One week has passed since our battle at Mount Kallineس.
Whether short or long, that week saw quite a lot of changes.
Among them, let me mention a few major ones.
A new member finally joined the Temple of Artemis, and there were several issues arising because of this new member.
But before we talk about the new member…
We cannot omit mentioning what happened with Hera at Mount Kallineس.
In fact, that event triggered a complex web of interconnected problems.
Every time we solved one, another popped up.
It was truly a headache-inducing world.
-One week ago, at Mount Kallineس.
Hera, determined to fully unleash her anger, tried to stab Maia to death with the sharp shards of a broken jar.
Just as the shards were about to be launched,
I hastily stepped in to block Hera.
I immediately appointed Maia as my Grade 9 secretary and granted her an official status.
This judgment was based on a very small observation.
Hera, at the Great Hall of Olympus, was reluctant to disgracefully ruin even a task.
She clearly felt uncomfortable about leaving behind a dishonorable precedent.
If Hera were to ignore the laws of Olympus and kill a priest of Artemis, then any other god could kill her priests without raising an objection.
Even if she claimed it as a justification for a city war, no third party god would agree.
Thus, I thought I had delivered an excellent counterattack by understanding the gods’ habits and nature.
I believed everything would work out fine.
But,
I was mistaken.
Mistaken on a grand scale.
“Tsk! You insect! Till the end, you only live by your tongue. You dare cite the laws of Olympus?”
Watching me try to thwart her will, Hera’s face twisted in unparalleled rage.
Even after appointing Maia as a secretary, she did not lower the shards.
In fact,
The shards quivered, urging to be shot faster, resonating with Hera’s emotions.
“Lord Hera! Do you intend to violate the principles of Olympus?”
“Silence! If I cannot shoulder dishonor and disgrace, how can I call myself the queen of the gods?!”
At this point, an inexplicable unease crept up like a haze.
To the fragile human, the righteousness of their claims is but a piece of scrap paper, dissolving like a tissue submerged in the ocean in the face of great power.
The scales tipped, and her pride outweighed rational considerations.
I had failed to perceive that Hera valued her dignity and authority more than the laws of Olympus, which could be tarnished by stepping back.
“Die!”
As Hera’s cruel right arm stretched forward, the shards shot out simultaneously.
The shards that whizzed past my ears were heading towards Maia’s head and heart in an instant.
Klang! Klang! Kakaklang!
Blocked by an invisible transparent wall, the shards shattered into powder and dispersed into the air without achieving their purpose.
Looking more surprised than me, Hera glared around furiously to assess her surroundings.
Ultimately, Hera jabbed at some empty space.
“You think I wouldn’t know you’re hiding there!”
“…”
“You dare to stand in my way?”
“…”
In the eyes of modern humans, Hera’s behaviour was that of a madwoman yelling at the sky.
I might even recommend a good psychiatric hospital for her.
But everyone here, gods and humans alike, could sense it.
There was undoubtedly a god hiding who had temporarily blocked Hera’s path and was conversing with her.
“Hmp! How foolish. You too, are just like that bug, busy only with your empty chatter. Now I will−… Hmm?”
“…”
“Are you serious?”
“…”
“…Fine. Alright. I’ll remember that promise of yours.”
Hera concluded her conversation with the unknown god by glaring at the empty air.
Simultaneously, her seething rage began to subside.
She glanced at Hermes and Artemis who were still face down on the ground, making animal sounds.
Tsk-ing at their pitiful sight, she snapped her finger, barely stopping their involuntary animal sounds.
Then glaring at me as if to kill, she reluctantly closed her eyes.
“Lucky you, insect. I’ll step back today.”
Hera smoothed out her long sleeves.
The hem of her red dress began to burn, enveloping her body in flames.
Changing instantaneously into ash, Hera left behind a bunch of incomprehensible words before disappearing into the air.
Thus our fourth task ended with an uncomfortable victory.
“Phew… Scary, really scary.”
That day, Hera was akin to a villain out of a noir movie.
The victim steps back, saying, ‘If you kill me, you’ll face a trial!’
But the villain replies, ‘Fine. There won’t be a seat for you there anyway,’ with a chilling smile.
Hera’s resemblance was uncanny.
“Ugh… Thinking about it again is still creepy.”
Recalling Hera’s overwhelming power alone raised goosebumps on my arms, which I promptly rubbed.
I forcibly erased Hera’s face that lingered in my mind.
“Still, who was that person?”
Sitting askew and tapping my pen on the table, I pondered over the mysterious deity who conversed with Hera that day.
Could it be Poseidon or Athena?
But neither had a reason to conceal their identity before us, right?
Seeing no conclusion in sight, I rose from my seat and headed for Artemis’ bedroom to check on her condition.
My footsteps towards her private room were rather heavy,
As she had been holed up in her room for a week after returning to the temple, refusing to come out.
Walking with an uneasy heart, someone grabbed my shoulder from behind.
I turned around to see Hermes waving cheerfully.
“Hiya~ Ark, good morning?”
“Ahh, yes. Good morning, Lord Hermes.”
“Where are you headed?”
“Our goddess seems too secluded in her room, so I’m going to check on the situation…”
“Ah! You’re working hard. Hmm~ I have some immunity since I occasionally receive such treatment from Lady Hera, but Sister probably has hardly experienced this kind of humiliation, so it must have wounded her pride.”
