※
“So, how are you feeling?”
“You really don’t need to worry about your mother. Worry about your father first.”
By the time nearly a year had passed since I began studying under Chiron, I went to visit my parents, who were under Chiron’s protection while hiding from my uncle.
“Oh dear, my boy, what is this? Your cheeks have gotten so thin...”
I visited them every month, but I was always worried about my parents.
In the original myth, they were killed by my uncle when Jason went on the Argonaut expedition. But these were the first people to give me affection, concern, and feelings I had never received even in my previous life, so I could never let them walk the same path as in the original story.
“Ha. What am I supposed to do to keep my uncle from getting anywhere near my parents until I return from the expedition?”
Leaving everything to Chiron alone was a problem too. Chiron could not stay by my parents’ side forever, and even if his wife, Cariclo, stayed with them as well, she would still need time of her own.
I had to prepare for the times when no one was there.
How?
How on earth could I ensure my parents’ safety and daily life from my uncle’s grasp?
As my expression gradually hardened with that worry, my parents, seated before me, looked at me with eyes full of concern.
‘Should I tell them?’
But if I brought it up without any real countermeasure, it would only make them worry more. I couldn’t use Magecraft, and I knew nothing about Magecraft either, which made things even more hopeless.
“Jason? Is something the matter?”
“No, it’s just...”
Yes. I should tell them first. There was no point in suffering alone in silence, and if I went off trying to solve it by myself and my parents died in the meantime, I’d only end up blaming myself for not saying anything.
“Your father’s younger brother, Uncle Pelias, will come after you, Mother and Father. No matter how much he once said he’d hand the throne over to me when I was grown, he started a rebellion just to seize the throne. There’s no way he’ll give it up willingly.”
After taking a breath, I looked at my parents’ faces. My mother seemed to have anticipated it and didn’t waver much, but my father...
“I-I see. If he truly intended to hand the throne over to you, he wouldn’t have started a rebellion in the first place...”
“If I had learned Magecraft, I could have prepared defenses even without me there, but as Chiron confirmed, I’m simply not suited to Magecraft at all.”
One might think I could just ask Chiron to handle it, but that would not be a good solution. If defensive Magecraft could be set up so easily, then why would there be no trace of Magecraft on Mount Pelion?
Why would there be no trace of Magecraft at Chiron’s home?
My parents could not remain under Chiron’s protection forever, especially in a situation where soldiers might come charging in at any time.
My parents and I fell silent for a while. No matter how I thought about it, there was no suitable alternative. If either of my parents could cast even a simple spell, maybe there would be a way, but both of them were complete outsiders when it came to Magecraft.
And both were too old to begin learning anew.
“Hmm. But Jason, my son.”
“Yes?”
“If what you say is true, then Pelias will surely strike when he has separated you from us. But that alone is not the only reason we might die.”
My father raised a hand and rubbed the wrinkles on his face as he continued speaking. By then, I had already guessed what he was trying to say.
“This father only had you after a long time had passed since I took the throne. I was even older than Pelias, who was born late himself. That is why we, your father and mother, can reach the end of our allotted years and die even if Pelias never comes to kill us.”
Ah. I see. In the original myth, I clearly remembered the words my uncle used when he stole the throne.
My father was too old to rule the country, and I was too young, so he would serve as king in the meantime and hand the throne over once I grew up.
Ha. So that was it.
Was this why Jason never sought out his parents when he returned from the expedition in the original story?
And was this why he never suspected anything?
Even though these were the people who first let me feel a parent’s love, even though they were the ones who taught me what parents were, I had nothing I could do for them. How tragic, how powerless, how empty.
Was my dream. Was my resentment. Just a foolish, shallow delusion that could be shattered so easily?
Ah, how heartbreaking. Ah, how hateful. I, who could do nothing. My uncle, who brought about all this fate. The gods, who would only stand by and watch this tragedy unfold. How I resent them all.
Even this world that dragged me here. I despise it so much.
“Hah, ha... I suppose so. Sniff, sob. Even if it weren’t my uncle, Mother and Father...”
My throat tightened. Tears blurred my vision. My voice trembled helplessly. My heart ached, and I could no longer think of anything at all.
“My son...”
“Jason, my son...”
My parents quietly came over to me and held me in their arms, while I was desperately swallowing back the sobs rising to my throat. Their warm, rough, gentle hands began patting my back and shoulders.
