Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: The Tale of the Young Heroes
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As always when new students arrived, the entire forest heated up with party vibes.
Fires blazed on the grand altar at the forest's center, dedicated to the gods, while centaurs hauled out dozens of tables and built bonfires around it.
Under the direction of Karyklo, the forest's mistress, the nymphs filled jars to the brim with the sweetest wine from the woods. In the kitchen hearths, white breads, seasoned vegetables, and fish streamed in and out without pause, while countless pigs and chickens sizzled mouthwateringly over the flames.
Soon, it was the time all the Greeks unanimously declared perfect for a party.
As Helios parked his golden chariot and Selene took the reins of her silver one in the gentle evening light, the heroes gathered at the party grounds in twos and threes.
The topic among the young heroes, now together in one spot, was unmistakably one thing.
The extraordinary new arrival to the forest, Dianes.
"The black wind, the mad demon's charge, illusions of countless spears evoking the Hydra!
This was surely a duel worthy of being sung into history!"
"Ha, haha, Orpheus. Looks like you're totally smitten."
The first to speak was the musician with long, pure white silver hair cascading down as he slowly tuned his lyre.
The dreamy-eyed pretty boy, Orpheus.
"Isn't it obvious? The great teacher from the lineage of Cronus, facing off with spear against that wind-shrouded beautiful boy! Ah... inspiration, inspiration won't stop flowing!"
"...He'll probably be like this for a whole week."
Jason, sitting across from the entranced Orpheus, shook his head.
Beside him, Theseus smirked familiarly, having just taken his seat.
"By the way, Actaeon, what was your initiation rite?"
"Me?"
At Theseus's sudden question, the boy put on the spot blinked in surprise.
Dark green hair like the forest itself, a sleek build reminiscent of a leopard.
Yet his brown eyes sparkled shyly in contrast.
Actaeon, one of the forest's top ten hunters and master of fifty hounds named Lairaupus.
He took the cup Theseus offered with his question and asked back.
"Uh... for me, it was hunting down the monstrous boar in the eastern woods."
"That was quite the feast, right? You brought back that boar, plus dozens of hounds."
"Haha, th-thanks."
Jason laughed heartily and raised his cup; Actaeon smiled faintly and clinked his against it.
-Ding~
"In my case, it was performing before the nymph orchestra of fifty, taught by the Muses, and getting more than half to stand in applause."
As Orpheus, lost in ecstasy, joined the conversation with his lyre's notes,
Theseus snorted from across the table, refilling his wine cup with a grin.
"Fifty? Your lyre playing made all the women faint and the men weep in the back."
"Ah, that day the whole forest was a sea of tears. Remember how we had to cook because all the women passed out?"
Orpheus's initiation rite, a rare event that turned the forest upside down.
As memories surfaced of carrying fainted women on stretchers and handling dinner themselves, laughter exploded around the table.
"Ahahaha! Right, right. Good thing there was a hunting festival the day before, so we had plenty of meat."
"Everyone grilling with tears and snot streaming—never had such salty roast before."
"And the guys who went into the kitchen 'to cook' summoned a Tartarus monster,
making foster mom Karyklo, who'd fainted, bolt upright."
"W-We got an earful that day, tears really squeezed out."
-Puhahaha!
Probably the biggest incident in the forest's hero history; the four clutched their stomachs, pounding the table in laughter.
"Ahahaha! Whew... yeah, that happened. Speaking of which, Jason, yours was definitely wiping out those rowdy bandits in the nearby mountains, right?"
"Oh, that. Honestly, nothing special."
"N-Nothing special...? They were a pretty big bandit gang around here, weren't they?"
Jason shook his head as if it was ridiculous; Actaeon tilted his head curiously.
Grinning mischievously, Jason wagged a finger in explanation.
"They were just big in size—a ragtag bunch of nobodies.
Sneak in, fudge some ledgers, swipe some wallets, and they fall apart on their own, right?"
