Prologue - The Flatterer Perseus
I was calm.
Even after waking up in ancient Greece and being called Perseus—despite thinking I had died—I remained perfectly composed. I focused on understanding my new circumstances while taking every precaution not to draw attention or cause a scene.
My hands were rough and callused in a way that felt utterly foreign. The wide, gleaming white buildings, the conversations that somehow made perfect sense, even the knowledge that the white cloth garments everyone wore were called chitons—I couldn’t suppress a quiet inner shock, yet I stayed calm, calmly taking stock of everything.
It seemed I had become the new master of this small body.
Perseus.
A hero’s name.
I had no idea why I had suddenly possessed this place, but that was the reality. The conversation I’d had with someone right before dying remained vivid in my mind, so I seriously wondered whether it was connected to this situation. Unfortunately, no one was around to give me an answer. Grateful simply to be alive, I was still dazed when the exotic brown-haired woman who had rushed out earlier returned, took my hand, and spoke.
“Lord Perseus. Do you remember nothing at all?”
Attendants who appeared to be servants approached me, their faces etched with worry—clearly summoned by her. They dragged the hems of their chitons across the floor as they held my hands and peppered me with questions. When I honestly replied that I knew nothing, every face crumpled as though about to tear apart.
“Lady Danae…”
The attendants’ gazes converged on a single point. Among them stood the woman who must have given birth to the original owner of this body. The blonde beauty—striking to anyone’s eye—soon burst into tears, then calmly explained the situation.
You, Perseus the Second.
One day, a sudden accident had left you asleep for roughly half a year.
They called it amnesia.
To say it again—I was calm.
This year I would turn eleven. I was told I was a descendant of the great Perseus, and so I had been named Perseus the Second after him. This world was clearly different from the Greek mythology I knew. For one thing, it was a genuine fantasy realm where gods existed, and we were currently in the age when the descendants of heroes ran rampant.
In short, the authority of the Olympian gods I remembered had waned, and it was now the era when heroes’ offspring made their names.
So—I am Perseus the Second.
And my younger sister…
“Brother, are you all right? I heard you only just woke up. Wandering alone is dangerous.”
“What was your name again?”
“That’s cruel! Even with amnesia, I never thought you’d forget your own sister’s name! Atalante—Atalante! The goddess Artemis, lady of the moon, the hunt, and chastity, sent Mother a revelation and gave me that name! They say I’ll become the greatest huntress this land has ever seen!”
Atalante beamed, delighted even though the brother standing before her had forgotten his own name.
She was only ten, yet already blooming with beauty—perhaps thanks to her Western features. Her pretty blonde hair, so like Mother’s, had grown past her nape, and her sharply angled green eyes were unmistakably feline. The white chiton she wore clashed delightfully with the bow and quiver slung across her back, yet the overall effect was gallant. This child clearly possessed the makings of a hero, just as she claimed.
Even without blood ties, it seemed people sometimes named their children after heroes. In an age of heroes, impostors were apparently common as well. My mother, Danae—as her name suggested—had been given that name because she was destined to bear me.
………The more I thought about it, the more my head ached.
Where exactly was this place?
It was not the Greek mythology world I knew.
The house was vast and imposing, clearly the residence of the very wealthy. In this era there was no legally recognized nobility, yet prestigious families still existed. Our household evidently possessed that kind of fortune; we lived in a large white building shaped like a temple, surrounded by countless attendants.
I understood all of this after hearing the explanation, yet no matter how long I looked around, it never felt real. A sigh escaped me. The chiton I wore still felt awkward, leaving me with the faint shame of walking about half-naked. Atalante’s friendly approach was also a little overwhelming. In my previous life I had been a lifelong bachelor with no family, let alone a sister.
“I’m sorry. I don’t remember anything.”
“It’s all right! Mother told me everything! More importantly, are you taking a walk? Then I’ll guide you! Since Brother doesn’t remember anything!”
“Ah… sure…”
Her energy was high, but she was a good kid.
………I should reflect on having found her presence burdensome.
With slightly callused white fingertips she seized my arm and began leading me through the house, looking for all the world like a newborn kitten trailing its new master. Anyone could see she was a wonderful little sister, yet the sight of that cat-like devotion made me strangely melancholy. When she grew older she would surely start avoiding me. Most cats were like that, after all—adorable when young, then increasingly distant once they matured…
………Huh?
“Brother? Why are you making that face all of a sudden?”
“No. It’s nothing.”
Suddenly entertaining such foolish thoughts seemed to be the influence of this body’s age. I banished the word “cat” from my mind and pulled myself together, but Atalante—apparently unconvinced—regarded me with worried eyes.
“You’re not still unwell, are you? Shall I nurse you?!”
“You don’t need to go that far…”
“No! Brother is the eldest son of this household! You’re going to be the pillar of the family, so you must take care of your health!”
Right. In this era, male authority was absurdly absolute.
Still, hearing such words from a ten-year-old’s mouth felt wrong.
“It’s fine. Will you keep guiding me? Please.”
“……Oh.”
“What’s wrong?”
Atalante blinked her cat-like eyes, mouth slightly open. I wondered why she looked so shocked when I hadn’t said anything remarkable, so I glanced behind me—only to find no one there.
“No. Well… I wonder if it’s rude to say this.”
“What is it?”
“I was just thinking… you really are the same brother as before you collapsed…”
That made sense. I was now a stranger wearing Perseus the Second’s body. Curious about what the original owner had been like, I had been about to ask when Atalante answered of her own accord.
“You were violent.”
