Chapter 71: Emergency

Lars looked at Artemis with a raised brow. They were close, but not that close.

"Orion..." Artemis batted her eyelashes at him and he definitely thought there was an imposter amogus.

"Artemis? Are you okay?" Lars put a hand on her forehead.

"Yeah! Artemis! Are you even the real Artemis?" Hestia who was watching from the side after her shift pointed at her suspiciously.

"Wait, let's not talk here in public." Lars sighed and he put down Artemis for now.

They were led by Hestia to a private area and it was her current home. An abandoned church at the ruins of Orario.

"Hestia... You have to take care of yourself." Lars looked at her with pity.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not that pitiful, right?" She started doubting if she was even living decently.

"I know you're now the goddess of all things fried and made of potatoes, but you can at least invest your money more wisely." Lars thought she must've spend it on useless things again.

"I-it doesn't matter! Ahem, let's focus on the matter at hand. Hermes! Is this even Artemis?" Hestia pointed at the goddess.

"Hmm? Maybe coming to gekai changed her lifestyle as well? After all, turning into mortals influence us quite a bit." Hermes shrugged.

"As if! Artemis is my best friend! She won't even let a man get near her." Hestia remembered how she was in heaven.

"What even did Artemis do back in heaven?" Lars was curious.

"She'd shoot arrows at you if you approached her." Hermes laughed as he reminisced the times where gods had to dodge her arrows.

"Hmph, you even tried to peek on me with a couple of gods, Hermes." Artemis huffed at him.

"I cannot help it, it's a man's romance to see a maiden in her most natural form. Especially a lone one at the top of the hill." Hermes nodded sagely.

"You're just a goddamned pervert." Lars deadpanned at him.

"Tch, so you tried that on Artemis as well!?" Hestia smacked Hermes with her twin tails.

"Let bygones, be bygones Hestia! So, about that little trip." Hermes squinted his eyes.

"I don't like that look on your face, Hermes." Lars sighed and Hermes started to explain the situation.

"We are going on an expedition outside of Orario." Hermes frowned.

"Huh? Outside? Why?" Lars raised a brow and Hermes was a bit troubled.

"The place we're going, is a ruined temple outside of Orario that has something sealed in it." Hermes began expounding.

"Multiple familias have been sent, but they didn't come back." He finished with a wistful shake of his head.

"An investigation?" Hestia understood why, but why them exactly. Especially because Lars is just a level 2.

'Does Hermes know about that powerful woman? I should probably ask him about her in the future.' Hestia could still remember Alfia's tyrannical presence.

"I see, so this is a really dangerous mission huh? And you need the one who gets this to eliminate the threat?

A threat that warrants the use of a divine construct." Lars revealed that he knew.

The gods were shocked that he could distinguish it.

"So you already know, Orion. This makes things much easier." Artemis knew that he wasn't normal, so it was a relief that he won't be surprised.

"Well, good deduction. The ruins is a month's worth of traveling by foot. So please prepare a lot of supplies." Hermes instructed.

"Ha? A month's travel away from here? That's insane." Lars was reluctant to leave Monstro for too long.

Even though Alfia was there, she isn't exactly a person that excels in keeping everything in order. Her specialty lies in scorched earth tactics.

"Don't worry, it will get shortened to a week. Because the Ganesha familia will be giving us some mounts." Hermes winked at Lars and he sighed.

'So this is a mission from Ouranos huh?' Lars now knew that they were all in cahoots. And that means they received a directive from someone above.

"What's happening, Hermes?" Hestia asked as she didn't quite understand.

"Have you ever heard of Antares, Hestia?" Hermes asked her.

"No, not really." Hestia tried thinking of the name, but she wasn't really focused on gekai for eons.

"It's a monster that was sealed by the fairies. A mystical race similar to the spirits. And its seal is getting weaker." Hermes frowned.

"Wait... Artemis, where's Rethusa? Shouldn't she be with you at least?" Lars noticed that her familia wasn't with her.

"Monsters showed up outside of Orario in large numbers. They're taking care of them right now." Hermes tipped his hat downwards.

He then gave Artemis a side eye and she nodded at him in gratitude.

"So? We just have to get rid of it? I can fit in a week in my schedule." Lars sighed.

"Thank you, Orion." Artemis smiled at him and Hestia squinted her eyes.

"Are you really Artemis? You're the promiscuity buster. A total romance and man hater." Hestia raised a brow.

"Hestia, it's me." Artemis smiled wryly at her friend's suspicions.

'Hestia has always been thoughtful of her friends. Why must she be like this now?' Artemis thought sadly.

"Okay, then I'll get the expedition crew ready. The Astraea familia will go too, it's final." Lars had a bad feeling about things.

"That's fine, this will go better now. With several 1st class adventurers, this will be a piece of cake." Hermes was actually hoping for that.

Lars went towards stardust garden and Hermes looked at the other gods.

"We need to talk with Astraea and Demeter. I've already gathered them at our familia home. I knew he'd bring the Astraea familia." Hermes donned a serious expression.

"You deserve to know this too, Hestia." Hermes gave Artemis a look and she nodded.

"It's about my personality, Hestia." Artemis gave her a pained expression and the little goddess frowned heavily.

"I do not like where this is going." Hestia felt her heart, beat faster.

__Orario's walls__

Everybody was now gathered on the walls of Orario.

"Take care, children." Demeter hugged Lars and she put his face on her deep valleys.

"Demeter... I'm not complaining, but we're in public." Lars deadpanned at her.

"Ara, is this what you call a motorboat?" She went fufufu as Lars' voice vibrated around her breasts.

"Goddess! Stop monopolizing him!" Tione grabbed him and he was smushed between them.