“Jason, our son, our wonderful and clever prince. Do you remember what your mother asked of you?”
“...Yes, you asked me to become a great king,”
“Before that. Do you not remember because you were too young?”
...? If not to become king, what were they talking about? I couldn’t remember anything my mother had asked of me besides that.
“Oh dear, you’ve forgotten. That would make sense. At the time, Jason was just about to drift off into dreamland.”
My mother looked into my eyes with a gentle, soft, radiant smile and continued.
“I said, ‘Please do not be bound by fate, do not cling to fate, do not despair over fate, and do not let fate consume you.’”
What...? My mind went blank for a moment at my mother’s words.
“And when this mother asked you to become king, I meant, ‘become a great king,’ yes? Jason, what do you think a great king is?”
Ah, I see. My mother. She already knew the situation in the country? Ever since we were driven out, she had already...
“...Someone who leads others, and sometimes walks behind them to push forward those who have fallen behind. That is what I think.”
“Yes. A king is one who walks alongside others, one who goes ahead to carve a path, and one who watches over those behind him.”
“One who must always keep watch over others, care for them, and protect them.”
Following my mother’s words, my father also opened his mouth.
“And I could not do that. Partly because I was too old, partly because I was distracted by having a child at such an old age, and partly because I failed to notice the grievances of others. All of it was the fault of this unworthy father.”
So my father had already realized it too. Why, despite the rebellion, the people in the country had not risen in protest until now.
“Jason, my son. I beg you, when you fight monsters, do not become a monster yourself.”
My father’s rough hand stroked my head. His voice was covered in layers of indescribable regret, of unimaginable, uncontrollable remorse.
“And even when you fight monsters, do not focus only on the monster. No matter how dangerous it may make you yourself.”
※
After that, two seasons passed, and during that time, one small everyday event after another simply came and went, while I also met several new connections. Most notably Peleus, who would become Achilles’ father; Nestor, who would later be famous as a veteran of the Trojan War; and Caeneus, who would be favored by the sea god and come to abandon himself.
“Haa...”
“All right, that’s enough.”
When I was swinging a wooden sword and striking a straw dummy, Chiron was suddenly beside me, though I had no idea when he had arrived.
“Ah, Chiron.”
“You’re working hard, Jason.”
Chiron, wearing his usual gentle smile, handed me some drinking water and a wet cloth before walking past me to look out over the broad, open plain.
“It’s quiet and cool. Whenever I come here, I always feel my mind settle.”
“Yes. That’s probably why I’m training alone here as well.”
“...Jason, you...”
Chiron seemed to have something he wanted to say. His lips moved, but he looked as though he was wondering whether he should say it. If Chiron was reacting like this to me, then it had to be something related to my mother and father. And if it was something recent concerning my parents, what else could it be?
“It’s all right. I was already expecting my parents’ health to decline to some extent. And I’ve already prepared myself.”
Over the past few months, my parents’ health had rapidly worsened, and by now they had become so weak that even moving their bodies was difficult. Come to think of it, both of them had deteriorated in exactly the same way without the slightest difference. It made me wonder whether that was just how deeply they cared for each other.
In the original story, which was now becoming hazy in my memory, I thought my parents were still alive until the time Jason departed on the expedition. But perhaps because I had cared for and looked after them more than the original Jason had, and because I had shown them a better side of myself than he had.
There was relief and peace all over my parents’ faces as the vitality drained away from them.
“Maybe they’re letting go of their lingering attachment because they’ve found comfort in watching me grow.”
It was terribly sad and painful that I would not be able to repay my parents, who had given me overflowing love that I never received in my previous life, but at the same time, I was truly grateful that the story would not end with them being murdered by my uncle’s soldiers.
Of course, my uncle had not simply stood by and watched my parents for those two seasons.
One month after that conversation about countermeasures with my parents, soldiers launched an attack.
Another time, they tried to set fire to the mountain lodge where my parents were staying, taking advantage of the dry late-autumn weather.
In addition to that, they threatened my parents’ lives three more times, but each time Chiron’s foresight prevented disaster in advance, and we were able to remain safe.
“I see. So you were already prepared.”
Chiron, who had been gently patting my head, called out to a child who had been hiding behind a massive tree in the back and peeking this way.
“Atalanta, this one will be fine, so why don’t you come out?”
Wait, who? Atalanta!?
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