The Road to Corinth (5)
"What brings you to Olympia, Chiron?"
"Recruiting students, as usual. I’m on my way back from Sparta."
"Sparta... that’s impressive."
Sisyphus knew of Chiron. A centaur, a demigod, and a descendant of the Titans, he was said to be a master of all forms of magic and martial arts. That was how he earned the title 'The Sage.' The most peculiar thing about him was that he didn't engage in heroics himself, instead pouring his efforts into training the next generation. The Chiron Academia was famous for having aspiring heroes from all over the continent clamoring to get in. Despite being a demigod and a child of a Titan, he still appeared to be in his middle years. He must have been over a thousand years old; he was undoubtedly immortal. But regardless of his background, Sisyphus couldn't help but be bothered by one thing.
'Where does the horse end and the man begin?'
It was the first time Sisyphus had seen a centaur, and the anatomical mystery was driving him crazy. From the front, he was undeniably human. But from the side, he was a horse. Neigh. And he was muscular, too.
"Your calves are sturdy. I like the feel of that."
Before anyone knew it, Sisyphus was patting the back of Chiron’s equine thigh with a rhythmic thwack, thwack.
"B-Brother!" Perseus looked horrified, but Chiron just let out a hearty laugh as he looked at Sisyphus.
"So, you’re the hero who subjugated Medusa. What is your name?"
"Sisyphus."
"Sisyphus. For your hero registration to take effect, the guild needs accurate records. What skills can you use, and what is your rank?"
"Why?"
"So we can match you with appropriate requests. If we send an unseasoned hero on a dangerous mission, they’ll just lose their life for nothing."
"That makes sense."
"I also serve as a guild supervisor. How about it? Shall we have a simple sparring match right now?"
Chiron proposed. Perseus made a huge fuss.
"Spar with Chiron? Brother, this is an immense honor! You rarely get the chance to be tested by a legend like him during a rank assessment!"
"Does passing this get me the registration card?"
"If you pass, yes."
"Let's get it over with quickly."
"Ooh!"
"I'll open the training ring! I'll guide you!"
Perseus and the branch manager ran off in excitement. Sisyphus, on the other hand, just wanted to finish this annoying task and get his ship.
Soon, the two men stood in the dirt. It was a circular training ring used for Pankration matches. Perseus, Cassandra, and the branch manager stood outside the ring to watch.
"Then, I shall have a look at your skills. If you have any techniques you’re confident in, feel free to show them."
Chiron kicked up dust with his front hooves and took a stance. It was the stance of a Pankration fighter.
"Are you not coming?"
But for some reason, even though he had been provoked, Sisyphus stood with his arms crossed, showing no intention of fighting.
'An interesting young man.' Chiron raised the corner of his mouth. Originally, he had come to see Perseus, thinking he had achieved the feat of slaying Medusa. But it turned out the one who had actually accomplished the deed was someone else entirely—a commoner who wasn't even registered as a hero. It was incredibly eye-catching.
'He looks like a Spartan, but...' His speech wasn't that blunt. In fact, he gave the impression of hiding a refined eloquence. The Sage's eyes could not be deceived. 'Men like this are usually criminals, but sometimes they are outsiders, or they possess the extraordinary background of being a god's hidden child.'
Chiron was confident he could figure him out if they traded blows. One’s lineage was revealed in their innate mana, and one’s life was revealed in the techniques and magic they used. The solid muscles and scars visible to the eye—this was a body forged through grueling training. Chiron wanted to peel back the layers of the man before him.
"If you won't come, I'll go first."
Clop! With the sound of hooves, Chiron charged in an instant.
"Fast!"
"The distance closed in a blink...!"
The mobility of a centaur charging on four legs was on a different dimension than a human.
"Hmph!"
A restrained shuto (knife-hand strike) flew out. Pankration. It was the most universal martial art in Greece. Moreover, Chiron, who had been called the teacher of all for a thousand years of training, was the textbook of theory. His skill was perfection itself. 'Will he defend, or will he break it with a technique? I'm curious.' Chiron watched Sisyphus's reaction keenly. The moment the hand-blade struck—
Whoosh.
"...?!"
Chiron doubted his own eyes. His strike had cut through empty air.
"Where did he go...?"
Clop, clop. He reset his stance. Sisyphus was already behind him. 'Fast. Does he use speed-based techniques?' There was a reason he was called a Sage. Whoosh! He kicked up dust with his hooves. Now he could track the trajectory of his movement.
"Hmph!"
Chiron chased after Sisyphus, continuing his strikes. This time, he could read his movements through the direction of the dust. Chiron possessed a long body that humans lacked. If he launched a surprise attack with his hind legs, most people wouldn't predict it and would be sent flying. The dust kicked up a wind.
'Now is the time.'
Whoosh! A powerful kick exploded outward. But—
"......?"
Again, the attack cut through empty air. Sisyphus was standing a step away, arms crossed as before.
The branch manager swallowed hard as he watched the two exchanges. "What just happened...?"
"A nail-biting spar, indeed."
Perseus, who had barely managed to track their movements with his eyes, couldn't hide his excitement and clenched his fists.
"Ha, this is something."
Chiron, having been dodged twice, flicked his tail and trotted up to Sisyphus. "Tell me, why don't you counterattack?"
"I don't know how to use techniques."
"That can't be true. What is the problem?"
Sisyphus wasn't lying. 'Techniques are used with mana, aren't they?' He had never once realized that he had been using techniques until now.
"This is a place to evaluate your rank. You said that if you get a high rank, you get more requests."
"That is correct."
"I don't need it. Just write down whatever."
"Ha."
