Chapter 40

Chapter 40 – Chariclo And The Forest Of Heroes

“Did you get in touch with Hephaestus’s workshop?”

“They can’t take orders right now due to a large order from Olympus!”

“What about Athena’s architects?”

“They’ve all gone on a business trip to Athens for the construction of the Olympia Temple!”

Chariclo’s cabin, where we were supposed to greet her first, was extremely busy.

Messengers flew in and out without rest, and nymphs and centaurs ran around busily carrying papyrus scrolls and stone tablets. In the midst of this bustling crowd, Chariclo was the busiest of all.

“This scene looks very familiar.”

“Familiar?”

“Uh... well, oh right. When I was staying at Zeus’s temple, the high priest grandfather was always this busy during the festival period.”

In truth, what I recalled was not the grand feasts after conquering the martial world, but my past life drowning in paperwork.

Chariclo seemed as busy as my past life or Grandpa Efaros.

“Chariclo, why don’t we just demolish the Colosseum and build something else instead...?”

“Demolish a training ground blessed by the God of War? I hope that boar isn’t around here.”

Chariclo scolded the centaur who made the ridiculous suggestion.

Even so, her eyes and hands didn’t rest for a moment as she constantly wrote and read tablets.

“You seem busy, should we come back later?”

“But why is Mother so busy?”

“Why do you think?!”

I don’t know how she heard our voices in this commotion, but Chariclo accurately spotted Atalanta and me amidst the crowd and gestured for us to come over.

“Mother Chariclo!”

“Talli! I just had something to give you, perfect timing!”

With a bright smile, Chariclo hugged Atalanta. She could be described as an ancient businesswoman.

Long dark green hair neatly pulled back, blue eyes weary from the demands of office work.

Despite all the fuss, her white Greek peplos remained perfectly intact.

Her overall appearance, contrasting yet harmonizing with fiery Atalanta, made her seem more like Atalanta’s mother than that crescent moon brat.

“Here, it’s a gift for you. Read the instructions on the amphora’s surface carefully. And...”

Handing a small, palm-sized ceramic amphora to Atalanta from under the desk, Chariclo kept her fresh smile and glared at me.

Yes. She didn’t just look at me. She glared.

It was as if she were looking at a troublesome customer who placed an order right before the deadline.

“Dianes...?”

“Yes?”

Unlike her affectionate greeting to Atalanta, Chariclo’s face showed concern over what to do with a troublesome kid when looking at me.

“Sigh... No, it’s not your fault. It’s my fault for giving the forest to Chiron.”

With that, Chariclo let out a deep sigh and shook her head.

Then she kindly smiled at me and greeted.

“I am Chariclo, the caretaker of the Forest of Heroes, taking care of the little heroes. Let’s get along well.”

“Haha... Nice to meet you.”

Leaving behind Chariclo, who was starting to bury herself in the stone tablets and scrolls again, Atalanta and I hurriedly looked around the Forest of Heroes.

“To the north, there’s the centaur camp guarding the forest entrance, the nymphs stay in Lady Chariclo’s territory in the center of the forest, which we saw earlier, and we stay in the central residential area next to it.”

“Right, the place we passed by in a hurry earlier?”

Like a package tour guide, Atalanta excitedly led me around the entire forest with her arm linked to mine.

Not to mention, walking arm in arm with a beautiful girl who could be compared to a goddess, the nymphs, centaurs, and all sorts of minor heroes either cheered or cast jealous glances.

But more important than those trivial things was that Atalanta was the second person to make me feel the changes.

“There, there! New items have arrived at the Hermes Market!”

“Go slowly; you’ll fall.”

“We don’t have time for that!”

As her small hand pulled me along, I realized that although I had lost my martial skills and physical strength, the burdens once placed upon me had also disappeared.

“Who is that pretty girl?”

“Atalanta? Is it perhaps Atalanta?”

“Wow... Should I try talking to her?”

“Hey, be quiet. The boy next to her is the new student, Dianes.”

“Oh my... He’s so handsome...”

“...Tch. He looks like a playboy.”

Amidst the envious and jealous gazes around me, I felt that I was no longer a supreme being who incited fear and awe, but a small child who could laugh and chat normally.

“Dianes? What’s wrong? Are you tired?”

“...No, it’s nothing.”

The maddening sense of alienation and emptiness I felt when I first stepped into this forest.

Such empty emotions were slowly pushed away, replaced by something else.

They were the colorful, unfamiliar emotions that I thought I had buried in my previous life.

Lost in these vivid feelings I had never experienced in the strict orphanage, I walked dazedly behind the beautiful huntress.

Before I knew it, we were sitting in the central clearing of the forest, where we had held the last feast.

“Heek..! Heek...! I-it’s finally over!”

“I told you not to run around so much.”

Atalanta, who had been joyfully pulling me along as if matching my pace, collapsed in exhaustion at the end.

It made sense since the Forest of Heroes was called a forest, but it was almost as large as a decent-sized polis.

It was divided into twelve blessed zones, each named after an Olympian god, and categorized into training, commercial, and academic zones based on their functions.

In the eastern training area, there were Ares’s Colosseum, Athena’s Tactical Field, and Artemis’s Hunting Ground.

In the western commercial area, there were Hephaestus’s Forge, Hermes’s Market, and Demeter’s Farm.

In the southern academic area, there were the Forest of Arts, blessed by Apollo, and Aphrodite’s Lake of Love.

“Huff...huff... And finally, the central grand altar. The place where Hestia herself kindled the eternal flame.”

I wondered why the fire in the central brazier was warmly burning even though there were no people around.

This must be the domain of the goddess of the hearth.

As I absentmindedly looked back at the brazier warming my back, Atalanta, having caught her breath, slyly approached and brought her radiant face close to mine.

“How was it?”

Like a puppy seeking its owner’s praise or a child longing for their parents’ approval, Atalanta asked me with a bright smile.