Ding—Dong—
The bell tower’s chime announcing twelve o’clock noon rang out across the entire city.
To me, sitting cross-legged on a rooftop nearby, even though the sound was close, it didn’t reach me with that much volume.
The reason was,
Because there was a much louder noise occurring within me.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
My heart, which had always maintained a steady rhythm, was malfunctioning, racing uncontrollably.
“Why… why is this happening? It’s so aggravating…”
I threw the bow and arrows I was holding irritably onto the roof.
A single arrow, bathed in moonlight, slipped out of the quiver, sliding down the roof slope and falling below. But I didn’t even care.
Right now, the urgent task was to stop this maddening thumping of my heart.
I tried punching it lightly,
I even attempted gripping my chest tightly.
But the more I tried, the more my heart thrashed about violently, like an upside-down cat.
“Don’t make me laugh! Stop it already!!!”
The more I tried to hide and suppress it, the more it wriggled around, exposing everything I tried to conceal.
Denial was useless. It was turning everything inside out.
Yes, I had no choice but to acknowledge it.
The truth is, I already know exactly what this feeling is.
The fluttering, the excitement towards the opposite sex—something that everyone experiences at some immature age.
But for me, the Goddess of Purity, this feeling is,
A sort of illness.
An emotion so terrifying it can turn even the most rational gods into fools.
An illness that enters and wreaks havoc in one’s heart without permission, then casually leaves.
An emotion that I don’t need at all.
“So! This isn’t some garbage feeling! Think about it, Artemis! You won the impossible score and triumphed in the archery competition 421 years ago, remember? That thrill was unmistakable!”
It’s true that the savior’s appearance just now shone brightly.
From his perspective, the moment he was dragged to this unknown place and faced such circumstances, he didn’t panic or compromise his convictions.
I watched from afar, absorbed as if watching a play,
Subconsciously getting drawn into the savior’s plight, gripped in suspense.
Maybe it’s the refreshing relief felt after a tense situation unfolds brilliantly.
This is definitely not love.
“Yeah. It’s absurd. Anyway, this will pass soon.”
Katina and her group were heading from this narrow alley towards the central square.
It was clear what Katina intended to do—execute the savior by inciting the citizens.
“So, she’ll incite the crowd to tear him apart violently. Well, I’ll just watch. That will be the end.”
While trying to quell my trembling heart, I stood up from my spot, leaped down from the roof, and landed in the narrow alley where the savior and Katina had been.
Looking around to find the dropped moonlit arrow,
“Where is it… Shit!”
I found it, but the state of the arrow made me uneasy.
It was smeared with the savior’s still-uncoagulated blood on the arrow’s tip.
As I picked it up and shook off the blood,
A part of it splattered towards a nearby puddle.
The blood mixing with the warm water in the puddle spread out instantly, diluting quickly as if it were paint in water.
Unconsciously gazing at the puddle, I caught my own reflection there, with an indescribable expression.
Not only the expression, but my delicate white face had turned as red as a tomato.
“Is it because a single drop of blood fell that my face is looking so red? Tsk!”
I clicked my tongue in irritation; this puddle suddenly didn’t sit well with me.
Moreover, why am I seeing that infuriating savior’s face overlapping with my reflection in the water?
“Shit!!!”
I stomped my foot into the puddle, obliterating its presence.
Just as the scattered water droplets hit the walls and trickled down,
“Die! You filthy bastard!”
“Damn son of a bitch!”
“Arrrrgh!”
Enraged citizens of Luna began shouting their hatred towards someone.
The wailing of Katina, aimed at further stoking their anger, was added to the mix.
“It’s begun.”
Exiting the alley, the central square was filled with an unusually large crowd.
The citizens encircled in a circular formation were glaring murderously at the savior, tied to a wooden post in the center.
“That bastard touched Katina, it seems.”
“What? That scumbag!”
A few members of the bullying gang were going around the onlookers, fanning the flames by continuing their incitement and stirring up trouble.
Several others were handing out rocks they had somehow procured.
The eyes of the citizens clutching the rocks quickly glinted with the resolve to seek revenge for Katina.
“Sniff Sniff! Waaaaaaaaah!!!”
Katina, transformed into a tragic heroine, began sobbing loudly again,
“The savior there! He let my girlfriend down… I’m sorry!”
The one-eyed hoodlum looked each observer in the eye, asserting his alleged grievances and anger.
At times, he would bang his fists on the ground, taking control of the mood.
Their manipulative skills suggested they had done such stonings not just once or twice.
“Gross…”
As much as I detested Katina’s gang, I needed to endure for now.
Since they’re taking care of removing the savior for me.
And in return, I’ll send them all tidily to the netherworld.
When Katina thought she had gathered enough public sentiment, she grinned slyly, then said,
“Sniff Sniff! Everyone… look at this.”
She raised her torn dress sleeve to show it off purportedly as evidence to the crowd.
