Chapter 303
Chapter 303
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 303
Chapter Title: Heracles' Madness #3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A quiet park in Delphi, as usual.
"Ah-, that was close. I almost lost Alinoi to those scumbags."
The man with a badly swollen face, Sizer, said with a grimace. On his face, the nymph Alinoi was diligently applying medicine with her tiny fingers.
"I would never obey those idiots...! My master is only you, Sizer...!"
No matter how I looked at it, it was tremendous loyalty.
I couldn't help but feel a strange mix of emotions, wondering if this guy was really a ditch water nymph like Paranoy.
Was there some special training method or something?
As I felt a slight doubt like that, Sizer bowed his head and said,
"I want to repay the favor. I'm Sizer, son of the Mountain God. My father's teaching is to always repay a received grace. Thank you for saving me and Alinoi. I owe you my life."
"Ah! Sizer! You mustn't bow to these barbarians...! Even if they hadn't helped, you could've beaten those guys all by yourself...!"
"No, Alinoi. Without these friends' help, we all might've been in big trouble. Truth is, I'm not that great, even if I act tough."
Unlike the confident hunter vibe I'd gotten when we first met, the swollen-faced Sizer was showing surprising humility.
I like humble people.
In this world, show-offs like Yabes, who can't stop bragging, cause trouble everywhere. Humble folks are as valuable as a star candy in a bag of choking hardtacks.
I raised Sizer the nymph trainer's score by half a star candy.
But the nymph Alinoi seemed displeased that her master Sizer was showing humility and gratitude to us.
"Sizer! You don't have to bow like that! Everyone knows—earth, sky, and rivers—that you'll become a great god and ascend to a high throne someday!"
"Alinoi, you're overestimating me. I'm just the son of a nameless Mountain God."
"We nymphs are always friends and errand-runners for great gods...! So we have an amazing instinct for spotting the buds of greatness...! I, nymph Alinoi, guarantee it...! You can have a bit more confidence, Sizer...!"
Their conversation felt quite different from the ones Paranoy and I had. Thinking about what Paranoy and I usually talked about:
Paranoy, I'm thirsty. Go get me a cup of water.
Isn't the kettle closer to you, Master Hatsan? Actually, you should get up and fetch water for me...!
Oh, you're right.
This...
Something's wrong here.
I wanted to deny the reality unfolding before my eyes.
I'd thought Paranoy and I were getting along fine until now, but seeing this ideal master-nymph friendship made me feel utterly inadequate.
Where did it all go wrong?
As I reflected lightly on the past, Luna, who'd been listening quietly, asked,
"You're the son of a Mountain God? A demigod?"
"Yeah, my mother was a mountain village maiden who gathered herbs, and my father was a fading Mountain God. He oversaw such deep, treacherous mountains that he had no believers and just kept losing his divine power."
A declining god.
I recalled what Hippolyte had once told me. Not all immortals who drink nectar are worshipped as gods.
Even if their bodies reach transcendent realms, without worshippers to revere them as gods, they gradually lose their presence and power, falling into ruin.
If even his name is forgotten, he might've lived a life no different from a human's—like a star that burned out its lifespan.
In metaphor, this Sizer guy is like the son of a bankrupt company president. At that point, you're often worse off than ordinary folks, buried in debt.
Hmm, raised by an herb-gathering mom and a Mountain God dad.
Thinking he grew up somewhat like me—not just with a nymph, but similar childhood—stirred a strange sense of kinship.
"Anyway, I'd like to repay you. Alinoi and I rely on each other to live, so being separated would've been devastating."
"Repay?"
Sizer nodded at my question.
"Yeah, actually, when I left home for Delphi, my father gave me a heads-up about something."
"Ah, Sizer! Telling such an important secret is too generous...! For these savages, buying them a meal is more than enough thanks...!"
"No, Alinoi. Since we protected something precious, we should repay with something equally precious. That's my father's teaching."
"Grrr...."
Alinoi glared at me, looking extremely resentful. Her loyalty to her master was so intense it made her despise and resent others by comparison.
But Sizer just gently stroked her head and began his story.
"Anyway, you have a number ticket, and there's that eerie vibe—you're demigods like me, right? Then this is important info. You know demigods who awaken to their divinity can obtain nectar and become full gods?"
"Yeah!"
Luna answered shortly and clearly for me. At her seamless response, Sizer muttered, "That makes explaining easier—," then opened his mouth again.
"But what if you could ascend to a divine seat without nectar?"
"No way, there's a method like that?"
I was startled. I'd thought you needed nectar—the food of immortality—to become a god.
"Yeah, there is. It's a method known only to demigods with powerful gods like the 12 Gods of Hypos as parents. In other words, special figures below number 100 in the queue."
"Special? Below 100?"
"You know these waiting bracelets start from 101?"
"Not from 1?"
"Yeah. 1 through 100 are pre-determined owners by prophecy, and they don't wait—they go through a special door for a private audience with the Great Prophet Oracle."
Like insider investment tips passed secretly among top chaebols and heirs?
The thought that maybe I could break my strength stat limit of 15 made me quite intrigued.
Then Luna furrowed her brow.
"What! Total privilege class! That Hippolyte! I knew she was hiding something—this is it!"
"Hippo-? Anyway, exactly, privilege class. Being descendants of the 12 Gods means that. Peripheral gods like me or that Yabes earlier can't even put forth our names. Anyway, meeting the Great Prophet like that lets you receive a common task."
