Chapter 69: Pygmalion (1)
“……”
To think… that hidden presence was actually Hermes…
Dionysus felt an indescribable embarrassment wash over him.
Who could possibly expect a god to lurk around sneakily, only to get shot by a toy water gun and knocked down?
Sensing Dionysus’s thoughts, Hermes glared sharply.
“You’re not thinking something like, ‘How could a god get knocked down by a toy water gun?’ …are you?”
“…Of course not.”
“Tch. You clearly know nothing. Do you have any idea how deadly the things from Charybdis’s amusement park are?”
How would I know?
Dionysus protested inwardly—very inwardly.
Whether Hermes noticed or not, he began ranting endlessly about Charybdis.
“Do you know how outrageous that little brat is? One time she broke into Olympus and stole everything from the gods’ vault! And honestly—what was Lord Zeus thinking? Ordering me to go catch her after she’d already escaped into her own domain. What, am I supposed to just die from Gaia’s curse?! Hah! Everyone knows how much Gaia dotes on that girl…!”
Dionysus now truly understood what it meant for one’s ears to bleed from too much talking.
Satyrs being chatty is nothing compared to this… I should treat them better from now on.
Eventually, with Dionysus’s mental endurance nearing its limit, Hermes’s endless venting finally stopped.
“Haa… Well, you made it safely. Now then! Dionysus—who may one day be my younger brother—I hope you survive Hera’s trial.”
“Thank you as well. If Hera finds out you helped me, wouldn’t you be punished severely?”
“Ahem… well… it’s not exactly like that. You’ll understand the truth later. I’m off.”
Leaving only confusion behind, Hermes flew away.
Dionysus had many questions about Hermes’s last words, but he couldn’t worry about them now.
Because the moment Hermes left, the mad conqueror’s curse inside him awakened again.
The curse inside his body was terrifyingly perceptive—almost alive—always reacting to its surroundings.
“Urgh… I need to get to Lady Rhea quickly…”
Knowing he couldn’t hold out long, Dionysus chained himself tightly with thick iron chains and intentionally knocked himself unconscious.
“Ugh…”
He had certainly fainted…
But when he opened his eyes, he was in a different place entirely.
Some kind soul must’ve moved him—but anyone interacting with him was in danger.
“This is bad! I need to leave a note and escape quickly!”
As he hurried to gather his things, a calm, gentle voice spoke behind him.
“Don’t worry, child. The curse has already been lifted.”
Dionysus spun around, startled.
He hadn’t sensed the presence at all.
Ever since the amusement park, he kept encountering beings he couldn’t detect.
There, before him, stood a woman with soft, reddish-brown hair and a warm, maternal aura—like a living statue of a benevolent mother goddess.
“……”
“Truly, don’t worry. The curse has been undone, and Hera won’t touch you for the time being.”
“Are you… Lady Rhea?”
The woman simply smiled in response—
But that alone confirmed it.
Dionysus knew instantly that she was the goddess he had been seeking.
From afar, someone watched Dionysus meet Rhea and overcome Hera’s trial.
A certain adorable otter beastman—floating leisurely on the sea while cracking open clams.
“Mhm. So they’ve finally met.”
Snap!
Breaking open another clam, he wagged his tail, evidently pleased.
“Lord Poseidon, since you have time to relax like this, could you please stop Lady Gaia? She’s furious and causing chaos right now.”
Appearing above him was Hermes again—the same Hermes who guided Dionysus earlier.
“Mmm… I’ve told you already. I am Neptune.”
Hermes sighed at Poseidon’s pathetic attempt to hide behind a half-effort alias.
Besides, the divine aura leaking out of the otter’s entire body was unmistakable to any god.
Perhaps… he’s acting so unconvincing that someone might actually believe it…
“Yes yes, Lord Neptune. The ever-respected Neptune. Anyway—Lady Gaia is very, VERY angry about how you and Dionysus messed around in the amusement park and broke several attractions.”
The otter—Poseidon—waved his tiny arms as if completely uninterested.
“Equivalent exchange. Isn’t that our motto? If you take something, something else must be taken. That’s life.”
“I have no idea when that became anyone’s motto, but Gaia is seconds away from exploding in rage. She said—”
—Poseidon… no, ‘Neptune,’ king of the otters. Let’s see how long you think you can keep running.
At Gaia’s message, Poseidon flinched—just a little—
But still floated peacefully, unfazed.
“Seriously… When I met Dionysus earlier, Gaia’s glare was burning holes in me. I got shot by the water gun too, all because of that! Do you know how much it hurts?”
Poseidon nodded.
He knew. He’d been hit by it before. It hurt.
Some foolish goddess had enchanted that childish toy with fifteen layers of magic.
