Chapter 231
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 231
Chapter Title: National Administration
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There was no grand coronation ceremony, no triumphant parade.
Atalanta, newly crowned as Arcadia's queen, looked down at the king who had been dragged from his throne by the hands of the people and simply passed him by.
As if he were now nothing at all.
The man, no longer king or anything else, shouted something at the queen's retreating back as she walked away.
But his desperate cries were quickly drowned out by the cheers of the people for their new queen.
Yet in Arcadia, the skeptical eyes toward the new queen had not fully faded.
Aura's great hero, Chiron's disciple.
But in the end, her veins carried the blood of the traitor who had oppressed them and sold the kingdom to foreign enemies. And what she sought to inherit was the Arcadian dynasty that had invited heresy and thereby earned Olympus's blessings.
What if she used the power of Aura and the matchless strength of those warriors to oppress and exploit them even more?
In that case.
Now that it had been revealed that even that once-great king was no different from an ordinary human.
Now that they had torn the cruel mercenaries to pieces with their own hands and quenched their thirst with the wine from the king's stores.
Was it so impossible that Eris might look upon them and completely erase the unworthy Arcadian dynasty?
The starving are more ferocious than beasts.
And a beast that has lost its young becomes more savage than any monster.
A traveler from some distant land had ignited this fire with a pile of straw.
And the strategist who had sparked it, now lover to the queen, knew this all too well.
So they immediately revealed without restraint the power hidden in the forest for all to see.
That day, the people of Tegea witnessed the power and authority of the gods for the first time with their own eyes.
The warrior women and mages who followed him tended to the exhausted people, while the divine spirits and elementals sent by the immortal sage cared for the ravaged humans and land.
To the beautiful songs of the nymphs, clear spring water began to flow into the cracks of the parched earth.
And in the fields and forests crushed by the giants' footsteps, faint new greenery began to sprout like fresh skin.
The child who had whimpered from hunger smiled in sleep, snoring peacefully, and the parents, who had been tormented by pain that clung like a breath, now tended to their child in comfort, realizing anew what true peace felt like.
Those who had devolved into beasts returned calmly to their places, and the goddess of the earth breathed her breath back into Arcadia.
The ever-mild, ever-abundant Arcadia.
Abundance had returned once more to an Arcadia where all that had become a thing of the past.
Atalanta threw herself into governing the kingdom with remarkable energy.
She swiftly calmed the furious populace, arranged for all farmers and soldiers to return to their duties, and, with Peleus—whom she had appointed chancellor due to their connection on Mount Taygetus—at the lead, began tackling the myriad issues scattered across Arcadia one by one.
"What do we do about this...?"
"You don't have to handle everything yourself. Didn't Peleus send up a roster? There are a few people from there who returned to their hometowns. Tell the ones from Eleania to come back up."
"I-Is that okay?"
"Finances are fine. Master Chiron gave us plenty of support."
Of course, since it was all completely new to her, there were plenty of mistakes and unknowns, leaving her flustered at times. But as usual, with guidance from the side, she absorbed it all smoothly.
Moreover, the Greek states of today were even more primitive than those of the Central Plains—practically tribal in structure—so it was far simpler than managing the complexities back home.
'With actual gods existing here and superhumans wielding great influence, public sentiment is easy to manage too.'
Overwhelming force serves as deterrence in itself.
The greater the gap between it and the collective might of the people, the stronger that deterrence becomes.
The current strength of the Pesakaines and Atalanta's warrior band could easily overwhelm several Greek states combined.
And in a world setting where peak masters were rare, having two transcendent beings like Atalanta and Heracles made it even more so.
No matter how some public opinion glared at her, no one would dare step forward openly.
Plus, I had openly demonstrated the true form of the Stable Sword for all Greece to see, so out of fear of my wrath alone, even the more reckless gods wouldn't touch Arcadia for now.
With no external interference and thanks to the pact with Poseidon, Arcadia was recovering swiftly.
"I think that's enough for today."
"Really!?"
She must have been eager, because as soon as I set down the stone tablet and declared the end of work, Atalanta's eyes sparkled, and she leaped up into my arms.
