Having escaped from Rios’s tomb, we were able to return to the Temple of Artemis in the late hours of the night.
Artemis, utterly exhausted, told us to talk about it tomorrow and promptly went into her private quarters.
And only a few seconds later, the sound of the shower filled the temple’s hallway.
I was about to return to my quarters to rest, but noticing the lamp still lit in the annex where Apollo was staying, I decided otherwise.
It seemed Apollo wanted to know the truth I had uncovered as soon as possible.
I also still had a few unresolved questions,
so, acting on the proverb “Strike while the iron is hot,” I redirected my steps to the annex instead of heading back to my quarters.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Come in, Ark.”
Apollo, who recognized me from just the knock, replied as if he had been waiting.
I carefully opened the door and entered.
Seated at the edge of the bed, Apollo was reading a book by the light of a single candle.
Whoosh.
A cold breeze slipped in through the slightly opened window, ruffling his golden hair.
The candle, which had been burning quietly, danced unsteadily in the intrusion of the unwelcome wind,
and the shadow of Apollo on the wall swayed as if dancing.
“I’m sorry to bother you so late.”
“No need to apologize. I was waiting for you too.”
So saying, Apollo raised his hand to indicate it was fine.
He closed the book he had been reading with both hands and casually placed it on the bedside table.
Judging by the many candles on the bedside table, it seemed he had intended to stay up all night.
I was right to come.
Sighing in relief, I unpacked my bag and carefully placed Rios’s serum and the letters on the central table.
I also placed a laurel branch beside the items, as if encircling them.
Sitting on the bed, Apollo leaned forward and immediately began reading the three letters.
For a while, it felt as though time had stopped, with only the sound of pages being turned and Apollo’s pupils darting left and right.
Just as he had finished reading the third letter,
Rustle.
He returned to the first letter and started reading again from the beginning.
Not until the third repetition did Apollo finally put the letters down.
He slowly raised his head and looked at me.
“Could you recount the entire adventure from start to finish?”
“Of course.”
I explained in detail the problems we had solved in Rios’s tomb and the Rios chamber we encountered in the deepest part.
Including my personal judgment to leave Rios’s remains as they were.
Closing my eyes tightly, I released the lingering bond I had with Rios until now.
Still, the process felt bittersweet, evident in the trembling of his eyebrows.
Clearly, there had been some kind of relationship between Apollo and Rios.
“First of all… bringing the truth, this is your win, Ark. A promise is a promise. I’ll support you as per the terms we discussed earlier, including the matter concerning Metis.”
“Thank you. I’m honored.”
“Yes. But… your eyes still seem thirsty, don’t they?”
“That’s correct. While Doctor Rios’s past has been uncovered, there are still parts that I don’t fully understand…”
As expected, Apollo nodded in agreement.
He gestured to the chair in front of the table for me to sit.
“Speak.”
“I would like to confirm first whether you, Apollo, have known Rios.”
“Correct.”
As expected, they were acquaintances.
Hence, there was something that I couldn’t quite grasp.
“You are the true inheritor of the Delphic prophecy.”
“And so?”
“The Goddess of Purity, Artemis, has the power to confirm the purity of people. Doesn’t prophecy involve reading the past and present of the subject to predict the future?”
During the initial days of my priesthood, Artemis would always check my purity as if I were an adulterous husband returning from a trip.
To make sure I hadn’t lied about any misdeeds.
Thus, gods manifest their divine power within their jurisdiction.
Just as Hera, the goddess of the home, can oversee the happiness and sorrow of all families.
Then shouldn’t Apollo, the inheritor of the Delphic prophecy, be able to see the past of humans?
“So, Ark, what you’re asking is why, if I can read the past, I desired to know the truth about Rios?”
“That’s right. I want to know if you knew everything but chose to pretend ignorance for the sake of a trial.”
“Half true, half false. It’s true that I can see the past of humans. But other than for prophecy, I don’t actively read it.”
So saying, Apollo clicked his forefinger.
His confident claim lacked any basis,
but his unwavering conviction made it unimaginable for it to be a lie.
“May I ask why?”
“Because I prefer to see things just as they are. My thoughts, as I feel them, are enough. I don’t particularly care to know how the past was.”
“You say it doesn’t matter, but how do you judge someone who has committed countless wrongdoings in the past but now pretends to be good?”
“On the contrary, I’d like to ask you, should we justify and understand someone who has committed countless acts of dedication and service in the past but now maliciously torment the weak?”
“That’s…”
I lost my words, trailing off.
