A Certain Magical Index Mage, Starting in Type-Moon

Pollux listened to the conversation beside them, doing her best to keep a straight face and not laugh, afraid her smile would look terribly awkward.

These words were just too funny!

"Isn't Artemis a little too fond of messing around?! What does she mean by saying she is ultimately just an ordinary person? And isn't Atalanta your follower, the one raised by a mother bear because of you? Does this count as a god teasing her own follower?

"And not to mention Artemis—even Medea, though she looks human, possesses enormous magical power, absolutely at the pinnacle of humanity. She even says she took part in the Gigantomachy. Would a human like that be ordinary? If she is, then the demigods on this ship are nothing special either!

"Perhaps only Heracles can compare to her!"

Pollux thought to herself. Remembering Atalanta's description of Mephistopheles, she felt she was about to lose control and mock him, but she had to endure it.

She felt that, today, her humanity had completely overwhelmed her divinity.

At that moment, Atalanta also grew curious. "Since all of you say he is so formidable, I am now really looking forward to seeing him fight."

"There will be a chance," Artemis said, though she silently thought that there was probably no chance for their group to make a move.

The next day, after sailing through the night, the ship finally reached a harbor.

This place was an island called Lemnos Island. If a shut-in from the future came here, perhaps he would ask whether there was another place called Ramnos Island.

Unfortunately, Mephistopheles was not very interested in a certain anime, so he made no such association.

The moment they arrived at the harbor, everyone saw a group of women appear. Only women.

The women stood in rows along the shore, holding weapons and preparing for battle.

"Is this Amazon territory? No, that cannot be right. The map says this is Lemnos Island." Jason studied the map carefully and spoke in confusion.

At this time, Heracles stood at the front, watching below to prevent any danger from arising. The other crew members were equally puzzled. Then Jason said, "How about this? They are obviously frightened, so let us send one person down. Not too many, so we do not provoke them. Ask what is going on and explain our purpose. Tell them we are merely passing through and wish to rest and resupply."

Naturally, no one objected to the suggestion. After looking around, they sent down someone eloquent. As for Mephistopheles, he was still watching the show.

"There is something wrong with this place. It is all women, and it is not the Amazons. Could all the men be dead?" Artemis stared into the distance and quietly asked the two beside her.

Medea nodded as well. "Yes, it is very strange. They are terrified, and the moment our ship appeared, they quickly assembled their forces. It is as though they are always prepared for battle."

"Exactly. They are always prepared for battle, yet they clearly are not skilled at fighting. That is the strangest part." Artemis smiled at Mephistopheles. "So, what is the answer?"

"You will have to ask your companion, the goddess of love," Mephistopheles said without fully explaining.

Upon hearing that, Artemis roughly understood what had happened. It seemed Aphrodite had caused trouble and made all the men on this island disappear.

Mephistopheles also knew exactly what had happened. After the island's men fought a war, they brought women from the defeated land back as concubines, nearly every man taking one. Then, under Aphrodite's influence, their lawful wives had been consumed by rage and slaughtered all the men.

The only one who survived was the father of Hypsipyle, who was now queen. Since his wife had already died, there had been nothing particularly wrong with him taking another concubine. The virgin queen hid her father inside a wooden chest and sent him away, leaving the sea to carry him toward a path to survival.

As for whether he could truly survive, that depended on Poseidon's will.

With so many people watching her, there was nothing else she could do.

However, because the men had fought a war against another land, the women had always feared that people from that place would come to take revenge. That was why they had rushed out to prepare for battle as soon as the ship reached the shore.

At that moment, Mephistopheles suddenly smiled and said quietly, "This is the opportunity I mentioned to Jason."

Both girls immediately wore gossip-hungry expressions, filled with curiosity about what would happen on this island.

Author's Note on Going Premium

After writing for so long, it was finally time to go premium. Life was not easy, so please support me. Thank you.

Thank you to the Hedgehog Cat platform for giving me this opportunity, and thank you to BOSS for building this place for us.

Thank you to my wonderful editor Nanxi. She never looked down on me for being a novice flop and was willing to give me a precious chance to sign a contract!

Thank you to my readers for actually being willing to read the books I write. That truly makes me very happy!

Writing occult fiction on Maoke—I was too bold. Well, in order to keep myself from being unable to afford food, I can only ask everyone for more support!

Lastly, here are the bonus chapter rules.

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Mephistopheles's "Declaration"

The envoy carried a staff of peace and, led by those people, met the young queen. He respectfully bowed to her and said:

"Great Queen, we are adventurers guided by the gods to complete an adventure. We humbly ask you to allow us to dock our ship in the harbor so that we may rest properly. We will leave tomorrow, so please rest assured!"