Chiron let out a dry laugh. Countless heroes risked their lives subjugating monsters just to raise their rank by a single level. There were even heroes who tried to bribe the supervisor during their first rank assessment. Yet, a man who had even subjugated a disaster-class Medusa was telling him he didn't need any of that and to just write down the lowest rank.
'He's the first hero since Heracles who's been this difficult to handle.' Chiron laughed. 'I've seen many who are this confident. Usually, they don't live out their natural lives because of their arrogance. I need to take him down a peg.'
Chiron made a proposal to Sisyphus.
"I understand what you mean. Then I will record your rank as the lowest, 'Delta.' There are countless Delta heroes, so you won't stand out."
"Are we done?"
"Instead, there is a condition. Just one exchange. If you can properly spar with me, I will pass you."
Chiron's goal was to learn more about him anyway. Sisyphus shook his head and uncrossed his arms.
"Just once."
"Come at me whenever you're ready."
What kind of technique would he show? Speed, light, the sea, morale, weapons, or disruption? Chiron raised his hand-blade. Sisyphus's feet left the ground.
—BOOM!!
A shockwave that tore at the eardrums. In an instant—
'...Gasp.'
Chiron felt as if the blood in his entire body had frozen, stopping him in his tracks. The man before him approached like a giant mountain, filling his entire field of vision. By the time he regained his senses—
—BOOOOOOM!!
A fist had stopped right in front of his face. He had been unable to take any defensive measures against that blow, left with no choice but to accept it blankly. The shockwave scattered his long hair, and his skin rippled as if it were about to tear. A V-shaped mark was left on the ground, centered on Chiron.
"That should be enough."
The man, Sisyphus, lowered his fist and turned around.
"...Haha."
Chiron the Sage tore the corners of his mouth even wider. 'I couldn't react in the slightest.' Chiron admitted it. That fist was certainly different from the 'techniques' of other heroes. 'Unless one trains ten times... no, twenty times harder than I have, such a fist...' It wouldn't be possible. It was a fist that looked as if it had been swung for ten thousand years. Even if he didn't know where he came from or what his past was—that one blow was enough. The Sage could feel the weight resting on his shoulders.
Chiron trotted over to the branch manager and spoke.
"Sisyphus has passed. He is more than qualified to be a hero."
"Really? Congratulations, Brother!"
Perseus jumped up as if it were his own success and ran to Sisyphus. The branch manager asked.
"How did you set his rank?"
"Set it to Delta."
"Eek, only Delta? Then he won't get high-level requests..."
"It's fine. Instead, promote Perseus to Alpha and give him requests; won't he come along with him? Since the Medusa expedition was a success, he has plenty of justification."
"I see. Understood. For us, it's more important that we've come to serve a hero like Sisyphus."
"That is true. Instead, use my authority to register him with a hidden 'Omega (Ω)' rank."
"O-Omega, you say?!"
Hero ranks go from Delta to Alpha, and only a very small number of chosen ones receive Sigma above that. Omega was a hidden rank known only to guild executives. It was a rank received regardless of one's general rank, a kind of 'privilege.' Not only do they pay no commission fees upon completing requests, but they are also supported with all sorts of equipment, weapons, and artifacts from guild-affiliated shops.
"Usually, only descendants of royalty who have donated millions in gold to the guild receive Omega."
"A hero of Sisyphus's caliber needs full support from the guild."
"I felt he was a man of that stature, but it seems the Sage has seen something as well."
Chiron nodded.
"Sisyphus!"
At his call, Sisyphus paused for a moment.
"Do stop by Athens sometime! It's a city with delicious apples!"
Sisyphus left Chiron behind, pretending not to hear.
***
Sisyphus had finished his hero registration and successfully received the reward for the Medusa subjugation. Officially, the expedition team's name was recorded with party leader Perseus, and party members Sisyphus and Sandra.
"Perseus, this is your share."
"W-what? This is too much. You were the one who took down Medusa, Brother."
"You spent a lot of money setting up the expedition and buying the ship, didn't you? It wasn't a request I took in the first place."
"Brother...! I will follow you for the rest of my life!"
"Don't follow me."
"I should send half of the gold coins you gave me to the families of the expedition team. Everyone fought bravely."
Sisyphus handed over more than half of the reward to Perseus.
"Then let's go find the ship. Chiron said he docked it north of the pier."
"Wait a minute, what about my share?"
Cassandra blocked Sisyphus's path. Sisyphus tilted his head.
"What's with that look? I participated in the expedition and I'm a comrade who helped subjugate the monster, too."
"What did you do?"
"Wow, is that how you're going to be?"
"She at least threw a shield, what did you do?"
"No..."
Cassandra fumed. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't done anything in the battle.
"Prophecy! I prophesied! I accurately predicted the location where Medusa would appear."
"Aha, so that's why we couldn't find her for so long."
"I didn't hear that."
"Oh, really! Don't be like that, just share some. I'm sick of jerky. That pie earlier was delicious. Since we're in the city, let's eat some, yeah?"
"Don't you have money?"
"..."
Cassandra was on the verge of bursting into tears. Sisyphus pulled a gold coin from his sack.
"Do it, your specialty. This time, make it certain."
Seeing the glittering gold, Cassandra’s eyes rolled back, and she immediately cast her magic.
"Show me, show me, show me..."
After her eyelids fluttered for a long time, she snapped her eyes open.
"Aha! You definitely said you were going to Corinth, right?"
"Don't forget to say the opposite."
"Ah, um... So, if you go to Corinth... No, the thief god Hermes will never appear in Corinth!"
Hearing that, Sisyphus curled the corner of his mouth into a smirk. Ting. As he flipped the gold coin, Cassandra tumbled onto the ground, scrambling to catch it.
"That went well."
Sisyphus muttered shortly.