“Excessive… truly excessive.”
“Well, that’s—”
But before Hermes could finish, he vanished without a trace.
Immediately after, Poseidon noticed something alarming—
A colossal mountain in the distance was moving.
And it was charging straight toward him—so fast that with every blink, it grew closer and closer.
“Hm. Looks like I’ve been found. Time to run. Hermes still has an unbelievably poor sense for danger.”
Shoop—
With those last words, the otter’s body vanished instantly.
All that remained were the empty clam shells he had been eating.
***
The Island of Cyprus — Eastern Mediterranean
The island stirred with excitement at the appearance of a blue-haired young man who looked every bit a noble.
His tied blue ponytail, formal enchanted cloak, and eyes that glimmered faintly with magical light made him look like the heir of a powerful inland noble house—
Or the son of a god.
But what shocked the islanders even more was not his appearance…
It was his money.
The young man—who introduced himself as Njord—showed overwhelming wealth everywhere he went.
Wherever he stayed, he bought entire mansions.
Whenever he needed magical materials, he purchased every available piece—even paying far above market price.
“He is a wealth god…! A god of fortune has descended upon us!”
“Spread the news! A true hero has arrived on Cyprus!”
Normally, merchants would hide someone like this for themselves.
But this “wealth god” was too overwhelming to keep secret.
“I’ve purchased almost everything I needed.”
In truth, the blue-haired youth Njord had a clear purpose in coming to Cyprus:
He wanted to find something whispered about in rumors—
The Soft Heart]
The Soft Heart was an invention beginning to spread among humans and other races:
A heart placed inside dolls—not controlled by a puppeteer,
But granting them a new life of their own.
These dolls thought independently, felt emotions like joy, sorrow, anger, and despair…
And lived as a kind of half-human.
The islanders called these living dolls ‘Ars’.
“And perhaps because of it… Cyprus is overflowing with alchemists, magicians, and doll-makers.”
Njord’s massive spending spree all traced back to one thing:
Somewhere on this island, there had to be the creator of the Soft Heart—
The mysterious Pygmalion.
But there was something strange:
Neither the island natives nor those who came to study the Soft Heart
Had ever seen Pygmalion in person.
“I’m sure he must be somewhere. The sheer number of dolls wandering around this island is proof.”
But what convinced Njord the most was this:
No one on Cyprus found this situation strange.
They readily accepted dolls into their daily lives.
That meant someone had made them accept it.
“Even if I have to spend money like water, if I can find even a trace of him…”
There was a reason the islanders embraced the dolls so willingly.
Long ago—during the era when Cyprus wielded enough power to influence the mainland—
Aphrodite returned to her birthplace, Cyprus.
After becoming one of the Twelve Olympians, she returned to bless the island that had welcomed her.
But she arrived at the worst possible time.
Cyprus was on the verge of expanding outward—
And its powerful inhabitants had become violent tyrants.
They left the island to abduct, assault, enslave, and torment mainlanders.
Their cruelty spread like a plague.
Aphrodite, seeing that the land where she was born had become lawless and cruel, was filled with rage.
“Very well! If those who serve me have cast aside love—
If you crave violence, misery, and the screams of others—
Then live with it. Forever!”
With those words, she transformed the strongest warriors into raging bulls and forced them into endless combat—
Just like a deadly arena of bullfighting.
“Run! A divine punishment! RUN!”
The bulls slaughtered each other and the islanders indiscriminately.
Only a few survived that catastrophe.
Among them was Pygmalion, a puppet master and alchemist.
He had always despised the island’s powerful elite.
He hated humans—men and women alike.
“Disgusting… vermin. I’m glad those wretches died. But now only the weak remain…”
From that moment, Pygmalion made a decision:
He would create a perfect race—
Dolls capable of emotions, but free of negative impulses.
He would grant life to beings who would protect the weak survivors like him.
“Fascinating… Human disappointment gave birth to an entire species… Impressive indeed.”
“I shall bless them in my name.”
And so the living dolls appeared.
Of course, the devastated islanders accepted them without question.
Sketches of the living dolls spread quietly among wandering magicians.
After all, nothing in the world moved automatically on its own—
Except objects made by Hephaestus or the Cyclopes.
Thus, to magicians, the Soft Heart was seen as a potential path for mortals to approach divinity.
Naturally, Njord was extremely interested.
The only problem?
The dolls could not be dismantled for study.
And they could not be taken off the island.
“Sure, you can buy them… but only the incomplete ones. Right, Catherine?”
“Yes. Also, we’ll have a guest soon.”
As the living doll left to prepare dinner, Njord felt a pang of disappointment.
“Thorough, aren’t they? If you’re not from this island, they’ll never sell you a doll with a complete heart…”