After the soda inauguration ceremony at the temporary settlement,
The world began to get rowdies sooner than expected.
Indeed, a hurricane centered on Artemis and me swept through everyone’s hearts instantly.
This is because the soda’s existence was leaked through journalists, the eyes that enlighten the world.
I bought and examined the front pages of newspapers from each city sold at the Luna city hall.
[Shock! Hephaestus, upon tasting soda, immediately put down his hammer and started investigating its composition! This has caused a disruption in weapon production.]
[Ditesia’s Chamber of Commerce held a press conference urging Aphrodite to reconcile with Artemis and implement immediate soda imports!]
[Hestia, the symbol of peace, laments not being able to drink more than a sip of soda. She offers gold in an effort to purchase more.]
[Soda unavailable even in Olympus. Why isn’t Artemis releasing soda to the market? Is this economic treason?!]
[Breaking! The Sun newspaper suddenly emphasizes its strong ties with the Moon Sister. Political analysts believe this is an attempt to secure the exclusive rights to soda imports.]
“Things are progressing as expected.”
Whenever something new appears, chaos naturally ensues.
This also happened when computers and the internet were introduced in the world upstairs,
and when smartphones evolved from mobile phones used for calls and texts.
It’s no different here.
When something new emerges in the mundane routine, gods react even more intensely than humans.
“But seriously, do the people of Apollo’s city resemble their deity? How can they use that tone in the newspapers? And what’s with all the overacting…?”
Reading the newspapers reveals various insights.
Particularly about the atmosphere in Apollo’s city.
The journalists using exaggerated language like “overacting” shows how much freedom is abundant in that city.
Anyways, having released this poison called soda into the neutral city of deities, within two days, its effects have already become apparent.
Very good.
Bang!
Just as I nodded in satisfaction while putting down the newspaper, the office door swung open loudly.
“Hey! Ark!”
“At least knock first!”
The voice’s owner was none other than Singclaire.
Considering that our Goddess already ruined proper etiquette by mixing instant noodles with rice,
and now Singclaire is acting this way too.
But then, I have no intention of reprimanding the unruly Singclaire.
She is, after all, the busiest person in this world right now.
The reason is simple.
She has been appointed the overall director of soda production, which is showing signs of becoming a trend.
It was quite a sight to see how capable Singclaire became, upon assuming her new role.
Was she shaped by her position?
Or is she simply talented?
The day she became the overall director, she gathered the displaced villagers and surrounded the carbonated water spring with barriers, then set up a large hut as a soda factory.
Moreover, she exclusively controlled the soda recipe and took measures to prevent the technological information from leaking.
Of course, all the villagers have already taken a confidentiality oath regarding the carbonated water.
Industrial spies will have a hard time luring anyone over.
I was so impressed by Singclaire’s seriousness that I didn’t even care that she hadn’t knocked, given her smart handling of affairs.
“So, what brings you to the temple today?”
“Huh? Why such a cold tone when you know I can come here?”
“Uh? I thought it was usual for me…”
“Anyway, I don’t like that chilly attitude.”
I felt an unusual chill from Singclaire.
She crossed her arms, stared at me for a while, then turned her head after blowing a raspberry.
What is with her today?
Why is she like this?
It’s hard to say, as I don’t have much experience…
But it feels somewhat like a girlfriend sulking at an inattentive boyfriend.
“Alright. Anyway, I’ll be going on a business trip soon. Is this urgent?”
“Not really. Today too, merchants from other cities gathered and demanded soda.”
“So?”
“And so what? I’ve been doing as you instructed, turning them away. Though… considering their trouble to come this far, I gave each merchant a sip…”
“Well done. Keep doing that for now.”
“But if we sell this now, we’ll all become rich effortlessly. Isn’t it time to tell us why we’re not selling the soda?”
Exactly.
As Singclaire said.
If we supply soda to merchants chasing profits now, we could definitely make a fortune.
Even at one silver per bottle, it would sell like wildfire.
However, it’s too early for that.
This soda is an item meant to satisfy the tongues of the Twelve Olympians, part of a certain task.
Indeed, the main goal right now is to torture these gods by withholding soda from the market.
If everyone could taste and enjoy it, the sense of mystery and freshness wouldn’t last long.
Of course, the soda’s preciousness and refreshing quality would never change, but…
“I apologize, but I cannot tell you right now.”
“The… Twelve Labors?”
Before I could even react to Singclaire’s accurate guess, she quickly nodded while looking at my expression and softly murmured, ‘That’s right.’
“Er… how did you figure it out?”
