On March 15th, the day of Athena’s victory commemoration ceremony.
Pewwwww~ Boom! Bang! Bang! Pow!
Yesterday, I stayed up late exchanging light chitchat with the three virgin Goddesses until the wee hours of the morning, only to be awoken before sunrise by fireworks that seemed to shake the heavens and earth.
Putting on some casual clothes, I stepped outside the Temple to take a look around.
And I found myself captivated by the breathtaking view of this city, a masterpiece in its own right.
Athena had opened all the massive warehouses across the city to the citizens and everyone who had come to celebrate her triumph.
From the city’s specialty, horse meat, to ginger ale and other spirits, Athena offered it all.
What was astonishing was the fact that despite the throngs of famished beggars who had ravenously consumed vast amounts of food from the warehouses, more than half of the supplies still remained.
As a result, the relaxed citizens began their day early, opening their doors wide, gathering in small groups to praise Athena and enjoy the festival.
On the ground, the chatter of people mingled with the sounds of fireworks in the sky, creating an unbroken symphony that would surely continue throughout the day.
“Truly remarkable. This must be the strength of Athena, one of the greatest Gods.”
It wasn’t just the aura of divinity or the dignity of a deity.
I also realized that she had an exemplary ability to govern multiple cities.
Realizing my current disheveled appearance wasn’t appropriate, I quickly returned to the Temple, washed up, and changed into formal attire.
In the time it took me to do so, the situation outside the Temple had already changed significantly.
At the commemoration stage, most of the major deities had already arrived one by one.
I moved toward the memorial stage to greet them early, but was unable to proceed further.
The reason was that mid-level and lower-ranking Gods, who had been waiting around all morning, rushed toward Athena like a herd of cattle upon seeing her approaching in her usual armor, even on such a joyful occasion.
“Ha ha ha! Lady Athena! Congratulations on your victory!”
“Indeed! Indeed! Isn’t she the next in line to lead Olympus?”
In what felt like moments, Athena was surrounded by several dozen Gods, much to her bewilderment.
She could only helplessly accept the numerous gifts thrust upon her without being able to refuse.
When the gifts had piled up so high they blocked Athena’s face from view,
a large figure rudely pushed through the crowd and approached Athena.
“I am Kercos, a minor deity overseeing a small village near the central city. Nice to meet you, Lady Athena. This is my gift.”
“Ho! Asking for favors on such a festive day? You seem unaware of the situation!”
“It’s my heartfelt gesture! What will you do about it? You’re all here to make an impression on the future ruler of Olympus, so stop pretending!”
“Let’s see about that!!”
The warm atmosphere centered around Athena quickly turned sour.
Offended by the slight to their pride, the lower-ranking gods escalated the situation, grabbing each other by the collars.
“This is expensive fabric you’re grabbing! Do you know how much it costs?!”
“Why would a pig care about pearls?!”
“Alright then, let’s have at it!”
As the confrontation on the stage’s podium was about to turn from a war of words into a physical fight,
Bam!
Hera, who had been quietly seated on the podium earlier, stomped her foot in her seat.
The loud vibration startled the lower gods, who stopped their fighting and turned their heads towards the source of what seemed like an earthquake.
“You wretches. What are you doing in front of me? Don’t you dare step down? Do I still have to deal with you insignificant minor gods myself?”
“A… Lady Hera…”
“We apologize. We will step down.”
Only then did the lower gods realize they had been disgracing themselves in front of Hera, the Queen of Olympus.
The situation, which had been heading towards chaos, was quickly resolved.
As they descended the podium, picking up the scattered bundles of gifts off the floor,
they kept glancing furtively at Hera.
In their eyes, I could see the seeds of insubordinate rebellion.
“Damn. Why is Hera like that? Does she still think she’s the Queen? That woman.”
“That’s what I said. After thousands of years of reign, shouldn’t the throne pass to the third-generation Athena? Moreover, Lady Metis is returning!”
“Perhaps Hera simply refuses to acknowledge Lady Athena as the next leader.”
“Her greed shows clearly. Those wrinkles around her eyes are proof!”
“Then she’s more a crone than a Goddess, isn’t she? Heh heh heh!”
With the return of Metis, Hera’s authority is like a toothless tiger, thought the lower gods.
They exchanged whispers cautiously, smirking and giggling as they spoke in quiet voices about mocking Hera as they had done all these years.
However, their whispers reached even my ears at the periphery.
It was impossible that Hera, seated on the podium, hadn’t heard what they had said.
Concerned and uneasy, I glanced up at the podium.
As expected, Hera, who had been covered in dust after the scuffles earlier, was shaking with shame and anger, her fists trembling.
A drop of tear, laced with indignation and embarrassment, could not be concealed.
With a careful step backward, I withdrew from the commemoration hall.
“Finally, I understand why Hera was so melancholy and spoke the way she did yesterday.”
Last night, Hera had drowned her sorrows in wine, drinking as if it were water.
The Gods, foreseeing the shift in the world’s power center, began to belittle and mock Hera, the Queen of Olympus.
