Chapter 77
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Three Shall Come
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Three will come.
On the day when bright sunlight poured into the deep-sea palace.
The king of the great ocean, guardian of the abyss, old man of the sea, doting father of the youngest daughter, and so on.
It was the day the colossal god Oceanus, known by countless epithets, invited the gods of Olympus to his palace to commemorate the Titanomachy.
For some reason, she couldn't recall why, but after quarreling with Dianes and storming home in a huff, the murmuring of waves and her sisters' laughter had vanished, leaving an eerie silence.
A beautiful melody she'd never heard before in her life tugged at her footsteps.
The source of the melody was the grand banquet hall her father Oceanus had poured all his effort into decorating for the Titanomachy commemoration.
In the center of the vast hall, large enough to accommodate a thousand legions with room to spare.
The golden-haired male god shining like sunlight and the Nereid nymphs were instantly captivated by the performance of the lyre in his hand.
But the moment the performance ended, seeing him flirt with her sisters with that sleazy gaze and manner snapped her right out of it.
Even so, Nesneria had never heard a more beautiful performance than that one afterward.
"Haaah...!"
But today.
A beautiful, exotic melody overlaid her memories, capturing her heart.
Silver moonlight shattering like jewels above his head. Constellations listening quietly behind his back.
An exotic instrument playing a melody that seemed crude and heavy at first listen, the complete opposite of the sun god's lyre.
When they roamed the forests of Pasos Island together, Dianes had told her that music was a vessel containing the composer's emotions and a mirror reflecting the performer's heart.
So, what was this black-haired lover playing now?
What emotions did that melody hold, blending with the waves and drawing white currents?
'What would be the point of saying it?'
Not for the lofty gods of Olympus, nor to seduce another beautiful nymph.
Not even for that infuriating red beast.
It was beautiful because it was played solely for her.
'And he's handsome, too.'
The sun god Apollo, famed throughout Olympus as the epitome of male beauty, was indeed dazzling like brilliant sunlight.
But in Nesneria's eyes, she preferred Dianes's deep black eyes, settled like the calm darkness of the abyss, and that shadowed face that naturally evoked the word corruptio.
Blinding sunlight could never reach the depths where she dwelled, but endless darkness was forever bound to the sea.
Truth be told, that playboy's endless charm and beauty played no small part in Nesneria forgiving him so easily and opening her heart.
And what of his strength and wisdom?
No one could doubt the power and intellect that had brought Heracles to his knees and silenced Olympus's greatest wit with words.
And for such a man to set aside everything just to turn her heart with his music?
It was surely an offering no goddess could resist.
How long had he been playing?
The nymph guards, including the gatekeeper, must have been standing ironclad watch to prevent any males—especially those rutting young heroes—from invading the forest.
How long had he waited for his melody to reach her?
Just thinking about it warmed her chest.
"Hehe..."
Maybe she could forgive him now?
Her father had mistresses among various goddesses and nymphs besides her mother, and they'd quarreled over it.
But the colossal god of the ocean, whose majesty was like a mountain, would pour his heart into songs of apology, and her mother, the goddess of the first raindrop, would graciously forgive him out of magnanimity.
She would do the same, depending on how this beautiful musician behaved.
-♪~
The final notes echoing along the seashore faded, and his half-lidded black eyes met hers.
The lovers who had unexpectedly come into my life.
Nesneria, who washed ashore like a white wave, and Atalanta, who slipped in unnoticed like her very nature—they made me feel truly accepted as part of this world.
Every time we tangled, it never ended well, but that only reminded me more of my bold connections from my past life.
Atalanta, who struck me more as daring and cute than hateful.
And the complete opposite: Nesneria, who first made me feel fear, yet instilled an obsession I couldn't shake.
In my past life, I would have let such fates go long ago, no matter how much effort or attachment I poured in.
But uncharacteristically, matching their pace and this cringeworthy courtship—every bit of it was a profoundly novel and unfamiliar experience for me.
Not some tactical judgment of "this is what I must do," but laboring out of selfish desire: "this is what I want to do." Such things were useless in martial arts or war.
New. Unfamiliar. Yet willingly embraced.
Perhaps that's why it drew my heart even more.
That must be what moved me.
As expected, when I finished playing, I found myself smiling inexplicably at the girl of the waves standing before me.
"Had a good time?"
