90. The Temptation of Cronus
90. The Temptation of Cronus
The mission he had thought would be easy hit a snag right from the start.
....Huh?
There was just one reason for it.
The inconvenience that came from trying not to use the abilities he once possessed.
"What are you doing? With a poisonous herb in your hand..."
"Huh? Uh, uh... yeah."
Minerva called it a poisonous herb.
I tossed away the plant I had just plucked and looked around blankly.
I have no clue at all.
Grass was just grass, dirt was just dirt.
I couldn't even get a feel for what the plant right in front of me was, so I had no idea what to gather.
"Haaaah..."
Things like this never happened when I used the [Eye of Cronus].
I could bring about an effect similar to 'Appraisal' right away, as much as I could see the information carved into time. But now that I couldn't use the Eye, troubles began cropping up starting with basic gathering activities.
What do I do about this.
Just as I scratched the side of my head in frustration, a message appeared before my eyes.
[An Oracle has arrived.]
[Main God─Cronus: Do you not possess the Eye of Mine?]
"...Tch."
[Main God─Cronus: Should you perhaps think that I will reclaim My Divine Authority again, worry not such. Simply give thanks for the grace I bestowed and move forward.]
"..........."
Should I use it?
No, I didn't want to use it.
Since I had already spoken out once, I didn't want to bow my head to that bastard again.
There's gotta be... gotta be another way....
I closed my eyes quietly and pondered.
And at the end of it, I realized one method.
"Minerva, hold on a sec."
"Yes?"
Well.
To be precise, it was more accurate to say I had forgotten about it so naturally.
"Let me put on some glasses and start over."
"That... is the 'glasses' we bought before, right?"
"Right."
The artifact imbued with 'Appraisal.'
If I had that, I could easily do things like gathering something even without something like the Eye of Cronus.
[Main God─Cronus: I see, you borrow the eyes of lowly things. I shall not hinder that intention. However, the day will come when you reach out to Me.]
No such thing will happen, sir.
I shook my head side to side and resumed the gathering mission.
And at that moment, another message appeared before my eyes.
[Title obtained.]
[Title: A Child Who Stands on Their Own]
-The wisdom of small things sometimes breaks the stubbornness of big things.
-It is a 'wisdom' that can be shown precisely because you are a human who once tried to challenge the divine.
-It is a reward of my own making, given because I thought it admirable you moved forward on your own even when I couldn't look after you.
-Intelligence Boost (Small)
"Oh....!"
So she was watching.
[Main God─Cronus: Hera... a needless interference.]
[Main God─Hera: It is compensation for a just deed. Perhaps you are not familiar with the concept of a 'reward'?]
[Main God─Cronus:............]
A battle of nerves unfolding through oracles.
In any case, I was simply grateful, since it made up for my lacking intelligence.
...
..
.
'Appraisal' wasn't the only problem that arose during the mission.
"Chrono, a goblin is visible up ahead."
"Yeah, I see it."
I stepped forward with Minerva to deal with the goblin.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Easy, way too easy."
The goblins dropped like flies, riddled with bullets.
Since the bullets were imbued with Hera's divinity instead of Cronus's, there was a slightly lacking kick to them, but it wasn't at an unusable level.
In any case, I had several skills I'd raised right away, so would hunting mobs be hard just because a few skills were sealed?
But the point where I felt the greatest difficulty was....
"Chrono! Watch out for its claws!"
"Kuk... I know!"
When dealing with a boss monster.
Grrrrrrr!!
"Get the hell away, you bastard!"
I fired my gun roughly to create distance.
I tried using skills to overcome the crisis, but whenever I used a skill, the boss monster used a skill right back at me.
...It's frustrating as hell.
I couldn't manipulate time.
I had to desperately sharpen my mind and fight to win within the same time frame.
Was it... always this hard?
The reality that I couldn't use time.
Come to think of it, whenever I'd faced boss monsters in the past, I would either slow time to an extreme, or accelerate myself alone within the slowed time to rampage. The troll was the first time I'd fought head-on directly.
Even that battle was one I had to fight to survive, something I didn't want to do but had no choice.
Back then, I was full of adrenaline and managed to fight somehow. But now, trying to fight and win without skills and without my car, a frustrating tightness kept pressing on my chest.
"If only I had time....."
If only I could use time.
I could kill a shoddy boss monster like that in a single turn....
"Chrono, now!"
"I know!"
Ultimately, I coordinated with Minerva and slipped inside the werewolf's arms.
"[Point-Blank Shot]"
Kkyaeaeang?!!
Toouung──a heavy recoil.
At the same time, the werewolf staggered back a step──then started baring its teeth toward my throat again.
"Oh, shiiit?!!"
I needed to change my stance.
But I couldn't. It was impossible. There was no time.
Before, it was possible because all the gods helped and layered me with buffs. But now, a loner without a single buff, I hit an unavoidable limit.
Should I... sacrifice my shoulder...?
Damn it.
If I did that, it was straight to the hospital.
