Chapter 130: Perseus (22)
The situation had become needlessly awkward.
Boom!
At that moment, a sudden explosion echoed from somewhere.
“Ah! It might be dangerous—we should hurry!”
“Yes. I’ll go check!”
The explosion broke the awkward atmosphere, and Perseus and Euryte rushed out.
They desperately wanted to escape this uncomfortable space!
Dash dash.
The man and woman running frantically. Watching Euryte’s retreating figure, Poseidon grumbled.
“Tsk tsk tsk, sticking her nose into my teaching methods like that. As if I wouldn’t guide him well myself.”
Poseidon blamed Euryte for starting it.
Thanks to her and Atropos’s unnecessary meddling, things had gotten awkward between him and Perseus.
“Anyway, if he just trusts me, cakes will fall even in his sleep!”
Poseidon recovered quickly—like an old man. More precisely, he had a mysterious skill for quickly forgetting anything disadvantageous to him.
Though Perseus had been playing along, that was ultimately because of his outstanding abilities, right?
Above all, regardless of Perseus’s thoughts, he listened well.
Come to think of it, killing Diogenes was all thanks to his advice (?) and assistance (?).
“In short, I laid the board perfectly. Meaning I made it all happen.”
—……
Atropos shook her head and cut the communication at Poseidon’s shamelessness.
Even Zeus wasn’t that bad.
—Brothers are all alike—how will the world end up?
***
Interestingly, unlike Atropos’s disdainful gaze,
Perseus was far more influenced by Poseidon than she realized.
The enlightenment before the Diogenes battle—Perseus thought it came from Dictys’s teaching,
But in reality, it was a synergy from constantly experiencing Poseidon’s authority disguised as magic.
Moreover, Perseus’s firmness toward enemies and kindness toward the weak could also be called Poseidon’s influence.
In Perseus’s eyes, the great mage Njord mingled with ordinary citizens without hesitation despite his power and knowledge.
Of course, with heavy mischief—he often deliberately summoned winds to flip women’s skirts.
But he didn’t hesitate to help with magic either.
A prime example: perishable foods were luxuries only the powerful could enjoy due to preservation difficulties, but Mage Njord disliked that.
He casually turned a noble mansion into a freezer warehouse. And enthusiastically taught simple magic tricks indiscriminately—to thieves, prostitutes, orphans, everyone.
He helped many and smashed many things.
Actions no ordinary mage would take.
Mages were aristocrats among superhumans, scholars among intellectuals. In modern terms, professionals of the highest value.
Kindly put, they were aloof; harshly, embodiments of arrogance.
Even the inexperienced Perseus knew what kind of beings they were—no further explanation needed.
Thus, in Perseus’s eyes, Njord was someone worthy of respect and following.
Especially, Njord was unusually popular with children—even more than Perseus himself.
“In that sense, Njord is undoubtedly remarkable among everyone I’ve met. I haven’t encountered many mages, but I’ve never seen one mingle freely with ordinary citizens or despised people. Hehehe, and sometimes he flips skirts too much and gets slapped. Everyone laughed so hard then.”
Running toward the explosion with Euryte, Perseus told her about the Mage Njord he had experienced.
Worried that her sudden advice earlier might lead to misunderstanding Njord.
“……”
Hearing Perseus’s full story, Euryte was surprised in a different way.
Their investigation had shown the mage Njord was unusual.
From realm to deeds—before and after meeting Perseus at Delphi—nothing ordinary.
But what surprised Euryte was different from Perseus.
Mages were the ultimate egoists.
Their ultimate goal was approaching godhood through truth. Thus, they were obsessed solely with raising their realm.
Especially high-realm ones—many made you question if they were human.
In fact, if not egoistic, one wasn’t considered a mage.
Thus,
‘A mage capable of empathy is rarer than gold. And a great mage like that…’
That was far more remarkable.
In a world where even most gods were selfish and greedy.
“Lord Perseus, don’t worry. I didn’t misunderstand Njord. It was just an old woman’s needless concern. Though… it turned out to be overreacting.”
“Ah… no. It was actually good. Until now, only Mother gave me such sharp advice.”
“Then I’m glad.”
Having cleared the awkwardness, the two increased speed. Thinking to quickly check the explosion site and apologize to Njord.
***
“For Lord Dionysus!”
“Bromios has blessed us.”
“WAAAAA!!”
“Let’s hold a festival of joy!!!”
In the midst of war—a festival was unfolding.
The explosion site was Athens’s highest hill, where the fiercest battles raged.
That hill—called Acropolis by Athenians—was nearly the site of the royal palace and a symbolic place overlooking the entire city.
Such a place was now…
“Aaah… Our symbol of Athens—to madmen like this…!”
“Hmm. Could outsiders have taken advantage of the chaos?”
