I Became Artemis’ Boyfriend

After spending the night at the Portna inn, I returned to Luna early in the morning by carriage.

I set up at the Moonlit Central Plaza, the final location for achieving my first labor.

I installed a temporary stall and took out the bottles of Blessed Sea Water granted by Poseidon from the box, placing them on the table as merchandise.

Next to it, I placed a standing A-frame menu board, displaying in large letters for the customers to see clearly:

“For sale: Sea Water blessed by Lord Poseidon.”

“Only 1 bronze coin, first come first served!”

In the Moonlit Central Plaza, which has the highest foot traffic, I announced the start of my first business venture.

“Sea Water blessed by Lord Poseidon for sale! Only 1 bronze coin!”

After more than two hours of loudly promoting to attract customers, there was no sales revenue despite the bold start.

The citizens passing by didn’t even spare a glance out of curiosity.

Perhaps they’d never seen anyone so crazy as to sell ordinary sea water in an inland city.

If they only thought I was crazy, it would be fortunate.

A bigger problem was the phrase “Poseidon’s blessing.”

The citizens avoided any potential involvement, suspecting me of being a fraud using Poseidon’s name.

“Arc! Arc!”

Coachman Jake kept calling my name as he hurried over.

“Uncle, good morning.”

“Good morning? What good morning is this?”

What about my peaceful morning greeting didn’t he like?

Jake raised his voice slightly, glared at me, and continued speaking.

“I did everything as you asked…”

“But why?”

I flashed a carefree smile at Jake and urged him to continue.

“No matter how I think about it, I just can’t understand. Besides, selling Poseidon’s items so openly in the city of Artemis… you could be punished for illegal proselytizing!”

In a situation where the gods vie with each other for power expansion while monitoring each other’s city expansions,

Jake, as a priest of Artemis, showed serious concern about actions perceived as promoting Poseidon.

“Ah~ don’t worry. It’s a kind of souvenir. Citizens of Poseidon’s domain use bows frequently too, right?”

There’s no rule that only followers of Apollo or Artemis can use bows, right?

“That’s true, but… Arc, I have no idea what you’re trying to do…”

“Whoooohoooooooot!!!!!”

Jake’s worried questioning was suddenly interrupted by a brash voice.

We turned our heads toward the source of the brash voice.

Three thugs with messy tattoos and piercings that made one wince, were licking their lips as they approached us.

One was dragging a chain on the ground,

another was tapping his shoulder with a baton,

and the leader standing at the front fixed his sneering gaze on me.

A typical thug group straight out of a 90s TV drama.

The ominous aura suggested they were the type to knock over shops and demand protection money.

I turned my head in the opposite direction to meet Jake’s eyes.

Jake nodded briefly in agreement.

No matter how much this uncle worried, he had prepared everything properly.

The stage is set.

Good. Let’s dance.

“Uncle, please step back now.”

“Ah, understood.”

Jake, answering in a slightly trembling voice, fiddled with his copper ring and fled quickly.

Then he hid behind a pillar of a nearby building, peeking out to watch what would happen.

“What, what is the matter?”

“Aaaang~? What? What~ever is the matter~?! Teeheeheehee!!”

The thug with multiple lip piercings mocked me childishly.

Along with the mocking laughter, another thug kicked over my stall from behind.

KABOOM! Clang!

Since it was a temporary stall, the legs were wobbly to begin with, wasn’t it?

It collapsed with a single kick.

The glass bottles in the air fell helplessly toward the ground.

I threw myself forward like a dive, extending my hands.

It didn’t matter if my chin grazed the ground and bled.

All the glass bottles of Blessed Sea Water were safe.

However, unfortunately, there was no time to sigh in relief.

The apparent leader grabbed the front of my shirt and forcibly pulled me up.

“Hey, whose permission did you get to do business here?”

“Selling small items in the square is allowed for anyone, according to Artemis’s statutes…”

“Blah blah!”

The difficult words made him frown and he started punching my abdomen.

Punch! Punch! Punch!

The powerful uppercuts were so strong that my heels bounced off the ground.

But I have to endure it now.

“Cough cough! Why are you doing this, masters? Please spare me.”

I begged with the most abject expression, shaking my hands and knees.

Then the violence toward me temporarily ceased.

Thinking it was an opportunity, the brash-looking thug held out his right hand toward me.

“Keeheehee, come on. Hand over the money.”

There was no cheap premise that they would protect me in return; these weren’t third-rate thugs but just trash.

“Ugh… I was just trying to sell sea water as a simple souvenir. Please give me one chance, alright?”

Quickly kneeling to show submission, I trembled my body feigning confusion and pointed at the menu board.

