I Became Artemis’ Boyfriend

“Let’s go camping, Artemis.”

“Camping?”

“Yeah. One night, two days. How does that sound?”

I was tense and rigid, expecting her to ask for some sort of scandalous wish.

But upon hearing the word ‘camping,’ she let out a sigh of relief, placing her hand on her chest.

“Haa~ Okay, no problem with that!”

“Does that mean you agree?”

“Of course! Hehehehaha!”

She must have been under a great deal of stress, fearing what kind of awkward wish I might have proposed.

But when I dispelled that stress and asked for something small, she readily agreed.

“When? Where to?”

“Let’s go tomorrow. Since it’s our first time, how about the top of the mountain behind the temple?”

“Okay. Get everything ready by tomorrow.”

Seeming pleased that what could’ve been a blank-canvas wish ended so easily, she hummed a little tune as she left my office.

I immediately began preparing for tomorrow’s camping trip.

I placed a large travel bag on the floor in the storage room and started packing things as they came to mind.

A tent, sleeping bag, pillow, tarp, toiletries, and sanitary paper, etc.

Given their size, even though I hadn’t packed much, the large bag was already noticeably inflated.

“Let’s just take the essentials for a camping trip.”

Artemis can cut down trees and make chairs and a table herself, I guessed.

With this somewhat irresponsible conclusion, I set the travel bag aside in a corner of the temple hall.

With the excitement of a child eagerly anticipating a school trip tomorrow, I headed off to City Luna.

In order to successfully conclude this unconventional date with her, I needed to purchase supplies.

That is, ingredients!

As soon as I entered the Merchants’ Street, I went straight to Liam’s Shop.

The owner of Liam’s Shop, Liam, is someone with whom I have a very special bond.

When I first transferred to this world and had no money, Liam was my benefactor who gave me rye bread for free every day.

One day, I asked him,

“Why are you giving me bread?”

He chuckled heartily and replied,

“Kha hah hah! Well, because we have leftover bread! It’s not selling~ It’s not selling~ So, I’m giving it to you instead of throwing it away.”

Back then, I thought he just wasn’t doing very well in business.

However, Liam’s Shop is always crowded with customers from morning, making it a very famous shop.

Latecomers often leave empty-handed, so it’s quite natural for Liam’s business to be thriving.

The foolish me eventually came to realize that.

There would be no leftover rye bread in such a booming business.

If there were leftover bread, it would mean that it was not a product, but something set aside specifically for me, who was starving on the street.

After that, I studied even harder to become a priest to repay Liam.

Once I became a priest, I gave Liam’s Shop the exclusive right to supply all the necessary temple items, except for tribute goods.

The shop that supplied goods to Artemis Temple became even more prosperous with this exclusive contract – it was like a tiger with wings.

Ding, ding!

As I entered the shop, the pleasant sound of a bell rang.

“Welcome~!”

A smiling male shop attendant greeted me, then quickly disappeared behind a post next to the counter.

As if pulling a dove out of thin air like a magician, Liam appeared in front of the counter!

“Kha hah hah! Look who it is! Isn’t that our esteemed priest?”

Liam, who patted my shoulders twice with both hands, was laughing heartily.

Yet all the while, he kept nudging the attendant at his side with his butt, pushing him into a corner. It seemed like Liam wanted to personally receive this important guest.

Thanks to Artemis, I’m getting this VIP treatment too.

“Uncle, it’s been a while.”

“Indeed, indeed. You should come by more often, shouldn’t you?”

“Hahaha. I’ve been busy lately. By the way, Uncle, you’re still generous aren’t you?”

I offered a compliment as I pointed to Liam’s protruding belly.

Then Liam laughed heartily and rhythmically tapped his belly as if drumming with both hands.

Perhaps because he spreads good energy to the people around him, there’s a calmness and ease in all his actions.

“It’s all thanks to you, Ark. Ever since we became the supplier for Artemis, we’ve opened three more chain stores. Thank you, thank you.”

“This is the result of Uncle’s personality and acumen, so don’t worry about it too much.”

My assistance as a priest played a big role.

Yet Liam is a skilled businessman, so even without the temple’s exclusive supply contract, his success was only a matter of time.

“Still, you’re a smooth talker, Kha hah hah! So, what brings you here, my esteemed priest?”

“Yes. I’ve come to purchase some food supplies.”

“Ah? Why didn’t you send someone down?”

“I’ll be using them separately.”

I handed Liam a list of necessary ingredients.

Liam quietly read the list of ingredient names to himself but frowned and furrowed his brow when he saw the last one, puzzled.

“Hold on, buddy?! Sure, I can understand the pork loin, but why do you want the expensive beef tenderloin minced?”

“Hahaha, isn’t it a bit much?”

“To mince this tenderloin that tastes delicious even when cooked on a hot stone? Just make it a whole steak.”

Thinking it’s a food joke, Liam raised his voice and flared his nostrils.

I can fully understand why Liam is so upset.

Beef tenderloin.

The rare part attached to the side of the loin produces only about 7kg, making it a top-tier cut with great texture. It’s incredibly tender, melting in your mouth, and considered the pinnacle dish in feasts for the gods.

What about the price?

It’s said that one 7kg tenderloin costs more than a month’s living expenses for a family of four lower-middle class citizens, so that about sums it up.

