The Hero's Image in the Eyes of the Other Party (Special Bonus Chapter)

Kingdom of Iolcus.

Night had fallen, yet flames dispelled the darkness, illuminating the town as if it were day.

This magnificent city of the Age of Gods stood tall and imposing, a grand crystallization of divine technology and human wisdom.

In the legends of ancient Greek mythology, this fire that brought light was supposed to belong to the gods.

But to prevent humanity from perishing in darkness and cold, a wise deity named Prometheus stole the fire from the gods and scattered it among mortals.

For this, he was chained to the Caucasus Mountains by the angry third-generation King of Gods, Zeus, where an eagle would peck at his liver day and night; the liver would be consumed by day and regenerate by night, forcing him to endure the wind and sun as punishment for his disrespect toward the other gods.

It was not until the great hero of the future, Heracles, arrived at the place where Prometheus was bound while completing the task of finding the Golden Apples as part of his Twelve Labors, that things changed.

Seeing the miserable plight of Prometheus, Heracles was filled with deep rage and took immediate action.

He shot the evil eagle, shattered the iron chains, and finally rescued Prometheus.

Incidentally, Prometheus was also the deity who, alongside Athena, created mankind in ancient Greek mythology.

Tonight, however, Iolcus was unusually busy; what should have been a time for rest had been transformed into a city that never slept.

Thaumas and Jason had already arrived in the city, weaving through the crowds and constantly asking people what had happened.

Firelight spread across the entire city, illuminating this restless night. People bustled through the streets; aside from the elderly who could not easily leave their homes and the sleepy children, everyone else was busy with tense preparations.

After asking around, they finally pieced together the sequence of events.

It turned out that the great Queen of Heaven, Hera, had sent down an oracle that morning.

She had become aware of the crimes committed by King Pelias to ascend the throne and felt deep disgust for the kingdom.

Consequently, after consulting with the King, the temple priests made a swift decision to prepare a sacrifice for Hera the following day, hoping to beg for her forgiveness and prevent her from bringing disaster upon the nation.

Thus, Pelias had mobilized the entire population of the country, working through the night to prepare for tomorrow's ritual.

Yet Jason walked through the streets with an expression of excitement, showing no concern whatsoever.

Upon returning to his long-lost homeland, he could not hide his joy, whereas Thaumas was the complete opposite, his brows locked in deep thought.

It had to be said, there were not as many fools as one might think; Pelias had at least succeeded in climbing to the throne, even if his methods were not particularly brilliant.

But the fact that he could mobilize so many people in such a short time showed he had the support of the people, and combined with his ruthlessness and decisiveness, he was a formidable overlord!

In the myths, if not for the help of the gods, Jason might have been driven out long ago.

Indeed, Jason's story tells us that sometimes, picking the right side and sucking up to the right person is far more useful than any talent.

Looking at it this way, Jason, you really aren't the protagonist; you're just a toy of the gods, having your life manipulated at will.

No wonder that in the myths, the methods used by Medea and you were as cruel as this King's, yet he became a king, while you and your wife were driven out by the people of this country...

It's one thing that you lack intelligence, but you don't even have a "diminishing intelligence" aura; you are the true small fry.

"My good brother, what's wrong?" Jason threw an arm around the sullen Thaumas, his spirits high as he pointed excitedly at his surroundings, saying with great joy:

"Look, Thaumas! This is my home! The beautiful Kingdom of Iolcus! The great Jason will successfully reclaim this beautiful kingdom!

I will be the greatest king this country has ever seen! And you will be the most trusted chancellor of this King!"

Looking at the proud Jason, Thaumas did not cruelly interrupt him; perhaps letting this silly boy keep dreaming was not such a bad thing?

"Do you remember the oracle of the goddess Athena?" Only when Jason had finished his excitement and could no longer laugh did he finally speak.

"Hmm? You mean that... well, let me think, oh, right, you mean the one about helping the old, the weak, the women, and the children along the way? Yes, that's the one." Since Jason hadn't encountered any old, weak, women, or children needing help on the journey, he hadn't paid it any mind. But he still asked quietly:

"Hey, Thaumas. You say this, does it mean you've already figured it out? You promised to help me.

I, this great one, gave up so many treasures that could have been mine because of you."

"I have figured it out, I just don't know what will happen next." Thaumas was slightly worried.

