Chapter 33

Chapter 33 – The Visit Of Hermes

Chariclo, the mistress and caretaker of the forest, fainted upon seeing the half-destroyed Colosseum.

There was a small incident where Asclepius laughed so hard he almost burst his belly at the sight of the bloodied Hercules. But in the end, I was taken to the infirmary once again.

“It’s only been two days since I enrolled, and apart from the infirmary and the Colosseum, I know nothing about this forest.”

“Hahaha, I searched the entire forest as soon as I arrived. There was a rumor back then.

They said Hermes hid his Talaria somewhere.”

Hercules, lying next to me wrapped like a mummy in bandages, boasted to me.

“Talaria?”

Was that the name of some fairy?

I tilted my head at the unfamiliar word, and Atalanta, who was sitting next to me, leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“They’re Hermes’s winged sandals.”

“Ah... so that’s what they call Talaria.”

I didn’t know that.

Even though it was a universally known myth, I wasn’t omniscient, so there were gaps in my common knowledge.

But it was just a few minor details that I didn’t know.

Honestly, everyone remembers the caduceus with the two snakes that the gods’ messenger and the original trickster carries around, but who remembers the shoes that lets him fly?

I also used to stroll through the sky after mastering Heavenly Ascent, but those flying sandals didn’t leave much of an impression.

“Weren’t the gods originally able to fly?”

“Don’t say that if you ever meet Hermes, okay? Hermes’s Talaria aren’t just about flying; they’re magical sandals that let you fly faster than a bird. He’s so proud of them.”

I heard that Hermes, the messenger of the gods, often visits this forest to see Chiron. Because of this, Hermes’s children had a better relationship with their father compared to the children of other gods.

“Last time, Lord Hermes gathered his sons for a treasure hunt, but the treasures he hid were...”

“What were they?”

“I don’t know!”

Atalanta shook her head, as if too embarrassed to say more. Watching this, Hercules looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked,

“Dianes.”

“What now?”

“How on earth did you headbutt that hedgehog to make it as tame as a lamb in just one day?”

What?

Despite the absurdity of his question, I somewhat understood Hercules’s curiosity.

Though it felt like an incredibly long time had passed, I had only been in this forest for three days.

The fight I concluded with a magnificent headbutt against Atalanta was just yesterday.

Seeing her clinging to me, the others, including this guy, must be thinking the same thing.

“The others are already amazed. They can’t believe you knocked out that fierce huntress, who is like a lone chimera, with a single blow.”

“By the way, it was me who got the request to shoot a poisoned arrow at Asclepius last month.”

She countered with a cold smile.

But what did she say he get shot with?

“...Was it you?!”

Oh, this is quite refreshing.

Even after getting beaten up by me continuously, Hercules, who used to laugh it off like a man, turned pale with fright.

“I happen to have some of that poison left from then. Since Asclepius is stationed at the clinic, he even allowed me to bring in weapons to keep an eye on the boars.”

Atalanta smiled sweetly and took out an arrow, dipping the arrowhead into a poison bottle.

“Wait! I’m a patient...!”

“It’s okay. Since it’s a paralysis poison, you’ll be able to sleep soundly without Hypnos even having a chance to visit.”

Hercules must be struggling to move due to the aftereffects of our fight.

Wouldn’t getting hit with a poisoned arrow be a bit too dangerous?

“Dianes, there’s no need to look at him like that. That boar may have said it nicely, but just like he said, an arrow won’t even scratch his body.”

“But it doesn’t mean it won’t hurt! And now you’re precisely targeting the wound inflicted by Dianes?!”

As expected of Artemis’s daughter.

Atalanta accurately aimed at his wound, and Hercules panicked.

Hercules silently pleaded for my help with his face wrapped in bandages, but reflecting on my martial arts political life spanning over a hundred years.

I thought it would be more beneficial in many ways to just quietly erase my presence and watch.

Moreover, it was a poison potent enough to astonish even a natural external martial arts master who’s used to handling swords.

Come to think of it, while organizing the Tang family, I did acquire quite a bit of that secret poison technique.

At that time, I hadn’t mastered the poison technique, but considering the secret methods of the Tang family that could convert poison into internal qi and body qi with unimaginably deadly poisons, I thought I should ask Asclepius later if I could get a few bottles to practice poison techniques as an experiment.

“Atalanta!”

“Eek! M-Master!”

Just when Atalanta was about to turn Hercules into a porcupine.

Chiron clattered into the infirmary.

“Hahaha! As expected of young heroes! So full of energy even when injured!”

Chiron, wiping his face as if tired, was followed by a handsome young man laughing heartily.

Before I could even wonder who he was.

Atalanta, who was holding an arrow, and Hercules, who was groveling in front of her, were startled and bowed.

“Hermes?!”

“Oh, we greet the messenger of Olympus.”

Hermes.

The messenger of the gods, the shepherd, the god of thieves and tricksters.

The young man with impressively curly blond hair and a cheerful demeanor was the second Olympian god I met.