.

“Yes, but it was the least I could do.” Artemis said softly while looking away from me for some reason. “After everything you’ve done for me and my Familia, the lest I could do was grant you my blessing to disguise the fact that you are already stronger than most adventurers without it.”

Then Artemis turned to look at me with a serious look in her face and eyes. “You must understand Orion. We Gods and Goddesses can be extremely selfish. If your strength becomes known, then there’s no knowing what lengths some might be willing to go in order to ‘acquire’ you. So please you must promise me…”

Artemis suddenly grabbed and held my hands with hers and held them in a firm grip. “Promise that you won’t go around discussing your origins to others unless you can trust them with your life. Promise me!”

Blinking at the serious tone in her voice I nodded my head slowly agreeing to her request already knowing from my previous life’s memories how ruthless and uncaring some deities were. Chief among them the Freya, Ishtar, Soma and Apollo Familias. Not to mention the many Familias who were part of Evilus or who were just naturally inclined to be evil.

“I promise.”

“Haah good. I’ll hold you to that promise.” Artemis said in relief letting out a sigh and leaning her head against my chest unconsciously. “Honestly, what’s up with your stats? They’re beyond ridiculous! A skill that grants you more skills!?” She complained hitting my chest lightly with her fist.

“I apologize but choosing my current abilities was one of the only ways I could think of in order to save you and defeat Antares.” I revealed not needing to be reminded of how busted Reinhard’s abilities were even weakened as they were.

‘Wait until she learns of the abilities, I’ll get thanks to Yuuya’s Template.’ I thought in amusement already picturing her reaction in the future.

“Huhuhu it feels a little strange hearing that considering that I’m the goddess here but I must admit that it does feel…nice. Being protected for a change.” Artemis muttered softly with her head still resting on my chest.

Looking down at the goddess I noticed that her ears had turned red meaning she was probably embarrassed at revealing that however before I could respond we both heard some rustling causing us to break away from each other and going into alert.

“Artemis-sama. We managed to catch some lunch.” Came the voice of Rethusa causing us to relax seeing the redhead heading our direction with a few dead rabbits hanging by her side.

“Oh, I see that Stranger-san managed to wake up.” Lante followed up behind Rethusa holding some mushrooms and berries in her hands.

“Rethusa, Lante. Allow me to introduce you to our savior. This is Reinhard van Astrea or Orion. Please get along with him for the time being, ok?” Artemis introduced us with a smile on her face.

Looking at what I knew to be the company clones of Rethusa and Lante, I didn’t know how to treat them since they were practically my companions now along with Artemis. Luckily it seems Reinhard’s manners kicked in allowing me to act and not look like an idiot.

“A pleasure to meet you two. I’ll be under your care for the time being.” I greeted giving the two a small bow with my hand on my chest.

“Fufufu, isn’t that the other way around?” Lante giggled looking amused at my wording with a knowing look in her eyes but a moment later she gave me a curtsy. “Nice to meet cha. I’m Lante.”

“Thank you for saving Artemis-sama, Reinhard-sama. My name is Rethusa, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Rethusa being the more serious of the two thanked me and gave me a more respectful bow than the blue-haired half elf even addressing me with a respectful honorific.

“No thanks are necessary Rethusa-san and Reinhard is just fine, there is no need for such honorifics.” I said feeling a bit weird at being addressed so formally thanks to my previous life.

“Good. With introductions out of the way, how about we eat?” Artemis interrupted clapping her hands with a smile on her face looking pleased at our interactions.

“Do you mind if I take care of the cooking?” I suddenly asked getting surprised blinks from the three girls. “I may not look it but I’m a bit of a chef.” I slightly boasted knowing with Reinhard’s Divine Protections, any food made by my hands would turn out delicious.

“Ooh~ You can cook, Orion? Alright, now I’m curious.” Artemis asked with an eager look on her face.

“Very well. Leave the cooking to me.” I said with a nod.

“Fufufu before that maybe you should put your shirt back on Reinhard-sama?” Lante asked with an amused giggle.

Remembering that I was still shirtless, I felt a blush form on my cheeks and just silently nodded my head while putting my clothes back on.

=====

“This is delicious~”

“Oh my~ You sure weren’t kidding about your abilities.”

“Delicious.”

Looking around the makeshift camp I smiled at the pleased expressions of the girls as they ate my food. Knowing I had one more mouth to feed though, I looked down at Est’s blade and gently nudged it.

“Est, it’s time for lunch.” I whispered softly.

The blade glowed white for a second and when it receded the form of Est was standing in front of me looking at me with an expectant look on her violet eyes.

“Reinhard. Hungry.” Est muttered simply.

“Of course, Est. Here, this is your share.” I said handing her a plate of meat with some berries and mushrooms.

Taking the plate from my hands Est took the seat beside me before tugging on my sleeve. “Feed me, Reinhard.”