"Ugh... Am I the queen or just a paperwork machine...?"
"I've had those thoughts myself once."
To be honest, Atalanta was in far better shape than I had been.
The "papers" piled up before her were just a few stone tablets and about twenty papyrus scrolls.
Compared to the room-filling stacks from the Great Snowy Mountains of Sachon...
"Ugh...!"
Just thinking about it gave me chills.
I'd even felt more at ease facing the full might of the Taehwang Cheonwi Army or the Murim Alliance single-handedly.
"Compared to that, this is nothing..."
Hardships make one grow, or so they say.
No matter how inept I was at administrative work at first, after being buried under an avalanche of tasks and seeing the disasters from half-hearted handling, I had grown enough to teach a novice king.
As I held her warm body close, enjoying the heat for a moment, Atalanta, face buried in my chest, began to whine.
"Pu-hew~ I'm jealous of Heracles and Jason..."
"Ah, those two."
While Atalanta and I were swamped with state affairs, unable to catch our breath.
Heracles and Jason were down in the training grounds, focusing on their cultivation.
With the heroes stepping in to stabilize things and time to spare, I had given them advanced martial arts as a test.
For Heracles, a proper school's techniques; for Jason, demonic arts starting from the foundational cultivation method.
"They're progressing fast. Really."
Perhaps because their qi cores and physiques were already near perfection, once they started learning qi circulation, their growth was astonishing even to me.
Well, Heracles had reached transcendent heights through enlightenment alone without proper cultivation, igniting his qi reinforcement, so it was only natural.
Jason, too, was a prodigy whose swordsmanship already peered at the pinnacle, so it made sense.
"I heard Jason's grinding his teeth over Thespios... What do you think, Your Majesty?"
"Honestly, I think Thespiae needs to be dealt with too. We're leaving it for now since internal cleanup comes first..."
As seen this time, Thespiae could not coexist with Arcadia.
They had always harbored ambitions to use Arcadia as a stepping stone to push inland, and investigations revealed that Thespios had swayed Phliasos and accelerated King Iasos's tyranny.
"Plus, with Dianes and the pact you brought from Poseidon, strategically, we should take Thespiae."
Per the agreement with Poseidon, Arcadia's sea ventures would enjoy the sea god's protection, guaranteeing bountiful trade and fishing.
And Thespiae had assured food from Lake Copaïs, thriving trade thanks to the Corinthian Isthmus, and above all, it was a key strategic point linking the Gulf of Corinth to the Aegean Sea.
"We have the justification, so we should take it. But with Jason gnashing his teeth, I'd like to leave that to him..."
Jason had long been overshadowed by Heracles, Atalanta, and other Golden Generation heroes, rarely shining on his own.
He had gained some fame as leader of the Pesakaines and a hero who clashed with the Aloadae, but knowing his ultimate goal, I wanted to give him not just martial prowess but fame befitting his efforts and ambitions.
"Hmm... Isn't this favoritism?"
"Favoritism?"
With a sly smile at my words, Atalanta slowly traced her fingers over my chest.
"Didn't you teach me? There would be many temptations. To beware those who cloak personal gain in the guise of the greater good."
Her red eyes gleamed seductively as she placed a finger on my chin. I could tell exactly what our queen desired.
"Favoritism... So does that mean I should get something in return?"
"Tsk, didn't your master teach you? Even the smallest personal interest mixed into the greater good can topple everything."
I played along, scooping her up and rising from my seat.
"Didn't that master also say not to cling blindly to principles? To apply them flexibly to every situation."
"Hng~ Flexibly, huh..."
-Chup!
Suddenly, a moist sound and warm sensation touched my lips.
At the same time, her soft tongue slipped between, drawing an involuntary smile from me.
-Chuu... Chuup!
As our tongues entwined, exchanging breaths, blood began rushing to my lower body.
"Paha! See? Plenty flexible, right?"
Atalanta slowly pulled back, licking her lips with a triumphant grin.
It seemed tonight would be a long one, after far too long.