81. I Can't Do It Because I'm Worried About the Kids.....
81. I Can't Do It Because I'm Worried About the Kids.....
".......Ah"
The room was dark.
A musty smell. The rough, dry texture I felt in my hand.
More than anything, the warm presence I felt near my flank seemed to tell me what I had done.
"The time is....4 o'clock"
4 AM
It was too early to say I'd slept and woken up, but...
...Considering that after roughly 5 hours of desperately craving each other without even eating, I'd passed out as if fainting and then woken up, it was a timeframe that made sense in its own way.
"Ugh!.....Aow"
My back throbbed.
My lower half was numb.
And at the same time, a thirst that seemed to burn.
I got up from my spot to drink some water.
"Mmmn....."
But Ur wouldn't let me go.
Rather, as if she'd hate it if I left, she pulled me tightly with both arms.
"I'm thirsty though...."
Even when I subtly tried to put strength into my hands to pry them off, her arms, as expected of someone whose true form was a god, didn't come off easily.
"Thir...sty...?"
"Ah"
Or rather, had my rustling hands woken her?
Ur, with her eyes half open blankly, asked back toward me.
"You're... thirsty...?"
"...Did I wake you up?"
"Mmn... just a momennnnt...?"
"Huh?"
Ur lifted the blanket and placed her hand on her chest.
Soon, a water-colored aura began to seep into her chest, and then, gradually, its tips began to grow wet?
"Ur, could this be...."
"Chrono"
You said you were thirsty, right?
Ur gathered both breasts with her hands and asked.
"Wanna drink...? Chrono-exclusive special milk"
".........."
One more time?
A thirst of a different kind from dryness began to rise.
Clearly, it seemed like we'd gotten sick of each other throughout last night, but it looked like it was still a bit insufficient.
I slowly buried my face in Ur's chest and──
[You're going to do more here....?]
""..........?""
Beyond the mirror
Yuno, no, Hera, with dark circles thickly cast under her eyes
[....Ah]
"".....Ah""
We locked eyes with each other.
'...Why is the goddess there?'
More than that, hadn't I broken the mirror?
********************
Items of the gods must, as a rule, be special
Even if a tool that erased the very 'concept' of destruction, like 'Indestructibility', was difficult to make, Ur was, at the very least, a member of the Muses.
Even just the harp Ur possessed carried a skill called [Power Chord] on its own, so it spoke for itself.
Among those, the mirror Ur possessed seemed to have a trait related to 'Restoration'.
"...Then why did you make the harp breakable?"
"All instruments must have a slightly antique flavor♬"
"............"
It was a matter of taste, apparently.
Anyway, through the restored mirror, she'd been quietly watching for when to deliver an oracle, but seeing that it seemed like we were about to start things again, she spoke up beforehand, she said.
"Wait a moment"
[My child. I am very tired. It is about time for me to sleep now.]
"No...that, what is it...."
I asked a question toward Hera.
"...From beginning to end, did you see everything?"
[My child. I am also a goddess who protects the household]
"Ah...so in order to protect the household──"
[──Perhaps confirming whether my child possesses proper sexual knowledge is also one of the duties I hold, is it not]
"..........."
Cronus was like that, and now Hera was too.
If I thought about it, Ur was also secretly filming with her harp every time, so was it all the same?
'I guess voyeurism is a default passive for beings called gods'
Still, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
For those who were stuck inside their temples all the time, to see their apostles, whatever method they used would inevitably become voyeurism.
I forgave Hera with a generous heart.
"Anyway, you didn't watch because you wanted to, right?"
[..............]
"....Right?"
[O...It was merely observation for the sake of my child. There is no meaning beyond that]
It didn't seem like it.
But for now, I had to let it slide. What else could I do.
"So, what is it that you wish to say?"
[Ahem...Ahem! Yes. The oracle I shall deliver to you is as follows]
Hera gave a few dry coughs, then soon spoke toward me with a serious look in her eyes.