Only after the beautiful Queen Hypsipyle heard this did she let out a sigh of relief. As long as it was not enemies from distant lands coming to cause trouble. However, this matter still needed to be discussed.

Thus, she first sent the envoy away, gathered her subordinates, and told them what the other party had said to her.

Then she stood and declared loudly, "Dear sisters, because of our anger, we foolishly killed our own men. Now, every day, we fear an attack by the Thracians. Do you not think we are pitiful?"

None of the subordinates dared speak. When they had killed their own men, they had been frenzied; at that time, they had seemed so imposing. Yet now, they were merely pitiful wretches trembling in fear, terrified of retaliation from the Thracians.

There was nothing they could do about it. Among those men might have been craftsmen and hunters, but most had been warriors, guards, and soldiers of the nation. In the end, they had all been killed by the women themselves.

Seeing that no one spoke, Hypsipyle continued, "Those people are heroes, descendants of the gods. They now ask to enter the harbor to rest. This time, we cannot abandon these friends again. However, we must also guard against them. We have little strength, and we cannot let them know of the sin we committed. Therefore, I propose that we send food and wine to their ship."

Hypsipyle did not dare take risks. This was the method she had devised. If those people learned what she had done, they might kill her to eradicate evil.

But at that moment, an old woman stepped forward. Trembling, she said, "Giving gifts to these outsiders is a good thing, but Your Majesty, everyone, have you considered what you will do if the Thracians come?"

Her words plunged everyone into silence once more.

The object of fear that constantly hung over their hearts—the Thracians' revenge!

"Even if a merciful god is willing to protect us and prevent the Thracians from approaching this place, will you truly be safe? Will you escape every disaster?"

The old woman slowly said, "Someone like me has nothing to worry about. Before disaster arrives, before our supplies run out, I will die anyway. But what will you young people do? Do you think oxen will plow the fields by themselves? Harvest crops by themselves?

"You usually refuse to do this arduous work yourselves. If I were you, under these circumstances, I would hand all the land and property to these outsiders. They meet your wishes and can provide the protection you seek. Letting them manage this city would be best."

The old woman's words were advice, but they were also filled with helplessness.

These young women were unwilling to perform hard labor. Even if the Thracians did not come, they would eventually starve to death once their supplies ran out.

And now, a group of men had arrived. They were strong and powerful, handsome one and all, and very polite. No matter how one looked at them, they perfectly matched the women's hopes.

At that moment, everyone was moved.

Thus, Hypsipyle sent one of her own messengers with the Argo's envoy back to the Argo and conveyed this decision to everyone.

The people aboard the Argo immediately erupted in excitement.

"See? I told you there would be no problem!" Jason laughed loudly as he slipped out from behind Heracles and stood at the front as though he were very brave. "And that beautiful queen must be exceptionally kind to make such a proposal!"

Mephistopheles raised an eyebrow upon hearing that.

"Hypsipyle truly is kind. Even with the goddess of love stirring things up, she still did not kill her father. After all, even though her mother had long since died, one could still say that her father had been unfaithful to his dead wife."

"She must have peacefully inherited the throne from her father after he died of illness. A young maiden supporting such a huge kingdom must have had a very difficult time!" Jason continued, putting on his splendid clothing—a purple cloak given to him by Athena. Aside from him, several others also went ashore. The only ones remaining on the ship were Heracles, Atalanta, Mephistopheles, and a few others.

Heracles sat on the ship, watching the people gradually disappear into the distance. He asked Mephistopheles, "You are not going?"

Mephistopheles liked women, and he was handsome, so Heracles was somewhat puzzled as to why he would not go.

"Not interested," Mephistopheles answered without hesitation, making Medea and Artemis behind him reveal satisfied expressions.

After all, the meaning behind those earlier words was obvious. It was roughly, "We can give you everything. You can come play with us. We can become your women."

To put it in modern terms, they were shouting, "Come on, have some fun, join the orgy!"

If Mephistopheles went, the two women behind him would definitely seize him and humiliate him a hundred times over!

For the sake of his own happiness, Mephistopheles decided it was better not to wade into this muddy water.

Besides, Hypsipyle here was clearly meant to pair with Jason. It was also Jason's opportunity to obtain a kingdom. Mephistopheles only needed to watch the show; there was no need to squeeze his way in.

He had already reminded Jason. The opportunity had arrived, and whether Jason could seize it depended on Jason himself.

"Men are all like this. Disgusting!" Atalanta rolled her eyes in displeasure, expressing her disgust toward the men who were so happy they had lost all sense of direction, then carefully wiped down her bow.

