In the summer of my seventeenth year, the face reflected in the mirror was no longer that of a pretty boy.
The silver hair that fell to my shoulders shone more brilliantly beneath the moonlight than under the midday sun. My body, honed by Chiron’s instruction and countless bouts with Heracles, appeared graceful on the surface, but beneath that elegance lay a strength of a completely different nature.
“So you’re leaving after all, Astellon.”
The man leaning against the entrance, flexing a thick forearm, spoke up. It was Heracles.
He now stood a full head taller than I did, possessing a physique that, in my eyes, was already worthy of being called the strongest hero on earth.
“A messenger arrived from Eirene. My father is gravely ill, so I can no longer delay,” I answered calmly as I packed my belongings.
Rather than sorrow, I felt a chilling premonition that the time had finally come. It was time to return to the stage where everything I had learned here—martial arts, philosophy, and the theories of governance I had pondered with Chiron—would be put to the test.
“That Jason fellow is already making a racket. You’re royalty too, so once you become king, you’ll be awfully busy, won’t you? That guy has been shouting from the rooftops about becoming a king himself.”
“Who knows. If I become king, I intend to live more lazily than anyone else. My goal is to create a country where everything runs so peacefully that I don't have to lift a finger.”
At my joking reply, Heracles laughed heartily and gave my shoulder a light slap.
Even that casual gesture carried a weight that felt as if the earth itself were trembling.
“That sounds like you. But don’t forget—if that paradise of yours ever grows boring, call me. We'll have another sparring match.”
The farewells were brief.
Atalanta waved to me from a distant treetop, and Chiron quietly pressed a thick bundle of parchment into my hands. It was the draft of the governance records I had compiled over the last eight years.
“Astellon, let your light shine upon the world. But be careful; do not let that light burn so fiercely that it consumes even the shadows of your people.”
“I will. Thank you for everything, Teacher.”
“And this.”
Just as I finished my farewell, Chiron placed a sword into my arms.
“Th-this is...?!”
Startled, I looked up at him, my eyes wide with surprise.
“Take it. This is the sword I promised to give you long ago.”
“...I feel this is far too generous a graduation gift.”
“No. On the contrary, it is a blade that only you could truly suit.”
“...Is it truly all right for me to accept this?”
“Yes. It is.”
“...Then I shall not refuse.”
“Astellon. There will be many hardships ahead. But regardless of what happens, do not give up.”
“I won't, Teacher. Then... thank you for everything these past few years.”
Leaving Chiron’s final words behind, I stepped out of the forest.
I did not look back.
I feared that if I did, I would never find the strength to leave.
And so, I departed without hesitation, thinking of the homeland I had not seen in years.
***
The road back to the kingdom was scarred by famine and war, the remnants of the gods' fickle whims. I was crossing a desolate field, passing through the ruins of abandoned villages.
Suddenly, a dense, murderous intent surged from all directions.
I stopped in my tracks and rested my hand on the hilt of my sword. A moment later, a massive shadow lunged from a swirl of dust.
It was no ordinary lion. It was a creature of a completely different order than any common beast.
Its entire body was clad in fur as hard as steel, and unlike any normal lion, its colossal frame was equipped with jagged, vicious fangs.
“It would be better for everyone if you just moved aside...”
The moment the words left my lips, the lion charged with ferocious intensity.
With a thunderous roar, it leaped toward me, claws unsheathed and ready to rend.
I drew the sword Chiron had given me. Just before the beast's teeth and claws could sink into my flesh, I stepped forward, slipping inside its guard and thrusting the blade deep.
For a split second, I felt the resistance of the toughened hide.
But that was all.
In the next instant, the sword plunged through as if it were cutting through air.
Clang!
A dull, metallic thud echoed.
The moment the blade touched the lion's skin, the seemingly impenetrable hide was pierced, and the sword drove straight through the creature's skull.
The lion's massive body collapsed lifelessly.
I withdrew the blade and flicked the blood away.
With a sharp metallic ring, the droplets of blood clinging to the steel scattered across the dirt.
The sword Chiron had given me continued to emit a cool, serene light, as if it had encountered no resistance at all.
The monster's hide, said to be harder than steel, and the ferocious vitality within it, were nothing more than sheets of paper before my blade.
I gazed at the fallen lion's eyes for a moment. The savage bloodlust that had sought to tear me apart was gone, replaced by an eerie, absolute silence.
I sheathed my sword and resumed my journey.
Far beyond the horizon, the walls of Eirene began to emerge through the haze.
There, my father was wasting away day by day, my people were waiting for me, and the immense burden known as “peace” awaited my shoulders.
“But that is the weight I must carry, and the path I must lead.”
Having dealt with the beast, I pressed onward.
My destination was my home. Eirene.
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