“Solo Performance! Solo Performance!!”
I jumped up and down while tightly hugging her.
As a result, Artemis’s face turned as red as a ripe persimmon.
Stiffening for a moment at my sudden action, she quickly realized her mistake and immediately pushed my face away with both hands.
Not wanting to let go, I tried to hold on, but feeling my limits as my cheeks flattened like squished dough, I eventually had to separate from her.
POW!
Simultaneously, she landed a punch to my abdomen.
Still, unable to quell her frustration, she huffed and puffed, her shoulders trembling.
“Urgh, you little bug! Can’t you control yourself and stop fooling around?”
“Hmph. No, no.”
“You, embracing a goddess like that… Do you really want to die?”
Lifting just one corner of her mouth and flicking a finger, Artemis looked at me as if to say, “How could such a person exist?”
“Since ancient times, they say joy is meant to be shared.”
“The joy will be all yours!”
“Uh? Artemis, aren’t you curious about the answer to the last question?”
“Eh? What? What is it? Have you figured out the answer?”
Even she, who was glaring as if to devour me, widened her eyes in surprise upon sensing that I knew the answer to the final question.
She then pulled a sheet of paper from the side drawer and showed it to me.
The content written on the paper read:
[Argoros drank a poison that was not lethal enough to kill a person, so he naturally recovered.]
“The team’s prepared poison wasn’t fatal. Right? Isn’t that right?”
“…”
Apparently, Artemis had also tried to deduce the final question in her own way.
Too weak poison…
It was certainly not the answer to this question.
Yet, it wasn’t so far off as to be dismissed as wrong either.
There just wasn’t enough evidence to call it the correct answer.
Artemis, you’ve shown some pretty creative thinking here.
I shook my head while folding the paper and handing it back to her.
“Unfortunately, that’s not the answer.”
“Eh?! I thought that was the only possible answer… So what is the correct one?”
“That’s—”
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH WHOOSH—
As I opened my mouth, the double doors of the hall swung open wide, and a strong gust of wind rushed in.
The sharp wind was so cutting it felt like it could peel the skin off, making it impossible to open my eyes.
Soon, the violent wind passed through like a shower and escaped out the window, allowing me to open my eyes just in time to see:
“That answer, I’d like to hear it as well.”
There stood Hermes, who had departed to Mount Kalline, standing proudly before us.
“H-Hermes-sama? I-I greet you.”
Though he was supposed to return in five days, Hermes had come back a day early.
Startled, my heart sank, and I fumbled awkwardly in my greeting.
As I bowed and then raised my head, I noticed something different about Hermes’s face.
Specifically, his eyes were significantly bloodshot.
“Hey, why are your eyes like that? Did you cry?”
Artemis questioned on my behalf about what I was curious about.
“What? Don’t be silly! I’ve only started my new life a day or two ago! Flying here quickly just strained my eyes a bit.”
“Is that so? Well, your speed rivals that of Zephyros.”
Zephyros, wasn’t he the god of the west wind?
To say Hermes rivals the god of winds in speed?
So Hermes’s winged cap and sandals are items so powerful they almost match the level of divinity?
Honestly, I want them.
It’s already annoying to ride in a carriage every time I go somewhere.
And it makes my butt sore too.
“Huh?”
Realizing I was looking at him, Hermes turned to me with a grin.
And upon noticing my eyes fixed on his cap and sandals,
without hesitation, he removed his cap and sandals and handed them to me.
“Hermes… sama?”
“Take them.”
“What…? What exactly are you saying? These are items I cannot accept. Aren’t they treasures?”
I stepped back, waving my hands in a panic.
Heaven forbid!
How could I accept these?
There are certain tools associated with a few gods that could almost be called their personas.
Aphrodite’s girdle.
Athena’s shield.
And Hermes’ cap and sandals.
As far as I recall, Father Zeus gave these to Hermes as a divine reward for his remarkable wit.
And he’d give these items, symbolic of himself, to someone else that easily?
Honestly, I suspected some kind of underhanded trick.
But Hermes, wearing a completely sincere smile, made me feel embarrassed for doubting him.
Before I realized it, I had diverted my gaze.
Then Hermes gazed affectionately at the cap and sandals in his hands.
“With these, I traveled the world and delivered messages without any trouble for such a long time.”
“So why are you giving these precious treasures to me?”
“Hmm? Why am I doing this? Even I’m not quite sure.”
“In my hometown, we call this a cliché.”
