Once Dionysus left, the letters written on the ground beneath our feet began to emit hot steam as if water were boiling.
The bubbles emitting from the alcohol then instantly vaporized and dispersed into the air.
“Hmph! What a joke.”
Artemis, who still harbored resentment towards Dionysus, wiped her shoe heel over the soil where the theme of the Twelve Labors was written, just as one would extinguish a cigarette butt.
Her stubborn refusal to let herself fall for his tricks was evident.
As I watched her retreating back, I instinctively realized that what Dionysus had sprinkled was not wine but poison.
Dionysus had no doubt trusted that we would recall the theme of the labor he proposed when we failed to quickly find a way to restore the city.
He must have anticipated that a conflict would arise between me urging the completion of the labor and Artemis, who was adamantly opposed.
Thus, he avoided forcing his conditions on us in an aggressive way.
His calm exit also conveyed his confidence that we would ultimately be unable to ignore the theme he had presented.
Hmm… this leaves a bitter taste.
Today’s events feel like I was doing tap dance like a clown on the palm of the madman Dionysus.
To avoid falling into his mockery, we need to overcome this situation with our own strength, just like I told Artemis.
But…
The theme Dionysus gave keeps lingering in my mind.
Why?
Because the content itself was too simple.
[Develop and present a new beverage that will satisfy the twelve gods.]
[Make Hades laugh when presenting the developed beverage.]
The existence of two themes meant that we had to fulfill two tasks.
The fifth task: developing a new beverage.
It really is simple.
All we have to do is create a drink that hasn’t been tasted by the gods and humans of this world.
I grew up under my grandmother’s care, and I learned by watching and helping her cook.
The best dish she ever made was,
Of course, sikhye (traditional Korean sweet rice drink).
I remember both the ingredients and the recipe perfectly.
All that needs to be done is to adjust the ratio of the ingredients.
And since my culinary skills resonate well with the gods and humans here, I’m confident in this.
Indeed, the universal cure-all: hamburgers.
Oh, noble Hamburgers.
The sixth task is to make Hades laugh.
I’m not a chef from manga or anime who can make people laugh just by serving delicious food, so all I need is some light-hearted joke.
Of course, not everything mentioned above can be achieved so easily.
However, the course of action is clear in my mind, so it cannot be considered a difficult challenge.
“Let’s head back now.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
“Ah! Just a moment.”
Artemis raised her hand to halt us as she abruptly turned her head to glare at Dionysus’ cave dwelling.
She then pulled out her bow, grabbing no less than three arrows at once in her right hand and drew the string.
Swish!
The arrows soared smoothly into the depths of the cave.
Defying all explanation by physics, the arrows hovered like they were carried by the wind before lodging into the ceiling.
With a mighty crash, dust spewed out of the cave entrance first,
followed shortly thereafter by the ceiling collapsing systematically from the inside of the cave.
“I feel much better now. Let’s go.”
“Alright.”
Having concluded her act of vengeance by destroying Dionysus’ residence, Artemis took the lead and began descending the mountain.
It took us less than half the time it took to ascend the mountain as we made our way down.
I immediately went to retrieve the carriage I had parked at the carriage maintenance station beside the trail.
“Get in, Artemis. Oh! Do you want me to help you?”
I extended my right arm to help her into the passenger seat, but she lightly pushed it aside and hopped up.
Embarrassed, I rubbed my nose and grabbed the reins to start the carriage.
Neigh!
With sufficient rest, the energetic horse led us back to City Luna with each neigh.
“…”
“…”
The carriage was filled with a frosty silence.
There was no trace of the usually talkative Artemis.
She didn’t even voice a single complaint.
It had already been two hours since our departure, yet we hadn’t exchanged a single word.
It was much like the situation when a couple returns from a trip after having a fight and maintains an awkward silence.
Why does Artemis remind me of a drama heroine who rests her chin on her elbow on car window, watching the scenery pass by?
The sound of hooves and wheels filled our ears and was perhaps the only comfort in that silence.
Unable to bear the awkward silence, I finally spoke up.
“Are you hungry? Want some peanuts?”
“No.”
“One song then?”
“Quiet.”
Our usual banter wasn’t working.
No matter what I said, she ended it all with a full stop, leaving me with nowhere to go.
There was nothing left to do.
I had to pull out my secret gag.
“Artemis, I’ll tell you a nonsense riddle, so try to guess.”
“I’m done.”
“Come on~ Don’t be like that. Alright! What is something you can drink endlessly without ever getting full?”
“I don’t know.”
“The answer is… air! Hahaha!”
I tried to lighten the heavy atmosphere with forced humor,
but in the end, I too was embarrassed and drowned in the gloom.
“…”
“Hehehe… Hehe… Ah… Cough…”
There’s a wall.
Sitting closely squeezed in the narrow space between the driver’s and passenger seats, there’s a transparent wall dividing us.
It can be heard, seen, and even crossed,
but an icy atmosphere that cannot be violated formed this wall.
Then why did this awkward wall appear between us?
Honestly, I have several guesses, though not an exact answer.
First, prolonged travel has accumulated fatigue.
