Chapter 132: Perseus (24)
While Perseus and his party brushed aside the Athens affair amid similar thoughts,
The first targets they needed to find were the Graeae sisters.
Among the earthly races, only long-lived ones like elves or fairies had even heard their names. They were born from the same parents as the Gorgon sisters—Ceto and Phorcys.
“In short, they’re all sisters.”
Perseus felt despair at Poseidon’s explanation.
To think the Graeae sisters were kin to the Gorgons he might have to kill…
Poseidon glanced at Perseus’s expression and stopped explaining further.
He still had to talk about Echidna later.
Perseus already looked overwhelmed.
—Hmm… It might indeed be too much for a child this young.
“But you don’t need to worry too much. Everyone’s distracted right now.”
—Poseidon, you know something.
“Well… Just that there’s a story that would shock the gods if they heard it?”
—…That’s the problem with you sea gods. What on earth are you all up to?
***
Perseus and Njord walked for a long time following the compass Athena had given them.
Their destination was the northwestern part of the African continent—the Atlas Mountains—where Helios’s son Phaethon was being punished.
“Wow!!! This is the famous place where the Titan who bears the world resides.”
“Well, precisely, it’s a place you can reach through these mountains.”
Perseus couldn’t hide his amazement upon arriving at the mountain range the compass pointed to.
As Poseidon’s priest candidate, besides water authority, he partially wielded earthquake authority—so he could clearly sense it.
The violent power latent in these mountains.
“Phew. But were the Graeae sisters really here?”
Unlike the admiring Perseus, Poseidon tilted his head.
‘When did those kids move?’
As far as he knew, the Graeae sisters lived elsewhere…
He wanted to ask Psamathe right away, but this form was an absolute secret—no choice.
For now, following Athena’s compass was the answer.
Climbing the mountains higher and higher to the cave the compass indicated.
The cave on a steep cliff midway up the range was a natural fortress most couldn’t even enter.
Deep inside that cave, what Perseus and Poseidon first witnessed was a massive temple.
More precisely, three temples—each seemingly for one sister—merged into one enormous structure.
“Wow! A temple like this in a place like this. And above all, I smell the sea from the temple.”
“I see. They really did move?”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. More importantly, shouldn’t we meet the owners of the temple first?”
“Ah, yes!”
The temple Perseus cautiously entered was the blue one in the very center.
The moment he stepped inside, Perseus suddenly couldn’t see anything.
“Huh?!”
To be precise, whether thick darkness had descended inside the temple or his eyes had gone blind—he couldn’t tell; his senses were completely confused.
Perseus let out a startled groan at his state but quickly regained calm.
The experiences he had accumulated until now had matured him further.
“Hmm… Is the temple interior completely distorting senses? Njord, are you there!”
“Yeah, right beside you. Seems the temple itself is blocking vision?”
“I see… Good thing it didn’t block our mouths too.”
But neither Perseus nor Njord could easily step forward from the entrance.
It was their first time experiencing blindness.
‘Well, precisely, I can see everything. But Pamphredo’s taste is still so consistent. Should I help Perseus first?’
Thinking that, when Poseidon turned to look at Perseus, he couldn’t help but be shocked.
Perseus was walking the correct path with his eyes closed.
Of course, he seemed to only sense nearby distances and dangers—staggering unsteadily.
But what Perseus was doing was undeniably awakening a third sense.
“How?!”
At Poseidon’s surprised shout, Perseus—who had been deeply focused—snapped out of it and gave an apologetic look.
“Ah! Sorry. Njord, I should’ve said something before moving.”
“No, no. More importantly, how are you walking straight with your vision blocked?”
“Ah… this. It’s something Priest Dictys taught me called myōkyōshisui—clear mirror, still water. It’s a saying from the merfolk, anyway. When I use this technique, the world becomes clear. If I hadn’t realized it during the fight with Diogenes, I would’ve been in trouble.”
Poseidon was dumbfounded by Perseus’s words.
He didn’t even realize how incredible what he was doing was…
Pamphredo’s temple stripped vision equally from gods, humans, or any other race.
The problem was that it didn’t just take away sight—it weakened all other senses too.
It was like sealing one of the five senses while dulling the rest.
As such a temple, Pamphredo herself was visually impaired, and this place was essentially the world as Pamphredo saw and felt it manifested.
“Naturally, even superhumans with heightened senses would be useless here. Does that kid have Echo?”
Poseidon muttered and watched Perseus slowly but steadily advancing, avoiding traps spread everywhere.
“Njord, hurry! We need to meet the owner of this temple!!”
“Uh, coming.”
Watching Perseus—who seemed unaware of his own special talent—Poseidon shrugged and followed.
He should probably explain…
But somehow, not knowing seemed more fun.
***
—Tsk, hiding something that precious just because it’d be fun? This is driving me crazy.
As they walked deep into the temple, Atropos voiced her dissatisfaction.
“Hey. You were watching? Then why didn’t you give some advice?”
—You know too, don’t you? What it means for the Goddesses of Fate to interfere in worldly affairs. More than that, why are you hiding from the kid the sense of Echo that you yourself named? Is it really just for fun?
“…Uh!”
—You !@!#!@#$@#$%#$^$%*$^.
