Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Hermes' Visit
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Karyklo, the forest's lady and administrator, fainted at the sight of the half-destroyed Colosseum.
Asclepius laughed his guts out seeing the blood-soaked Heracles—a minor incident like that. In the end, I was carted off to the infirmary yet again.
"I've only been here two days since enrolling, and aside from the infirmary and the Colosseum, I know nothing about this forest."
"Hahaha! I explored every inch of it the moment I arrived. There was this rumor going around back then."
"They said Lord Hermes had hidden his Talaria somewhere."
Heracles, lying next to me wrapped head to toe in bandages like a mummy, boasted proudly from the adjacent bed.
"Talaria?"
Some fairy's name?
I tilted my head at the unfamiliar word, and Atalanta, who was sitting nearby, leaned in to whisper in my ear.
"It's Lord Hermes' winged sandals."
"Ah... So that's what they call the Talaria."
I hadn't known that.
No matter how much universal mythological knowledge I had, even I didn't know everything, so there were these little gaps in my common knowledge.
Not that it amounted to much—just a few minor details like that.
Honestly, anyone would remember the awesome staff with two entwined serpents that the gods' herald and original con artist carries around, but shoes that let you fly? Not so memorable.
I'd flown through the heavens and strolled in the skies myself, so sandals that let you fly didn't leave much of an impression.
"Don't the gods fly around by nature anyway?"
"If you ever meet Lord Hermes, don't say that. His Talaria aren't just for simple flight—they're magical sandals that let you soar through the skies faster than any bird. He brags about them endlessly."
Apparently, Hermes, the gods' herald, often visited the forest on business with Chiron. Because of that, his children supposedly had better relationships with their father than those of other gods.
"Last time, he gathered his sons for a treasure hunt prank, but the treasures he hid were..."
"What were they?"
"I don't know!"
Atalanta shook her head vigorously, as if too embarrassed to say more. Heracles watched her curiously before turning to me with a puzzled look.
"Dianes."
"What now?"
"How the hell do you headbutt someone and turn that porcupine into a docile lamb overnight?"
What?
Setting aside the sheer absurdity of the question, I could roughly understand Heracles' confusion.
It felt like ages had passed, but I'd only been in this forest for three days.
The duel where I'd finished Atalanta with one glorious headbutt was just yesterday.
Judging by how the others—including this guy—reacted to Atalanta clinging to me, they were thinking the same thing.
"The others are baffled too. How'd you knock out that self-proclaimed chimera huntress in one hit?"
"Heracles?"
"A couple months before you arrived? There was this massive boar that turned the whole forest upside down. Atalanta here charged in alone to hunt it and offer it to Artemis."
"Uh, Herc?"
"That berserker who got rammed head-on by a house-sized boar, got right back up, grabbed her sword, and dove back in... She's the one dripping honey from her eyes now, refusing to leave your side... Uh, um."
Despite my repeated hints with my eyes.
This huntress squeezing my hand like a wet rag was the berserker he was talking about.
The boar-like great hero finally caught on to my strained smile and hints at the very last second.
"Uh-huhahaha! Th-that just shows how extraordinary that lovely huntress is..."
Our aspiring great hero tried to laugh it off, but from the perspective of the Heavenly Demon with a century of experience ruling the martial world, it was way too late.
"Hey, Dianes? You don't know much about Artemis' huntresses, do you?"
"Huh? Yeah?"
Atalanta rose gracefully, her twilight robes spreading like those of a benevolent saintess, smiling as she slowly bent down and reached under my bed.
"As huntresses of Artemis, we race through the forest every new moon night, hunting deer, boars, and sometimes even fierce beasts like bears or leopards."
Scary. For some reason, really scary.
The beautiful huntress who'd passionately kissed me earlier.
That soft body in my arms, those ruby eyes melted with sticky affection—they were still enchanting.
But now, every element as she bent under the bed radiated sharp killing intent like knife blades.
The silver lining? That killing intent was aimed at the idiot next to me, not me.
