Chapter 89

There were three essentials to living peacefully in Greece.

These were taught at the Temple of Zeus alongside cleanliness and social norms, almost as survival rules.

Rituals, prayers, and offerings were those three things.

This was a land where religion and faith were not mere concepts; gods were alive, and their eyes and ears were everywhere.

No matter how powerful or renowned a hero was, crossing the gods or the spirits that roamed the land and forests would make life a tiresome affair.

In fact, the ones who fell out of favor with the nymphs in the Forest of Heroes serve as a good example.

One guy littered in the forest, and for a week, when he came home after work, he was greeted by trash piled up to the ceiling of his room.

Another bad-mouthed a music store owner, only to choke on a beetle that flew out of his flute during a music lesson with Marsyas, making him indebted to Asclepius.

Even the nymph spirits, when they hold a grudge, cause such minor(?) incidents, but what if the one holding the grudge is a god?

At that point, regardless of one’s strength, it enters hardcore mode, like a Porsche crashing into a Tico.

And those sitting with me at this very meal were like Porsches born out of catastrophic collisions.

This was after spending a pleasant time with Atalanta, during a special discussion among the Golden Generation summoned by Hercules.

Atalanta didn’t want to show herself in this state to the men and excused herself.

In the end, even though the discussion among the remaining men was a spectacle of physical language with bows, swords, and fists flying, it was quite an enjoyable time.

Avoiding the slowly descending sunlight, we ate the cool soup and bread brought by Asclepius.

There was Hercules, the mighty hero who, after getting drunk in the forest, had his home filled with garbage for a week due to his littering.

Then there was Jason, who once bad-mouthed a nymph and ended up swallowing a beetle during a music lesson.

Orpheus, constantly strumming his lyre and getting on everyone’s nerves.

And Asclepius, the ever-tired but sharp-tongued physician.

Finally, Actaeon, who had been silently eavesdropping but perked up with excitement when I mentioned I had seen Artemis.

These young heroes, each with a story worth a set of legendary in-game items, started a discussion about the hardships they had faced.

I had to hold back a chuckle at these boys, wondering what they could possibly know about hardship.

But then again, their origins weren’t exactly ordinary.

First, Hercules.

His father was Zeus, and he had nearly died from the snakes Hera sent to kill him in his cradle after stealing her divine milk.

Due to the curse, he went mad, decapitated his music teacher, and then worked as a shepherd before enrolling in the Forest of Heroes.

Regarding this, let’s hear the comment from the person involved.

“Ah, honestly, that crow of a music teacher insulted me by bringing up my mother and father. Should I have let him live?”

“Honestly, knowing my brother Linus, I can’t deny that he brought his death upon himself. Insulting one’s parents is unforgivable.”

-Diling~

Hercules snorted, saying that even without Hera’s curse, the guy was as good as dead for insulting his mother, while Orpheus plucked his lyre mournfully, saying it was the karma of his brother, who had been his music teacher.

Once again, “your mama” jokes, whether East or West, proved to be an unbreakable taboo.

Ah, honestly, insulting one’s mother definitely crossed the line.

“I heard that you smashed his head into six pieces with the lyre. Is that true?”

“Come on, how can a person’s head split into six pieces? It just went splat…!”

“Do we really have to talk about corpses while I’m eating pumpkin soup, you boar bastards?”

Asclepius glared menacingly at Jason, who was trying to interview Hercules about the details of the murder, and Hercules, who was using hand gestures to explain, making both of them shut their mouths.

Today’s lunch was a cool potage-like soup made with well-ripened pumpkin, grains, and chilled milk.

“Bragging about losing control and hurting someone… Tsk.”

“Uh… um… I’m sorry…”

Contrary to his usual fierce language and behavior, Asclepius had a solid philosophy and pride as a physician.

He always emphasized cleanliness, prevention, and safety.

Among these, his habit of mentioning disasters caused by the gods revealed a rather poignant inner story.

“My mother was a princess of Thessaly. She had an affair with that damn Sun God, Apollo. She died at the hands of that damn Sun God too.”