“See! It says here that the sea water is sold for 1 bronze coin, right?”

“So?”

“Right? I haven’t sold a single one yet, so I don’t have even 1 bronze coin. Please, I beg you. Spare me.”

I continued bowing deeply, begging for my life.

KABOOM!

The leader kicked the wobbly leg of the stall. The stall was then completely smashed.

He approached and forcefully pushed down on my shoulders with violence.

“See? But what can we do? Since we didn’t get the money, we’ll have to take it in another way, boys~”

“Yes, sir!”

“What will you do?”

The leader thug glanced at me and smirked,

then nodded toward the intact bottles of Blessed Sea Water lying on the ground.

Everyone in this situation understood his meaning without words being exchanged.

Destroy it!

Break it!

Like vultures eyeing eggs in a nest, the two thugs circled around the bottles.

They hoisted their weapons, the baton and chain, high above their heads.

The moment they struck, all the bottles given by Poseidon would be shattered into pieces.

“No!”

My slide was faster than their weapons landing on the bottles.

Like a mother bear protecting her cubs from external dangers, I hunched my body to shield the bottles within my arms.

Punch! Punch!

The chain and baton, missing their targets, struck my back directly.

“Chok!”

The massive blow against my spine nearly rendered me unconscious.

“Tch!”

“Want to be crazy? Keep it up!”

The thugs, completely unfazed, prepared for a second strike.

Punch! Punch!

“Cough! Ugh, urkk!”

I ended up spitting out blood from the merciless beating.

Third and fourth strikes followed, striking my back directly in succession.

The initial purpose of smashing the glass bottles of sea water was forgotten as the thugs grew more violent upon realizing I wouldn’t budge despite their expectations that I would.

“Hyaaaah!”

“Haah!”

The two thug’s baton and chain swung again for a sixth strike.

The obvious action I needed to take was clear.

I needed to quickly roll aside and avoid the shards of glass stuck under my chest like spikes.

Otherwise, the blows from their weapons would drive the shards deeper into my chest and abdomen.

Then I’d die.

I needed to move out of the way fast.

Yet, strangely,

My arms and legs were growing stronger against the red warning lights of my rational mind urging me to dodge.

If I dodged, I might survive,

but the pool of sea water on the ground might get defiled by those chains and batons.

That, I couldn’t forgive.

“…I’ll protect it.”

I fortified my resolve further.

Oddly enough, my trembling body gradually calmed.

“Insane! Die!”

“Keehaahat!”

The two thugs, unconcerned with my situation, readied their batons and chains for another swing.

Sixth strike, coming.

My action was clear.

“…”

With resolve and eyes tightly shut,

shwoooooosh—

the water around my stomach spread rapidly in all directions centered on me.

The sea water spread at light speed, covering the central plaza before stopping.

The thin film of sea water caused the ground to melt away, revealing a figure rising up like a giant pillar from beneath.

Shaking off my blurred consciousness, I tilted my head to look up at the person who suddenly appeared.

Sliding toward me with the flow of the sea water was none other than

Poseidon!

“Po…seidon sir.”

Even at my call, Poseidon didn’t look at me.

He merely glanced down at the three surrounding thugs as if they were insignificant insects,

and with the meaning of ‘you pests, scram’, slammed the tip of his trident onto the ground.

“Hi, hiiik!”

“J, it’s really Poseidon!!”

“Flee!!!!”

The three real Poseidon’s appearance froze the thugs with fright, and they tried to run away in fear.

However, the huge tidal wave raised by Poseidon swallowed them up and washed them out of the plaza.

Poseidon contemptuously watched the fleeing ones disappear, clicked his tongue, then finally turned his head toward me.

Bleeding from wounds caused by shards of glass, I crawled like a rag on the ground to kneel before him and bowed my head.

Poseidon looked down at me, nearly dead, as if he’d been watching all this from the beginning.

“Stubborn chap.”

That was his short comment.

However, there was no better way to express the whirlwind of emotions in him.

“Arc.”

“Gulp! …Yes. Lord Poseidon. Cough cough!”

Continuing to spit out blood, Poseidon flicked his finger.

As the sea water enveloped my body once, the pain of the wounds strangely began to heal.

“If you hadn’t avoided the last beatings from them, the glass shards would have pierced your heart and you would have died while protecting the bottles of water you tried to guard.”

“I was well aware of that.”

“Then why do you try to protect the spilled water recklessly? Is it because of the blessing I bestowed?”

“It’s not about the blessing. It’s about the sentiment.”

“Sentiment?”