I had brought potions and bandages, at least, but I'd have to brace for some discomfort ahead. I grit my teeth──
──Seugak!
Kkyaaeaeang!
"....Huh?"
The werewolf's throat was deeply cut again and it collapsed.
At the same time, Minerva approached me, casually flicking the blood off her rapier.
"That was an uncharacteristic mistake, Chrono."
"....Haaaaa."
Just as Minerva said.
It was an uncharacteristic mistake, plain and simple.
A mistake the usual me would never make.
All of it only seemed to show the limits of my own strength──different from usual, without borrowing Cronus's power.
And so,
the moment a weak thought flickered in my heart.
[An Oracle has arrived.]
[Main God─Cronus: I am always ready to hold My child in My arms.]
".....Kuuung..."
A message window floating before my eyes.
Cronus spoke. He tempted. He drew me in.
To come back into His arms.
To accept His power, His Divine Authority.
To accept the reality I had, the reality I once held, the reality I threw away, and the reality that should have been given to me and accepted in the first place.
I hate it but... hate it, I fucking hate it, but....
If I kept going on like this, could I even properly finish a single event, let alone the mission?
Doubt about myself. Suspicion. Weakness. Self-distrust.
My heart didn't get better even after defeating the boss monster.
Just as I was staring at the ground, calming my troubled heart, Minerva approached me and said,
"Still, in a way, it's not strange at all."
"What...?"
"In the first place, Chrono, you do far too many things alone."
".....Minerva."
Minerva pulled a water bottle from the bag on her back and handed it to me.
"Please lean on me from time to time. Because I will lean on Chrono a lot as well."
"......Heh."
Right.
This was it.
Perhaps, this was what I had hoped for when I cast Cronus away.
Sorry, but Cronus, your proposal is still rejected.
[Main God─Cronus: You aren't planning to make the foolish claim that it is because you trust your comrades, are you?]
Well, what else remains if you strip foolishness from humans?
[Main God─Cronus:....Have it your way. You idiot.]
Cronus immediately withdrew his oracle and vanished.
And in time with that, another status window appeared before my eyes.
[Title obtained.]
[Title: Let's Move Forward Together]
-Human progress is the progress of the community.
-What overcomes individual force is the united heart of humanity, so moving forward together is beautiful in itself.
-Just wait a little longer. When you raise my child's name high, only then can I grant you my strength.
-When forming a party, attack power +5% per party member
"Heeheehee!"
My, my.
She sure knows how to scratch my itchy spots.
I brushed off my legs and stood up.
"Yeah. I'll lean on you quite a bit from now on. In return, you lean on me as much as you want too."
"!....Eum... I think I understand a little of how Mars feels."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
Minerva fanned herself lightly with her hand and walked forward.
Anyway, if she said it was nothing, a gentleman doesn't pry, so I let it slide too.
******************
Day 1
"Still... I feel a sense of accomplishment, in its own way."
"Glad to hear that."
My condition was still good.
I managed stress with [Power Chord] during night watch.
Since I rested intermittently in between, my condition was top-notch.
...
..
.
Day 2
"Four boss monsters...?"
"They're all easy ones, so it'll be fine."
"..........."
It passed without any particular issues.
However, Minerva's stress level rose to a slightly dangerous level.
I focused [Power Chord] on stress management.
Conquering boss monsters tomorrow seemed difficult.
...
..
.
Day 3
"So... how many did you say?"
"13. They're all gathering missions, and every one of them is easy, so don't worry too much."
"..........."
We entered a stable stress zone.
Aside from her soul rotting a little, there didn't seem to be any major problems.
...
..
.
Day 4
"Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die."
"Heumeu....."
Was it thanks to the stress and condition management the night before? My combat sense came alive in peak condition.
We cleared a considerable number of subjugation quests.
When I told her that the only subjugation quests left were boss monsters, she asked,
"If we just kill those, is it liberation?"
"Um...."
Actually, we also have to pickaxe.
...
..
.
Day 5
"Is it... all over now...?"
"The subjugation quests are over now."
"Then....!"
"Yeah. That's right."
I showed her the pickaxe and shovel and said,
"Now we gotta dig."
".........."
Minerva became noticeably less talkative that day.
Maybe she had a stress problem.
I kept playing [Power Chord] through the night and went into stress management mode.
"Chrono. Tonight, I want to sleep comfortably."
"? Isn't it comfortable?"
The performance lowers stress, so she should be able to sleep comfortably.
I stopped my playing hands and looked at Minerva...
"Comfortably. Without hearing any sound. That's how I want to sleep."
"......Oh."
Minerva's spirit was murderous.
That night, I fell asleep without playing any performance at all.
"How many missions are left?"
"Now all that's left are gathering missions... only 6 left!"
"Six....."
Six, huh... that's a piece of cake.
Minerva let out a bleak laugh and closed her eyes.
".....Hmm."
I say this now, but
Seeing this, I think I might have worked her a bit too hard...?