He grinned and continued speaking, slowly raising his fingers one by one.
“Link multiple Twelve Labors together and take them on. How many would you like to take?”
Dionysus’s demeanor resembled a young boy offering his candy stash to a girl he likes, revealing the colorful wrappers for her to choose from.
One candy for each type: rock candy, mint candy, coffee candy, and so on.
In stark contrast to Dionysus’s excitement, I merely maintained a heavy silence, troubled.
No matter how many advantages there may be, the linked Labors that he’s suggesting are nothing more than burdens laced with malice.
“You only have eight Labors left, right? How about taking on all eight at once? Just touring the cardinal points of this continent can suffice for four Labors, wouldn’t you say?”
“……”
“Conflicts with the Gods increasing over time as you complete Labors must be tiring, isn’t it? If eight is a burden, then let’s link four.”
“……”
“Arc Priest, why have you gone mute? Don’t you want to release the curse of Luna?”
“If your purpose in casting this curse was to lead me here, I’d rather resolve it with something other than a Labor—”
“Tsk~ Why are you trembling like a scared little mouse? The Twelve Labors are limited to twelve anyway, right? It’s better to try for instant riches by taking on several Labors all at once rather than dragging them out one by one.”
Dionysus encourages me, smiling warmly as if there’s no need to think too hard.
It could fool you into thinking it’s a refreshingly simple method, at first glance.
Imagine fulfilling Labors as pressing piano keys. Press ‘Do’ for the first Labor, ‘Re’ for the next, and ‘Mi’ for the following.
Instead, he suggests pressing all the notes at once: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si, Do.
Ending what could take dozens of years in an instant.
It makes some sense.
But I already see through the malicious intent behind his proposal.
My back is drenched in cold sweat, and my hair stands on end, yet I remain silent and tight-lipped.
If he had been born in modern times, he would surely have been a notorious con artist, making headlines and gossip circles worldwide.
“Hmm… That’s an unacceptable condition, Lord Dionysus.”
“Why?”
Sighing softly, I shake my head to turn down his proposal, prompting him to frown like a student facing an unfamiliar problem.
That expression, however, doesn’t alter the fact that some conditions are just unacceptable regardless.
Let me give you an example.
The fifth Labor instructs: “At exactly 8 a.m. tomorrow, visit the southern metropolis of Hestia to pay your respects.”
The sixth Labor instructs: “At exactly 8 a.m. tomorrow, visit the northern metropolis of Hera to pay your respects.”
What would you do if given these two consecutive Labors?
Nothing.
It’s absolutely impossible.
If two Labors are already impossible, adding eastern and western cities would be checkmate.
Even if you could borrow Athena’s chariot, it wouldn’t be enough.
Even Zephyrus, the God of the Western Wind, famed for his speed, couldn’t traverse such a vast distance instantly.
The Gods in Greek mythology are notorious for their cunning wordplay, leaving even me speechless.
Regardless of how drunkard Dionysus may be, giving him a chance to strangle me is absolutely forbidden.
“If the linked Labors create contradictions, I will inevitably fail.”
“Aha~ Worried about that? Don’t be. I won’t entangle them in impossible paradoxes like a locked-room mystery.”
“There’s no way to trust you.”
“Come now! I will tell you the contents of the Labors beforehand. All you need to do is consider if you’ll accept.”
True.
The subject of the Labors is ultimately decided by Artemis.
Dionysus can’t recklessly impose them on me.
His words seem plausible when examined carefully, but…
I still don’t want to accept them outright.
Let me put my cards on the table first.
“Lord Dionysus. If you lift the curse, I will allocate a tenth of the tax revenue to cover all the world’s alcohol for two years.”
“Ah! That’s quite an enticing offer, but no… Unless half the tax revenue is allocated to alcohol, it won’t suffice.”
“Listening quietly for a bit, but it sounds like you’re hijacking a conversation not meant for you. Hey! Who do you think you are, interrupting us here when you ran away from Olympus?”
Artemis folded her arms behind her.
Clearly irritated at being sidelined like a forgotten bundle of barley, she stepped forward to assert her presence.
Today, her tone seemed particularly rough, and she bared her sharp fangs like a female wolf encountering the enemy of her pack, not bothering to hide her aggression.
“Artemis! Hold on! Let me talk to you for a moment.”
As the growling Artemis and Dionysus seemed about to collide again, I quickly grabbed her arm and led her to a cluster of trees far away.
Looking back cautiously, fearing Dionysus might overhear, I cupped my hand over her ear and whispered softly.
“Artemis, have you forgotten the crisis in Luna?”
“Forget what?”
“We’ve merely bought three months’ time with their reserves. The best course is to lift the curse and restore normalcy. Let’s first gauge his mood—”
“Ark, why are you acting like this?”
“Huh? Why am I what?”
“You, who held your head high and confidently addressed the other Gods! Why are you bowing down to that fellow? Why are you offering tribute? What have we done wrong?”
“Because the citizens of Luna are also involved, and we must be cautious. The alcohol industry is far more significant economically than you think. If mishandled, the entire city could collapse.”