"Then it doesn't matter, does it? After all, even someone as wise as I, Jason, feels like I'm in a fog, so there's no way a small fry like you could know more." Jason said this nonchalantly, ignoring the look Thaumas gave him that suggested he wanted to kill him.

After all, in his view, the Goddess of Wisdom was already helping him; he only needed to follow the goddess's guidance to reclaim the throne.

Why be as melancholy and sensitive as Thaumas? Someone has already paved the way for you, yet you still want to go off-roading, overthink, and struggle with yourself at every turn—isn't that just doing unnecessary work?

Rather than improving oneself, it is better to improve one's companions. He really was a genius.

Although Thaumas was indeed a little bit excellent, he was clearly not as good as himself, failing to see even this layer of things.

However, he would not point this out to Thaumas, because Thaumas would be his, Jason's, laborer in the future.

What kind of boss teaches their employee how to awaken? If you slack off, who will work for me? How am I supposed to slack off?

Hmm! Thaumas, I've decided to slack off, so you aren't allowed to!

Therefore, "But Thaumas, you can put your heart at ease; the great Jason has already seen through everything, and I will eventually reclaim the throne.

However, you must work hard too; you promised me, and one must see things through to the end!" Jason added.

Thaumas did not reply; he felt a headache coming on, and his heart felt truly exhausted.

He couldn't just tell Jason everything.

In reality, he was not worried about that King. Perhaps he was arrogant; after all, as a modern person, the knowledge and perspective accumulated over thousands of years, even if he hadn't learned much, naturally gave him a sense of arrogance.

Perhaps, deep down, he actually craved a failure, because only pain could wake him up.

This wasn't a penchant for masochism; it was simply that this allowed him to feel that he was truly alive. After all, everything that had happened over these past few years had been so surreal!

So, what was he truly worried about? As expected, it was the fear that the God of Amusement would stir up trouble.

Furthermore, he didn't want to implicate others. The feeling of causing trouble for people made him feel terrible, and that idiot Jason was so foolish—if he were to catch the eye of Athena...

Although Jason was usually a bit arrogant, a bit rude, and a bit ignorant, ranking dead last yet mocking him for being second-to-last, and always thinking about running away or selling out his teammates to save his own skin whenever trouble arose—he was a total coward.

He was incredibly reckless when things were going his way, yet this guy always seemed to be able to turn the tide in desperate situations, even though most of the time, he was the one who created the desperate situation in the first place...

But he did understand one fact: Jason was a hero, and that was beyond doubt.

A hero who was most like an ordinary person.

Therefore, Thaumas truly hoped that this friend would not die as he did originally.

Although Thaumas's primary goal remained ascending to the Throne of Heroes, after spending day and night together, he had wavered.

Few people could easily discard such feelings; not everyone was the Great Love Immortal Venerable.

After he swore to help Jason reclaim the throne, it wasn't as if he hadn't had thoughts of just giving up, but now he always wanted to do something.

Moreover, most importantly, this farewell was merely the end of the Greek era. After ascending to the Throne of Heroes, there might be a chance to meet again in the future.

Whether it was the Heroic Spirit wars revolving around the Holy Grail, the Chaldea that guaranteed the continuation of human history, or even some unknown Singularity or Lostbelt, as long as they were still within the Nasuverse, there would always be a chance to run into each other.

There was no need to give up on Jason; at some critical moments, this guy might be able to erupt with extraordinary power.

After all, he was indeed a great captain.

Come to think of it, ever since Thaumas arrived in this world, he had headed straight for Pelion Cave, and after a year of trekking over mountains and through waters, he had finally been accepted as a student under Chiron.

But in the five years since, he had stayed on the mountain honing his skills and had never found an opportunity to descend.

This time, he would have to let Jason show him the local customs and traditions of the Kingdom of Iolcus properly.

And so, the two of them wove through the night market, wandering about in high spirits.

At least for tonight, let them enjoy themselves freely.

After all, their path as heroes might not stop for a long time to come.

PS: Even a loser author like me has people supporting me every day; I'm so moved that I've specially added an extra chapter. I didn't get an internal recommendation, but my stockpile has already exceeded 100,000 words, so I'm releasing a chapter to thank the readers for their support.

By the way, I'm really hungry in the middle of the night!