Without Caineis, who had been disguising himself as a man under the name Caeneus, even needing to reveal her identity, the sight of two women sending more than ten men flying in a truly miserable fashion was so refreshing it felt like gulping down an ice-cold soda.
“Now, you saw that, didn’t you? ‘Women’—and not even many women at that—beat the men. So what does that make the men who lost to so few women?”
In the first place, anyone who got worked up over something like this, anyone who couldn’t accept it, had no right to board this ship.
I coldly looked down at them, had them disembark, and then turned my back without the slightest hesitation.
“...Acastus?”
“Ah, hello!! Big brother Jason!”
After that happened, among the various people who had gathered at the end, I spotted a familiar face.
You’re here!? What about your uncle!?
I was so stunned I could hardly speak when I saw Acastus, my uncle’s son and my cousin, boarding the ship all by himself—alone, by himself, with no one else in tow.
“Actually, since my father said he absolutely wouldn’t let me go, I pretended to be holed up in my room on a hunger strike and slipped out on my own to come here...”
...Oh, for heaven’s sake. My head hurts. What am I supposed to do with this one?
“You mean no one in your family knows?”
When I remembered that this brat also had a taste for adventure, a deep sigh escaped me on its own. No, kid. What am I going to do with you...
Knowing already that he was a bird in a cage, I couldn’t bring myself to coldly turn him away. But if things went according to my plan, he absolutely should not come along.
Ha. Should I revise the plan a little?
But it was awkward to change it now. I would have to be honest with Acastus and trust him.
“Haa, you idiot. Haven’t you heard the story of the Golden Fleece? And I don’t think you know why your father told me to bring back that fleece, either. He’s sending me there to kill me, you foolish little brother.”
There’s no way he’d send you to a place like that too. You’re his only son, his precious heir. Acastus’s expression changed into one of utter disbelief, as if he couldn’t accept what he was hearing. As if there was no way his father, who doted on him so devotedly, would do such a thing.
“And haven’t you been hearing all sorts of noise in the country lately? And what was your uncle’s reaction when he heard it?”
“W-well...”
“It wasn’t exactly pleasant, was it?”
Even so, he wouldn’t have changed his behavior.
Rather, those noises would have vanished all of a sudden one day.
As he listened to me, his complexion changed by the second. By now, he should have gotten the gist of it. What I was saying, and that the thing I truly wanted to say was the truth.
“Th-that’s impossible. Then are you saying you don’t intend to hand the throne over to Big Brother Jason?”
Wasn’t that obvious? If he had really intended to give me the throne and was only holding it temporarily, there would be no reason to drag soldiers here in a mob and threaten us. Even if it was strange for us, the family of the former king, to be in the same palace, there was no reason to drive us out of it.
And.
“There’d be no reason for him to be so desperate to kill my father and mother, the former king and queen.”
This was apparently the first time Acastus had heard that, because his red eyes widened. It was the look of someone hoping everything I was saying was a lie.
“If it sounds like a lie, then go ask your father right this instant.”
“...No. In that case, I have even more reason to follow Big Brother...!!”
Oh?
His eyes changed? In that brief moment?
“It could be dangerous. And you might die. Even if you do come back alive, there’s no way Uncle Pelias would leave you alone.”
And if things went according to my plan, you might get caught up in the fallout and not come out unscathed either.
“Even more reason for me to go with you. If Big Brother had no intention of worrying about me, then you would have rejected me long ago without even bothering to deal with me like this.”
“...Hah, hahahaha!!!”
What an interesting brat. What a masterpiece of a kid. Even though I had subtly put pressure on him without his realizing it, he not only stood there so boldly but even paid attention to my true intent.
“Fine. It wouldn’t be right for me, as a king and as a captain, to turn away someone with that much resolve and that much ability.”
“Come along. I’ll introduce you personally to my friends and my crew.”
Unlike in the original tale, even with those I drove away, the heroes who boarded the ship numbered well over fifty, nearly a hundred.
I scanned over those sailors, then planted my spear—its shaft a deep blue overall, its golden Pascal-like pattern covering it from the spearhead all the way to the butt—into the deck and, with my free hand extended toward the far sea, shouted.
Now then. We depart! Come on, let’s go! Come on, let’s push forward!
My friends! My crew!
“Apopleo!!!!!”
※
In response to my departure signal, Orpheus sat at the prow and played a beautifully resonant march, and the sailors all rowed with all their strength.
“Ugh, I can’t row anymore!!”
“Whoa, who knew the wind would stay dead for this long.”
