As Aphrodite left, Cirrus was finishing cleaning up the site when he heard a scream.

"Hm?" Cirrus stopped and concentrated on where it came from.

!!!

"… It's coming from deep within the forest. It doesn’t sound like someone I recognize… Haa...fuck." His instincts told him this was a trap but if not then a innocent person could be in danger.

Cirrus quickly ran as fast as he could, rushing and weaving through trees to find a cloaked girl with some supplies being attacked by some monsters.

He didn’t think about how a pack of monsters showed up after so long. He acted quickly to get rid of the monsters.

Cirrus rushes in front of her and faced the dog monster, a more tame version of the dungeon’s Hellhound. The people of Yamato called them Red-Eyed Wolves.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yes…I’m just a bit hurt."

"Hm, stay there."

Cirrus could see the wolves eyeing him before howling, causing more to appear from the bushes.

"H-hiiii!!!"

"Stay behind me alright."

The lady was getting scared, so Cirrus opened his hands and kicked off. He quickly grabbed one of the wolves and threw it at another of the wolves, and he ran again, plunging his fists into them both. He quickly started to crush the pack of Red-Eyed Wolves until they were all killed.

"Haaa." Cirrus cleans off the blood from his hands. "Are you okay, miss?" He extended his hand to help her up.

"I am…" She grabbed his hand and removed her hood to show her green hair and face from under the hood. "Now that I found you, Cirrus!" Phi said, now back to using her normal non-pitched voice.

"Phi!!" Cirrus jumped back and looked around when he felt his leg slow him down. He looked to find an arrow in the back of his calf. "Artemis!!! I know you shot me!!"

"Hey, it reminds me of when we first met you, Cirrus!" Phi said, sitting down on a rock as she waved her hand.

An arrow lands in front of Cirrus with a note.

"…Artemis has trained you all very well." He says as he picks up the arrow and reads it. "Haaaa…. You could have just come to the damn village! Why did you have to go with this trap!?" He said while removing the arrow in his calf.

"Sorry but it did work as intended! Artemis has been looking for you for a while now and it wasn’t easy. Well, it was until a bit towards the end."

"…Your gonna have to explain how—it was Aphrodite wasn't it?"

"I'll explain it on the way in more detail."

On the way back, Phi explains to Cirrus that Artemis had been tracking him down some days after he left. She checked his home and went to Melen and even Ukhara. Since she knew where he had gone before, she was more or less able to find small crumbs. She would have gone to Hecaton Village if not for the tracks of Aphrodite in Solingen. From Solingen she just followed the trail of partying, empty wine bottles, and people infatuated with Aphrodite which led her all the way Fuyukusa.

"Haaaaa……fuck."

"I mean, you did pretty well evading Artemis for as long as you did! And I’m sure she can’t blame you for Lady Aphrodite’s intervention."

"…Whatever let’s just get this over with.

 

Fuyukusa Village, Village Chief’s home.

"S-so you found him due to me, huh…" said Aphrodite, looking down.

"You used your charm so much it was like following an animal in the snow on a clear day, but I do have to hand it to you for how much you managed to travel so quickly." said Artemis.

"But to think you were able to track us all the way here is amazing!" said Ai, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes well, I pride myself on that and you Cirrus, I am very proud and frustrated at how good you are at covering your tracks. If not for this one here, it would have taken me at least 2 or 3 months to find you. Speaking of which, why did you come here, Aphrodite?" Artemis looked sharply at her, and she hid behind Cirrus. "And I do mean the actual reason that let me use you to find him."

"I-I- I came here to find the person who took your celestial chastity! And I wanted to see what your punishment will-!" Aphrodite’s eyes widened as she remembered the letter and its contents. She quickly turned her shocked expression into a sly grin. "..Be?" She said, looking at Cirrus, Ai, and Artemis.

"Aphrodite…you’re the same as usual."

"So…" Cirrus said. "What’s it gonna be?"

Ai, Aphrodite and Nox waited for her response. But knowing Hera’s letter, Aphrodite was looking forward to her saying those words.

"….Hmm…Mmmmm…." her face started to turn red.

‘Oh my heaven!! It’s really truuuuuuuuuuuuuuue!!!’ Aphrodite was smiling ear to ear in joy.

Aphrodite concentrated on Artemis.

"Fufufu. Can you guys wait here for a second?" Aphrodite then came up to Artemis and took her away for a bit.

The only thing they heard was some shouting.

"Kyaaaaaa!!!!!! You're really going for it!!!" shouted Aphrodite.

"Shut up!!!" shouted Artemis.

After a while, the two came back in.

"Ahem, so Artemis will proceed with the punishment at her whims, so she will be staying in the village for a while!" said Aphrodite.

"Well, isn’t this great? Another goddess here." said Nox.

"Blunt with your words as always, Nox." said Artemis.

"Say, Cirrus, why don’t you make something special for dinner to celebrate Artemis’s arrival!" Aphrodite said, dragging Cirrus into the kitchen.

"Okay??"

As he leaves, Aphrodite looks at Ai and Nox.

"Alright, so you two come with us."

"??" Ai and Nox were confused as they followed Aphrodite to another room.

When the food was done, and they all sat back down, Cirrus noticed Nox and Ai had on nervous expressions as they ate. Ai, in particular, looked a bit down.

"Mmmm…"

 

Later that night.

"Hey Cirrus…" said Ai in bed.

"Yeah?"

"Um... Do you remember what you said when we were walking to the south gate back when you were leaving for Telskyura?"

"Uhh…Yeah? Why?"

"Well…do you really think you do not want to spend your life with a god?"

Cirrus turned his gaze at Ai, who had her head on his chest.

"Is that what you talked about with Artemis and Aphrodite?"

"N-no!" she said, looking at him. "It’s just well…if you happen to fall in love with a god by chance…I think I would be fine if you still have me…" she said burying her face into his chest.

"…Ai." Cirrus lifts her head. "I will always love you…no matter what, and I will never leave you." He hugs her warmly and tightly so as to never let her go.

"Thank you…"