Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Dianes of Pasos Island
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-Rustle!
The leaf split precisely along its vein in half, and with the flourish of the sword dance, the training session came to an end.
Northern Pasos Island in the Aegean Sea of Greece.
And I was no longer the Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, nor a Korean exam prep student from my previous life—I was merely Dianes, the orphan of Zeus's temple.
"Hoo..."
Even after reincarnating once more like this, I rose every dawn as the spiritual energy thickened and trained in this demonic art.
For one thing, I had once been a warrior who dominated the Central Plains martial world. More importantly, if this world truly was the one from the Greek and Roman myths I remembered, there was no downside to building up my strength.
"Every time I think about it, what a truly tumultuous life."
The hand that once commanded a hundred thousand demons with a mere gesture, overflowing with demonic energy, was now impossibly small and pale by comparison.
And my body?
Though I'd been eating well lately and put on a bit of flesh, it was so slender it was hard to believe this was the body the demons had revered as the Heavenly Demon's. It was enough to make anyone sigh.
The one saving grace might be my face?
Reflected in the sparkling moonlight on the stream, my new body—Dianes's face—was stunning enough to astound by the standards of my previous life in the Central Plains martial world or the one before that on Earth.
"Man, if this were Korea, I'd be streaming and raking in the cash."
It was such a ridiculous thought that even I couldn't help but chuckle, but that just went to show how perfectly handsome Dianes's face was—plausibility itself.
Whether due to the influence of my soul or simple genetics, the long hair like the night sky contrasted beautifully with skin as white as fresh snow, giving off an air of refined nobility.
And the crowning touch: jet-black eyes sparkling like stars in the night sky. Even I had to admit they made him incredibly handsome.
"The most handsome guys I'd ever seen were Earth's celebrities or those annoying young masters from the Five Great Families..."
Even those guys couldn't hold a candle to him. Objectively speaking, Dianes's face was truly handsome.
A delicate pretty boy, perhaps.
And I wasn't the only one who thought so. Nerina, and even High Priest Epharos of Zeus's temple,
feared he might get kidnapped by Apollo or Zeus himself, so they made him wear a hood or mask whenever he went into town.
"Though in reality, it's probably worries about human traffickers or kidnappers."
Who could say for sure?
This was ancient Greece.
The backdrop for stories so overused in Earth's literature and media that they'd become cliché.
Of course, someone from Earth like me might scoff and dismiss tales of monsters and gods as tall tales.
But from the position of the Heavenly Demon who unified the Central Plains martial world in my previous life, where immortals and yokai existed in the martial world,
I couldn't assume ancient Greece lacked gods or monsters.
Besides, I already knew of one being that wasn't human.
"Dianes! There you are!"
A girl in flowing robes like winged garments came running over the low seaside hill.
Her silver-blue hair waved like the waves of the dawn sea, and her delicate, fairy-like features drew admiration even in her childlike form.
This girl's name was Nesneria.
She looked every bit the picture-perfect beauty, but in truth, she was a sea nymph, a Nereid—and my oldest playmate here on Pasos Island.
"Neri, I said I wanted to be alone."
"It's almost morning. Aren't you hungry?"
Her bright, sparkling nymph eyes made me chuckle as I set down the wooden sword I'd been holding.
But then a sudden wave of emptiness hit me, and my face twisted in frustration.
"...Still feels off."
"What does?"
What does? This rag I'm wearing, that's what.
Aside from the so-called tunic—a passable scrap of cloth—there were no pants to speak of. On top of that, it was like a dress,
with arms and neck wide open, barely cinched at the waist with leather straps. That's it.
To think people walked around calling this clothing.
It had been fifteen years since I reincarnated into this world, but pants had been a given in my previous life and the one before that across their long spans. Outfits like this felt downright awkward.
"Sigh, what can you do? Just gotta roll with it."
"You know, sometimes you talk just like old man Epharos. Like an old geezer."
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's go. I'm starving."
-Roooaaar...
The beautiful northern Aegean island of Pasos, bathed in bright sunlight and crashing white waves.
Born on that peaceful isle, the black-haired Dianes spent his days leisurely.
That was my third life.
Central Pasos Island. Zeus's Temple.
After finishing the dawn offerings and changing clothes, someone approached High Priest Epharos to pay respects.
"High Priest Epharos."
"What is it, Messius?"
The man's name was Messius.
He was the deputy priest assisting Epharos in managing Zeus's temple on Pasos Island, and also oversaw the temple's orphanage.
"It's about Dianes... Is everything all right?"
"...Why do you ask about that child?"
At the mention of Dianes's name from Messius's lips, Epharos's face hardened with tension,
and his voice grew sharp.
"We should speak somewhere quiet."
"...Very well."
Dianes.