“Cliché? What’s that?”
“If you declare your ultimate move, the opponent will never die.”
“Hahahahaha!! Sounds just like the second problem, huh?”
Hermes immediately understood my example and laughed while recalling his own mistake.
He had also called the Sphinx’s riddle his ultimate move, hadn’t he?
But look, I’m still alive.
Could there be a more fitting example?
“So what? Is the cliché of handing over something precious before death true then?”
“That’s right.”
“Hey, why speak so definitively?”
Artemis, who had been silently listening, poked me in the ribs with her elbow to caution the tone of my words.
But ironically, Hermes, the person in question, didn’t seem bothered at all.
Neither did I.
Because from the beginning,
we had faced each other with the intent to kill.
“So I guess I can’t give you the sandals and cap then.”
“A cliché needs to be broken if you want to avoid it.”
“Right. Then let’s make it a gift. If you solve the last question, I’ll gift you these cap and sandals.”
I wanted to nitpick that this was also part of the cliché’s variation,
but sensing Hermes’ strong desire to give me the items that were practically his alter-ego,
I closed my mouth without further comment.
Because continuing this would just be trivial nitpicking.
Instead, I finished by bowing deeply at a 90-degree angle.
We stepped back and approached each other again.
Close enough to shake hands.
Exchanging glances, we signaled the start and inevitability of our fight where neither could back down.
“Well then, I suppose we’re done with preparations. Shall we hear the answer?”
“Yes.”
Argoros and the girl’s story.
As always, the answers are hidden within the text.
I closed my eyes and dove back into the story Hermes presented.
Keeping in mind the homonyms as key points.
Argoros.
A man gifted with extraordinary musical talent.
His talent was clearly described!!
“Particularly in the world of violin, he was head and shoulders above number two— an unmatched solo performer standing alone at number one!”
Here appears “Solo Performance” for the first time.
In this context, solo means far surpassing any competitors.
And then,
“A few years later, thanks to the sponsorship of a wealthy family, Argoros held a solo violin concert.”
Solo violin concert.
That’s “solo performance” once again.
Here meaning performing alone.
Thus, “solo” can take on these many different nuanced meanings besides just “poisonous alcohol”.
And the scene that threw us into confusion.
Right where Argoros drank the solo and collapsed.
“Suddenly, waves of nausea hit him.”
“His mind grew hazy, and his hands and feet began to tremble.”
“Then with one hand, he frantically scratched his own throat.”
The reactions after drinking poison were vividly depicted with high tension.
So I assumed that Argoros had died after drinking the solo.
But never trust the description or traps within the text itself.
Besides meaning poisonous alcohol,
“Poison” can also simply refer to a very strong liquor.
That means what was depicted was the body’s reaction of Argoros, who lacked tolerance for strong drink.
Therefore, he only fainted briefly and didn’t die.
Since there’s a clear difference between “alcohol with poison” and “alcohol strong enough to feel like poison.”
“The answer is ‘solo’ because he simply drank strong alcohol and ended up walking around perfectly fine the next day.”
“…As always, a brilliant solution. That’s correct, Ark.”
The moment the word “solo” left my mouth, Hermes, who had been closing his eyes, now heard my explanation to the end, clapped his hands dryly to celebrate my victory.
With the sound of his applause, the fourth labor’s tattoo began to fade until it eventually disappeared completely.
But I wasn’t at all joyful.
Every single one of Hermes’ movements was scrutinized under a microscope like examining microorganisms.
And at that moment!
Just as my ominous premonition suggested, Hermes drew a sharp dagger hidden in his coat.
“Arc!”
Artemis, seeing the dagger, immediately ran and placed herself in front of me defensively.
But her judgment was incorrect.
The sharp tip of the dagger wasn’t pointed toward me…
“Ark. Can you deliver my death to Hera-sama? Please tell my mother to forgive me.”
The Messenger God Hermes had chosen me as the last courier to deliver the news of his death.
Holding the dagger upside down,
he gripped it tightly with both hands with determination.
And with his eyes firmly shut, he gathered his strength.
BOOM!
Defying Hermes’ plan to pierce his own heart, the dagger twirled in the air after I pushed Artemis to the side and kicked it hard with my foot, eventually lodging deeply into the ceiling.
“Th-this…”
“Hermes-sama. The Messenger God mustn’t shirk his duties.”
I turned and grinned cheekily at Hermes as if I knew his ulterior motives.
