I Became Artemis’ Boyfriend

Though it may seem abrupt, I would like to briefly discuss the history and form of this fantasy world that I have transferred to.

A world where humans and gods coexist.

The gods help humans in both material and spiritual ways, and in return, humans offer tribute and devotion to those gods.

As a result, people who believed in the same god began to live together, and as their villages grew, they developed into cities.

Naturally, the gods also resided in the cities that revered them, forming a kind of governance.

As in the Bronze Age, when surplus resources from harvesting crops led to the emergence of social classes, similarly, the gods who ruled many cities gained even more power and influence.

Therefore, I’ve heard there are quite a few gods who are enthusiastically expanding their cities.

“What has our Goddess done to have only one city? But then again, thanks to that, it makes my job easier.”

Artemis’ only city, Luna.

The rapidly developing city of Luna has a few advantages, one of which is the public hygiene that I spent six months instilling among the citizens of Luna.

The streets used to be filled with trash and animal dung, and the citizens thought it was normal to step in such filth.

After becoming the priest, I immediately focused my efforts on educating the people about health and hygiene.

There were some conflicts, but because of that, I’m quite satisfied that we can now walk on such clean streets.

Arriving at the Moonlight Square, I tapped the shoulder of a coachman named Jake who was repairing the wheel of his carriage by the road.

“Uncle.”

“Whoa! Who’s there? Isn’t that our Priest Arch? Hahaha!”

“You can drop the ‘sir’ part. Just calling me Arch would be fine.”

Jake, the forty-something-year-old coachman.

He’s the one I had a big quarrel with over the horse dung problem on the roads of Luna City.

In this world, carriages are an excellent means of transportation, but no one cared about the horses’ droppings in the city.

I made it the responsibility of the coachmen to maintain cleanliness and hygiene.

The coachmen naturally opposed this, and the conflict grew to the point where Artemis had to consider mediating.

However, it was finally resolved dramatically when I offered to reduce the coachmen’s taxes for five years.

As people and horses’ health improved, the coachmen’s routes expanded, and their income increased.

Experience has shown that even if the tax reduction was revoked right now, they would voluntarily maintain cleanliness.

I proved by results, and the citizens recognized it.

“You know… It’s hard to erase the memory of grabbing your collar and arguing, so it’s a bit awkward still.”

“Hahaha. You keep praising me to Hariton Uncle while saying so.”

“Eh? That guy talking nonsense again? Still, you do work well, it’s a fact.”

Jake, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, turned his head the other way but couldn’t hide his reddened ears.

His rough and honest character allows us to get along well despite our age difference.

After exchanging a few casual words, I opened the carriage door and got into the passenger compartment.

Jake also climbed onto the driver’s seat and turned to me.

“Where are you going?”

“Please take me to Ports.”

“Ports, the city of Poseidon. Got it!”

Jake skillfully took the reins and started the carriage.

The carriage on the suburban road shakes quite a bit as it exits the city gate.

But is it because of the steady rhythm?

The regular swaying of the carriage oddly brings a sense of calm.

Thanks to that, I spread out a mat beside me in the passenger compartment, lay down, and looked up at the ceiling, thinking back on information about the sea related to the Twelve Labors.

1. Before sailing, sailors offer sacrifices to Poseidon to pray for safe voyages without encountering storms.

2. Seawater is a common resource that anyone can use, and Poseidon does not interfere with it.

The problem lies with point 2.

Common resource.

A good that everyone can share and use without limit on quantity is called a common resource.

For instance, air, soil, and seawater all belong to common resources.

You can make a salt field with seawater and sell it — that’s fine.

You can take a large amount of seawater, create a beach in front of your house, and sell sea baths — that’s fine too.

In this situation, you must sell the seawater you use for free to Poseidon, the owner of the sea.

For a week now, I’ve been brainstorming various solutions for these labors, but nothing solid has come to mind, which is quite frustrating.

“Ah… If only I could grasp just one small clue, it feels like everything else would unravel smoothly.”

It feels like I’ve decided to paint an elephant on an empty canvas, yet I can’t figure out how to make the first stroke.

“Why does such a young person sigh so much?”

Jake asked me while looking straight ahead.

Apparently, my sigh was quite loud.

“I’m going to Ports for business, but I don’t know how to deal with it.”

“What kind of business is it?”

“…”

“Is it difficult to talk about? Then let’s talk about something else. It will take some time to get to Ports.”

It seemed Jake was more uncomfortable with a quiet journey than curious about my worries.

Trying to keep quiet about the Twelve Labors, I judged that listening to various people’s opinions wasn’t a bad idea.

If I just hint at the important parts, it should be fine.

“Uncle.”

“Hmm, say what you want.”

“Can we sell soil to Demeter?”

“Keh-heh! What on earth is that?”

Was my question too absurd?

Jake nearly dropped the reins and dragged out his words with a dumbfounded look on his face.

His vivid reaction was so funny that I couldn’t help but smirk.

“Haha, it’s a funny question, isn’t it?”

“Sell soil to the Goddess of the Earth, Demeter? You might as well say you’re thinking about hitting her on the back of the head!”

“Hahaha. Just think of it as going to Ports for something equally absurd.”

“Tsk, if a priest had to take on a job like that, I would’ve quit long ago.”

While muttering, Jake skillfully drove the carriage out of the gate as if accustomed to doing so.

Yet, he seemed to be deeply pondering the riddle I had posed, sometimes furrowing his brow and clicking his tongue.

Our silence with this riddle between us.

The sound of the wheels continued until we passed through a village outside the city walls.

Jake, scratching his aching head vigorously, surrendered.

