Heroes Didn't Want to Be Eavesdropped On

Nyx, the Goddess of Night, personally drove her chariot out of the Underworld, scattering darkness across the sky and shrouding the mortal world in Nightfall.

Thaumas supported Hera, who had transformed into an old woman, and under her guidance, kept the "elderly woman" company as they chatted.

However, it was worth mentioning that the mountain forest, which should have been dark, was now surrounded by fireflies.

Interestingly, these little insects were directly and vividly called "Bright Tails" in Ancient Greece.

He didn't believe just any mountain forest would have so many of these tiny creatures. As expected, gods were all very "powerful"! Well... at least Hera and that God of Amusement were.

The appearance of these little cuties added a touch of mystery and romance to the night. They danced through the grass, beneath the trees, and beside the pond, making their surroundings seem even more tranquil and enchanting. Though their lives were brief, they had left behind moving beauty in this world.

They also illuminated the entire mountain path.

"Child, if only all my children were like you," Hera suddenly said sadly.

Thaumas didn't dare respond to that. He knew about Hera's family circumstances.

As the goddess in charge of marriage, yet unable to protect her own marriage—it was truly tragic.

Zeus, the King of Gods, was an unparalleled stud the likes of which had not appeared in ages. Cuckolding Hera had practically become a Greek specialty.

Besides, none of her four biological children had turned out particularly well either...

Yet even counting both his past and present lives, he was only a little over twenty-six. He had not even lived through one complete life himself, much less started a family. How could he dare casually point fingers at someone else's life?

In a sense, Teacher Chiron had been right. He was still just a child. He had fallen ill and died at eighteen, spent two years in modern Nasuverse, and only six years in this world—one year climbing mountains and five years studying.

Of course, he had already worked very hard. This was a life Heaven had given him once more. He wanted so badly to improve, and he had decided to treasure his abilities and every stage of life that followed.

Seeing Thaumas remain silent, Hera looked downcast but did not become upset. Her aged yet extraordinarily warm hand reached out and gently held his. Unconcealable sorrow filled her eyes as she slowly said:

"Although my husband loves me very much, he is always wandering about and constantly fooling around with other women. If he were only doing it for that damned fate, I would not be this angry.

But he wouldn't even spare some... even those..."

From her words alone, Thaumas could already feel this woman's pain. As a goddess, her entire body was trembling faintly at that moment.

He could understand it too. After all, he knew exactly what Zeus was like.

As the third-generation King of Gods, Zeus maintained checks and balances and ruled the entire Olympian divine system. To preserve his rule, he absolutely could not allow anything capable of disrupting that balance to exist.

Zeus's true form was an annihilation-type mobile fortress flagship designed for interstellar combat.

During the first divine war, the battle between the Olympian Gods and the Titan gods had in fact been a massive war between the Olympus Fleet and the Titan Series Fleet.

It was then that Zeus replaced Cronus and obtained the Proof of Dominion, the Crown of Cronus.

Zeus had already been immensely powerful at that time. In the Atlantic Lostbelt, he could even slaughter his way through numerous gods, including Athena, defeating many of them to the point of "scrapping." He was terrifyingly strong.

[Lostbelt]: Just as living beings compete for survival, history also has victors and losers.

The "present" is the history of the victors, built upon correct choices and proper prosperity. This is called "Proper Human History."

The history of the losers, built upon mistaken choices and misguided prosperity, is interrupted as something "unnecessary." These "Human Histories that walked into dead ends," abandoned even by the theory of parallel worlds, are called "Lostbelts."

Simply put, when a timeline in which humanity or the world no longer has a future is forcibly "pruned" by the Counter Force, something akin to the laws of Heaven, that timeline becomes a special world.

But at that time, both the Goddess of Fate and Prometheus had left behind prophecies that Zeus would be defeated by his youngest son.

So his approach was to "eat" those children destined to become powerful while continuously having more children, ensuring there would always be younger ones.

Athena was one such case. Athena was originally supposed to be a male god, but Zeus ate him before he was even born, and he ultimately became a goddess.

If that were all, Hera could indeed have endured it. But Zeus just had to be a god who wasn't picky about what he ate...

A man who could swallow anything.

In the future, he definitely needed to stay away from Zeus and Apollo. Those two gods played a little too wildly.

After thinking for a moment, Thaumas hurriedly snapped back to his senses and listened carefully.

"Also, one of my children is ugly and has a very poor relationship with me. Another is a boy who only knows how to fight all day, openly and secretly bullying the clown. He never lets me have any peace of mind.

As for the other two girls... they are fairly well-behaved, but they have no outstanding qualities, and our relationship is only average.

Tell me, what exactly did I do wrong? How should I be punished? I only wanted our family to live happily together." Tears of sorrow rolled down Hera's cheeks as she tightly held Thaumas's hands.