"Ahhh, I can see the lights." Lars looked upwards as he shed a tear.

"Ey! Take this!" Tiona hugged him from behind as well.

"Tiona, only your ribs will rub against him." Elnea reminded her with her icy cold, pure logic.

"Gah!" Tiona kneeled down due to the emotional damage.

"Orion sure is popular..." Artemis observed and Hestia huffed.

"Yeah! That's why you shouldn't go near him. Though he is pretty helpful..." Hestia warned her.

"Ara, is this a meeting to show Lars affection?" Kaguya walked up to him and she pulled her kimono aside a bit.

"Kaguya! Y-you shameless! You're not a whore! Stop doing that!" Ryuu pulled her away and Alise jumped her as well.

"I!" They heard some small wyverns flapping in the air and a man shouting.

"Am! Ganesha!" Ganesha jumped down from one of them and landed on the walls.

"Everyone is lively! Guhahaha!" Ganesha laughed.

"Yeah, something else will get lively too if this continues." Lars rolled his eyes.

"Okay, let us start our journey!" Hermes shouted and they nodded.

"But, we're missing a few mounts." Alise counted them and they're missing a couple of few.

"Ahh, I couldn't prepare one for everyone!" Ganesha announced like he was proud of it.

"So we'll be sharing?" Tione glared at the others and she stood close to Lars.

"Let's play this fair and square... With rock papers scissors!" Alise rolled her sleeve like she was going for a fight.

Hermes patted Lars' back and he sighed. "It's hard being popular."

"Well, I'm not really in a bad position anyways." Lars shrugged and Hermes gritted his teeth.

"Enviable bastard, so you're not one of those herbivores who couldn't pick one and string everyone along!" Hermes was jealous.

"If you can't decide, why even try to drag things? People like those disgust me. Just because those who are vying for your affection wants to compete, doesn't mean you have the right to be ignorant and let everybody twiddle their thumbs in hope of receiving a smidgeon of your favor." Lars scowled.

"What a man... May your harem, prosper." Hermes rubbed his hands and Lars raised a brow.

"I wish your luck rubs off on me." Hermes explained and he sighed.

"I won, Orion." Artemis smiled at him and the others were defeated by her luck.

"Kuu! It's fine, we've gone on dates. Artemis doesn't stand a chance!" Tione bit her lip.

"Uhh, I don't know about you. But she's a goddess you know?" Airmid could see how one would get attracted to Artemis.

"H-hugging before marriage is sacrilegious anyways..." Ryuu looked at Artemis enviously.

"You know you want to hug him like a teddy bear, you lewd elf." Lyra smirked at her and Ryuu's ears turned atomic red.

Everybody then started the journey and Lars was controlling the wyvern as they sailed through the night skies.

"You okay back there, Artemis?" Lars asked and she nodded.

"I'm fine, better than fine actually. Orion, your warmth is enveloping my chest." Artemis hugged his back and he could feel her pretty big knockers.

"Uhhh, I'll get distracted you know?" Lars smiled wryly.

"Orion, tell me a story." Artemis asked him and he thought of one.

"What story would you like?" Lars replied and she hugged him tighter.

"About love." Her voice hitched, but he would ask her about it later.

"Love huh? There's tons of them lying around. But this is one of my favorite ones." Lars chuckled.

"It's the love of a demon and a goddess." Lars remembered a little demon who kind of looked like Finn.

"A demon and a goddess!?" Artemis gasped at the combination.

"Yes, you can already imagine what would happen to them. And what's worse, is they're both respectively high up in the food chain." Lars expounded.

"The general of the demons abandoned his post when he met a goddess. Even when their races were at odds, they fell in love together.

And to protect it, they betrayed their own families and people. Even fighting them so they could live together in peace." Artemis was hooked.

"What happened to them then?" Artemis frowned.

"Alas, love does not conquer everything. They caused a holy war that caused uncountable casualties. And it was blamed on them due to their relationship." Lars shook his head wistfully.

"They were punished by the supreme deity and the demon king. The man, doomed to live an eternity.

While the woman, marked for death as a mortal. Stripped of her powers and memories. Cursed to reincarnate forever and ever, only to die once she remembers her lover." Artemis gritted her teeth at that.

"Dozens of lifetimes, he met with his goddess. Trying again and again to live happily with her. But all of them ended in tragedy.

As her curse guaranteed her demise in three days whenever she remembers her memories. And that cycle continued for thousands of years."

"D-did they break it?" Artemis teared up at the thought of such tragedy.

"They did, after 106 reincarnations. With the help of their comrades. Defeating the demon king and the supreme deity to break it." Lars smiled.

"I can't imagine how he must've felt, seeing her die, time and time again." Artemis frowned.

"Yes, it was a miracle he soldiered on. Once is already enough to change people permanently. But he saw her die in his arms dozens of times." Lars sighed.

"Do you think... Do you think that love like that can happen?" Artemis asked.

"Absolutely, it's highly unlikely. But there is nothing impossible in this world." Lars shrugged.

"I see..." Artemis bit her lip as she put her forehead on his back.

"What? Do you want one, just like it?" Lars chuckled.

"Stop making fun of me, you think it's childish, don't you?" Artemis glared at him.

"Well, it's highly unrealistic. But love isn't logical in the first place. So it can happen, it depends though. Will you battle against all odds for me?" Lars asked her and she blinked in shock.

"I... Do not know." Artemis wasn't sure, she needed to think more.

"That's fine, relationships are unequal at times. But you should be prepared to give a hundred percent and in turn, you will be given the same. It should be an equal exchange." He shrugged.

"I see, thank you for your wisdom, Orion." Artemis went pensive.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.