Mephistopheles nodded emphatically. "That is right. Those guys really are disgusting!"

Atalanta looked at Mephistopheles in surprise. "You think so too?!"

"Yes! I believe that, as a man, one should be responsible. So once you decide to have a relationship with a woman, you should stay together. They are clearly just after a night or two of pleasure, so I do not like it either!!"

Mephistopheles spoke with righteous conviction. Even though Atalanta had no interest in ordinary men, she could not help viewing Mephistopheles more favorably after hearing those words.

"Oh? Then you are not bad. You can actually resist that impulse." She looked at Artemis and Medea, then smiled. "But there is no need to resist anymore. Tonight, you can stay together. I think those two can barely hold themselves back any longer."

Upon hearing that, Medea blushed crimson, while Artemis wore an eager expression.

As for Mephistopheles, he could not help sighing in admiration.

"What a fierce girl. As expected of the strongest huntress, first raised by bears and then raised by a hunter!"

Artemis, Doing Two Things at Once

Atalanta was a devout follower of the moon goddess. She knew very well that she had survived as a child because of Artemis's help.

Especially the weapon she now held—the bow called Firmament had received Artemis's blessing. It possessed the power of the moon goddess and even part of the power of Apollo, the sun god.

To repay the goddess, Atalanta prayed devoutly to Artemis every day, thanking her for everything she had done for her.

One major reason she had sworn never to marry was that Artemis herself was a virgin goddess. In order to serve her god, Atalanta had chosen without hesitation to remain unmarried for her entire life.

At this moment, looking at the bright moon in the sky and feeling the power pouring down with the moonlight, Atalanta knelt devoutly on the ground and prayed softly.

Although Artemis represented the moon, it was not always possible to sense Artemis's power from the moon. But today was different, and last night had been different as well. The moonlight last night and tonight both felt special. She could sense the moon goddess's power within it.

Because she was a follower of the moon goddess and closely connected to Artemis, she could sense that subtle difference.

"Have you been watching over my adventure all this time, great Artemis?" Atalanta murmured, becoming ever more devout.

Moonlight fell around her. Atalanta raised her head and saw a phantom before her. Its appearance was not especially clear, a figure entirely composed of moonlight, but the dense power of the moon goddess emanating from it told her that it was her god, Artemis!

"Why have you appeared?!" Atalanta was surprised and uneasy, unable to understand why the moon goddess had suddenly appeared.

Was there something wrong with her prayer?!

At that moment, Atalanta heard a gentle voice.

"Do not be nervous. I merely heard your prayer, so I came to take a look."

Merely came to take a look? Did the goddess always watch over her!? Atalanta became even happier and more devout. Unable to restrain her excitement, she said, "I am willing to follow you for my entire life and serve by your side!"

"You do not need to follow me forever. After all, I think it is rather nice for girls to get married and such!"

The suddenly playful voice stunned Atalanta. She raised her head toward the phantom and saw it sway.

"Let me finish speaking first!"

The voice was quiet, but she could still hear it clearly.

What did she mean, "Let me finish speaking first"? Could the moon goddess be with another god?

At that moment, Artemis, the moon goddess, spoke again.

"Love is the development of one's emotions. If there truly is someone you come to like, then pursue them. This is the right I, Artemis, your god, grant you, and it is also my advice. You will find that love is actually quite wonderful.

"Um... I will not say any more for now. Continue your adventure. Remember, I am always watching over you. Do not be afraid... um... you will find the meaning that belongs to you in this adventure!"

Her words came in fragments, and her voice sounded somewhat hurried, making Atalanta even more confused. What had Artemis been doing just now? Why did it sound as though she was panting?

And why had she told her to pursue love?

Atalanta thought for a long time before finally finding an explanation.

"Artemis is so great. Though she herself is a virgin goddess, she still wants me, her follower, to seek the love that belongs to me. You are truly too kind, great moon goddess!"

Even though she still did not understand why the earlier words had come in fragments, it did not affect the fact that Atalanta's faith became even firmer.

Meanwhile, inside a small room not far away, Artemis fiercely bit Mephistopheles on the shoulder. The girl was drenched in sweat, her cheeks flushed as she protested to him.

"I was only checking what my follower was praying about. Could you not wait a moment?!"

Mephistopheles gave his answer without hesitation. "No!"

Medea, watching from the side, could not help laughing. She even wickedly wondered what expression Atalanta would make if she learned that her god had been doing such a thing just now.

If she could record that reaction, Medea believed it would definitely become a world-famous painting.

"Medea, what are you laughing at?! Are you laughing at my reaction just now?!" Artemis saw Medea's reaction, grabbed her, pulled her over hard, and began groping her wildly.