Chapter 167
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Interlude: The Origin of the Obsidian Flute
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One day.
In a gathering of beautiful and great gods and goddesses, the wise Athena sought out the great poet Apollo.
The elegant and noble queen of the gods, Hera, alongside the most beautiful and enchanting Aphrodite—when choosing the most beautiful goddess on Olympus, Athena was invariably mentioned.
Her stern and dignified beauty, gray eyes sparkling with wit and intelligence, silver-gray hair reminiscent of the morning mist shrouding the battlefield.
All of it made her a goddess who drove countless suitors to beg for her love, despite having sworn virginity to the Styx.
Apollo, who never spared his skill for a beautiful goddess, quickly took his stance at her call.
"Hey, Apollo."
"Oh, what is it, beautiful Athena? Do you wish me to play a piece? I'll gladly strum the lyre for you."
Even if his opponent had sworn virginity to the River Styx, the goddess of war—counted among Olympus's most beautiful alongside his own sister—was more than enough to loosen his fingers.
"Just say the word. The ballad of great Perseus, guided by your blessing? The exploits of Bellerophon and his steed Pegasus, whose arrogance was so tragic? Oh, how about the song of the city named after you, from your contest with Poseidon?"
Apollo began rattling off a list of songs for Athena that sprang immediately to mind.
However, Athena hadn't come to request a performance for her today.
"No, what I ask of you today is the opposite. I want you to listen to my playing."
With that, the gray-eyed goddess of wisdom drew a flute from thin air.
"Oh...! What a beautiful flute!"
A black flute emitting a mesmerizingly deep glow.
Even Apollo couldn't hold back his admiration for the flute, which shimmered mysteriously as it let light pass through hazily.
"I'm glad you say that. It's my creation, and even I quite like it."
Athena, who always seemed so stern, actually loved receiving praise.
A faint smile played across her usually strict face, exciting Apollo all the more.
"This is quite exciting."
"You can look forward to it. It made a truly beautiful sound."
Athena boasted confidently with a hint of smugness as her lovely lips touched the flute.
Apollo and the gods, who had gathered in twos and threes for the wise goddess's flute performance, held their breath in anticipation.
-...Whoosh!
...?
-Poo-ooo! Hooo-ooo!
-Squeak! Squeak!
-.....
The beautiful Athena, the wise Athena. Goddess of strategy and tactics, driver of chariots, eternal virgin of war.
Eldest daughter of Zeus and protector of the wealthiest kingdom, Athens.
An unimaginable travesty of a performance echoed through the gathering of gods from such a great goddess.
But the disastrous playing was nothing.
Her fine brows, never shadowed by emotion, crumpled pitifully like a muddy gutter; her pearl-white face, flushed beet red from blowing with all her might.
And her lips, which recited wisdom envied by all, along with her pale cheeks, puffed out like a bloated pufferfish.
All who saw it were stunned by Athena's unprecedented appearance.
'...Sad thoughts, sad thoughts.'
'When Father fell to Tartarus... let's think of that time... but that's a good thing?'
'Recall the humiliations Mother Leto and my sister suffered... that day so painful and tearful...!'
'Ah, Adonis, my beautiful lover. Remembering you brings sorrow... sorrooow... Pfft!'
No, correction needed.
At the sight of one of Olympus's top beauties crumbling in an instant, everyone strained to hold back their laughter.
The queen of the gods covered rising tears as she recalled brutal past wars.
The sun squeezed its eyes shut remembering his sister and mother's pain.
The goddess of love and beauty bit her lip, reminiscing about her absent lover.
-Squeeeeak!
A cute yet thunderous squeak, like a mountain beast's roar. That final blow sank even the noblest goddess.
"Pffthaha!"
"!? Hera?"
"Ah, sorry, Athena. I can't hold it anymore... Pahhaha!"
In the end, the queen of the gods succumbed to Zeus's eldest daughter's new divine feat: the goddess of comedy, despite her sky-high patience.
"Ahahaha! Hnng! Ahahaha!"
Hera clutched her sides, laughing so hard she could barely breathe.
Her new stepmother, whom even Athena admired for her eternal grace and beauty, was doubled over laughing—Aphrodite was utterly bewildered.
"Why, why are you doing this, Your Majesty!"
"Ah, no, Hera. If you laugh so openly... Ah.... Pffhehe!"
"Heeheehee! Ah, Athena! Sorry! Heeheehee!"
