I Became a Slave to a Mythical Shepherd

Episode 23. Olympus (2)

A burning bonfire, birds chirping outside the window, impressive terracotta walls, a marble table, and a small bed that might be for a baby.

Gorgeous…but not surreal.

It was an unfamiliar space to me, but not to Hephaestus, as he stroked the place and quietly cursed.

“…bad taste.”

“Where are you?”

“It is still Olympus. It was just a small space that my father created with his authority, or an illusion, or something like that. Perhaps if you open that door and go out, you will see the audience room you saw right away.”

Hephaestus said, pointing to the simple wooden door that looked out from behind, then picked up the cup from the table and took a sip.

“My father even left banquet food for me. Heavenly Father is full of mercy and consideration.”

Hephaestus’ tone completely changed from caring toward me to cynicism. I was able to guess the relationship between Zeus and Hephaestus without difficulty.

Hephaestus looked out on Skleos, his follower, with affection and respect in his temple.

I thought of him sitting alone and being ignored by Ares. Still, wouldn’t it be rather difficult not to be sarcastic?

After taking a sip of the drink and rolling it into his mouth, Hephaestus looked at me for a moment and carefully floated a rhyme.

“Don’t you remember this place?”

“Not at all.”

“I’m glad.”

Hephaestus had me sit down on the chair that surrounded the table, then he himself sat down.

“Paris.”

“Please don’t call me by name.”

“Why?”

“It is difficult.”

Hephaestus had a face that didn’t know why, but seeing the pain on my face, he complied with my request without a word.

“It is unfortunate that things have come this far. For mere men to be judges of the gods is both glorious and . . . arduous.”

I sensed the pity in Hephaestus’ eyes.

“It is very difficult to receive God’s love, hatred, and resentment in the body of a mortal. Whoever you choose, I can’t say there’s no guarantee that you won’t suffer.”

I know. I know better than anyone. maybe more than you

You’d think I was just overwhelmed by the presence of the gods, but I’m suffocating right now.

I’d rather not know the future.

“Even so, I will protect you as much as possible. You are my family…”

“Am I going to destroy Troy?”

silence.

“Do I . . . destroy Troy?”

Hephaestus’ pupils wavered.

“How do you know that?”

Sometimes words that are far removed from the question are the answer. I understood Hephaestus’ words as ‘yes’, and Hephaestus did not stop talking.

“I watched you. I have noticed your brilliance for a very long time. I saw your talent. I saw the things you made…”

Hephaestus looked at me as if looking at something unknown, incomprehensible.

“Poor thing, a prince abandoned by his mother and father. Even though I have talent, I am destined to rot as a shepherd and eventually destroy my country. Isn’t it a waste and pitiful?”

As Hephaestus murmured lightly, the shape of the hammer rose and then faded. It was a hammer he had given me.

“So I taught you city life and blessed you. prepare for destiny And when the servants of Hermes identified your location, I hid you in the city where my temple was. Get away from fate for a while.

How did you know that?”

“Perhaps because I keep the memories of my childhood.”

I made an excuse anyway. In fact, it was only half true. I remembered my parents… no, my adoptive parents after I met them.

But Hephaestus shook his head when he heard that.

“…I know that is a lie.”

I didn’t answer. Hephaestus didn’t care about that.

“Don’t you remember this place?”

“I have never been to a place like this…”

“there is. Yeah, I’m not sure I’ve ever ‘been there’.

I was born here.”

I slowly replayed the words Hephaestus threw in my head and tried to gauge their meaning.

And I realized

I turned my head.

There, a noble woman was weeping.

– “Ah… no. It is false… my son…”

-“How can you call a prophecy a lie?”

-“How can you make such a foolish comment about this poor thing! Even if you are a priest, you are also a subject of my kingdom!”

And the priest, who received the woman’s wrath, was expressionless and only recited the predetermined words.

-“It’s crazy about what God has ordained. He is blasphemy. It is the most serious sin a mortal can commit.”

– “So you’re saying that it’s not a sin for parents to kill their children! I will speak to the King myself…”

– “There is no need for that.”

Turning to the direction where the sound came from, the wooden door opened and the king entered. The king took the woman’s hand and said.

– “You have to kill it. It is as great a sin for a king to kill a kingdom as for a father to kill his son.”

-“But, my wife… please…”

The woman shakes off the king’s hand and covers her face. For a long time she cried, and the king patiently waited for her.

Quite a bit of time passed, and as the moon moved, the woman spoke in a completely submerged voice.

-“···In that case, just throw it away. to find no one Just hide…”

-“It’s not possible. he is···”

– “I see, my queen.”

I knew what the king would say next. I opened my mouth and recited his words.

“I have a trustworthy slave. A shepherd named Agelaos.”

– “I have a trustworthy slave. A shepherd named Agelaos.”

“I will order him. Raise the child as a slave, in a lowly way.”

– “I will order him. Raise the child as a slave, in a lowly way.”

And the king walks slowly to the little bed which seemed to be for infants.

He hugged me who was whining there.

he said.

-“Goodbye.”

And the illusion is gone.

It was only me and Hephaestus in the quiet room again.

I was crying. Like the mother in the fantasy just now, holding her face.

Hephaestus, like a king, no, like a father, silently watched over my tears.

“I’ve never wanted a fate like this…”

“Who wants to accept my fate?”

A peaceful life… the damn good life of being a shepherd, wallowing around with the stinky, stupid, stinky sheep and goats.

Mother, father, Ino, Philippos, Yorgos, and other neighbors who were annoying, pleasant, and able to get along without thinking.

It’s all over now. everything was taken away

Because I have to destroy Troy.

I am the prince of Troy.

“Do you still want to run away? from fate?”

“That’s right.”

so much

“In that case, I will help you with your choice.”

