Chapter 185: Heracles (10)
“Aresia, you…”
Poseidon gritted his teeth as he stared at his now-flat wallet once again.
She had acted like she would handle everything herself—yet in the end, it was his money that solved the problem.
“Thank you so much, Mage. I was really worried about how to compensate for the damage. Honestly, since I snuck out without telling my parents, I didn’t have much money on me either.”
He wanted to scold Aresia with all his heart, but seeing Alcides bow so politely in gratitude…
He couldn’t bring himself to drag this out any further.
What kind of adult would he be if he stayed angry when a nine-year-old child was bowing his head in apology?
The real problem, as always, was the woman beside him who was pretending not to notice while munching on fried meat.
“Sigh… Fine. You’re not really at fault. It’s the fault of all these immature idiots running around. You’ve clearly been raised right, Alcides.”
Poseidon patted the boy’s head and scanned the people skulking around the collapsed building.
Even in a lawless zone like this, it was depressing to see so many people who couldn’t even compare to this child.
And the very first among them was none other than his own slave.
“No, sir. A child should always listen to their parents’ words. And my mother is quite strict.”
Poseidon felt a slight wave of emotion at Alcides’s demeanor. For a child born with Zeus’s bloodline and carrying such extraordinary gifts—more than enough reason to grow arrogant and self-centered—he had turned out remarkably upright.
Above all, even in this lawless place, he still tried to uphold the manners and principles his parents had taught him.
“You’re… really growing up the right way.”
More than anything, Alcides’s attitude made it clear.
If Poseidon hadn’t stepped in and paid, the boy would have stayed behind, doing odd jobs or manual labor to repay the debt for the building he destroyed.
“Yes, sir. Thank you. So… what can I do to repay you? You paid such a large sum in my place—I want to make it right.”
Poseidon pondered Alcides’s earnest request for a moment.
He had only gotten involved because Aresia dragged him into it without much thought.
“Hmm… What should I have you do…?”
As he mulled it over with a troubled expression, Aresia came into view.
She seemed to have picked a fight—or maybe someone had grievances against her—and was now smashing everything in sight while swinging her fists wildly.
“Tsk tsk tsk. How can someone be worse than a nine-year-old child? Seriously…”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The opponents who had clashed with(?) Aresia weren’t particularly strong—they went down after just three punches.
But wait…
Looking more closely, he sensed the same aura as the people Alcides had knocked out earlier.
“Sigh… Only attacking weaklings like this. We’re about to leave this place soon, and it’s getting boring.”
Aresia, completely oblivious to any of that, simply complained that it wasn’t fun and started devouring more fried meat and slurping her ice cream.
But in that utterly absurd sight, Poseidon suddenly had a brilliant idea.
A chance to give Alcides an opportunity—and also a way to drain some of that reckless Aresia’s energy.
“All right, Alcides—and Aresia. I’ll give you both a chance to earn your keep.”
“Huh? Master, I’m a slave, so I’m fine.”
“Yes, sir. Just leave it to me.”
“…….”
He genuinely couldn’t tell who was the adult and who was the child anymore.
Now he had a slave with zero self-awareness as a slave and a child with proper sense of responsibility and duty by his side—he was the one who felt ashamed.
The person who should really be ashamed was busy eating ice cream.
***
“KyaAAAaaah!!”
Damn these monsters! We should’ve killed them earlier!
Run! We can’t handle this! We need to team up with the others!!
Save me! Boss!
Deep underground in a building, blood-soaked humans screamed, begged for mercy, and fled in terror.
BOOM!
Wherever the red fist passed, those who failed to dodge either sprayed blood fountains or died with chunks of flesh torn away.
“Uahahahaha! More, more, MORE!! Come fight me!!!”
On the other side, with concise movements, a small boy’s fists rendered criminals unconscious and helpless one after another.
“Hmm. I’m not a barbarian like Auntie, so I won’t kill you. You’re not really a threat to me anyway.”
But no one would agree that the boy was any different from the woman.
They simply didn’t die—that was all.
Their limbs were twisted in unnatural angles, their internals crushed. They would never live normal lives again.
Moreover—unlike the red lion-maned woman—the damage the boy inflicted was meticulously designed to ensure mana users could never use mana again.
In a way, death would have been kinder.
“Sigh… In a sense, he’s even crueler than Aresia. She might let you live if you’re lucky. But this kid guarantees permanent disability, doesn’t he?”
Meanwhile, the mastermind behind the plan to wipe out this underground hideout was calmly observing Aresia and Alcides while dragging along a curse mage crawling on the floor.
“Guh… Please… spare me… We’re… fellow mages… Gahk!”
Well—the curse mage at Poseidon’s feet clearly wasn’t in any state to think straight.
He was supposedly the master of Kryptos—one of the biggest information organizations in the black market, with the largest number of assassins and curse mages under his command.
Yet right now, he looked far too pathetic to deserve that title.
He was just an old curse mage desperately reaching for the young mage’s pant leg in a final bid to survive.
However—
“Hmm. It’s hard to consider a mere curse mage as a ‘fellow mage.’ And sorry to say, but I’m not really a proper mage either. If I had to compare, think of me as a hybrid—half mage, half warrior?”
“GYAAAAAAAAAHH!!!”
Before the curse mage’s hand could reach his pant leg, the young mage severed it.
The reaching hand was sliced clean off. The curse mage writhed again in fresh agony. In that pain, he had already forgotten what the mage had said.
Even if he had understood, he probably wouldn’t have comprehended it anyway.
“Tsk tsk tsk. When someone speaks, you should listen.”
Poseidon created a blue magic circle and began amplifying the curse mage’s pain once more.
“GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”
If the curse mage had been in any state to understand Poseidon’s words, he would have felt utterly wronged.