“I’m trying to develop a new recipe, so could you please help me with that?”

“Recipe development?! Hmm… I understand.”

“Thank you.”

I added a note of gratitude, mentioning that I’d appreciate it if the meat wasn’t minced too finely.

“Understood!” Liam handed the list to the butcher staff.

If I waited a few minutes standing here, a basket filled with ingredients would be placed before me.

“Ark, by the way…what kind of recipe development is this?”

Raising an eyebrow, Liam leaned closer and whispered softly to me.

As a natural-born merchant, he must have smelled an opportunity for profit with the phrase “recipe development.”

If I get caught by this merchant mode of Liam, I’ll likely be stuck for hours.

Let me just bluff my way through.

“Hahaha. I’m going to experiment with various things.”

“Tch! Aren’t you underestimating me too much, Ark?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“If you’re buying meat for multiple experiments, you’d buy it whole, not ask for it to be minced. Mincing tenderloin meant for steak? That means you already have a specific recipe in mind”.

Why are all the people around me like detectives?

I exhale a heavy sigh.

“Haa~ I can’t possibly win against Uncle.”

“Kha hah hah! Two years ago, I precisely gauged the potential of the young lad who was begging in the square. How can you fool me?”

“…It’s just simple food for camping.”

Shaking his head, Liam nodded as I honestly told him.

“Really? The priest goes camping… so it must be a date with a woman.”

“……”

Take back the detective comment.

This guy is entirely from the public prosecution criminal investigation department.

Liam, who seems to see through my inner thoughts as if reading them off my palm, takes it all out into the open.

“Kha hah hah! Why are you looking at me like a startled rabbit?”

“Uncle? Merchants are just for show, but your real job isn’t some covert agent working for national security, is it?”

“What? It’s because you remind me so much of how I used to be. Long ago, I also planned a camping trip because I wanted to court my current wife. Naturally, in the rugged outdoors, women tend to rely on men, don’t they?”

“Perhaps?”

“We cooked the meal, chopped firewood, and I showed her the wild man’s side of me. Especially?”

“Especially?”

“I sprinkled a scary story during dinner.”

Ah…

Now I understand his strategy.

The forest night falls faster than in the city. With the sound of insects chirping and wild animal calls close and loud, in such an uneasy situation, his plan was to amplify that discomfort with ghost stories to make her completely rely on him. What an underhanded strategy!

And he boasts about it…

“So, how did it turn out?”

“Perfect! At night, my wife came to my tent with a pillow in her arms. We lied down, holding hands with hearts pounding. But guess what was funny?”

“What?”

“Turns out I was scared too, staying awake all night. The two of us, with red-rimmed eyes, descended the mountain early the next morning. Kha hah hah!”

Snap!

Just as Liam was reminiscing, his wife suddenly appeared and slapped his back with her hand so fiercely he flailed around like someone had dropped fire on his feet before dashing away down the corridor.

Liam’s wife looked disdainfully at him for a moment before turning her attention to me and handing me the basket full of ingredients I’d purchased.

“Ark? Don’t listen to that fool.”

“Scary stories?”

“Yes. Do you really think I went to his tent because I was scared?”

“I see, I understand.”

It was a simple story.

Through ghost stories, they had started dating. However, actually, just going camping alone together showed that his wife had already had feelings for Liam.

Simple Liam still thinks his strategy worked well all these years later, but in reality, Liam was already under her thumb the whole time.

“Then, I’ll be going now. Please convey my regards to Liam.”

“See you, Ark.”

After paying 1 gold coin, I immediately left Liam’s shop.

Even though I only bought top-tier ingredients, I spent half my salary.

Yet the thrill of being able to serve Artemis a delicious meal immediately erased the financial burden.

“The sun’s already set.”

By the time I was heading back to the temple, it was already night.

Whoo, whoo-whooh…

Owls were chirping incessantly as if gossiping.

Aooowww…

Even the wolves were howling now.

The darkness, with the sounds of animals.

It reminds me of the camping situation Liam described.

This situation alone was already enough to evoke a creeping sense of anxiety, with my heart beginning to beat faster.

There’s this feeling that when I look behind me, a ghost will be glaring at me.

What even are ghosts?

Zeus might drop a lightning bolt on me covertly.

The dark night, wild animals, ghosts, Zeus…

Fear and unease sweep over me in an instant.

“Aaagh! That fatso Uncle. Why’d you talk about ghosts?!”

Stupid Liam.

Even high school students don’t tell ghost stories on school trips these days.

Let alone Artemis, who’s lived for thousands of years, would she be scared of ghosts?

Hastening my steps, I tried to shake off the fear by indulging in various wild imaginings.

At that moment,

One passage from Athena’s records, which I had read in the past, suddenly came to mind.

A phrase used as evidence to uncover Athena’s hidden sincerity while concealing the desire to see her mother.

[When father told scary old tales at night to scare us, the other children would cry from fear and run to mother. But I found a way to overcome fear in the library.]

Let’s focus on “other children would cry from fear and run to mother.”

Surely, this must include Artemis, right?

Even the unruly Artemis dislikes scary stories?

I recalled Liam’s ghost story strategy I had heard in the shop.

The strategy where Liam’s wife came to his tent out of fear from ghost stories!

“… Could it work?”

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