About a week after we set sail.
For some reason, there had been no wind at all all day today, and with nothing to do but row, many of the crew were gradually growing exhausted. In the end, only six of us remained, including me.
In truth, if this were the original story, I should be challenging Heracles to a rowing contest here, but the island we were headed to next was one I really didn’t like. In more ways than one, my head was getting complicated.
Lemnos Island. An island where only women lived. An island cursed by Aphrodite, the goddess of love, so that the women stank.
There, Hylas is kidnapped by the nymphs at the spring. Because of that, Heracles and Iolaus drop out halfway through.
Hmm. Isn’t there some way to cleanly lift the curse altogether?
Still, if I lifted the curse, I was afraid the women might do something R-rated as a thank-you. Honestly, just from this, I might look like some self-important prince, but in this age, the age of myth, Greece, this was something that happened quite normally.
“Jason, are we just going to keep going like this?”
...? Don’t tell me, since I didn’t say anything, Heracles is going to suggest it instead?
“Why?”
“How about a rowing match between you and me? To let the others rest, and to lift morale.”
As expected.
Then... my answer was already decided.
“That sounds good.”
It was only natural for a captain to boost the morale of his crew.
“Oh, what’s this, what’s this? A rowing contest between the two of you?”
“Sounds fun.”
“Then we’ll put the oars away for now.”
The first to show interest was Caineis, the one who found it amusing was Theseus, and the one who informed the others in my place and had the oars put away was Castor.
“Well, well, sparks are flying between your eyes. And I heard the two of you are old friends?”
“That’s right, isn’t it?”
Orpheus, who had come closer, asked Theseus. Well, to be precise, it wasn’t just the two of us; everyone who had studied under Lord Chiron was basically on good terms.
‘Hah, these sneaky bastards... They’re planning to wring me dry...’
When I glanced back, the three who had egged the crew on and pushed this into a proper one-on-one showdown all had mischief written across their faces, and their eyes were like those of predators that had spotted prey.
No, I thought Castor had lost a lot of that playfulness, but he’s still the same!!
Tch. If that’s how it is, I’ll just have to do my best.
I’m not without a competitive streak, after all.
Theseus stood between me and Heracles and started setting the stage in earnest. Ugh, that master of petty schemes. Worse than Odysseus...
With a sly smile, he held an event that would instantly sweep away the crew’s boredom.
He had everyone place bets on which of us would win, focusing their attention so the others wouldn’t be able to look away.
Maybe this was the perfect time, if there ever was one. It really was about time for the other men to start reaching their hands toward the women, who numbered fewer than five even across the entire expedition. To block that predatory impulse in advance, some kind of entertainment like this was absolutely necessary.
“Come on, come on, place your bets on which of the two will win! Hey!”
Seeing the stakes swell to dozens of times what I had expected, I let out a deep sigh from the bottom of my stomach. I’ve lived in this world for over ten years, but there still just isn’t enough entertainment.
I need to increase both entertainment and the environment where people can enjoy it.
The male heroes had joined in just for fun, but I supposed the women really had no interest in this sort of thing.
“Both of you, get ready...”
“““Hyperteleton!!”””
The shout of everyone present became the signal, and Heracles and I began rowing furiously.
At first only the men were cheering, but later even Pollux, Atalanta, and Caineis seemed to take interest, and they too watched the contest with mounting excitement.
Under normal circumstances, I should have collapsed long before this or Heracles’s oar should have snapped, but Jason’s physical ability and mental state had both improved far beyond the original tale, and Heracles’s mental state had also improved greatly thanks to my counseling.
Moreover, I can confidently say that his ability to regulate his strength was far better than in the original story, so it was only when we neared Lemnos Island that I collapsed like in the original and Heracles’s oar finally broke.
“It’s a draw!!”
“A draw!”
“Damn it, so close.”
Those who had bet on each of us slapped their hands in disappointment, though among them there also seemed to be people who had bet on a draw, and they were grinning broadly as they collected their money.
“An island!!”
Just as Heracles and I, who had been rowing, were wiping away our sweat, one of the sailors climbed up the mast, spotted the island, and shouted.
“That island... I can feel something strange about it?”
“You felt it too?”
The moment I spoke first and voiced my suspicion, Atalanta agreed.
“The smell is strange too.”
Then Theseus, Heracles, the Dioscuri siblings, Caineis, and Asclepius all had their expressions twist.
After seeing my expression, Acastus, who had been all bright and cheerful until then, finally caught on to the signs and went pale as well.
That’s for sure. Lemnos Island.
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