But what could be done? Unfortunately, right now he was feeling pain magnified twenty times over.
He was in no state to think clearly.
One pupil had burst with blood vessels from the pain and turned crimson. His teeth, clenched in agony, had all shattered. His fingernails—scraped desperately against the floor in torment—were torn and ragged beyond recognition.
There was no room for pity toward a criminal, but anyone who saw his current state would say that ending his life at this point would be an act of mercy. He was in utter ruin.
“GYAAAAAAAAHH!!!”
The curse mage writhed in renewed agony for a long while.
“Uuuugh…”
Eventually, he no longer had the strength even for that. Only intermittent convulsions and a hoarse wheeze indicated he was still in pain.
Soon, even those sounds stopped.
More precisely—they were forcibly silenced. Poseidon had sewn his mouth shut with threads of mana.
“Aresia, Alcides—did you both have fun?”
“Yep! It’s been so long since I felt this thrill. The best! Total excitement!!”
“I didn’t exactly enjoy it the way Auntie did, but it was still a meaningful time. I was able to melt down quite a lot of the realizations I gained this time.”
“Good. As long as you’re both satisfied. More importantly—this guy was the leader of the ones bothering us. So let’s leave a proper warning and get out of here. After this much, those annoying flies shouldn’t bother us anymore. The captain will handle the rest now. What do you two think?”
“I’m all for it! Gotta go big in times like this.”
“I don’t mind either way. But if possible, I’d like the compensation for the damaged building to be paid to the owner from these people’s share.”
“Okay. Let’s wrap this up cleanly and leave.”
Poseidon met eyes with the head of Kryptos one last time.
The deep-sea-like dark-blue eyes instilled fear, but the curse mage wore an expression of relief—as though it was finally over.
“…….”
“Hmm. I don’t like how comfortable you look now that it’s ‘the end.’ Still… I’ll show you some mercy.”
“…….”
That day, in the middle of the black market, a total of 331 heads—along with one old curse mage—were strung up on pillars.
Black blood, the mark of a curse mage, dripped steadily into a pooling puddle beneath him. Across the corpse’s stomach, the following words were carved:
Τὸ σαυτὸ πράττε!
(“Mind your own business.”)
***
Perhaps the warning left by Poseidon and his group had worked.
Not a single ambush occurred while they left the underground black market.
It was as though no one even dared to touch them anymore.
“Hehehe. See, Master? People only come to their senses after getting hit hard. Right?”
“…Yeah. But why are you like this?”
“I’ll apologize on behalf of my sister. But you must be careful, Master. They’re not just staying quiet out of fear. There are rumors of fierce fighting happening underwater—that’s probably why they’re lying low for now.”
A new face had joined Poseidon’s group as they exited the black market.
It was none other than Aresia’s younger sister, Penthesilea—the mercenary slave from the coliseum.
“You don’t have to call me ‘Master,’ Penthesilea.”
“No, sir. Considering the amount you paid, how could I? Originally, my sister and I couldn’t stay together because of that sum. You’ve practically saved both of us.”
“No, it’s not that big a deal… Alcides, say something, will you?”
“Hmm… You said she’s worth more than Auntie, right? Yeah, that tracks. If it were my family, we’d go bankrupt. Two slaves costing roughly 25 talents (2,500 gold coins) a month—even the most powerful houses would struggle to afford that. Plus, Auntie’s so hard to control that it’s a blessing if she doesn’t cause any accidents.”
“No…”
Poseidon couldn’t help but nod unconsciously at Alcides’s calm, logical breakdown.
When the exact figure was laid out like that… it really was beyond what any individual—or even most noble houses—could reasonably handle.
(‘Wait… now that I think about it… am I completely ripped off…?’)
***
While Poseidon was once again reeling from the sudden realization of a very shocking fact(?), the group arrived at the gates of a massive estate at Alcides’s invitation.
“Been a while, Harley.”
“Young master! Where in the world have you been? Madam was furious.”
The grand gate leading into Alcides’s family estate carried just as much dignity as his father Amphitryon’s reputation.
Located in Tanagra—a satellite city of Thebes and a key member of the Boeotian League—it was effectively under their real control.
Just counting the mana users visible around the gate, there were dozens.
And considering the family’s eldest son had run away and was only now returning, one would expect absolute chaos…
But strangely, the guard at the gate was completely calm.
Almost… too familiar with the situation.
“Yeah? Must’ve been rough.”
“No, ‘rough’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. Sigh… Still, thank the gods you’re back safely. Please wait a moment. The youngest just ran off to report to Madam.”
“Okay.”
Well… considering Alcides’s strength, maybe it made sense. Still—not exactly a normal reaction.
And even Aresia—who had the worst sense of anything—seemed to notice something off.
“That kid… he’s not actually part of this family, is he? I’m an orphan, but even I know how normal noble families react when their young master runs away and comes back.”
“…Aresia. Lower your voice first. Talking that loudly right now is rude.”
Yes—if you listed the strange parts: the guards clearly recognized Alcides’s face yet still didn’t let him pass immediately; Alcides waiting patiently anyway; and on top of that, the surprisingly horizontal, casual tone of the conversation between the guards and the “young master.”
(‘There are tons of weird things, but… it’s someone else’s family customs. Can’t really comment.’)
Ring ring ring.
Soon the communication orb in the guard post rang. The senior guard who had been talking with Alcides gestured to the others.
“Hey—Madam gave permission. Open the gate.”
Kuuuung.
With a deep vibration, the gate began to open.
Alcides walked through as though this were completely routine.
Unlike Poseidon and Aresia, who had been sensing something strange from the very beginning.
“…Something’s definitely off here, isn’t it?”
“Shh!”