It wasn’t because I failed to come up with a counterargument.
It was because of Apollo’s stance.
These were not the words of a god who views humans objectively.
They were closer to personal opinions tinged with subjectivity.
Not to say they were wrong.
But for some reason…
There was a hint in Apollo’s words that he wanted to remember Rios, not as a doctor from the past,
but as the Rios he had met.
Moreover, the cheerful voice that usually brought joy to everyone seemed slightly elevated just now.
“Apollo, were you close with Rios? Like… friends?”
“!!”
He looked at me in surprise, as if the truth he had kept hidden had been revealed.
He opened and closed his mouth several times.
After sighing deeply, he finally confessed.
“Yes. In truth, Rios and I were close friends. I’ve kept it a secret because people would be shocked to hear that a god and a human were friends, but evidently, you’ve figured it out.”
With that start, Apollo continued to describe their first meeting.
He recounted how Rios’s appearance had been rugged,
and how the intense smell of herbs on his body made it clear he was a doctor.
The way Apollo narrated the details of this man was akin to a child excitedly telling their parents about how they played with a friend.
“We both had a calling to save sick humans. However, we realized salvation was always a step behind, just as new diseases emerge and appropriate medicines appear only later.”
Apollo took a hearty swig of water and continued,
“So we founded a group called Melteirus, focusing on prevention, and we operated it for 15 years. Then he suddenly disappeared. Thirty years ago, his tomb was discovered, and today the truth about my friend has finally reached me.”
“The truth Apollo truly wanted to uncover… was the reason why Rios, a close friend, disappeared without a word.”
A god who governs and nurtures humanity.
The human who respects and follows the gods.
These two, like water and oil, became friends because of their shared interest in medicine.
Still, Apollo’s voice carried a certain solitude and disappointment as he recounted those beautiful memories.
“…I wonder if I was the only one who considered him a friend.”
With an awkward smile, Apollo denied the friendship on his own.
Perhaps embarrassed at thinking he was the only one regarding the other as a friend, he cooled his reddening cheeks with his palms.
“Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious? If Rios had thought of me as a friend, why didn’t he confess his story from the past? Why did he leave without saying a word?”
“Do you think the gap between gods and humans prevented you both from being true friends?”
“Exactly. That’s why I had you uncover the truth through trials. Now I see, he fled because he had committed a crime, but… in the end, he still regarded me as a god, not a friend.”
“…”
You’re mistaken, I thought.
Rios must have also considered Apollo a friend.
If my hypothesis, which I mulled over the entire way back, is correct,
the last message in the third letter was certainly…
“Did you say anything to Rios upon your first meeting?”
“Hmm? Ah, I remember now. I definitely asked, ‘How many digits of pi do you know?’ It was while fleeing after losing a challenge with my moon sister over the value of pi.”
Hot… as expected.
My thoughts were validated.
“Rios thought of you as a friend until the moment he took his last breath.”
“First you ask what I said during our first meeting, and now you claim we were friends? It sounds ridiculous. What would you know?”
Thinking I was just offering baseless comfort without any knowledge, Apollo showed obvious annoyance.
“Apollo, do you remember the first puzzle we solved regarding Rios?”
“You solved it. That was about the… pi… Ah!”
The shadow over his face lifted like a sunrise, and the light of realization dawned.
Apollo had also reached the truth.
The total of four puzzles in Rios’s labyrinth.
Three of them revealed Rios’s sins.
But the first puzzle was a cherished memory between Rios and Apollo, known only to them as friends.
The inscription on the tomb’s entrance,
“I wish the wisest person could have taken the truth.”
Then who did Rios consider the wisest person?
Who did he want to uncover his dirty truth first?
It was none other than his friend Apollo.
Because Rios, burdened with sin, didn’t want to tarnish his friend’s name, he avoided writing Apollo’s name directly and instead phrased it obliquely.
And until his final breath, he never lost faith.
In the belief that his first visitor would be his friend Apollo.
So for 500 years, he waited, surrounded by the laurel branches symbolizing Apollo.
“Did I betray Rios’s hope and trust? Was I the only one who doubted his friendship?”
“Not at all. I, as the proxy of Apollo, the Sun God, no! As the friend of Doctor Rios, have clearly conveyed the sincere feelings of both of you. Rios’s and Apollo’s.”
“Is that…? So that’s how it was… Hahahaha! Hahahahaaa!!”
Hiding his face with his palm, Apollo threw his head back and laughed heartily.
However, a single tear escaped through the cracks of his hand, unable to be concealed.