“I-Is that your spirit companion!?” Artemis suddenly asked in shock recalling my mention of a spirit in our discussion.

“Wow, I never thought I would ever see a spirit in my lifetime.” Lante muttered quietly while gazing at Est with a surprised expression.

“Correct. This here is Terminus Est, or just Est for short, a powerful sword spirit and more importantly, my partner in battle. I hope you can get along with her.” I introduced my cute Est gently setting my right hand atop her head and rubbing it.

“Mmn.” Est hummed happily much like a puppy would and leaned her head more towards my palm asking for more.

“Is your other sword also a sword spirit?” Artemis asked looking at Reid still hanging on my waist doing her best to ignore the pleased sounds coming from the sword spirit.

“No, Reid was actually forged by human hands and was later blessed by a Sword God from another world. Though Reid is really picky and only allows itself to be drawn if it deems my opponent worthy.” I explained all the while my hand continued rubbing Est’s head unconsciously.

“Haah, everything about you is just one surprise after another huh?” Artemis asked rhetorically before shaking her head and concentrating back on her meal.

“Whatever, and could you stop pampering Est already? We’re supposed to be eating!” She finished looking a bit jealous of my treatment of Est.

Blinking I finally noticed what I was doing and removed my hand from her head causing Est to let out a small pout.

“Come on Est, you have to eat as we have a long trek ahead us.” I urged the girl grabbing a piece of meat with my chopsticks and holding it just before her mouth.

Opening her mouth cutely, Est chomped down on the piece of meat and chewed. “Nom, nom. Good~” Swallowing, Est opened her mouth again.

Knowing she would not eat lest I fed her personally, I ignored the jealous looks and mutters coming from Artemis and Lante and fed Est until she finished her plate.

While I was doing that, I thought about the decision we had come to as I cooked lunch.

With Artemis’s self-assigned task basically completed with my defeat of Antares, the goddess had decided to travel back to Orario in order to rebuild her Familia. Probably subconsciously due to being my Companion now, Artemis had decided that her Familia would now also be an Exploration type along with a Hunting one to stay close to me.

I, being part of Artemis’s Familia now, would be accompanying them to the city for the week-long trip.

“Oh! I just came up with a good idea Orion.” Artemis suddenly chimed in with an excited smile on her face.

“I have a friend that just descended to Genkai about three months ago that I’m sure would be more than happy to take you in. If not, I could always ask her for a favor since we were very good friends back in Tenkai. Being in a new and unknown Familia will afford you more protection than being with me.” Artemis started out excitedly before frowning at what she said next.

“Even though it pains me to say this, if you stay in my Familia, it won’t be long until some deities catch wind of the fact that I blessed a man when I’m known for only taking in females. If that happens, what I told you earlier will definitely come to pass and we will find ourselves in a War Game. With the current state of my Familia, I can’t in good conscience ask them to fight for something I did on a whim for selfish reasons.” Artemis said with a face full of regret.

Hearing what she had to say I felt both sad yet relieved. Sad that I wouldn’t be part of her Familia for very long and relieved that the binding hadn’t made Artemis completely submissive to my wants and needs. Besides I could definitely understand where she was coming from and even respected her for it.

Artemis was the head of her Familia and she had a responsibility to make the best decisions for them especially after just going through a tragedy losing 18 of its 20 members. ‘Well, all of them really but if Rethusa and Lante didn’t say anything to Artemis, then I should probably keep quiet too.’

Besides, I didn’t want to bring more trouble to Artemis as I still felt bad about not arriving earlier and possibly saving some of her Familia. Wanting to make sure I knew how to fight properly with Reinhard’s body and powers, I wasted time getting rid of Antares’s spawns outside the Elsus Ruins that by the time I had finally reached Artemis, her Familia had died.

“Please don’t worry about us Artemis-sama. You have already done more than enough by blessing me with your Falna. Even if your friend refuses, I will find a way to get through this hurdle.” I said trying to dismiss worries but contrary to easing them, my words only seemed to make her more distressed.

“Haah, and now I feel even worse.” Artemis muttered in a whisper with her head hanging low.

“Was it something I said?” I asked in a confused tone looking at Lante and Rethusa for help only receiving deadpanned stares in return.

“So, you’re that type of person huh?” Rethusa quietly whispered to herself with a shake of her head.

=====

(3 Days Later)

It had been a few days since we began our journey to Orario and in that time I had finally gotten Artemis to call me by my name.

“That was a nice shot Rein~”

“Thank you.”

Or mostly at least.

Since we still needed to eat, Artemis had taken it upon herself to teach me how to hunt and use a bow and arrow. With my Divine Protection of Projectile Striking and my Divine Protection of the Weapon God, it had only taken me a few hours to master the weapon.

Something that had made Artemis beyond giddy with happiness always commenting on my skill just like she had now and inviting me to competitions which we always tied.