“Don’t I have eyes and ears? I overheard conversations between pilgrims going back and forth between the settlement and the temple.”
“Ah. These blabbermouths are such a problem.”
“Don’t worry. I can keep a secret! But… ”
“But what?”
“Why are you doing these Twelve Labors? They are usually for someone who committed a great sin… In the past, Lord Heracles completed these to atone for his sins…”
It seems she knows well what the Twelve Labors are, judging by how well she listens.
However, she doesn’t know why I am doing them.
If I say it’s to charm the Goddess, she might come at me with fire in her eyes.
Maybe it’s fortunate.
“Don’t worry. I’m not doing them as a sinner. Well… if we must talk sins, then I suppose the sin of arousing the jealousy of the gods?”
“Thank goodness…”
Placing her hand on her chest, Singclaire let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that I’m not a sinner.
As the wave of unease receded, a tide of happiness began to show on her face.
What?
I was just boasting slightly with a joke,
and I expected either a “What the hell?” or a “Oh come on!”
But why is she happy?
Lately, I’ve been proud of understanding women’s hearts better.
Yet, seeing Singclaire’s expression now feels like discovering a basement under the basement.
I’ll just attribute it to her species’ traits.
“Do you have anything else to say? I need to go see Athena in Athens soon.”
“It’s not that…”
Twisting her body, Singclaire repeated curling and uncurling her lips, hesitating to say something.
She kept stalling, scratching the edge of the desk where my arm was resting with her nails.
“If it’s not urgent, I’ll listen when I come back.”
“No! Not really!”
As I grabbed my coat from the hanger and slid one arm into it,
Singclaire hastily grabbed the other sleeve.
“Hm?”
“That… when you’re done with this… Do you have any free time?”
“Besides my duties, I have plenty of time. Why?”
“That… it’s me… I… I got this. That…”
Unlike her usual self, she stutters repeatedly, prolonging the suspense.
Just as I was about to say something out of frustration, she seemed to make a decision and pulled something out from inside her dress pocket and handed it to me.
But when I just stared down at it blankly, an exasperated Singclaire grabbed my wrist and forced me to take it.
“What’s wrong with you, spacing out like this!”
“It’s just unexpected. What is this exactly?”
I looked down at the two pieces of paper in my hand.
It was concert tickets.
A wandering musical troupe, famous for touring various cities to hold performances,
is apparently coming to our city, Luna.
“I heard these tickets are hard to obtain. How did you manage to get them?”
“Well… uh…”
“So, did you steal them?”
“Are you serious? What the hell, Ark!”
“If you didn’t steal them, it’s still strange. Where did you get the funds for such expensive tickets when we haven’t even started soda distribution?”
“Hmph… You’re really killing my self-esteem with those questions.”
As I loaded up the facts like bullets and unleashed them like a machine gun, Singclaire couldn’t defend herself and became full of holes.
Shaking her hands nervously despite repeating “be patient” under her breath,
“I have three kinds of gifts I never accept. This is one of them: source unknown!”
When I decided to return the tickets firmly,
Singclaire stepped back with her hands behind her back.
“No, no! It was given to me by Alconis, a merchant belonging to Apollo!”
“What? Is this a bribe?”
“Bribe? What’s that? Anyway, Alconis said he couldn’t attend since it’s in Luna, and that it would be fine for me to watch…”
“Idiot. That’s a bribe. He’s using this to gain favor in order to get an advantage in the soda supply negotiations.”
“Huh… is that so?”
“When you receive something, you’re expected to do something in return. That’s reciprocity.”
“Then, what should I do? Return them?”
“If you’re going to return them, you should have done it sooner. The deadline is coming up, and if we don’t use them, they’ll just become worthless scraps of paper.”
Looking at the date on the tickets, I decided it was too late to return them.
With gold, you can return it anytime without losing its value.
But tickets lose their worth immediately after the set time.
Alconis… quite the cunning merchant.
“So? Why are you giving these to me?”
“That… you saved my life, and you gave me such a decent job… I, I, I want to express my gratitude…”
“There are two tickets, so you’re saying we should go together?”
“Hey! Figure it out yourself!! If you want to throw them away, go ahead!! Anyway, I’m out!!!”
With a red face, Singclaire suddenly raised her voice and slammed the door as she left.
As I stared at the closed door, pondering her incomprehensible attitude, and looked at the tickets in my hand,
Squeak.
The door opened again.
“Did you forget something?”
“Not the tickets.”
Contrary to my expectations, it wasn’t Singclaire.
It was the Goddess.
With the face of a girlfriend who just found out her boyfriend cheated…
