Nymph of Wisdom, Metis (1)
Nymph of Wisdom, Metis (1)
"Come in. Pardon the mess."
Metis's house looked like something from a medieval tale—the kind of cottage a solitary witch in the woods would keep.
'A woman living alone!'
Perfect.
"Excuse me."
Accepting Metis's invitation, I stepped inside and inspected the place, starting from the entrance.
It was clearly a home built for one.
Bread and cheese sat in a basket, and in the main room a hearth-like fire held a pot quietly simmering.
The way a whole chain of small tasks happened by themselves with a flick of Metis's wrist was definitely not "human" power.
"You've never seen this before?"
"Ah, no. For meals I... tend to cook for myself."
"Hmm, how unusual. Men usually just sit there assuming bread and cheese will pop out of thin air."
"It's more interesting this way, isn't it? The food I eat—I can make it taste even better."
For bread and cheese, I just open my mouth and Amalthea feeds me, saying "Aaah."
But when it came to "meat," even Amalthea couldn't cook.
The Goat Nymph was hopeless with meat dishes.
So I'd successfully learned to cook the flesh of hunted game, and rather splendidly at that.
Wasn't fire the exclusive domain of the gods?
Amalthea got it for me.
Since I could only use the flames inside the cave, their uses were limited, but I boiled meat and ate to my heart's content.
Roasting produces greasy smoke; boiling leaves hardly any trace.
That is how I came to invent suyuk in Greece.
'It's not for nothing that women love a man who cooks.'
Is it because the act of cooking is sexy?
That's part of it, but there's also the happiness and satisfaction a woman feels—sitting still while a man chops and stokes the fire in the kitchen just for her.
I wouldn't call it payment exactly, but by cooking, I enjoy much better sex at night.
After I discovered suyuk and ssam, Amalthea pleased me for the first time using the cowgirl position she'd been practicing from our manuals.
I cook for you; in return, you have sex with me.
Not a bad equivalent exchange.
'But doesn't that mean some trace of a man gets left behind?'
In a woman's house, evidence that a man has cooked?
Even beyond that—even the slightest sign of a man?
'I almost ended up deeply disappointed in Metis.'
A woman who already has a man, bringing a stranger into her home?
That's the mindset of a slut with some dark ulterior motive toward me.
But I couldn't find a single trace of a man anywhere.
And I was certain.
'No scent of a nighttime visitor! All man-traces—green!'
None of the telltale equivalents of a second toothbrush or a pair of sweatpants that don't fit, even though I'd been invited into a woman's home for the first time.
'If she's a virgin too, that's just the icing on the cake.'
It was simply an ordinary home. I drank the tea she offered and soon we were talking alone in the main room.
"You've come a long way. I appreciate the effort, Jupiter."
However.
"To reattach a nymph's horn, you need an adhesive of proportional strength. Near here... a monster possesses such a substance."
She skipped any getting-to-know-you phase and launched straight into the main topic.
I wasn't in a position to ask about hobbies or the like either, so I decided to follow Metis's lead and stay on her subject.
"So I just need to defeat the monster?"
"No? It's a monster, but it's the type you can hold a conversation with. You just need to pay a suitable price and barter for it."
"..."
Barter, she says.
'If I can beat the crap out of it, that'd be faster.'
Might makes right, doesn't it?
"Resolving things by force isn't always the answer. Avoiding unnecessary fights and dealing with matters wisely is important as well."
"I see. I'll keep that in mind."
Perhaps I'd already adopted a Greek mindset without meaning to.
'Still, seizing a chance to get it on with Metis is a far more valuable use of my time than getting into a brawl with a monster.'
Even the Sphinx lets you live if you answer its riddle. I felt a little ashamed that my first thought upon hearing the word "monster" was to kill it and take the adhesive.
At this rate, wasn't I the typical hyper-violent Greek male?!
'Awaken, K-Confucian within me!'
I don't drool and demand sex right in front of a woman I've just met. I mind my manners so I can build things step by step.
"I see. Thank you for telling me. So, to meet this mon... no, this being, where would I go? Is it close by?"
"...I'm sorry. But please hear me out. If you don't give the monster what it wants, it probably won't grant your request."
Now came the catch.
"What it wants?"
"That's up to the monster's whims. Sometimes it's gold and jewels, sometimes it's a single apple. He's a very capricious monster."
"...And sometimes it might demand to eat me?"
Metis didn't deny it.
I understood then why she kept calling a being capable of reason a "monster."
A being you can't have a normal conversation with.
A being with whom rational discussion is possible, yet real understanding is impossible.
A being that might propose a deal like, "Kehehe, offer me the woman who came with you and I'll hand over the goods."
It's simply a monster that deserves to be beaten to death.
"Then how should we proceed?"
"In the letter Amalthea sent me, she described you this way: a warrior she raised—a warrior so strong he broke her own horn. Someone who has now surpassed his teacher, and who will grow even stronger. Is that correct?"
"...It's essentially true."
I broke Amalthea's horn (while having sex in doggy style).
And I won a bout of swordsmanship against her once.
No lie in that.
The best policy is simply not to mention unnecessary truths.