Asclepius’s story, which he now told without hiding anything, was quite a spectacle.

Apollo, while having an affair with his mother Coronis, had sent a raven as a messenger.

She was warmly conversing with her cousins who had returned from hunting, and Apollo, believing only the crow’s words that she was cheating, shot her dead.

Realizing his misunderstanding too late, Apollo took Asclepius, who was still in his mother’s womb just before she was cremated, and entrusted him to Chiron. Since then, he grew up in the Forest of Heroes.

“Got it? Once you’re dead, it’s all over. Misunderstandings and mistakes don’t matter; you always have to be careful. Understand?”

“Ah, I got it.”

“Ugh, what a pointless thing to say…”

With eyes not of sadness but brimming with a fierce spirit, Asclepius seemed to intimidate Hercules and Jason, who quietly buried their heads in their soup bowls.

“Especially you, King Boar. You!”

“Y-yes?”

“You better control that crazy brute strength of yours. If I hear that you caused trouble after getting drunk… I’ll kill you with my own hands. Got it?”

The grudge of a medical student, gnashing teeth at a high-risk group that constantly caused emergency patients, was deeper and darker than any curse.

‘But looking at that wild boar causing a ruckus after getting drunk… I can’t say it’s wrong.’

Considering that even drunken rampages were praised as heroic spirit in this messed-up Greek mindset.

Asclepius was truly a physician of the new era, centuries ahead.

It’s no wonder he’d become the God of Medicine in the future.

“From my childhood, I learned the lyre from my father and the warrior goddesses. It was truly a meaningful time.”

“I-I just learned archery from my grandfather. Because there were many tragedies in the family, they sent me to the Forest of Heroes. Th-that’s all… hehe…”

Later in the future, Orpheus and Actaeon had quite a peaceful childhood, so they passed.

However, Jason, even when his turn came, just quietly stared at his soup bowl.

“Hey! Son! What are you spacing out for? Did you eat a fly? Are you receiving an oracle from Hermes or something?”

“Huh? Me, me? Umm… I…”

Startled by Hercules’s booming voice, Jason lifted his head, trying to speak, but the mouth that always spoke fluently just opened and closed a few times and then shut.

“I-I don’t have much to say either. Rather, at this point, I’m curious about your story, Dianes.”

In an instant, he changed his expression to a mischievous smile, resembling the typical politician.

I didn’t miss the subtle fury that distorted Jason’s face.

‘I don’t remember well, but isn’t his family situation quite complicated too?’

But this wasn’t the time to dredge up a young man’s hidden sorrows during what was supposed to be a lighthearted meal.

So, I decided to take the heat off him.

“I ran into Artemis.”

Quite hard, in fact.

At those words, even the others who were looking at Jason with curious eyes stared at me with wide eyes.

Jason, who hid his painful past and grudges beneath a smile, was also speechless, wondering if he had heard correctly.

“When I went to train in the forest at night, she suddenly shot an arrow at my head. The first time, I barely blocked it by breaking the wooden sword; the second time, I deflected the arrow; and before the third time, Chiron came and blocked it.”

Thinking back, it was truly a pity, for despite that temper, that face was unbelievably beautiful.

More captivating than that beauty was the intense divine energy, which once again approached me as regret.

The trace of that divine energy, clearer and more powerful than Marsyas’s flute imbued with the power of Pan, was still quietly bound in a corner of my dantian.

I instinctively felt that the time for this divine power to be released was approaching, and I was preparing.

And if that time indeed comes to pass, how would the myths and stories I know change?

Sensing the premonition of a big event, which I awaited with thrilling anticipation after a long time, I smiled slightly.

Already, they were looking at me with strange eyes, as if wondering how I was still alive.

“You said you ran into Artemis in person?”

“A man did?”

“And even fought back?”

“Is she pretty?”

“Ugh, this boar is really…”

With faces resembling cats who glimpsed the truths of the universe, wondering if they heard correctly, the four, excluding Hercules, seemed slightly out of their minds.

“Hmm… Her face was indeed pretty.”

“You crazy crow bastard!!”