After that, he bribed and incited bandits trying to desert from a nearby village, roughly forming his own army.
He then absorbed the bandit gang's members into his forces one by one, using bandits to eradicate bandits.
Now, those inspired bandits served as the forest's guards.
"The more I see, the more you are..."
"Ha, haha, still impressive? Turning bandits into soldiers."
Despite his friends' subtle praise, Jason threw back his wine with a booming laugh.
"Puhaha. Only I could pull that off so easily. By the way, Theseus, yours was..."
Theseus smirked as if to say my turn now and took the words.
"Hmm... for me, it was fifty consecutive duels with warriors..."
Shaking his head as if it still gave him chills, Theseus continued.
"I thought fifty wasn't much, but nope—centaurs, spirits, even a sorcerer. Horrifying."
"I-I was there too, but you won every one, right?"
"Yeah, until the last one—that damn Heracles."
Ah...
At Theseus's bitter smile, everyone sighed in unison.
What monstrous strength that made you curse, impossible speed.
And that spinning head in battle—pure cheat.
"And Heracles's initiation rite was..."
"The duel today with teacher Chiron."
Chiron, mentor to the heroes.
His name carried weight.
By lineage, he followed Cronus like Olympus's three great gods, raised by Rhea, goddess of motherhood and abundance, schooled with Apollo and Artemis—an immortal.
Countless heroes had learned from him; even war god Ares acknowledged his prowess,
and chief god Zeus treated him as a sage for counsel. None could dispute his fame or power.
And a one-on-one with that Chiron?
"Hmm... I'm no martial expert, so..."
"I'd faint facing teacher Chiron too..."
Orpheus and Actaeon shook their heads in horror.
"Hmm... give me five hundred elite troops, and I could last five minutes."
"Assuming teacher has just a wooden staff and I'm fully prepped—maybe ten minutes."
Jason and Theseus calculated coolly, but
everyone's conclusion was the same.
"Can't win, barely survive..."
"Hey, Acti. Think Cronus's descendant is lunch? He's called teacher, but hand him a spear and every monster vanishes."
"The vessel itself is different."
Jason and Theseus protested in unison that non-warriors wouldn't get it.
From the start, he was the oldest, strongest demigod immortal.
They were sure no mortal save Heracles could face him.
At least until today.
"Th-Then we gotta add Dianes now?"
"........."
At Actaeon's words, Jason and Theseus silently turned, clinking cups.
"...We're heroes who'd shine anywhere."
"One monster's enough to kill me, now another... maybe just go home quietly, inherit the throne..."
Watching the two deflate instantly, the hunter and musician quietly refilled their cups.
Heracles looming and rampaging overhead had already made their despair chronic.
Now a similar newcomer worsened it.
"Ahem! B-But where's Heracles?"
"R-Right? He'd be first here, downing a whole keg."
"Think he followed Asclepius, who took the newbie to check him out."
"Similar kin appears, blood boils—couldn't resist."
To them, Heracles was profoundly complex.
The symbol of despair that their era would always fall under his name, no matter what.
The object of manly admiration, with that immense power and charisma.
Also, a pitiful being, isolated and thus lonely.
"First guest at his lonely peak—must be thrilled."
"Maybe a good comrade for him."
Theseus and Jason smiled bitterly with mixed feelings. Watching, Orpheus strummed his lyre in admiration.
"Oh, born to glory and fame as a hero, yet lonely in lofty isolation.
Now a companion to walk the path with. Ah! Melody rising!"
"...Here he goes again, Orpheus."
"Let him be, Acti. Artists' chronic ailment."
At Orpheus's lyre, Actaeon and Jason chuckled, shaking heads.
Orpheus zoning into ecstasy over sudden inspiration was forest routine.
"Anyway, when's today's star arriving? Wanted to chat with him."
"Yeah, wonder why."
As Theseus said, everyone was gathered but the star, Asclepius tending him, and Heracles.
What epic myths were they sharing, worthy of future great heroes?
Speculation flew as anticipation built.