What the hell was this "clown"? Could she mean Hephaestus, the God of Fire?

He did not know the official history, but he had heard a little about Nasuverse history. She was quite a good goddess. After all, Nasuverse Heavy Industries had initially made its fortune selling that sort of thing... an old tradition.

Hephaestus truly had it rough as well. He had accepted an arranged marriage and married Aphrodite, but the Goddess of Love was constantly having affairs with Ares, Hera's other child, the God of War. Although he had caught them in the act himself, he had still been forced to release them after the other gods pleaded on their behalf.

Thankfully, this was Nasuverse. The two goddesses had no choice either, so it was understandable. Hmm... though perhaps not... Huh? No, what was he even thinking about?!

Thaumas hurriedly shook his head and cast aside those distracting thoughts.

For some reason, this strong goddess had secretly opened her heart to him, pouring out the injustices she had suffered over so many years. Perhaps she was not innocent, but at this moment, she seemed so fragile.

What a disastrous family. She really had it rough.

Every family had its own hardships, and gods were no exception. After all, the gods of Greece had all absorbed "humanity."

"Lady Hera, I have never started a family, so I do not know how to comfort you. But I think that although your children have conflicts with you, as long as you communicate patiently, there will always be a solution.

As for His Majesty the King of Gods, please forgive me, but I truly cannot help with that. After all, I have barely even held a girl's hand myself. Love and all that? It is a little difficult for me."

Thaumas answered honestly and comforted the heartbroken goddess. Now that things had come to this, the arrow was on the string and had to be loosed. He decided to come clean.

"How did you recognize me?" Hera composed herself. Though she had not revealed her true form, she continued along with his words.

"As the most loyal believer of Lady Hera, the Queen of Heaven, it would have been difficult not to recognize you after you spoke so much.

Besides, I had my suspicions from the beginning. This is a remote wilderness with hardly any people around, so I could only consider that you might be a goddess.

However, considering there might have been unusual circumstances, I did not expose you immediately. After all, anything could happen. What if an old woman truly happened to live out here in the wilderness?

But just as I said at the beginning, I am your most loyal believer. Still, I was only testing you..." Honesty was a good quality, but there was no harm in seasoning it with a tiny lie.

He took this gamble. He was betting that the Queen of Heaven would not read his mind at this moment, nor use her Authority.

He was not overly nervous, nor did he sweat. After all, he had already rehearsed every possible scenario in his mind. Even while facing the Queen of Heaven, whose presence always brought intangible pressure, gamblers were just like this.

Don't underestimate humanity! This was a match that would determine his fate!

"Child, you really are clever!" Hera said with a delighted smile. "That's right. You are my believer, so you are my child as well.

Perhaps you are better suited to Athena, but if it is you, I absolutely will not let you go."

"It is an honor, my goddess." Flatter her—this was the time to flatter her. He could worry about the rest once she was happy. Thaumas was quite a scheming person. He was a mischievous child too.

Time really did fly. After chatting for a while, they had already arrived at the "old woman's home."

"Hehe~" Hera chuckled softly. "I had originally planned to chat with you here, child, but it seems gods mostly do not have much patience."

"Come in and rest for the night, child. I will protect you forever, until the day you abandon me."

Just as Thaumas was about to say something, he felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him and drifted off to sleep in a daze.

Before passing out, he thought of only one thing.

What would he do if Zeus pulled something like this on him in the future? Hey! This was very important!

Hera gently placed Thaumas on the bed, carefully arranged his hair, and lovingly caressed his cheek.

"Athena, leave now!" A cold voice suddenly came from the goddess's mouth. The unquestionable Queen of Heaven had returned.

At some point, Hera had returned to her usual simulated True Body, noble and magnificent. Moonlight fell upon her crown, making it gleam.

"He is already my child. I will not allow you to lay a finger on him. At least for tonight, get out!"

Ehh~ What an incredibly possessive Queen of Heaven. She had not even let her eavesdrop on the way here, making her miss so many interesting things. How irritating.

Still, for tonight, she would leave little Thaumas to her. In any case, he would belong to wisdom sooner or later.

Thus, a certain goddess who was secretly enjoying herself quietly departed. Yet as she left, she was secretly delighted. Perhaps Olympus would gain a few more rumors in a few days.

Hehe, Hera was so petty. She really wanted to see what those rumors would turn into.

Meanwhile, Hera gazed lovingly at this adorable child. She removed the Golden Bracelet and gently placed it around his wrist, her face filled with smiles.

"Child, this way, no one will be able to eavesdrop on you freely without my permission and yours.

You no longer need to fear that purple-haired goddess. This is the Queen of Heaven's first gift of affection to you. Accept it, child."

When the sun god Helios descended upon the mortal world tomorrow, you would set out upon the great journey the Queen of Heaven had prepared for you.