Chapter 16

“Let’s greet again. Nice to meet you, Dianes of Passos. I am Archimedes, son of Alcmene. Better known by the alias Hercules.”

“….Nice to meet you.”

My first impression of Archimedes, more famously known by his alias Hercules, was very dismal, but seeing him in front of me now, I couldn’t help but admit why this guy was called the great hero.

His limbs were brimming with vitality, his eyes sparkled with inspiration and intelligence, and his reliable-looking, handsome face commanded respect.

Anyone who saw him would nod their head, thinking this guy would do great things in the future.

Moreover, even though he was clearly still a boy under twenty, seeing his body, a head taller than mine, and muscles reminiscent of a Greek statue, made me nod my head involuntarily, thinking, ‘If this guy wasn’t Hercules, then who was?’

“Anyway, the story was getting interesting, so what happened next?”

Was being shameless also a quality of a hero?

As I was revealing a rather secretive story, Hercules boldly interrupted and admitted to eavesdropping, leaving both Asclepius and me speechless.

“…Hoo, sorry about that. This is the only guy in this forest that I couldn’t fix to be normal.”

Asclepius gave Hercules a reproachful look, as if looking at a thunderstruck, naked mole rat.

However, Hercules paid no mind and instead looked at me with a sharp, piercing gaze.

“It looks like you won’t give up until you hear everything, even if I try to shut you up, right?”

“Exactly, haha. Master Chiron was right. We understand each other without needing to say we’re soulmates.”

Who said anything about being soulmates?

With eyes that seemed ready to shoot beams, he stared as if to say, ‘Hurry up and tell us!’ Wouldn’t it naturally conclude that way?

Whether he was boisterous or simple-minded, I couldn’t tell.

Anyway, although the number of listeners increased from one to two, I thought it would be better to just quickly tell the story if we didn’t want to be late for the party.

After taking a sip of the wine that Asclepius offered to moisten my throat, I composed myself and began the story again.

“Ahem, my oldest memory is from a vast wasteland. There, I learned various martial arts and skills from twelve masters.”

It wasn’t a lie.

It was true that in my previous life, after reincarnating several times, I served the Twelve Gods of the Zodiac as my masters by the banks of the Heavenly River.

A land of infinite wasteland created by the magic of the Twelve Gods of the Zodiac, hidden from the Grim Reapers of the Underworld.

That place was the beginning of my second life, and soon it became the start of the Heavenly Demon, who achieved the unification of the martial world.

“Thinking back now, it probably wasn’t this world. It must have been another world that the Greeks called Hyperborea.”

“Hyperborea! A-are y-you a Hyperborean?”

Hyperborea.

In Greek mythology, it was said to be the unreachable end of the world, the world beyond.

The Greeks called the natives of that place, where different gods and different humans lived, Hyperboreans.

Believing that the cold wind blowing from beneath Hyperborea brings winter to Greece, it was said that the race called Hyperboreans, who worshipped different gods, lived there without aging, in eternal happiness and bliss.

“I don’t know that much either. I just learned martial arts and skills from twelve masters, and once I had mastered them all, I suddenly found myself awake in Passos.”

Hercules scrutinized me with sharp eyes, as if trying to detect a lie, while Asclepius looked at me with a gaze that seemed both amazed and skeptical at meeting someone from another world. Although I had embellished the story a bit to fit this world, it wasn’t entirely untrue.

“Th-Then it makes sense… That unique martial art that controls the wind and the special aura manipulation technique… If it came from Hyperborea, then I can understand…”

“I’ve heard that Hyperborea is warm all year round, thanks to Apollo’s grace… Is that true?”

“Well, it was just a place where the sun and moon rose and set like anywhere else. In the first place, this was the first time I heard the term Hyperborea since I came here. I don’t know if I am really a hyper or something.”

It was best to be vague about the details. After all, even I didn’t know everything.

“Anyway, one thing my masters emphasized was to keep the knowledge I gained, especially the secret arts you asked about, Asclepius, as they are as vital as life itself to my kin. They instructed me not to share them carelessly.”

Mentioning the secrecy my masters insisted upon, coupled with my shocking identity, seemed to silence Mad Doctor Whitey. He bit his lip and lowered his head.

“R-Right… But, isn’t there any way? What if I swore on the River Styx to keep it secret?”

“No, it was originally created to suit the bodies of me and my kin. I don’t know what effect it would have on a Greek.”

This was a lie. I taught Neri the basic cultivation of the Southern Sect.

She used it very well.

However, if I gave a little leeway, all sorts of people would start to pounce on me.