Hearing this, I thought in my mind, “Well, the goddess was only making some animal noises; should she be this gloomy?”
At this, Hermes grinned knowingly, pointing at me.
“Ark, it’s partly your fault too.”
“Me? Why?”
“I felt embarrassed showing those doggy yelps before my mother; how would Sister feel?”
“Huh? Hmm… Isn’t she accustomed to barking and making a fuss all the time?”
“Hiya~ Even you who resolved all my family issues find this hard, huh? Anyway, this is why young ladies are unmanageable.”
Saying this, Hermes added our mutual sympathy before laughing and flying off, leaving me to figure the rest out on my own.
He must be heading to the temple yard now, where his mother is tending flowers.
Whatever they say about cunning ones,
He left another mystery behind.
Is this what they call the curse of tasks?
I can’t comprehend it.
Turning the corridor, I immediately stood in front of Artemis’ bedroom door.
Knock. Knock.
“Artemis, it’s me.”
But there was no response from inside.
Since I wasn’t particularly expecting any, I opened the door and went inside without permission.
There, as I had expected, I saw Artemis.
Like a child who doesn’t want to get out of bed on a cold winter day, she was completely under her blanket on the fluffy bed, refusing to show her face.
Carefully approaching her, I gently poked her bumpy knees.
Then,
Artemis suddenly threw off the blanket and sat up abruptly.
“I told you not to come in for a while! What do you think my bedroom is, huh?”
“Right. You should fix the door you destroyed in my lodging first before saying that.”
Her door-breaking habit has resulted in a hole in the middle of my lodging door.
After repeatedly repairing it, only to have her smash it again, it now seems deliberate.
Thanks to this, wind blows freely through my room during the night.
Including the mosquitoes.
“Hmph! What do you know!”
She stuck out her tongue at me, who didn’t counter her single word, and covered her face again with the blanket.
Hmm… Still, she’s in better condition than six days ago when she first returned to the temple.
Back then, she had her head hanging low and didn’t talk at all.
Anyway, as Hermes mentioned, it seems she is still hurt from conceding her authority to Hera’s overwhelming power.
If I don’t boost her self-esteem, the wound might leave a scar.
Then, is there anyone who can heal this wound?
Indeed, there is someone.
None other than me, Ark, her boyfriend.
There’s just one big obstacle.
How could I possibly know a way to cheer up a girlfriend through empathy?
“Hmm… No choice. I’ll try my way.”
I sat on the bed as close as possible to her.
Startled by the sinking sensation of the mattress, Artemis turned her body away under the blanket.
I brought my face close to her ear and whispered softly.
“Neigh~ Lady Artemis the fine horse? Please wake up. Neigh~”
“Are you trying to die?!”
Artemis sat up again, her eyes slightly misty this time unlike before.
“Are you mocking me too? Don’t you know how truly sad I am right now?!”
With her throat choked up, I leaned forward slightly with a calm smile and pressed my cheek onto her thighs like dabbing water near the heart before swimming.
“Oink~ I am the pig priest who serves the Lady Artemis like this.”
“…”
“Oink~ Oink~!”
“…”
The subtle twitching at Artemis’ lips was as fine as desert sand particles.
I didn’t let this opportunity slip.
I moved toward her lower body, grabbed both her feet, and began tickling her.
“Uha, uhahahahaha!! Stop it, you lunatic!! Uhhahaha!!”
The uncontrollably laughing Artemis.
She thrashed so much that not only the bed cover and pillows fell to the floor,
but the bedframe itself creaked and twisted unnaturally.
“Now, let’s cheer up a bit. You’re not crawling back into the blanket after laughing, are you?”
“Tsk! Making me laugh by tickling!”
“So what? You look best when you laugh, Artemis. That’s what the guy who’s in love with you says. Trust me.”
“Ugh… You’re making trouble again in my confusion!”
After panting from her laughter, Artemis’ face turned bright red.
I pulled her hand to get her off the bed and led her to the side window of the bedroom.
Through the window, we could see the temple courtyard where Maia and Hermes were joyfully trimming flowers with their faces covered in mud.
“What do you think? Artemis, you are the goddess who led these people to a real happiness. Compared to that, kneeling down and making animal sounds is nothing, right? …Isn’t it?”
“…”
Standing beside me, she silently looked out of the window without any reply.
Despite that, the gloomy hue from anger and sorrow that had consumed her began to fade away slowly.
She is a goddess who, though not to the extent of Hermes, has experienced Hera’s oppression.
She can easily tell whether Hermes’ current happiness is genuine or fake.
“Ark.”
“What?”
“I’ve been a goddess since I was born, so I never really thought about what being a goddess really means.”
“I see.”
“Well, I don’t know how to express it exactly… But…”
Breaking off her sentence momentarily, Artemis slowly turned her head and looked up at me.
The sunlight seeping through the curtains brilliantly illuminated her face.
But it was not just the sunlight that lit up her face; there was something more.
That something was,
“I genuinely want to be a goddess. A goddess no one can toy with, someone humans and gods alike look up to…”
The firm resolve of a tender chick emerging from its comfortable nest into a perilous world.