Starting with Hera, Apollo and Aphrodite joined in, bursting into laughter. Hebe and the attendants nearby had to bury their faces in the floor to stifle their giggles.
Athena plummeted from the pinnacle of universal admiration to the clown eliciting universal mirth in an instant.
But no matter how failed her performance, was this any way to mock her!
"Athena. Ath... Pffbt!"
"...Grr!"
Now Hera ducked her head the moment she looked at Athena's face, as if just seeing it triggered laughter.
'Wh-what's wrong with everyone?'
Was her playing cursed with some unknown magic that forced listeners to laugh?
Of course, the noise she'd just made could hardly be called music.
Even Apollo had once turned Olympus upside down with worse racket when first trading the lyre with Hermes.
But the mood hadn't been this laughing then?
Athena's face burned with humiliation.
Turning her head, she spotted a decorative fountain with clear water flowing.
'Why on earth?'
Problem identified = seek solution.
With that thought process as default, Athena immediately objectified herself to find a solution.
In other words, she reflected on why her audience was collapsing in hysterics.
Gazing into the crystal-clear fountain, a beautiful goddess who perfectly resembled her stared back from the water.
And as she reverently brought the flute to her lips again and blew...
-Squeakblebleblepoooo!
"!?"
The pitiful truth blared forth like a trumpet from hell.
"...."
Her brows scrunched tight, cheeks ballooned like a pufferfish, shoulders trembling, eyes quivering.
An utterly comical face unbelievable for the goddess of wisdom.
For the one who always shone with dignity and pride as Zeus's eldest daughter to look so wrecked.
-Pffahahahaha!!
At the encore of her ridiculous expression, not only the three chief gods but the lesser deities around burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"Athenaaa... Pffft!"
Even Nike, Athena's attendant Victory, who couldn't bear her lady's fall, rushed to comfort her but collapsed upon seeing her flushed face.
"Eeeek!"
Shame, humiliation, mortification, rage, and more.
Every negative emotion in existence dyed the usually rational Athena's face red, and the beautiful flute in her hand trembled as if about to shatter.
[Whoever holds this flute shall be struck by misfortune!]
-Splash!
Unable to contain her fury, Athena hurled the flute into the water.
Unable to bear becoming more of a laughingstock, she stormed off fuming.
As the goddess of wisdom vanished in a huff, the collapsed gods and goddesses stirred and rose one by one.
"Haa... Athena seemed really mad. Will she be okay, Hera?"
"Aphrodite, if you're truly worried about that child, the proper thing is to quietly let today pass... Pfft!"
"Heavens, you can't bury it either, Hera. Ah, my cheeks hurt~"
No matter that she was her husband's ex-wife's child, Athena, as legitimate eldest daughter, maintained a cordial relationship with Hera.
If anything, Hera pitied Athena, whose own mother had been devoured by her father before she was even born.
The queen of the gods sternly warned the gathered crowd not to carelessly spread word of Athena's blunder today.
"Pffft... What a shame."
"Apollo? What are you doing?"
"Ah, Your Majesty."
As they dispersed with pursed lips under the queen's stern warning,
Apollo, his hateful golden hair gleaming mischievously, was rummaging in the fountain.
Hera peered curiously and saw the black flute Athena had just thrown away clutched in his hand.
"Apollo...?"
"Ah, Your Majesty. I have no intention of using this flute as a dagger aimed at Lady Athena.
As a master musician, I simply can't bear to see such a rare instrument sink into oblivion."
With that, Apollo cleaned the flute thoroughly and brought it to his lips to play.
-♪♫♪~
"Oh my?"
As expected of the god of music—under Apollo's breath, the obsidian flute sang a melody as beautiful and elegant as its appearance.
A tune incomparable to Athena's earlier screeches.
"As I thought, the mouthpiece was twisted. And made of solid obsidian, so impossible to tune..."
Hera couldn't hide her puzzlement at Apollo's wry smile, as if he couldn't be helped.
"Then how are you playing it so freely?"
"I can even do this?"
Grinning smugly, Apollo flipped the flute upside down and played.
-♪♫♪~
The exact same melody as before, followed by a wink her way.
"As the patron god of musicians, how could I not manage this much?"
"I... see."
What would Athena have said if she'd seen this?
Imagining her stepdaughter's reaction—seemingly intellectual yet subtly hot-tempered, just like her father—Hera quietly turned away.