Euryte collapsed in disbelief at the unbelievable sight, while Perseus tilted his head in puzzlement.
In Euryte’s eyes, Athenians laying down spears and swords to guzzle wine looked like they were under a divine curse.
Above all, the problem was that the palace at the center of the Acropolis—symbol of Athens—had been occupied by someone.
That spot was coveted by every power holder in Athens…
For Euryte, whose hometown was Athens and who took pride in the city, seeing an outsider boldly occupy it was dizzying.
But Perseus, an outsider, had entirely different thoughts.
He felt an inexplicable familiarity from the man seated in the palace’s center.
“It feels exactly like… looking at Njord?”
The women and men around the man were drinking heavily, singing, completely out of their minds.
As if their reason had been seized by someone—just like those frozen by Njord’s magic.
Shing.
At the intense instinct, Perseus drew the sword Athena had given him again.
It hadn’t been useful against Diogenes, but his gut told him this man wouldn’t even be scratched without this blade.
Above all, he wasn’t confident he could make the man back down—like with Njord.
“Lady Euryte, stay alert. The man in the center doesn’t seem ordinary. He smells strongly of Njord.”
Euryte jerked her head up at Perseus’s words.
If he was like that great mage, they could die here.
“…Yes. I’ve shown another embarrassing side. Sorry. But don’t worry—I can protect myself at least.”
As Perseus and Euryte steeled themselves and cautiously crossed the Acropolis boundary,
They smelled it: thick grape and alcohol, mingled with a somehow salty yet refreshing sea scent.
The moment he smelled it, Perseus used Poseidon’s authority.
He realized this wasn’t poison but had poison-like effects.
The people sprawled in drunken revelry before him seemed affected by this aroma.
But unlike Perseus—with heightened senses—Euryte was a step late.
“Ugh…! Lord Perseus, I think I’m too late.”
With those words, Euryte fainted on her own. She didn’t want to disgrace herself in Athens’s center like them. And rampaging would only burden Perseus.
Above all, she was certain Perseus would carry her and escape.
As Euryte collapsed, those reveling in festival and drink turned their heads to stare at Perseus.
“″″…….″″″”
Sudden silence.
The noisy crowd—all without exception—turned to stare fixedly at Perseus. It was eerie.
Only then noticing Perseus, the man seated in the center drank from a golden cup filled with purple liquid and spoke.
“Oh, a guest has arrived. Sorry, but could you wait a moment? I haven’t fully grasped the situation here myself—I just arrived not long ago.”
The man in a purple tunic had a man before him—drooling, mind lost—muttering.
“Uh… Athens’s… king selection… Diogenes… priest of Poseidon…”
Somehow understanding the disjointed words perfectly, the purple-tunic man stood abruptly, looking at Perseus.
“So, what brings you here? And with that sword drawn, no less.”
“……”
“Are you here to harm me like these people? Or do you have another purpose?”
As he spoke, a purple haze formed behind the man, emitting the same thick scent as when facing Diogenes’s contract.
As if facing a god or fantastic creature directly.
***
More tense than against Diogenes, Perseus gripped Harpe—Athena’s gift—tightly.
His senses screamed: Poseidon’s authority couldn’t handle this man.
More precisely, his use of authority was still immature.
‘No miraculous growth like against Diogenes this time. The moment I blink, he’ll kill me instantly. Different level.’
As tense as Perseus was troubled Dionysus—in purple tunic, having come to Athens.
Killing the young man before him wouldn’t be hard, but everything he carried was extraordinary.
The pouch at his waist resembled Hera’s kibisis, the shoes Hermes’s talaria, the sword the Harpe Ares lost to Athena in a bet.
‘In short, favored by all sorts of gods…’
“No matter how newly ascended I am, touching a kid protected by Lady Hera, Lord Hermes, and Lady Athena is a bit much.”
Dionysus had simply come at Neptune’s call.
He still respected the sea-otter friend who had greatly helped at Charybdis’s amusement park, but troubling himself to hand Athens to Neptune by touching such a kid was awkward.
“Hah. Still pulling strange stunts as always. Why does a sea-otter need land on the surface, making people—no, gods—suffer like this.”
If Poseidon heard Dionysus’s words, he’d be dumbfounded.
When did I ask for Athens?!
Of course, Dionysus had concluded alone based on Neptune’s personality and tendencies until now.
Thus, in mutual misunderstanding, the standoff lengthened.
Perseus tensed, unsure what the powerhouse might do; Dionysus unsure how to handle a child favored by great gods.
During the prolonged standoff,
Rustle.
Euryte—who had fainted herself—woke up.
Freshly awakened, she rubbed her eyes several times at the unchanged scene from before fainting and asked,
“Has Lord Kronos passed by?”
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