Hephaestus took some of the food on the table and brought it to my mouth.

“Eat.”

It was more like a cloud than bread… As Hephaestus split the bread, the grains in it swayed like particles in a cloud, sparking and wriggling.

Similarly, the drink placed in the glass also swirled like the sea, endlessly forming and destroying small islands on top of it. It seemed dense and viscous like honey.

“Ambrosia and nectar. If you eat this, you will become like a god. Of course, eating just this once won’t have a great effect, but… preserve your body with this and leave this civilized world.

To a place where the power of our gods cannot reach.”

I didn’t even understand the words properly, I just watched the food Hephaestus gave me.

They are the spirits of the living and wriggling gods. I didn’t want to eat them, just as no one wants to be plugged into a crackling outlet. Seeing this, Hephaestus sighed.

“You must eat. Even for you.”

“What do these foods do?”

“I will infuse divinity into your body. It will cover a little of the mortal aura, and give me immortal strength and power. Yes…you can say that your body becomes at least partially godlike.”

“Then why are you giving me that precious thing?”

“…”

Hephaestus just stared at me without saying anything.

It was as if he was saying

‘You know.’

The terrible whirlpool of fate you will face.

The indifferent storm that you won’t know if you can avoid it even if you struggle.

In the end, in order to survive, I desperately needed even the smallest weapon, no matter how insignificant and trivial the grace.

And Hephaestus sympathized with me.

I gulped. Still, God’s food and drink wriggled mysteriously as if he didn’t care about anything.

What will happen if it enters my body?

This concern was not a rational judgment about how my body would change and what benefits I would get.

Of course, even in all this nonsense, there was still such a realistic and rational part in my head…

Now my only concern is one thing.

‘Does it hurt?’

It will probably be very painful.

if so how much? Asking how painful it would be to insert that intense energy that would burn a human body directly into one’s body… that alone is foolish.

Of course, it is difficult for humans to imagine.

So I hesitated, and Hephaestus, who understood the hesitation, also waited patiently.

However, that did not change the conclusion.

No matter what I did, in the end, the choice without options and the decision without decision rights were repeated.

I had to eat.

And I had to suffer.

Slowly, I accepted a goblet full of nectar from Hephaestus. With the other hand, he held the very soft bread-like ambrosia.

And a bite of ambrosia,

A sip of nectar,

swallowed

A flame passes through the throat.

“Uhhhhh.”

no. It’s not going through the neck, it’s burning the whole thing.

“Cheukgeureuk… Ugh eulgeuk…”

The part where the scab sits after the wound is itchy. It is originally the process in which the scars progress as the scabs, which are formed by slowly repairing flesh and blood, push each other away. It’s similar when your teeth grow slowly.

If so, how ticklish would it be to feel your body burning up inside your body and quickly recovering every moment?

“aaa!! aaa!!!!”

Funny enough, the tickle was more painful than the burning sensation all over my body. I immediately started scratching myself. The tickling didn’t get any better, and eventually I sat down as if in a fit.

“You should drink more. please···.”

“Please stop… please…”

“Open your mouth. I need to eat more…”

Hephaestus closed his eyes in agony, turned his head, and opened his mouth. He forced me to hold on to my struggling body, put the remaining ambrosia in my mouth, and passed it over with nectar.

The burning pain became more intense, and the tickling sensation spread from the intestines through the capillaries throughout the body.

My heart feels like it’s on fire. It feels like hundreds of mosquitoes have stuck to my heart.

It feels like the duodenum is about to tear. The duodenum is itchy, so I’d rather tear it apart.

I want to pull out all my hair and pull out all my fingernails.

I can’t stand it.

I can’t stand it…

I passed out.

And when he awoke, he found himself drooling unsightly in the arms of Hephaestus.

“Are you okay?”

“…nu, eyes.”

It was sunny.

Clear colors that I had never felt in my life were delivered to my brain.

The body was light. My heartbeat was slowly pushing life through my body.

It doesn’t seem like anything major has changed, but it feels as if all the parts of the machine have been dismantled, cleaned of rust one by one, polished, oiled, and re-tightened. It felt like I was literally reborn.

and···

Hephaestus nodded at my words and laughed helplessly.

“This is all I can do for you. It is the only gift that will help you whether you can run away from your fate or whether you cannot escape and fall into the vortex of it.”

And Hephaestus pointed to a door other than the wooden one. It was a door I had never seen before.

“My powers are insignificant compared to my father’s. Get out of Olympus while I hold that door open.”

I understood Hephaestus’ words.

He wanted to set me free even at the cost of his father’s wrath.

‘I have to run away.’

You have to run away.

I have to run away from those gazes that look at me like bugs, sweet candy, pitiful toys, or broken dolls.

If I don’t run away from this place, what will happen to me is drawn very clearly. Destruction, disgrace, death, destruction…

My head becomes turbid like muddy water, and sweat flows into my hands. A cold sweat runs through my back as well. He just endured the ugliness of his trembling body.

By all means…

have to run away

certainly.

After thanking Hephaestus, I grabbed the handle of the door he had opened.

And I turn my head

Suddenly, time turns like jelly.

The movement of Hephaestus is infinitely stretched at an ordinary speed, as if a moment has been pulled like a rubber band…

stop soon

[Ah…the will of this…ga…do…points to the net…is it.]

[Will···go, time···liver···stop···prayer···one···? Destiny… Stop… Throw it away… Pray… I?]

[What if… we don’t know… ···Young···Wanna know···Can···no·····.]

A strange, not familiar voice.

When I turned around, there was no one around. It’s not the voice of someone sitting here.

[Say···that····dae···ro······eternity·········hi·······················

But the voice also stretched like a broken cassette tape and then ended.

After that, there was no sound in space except my breathing.

time froze in silence

The door did not open.