The light that had been forming me came together again, restoring me to my original form.
In short,
It felt as though my body had been shattered into fine sugar powder and then reassembled into a single cube.
Since this was a completely new sensation for me, I flexed my hands to regain the feeling in my body.
“Ugh! What is this?”
While checking my surroundings, I was startled to realize what the ground beneath my feet was.
It was a cloud.
A cloud as dense as cotton candy had replaced the earthly ground.
Only then did I fully grasp that I had ascended to the heavenly realm of Olympus, and I looked around me again.
This place, filled with clouds like a desert filled with sand,
In the distance, ancient structures formed a ridge, evoking a grand landscape painting.
It seemed that the heavenly city over there would be my final destination for today.
“As long as I don’t suddenly fall or anything…”
With the bleak reality of having to walk on clouds, I moved cautiously, like crossing a minefield, one step at a time.
While walking, barely able to see ahead and focusing only on the cloudy ground,
I noticed a pair of shoes in my line of sight.
“What? You actually made it up here?”
In front of me stood Artemis, wearing a pristine white dress with frills like a wedding gown.
The dress, which clung to her body, accentuated her figure and added even more to her grace.
If she dressed like this all the time, I imagine it could grow two or three small towns.
“Damn, you’re on duty at the temple today with Hebe, huh… how did you manage to cook and boil your way up here?”
She looked at me with surprise, as if she didn’t believe I had truly ascended to the heavenly realm.
“…It’s a trade secret.”
“Hmm~ Is that so? If you’ve made it up here, you should hurry into the city, not stand here. …Ah.”
Artemis noticed something peculiar today as her gaze fell on my trembling legs, and she smirked with a teasing grin.
Damn.
Legs, stop shaking already.
“Our esteemed priest is afraid of heights, I see?”
“No, that’s not it…”
“Then what is it?”
“I, I was looking for an Iclina flower. I need to offer it to Hera.”
“The Iclina flower… Ah, so that’s how you made it up here?”
There’s no way she doesn’t know that the flower of Iclina symbolizes reconciliation.
Artemis, having likely figured out how Hebe was persuaded, looked around then approached a patch of weeds.
There, she touched an Iclina flower with its three large white petals fully open.
“One should be enough, right?”
“Yeah, thank you.”
Why is she going out of her way to help me? I eyed her with suspicion.
In response, Artemis turned to me with a wicked grin, showing off all her teeth,
And began jumping on the cloud like a child on a giant trampoline.
“Uaaaaaaaaaah~!!”
The cloud, without any sort of cushion zone, swayed like a suspension bridge under her pressure, causing my body to sway unsteadily, as if drunk.
“Haha…haha…ha! Ah, okay! I admit it! I have acrophobia! So stop already~!!”
“You should’ve just said so earlier. How’s that? Do you feel the power of a goddess now? Does respect grow within you?”
“……”
“Huh?”
“Yes… respect flows within me like a river.”
As I indicated my surrender, she finally stopped her relentless jumping and giggled delightedly at my pitiful state.
Damn.
How exactly was the Olympus building constructed on such a shaky ground layer?
I had trusted it more since it was made of stone.
“Enough fooling around. Let’s go. The council is starting soon.”
Artemis approached and extended her hand to me.
I grabbed her hand and slowly stood up.
Then Artemis bent her left elbow, creating a small space under her arm.
“What are you doing?”
“Huh? What do you mean ‘what’?”
“I’ll be escorting you, so quickly slip your arm in here and let’s link arms.”
She jiggled her folded elbow to hurry me along.
Isn’t this gesture usually reserved for a man escorting a woman?
This is the opposite.
As if Artemis cared about such norms, she started humming a tune and led me toward the city of Olympus.
Holding the Iclina flower in her other hand,
We headed straight to the grand conference hall within the heavenly city of Olympus for the emergency council meeting.
The grand conference hall, as large as the lower gods’ temples, was a vast kind of hall.
The atmosphere was solemn, much like a modern courtroom.
In place of the judges’ high platform,
A large round table was placed in the center.
And to emphasize the reserved seats for the 12 Olympians, 12 golden thrones and statues of the appropriate deities were positioned behind the seats.