"...Pffft."
Neri still seemed sulky, puffing out her white cheeks like bread.
But her face held no anger or hatred anymore—just a touch of petulant charm and faint disappointment.
"Sorry. You must've felt neglected."
"You know it? Pfft!"
She wasn't one to be swayed by glib flattery, and since I'd resolved to face this bond sincerely,
I decided against empty words and laid it all out plainly.
The bad blood with Apollo and Artemis, Hermes and Hera's advice, my frantic collaboration with Hestia on her requests, and why I couldn't meet her first in the nymphs' forest.
"Oh... so that's why you've been so busy?"
"Yeah. Arrows could rain from the sky anytime. No breathing room."
In truth, Hestia's requests didn't distinguish day from night, packed so tightly a week felt short. I hadn't slept properly.
Luckily, with breath control and the recovery magic Hera taught me recently, I was still fresh.
Even I couldn't pull all-nighters for a week bare-handed and emerge unscathed.
"Princess, what's your verdict on this criminal?"
"Sigh."
Neri, who'd been glancing anxiously at the crescent moon in the sky during my story, let out a deep sigh at my teasing question.
"The crescent moon's okay for now?"
"The supreme goddess gave the crescent moon goddess a good scolding. Probably another goddess is handling the chariot."
Even I revered that great goddess's divine power; facing it head-on in wrath? Even foul-tempered Artemis wouldn't emerge unscathed.
Hera had let slip during our talk: Artemis was recuperating in Apollo's temple, and another moon goddess managed the lunar course.
"No worries for now."
"Hehe, good."
Relieved, Neri smiled and took the seat beside me.
Leaning her white head on my shoulder, she pouted her lovely lips.
"Anyway, if you'd just stayed with me on Pasos, none of that danger."
"Good thing Hera-sis helped, though."
"...Sis?"
Hera calling Neri her baby sister was surprising enough, but Neri casually calling that goddess "sis" felt bizarrely disjointed.
Like a cute sparrow on my shoulder cooing "sis" at a dragon soaring in the sky.
"Ahem. Even looking like this, I'm a princess known from sea to sky~"
"Oh dear. My apologies, Princess."
"Then serve me properly~"
Time with Neri was always like this.
Swinging between myth and daily life, child and elder.
We stacked these small moments, and they built our bond.
I stroked her tickling white hair; she burrowed into my arms like a cat, loving the touch.
"Time's on my side anyway..."
She smiled meaningfully, as if granting mercy for now.
Around then, as the young lovers enjoyed a peaceful beach moment,
The heroes' mentor Chiron was receiving some truly peculiar guests.
"Long time no see, Chiron!"
"Hahaha... O-oh, yes, long time."
A handsome man boldly offering a handshake with blazing crimson eyes.
Chiron was at a loss how to greet him, his hair a wild mix of his parents' shades—fiery reddish-blond tied back with savage flair.
"You look well. That's a relief, Lord Ares."
"Me? Always swamped with divine duties. But meeting a great warrior like you again? Pure joy!"
The god of war. King of warriors. Eternal fighter.
The war god Ares.
His visit to the young heroes' land filled their teacher with dread,
But what troubled him more was the goddess laughing and embracing him warmly.
"Kihihihi~ Been well, Chiron? Looking healthy—good. How's Karyklo?"
"Hahaha... Th-thanks to you, we're doing well, Lady Eris."
Was that "doing well" genuine well-wishes,
Or a warning they'd soon not be? Chiron couldn't tell from the pink goddess's greeting.
The goddess of strife and discord, Eris.
With the war god—who she stuck to like glue—and the strife goddess arriving together,
Chiron feared a great war might erupt in his sanctuary.
"Both of you, quiet down. You're noisy."
"Yep."
"Yep!"
Fortunately, a goddess who effortlessly reined in these two troublemakers from Greek lore was present.
"Ahem, Lady Nemesis. Is this... truly real?"
"Yes, Chiron. Lord Zeus and Supreme Goddess Hera have already approved."
The owner of hidden black wings and the scalesword.
The arbiter Nemesis handed him a single permit.
A permit allowing these three gods to conduct divine business in the heroes' forest.
"So... Zeus ultimately desires war?"
-Crack...!
What it meant for these three to perform divine acts in his forest—Chiron knew full well.
His eyes flashed as he glared at Nemesis.