Taking the boy into Pasos's Zeus Temple had happened five years ago.
It was an unusually restless dark night, as Epharos prepared for the upcoming Hellenis Festival and Nyx veiled even Artemis's chariot.
While hurriedly sorting documents by the light of a small candle, with not a breath of wind, the flame suddenly extinguished.
Thinking it strange, he struck his flint to relight it—but at that exact moment, the flame whooshed out again.
Having lived his entire life as high priest of Zeus's temple, Epharos instinctively knew this was no coincidence or nymph's prank. It was a divine sign.
A presence rejecting the light that pierced the darkness. Even the attempt to reignite it was gently rebuffed.
Could it be a messenger from the underworld come personally to fetch him?
With that thought, Epharos closed his eyes.
And his guess proved right—the entity that snuffed the flame gently took his arm and led him outside.
How could a mere mortal defy a god's will?
He only worried about the deputy priests and orphans who would be left in confusion without him.
But the hand guiding him didn't lead to the banks of the Styx.
It was a small hill near Pasos Island, by a stream where nymphs gathered in small groups to sing at night.
And atop the rock by that stream where the nymphs sat was a child lying quietly.
A small boy, not even ten years old.
Yet the noble aura and inexplicable dignity emanating from him made the elderly Epharos certain this was surely the son of some god.
Assuming some deity had guided the child to him because no one else could take him in, he saw it as divine will and took the boy under his care.
As expected, the child who called himself Dianes proved precocious and wise beyond his years, effortlessly handling tasks that stumped Epharos and the deputies. His innate martial prowess and mental fortitude were profound; by age fifteen, he even slew a wild boar ravaging the crops and offered it to Ares's temple.
Since Dianes arrived, Zeus's temple on Pasos Island under Epharos's charge had overflowed with pilgrims and their lavish offerings.
The temple's fields and orchards always yielded bountiful harvests.
Epharos grew even more convinced that Dianes was the descendant of a supreme god or some great being in their service.
But as Dianes grew alongside him, so did Epharos's worries.
All about Dianes's future.
A child led and blessed by the gods.
Gifted with exceptional strength and mental fortitude, captivating countless people—even river nymphs.
This was the hallmark of one destined to be called a hero.
Already agonizing over what to do with such a divine offspring, and now with Messius—who oversaw the boy—bringing him up, Epharos's heart sank.
"Tell me. What is it?"
"Well, a little while ago, when I was summoned to Apollo's temple..."
Messius, speaking to Epharos, rubbed his face in disbelief at what he'd witnessed, unraveling the tale.
It had happened recently, when he'd taken a ship to Delphi on temple business.
Having nearly finished his tasks and preparing to return to Pasos, messengers from Delphi's temple suddenly appeared and dragged him to the shrine, claiming urgency.
"They burst in out of nowhere, saying it was urgent, and hauled me to the Delphi temple.
Once inside, a massive voice suddenly boomed at me like this:"
"The seeds you dug from Gaia's bosom for sowing, placed in jars.
They shall be planted in the shadow of the greatest mountain. The sower who will soon plant them approaches the temple—prepare the seeds swiftly!"
As expected of Delphi's oracle, it was utterly cryptic, and Messius shook his head.
But Epharos immediately grasped its meaning.
'Seeds that haven't even sprouted—a child yet to bud. The jar containing them is this very temple.
Dug from Gaia's bosom means plucked from the lightless earth, i.e., a child rescued from darkness.
Planted in the shadow of the greatest mountain means raised on Olympus, as agents of the gods, to become a hero.
And the sower who plants the seeds...?'
"Ha ha... this, this indeed!"
His thoughts reached that point, and Epharos felt a burning thirst in his throat. He poured himself grape wine from the jug on the desk and downed it.
"...Priest?"
Messius cautiously called out, puzzled by Epharos's sudden behavior, but the high priest clamped his lips shut, staring only at the papyrus on the desk.
"The sowing festival is upon us soon."
"Yes... Ah! Could it be Apollo signaling good fortune if we prepare this harvest well?"
Watching the young priest innocently interpret the prophecy, Epharos let out a deep sigh.
"Hoo... It seems a distinguished guest will visit the temple soon. Clean the guest quarters thoroughly and prepare the children."
"Pardon?"
"Do as I say."
"Y-Yes!"
As Epharos slumped wearily into his chair and issued the order to receive guests, Messius hurried off, sensing something amiss.
"Oh, wait!"
"Yes?! Is there more?"
"Clear out the guest quarters' beds and pile them high with the finest dried straw.
No worm-eaten or damp stuff—use only the best, generously."
"...Straw?"
The priest tilted his head at the inexplicable command, but Epharos no longer regarded him.
His gaze was lost in the pitch-black sky without even a single star, deep in thought.