“No idea. I’ve never once even thought about selling soil. Moreover, selling it to Demeter, the Goddess of the Land…”

“Yes, it’s a common resource.”

“But then, let me say this. The opposite scenario comes easily to mind.”

I was sensing the challenge level of Artemis’s first labor at that moment, when Jake broke in with a simple lead-in.

“What about the opposite scenario?”

“Selling something of no value isn’t mandatory—it’s about never selling at all.”

“You mean it’s about not selling?”

I tilted my head in confusion, unable to understand.

Then Jake, without turning around to look at me, held up his right hand to show me.

There was a copper ring on the fourth finger.

It was an embarrassingly shabby cheap copper ring that could hardly be called a product.

“Do you like this ring?”

“Haha, giving it away would be more like it.”

“Hahaha! I agree completely!”

Jake burst into laughter at my humorous reply.

He then applauded in acknowledgment and resumed speaking.

“This ring was made by my grandfather during a war where he found a piece of copper, and during those 200 days he kept carving it whenever he had a moment.”

“Is that so?”

“It was a significant war, one where the dead far outnumbered the living. Every day was a battle.”

“Your grandfather was trying to relieve the anxiety of war, even if just a little.”

Jake squeezed his right hand into a fist, nodding.

“My grandfather believed his return was solely due to this copper ring throughout his life. This ring, symbolizing ‘peace and safety,’ was passed down to my father and now to me.”

I could easily imagine the situation where Jake’s grandfather sat in the war zone, fervently carving the copper, hoping for survival each day.

Only after hearing his entire explanation did it finally make sense.

If this cheap copper ring were to appear in the marketplace, how much value would it have?

One silver coin?

Maybe it wouldn’t even fetch one copper coin in my opinion.

It’s easy to imagine a situation where someone who bought it might be considered foolish.

But paradoxically, this copper ring has been a family heirloom for three generations in Jake’s family.

To others, it might just be useless trash, but to Jake, it has meaning that cannot be exchanged for anything.

No matter how much someone might offer, Jake would definitely never sell it.

“A ring symbolizing peace… You’re right, Uncle. It’s something too precious to sell. It’s enviable to have such a family treasure.”

“Thank you. Come to think of it, we’ve only talked about my bragging and set aside your concerns.”

“Not at all, thank you. This has helped me find the key to solving my problem.”

Jake’s heartwarming story felt like a lantern guiding me through the foggy forest I was wandering through while grappling with my first labor.

To assign value to something of no worth.

Assigning value essentially means creating significance.

The copper ring and seawater.

Isn’t this the perfect tale matching my first labor?

“Eh? You’ve found the key? B-ah… not dirt… selling seawater?”

“Ho ho ho. Something like that.”

“Hmph! You have no intention of teaching me? … Hmm, we’re here.”

It was not a short journey, but exchanging dialogue on one topic made the trip pass by quickly. We soon found ourselves in sight of the gates of the port city Ports of Poseidon.

After paying the toll and entering the city, Jake kindly drove me all the way to the front of Poseidon’s temple.

“Ah! The return trip is going to be a pain now. I’m curious about what clue you came up with.”

Jake expressed a tinge of regret.

I walked over to the driver’s seat after exiting the passenger compartment.

“Uncle, would you like to come with me to meet Poseidon?”

“Eh? Ah? Why?”

Unlike his usual straightforward talk, Jake suddenly spoke with a baffling stutter.

“You said you’re curious about the clue I found, right? You’ll naturally learn by watching me solve it.”

“Aah, ahahaha! No, no, not really!”

“Come on. I’ll explain you’re with me. It’ll be fine.”

“Absolutely not. I’m serious!”

Had I pressured Jake a bit?

I was so grateful for his hint that I wanted to directly show him the process of my solution with too much enthusiasm.

Attempting to bring him inside the temple, I grabbed his arm, but Jake irritably shrugged off my hand.

For a moment, his mood shifted sharply to irritation, and his tone reminded me of Goddess Artemis.

“Ah…”

“Sorry, mate. I-it’s just that… meeting a god is a bit…”

“Oh. I didn’t consider that. I apologize.”

“No, no, it’s not your fault.”

It was clear Jake sincerely wanted to know how I’d solve this.

But now that the answer was right in front of him, he was avoiding it.

Although his behavior was strange, I didn’t want to force someone who didn’t want to go.

Not everyone lives with daily meetings with gods like I do.

Still, I wanted to thank Jake somehow.

“Head back to Luna first, Uncle.”

“Oh? And you?”

I smiled and gathered a few silver coins from my pouch, handing them to him again.

Jake, who had already been paid at the start of the trip, couldn’t take the money and stared blankly, confused about the situation.

“You’re still curious about the answer, aren’t you? If you do me a favor, you’ll naturally know by tomorrow.”

“What kind of favor?”

“Easy. I’ll ask you for a proxy commission.”

“Commission? What kind?”

“Here, lend me your ear.”

As I gestured with my left hand to my mouth, Jake instinctively brought his ear closer.

Jake’s excited expression gradually tensed up, his upturned corners of the mouth falling back into place.

“…Archer? No, what kind of favor is this?!?”

After hearing the details of the commission, Jake was beyond shocked and in disbelief.

He frowned, apparently considering whether it would be okay to accept my request.

“It’s fine, Uncle. Everything will work out.”

“Hm, all right then.”

With my reassuring smile, Jake reluctantly accepted.

At the same time, realizing he had to return to the city of Luna to file the commission request with the Guild that day, he quickly left the city.

Great.

That wraps up all the prerequisites.

Now all that’s left is to meet with Poseidon.

“All right, let’s go in.”

Taking a deep breath, I headed into Poseidon’s temple.

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