Added to that, the mental strain from dealing with Dionysus,
and most importantly, today Artemis and I had a ‘real’ argument, not once but twice.
This disagreement must have given both of us much to think about.
I stole a glance at Artemis sitting beside me.
She had turned her head away, hiding her expression behind her fallen bangs.
“…This is what a real fight between a man and a woman looks like.”
As I watched the frosty silence between us, a memory from my past surfaced.
During the summer break of my second year of high school,
even during the summer break, I stayed after school for self-study.
Around noon, a friend named Kyung-soo and I headed out to the Plaza Meeting Area to eat.
After enjoying some simple Korean fast food and having ice cream for dessert, we came across two couples arguing nearby.
“Hey, hey, Kyung-soo. Take a look over there. Aren’t those the couple from Class 4?”
“Huh? Oh, right, they do. The atmosphere’s intense, huh? Hey, let’s sneak a bit closer.”
“Is that okay?”
“What if they notice? And what could they possibly do if they do?”
“…That’s not entirely wrong.”
We prepared to eavesdrop on the Class 4 couple’s argument while ensuring they wouldn’t notice us, by backing against the wall.
When we quieted our breathing, the chilly and frosty atmosphere of the Class 4 couple enveloped us.
Then the man gently stroked the woman’s head, and their conversation resumed.
“Lee Ji-hye. Why didn’t you tell me you were going to the park with your friends last night? You told me via text that you were at home.”
“I didn’t want you to worry, but I understand, and I’ll tell you properly from next time.”
“No, don’t even go out at dawn. Isn’t it dangerous even if there are three girls together?”
“Okay… I’m sorry. I won’t do that again.”
The situation was that the man was calling the woman out for lying about going to the park at dawn.
Judging solely by their expressions and atmosphere, we thought they were having an argument,
but if we’d only heard their voices, it would have seemed like they were having a relaxed conversation, so calm and composed.
“Kyung-soo, let’s go. They’re coming out.”
“Alright.”
Nodding, we quietly came out in front of the bench.
I nudged Kyung-soo’s side as I saw the Class 4 couple coming out.
“Wow, did you see that? Couples can have such elegant arguments. They’re like conducting classroom debates, speaking softly. If they fight like this, they’ll never break up, right?”
“Ha ha ha. You probably see it that way, don’t you?”
Kyung-soo.
Unlike me, who started dating in elementary school and was at the top tier of alpha males,
while I could sense awkwardness,
he had the remarkable ability to detect the melodramatic aura between men and women.
“Man, even though you’ve never had a girlfriend, you still understand. Isn’t it good and understanding when they respectfully express their opinions?”
“Respect? Understanding? Hey, I bet on one thing.”
“What is it?”
Kyung-soo smirked and showed me one extended finger.
“A month. By the end of summer break, I bet they’ll break up. That’s the real argument that leads to separation, you see.”
“Eh? Why? The girl did seem to just lower her head…”
“Haha, you’ll find out when you wait.”
“I was about to tell him not to and ask him to explain,
but a different argument erupting throughout the Plaza Meeting Area silenced my words.
We instantly realized it was another couple’s argument and ran over to check it out.
They were definitely the couple from Class 1.
“Ahhh! Damn it! Why are you picking on something so trivial! Ugh, you damn girl!”
“Damn it, boy! You liar! Why did you lie and go to the PC room instead of doing your homework!”
“I wanted to play games!”
“But why did you lie? Would doing your homework and going have hurt?”
“I already did it this morning!”
“Why don’t you understand that lying is the problem?”
“Yeah, earlier you were yelling about me going to the PC room, too! Screw it! Just go away, you damn girl!”
“Ugh, you worry about me so much, yet you’re yelling. Get lost, you damn guy!”
The argument between the Class 1 couple was extremely intense.
It seemed like they had already resolved to break up, and they were hurling all sorts of insults at each other,
eventually ending the fight by each going their separate ways in opposite directions.
“Hey, Kyung-soo, that couple is clearly going to break up, right?”
“Nope. They’ll be sticking together like glue from tomorrow.”
Kyung-soo once again presented a completely incomprehensible opinion.
Couples who argued coldly and rationally would break up, he claimed,
while those who argued hotly and emotionally would grow closer, he said.
From my perspective, I couldn’t fully grasp his deep meaning.
“They lied to each other. How can you judge the prospect of breakup by the intensity of their argument?”
“Haha, at first I didn’t know either, but there’s a distinctive smell unique to men and women. And that nasty smell of breakup, you see, is much stronger in icy arguments rather than fiery ones.”
“Eh? What kind of smell is that? Don’t tell me, you’re spewing nonsense about empathy or something?”
At that, Kyung-soo smiled with an elder-like warmth and patted me lightly on the shoulder.
“Maybe, maybe, you’ll understand as soon as you have someone you like.”
“…”
A month later, after the summer break ended and the second semester began,
surprisingly, as Kyung-soo had said, the couple from Class 4 broke up, while the couple from Class 1 grew inseparable, going even to the bathroom entrance together.
And now,
here I am in another world, riding in a carriage with Artemis back to Luna,
finally understanding what the nasty smell of breakup, which my friend Kyung-soo talked about, really is.
