That's not an invalid question to ask. If he dropped his axe into the lake and the goddess lives in the lake, it's not impossible for the tool to actually hit her. Dude's a gentleman.
Now I get it. So the "kind MC" trope is actually part of Japan's cultural heritage, and that's why every single goddamn romcom MC has that as their defining trait...
@Kaarme wouldn't it be obvious if it actually did hit her tho? As in, she would either be injured, or complaining about it. Or both. Not try to give him more axes.
@feha It's a matter of politeness. Though I suppose just apologising would be enough as well as she indeed didn't seem hurt at all, but since she's a beautiful lady, not some buff Poseidon type, I guess the dude felt like asking just to be sure.
this reminds me of another manga where a girl falls in a lake and then a goddess pulls 2 of the same girl, one with golden hair and one with silver hair.
@henrykez Both this and that manga (and quite a few others) are inspired by a story regarding King Arthur and The Lady Of The Lake, so that makes sense.
@Kaarme yeah, that sounds reasonable. Apologizing for dropping an axe on anothers lawn is the polite thing to do, even if you had seen with your own eyes that nothing and noone was damaged. So the same should be applicable for dropping it in someones lake, especially when you dont have visual confirmation that none in her family or her property was hurt.