Chapter 77: Persephone (2)
Dionysus felt deep embarrassment at the thought of telling his grandmother about the disgraceful acts committed by the satyrs who were close to him.
It felt like introducing an embarrassing friend to a relative he hadn’t seen in a long time.
But there was no avoiding it.
If she was going as far as summoning Artemis herself to mediate, then what choice did he have?
After hearing everything regarding Artemis and the satyrs, the goddess Rhea fell silent.
She had lived for ages and had met countless satyrs…
But satyrs who committed that kind of act in the forest of the virgin goddess, and then ran away — this was a first.
“Hm… why in the world would you keep such friends…?”
Dionysus could not bring himself to look at Rhea’s eyes — eyes that carried both confusion and disappointment — and turned his head away.
“Hah! You heard everything, didn’t you? What those insolent creatures did! And this idiot trying to defend them — he’s just as bad as they are!!”
Artemis glared fiercely at Dionysus, as if recounting it only reignited her fury.
Her expression practically screamed: If only he hadn’t passed his trial — I would’ve killed them all.
Rhea felt troubled.
Her son Zeus had asked her to mediate between Artemis and Dionysus.
Naturally, she wanted to help…
‘Zeus… that child grows more shameless by the day. He never bothered to tell me any of this.’
Unfortunately, contrary to what Rhea assumed, Zeus had no idea what happened.
She simply never asked — and he never knew.
One could say his ignorance was a fault in itself…
Still, this situation was beyond what Rhea had expected.
She had arrived thinking it was just Hera and Artemis being petty again.
— You filthy son of a— !!! @#$%^&!!!
Artemis’s barrage of curses — directed straight at Dionysus — grew so intense that even Rhea found herself shaking her head.
“Haa… She’s my granddaughter, but truly, she is vicious…”
***
Words could be violence too, they said.
And as Dionysus shrank like a withering old tree under Artemis’s verbal assault, Rhea sighed with pity.
Then, driven by a faint sense of concern, she searched her pouch — and suddenly sensed something strange.
From the pouch Dionysus carried… she felt the aura of Mother Gaia.
‘Hm? Why is Gaia Mother’s energy coming from Dionysus?’
Unable to ignore her curiosity, Rhea quietly stepped in between the two.
“Artemis, wait. Calm down for a moment. Dionysus, I need to ask you something — why do I sense Mother Gaia’s aura on you?”
Artemis, who thought Rhea was trying to intervene again, froze the moment she heard “Gaia.”
What…?
And Dionysus — who had been desperately trying to hold out under Artemis’s wrath, hoping to prevent even one satyr from being sacrificed — also blinked in confusion.
Huh? I don’t have anything like that.
Rhea pointed directly at his pouch.
“The aura is coming from that pouch.”
“Huh?”
Perplexed, Dionysus pulled out his magical pouch and rummaged through it.
Inside were:
Alchemy potions, maps, chains, a grapevine staff, some clothes… and an arrowhead.
“That’s it. The aura comes from that. Bring it here.”
Dionysus looked at the plain, shabby arrowhead with confusion.
This… wasn’t it the token of friendship that Lord Neptune gave me…?
Unaware of his thoughts, Rhea and Artemis quickly took the arrowhead and examined it.
— No way… this is…
— Yes. It seems to be an arrowhead crafted by Lady Gaia herself.
— Isn’t this something only Charybdis possesses?
— Well… theoretically Poseidon might have one too…
— But didn’t they say he crossed the Strait of Charybdis? Did he get it there?
— Impossible. If he obtained something of this level, a mere demi-god like him wouldn’t have walked out alive.
Dionysus watched the goddesses whispering over the shabby arrowhead, their expressions deadly serious.
Why are they acting like this?
After a long discussion, the two came to the same conclusion.
“With something of this caliber… we can let him off.”
“Yes. We can overlook it.”
Exchanging a brief glance, Rhea finally turned to Dionysus.
“Dionysus, is this arrowhead important to you?”
Normally, Rhea would never have asked such a question — but Dionysus seemed completely unaware of the arrowhead’s power and had no particular attachment to it beyond sentiment, so she asked.
“Hm? Well, I received it as a token of friendship.”
“A token of friendship?”
“Yes. From Lord Neptune, the sea-otter king of the Otterfolk.”
“…….”
Hearing the name Neptune, Rhea’s expression stiffened slightly.
Dionysus noticed the awkward silence and wondered why, but he continued speaking.
“I don’t know if it’s valuable, but to me, it’s meaningful. He helped me a lot when I was outside, so it’s like a gift from someone important.”
“…….”
Artemis and Rhea were speechless for a moment.
The fact that Dionysus didn’t know how precious the arrowhead was was one thing…
But not reacting at all to the name Neptune?
And he’s a demigod, too!
While the two goddesses remained stunned, Dionysus casually began packing up his belongings again.
And just as he reached for the arrowhead—
“STOP!!!”
Artemis’s shout made Dionysus freeze mid-motion and turn around.
“Yes?”
Artemis had successfully stopped him, but now she didn’t know how to speak.
She wanted the arrowhead desperately, but proposing a trade with satyrs was unacceptable for a goddess of her standing.
It would damage her dignity.
“Um… that… I… well…”
She couldn’t form the words.
Reading Artemis’s heart instantly, Rhea stepped in and spoke gently — though hurriedly — to Dionysus.
“Dionysus, would you perhaps be willing to give that arrowhead to Artemis? In place of the sacrifice she originally demanded.”