"If that's the case, you can handle the monster sufficiently. Shall we go right now?"
"You mean, go to meet this being? Understood."
Surprisingly, Metis helped me willingly.
"Follow me. It won't take long."
I came out of the house, following behind Metis.
And for a long while, I walked beside her.
Since she took the lead, I got to freely admire Metis's back view, visible through her dress, as we went.
Of course, in my head I was pondering Metis's kindness.
'Can this woman be trusted?'
Usually in these Greek trials, the one who gives you the task takes a "figure it out yourself" approach and doesn't get involved. But Metis seemed intent on personally leading me to the monster.
Could she be in league with him?
The worry crossed my mind, but if that were the case, she'd suffer badly for it afterward.
'If I'd known, I would've studied up more.'
In those regression/possession/reincarnation stories, the protagonist moves based on thorough intel, remembering everything with perfect clarity. I couldn't even tell if the woman before me held any significant weight in Greek mythology or Roman mythology or not.
'Zeus inside me, what about this one? Is she the type you'd knock up in the future?'
More than anything, Zeus wasn't reacting.
Even though this was practically the first beautiful woman to catch my eye since Amalthea, Zeus's response was utterly lukewarm.
With a body that alluring, why doesn't my cock stand at attention?
'If she helps me, I can repay her accordingly; if she betrays me, I can just fuck her accordingly. So why?'
I can treat a woman who helps me with every kindness in the world.
But those who betray me, those who become my enemy—I will punish thoroughly and exact revenge.
If the betrayer is a woman, even if I act like a total bastard, like Cronus, no one would be able to say a word.
If Metis tried to kill me by leading me into a trap, then once I broke through and captured her, I could tear her limb from limb and kill her, or ram my cock into her cunt—entirely as I pleased.
'I want to have sex.'
In my imagination, Metis had already split into two versions—Ally Metis and Traitor Metis—and each was being fucked in turn.
"I have a question."
For now, I must be the kind and earnest young man, the gentleman Jupiter.
"Lady Metis, are you by any chance acquainted with this being?"
"We know of each other. The reason he doesn't come into this village is because I'm here."
"Then... is there a possibility he might attack you, Lady Metis?"
"What are you worried about?"
"In case of an unexpected situation, I might need to grab you and run."
If he demanded Metis's body.
Or if he declared he would eat her.
I might have to fight him with everything I had to protect Metis.
"Honestly... it's not even certain we'll have to fight. Why are you so concerned?"
"That's..."
In Greece, there's no case where a hero facing most "monsters" resolves matters amicably without a fight.
There's a reason they're called monsters.
"...It's a gut feeling."
But there's no need to explain all that at length.
If the monster meekly hands over the adhesive, then my gut feeling is simply wrong.
Let it be a naive monster.
But.
"...A being with feet at least as long as a small child's."
On the path to meet him, the massive footprints everywhere made me shudder.
If I had to call this thing a person, wouldn't it be a "giant"?
"His name is Rhaplethos. He's a Gigas."
"A Gigas?"
"They are children of Gaia, derived from the blood of a god. Or rather, to be precise, Lady Gaia kneaded a god's blood with earth and gave birth through the ground by proxy—a warrior. One of Gaia's creations? Not a true child."
"..."
Anyway, a child of Gaia.
It doesn't mean much, but in kinship terms, he's something like an uncle to me.
'That's a bit off-putting.'
Would he really just hand over the adhesive to heal Amalthea's horn?
Uncertain.
"He's coming. Over there."
Thud. Thud.
From afar, it looked as though a giant tree was walking toward us.
The Gigas, Rhaplethos, easily four meters tall, stood before us like a savage, his lower half covered by coarse cloth, gripping a club.
"What, kuhh, business do you have."
His skin was black like clay, proving he'd been molded from the very earth.
I nodded once to Metis, then stepped before him.
"Gigas, Lord Rhaplethos, I greet you. My name is Jupiter. I am searching for a substance to reattach a broken nymph's horn."
Since we were strangers, politeness first.
Rhaplethos looked me up and down, scratching his stomach.
"You, a human?"
"...Yes, I am human."
It wasn't yet time to reveal my divine authority.
"Strange. You smell of a Titan."
"...I don't know the reason for that myself. I was raised under a nymph's care."
"Khm. Well, some Titan might've been a son of a bitch who went into heat over a mere human."
"..."
Did this bastard just subtly diss me?
With a face that looks like it got hit by ten fists and caved in, he dares speak to me like that?
'I, the handsome one with the big cock, should be the one to endure.'
He's a hideous giant, so I can understand his jealousy toward me.
"Mm... Good. In return, the nymph there will serve under me for two years."
"What did you say?
Metis's face flushed red in an instant.
Her faintly trembling eyebrows carried clear fury.
Rhaplethos turned his leer on her. "You came to grant this man's request too, didn't you? Then submit to me. Two years is... enough time to bear a child—"
"Hah, look at this son of a bitch?"
I raised my sword.
"You've got a death wish."
His dick's smaller than mine.
As expected, the best solution is the Greek hero method.
"Die, you filthy monster!"
I had his measure.
This bastard is far weaker than Amalthea.