Children of Zeus (6) Apollo
For the record, I raised Leto and her children no differently from my other children.
But Leto's children had something special about them. The two of them inherited my temperament and Leto's far too strongly.
Apollo, who seemed like a carbon copy of me, took after me. Artemis, who felt like Leto in her childhood, took after Leto.
The problem was that these kids had rather unique sexual preferences.
Artemis is a papa-con.
It's a little awkward for me, her papa, to say this, but she's a kid who insists she will never show her beautiful form to anyone but her papa.
So then, is Apollo a papa-con as well?
No.
This kid fucking loves women. She's loved women so much since she was a baby that there isn't a single goddess whose breast milk she hasn't sucked.
I even suspected that maybe someone had reincarnated into Apollo from another world, but even if that were the case, it's not a big problem.
"Apollo. What do you think I hate the most?"
"Stealing Father's women."
"Correct. Me stealing someone else's woman is fine, but nobody can steal mine. Even if it's my own daughter."
I gave Apollo a warning.
"The moment you try anything with my women, you will be severely punished. Understood?"
"Of course. So that means women Father hasn't touched are fine, right?"
"For now."
I don't know how many more women I'll touch in the future, but Apollo gave a faint, satisfied smile at my answer.
"Then I don't need to worry. I like nymphs."
Nymphs. If this were a medieval fantasy, I could call them elves—and most of them were beautiful.
"You like nymphs that much?"
"Because there are so many pretty women among nymphs. They're all slender and beautiful too. Teehee."
"You really love the beings on earth."
"Of course."
Apollo patted her own chest and grinned.
"That's why I asked for the position of Sun Deity who illuminates the earth. I asked you to give me Helios's title as Sun Deity."
Apollo.
This child became both the goddess of medicine and the Sun Deity.
"I can't let Helios keep seeing nymphs and women bathing naked in the springs. I'll be the only one watching. Teehee."
Even while intending to take the position of the existing Titan god Helios, she wanted to become the sunlight that shines upon the earth.
* * *
Before I granted Apollo and Artemis the positions of Goddess of Medicine and Goddess of the Hunt, respectively.
To bestow another authority upon Apollo and Artemis, I summoned the two who originally held those authorities. Looking in the mirror, I resolved to become ruthless.
From now on I had to become a despotic boss, a power-tripping jerk who shuffles positions on a whim.
Even if I lived a life as an underling before, on Olympus I am the top dog.
"Both have arrived."
"Send them in."
Guided by Athena, the man and woman who answered my summons knelt before me.
"Sun Deity Helios comes before Lord Zeus."
"Moon goddess Selene comes before great Lord Zeus."
Helios and Selene.
These two were Titans under Cronus, belonging to Othrys. During the Titanomachy, all three—well, these two and Eos—were hostile to our Olympus, but after Selene and Eos submitted to me through rape, I also brought Helios under my control.
I had one reason for deliberately bringing him, a man, under me.
At the time, Helios was the only Titan who could drive the sun chariot that pulled the sun across the sky. Apollo does have the talent to drive it, but a girl who loves to laze around and play could never be expected to keep a steady work schedule of seven to nine hours every single day.
In contrast, Helios and Selene each worked diligently without a single day off during their respective shifts. I once held the reins of the moon chariot briefly when Selene gave birth to her daughter Herse—obviously my child—and it was surprisingly grueling labor.
So I placed these siblings under Olympus as the Sun Deity and the Moon Goddess.
But now the situation is different. I had to strip them of their authority for the sake of my daughters.
"I command Helios and Selene."
No long-winded stories are needed.
"From today, the status of Sun Deity and Moon Goddess is lowered from you two. You shall become the first-generation Sun Deity and Moon Goddess, and my daughters Apollo and Artemis will succeed you as the Sun Deity and Moon Goddess."
"Excuse me?!"
Helios's eyes sparkled as he was visibly overjoyed.
"Then the sun—"
"You will still drive the sun chariot and the moon chariot."
"That's..."
Helios's expression soured instantly. Even Selene, who had borne my daughter and held a favorable regard for me, looked displeased.
They still do the same work, but their prestige falls—in effect, this was no different from me humiliating them.
"Do you have a complaint?"
But with the heart of a superpowered dinosaur that rode a glacier down and occupied someone's home, I hefted Astrape.
I let a spark of lightning flicker as a hint to behave themselves, and Helios frowned and bowed his head.
The discontent was quelled.
However, if I sent them away like this, resentment toward Olympus would grow.
After wielding the whip, it was time to offer the carrot.
"Your work will not be very different from what it is now. But you'll be able to work more efficiently than before."