That act triggered the enraged citizens to start pelting rocks at the savior.
“Die!”
“Bastard!”
“Monster!”
The sharp volleys of stones already bruised the savior’s body, and he received additional bruises repeatedly.
A cut had appeared on the side of his forehead, and the flowing blood was entering his eyes.
However, even amidst this situation, he remained resolute, refusing to utter a single cry of weakness.
Just the redness in his eyes, gazing with sadness, was inexplicably making my chest tighten.
“Don’t you dare raise those dirty eyes!!!”
A female citizen grabbed a handful of sand and approached, then sprinkled it onto the savior’s face.
The sand getting into his eyes was excruciatingly painful, so he shut his eyes tightly and endured the continuing onslaught of rocks.
Wham!
Swish—!
A rock forcefully thrown from behind by some citizen struck his back of the head.
With his senses getting foggy, the savior’s head, which had been raised defiantly, began to slump down.
Yet the citizens’ barrage of stones did not stop.
If anything, they were taking vengeance on the sex offender with cruelty.
Of course, since the penalty for sex crimes in our city is execution without trial.
Putting aside the fact that they had fallen prey to the ruse of that idiotic gang and were carrying out this private punishment,
The situation itself was not at all detrimental to me.
“I must not interfere. I must not interfere.”
I murmured to myself, chanting a mantra.
Soon enough, the other light bearer, that savior, will die.
By letting it happen this way, my divinity will be preserved.
It would be like effortlessly clearing my nose.
Interfering gods are foolish.
“…”
Shit!
Ahgghghghgh!! I’m so irritated!!
“What’s going on here?!”
Like an idiot, I ended up strutting into the center of the hate- and malevolence-filled square.
Realizing the arrival of the goddess, the citizens parted and opened a path for me to walk through.
Damn it.
Chanting to myself wasn’t enough.
I should have kept my eyes closed.
That way, I could have pretended not to see those foolish tears of his.
Yes.
Let’s just think everything went well.
Turning a blind eye to thugs trying to beat someone up on false claims of sexual offenses goes against my principles.
After exterminating these people,
I’ll find the opportunity to eliminate that savior.
One by one, I’ll shoot arrows through the necks of the one-eyed leader and his minions,
And finally, I’ll kick the face of Katina.
With an arrow already nocked and aimed at Katina’s forehead, I declared,
“Never forget in the afterlife that chastity is not a weapon but a belief.”
And as additional advice for her to remember for a lifetime: never misbehave in front of Lord Hades, then I pierced her forehead with an arrow.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
You idiot, Artemis!
“Verdict finished. I’m leaving.”
While tightly suppressing the swirling complexities within my heart,
I left the square, leaving behind a cool and elegant impression for the citizens.
Rushing back to the temple, I entered my bedroom and buried my face in the bed.
“What exactly is he… that guy?”
Recalling the savior caused my heart to begin throbbing again.
“Fucking hell! Why are you acting up again???”
Punch! Punch!
I clenched my fists and lashed out at the mattress in frustration.
Unconcerned about soiling the linen and sheets, I vigorously wiped my face.
Curiosity struck because I’ve only seen men bowing to me for over hundreds of years!
“Agh! Never mind, never mind! Okay, let’s think positively. I just executed the group falsely accusing someone of sexual offense first. It is, after all, a sleight of hand. Anyway, there’ll be another chance to eliminate the savior soon.”
However, at that moment, I didn’t know it yet.
Despite numerous opportunities, I could never remove the guardian, Arck.
Timewise,
Environmentally,
Even humanly,
Every time, something interfered with my plans.
One day, I learned from a female priestess that this Arck was working during the day and secretly studying to be a priest under the moonlight at night.
“Tch! Stupid guy! Doesn’t he know that, despite his pure body, Arck’s priesthood in the temple of Artemis is women-only? Hehehehehahahaha!!”
Hmm, just wait.
I may not have been able to take his life yet, but,
I will make all his year-long efforts amount to nothing in a single night.
Let him tremble at the absurdity and unfairness.
If he reaches the second stage of the exam after passing the first,
I’ll pretend to deliberate thoroughly before rejecting him.
And so, the day of the priest recruitment arrived.
Of those who passed the first test, there were a total of 100 applicants hoping to join Artemis.
99 women, 1 man.
“Hmph! Of course you passed, Arck. When it’s down to two people, I’ll humiliate you thoroughly and throw you away mercilessly.”
But when I scanned the state of the applicants gathered in the waiting room, I couldn’t help but feel despair.
All 99 women…
Had sexual experience and were not virgins.
To have non-virgin women as priests to the Goddess of Chastity, Artemis, is something that would never happen, even if the heavens split in two.
The only one with a pure body was the man, Arck.
“…This is absurd.”
At that moment, two thoughts occurred to me.
One was a question: Am I simply an old wave being pushed away by the new wave of Arck?
The other conviction was:
I must meet Clotho of the Moirai sisters.