Artemis, arriving early, already looked bored as she yawned repeatedly toward the empty seats.
Ding- ding- ding-
The gods began entering the hall just as it struck noon,
And I could only observe them discreetly from far away at the entrance.
“Hey.”
“Hyyyyaaaaaackk!!”
Someone poked me in the ribs and called my name from behind.
Shouting in surprise, I turned around to find Apollo waving and smiling.
“I’m curious about the extent of your abilities. How did you manage to climb up Olympus?”
“Haha, hello, Lord Apollo. You are far more remarkable than I am. After all, you exposed the truth about Rios…”
Holding the letter that contained the truth about Rios, Apollo returned to his temple.
The first thing he did was gather the historian and welfare officers to reveal Rios’ dark past.
The Olympus Times eventually published that Rios had been stripped of his hero title.
His deeds could no longer be praised.
“No, Rios would have wanted the truth in that letter written like that.”
“I think so as well. Now he will truly be remembered as a doctor who clearly distinguished between light and shadow.”
“Right. Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
With a smirk looking behind him, Apollo went to his seat.
After our conversation ended, Athena approached me from where she had been waiting behind.
“Arc, I-”
Interrupted in her greeting, Athena suddenly shot forward as if propelled by a cannon.
Hardly regaining her balance, she turned her head to check who had pushed her.
Following her gaze, I noticed Hera, her hands crossed and her eyes burning with fury.
Like a troublesome mother-in-law, Hera smoothed her elegant updo with her palm.
“Athena? The council is starting, so don’t linger at the door. Go in.”
“…Yes, Lady Hera.”
Not wanting to squabble right off the bat in the grand hall, Athena yielded to Hera’s intimidation, not even exchanging a word with me, and took her seat.
Hera was likely annoyed simply by the fact that Athena and I were on the same side,
And she preemptively blocked any conspiracies we might have.
“How dare a bug walk around in this sacred and solemn grand conference room?”
Lady Hera glared at me as if I were a bug.
Ignoring her terrifying gaze as best I could,
I fell to one knee and presented the Iclina flower I had received from Artemis to her.
“Lady Hera, please forgive my presumptuous words during the promotion celebration.”
“Hmph!”
She snatched the Iclina flower and tore its petals apart mercilessly, scattering them over my head.
Not satisfied with just shredding the flowers, she waved at me with evident anger.
“You certainly know how to come up with pathetic tricks. But it’s too late!”
“My request for forgiveness comes from a sincere heart.”
“You’re too insignificant to be stomped on! What made you come here today after hearing the topics for the council meeting and realizing you’re in trouble!”
“…”
“Hey Hebe, why did you bring this bug up to Olympus?! Criala!”
Lady Hera summoned one of her spirit familiars in a fury.
The familiar named Criala materialized her body and quickly arrived before Hera.
“Go down and find out what’s going on with Hebe! Now!!!”
The familiar nodded her head and disappeared again, becoming invisible.
Goddess of youth, Hebe.
I’ve kept my promise with you to ask for forgiveness.
It wasn’t accepted by you, Lady Hera.
Perhaps your only mistake, Hebe,
is not realizing that there’s an unbridgeable chasm dividing Lady Hera and I.
I lightly shook off the scattered Iclina flower petals from my head as I stood up.
“Lady Hera. Would it be possible for me to watch the meeting from some distance?”
“Tch! Why should I allow that?”
“If my dismissal proposal passes, you can witness my despairing face in real-time.”
“Hahahahah! How utterly inept. You, a mere bug, do you watch the face of a bug before you crush it?”
Slap!
Hera harshly slapped my cheek, telling me to stop making a fool of myself.
Clutching my split lip as I fell, she laughed it off as amusing.
“Hohohoh! Exactly, a bug should crawl on the floor like that.”
Smirking, Hera kicked the side of my head with her heel, brushing off the sand from the soles of her shoes and then kicked me out beyond the conference hall steps.
She then leisurely walked into the hall.
“Urgh…”
Clutching my aching ribs as I tried to get up,
another shadow loomed, this time a figure wearing a winged cap stood over me.
“And you are…?”