“Ignoring it wouldn’t have mattered, but I wanted to protect Lord Poseidon’s broad sentiment for granting my small wish.”

“…”

“Even though the wish wasn’t fulfilled and the water is almost all spilled, here…”

Carefully putting my hand into my embrace, I retrieved the last remaining bottle of Blessed Sea Water.

Although nine bottles were completely shattered, I managed to protect the final one from the thugs.

There was at least some value left that I had protected by throwing myself in front of it.

Trembling with two shaking hands, I offered the bottle respectfully and placed it under Poseidon’s feet.

“…Isn’t this the water you protected? Why are you returning it to me?”

“I’ve realized I don’t have enough strength to protect Lord Poseidon’s deep sentiment and authority.”

“Then? Is your previous statement about remembering past favors while looking at the water a lie?”

Poseidon sharply criticized my current statement, which seemed to contradict my previous declaration in the temple yesterday.

That is, he pointed out the contradiction between the statement today about wanting to return it because I can’t protect it yet, and the statement in the temple yesterday about wanting to protect it to always remember the past favor.

Even while I was nearly dying, he continued to maintain his skepticism toward me until the end, which I thought was truly Poseidon-like.

I vigorously shook my head to break through directly.

“Not at all. I’ll definitely buy it back at its proper value in the future.”

“Buy it back?”

“Yes. Isn’t this sea water, after all, our copper ring?”

“Copper ring… …heh!”

Lifting the bottle from the ground, Poseidon momentarily fell into contemplation while rotating the bottle back and forth.

The ebbing sea water inside the bottle seemed to reflect his thoughts, as he wore a faint, meaningful smile.

I too shared that sentiment and wore a serene smile.

Ordinarily, seawater is just seawater. Simple sea water.

But the seawater before us is not simple.

I referenced past events and imbued the sea water with gratitude and respect.

Poseidon, responding to that sentiment, had given me sea water imbued with trust and compassion.

That is, we are not exchanging sea water now; we are giving and receiving imbued with meaning.

“So, how much should I pay to buy back this sea water?”

“Eh? Buy? You could just keep it entrusted…”

“You’ve already bought this for 1 bronze coin. If you want to repay its value later, shouldn’t this sea water be entirely mine now?”

“Well… then I’ll sell it back for 2 bronze coins.”

“Hehehehehe! I knew you’d say that, Arc.”

Poseidon wore a consistently cheerful smile, as if never upset by those thugs.

He flicked his finger, and a small wave rose from the ground toward me.

The wave hitting my knee dispersed quickly around, leaving only two coins where it had been.

“Arc, I look forward to seeing you again.”

He grinned as if looking forward to some fun event, then dissolved into sea water that flowed and seeped into the ground.

The seawater covering the plaza floor evaporated as if instantly disappearing, returning the square to its pristine state.

Picking up the 2 bronze coins, I stood up dazedly still staring at the spot where Poseidon had disappeared.

Checking the surroundings quietly, I examined the tattoo on my wrist.

The tattoo that was the hallmark of the first task began to fade and soon completely disappeared.

Initially, I bought the sea water for 1 bronze coin, but since I resold it for 2 bronze coins, there was a 1 bronze coin profit, which counted as a success.

The task was simple: sell.

My judgment that the price didn’t matter high or low was correct.

“Me… I succeeded?”

As the tight string of tension finally loosened, I didn’t realize I had fallen on my bottom.

“Haha, hahaha, hohohoho!”

I threw my head back and laughed loudly for a while.

Yes, I succeeded.

I’ve completed the impossible-looking first task!

What expression will Artemis have when she finds out this fact?

I imagine reporting to her in front of her, “Task accomplished.”

No. Now that I can speak informally, “Artemis, I succeeded” would be acceptable, wouldn’t it?

Hohoho!

It all feels like a dream.

Everything went exactly according to my scenario without a single variable.

Everyone else could not even clear the first hurdle of the twelve tasks, yet I succeeded!

And as an extra, I earned Poseidon’s recognition!

All thanks to Jake.

Had I not heard about the copper ring from Uncle Jake in the carriage, there would have been no way to solve it.

Well, let’s share this joy with Uncle Jake.

Let’s enjoy bread and beer, and revel in stories all night long.

I turned my head toward the building where he was hiding.

“Uncle! You can come out now. It’s all over.”

“……”

No response.

He was definitely watching from behind that pillar, but he’s disappeared at some point.

“Uncle! Aren’t you curious about the solution? I’ll tell you. Come out~”

When my continued calls went unanswered, I went over to the pillar, but there was no sign of Jake.

“Where could he have gone?”

Only the sunken footprints, as if freshly pressed in wet clay, remained.

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