I handed each of them a wristwatch.
Crafted with Athena's wisdom and Hephaestus's technical skill, the wristwatches were more precious than watches that once cost the price of a car in the past.
"What is this...?"
"It expresses the cycle of day and night. It divides the day into 24 hours, and you each take half to switch between day and night. You just have to switch day and night according to the time on the wristwatch."
If they can change day and night precisely at set times, they'll be able to do plenty on their own during their working hours.
For example, Helios would clock in at 7 a.m., launch the sun chariot, then leave the sun chariot running in self-driving mode and step away for a while, then casually show up around 6 p.m. and put the sun chariot away.
Basically, I made them a device that tells time so they can systematically slack off in between.
"O-ohhh..."
But Helios seemed more interested in the watch's external design than its function.
'Men really do love wristwatches.'
Since it was crafted by Hephaestus's master craftsmanship, it was good that he took such interest. As for Selene, though...
"Understood."
She was composed. She seemed somewhat bittersweet. It was probably because of the mixed feelings of losing the title of Moon Goddess she'd held her entire life to Artemis.
But that's a misunderstanding.
No matter how much I create positions for my daughters, if I just snatch positions from the old Titans like this, the other Titans won't stay still either.
"I'm saying this just in case there might be a misunderstanding."
Perhaps because I was saying this after having already created a splendid misunderstanding, both of their ears perked up.
"To the Titans, you still remain the Sun Deity and Moon Goddess. Your authority will be maintained."
"Excuse me? But you said Apollo and Artemis will take the second-generation positions..."
"The two will become the Sun Deity and Moon Goddess from the perspective of the earth. Yes, I'm talking about when the beings on earth talk about the sun and moon."
There is only one sun and one moon.
You cannot have two entities holding that status simultaneously.
But when it comes to the sunlight and moonlight that reach the earth, it's a different story. When it comes to prayers directed toward the sun and moon from the earth, it's a different story.
"To put it simply, Apollo and Artemis will do the work of listening to the prayers and pleas that beasts make to the sun and moon."
"Ah...!"
The lowly creatures of the earth gaze upon the sun and moon.
And they pray toward the sun and moon, and all those stories reach the ears of Helios and Selene.
"You don't need to listen to their stories. Just keep working as before, and Apollo and Artemis will handle the pleas from the earth."
Sharing of the title.
And foisting the grunt work.
"What will you do?"
"..."
The two gods quietly secured the wristwatches firmly on their wrists.
* * *
Thus.
I bestowed the position of Sun Deity upon Apollo.
It was largely Apollo's own strong will, Artemis thought it was fine, and Leto was delighted that her daughters were merely taking the status of Helios and Selene—a shared arrangement.
"Hehe, thank you, Father."
But I know. I know Apollo's lecherous ulterior motives all too well.
"How did you end up growing up like this?"
"Isn't it because I inherited Father's blood so thickly? Just as Artemis inherited Mother Leto's blood thickly and loves Father, the more your blood shines through in me, the more I take after your disposition."
"I didn't know you'd inherit the trait of loving women. Don't people normally like the opposite sex?"
"Ew. I hate men."
Apollo laughed to herself and raised her hands above her head, forming a heart.
"But I love Father!"
"Yeah, I love you too. But there's no way you're just saying you love me... You want me to turn a blind eye, right?"
"Of course."
Apollo grinned wickedly and started wriggling her fingers. The sight of her pressing her index and middle fingers together and moving them alternately made me involuntarily gulp.
"Father, how about we agree: neither of us touches the ones the other has touched first?"
"Why would I compete with you over women?"
"Women are everywhere, but women aren't just Titans."
Apollo licked her lips with an entranced expression.
"Aah, the nymphs that fill the earth... and pretty human women... I want to be their sun."
That's right.
This girl wants to become the sun that the earth worships and adores, all to seduce nymphs and human women.
"And have some fun on the side. Teehee."
Among all her half-sisters, Apollo inherited a love for nymphs and humans more intensely than anyone.
"Apollo. I thought roses would suit you, but apparently I was wrong. You're a child who suits lilies."
"Hehe, lilies, huh..."
Apollo came closer and whispered softly to me.
"Naturally, the one who first plucks that lily will be the one who granted me the authority of the Sun Deity, right?"
Just as I thought.
Twins are twins.
Apollo's eyes looking up at me were exactly like Leto's and Artemis's.
So I was certain.
Not a reincarnator or anything...
"I am also a bit curious about sex with a man, so I'd like you to give me some sex education too. Later, together with Artemis. Teehee."
Just a lewd kid, true to Greek style.