Seed of a Hero

"Little Thaumas, tell me, do you really possess [Clairvoyance]?"

The purple-haired Goddess of Wisdom's golden eyes blinked incessantly; intense curiosity left her restless and uneasy.

"Take a guess?" Thaumas asked back in retaliation, still harboring grievances over Athena's actions before the Temple of Demeter.

To take the "payment" and only do half the job—hmph, he had to make the Goddess of Wisdom taste this annoying feeling too!

"No, no! Tell me, did you know from the very beginning that Hera would come to see Jason?" Athena was probing.

"How would I know? Not a clue!" Thaumas lied, but his Bracelet struck back fiercely against the divine power Athena used to pry.

"Darn it! You've become uncute! I am the goddess of heroes, you know!" Athena said, frantic.

"But my goddess is Hera!"

Another blunt statement, piercing the small warmth hidden deep within Athena's heart.

Damn it! She, Athena, had met him first, so how could Hera have a better eye for talent than her!

How could she have ever thought that Thaumas wasn't up to the task back then!

She really wanted to go back and tell her past self just how outstanding he was!

Looking at Thaumas's Bracelet, those layers of submerged authority all carried the scent of other gods!

How was she supposed to snatch Thaumas away now! If she had known, she wouldn't have toyed with the idea; she should have made her move sooner.

Clearly, she, Athena, was the goddess most suited for Thaumas; Hera was completely useless! It was all Athena helping Hera "raise" this child!

"Goddess Athena, though I don't know what you're thinking, I must remind you: I will not betray my goddess!" Thaumas added once more.

Athena said nothing. She would wait. Her plan was seamless; she would definitely snatch him away!

For now, it was not yet the time!

"So, what do you want to do now? My hero!" Athena said suddenly.

"The Goddess of Demeter gave me an authority that allows all things to grow; even in the Underworld, it can make life bloom with color! But right now, I am missing a seed," Thaumas said to Athena after some thought.

"Then what kind of seed are you planning to use?" Athena continued to probe.

Indeed, what kind of seed would be best?

There were too many seeds in the mortal realm, and countless ones with beautiful meanings.

To be honest, Thaumas had only thought about bringing life and color to the Underworld; he hadn't carefully considered this question.

"Hmm, what does the goddess think?"

It was better to ask for Athena's wisdom at a time like this, provided the goddess was willing to offer advice for free.

Gods operated on a fee-based system: one offering, one wish. If you were lucky, they might even prepare the tribute for you.

This brought to mind a certain origin of a cuckold.

The Sea God Poseidon had even prepared the tribute for the king; as a subordinate, the king only needed to present what his boss had prepared.

But that king actually dared to embezzle the tribute—how bold! He even ended up having his wife mounted by a bull.

Actually, in Thaumas's opinion, it should have been the king mounted by the bull, not the wife.

"Hmm... most seeds have their own meanings and origins. Why don't you give Hades a one-of-a-kind seed?" Athena suddenly thought of something and offered her suggestion happily.

"One-of-a-kind?"

"Yes! If it's you, Thaumas, you could surely create a life that has never existed before! A miracle that exists neither in the past nor the future, existing only in the Underworld!

If this life were to grow in the Underworld, it would surely be a miracle! Try it, try it! I want to see it too!" Athena's gaze burned!

You just want to see it for the sake of it, right? This isn't a suggestion worth taking at all!

It must be that, right!

A life that has never existed? How is that even possible!

And it can't exist in the past or the future—what is he supposed to do about that!

He had wanted to just find something on the ground to fool her, but it looked like if Thaumas really tried to pull a fast one, Athena might just go and report him to Hades.

There really was no such thing as a free lunch; was the price of asking for wisdom really this expensive?

According to Thaumas's knowledge, Flowers representing miracles included blue roses, calathea, lavender, blue enchantresses, cacti, bellflowers, sunflowers, morning glories, yarrow, and imi flowers.

Among them, The flower that best represented a miracle was the imi flower.

It had strong adaptability and grew mainly in deserts; blooming beautifully in harsh environments, it represented a miracle of life, thus carrying the meaning of a miracle.

But Athena clearly didn't want Thaumas to do that; she wanted this "tribute" for Hades to be sufficiently special!

She felt that what heroes were most obsessed with was challenging one impossibility after another. If it were just Thaumas's original idea, it wouldn't even come close to being impossible.

Because the hardest part of this was how to obtain Demeter's help; Athena truly hadn't expected Thaumas to actually "possess" [Clairvoyance].

Though the juicy gossip about Demeter was also explosive; he could chat with Hermes about it later and have Hermes scout the situation for her.

However, compared to Demeter, Thaumas was clearly more capable of piquing the interest of Athena.

"Since that's the case, let's give it a try!" Thaumas nodded.

Since the existing seeds were ruled out, the only option left was to consider the gods.

However, Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld who represented the seeds, was currently being "locked up" by Demeter, and Demeter had already stated that the gates of the Temple of Agriculture would not be opened again for some time.

It seemed the gods wouldn't work either; among the gods Thaumas currently knew, few could achieve the feat of creating "non-existent seeds," and even if they could, they wouldn't be willing to help him—referring to Athena.

After all, Athena had the legend of creating humanity, though it was unclear if the version of her in the Nasuverse could do it; probably not.

Forget it, why even consider that? She wouldn't help him anyway.

Eh—

He could only consider that idealistic approach.

A flower that blooms in the heart is still a flower, right?

He didn't know if the cold Hades would like it, but if it were a goddess, she would certainly love it.

So, "Goddess Athena, would you like to go to the Underworld together? Night is almost upon us," Thaumas asked Athena.

"Of course! What? Do you already have an idea, Thaumas?" Athena asked.

"Mm, a little. There are still six days left, which is enough. I believe the King of the Underworld will like this gift," Thaumas said.

"What kind of gift?" Athena couldn't help but ask.

"It's a secret! You'll know when the time comes, Goddess. Besides, after apologizing to Hades, we can go fulfill the request of the Goddess of Wisdom, can't we? If I can't find you afterward, I'll be very troubled! After all, I promised you that after obtaining the forgiveness of Hades, I would fulfill your request as the price for your introduction!" Thaumas said.

Upon hearing this, Athena patted Thaumas on the head and smiled faintly. Satisfied with Thaumas's performance, she said happily:

"Then let me see what kind of miracle this will be!"