[Thou need not serve a false god]
[I bless thy journey with sincerity from beneath my heart]
[Therefore, Chrono, as my child [Heracles], go forth and spread thy light widely across this world steeped in despair]
".................."
Noble and sublime
The voice of one standing 'above' someone
At Hera's words, I quietly nodded my head and said.
"I don't know what that means."
[...In the old days, you understood even when I spoke like this...]
Indeed, kids these days must lack literacy.
It was probably all because of those smartphones or whatever they're called....
Hera muttered with a strangely light tone, then changed her voice again and continued the 'oracle'.
[Apostle of the 12 Olympians]
[I shall not ask thee to save them all]
[Merely, save as many children as possible, even one more, by holding them within thy embrace]
[If thou dost save them, if thou art recognized by that god, thou shalt make thy name renowned as my child──and thus I too shall become thy strength]
"Ah......."
It was 'that event'.
To be precise, a 'Protagonist-exclusive event'.
'The Heracles event triggered, huh....'
I had been getting a whiff of it since the moment I received the title.
[Heracles Event]
The official harem recognition ceremony within the story.
Furthermore, it was the most fundamental cause that completed the vicious formula that the basic premise of NTR was a harem.
A little while after this, through what was called an 'Oracle Event', oracles would be broadcast nationwide to all heroes, not just to the Protagonist.
Accordingly, the Protagonist's scope of activity would widen, he would receive subsidies, and the number of actions he could take per day would increase by 2 more───however, this event typically occurred at the beginning of the 3rd year.
Put another way, by that point, those who would be NTR'd would already have been NTR'd and then some.
So it was a defensive battle to protect what was yours as much as possible, a forced NTR viewing train through Avīci hell, where you had to watch the NTR scenes of the kids you couldn't protect.
"But if this triggers for me, and right now at that...."
...It was rather good, actually.
Since I knew the story to some extent, it was easier to respond, and if I put my mind to it, even if the true boss with sealed divine authority was impossible, simply clearing bosses I wanted to was possible.
Moreover, I was also confident I could fend off all sorts of NTR scenes.
But
"What happens to Ter, Jupiter, the Apostle of Zeus?"
If the story progressed this far, he would inevitably come to know, even if he didn't want to.
That his regression had gone wrong, that it was now a situation difficult to do anything about.
I couldn't grasp what kind of actions the Protagonist would show as a result.
If he just followed along like the original Protagonist, I could at least put him within the range of my predictions, but predicting a regressor who had returned once was close to impossible in many ways.
'No, if I tried, it does seem like I could do this too, but....'
Was there a need to only receive events passively?
Forcing triggers and causing events to guide the Protagonist's actions was also one method──but no matter what, that was too tiring and difficult.
In the first place, I had never tried it, so I wasn't sure if I could even do it.
Additionally, if I made a mistake as well, it would be a direct express course to the NTR route.
So I wanted the original Protagonist to proceed with things in his own way too....
[You are...truly.......]
"...? Why are you looking at me with those eyes?"
Hera's gaze became peculiar.
It was a look as if she were observing a strange animal.
[Even when faced with such a situation, you think of others. Unlike a 'hero', you are far too gentle, yet perhaps precisely because of that, you were able to become a 'warrior'.]
"...Aren't you having some strange misunderstanding..?"
[It's fine. Originally, such things are difficult for oneself to notice.]
That child
The child of Zeus, do not worry about him.
[If the child of Zeus tries to lay a hand on you, I shall stop that child with all my might.]
"Thank you...?"
[...Strangely, you don't seem to be rejoicing]
My child
You must never speak falsehoods before me
[What is it that is troubling you]
"....That is, so..."
Having come this far, I honestly confessed the problem I had thought of.
"If Hera suddenly advocates for me, I doubt whether the Apostle of Zeus will stay still."
[Did I not tell you not to worry about that part?]
"No. I might somehow be safe──but if he crawls into the abyss like this and outright starts a rebellion or something...."