I might teach some techniques to a few people in the future, but then I could simply say I had adapted them to suit Greek physiques.

“It might not be much of a substitute, but I could teach you the medical techniques of my kin that I learned from my masters.”

Qi techniques were one thing, but it wasn’t a problem to teach the point acupuncture or needle techniques that I learned.

Still, since they were the secret techniques of Hua Tuo and the Great Doctor, they were considered a rare item even in the martial world. Wasn’t Whitey in front of me the next God of Medicine?

Above all, if the one who could be said to be the origin of all medicine owed me a huge debt, both Hua Tuo and the Great Doctor would have no choice but to agree.

“Really?!”

Asclepius, who had been bowing his head in despair, sparkled his eyes at my words and stood up abruptly.

“P-Please. New medicine means the progress of medical science! It can save countless lives! Please teach me!”

“Of course. I will be indebted to you a lot in the future, so let’s do well together.”

As Asclepius and I were smiling warmly and making promises, Hercules, who had been watching, raised his hand slightly and asked a question.

“Hey, you mentioned martial arts and skills earlier… Does that mean the spear is not your main weapon?”

As expected of Hercules.

He didn’t miss the topic I was about to bring up.

“Right, each of my twelve masters was an expert in a different field. I learned the spear from a person who reached the highest point with spear techniques.”

“…Therefore, you’re saying you’re not just proficient in spear techniques but in many other martial arts as well?”

“Yes?”

In fact, as the leader of the Demonic Cult, I had mastered countless martial arts, absorbing techniques from both the Justice and the Evil Sects. The number of techniques I knew far exceeded twelve.

Hercules looked at me blankly as if he were shocked at my words, but then he regained his gaze, and jumped up as he shouted.

“Dianes! Spar with me once!”

“…I wondered when you’d say that.”

Fighting! I hate it!

The treatment center was noisy with the voices of two boys.

On the mountain peak, overlooking this in the distance, Chiron folded his arms and smiled.

“Huhu, it’s fortunate. He has made a good friend.”

“Indeed, Chiron. Father will be relieved as well.”

Beside the kindly smiling Chiron, a young man with curly blond hair and a cheerful expression grinned mischievously.

The small wings fluttering on his sandals and the staff with two snakes, the caduceus, in his hand clearly revealed his identity.

“It’s good to see you again, Lord Hermes.”

“Hehe, we’ve been seeing each other a lot lately, haven’t we, Chiron? It can’t be helped. Not only Father but all of Olympus’s attention is focused on this forest.”

Hermes.

The god of messengers, shepherds, and thieves, as well as the errand-runner of Olympus and the owner of the winged sandals, Talaria.

A notorious prankster known throughout Greece and a friend to travelers.

He was an old friend of Chiron.

“Haha, it’s because of Hercules, isn’t it?”

“Don’t even mention it. That guy comes up as an agenda item at every regular council meeting, and Father is busy bragging. Lady Hera is at her wits’ end with anger. The rest of us, including myself, are just anxious about when Lady Hera will explode. It’s nerve-wracking.”

Zeus, who always uses the pretext of preparing for the Gigantomachia to have affairs with numerous women, and his wife Hera, the goddess of marriage, family, and family ethics, now had their anger almost as an annual event on Olympus.

At the tail end of that long history of scandals, the human hero of the Gigantomachia that Zeus had been waiting for was born, and Zeus even named him Hercules, meaning ‘Glory of Hera.’

Hera was in a state of chronic anger these days.

“Haha… I guess I should avoid going up to Olympus for a while.”

“As expected from the wise Chiron. A prudent decision.”

Hermes, as if his throat were parched, lifted the flask at his waist and wetted his lips.

“Oh, right, the reason I came to see you today… It’s because the investigation Chiron requested is complete!”

“…It’s about that child, Dianes.”

Dianes, who had just joined the Forest of Heroes from Passos.

Recalling the giant wind spear he had summoned earlier gave even the battle-hardened Chiron chills.

That power was reminiscent of the gods’ abilities.

The child was still immature, and the power was weak, but what was frightening was that the child was rapidly growing even in the midst of that confrontation.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I never thought I’d experience something like that again.”

“Hoo… For Chiron to say something like that. Could it be that two great heroes are being born?”

Chiron, who thought he’d never see such a heroic figure again after Hercules, smiled contentedly at this pleasant surprise. Hermes, also smiling slyly, took out a notebook.

“Anyway, I looked into that kid, Dianes. Oh my, that young one is already receiving lots of love from the gods, isn’t he?”

“Dianes?”

Yes!

Hermes replied with a bright smile as he took out his notebook.