"Among them were foul men who ignorantly trespassed into the goddess' hunting grounds and tried to dishonor her huntresses."
"Oh, I know all about that."
I'd nearly become a headless corpse at the hands of those huntresses' goddess on Pasos Island.
'Oh right, speaking of which, I'd totally forgotten about that divine energy I absorbed back then.'
It wasn't a huge amount, but in terms of purity, it was more refined than any energy I'd seen from typical pre-Buddhist Daoist experts.
Paradoxically, though they were younger and less pure than her, those huntresses were like living Buddhas or immortals—just a light touch and they'd ascend.
Maybe it was because their domain was the moon, or maybe she was just born that way, but that goddess was pure psychopath—no additives, 100%.
She'd tried sniping my head from afar to turn it to paste, then brazenly showed up and spouted nonsense that left me dazed, unleashing a barrage of insane comebacks.
No way she'd chase me all the way here for revenge over that, right?
"Kuhahaha! S-so you're gonna try to catch me now? Atalanta, I get it—you're bewitched by Eros' golden arrow and want to show off in front of your lover."
"L-lover?!"
"That's what you react to?"
Moon goddess or galactic berserker on moonlit nights—I'll figure that out later.
Atalanta's dad, the Arcadian king or whatever, must have some serious karma.
Turning such a lively, emotionally rich beauty into a poison-charged berserker.
"I'm Alkmene's son. Heracles, backed by Hera's glory and heir to Zeus' blood! Unless it's Chiron or your lover Dianes, do you think an arrow can pierce this body?"
The great hero, his face wrapped entirely in bandages, bellowed confidently.
Our dear huntress responded to his bravado with...
"By the way, last month? I was the one who took Asclepius' commission for that poison arrow sniper shot."
She shot back with a cold smile.
Wait, sniper shot?
"...You!?"
Oh, this was fresh.
Heracles, who had laughed it off manfully even after getting pummeled by me, turned pale and recoiled in horror.
"I happened to have some of that poison left over. Asclepius said since I'd be stuck in the infirmary anyway, to keep an eye on the boar, and even allowed weapons inside."
Atalanta flashed a grin and pulled out an arrow, dipping its tip deep into a vial of poison.
"Wait! I'm a patient..!"
"It's fine. Paralysis poison—you'll sleep soundly before Hypnos even arrives."
Heracles was already struggling to move from the Wall-Shattering Heavenly Strike's aftereffects.
Wouldn't a poison arrow on top be dangerous?
"Dianes, don't look so worried. That boar talked pretty, but like he said, an arrow won't even scratch that hunk of meat."
"No, it still hurts! And you're aiming right for the wounds Dianes gave you?!"
True to being Artemis' daughter.
Atalanta precisely targeting his injuries, Heracles freaking out.
Heracles shot me a silent plea for help from his bandage-wrapped face, but reflecting on my century-plus of martial world politics...
It was better all around to stay quiet, erase my presence, and watch.
Still, a poison that even a natural external arts master impervious to blades would dread.
Come to think of it, while sorting out the Tang Clan, I'd picked up quite a bit on their secret poison arts.
I hadn't trained in poison arts back then, but with the Tang Clan's secrets for converting poison to inner energy, and this mythic world full of insanely lethal poisons beyond imagination, maybe I should give poison training a try. Later, I could ask Asclepius for a few vials to experiment with.
"Atalanta!"
"Eek! M-Master!"
Just as Atalanta was about to turn Heracles into a porcupine.
Chiron trotted in, his hooves clacking.
"Hahaha! True young heroes indeed! Full of energy even while injured!"
Chiron swept a hand over his weary face, and behind him came a handsome young man chuckling heartily.
Before I could wonder who it was.
Atalanta with her arrow and Heracles sweating bullets both jumped in surprise and bowed deeply.
"Lord Hermes!?"
"I see Olympus' herald."
Hermes.
God of messengers, shepherds, thieves, and con artists.
This cheerful young man with impressive golden curls was the second Olympian god I'd met.