With the Elsos Ruins being on the literal other side of the continent we had been forced to rent some flying mounts from the nearest town unless we wanted to spend more than a month traversing the continent on foot. We would fly for most of the day only stopping for lunch and dinner and then repeating the process.

Thanks to that we had made good time and we were already about halfway towards Orario expecting to make it by the end of the week.

“…ein.”

“Rein!”

Blinking at hearing my name being called, I turned towards the pouting figure of Artemis as she stood in front of me with her hands on her waist.

“Mou, Rein~ Don’t tell me you had your head in the clouds again?” Artemis asked in an exasperated tone.

“Hahaha, sorry about that Artemis-sama.” I scratched the back of my head with a nervous smile on my face.

“Haah what am I going to do with you?” Artemis closed her eyes and let out a sigh. “Anyways, Rein do you know how to dance?”

“Dance?” I asked blinking slowly finding the question strange but responded nonetheless. “Um yes. I have been taught how to dance. Why do you ask?”

“Great!” Artemis exclaimed with a smile before retreating backwards into the shallow water and extending her hand towards me. “Dance with me.”

Blinking I stood frozen for a second as I was struck by how beautiful Artemis looked in this moment, standing in the middle of the water with fireflies all around her giving the scene a magical feel to it.

I found myself walking towards the goddess and gently grabbed a hold of her hand causing her smile to widen as she led me deeper into the shallow waters.

Fortunately, I had full control of my Divine Protection of Lakes allowing me to walk in the water normally instead walking on top of it.

Reaching the middle of the pond she finally let go of my hand and gave me a small curtsy which I returned with a bow.

Then under the moonlight we danced.

We danced for what seemed like hours to a tune that only we knew all the while never looking away from each other’s eyes.

At last, the dance came to an end and we came to a stop with my arms around Artemis’s waist and hers around my head with our gaze still locked on each other.

“Rein…do you hate me?” Artemis asked me with a soft voice as her beautiful green eyes that had been so full of wonder and happiness turned sad for some reason.

“Hate you?” I asked in a confused tone wondering why she would ever think that. “No,” I shook my head. “I don’t think I could ever hate you Artemis-sama.”

“Really? You don’t feel even a little bit of resentment for me for basically discarding you? For not fighting to keep you as part of my Familia and just giving you away to another?” Artemis asked with a small tear leaking out of her left eye.

“No,” I responded immediately and without hesitation. “The only thing I felt when you told me that was sadness and at the same time relief.” I said making Artemis sadder and causing another tear to run down her cheek so I hurried to explain.

“Sad that I won’t be able to see you and talk to you every day and yet relieved that I won’t cause you any further burdens with my presence.” I revealed the truth to her only keeping the fact of feeling relieved of her being able to make her own decisions even though she was already bound to me.

“I-Idiot…’sniff’ you’re not a burden.” Artemis sniffled leaning her head against my chest much like the first time we found ourselves by a body of water and tightening the grip she had on me. “And I’m not going anywhere. We’ll still be able to talk and see each other every day. Thanks to you, I can make such a decision. You’re my hero, Reinhard.”

Hearing her last words, I felt my eyes water for a moment before I willed it away.

“I…That’s…” Taking a deep breath to properly formulate my thoughts I began again. “I’ve wanted to hear those words for so long now that I don’t know what to say. In my first life I always wished I could be needed by someone, for someone to tell me that my life mattered.”

“The heroes I saw and read about in my past were always surrounded by countless others who cared for them and cherished their presence so I always wanted to be like them. Yet…That never came to pass and I died alone with my wish being unfulfilled.”

“When I was given a new chance at life, I thought that maybe, just maybe I could finally accomplish my wish. So, I chose the name and powers of someone that I saw as a hero and hoped that even a little bit of that hero’s greatness could rub off on me.” I muttered in a quiet voice, pouring out my heart to the Goddess in my arms.

Pulling her head a bit away from my chest Artemis looked up at me with a tender smile on her face as she softly caressed my cheek. “You don’t need great power and a name to be a hero Reinhard. All you need is a strong and pure heart and you already have that.”

“I…” I found myself at a loss for words with my mouth moving but no words coming out.

“And don’t worry,” Artemis continued, gently closing my mouth and offering me a beautiful smile. “You won’t ever be alone again. I’ll stay at your side forever from now on. Not as Goddess and mortal but as equals. As Artemis and Reinhard.” She suddenly giggled happily as if recalling something only making her appear more beautiful to my eyes.

“Did you know, Rein? That the gods who descend to this realm are promised 10,000 years of romance?” Artemis asked and not letting me answer continued. “It seems even as the Goddess of Virginity, that applies to me too. Isn’t love amazing?”

“It is.” I muttered softly with my eyes never leaving hers before closing them and letting my cheek rest against the crown of her head. “Thank you.”

“…”

“…”

“Fufufu, I see that you finally took my advice Artemis-sama~” Came the teasing voice of Lante interrupting our moment.