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“Hey, have you heard about that lately?”
“What? Ah, you mean about Jason? Honestly, how can a person even do that...? He’s really amazing, isn’t he?”
“No, no, that story too, of course. But not about him. I mean the rumor that’s been spreading quietly these past few days. Haven’t you heard?”
Near the waterway cutting across Colchis, the women seated at the washbasin were chattering noisily as they vigorously beat their laundry.
“Huh? What rumor?”
“...So you really haven’t heard.”
“Could you be talking about the rumor regarding ‘that matter’?”
Another woman, drying laundry behind the women who were busily pounding away at their wash, cut into the conversation.
“My, the way you put it makes it sound like you know about it too?”
“...So what is it? Am I the only one who doesn’t know?”
When the woman who had been confused from the start finally began whining for someone to tell her, the others exchanged glances, shifted their mood to something serious, lowered their voices, and whispered to imply that this was a secret.
“You know the people being punished for speaking about Prince Phrixus, right? Doesn’t anything about it seem strange to you? Setting aside the fact that they’re being punished, why is His Majesty not explaining this question at all?”
“Yes, yes. And the fact that Princess Chalciope, the first princess, suddenly left the country is suspicious too.”
Oh? This is going rather well.
I listened to all of this as I walked through the streets, letting it pass by as if it were nothing. And I was already thinking as much as possible about the king’s reaction when this information broke through Medea’s blockade and reached his ears.
Whatever he did, whatever schemes he tried to weave, I would make sure everything still moved within the framework of my plan.
By now, it should be about time for Medea’s blockade to be broken through. Today would probably be the limit.
King Aeetes was not an idiot either. If information kept being filtered and sent upward like this, he would have noticed that something was off. And the actions available to a king who received all of this were...
Diverting attention elsewhere. But that method cannot keep attention diverted forever, so in practice it is impossible. And if he chose that route, all I had to do was step in and force him to face it directly.
Or, as he had done until now, eliminate the cause. That method would also be impossible in this situation, where nearly half the people were already making a fuss, because it would be very hard to expel the source. Even if he took the risk and removed it, resentment in the remaining half would swell to its limit, and I would only need to scratch that resentment a little for it to run wild on its own.
As long as the king was not stupid, he would probably choose the last method.
What in modern times would be called PR, or playing the media.
In ancient society, the position of king carried great weight. So if the king himself gathered the people and played on their emotions, that could become a major advantage.
In other words, if he used this chance to appeal to the people, saying the rumors were false and they must not believe them, that he knew how deeply he had grieved when his Prince Phrixus died... then naturally the people would trust and follow the king’s direct appeal over rumors from outside.
Well, if I were not a modern person, I might have been caught flat-footed...
But in fact, I was waiting for the king to try his PR move.
That was my plan: thoroughly block and seal off every other method until he had no choice but to pick this one.
So keep struggling. The more you struggle, the more you will only end up like an insect caught in a web, trapped in the prison called revolution.
I pulled my cloak lower, left the area, made a full circuit around the outskirts of Colchis while constantly observing the situation, and returned to the Argo ship.
Waiting there for me was Nestor, shaking his head.
“...You’re back? So, public opinion is leaning in our favor, right?”
“Yeah, it’s flowing very interestingly. Now go tell all the sailors we’ve released.”
It was time for the final stage of the operation to begin. So everyone. Every last one of you, come back. That was the message.
“Got it.”
Now then, I was looking forward to tomorrow.
King Aeetes, what method will you choose to dispel your people’s suspicions?
Whatever method you choose, it will still be in the palm of my hand.
And so the promised day dawned. I armed myself again, put on the bracelet Medea had given me, took the pills, and led the sailors toward the coastal cliff where we had agreed to gather.
“Jason!! Please do your best again this time!!”
“We’re counting on you for our future!!”
...Ugh, this is embarrassing!!
When I reached the coastal cliff, the events of two days ago had apparently spread widely, because roughly three times as many people from Colchis had gathered there compared to two days before.
I had spent more than ten years living in this Greek world after possessing Jason’s body, but I still wasn’t used to being praised so openly in front of everyone.
“Then today as well... please, do your best.”
King Aeetes took my hand, patted it, and smiled, but his eyes were colder than ice, carrying a look close to contempt and jealousy. I felt like bursting out laughing at the sight of him, but I held it in and only let a faint smile rest on my lips.
“Then, let us begin.”
As I leaped down beneath the coastal cliff, I saw the waves crashing against the shore and freezing over as they were enveloped in cold.
‘...Even for just a short while, the cold along the shore has stiffened my body. If I didn’t have the bracelet Medea gave me, I don’t think a human body could have endured the deep-sea cold directly.’
Even though it was mid-spring, after winter had ended, my breath still formed white in the air. I slowly made my way toward the sea, step by step, and when I stepped on the frozen foam of the waves, it felt like treading on freshly fallen snow.
Ah, so that’s why the people were crowded around the harbor in front when we arrived in Colchis.
When the water reached my knees, I glanced briefly to both sides and understood why the people of Colchis had gathered at the harbor in the front-facing position among the three harbors where ships could enter.
The harbor on the right side of the front harbor was unused, so people did not gather there, but it was also too narrow for large ships to enter.
The harbor on the left was near the cliff where I was now standing, and because it was directly affected by the cold here, small icebergs formed and obstructed ships from coming in.
Hmm. This time, I had the feeling there was some alien interference, not merely the workings of nature, so I loosened my hand from the sword at my waist. I would have to hear the story from the sea beast directly. I drew in a long breath, let my body grow accustomed to the cold, and kept my bare hand submerged in the seawater without moving for quite a long time.