She watched my reaction carefully, but when I merely shrugged as if it were nothing, she continued.
“Before, you were cruel to Mother… you treated the attendants roughly… if anything displeased you, you would shout… and right before you collapsed, you even overturned your meal……”
The way she gauged my expression made it clear she had suffered at the original Perseus’s hands as well. The fact that a ten-year-old felt the need to read my mood before speaking was itself telling.
“You can forget that piece of human trash. There is no longer a brother who would raise his hand against you.”
“……Truly?”
“I won’t speak with two mouths.”
“Hehe…”
Atalante’s face lit up like the sun at my promise. It was heartbreaking that a child this young could roam so freely without a single word of complaint in this generation, yet I couldn’t bring myself to laugh. Meddling in someone else’s family left me oddly unsettled, but—surprisingly—it wasn’t unpleasant.
“Where’s the next place you want to show me?”
“This way!”
Together with the now-energized Atalante, we wandered through the house. The temple-turned-residence was ancient Greek in style yet possessed most necessities. Compared with the modern world it lacked many comforts, but even today acquiring a fully equipped home required endless hassle. All things considered, this life was not so bad. In some ways it was actually better than my previous existence.
“The house is far too large.”
“Our family is related to the king of Argos! That’s why Uncle provides us with so much support!”
Royal connections, no less.
Damn. Seriously.
Being entangled with a king was rarely a good omen.
“Speaking of which—what about Father?”
“You don’t remember that either, of course.”
“Is it what I’m thinking?”
“Yes! Thanks to that, suitors line up every single day to propose to Mother, who became a widow! Mother seems to dislike it, so lately she’s been shutting herself indoors!”
“I see.”
A beautiful widow in this era was never a good sign—especially when Greek men had taken notice. I was now certain that my sister’s praise of me as the family pillar was neither lie nor exaggeration. At the same time, listening to her words, I realized something else: the Greek language itself was being translated for me.
‘There’s no way a child of this era would know the word “seclusion.”’
The setting was simply too convenient. I snorted, and once again Atalante looked up at me with worried eyes. This body, for an eleven-year-old, possessed impressive height and muscle. With hands far too thick for my age, I soothed her and led us deeper into the building until we reached a sunlit chamber where a single plaster statue glowed radiantly.
“This is the last place!”
“What is this room?”
“The building we’re using was remodeled from a temple! The deepest part is naturally the sanctuary! Mother left this space for me!”
Atalante proudly puffed out her chest before the plaster statue, which stood beautifully illuminated by the streaming sunlight. Modeled after a goddess, the figure was far more sensually beautiful than any modern counterpart. In one hand she held a necklace bearing a conspicuously large crescent moon.
Throb. Throb. Throb…
Looking at it made my head ache again. It had been happening since earlier—knowledge I had never possessed was steadily filling my mind. I didn’t understand why, but I endured the pain and correctly identified the statue.
“Lady Artemis.”
“That’s right!”
Glancing around, I saw other statues modeled after various gods tucked into the corners, along with assorted ritual tools. This had clearly once been a temple where offerings were presented.
“You don’t use it anymore?”
“They say the times have changed and the temples are declining, so they’re no longer used. But since I received a revelation from Lady Artemis and was given my name, I pray here every day out of courtesy.”
“It was called the age of heroes. What does that mean?”
“Mother Danae told me! Long ago the gods caused a great accident, so for a while they stopped interfering in human affairs! Ah, of course they don’t stay completely away—they still appear occasionally—but after that incident, the descendants of heroes began to run wild and the temples fell into decline.”
“They don’t treat the gods as complete fiction?”
“Huh? No, of course the gods exist. Though, as Brother said, as times change, people who don’t believe in gods at all have started to appear… Ah—! Right! This place was originally a temple that mainly worshipped Lady Artemis, which is why the statues are arranged this way! The other gods are just here out of courtesy!”
“I see.”
The gods caused an accident?
………Hmm.
I stared at each statue, guessing that the collective divine mishap might have been the Trojan War. After all, if Greek mythology had a conventional ending, that was it—and nothing else came to mind.
“……Brother?”
No matter how much I pondered how this situation had come about, no answer presented itself. In any case, I would have to live in this harsh ancient Greek world—and it was undeniably fantasy. There was still much I didn’t know, but thanks to my childhood memories I at least understood how to survive in this brutal, terrifying era.
“Our family is well-off, isn’t it?”
“Yes! We’re among the wealthiest in this city!”
Atalante’s inability to give precise figures only emphasized her childishness, yet it also proved that even she knew we possessed considerable means.
“Then, will you help your brother a little? I’d like to rearrange the statues, but I doubt I can manage alone.”
“The statues?”
“I want to place the Twelve Olympians in a circle centered on Lord Zeus. And if there’s nothing else to do, I’d like to wash the statues and altars and redecorate them.”
“W-well, if Brother asks, I’ll do it, but… suddenly…?”
“It may be hard to believe I’m saying this right after waking from amnesia, but trust your brother and follow me.”
“Ah! Yes! I don’t doubt Brother at all!”
Smiling at the thought that I had a good sister, Atalante happily stomped her feet and began pushing the plaster statues. I, too, heaved the oversized figures into place so as not to be outdone.
‘I still don’t know why I was brought here… but if I must live in this world, there’s one thing I can’t avoid……’
Anyone watching would wonder what on earth I was doing, yet I knew. Most people familiar with Greek mythology would know as well. It was the simplest—and most dangerous—path to survival in this hellish ancient Greece.
However, in both my past life and this one, I was a born flatterer.
For me, bootlicking came more naturally than breathing.