Though this kind of gossip behind her back might have stopped for now,
it would soon turn into open criticism as time went by.
Even Athena, the star of the day, must have witnessed the entire scene,
but refrained from intervening, fearing it might escalate further.
Such is the role of a mediator in the group’s leader.
“Don’t worry, Hera. I’ll soon turn your tears of sorrow into tears of joy. I’ll find a sandwich to pass the time…”
Deciding to kill some time with a light snack, I began walking down the main street.
There, another throng of people had gathered, reminiscent of the crowd on the podium.
“Indeed, she’s very popular. Family ties do matter.”
There was an unexpected star in this commemoration ceremony of Athena’s victory,
and that was none other than Apollo, the real brother of Artemis.
“Apollo-sama! Rumors are spreading across the city that you’ve already secured the exclusive sales rights for soda. Is it true?”
“Excuse me! How dare anyone accuse Lord Apollo-sama of anything so base! Exclusive sales rights? I heard he’s been promised a monopoly on soda! What are you talking about with mere sales rights—”
“Woah, woah, two normal gods, calm down. What’s the point of talking about soda sales rights or a monopoly? The fact is, my sister is the moon!”
Surrounded by various minor gods,
Apollo casually pushed back his radiant hair and mediated between the two squabbling minor deities with an easy demeanor.
“Oh! Ohh! That’s Lord Apollo-sama alright!”
“Lady Apollo-sama, if you could sell us just 5% of the soda allocation, would that be possible?”
“That’s right. If we could secure even five thousand barrels out of ten thousand, it would help us boost the faith of our city’s citizens. Let us share the satisfaction of tasting the latest trend, soda, with our fellow city dwellers.”
“Isn’t that enough? Our citizens will surely sing praises to Apollo-sama daily for generously selling us some of his exclusive soda allocation.”
“Please do this for us…”
“Hmmm… That’s something I need to think about. I’ve already received too many invitations. This is a tough one.”
Despite the two minor deities bowing their heads and making their request, Apollo turned a blind eye to them.
Judging from his resolute expression, even if they offered an entire city as a bribe, it wouldn’t sway him.
Impressive, Apollo.
I hadn’t expected him to hold firm against such a rapid-fire flattery; frankly, it was surprising.
For some reason, though, I felt he might show up again soon…
Could it be safe to give the exclusive rights to Apollo?
That’s when it happened.
The two minor gods exchanged a look and nodded their heads.
One of the minor gods, scanning the surroundings, pulled something out of his pocket and swiftly inserted it between Apollo’s crossed arms.
Taken aback, Apollo tried to turn his body to reject it, but they forcefully pushed it through until they succeeded.
“Oh, no. I don’t fancy this kind of brain water…”
“B, brain water… This isn’t a bribe, Apollo-sama!”
“Yeees~ This isn’t a bribe. It’s our heartfelt gesture. Oh! Or were you joking…? Hahaha!”
Suddenly, the two minor gods fell onto their backs on the ground, holding their stomachs and laughing.
Kicking their legs in the air, they spun around,
as if ready to feign death if commanded.
Their heartbreaking efforts to breach Apollo’s distribution network via his relationship with Artemis was quite moving.
More amusing still,
was that despite their obviously exaggerated performance, Apollo wore a slightly satisfied smile.
“Stop that. Other gods are watching. Though my jokes may be funny, you should really wake up.”
“Oh, who’s saying that. If you tell us to wake up, we’d rather sleep right here.”
The two minor gods jumped up as if doing a back flip and quickly stood up,
pressing close to Apollo’s shoulders while covering their mouths and whispering.
“What we gave you are tickets to the hottest popera singer, Christianne’s concert. You know how hard it is to get these, right?”
“Lord Apollo-sama, who’s also a God of arts, wouldn’t it be great to evaluate Christianne’s skills?”
“Hmmm…”
“She’s not only talented but also extremely attractive, receiving constant flirtations from men. Such a strong woman would surely benefit from Lord Apollo-sama stepping in… Heh heh…”
Looking uncomfortable, Apollo glanced around to check the other gods’ reactions.
However, his smile had clearly reached his ears, a detail he seemed unaware of.
Casually slipping the concert tickets into his coat pocket, while repeatedly muttering that it’s not possible, not possible,
Apollo exchanged signals with the minor gods with his eyes and wiped away a drooling corner of his mouth.
And thus, the soda negotiation deal was successfully concluded.
“Uhhehehehehe!! Well~ my sister is quite shy, so you’ve done right by coming to me. Alright. I’ll do my best. Don’t worry about the soda!”
“Yooou~ Apollo-sama!!”
“Thank you! Thank you!”
Satisfied with the successful negotiation, the three of them dispersed back to their respective positions.
After witnessing the various events unfolding behind the scenes of the commemoration ceremony, I enjoyed my sandwich,
and soon the sound of fireworks signaled the start of the ceremony.
The thunderous arrival of Zeus in the center of the podium confirmed his presence.
“Alright. Let’s begin.”
I have a feeling today many will laugh and cry because of me.