When I judged that my body had become used to the cold to some degree, I stepped forward, one step at a time, and walked into the sea.
By the time the water reached my shoulders, I activated the bracelet’s power, and the cold that had seeped deep into my body was instantly driven out, restoring my natural breathing.
Now then, it was time to move quickly. I firmly secured Akolitos, which had been swaying with the current at my waist, and dove all the way under, sinking deeper into the depths.
Unlike the sea as it should have been, I could see it losing its vitality because of the cold.
Indeed, there could not be many marine creatures capable of enduring this level of cold.
And so, descending endlessly deeper, deeper still...
=[Winter’s sacred beast, please answer my question. What problem has arisen that prevents you from leaving Colchis still?]=
Sea lions huddled together, and I could see them glaring warily at me from far off in the darkness as I sank downward, growling harshly.
Fearing that drawing any closer would bring great harm, I did not close the distance any further. Instead, I sat on a rock beside me and spoke to them.
If my guess was correct, this would be in line with the reason the Sun God’s offspring could not leave their nest.
“Do not come any closer. I do not know how you understand our language, but if you approach carelessly, I will regard you as an enemy.”
The one with the largest tusks among the sea lions exhaled an extreme chill from its mouth and issued a strong warning. This, then, was probably the king of the sea lions.
Even though the bracelet’s power was manifesting strongly, the fierce aura of the sea lion before me made it feel as if the cold were seeping into my very bones. To possess this much power, yes. It would have to be a divine beast of [Oceanus], the ‘first sea god’ before Poseidon.
He was a god before Hecate. That was why the bracelet made by Medea, a devotee of Hecate, could not fully exert its power against the chill his divine beast emitted.
=[Please, I beg you earnestly. Just once, only once.]=
Please, tell me your story...?
Winter’s sacred beast, divine beast of the great sea, I beg you to... your wrath...
Frozen by the extreme cold, I could no longer even grip the sword tightly. As even the seawater slowly began to freeze, the sea lion before me looked into my eyes, let out a sigh, and drew back its chill.
=...Very well. Bearer of an object imbued with the power of Hecate, goddess of the dark moon, you may indeed be able to set right this ‘twisted bond of heaven and kin.’=
...So it really was King Aeetes after all.
Lowering my gaze with a complicated expression, I heard the sacred beast ask in an uncertain voice.
=You knew all of this?=
And so you thought you could change all of it?
=[Yes, I expected it. Ever since I heard that Phrixus had died...]=
And if I didn’t change all of this, then why would I have come this far...!!
The sea lion that had been circling around me and looking down at me let out an admiring sigh and shook its head.
=If you can bring just punishment upon the king, then I too will have no need to remain here. However, I shall test whether you truly possess a righteous purpose with which to deliver that just punishment, right here and now.=
A chill ran down my spine. So it would not simply let me pass after all. Facing the overwhelming aura radiating from the sacred beast before me, I bit my lip and drew my sword.
Their king ordered the other sea lions away and stood alone before my eyes. To be honest, I had fought countless monsters, but I had never fought a divine beast before. I had no particular reason to make an enemy of one, and since it was a god’s animal, I already knew what would happen if I harmed it.
=[Hoo, I’ll take the first move.]=
=Come, then.=
Tch. I had expected this somewhat, but if I had known it would really come to this, I should have brought a spear too...
If the [Twelve Lives] she gave me could create even the slightest opening...
While briefly fiddling with the pills in my chest, I did not hesitate and immediately swung Akolitos diagonally from the upper right to the lower left. Just before the blade could touch its body, it whipped its tail and struck the side of my sword, twisting its trajectory.
Damn it, the difference in speed really is huge...!!
As if I had been briefly distracted by the speed gap, it created sharp ice shards with its cold and hurled them at me while baring its tusks and charging straight in.
But I twisted my body sideways, spinning to evade the ice shards, and then followed the momentum of my turn to slash upward, blocking its approach.
When it failed to close in, it immediately stamped one forepaw imbued with cold, causing a massive ice spike to erupt from the ground where I stood. Even so, this was still within my expectations! I timed my sword swing to coincide with the moment the ice spike rose, and the spike was shattered to pieces by the blade the instant it emerged, turning into sharp fragments that flew rapidly toward it.
It simply exhaled cold and compacted the fragments heavily, slowing their speed before easily dodging them.
I brought my sword down, and it leaped into a back tumble, lifting its tail while wrapped in cold.
As expected of a winter sacred beast and divine beast of the great sea...
The moment it whipped its tail upward, dozens of spikes erupted around it, and I deliberately eased the force of my attack, yielding to its pressure and retreating backward to evade the spikes.
‘...Damn it, the difference in mobility alone is already huge, and this thing can attack from range too.’
Should I use it now? No. Not yet...
Since this was a situation of simultaneous offense and defense, it would be hard to inflict a fatal wound! I had to endure until that sacred beast launched a major attack.
Apparently deciding that it could not land a blow on me through ordinary means either, it rushed around me at incredible speed, exhaling cold to freeze the sea and forcibly twist open an opening. But did it really think I, a being of ￭￭￭￭, would let that pass so easily!!
I gripped my sword with both hands and raised it straight and fiercely above my head.
If my opponent insisted on mid- and long-range combat, I would force it into close range. Steeling myself, I stared directly at the transparent rings forming from the cold and beginning to trap me, read the path of its body hidden within the white ice mist, and waited for the moment it would pass in front of me. Then I brought down the sword I had thrust high into the sky.
Clang-!
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