[No way, even so, a child who is an apostle, a hero.....]
....He just might?]
It seemed Hera, upon reflection, didn't have much faith in that either.
Ultimately, Hera let out a small breath and looked at me.
[Then, do you have some sort of plan?]
"Returning the name of Heracles seems unreasonable in many ways...so, by any chance, would you consider having two children?"
[Two, you say. Would that truly be alright?]
It was not impossible.
Nor was it unreasonable.
However, the division of a name meant that the corresponding 'power' and 'rights' were also divided as a rule.
[These are all things that should have been yours. Nevertheless, do you mean to say you will share your precious rights with a complete stranger?]
Truly
Would you be satisfied with that?
"Satisfaction.... well...."
I answered Hera's question.
"Because it wasn't my power in the first place."
[!,.....The meaning of those words is.....]
"How can I claim ownership over power that isn't mine."
[.....Ah...really, I shouldn't be doing this...!!]
"Pardon?"
Hera trembled, quivering.
Soon she shot up from her seat, pointed her finger at me, and shouted,
[You, you absolutely must become bound to my child. I mean this sincerely. If you also end up cheating on my child, then I too will become an evil god at that point! Understand?!]
"Uh....she says she's already dating me though?"
[If that's what you call dating, then right now Zeus and I are a loving couple who will live happily for a hundred years!]
"You weren't?"
[If it were up to me, I'd want to have an affair too.... The situation doesn't support it, and I can't because I'm worried about the kids....]
"....Whoa"
I
decided to keep my mouth shut.
As an aside
[...Ah right, now that I think of it, there was one I was forgetting]
"............? Do you mean me?"
Hera turned her eyes toward Ur.
Hera simply spoke toward Ur.
[Do you desire that child's 'child'?]
"!,....A little, I am dreaming such a 'dream'."
[It will be a difficult task. It will be a painful task. And in a sense, it will become a curse that holds you back]
Nevertheless
[Will you 'love' that 'child'?]
[Will you love him not as a mere 'child', but as a 'husband'?]
".........I...."
Hera asked once more.
[Those skilled in music appear every year, every century. In contrast, that child's level is merely that of a 'commoner who has made an effort'. If you truly seek the genius you desire, you would be able to find someone similar elsewhere, not here.]
"....There is no falsehood in those words──but"
To Hera's question
Ur smiled and answered.
"Setting aside skill, I have now come to like 'Chrono's poetry'."
[....You are an eccentric. If the other sisters saw this, they would clutch the back of their necks.]
"Then I'll introduce him to all nine, and just have a 9-tier wedding──"
[──Try it if you dare.]
"........That was a joke, okay? A jo~oke♪ If you get too serious, I get too scared to say anything, you know?"
Well, in any case
"A beautiful goddess coming to adore the poetry of a young hero, isn't that instinct in a sense?"
[I pray you do not regret it. No, you may regret it──but at the very least, you will curse your own choice, and you must never curse the 'husband' you have chosen.]
"................."
[...I'm like this because I was a victim of a fraudulent marriage!]
"Ah, yes"
I didn't say anything though...
Hera stood up from her seat and cried out, Bbaeeaekk.
[You said you'd look only at me for life! You said you'd love me! But how could your love cool to the point where I have to be grateful for getting laid once a century, huh?!]
On top of that, with his tiny little dick!
Hera, half-shrieking.
'....His dick is, small?'
Zeus? That Zeus? Small?
That didn't make sense.
"Chrono. Lord Zeus was once a person famous for being exceptionally wise."
"Ah....yes. That's true, right?"
Ur spoke toward me, as I was slightly dumbfounded.
"In Greece, a wise person was, Put another way, someone who knew how to control their reason."
Meaning, as they didn't swing it around indiscriminately,
"The perception spread that the smaller a person's lower parts were, the wiser they were."
"....Is that true?"
"There's also a saying that he claimed that because he himself was small."
"............."
I ended up understanding the reason for the size difference between the villains and the Protagonist in a very strange place.