Task. If it's a task, it's like a quest, right? I'd tangled with tasks plenty, so I roughly understood it that way.
"And only the first to complete that task gets the right to challenge for a divine seat—."
Sizer spoke in a spooky tone, making Luna flinch—scared or not.
"Ch, challenge the gods?"
"Yeah. There are twelve seats in lofty Hypos. To become a new god, you need to take one."
Indeed.
It was like a game of musical chairs, in a way. But even with challenge rights, I couldn't imagine toppling gods.
The ones I'd met—Mars, Nox, Jupiter, Erebos, Diana, etc.—all exuded something utterly beyond my reach.
Suicide, basically.
As I thought that, Sizer added,
"Of course, there's a way to ascend without challenging. This is the secret my father told me."
He glanced around, confirmed no one was eavesdropping, and whispered softly, relieved.
"Apply to rule over a small river, field, or a minor divine domain. Those places are mostly ruled by obscure gods fading away."
"What does that mean?"
Luna asked, not understanding, but I roughly got what he meant.
In short, take a remote posting. Naturally, competition is lower and quieter in the provinces than the capital.
"Even from the lofty Hypos gods' perspective, having a manager for remote, hard-to-reach mountain villages isn't bad, so they're relatively lenient about granting seats. My father became a Mountain God that way. That's my plan too."
"I see."
I nodded along. I'd grasped what he meant. But understanding it sparked one question I couldn't ignore.
"So, you still have to complete that common task first—the one the Great Prophet gives. It's only told to top 100 ranks, so how do you know what it is and finish first?"
"You'll have to work for it."
"I see."
"Anyway, that's all the info I have. Hope it helps."
"It does."
I nodded at Sizer's words. Gaining unknown knowledge made one corner of my mind feel brighter. This world has all sorts of things.
I asked,
"So you want to become a god of some distant mountain or field?"
"Yeah, I want to inherit the mountain my father oversaw. Succeeding the family legacy is the eldest son's fate."
"Sizer, you could aim higher...!"
"It's remote and underdeveloped, but I was really happy growing up there. With my father, mother, little sister, wolf Philoss—that irreplaceable. Thinking of losing those memories makes me a bit sad. Hate it going to someone else too."
"I see."
This guy was spouting classic patriarchal eldest-son stuff, common in this world.
But I could somewhat understand.
As a kid, I didn't like the health center my parents ran together.
Got teased for it too. But looking back now, not all memories were bad.
Ultimately, the income, connections, everything from there raised me and my sister.
So as I got older, I studied herbs, acupressure, etc., thinking I'd inherit it.
Wonder what happened to it now.
With me gone, it'll probably vanish. Maybe sold to someone else.
Thinking I'd never smell that bitter tang or feel the sticky humidity again stirred an odd sensation in me, which I shook off by speaking.
"Yeah, well, good luck. I'll root for you."
*
*
*
"Those guys were more fun than I thought! Learned some interesting stuff too!"
On the way back after parting with Sizer's group, Luna raised her voice like it was the best thing ever. For Luna, finding something boring would be harder.
Her energy's always sky-high, like body temperature.
Still, I found the encounter pretty intriguing too.
Another nymph, and chatting casually with a guy my age for once—felt refreshing.
Nymphs value repaying favors highly and love it. Do good deeds first, and they'll follow you better.
I'd learned a lot about befriending nymphs. Nymphs liking to repay favors? News to me—quite bewildering.
Had Paranoy ever repaid me anything?
As I pondered seriously, Luna said,
"That Sizer guy felt weirdly like Hatsan!"
"Yeah?"
"The vibe, the aura around him!"
"Maybe 'cause he has a nymph."
"Could be. Anyway, back to the inn for some rest. I need a nap—."
And so Luna and I returned to the inn where we'd booked rooms. With all the food we'd bought, as I opened the door to the room Luna had grabbed, quite a commotion hit us.
"Please surrender already...!"
"Ugh, what a pain...."
Opening the door revealed Elfride sprawled on the bed reading a book, and Paranoy pinning her down on top.
"What are you two doing."
"Ah-! Master Hatsan, perfect timing...! Your right-hand top devotee, I, Paranoy, was just punishing this clingy nymph bothering you...!"
"This one's been pestering me. Take her away."
"Paranoy, stop bothering her and come here."
Reluctantly, I called Paranoy over.
Tormenting a resting Elfride.
Doesn't know how scary she is—bold as brass. One wrong move, and Delphi burns. Total disaster then.
So, planning to warn her with a knuckle rap, I suddenly recalled my chat with Sizer.
Do good deeds to nymphs first.
Pretending to be scared, I raised my palm over Paranoy's head as she crept up timidly.
"Oh, I behaved today...! Didn't do a single thing deserving a knuckle rap...!"
She thought it was a knuckle rap coming. But instead of chopping down with my fist, I just gently rubbed her head with my palm.
"Yeah, you behaved well. Good job. Be good till dinner, and I'll give you candy."
"Huh, huuuuh-!"
Paranoy started trembling. Happy? So spoiling nymphs is the way? As I thought that, Paranoy said,
"Th-this is scarier than a knuckle rap...! You're not the Hatsan to do this! You've malfunctioned...! Definitely a monster wearing Hatsan's skin...!"
"Damn."
*
*
*
Thus, after resting at the inn till evening.
Hippolyte returned late for dinner, and I asked her what had been on my mind.
"Are you heading to meet the Great Prophet? For that warrior's task or whatever."
"H-how did you know?"
[Author's Note]