With senses dulled, Perseus vaguely felt something happening behind him but ignored it and focused forward.
“Probably Njord getting scolded by Lady Atropos again.”
More importantly, the end was in sight.
A room without doors a short distance away. He could feel the temple’s owner seated there.
Perseus concentrated on his sharpened senses since entering the temple and quickly reached the doorless throne room.
Then, like a child opening its eyes for the first time, his vision cleared.
In that vision sat a visually impaired goddess leaning sideways on a blue throne.
“……”
Perseus was speechless.
It was his first time seeing a god with a physical impairment.
Above all, Perseus knew instantly upon seeing the god that she was blind.
Her two eyes were cloudy gray, unfocused. And somehow unnatural.
Yet even so, Perseus could dare say it: despite her blindness, she was as beautiful as his mother Danaë.
Silver hair on a small head. The harmonious nose and lips within made those cloudy gray eyes stand out even more.
“Uh… um… I greet the beautiful goddess.”
Perseus—unable to speak after seeing her face—hurriedly bowed in greeting.
Greeting the owner of a temple—a god—so late was a grave mistake.
One that left him with nothing to say even if punished…
“……”
Perseus broke into a cold sweat realizing his error.
At Perseus’s reaction, the goddess—who had been staring blankly ahead with unfocused eyes—gave a mischievous smile and asked,
“A human enters a goddess’s temple and dares scan my face? How irreverent. Hmm?”
Unaware of the goddess’s playful smile, Perseus let out a panicked voice.
“No! That’s not it at all—I was just so struck by the goddess’s beauty… I’ve never seen a woman as beautiful as you except my mother, and your clothes are so thin… um… your figure is amazing too… yes. So…”
Flustered, Perseus rambled incoherently, but the goddess Pamphredo before him looked at him with intrigued eyes.
From the voice, he seemed just transitioning from boy to young man.
Then he might genuinely think her beautiful?
Gods and the occasional humans who visited to flatter them usually shuddered at the sight of her eyes—his reaction was markedly different.
At the very least, the child before her seemed to genuinely think her beautiful.
“Hmm… It’s been a while—maybe I should use my eye?”
With that, a single eye appeared above Pamphredo.
This eye was one of the tools belonging to Pamphredo among the three Graeae sisters—a means to assist the sisters, each born with a disability.
And by chance, Pamphredo currently had the eye, as her sisters hadn’t borrowed it.
As the closed eyelid of the floating eye opened, Perseus’s image formed in her vision.
In her eye, Perseus appeared as a sturdy young man with boyish beauty mixed in—golden hair.
Moreover, traces of blessings from various gods could be felt.
“But are you a priest of Lord Poseidon?”
At Pamphredo’s question, Perseus—who had been tense from his earlier mistake—quickly answered.
“Yes! I am Perseus, priest candidate of Lord Poseidon.”
“I see? That’s a shame. If you weren’t a priest of Lord Poseidon, I would’ve wanted to take and raise you myself.”
“Huh…?”
At Pamphredo’s mischievous tease, Perseus instinctively flinched and crossed his arms over his chest.
Kikikiki.
Bursting into laughter at Perseus’s reaction, Pamphredo waved her hand and said,
“Fufufu, don’t worry. I’m not that ill-mannered a goddess. It’s just a joke, a joke.”
At Pamphredo’s words, Perseus relaxed a little and let out a “Phew…” sigh.
Just as he was about to get to the point,
Pamphredo struck first.
“Yes, a child like you coming to us is probably because of the location of the Gorgon sisters—or something you want from us.”
At Pamphredo’s familiar tone, Perseus unwittingly exclaimed “Ah!”
How many visitors must they get to know right away?
“Well, personally, I’d love to gladly tell a cute child like you, but we have restrictions too. You must overcome not only my trial but those of my sisters Enyo and Deino as well.”
Perseus nodded at Pamphredo’s words.
Indeed, freely giving the way to the Gorgon sisters would cause all sorts of trouble.
‘Above all, the number of deaths would skyrocket.’
The goddess before him was clearly not something humans could handle.
If he had to fight the Graeae sisters or steal their treasures, Perseus had no confidence.
Confidence in escaping with his body intact.
With that, he realized why information about the Gorgon sisters was so scarce.
‘If most are filtered out at these goddesses’ stage…’
***
Perseus warmed up and prepared for quite a while with appropriate tension.
He didn’t know what the trial of Pamphredo—the eldest Graeae—would be, but it was obviously not easy.
‘Phew… Calm down. Whatever the trial, I can handle most monsters. Even if it’s a filtering process, it won’t be an unreasonable trial.’
Watching Perseus resolve himself solemnly, Pamphredo gestured.
“Come this way. It’ll quickly lead you back to the temple entrance from earlier. And it’d be best to leave that mage behind.”
“…Huh?!”
“Puhut! Don’t make that face. What, were you imagining fighting monsters? Sorry, but our trials are ones a single representative can undertake.”
“…No. I’ll go.”
With a deflated expression, Perseus bowed to Njord and Pamphredo before entering the trial path.
Compared to his resolve, it felt a bit anticlimactic.
After Perseus entered, the temple grew quiet.
Pamphredo stepped down from the throne, knelt on one knee, bowed her head, and said,
“I greet the beloved and respected Lord Poseidon.”