“Ah, stop it! I don’t care. And I already told you before! These other Gods should not interfere in my affairs! My Labors, my decisions! Truly, it’s so annoying!”
“Artemis, this time—”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Why should I lower myself and beg that kind of God?! What have we done wrong?”
She refused to listen to my difficult argument, covering her ears with her hands.
Kicking trees nearby while screaming at me, she spoke only of what she wanted to say, oblivious to fairness.
Her stubbornness follows her principles, no matter how wrong or right they seem.
“Ugh… Even at such an important moment, you remain childish…”
The lives of the millions of citizens under us depend on this negotiation.
And yet, Artemis remains fixated on her own feelings and emotions, stirring genuine frustration in me.
It’s not that I don’t understand what she wants to say.
Artemis had shown substantial dissatisfaction in the past when Hera decided the progression of her Labors arbitrarily during an Olympian hall assembly.
Though she had stayed silent like a mouse in front of Hera, she unleashed her grievances upon returning to the Temple.
For example, Hermes was pitted against her as part of a Labor, but the discomfort shadowing her face during the entire ordeal never disappeared.
Still,
heroes emerge from troubled times, and filial children from poverty.
The interference and pressure from the Gods indeed helped Artemis discover her resolve and true identity as a Goddess.
As much as I want to champion her independence and persistence,
our backs are against the wall, having staked everything on these three months.
If we must kneel and beg Dionysus to prevent the collapse of the industrial base and save our followers, then so be it.
“Huff~ Patience. Three breaths. One, two, three.”
I sighed deeply, preparing to once again persuade Artemis, who lay sprawled out like a child in a toy store aisle.
“Artemis. Artemis.”
Still covering her ears, Artemis resisted my efforts to speak with her, shaking herself free when I tried to grab her shoulder.
“Aah, forget it! I don’t want to hear it! Why are you trying to persuade me? I don’t want to waste my Labors on some antisocial guy like him!”
“Consider it for a moment. It can’t hurt just to listen, right?”
“The fact that you’re trying to lower my defenses step by step, you think I don’t notice?”
She’s incredibly stubborn but also quick to sense my intentions.
“What did we do wrong?! It’s his fault for picking a fight with us!”
Fuming, she pointed towards Dionysus, who was whistling far away, the instigator of this whole issue.
I opened my mouth to reason with her, but she spoke first.
“Initially! The one who said they’d make me a true Goddess was you, Ark! So why am I letting myself be dragged around by his curse?! Isn’t maintaining my dignity and grace important?”
“!!!”
Her voice, raw and cracking, echoes across the mountains and resonates in my chest.
Yes.
The decision to become a true Goddess was Artemis’s own.
For a moment, I had forgotten how much she relied on me for her purpose and means to achieve that.
Artemis is one of the Twelve Olympians.
Although Dionysus, inheriting Zeus’s bloodline, is among the High Gods, he ranks below Artemis.
In focusing only on rescuing the citizens, have I deprived her of her pride and sense of self-worth?
She surely sees seeking out one of the lower-ranking Gods as a humiliation.
Her carefree personality often masks her pride, but has my neglect made her feel undervalued?
I placed both my hands atop her still-covered ears.
She raised her head, looking at me with eyes filled with unease.
“Then, let’s just go back. Go back and devise a new plan. What do you think?”
“Really? Really?!”
Artemis’s smile slowly returned.
Yes. This was the right decision.
We approached Dionysus too hastily, driven by urgency.
What we could have done later…
Let’s return and find ways to revitalize the failing industries.
We may have less than three months, but…
No.
We have three months.
Yes, that’s right.
Though I can’t see a solution now, surely…
Together with Artemis, we will find a way…
To strengthen ourselves.
Definitely.
That’s when it happened.
“Wow, wow! Look at the Goddess of Purity, holding hands with a human! Sharing some sort of emotion with their gazes~?!”
Dionysus crept up silently behind us.
Pointing at our intertwined hands, he teased us in that absurd, childlike way.
Though I intended to immediately refute his teasing, Artemis pulled her hand away from mine sooner.
I looked at her questioningly, but she only blushed, lowering her head.
“You two really like each other, huh? I was just joking! Big news, big news! Heh heh heh!”
Dionysus twirled around us, reveling in the mockery.
When Artemis, embarrassed and offended, took out her bow,
Dionysus playfully danced away using his nimble steps.
“Ugh, no no no.”
“Get out of here! I’m not someone who’d bow down to your curse!”
“Hahaha! Then I’ll just reveal my terms and leave!”
Dionysus pulled the cork from the wine bottle at his waist.
With a smirk, he poured the drink on the ground at our feet,
causing the damp earth to twist and writhe, forming strange characters as if solving a jigsaw puzzle.
[Develop a new beverage that pleases the Twelve Olympians and showcase it.]
[Make Hades laugh with the beverage you present.]
“Teeheehee! Ark, if you accept this double Labor under these two conditions, the curse will lift instantly. Bye for now!”
With that, Dionysus vanished, leaving his conditions behind with a careless laugh.
I stared at his retreating figure, then looked down at the mud where the glowing words rested.
“What is this…?”