“Huh? But this is the first token of friendship I ever received…”
“Of course. I know it must be meaningful to you. But think carefully — wouldn’t the friend who gave it to you be happy to know you used it to save someone else?”
“That’s…”
Seeing Dionysus wavering, Rhea drove in the final nail.
“Besides… I know that otter king personally. If that’s the case, I can explain everything to him thoroughly.”
Dionysus was fully shaken now.
If Lady Rhea knows him personally… then it should be okay, right?
Sensing the shift in his heart, Rhea delivered the finishing blow.
“Here. These are the letters that otter and I exchanged. Look.”
Dionysus saw the trident-shaped seal stamped on the letter.
Only then did he fully accept it.
If they exchanged letters… then she can explain everything clearly on my behalf.
“Very well. If Lady Artemis is willing to accept it, I’ll gladly agree to the exchange.”
“Hmph! I suppose I can show mercy.”
***
After hearing Dionysus’s story, Ampelos and Silenus were utterly baffled.
— Does any of that make sense to you?
— None. Not even a little.
— Who even is this Neptune guy?
— I told you, I don’t know!!
The only part they understood was this:
Artemis’s anger had subsided.
In other words… they no longer needed to worry, right?
Dionysus turned to them and shook his head firmly.
“No, no, you’re mistaken. There’s no way Lady Artemis’s anger would fade over something as small as an arrowhead. It must have been lady Rhea’s mediation. Now come help me find something among my belongings that Artemis might like.”
“Teacher, you should help too!”
Then Ampelos and Silenus shouted at him in panic:
“NO, THAT’S NOT IT!!!”
In the end, after a very long round of persuasion from Silenus and Ampelos, Dionysus reluctantly pretended to understand.
“Hm… fine. But if Lady Artemis ever comes back later, you two handle it yourselves. Next time, I’ll offer you, Ampelos, as a sacrifice to appease her wrath.”
“No, no, no! That will NEVER happen!”
“Hmmm…”
Dionysus had no choice but to accept their logic.
In his mind, he needed to find something quickly to quell Artemis’s anger — but his teacher and closest friend were so adamantly against it that he couldn’t force them.
‘Knowing Lady Artemis’s terrible temper, she could easily come back later and demand… no, insist on compensation…’
‘Ugh… I guess I have to plan something ahead on my own.’
Meanwhile, Silenus and Ampelos stared at Dionysus in horror.
“Did he… get twisted after being outside for a while?”
“I don’t know. But if he’s treating Charybdis’s Arrowhead like nothing… did he actually go through the Strait of Charybdis or something?”
Silenus accidentally hit the mark — but he would never know he had guessed correctly.
Due to the divine restriction placed on Dionysus, he was unable to speak of anything related to the Strait of Charybdis.
That entire part of his story had been omitted without choice.
“So, who exactly is this Neptune who gave you the arrowhead?”
Silenus, losing interest in the increasingly confusing topic, changed the subject.
There was no point continuing. Dionysus clearly wasn’t in a state to be reasoned with.
“Oh! Lord Neptune is someone I met at sea and became close friends with. He said he was the king of the Otter Beastfolk.”
“Oh! A beastfolk king must be extremely powerful.”
Indeed, the king of the beastfolk wasn’t merely a ruler of one tribe — they had to earn the acknowledgment of all beastfolk.
Among beastfolk, the strongest became the tribe chief.
The chiefs then fought each other, and the strongest among them became the grand chieftain.
Only someone who could defeat their entire race alone could be called a king.
“Well, my teacher is right. He was incredibly strong. Out of everyone I’ve ever met, actually.”
“That’s true — a beastfolk king wou— …wait.”
Something was off.
Everyone he’s ever met?
“Yes. I never imagined a beastfolk, not a god, could appear stronger than a god. Haha. Now that I think about it, he might’ve been stronger than Lady Rhea. It’s probably just my misunderstanding, though.”
At Dionysus’s words, Silenus felt cold sweat forming.
Wait—
Did this brat accidentally meet an actual god?
A chief god–level being!?
***
A few months later.
Thanks to Dionysus’s efforts, Nysa Mountain had regained peace — and once again, a god descended upon it.
This time, two gods: Artemis and Athena.
“H-honored goddesses, welcome!”
“No need to be so stiff, Silenus.”
“N-not at all. Lady Athena and Lady Artemis have personally come…”
“Hmph. You should consider it an honor. I, a goddess, have come directly to your filthy, impure satyr nest.”
Silenus broke into a cold sweat.
She had accepted the arrowhead and the matter had been settled…
But she clearly hadn’t forgotten what the satyrs did.
Fortunately, Athena stepped in to keep Artemis in check.
“Artemis. Didn’t you already receive proper compensation?”
“But sister! When I think about what those creatures did—!”
“Enough. What you received was equal compensation for all of their actions. Therefore, you must calm your anger.”
“…….”
Silenus silently thanked Athena in his heart.
Especially because… the satyrs could no longer hold themselves back and had gone off to meet women.
(Thanks to Dionysus and Silenus, the eunuch curse had been lifted.)
If Artemis found those satyrs while still angry, Silenus didn’t even want to imagine what would happen.
“…Forgive me. I ended up venting my frustration on you.”
“N-no, not at all. What the satyrs did is worthy of death.”
“Hmph! At least you understand!”
“Artemis…”
Athena shot her a warning look, then quickly moved on to the main issue.
According to the Moirai’s whispers and the visions of many witch goddesses…
The war against Typhon was approaching.
There was no time for idle chatter.
“We’ve come to see Dionysus.”
“Dionysus…?”