Though it was almost her first time outside, Ctimene did not cry and remained brave.
Perhaps she took after her older brother, who was so full of adventure, because she strode about proudly on her own two feet.
"Good, Ctimene. Go on and make all of Ithaca your own at this rate."
"What are you saying to someone else’s little sister...?"
"If an idiot like this becomes king, Ithaca will be ruined. You absolutely have to become queen, all right?"
"Quee!"
"Oh my, oh my. Are you already showing the potential to usurp the throne? Excellent."
Trading such pointless remarks, I headed for the hunting grounds with Odysseus.
In truth, there was nothing particularly different about the hunting grounds from the rest of Ithaca.
The grass grew somewhat taller and thicker there, perhaps, and the trees were a little more densely packed.
On Ithaca, an island made mostly of stone, this place was the hunting ground and a treasury of nature.
"Polites, a rabbit over there."
"Confirmed."
The instant we entered the hunting grounds, the atmosphere around Odysseus and me quietly changed.
From here on, it was a fight of sorts, so it was important to calm ourselves as much as possible.
"Ctimene, you need to be quiet from now on, all right?"
"Mm."
"Right, mm. Argos, keep Ctimene safe. Otherwise, all three of us are dead."
Pant, pant.
Not that Argos, who was not even a year old, could protect much.
Still, he was smarter than one might expect. He seemed to know well when to step forward and when not to, so I thought it would be fine.
One year old, two years old, nine years old, nine years old.
The hunt of four whose ages combined still did not equal that of Phemius the bard had begun.
"Odysseus, let’s drive them left."
"All right. I’ll make a wide circle around that olive tree. Let’s lure them into that corner by the rock."
"All right."
Tap, tap, tap!
At my words, Odysseus slowly circled around to the rabbits’ right.
If we were discovered here, the rabbits would surely scatter in every direction in an instant, so Odysseus moved more carefully than ever.
Then he threw a nearby stone close to the rabbits, making them aware of our presence.
Thump!
Startled by Odysseus’s approach, the rabbits fled quickly.
But I was waiting along that route, and I too threw stones to block their other escape path.
"Odysseus!"
"Got it!"
Recognizing that the moment had come, Odysseus and I drew our bowstrings almost simultaneously.
Then, though we had not planned it, we loosed our arrows at almost the same time.
Fwoosh!
Thwack!
A hit.
One rabbit had been struck by an arrow in its leg and another in its chest.
Without exchanging a word, we had both chosen the same rabbit.
"Got it!"
Once we confirmed we had caught one, we stopped drawing our bowstrings and rushed forward.
The rabbits that had secured an escape route fled, but we did not bother pursuing them. We would need them for later.
We had not been hunting to secure food in the first place.
"Who hit the leg?"
"I got the leg, and you got the chest. We both aimed well."
"No! The leg is harder to hit! How did you aim for it?"
"I didn’t aim for it. Luck. Just luck."
"Don’t lie! You called it luck last time too, but you hit both of a boar’s legs in one go!"
That really had been an accident, though.
I scratched the back of my head as I looked at Odysseus, who seemed utterly dumbfounded.
To be honest, I had aimed for the leg to some extent.
But I still thought my skill with a bow was low enough that I might miss.
"Why do you keep saying you’re bad when you always shoot better than I do?"
"Hey, a person ought to be humble at every moment. Don’t you think?"
"Mother says there are times when a hero must boast of his strength and display his accomplishments. That way, people can feel safe despite the whims of monsters and gods!"
...That was true, too.
Unfortunately, though, I was not a hero like Odysseus.
It was not because I was an extra with barely any presence in Greek and Roman mythology.
Quite literally, one could say that in this age, there was a separate breed of people called heroes.
Those who inherited the blood of gods.
Heracles, the famous one, was a prime example.
And if one traced Odysseus’s family tree back, one would find Hermes, messenger of the gods.
In that sense, I did not think I was someone meant to become a hero.
To begin with, I did not particularly want to become one.
But if this argument went on any longer, it was obvious that Odysseus, with his quick wits, would gradually gain the upper hand.
So I simply nodded.
"You’re right. I did aim for it."
"Right! You’re the best archer in Ithaca! You could even beat the adults!"
I had never competed in archery against adults, so I would not know.
In any case, I drew my dagger and put the dying rabbit out of its misery.
"Which god are you offering it to today?"
"Hmm..."
Odysseus asked the question as if he were accustomed to it.
After considering for a moment, I named a god.
"Shall we offer it to Athena?"
"Athena?"
"Yes. Since the two of us caught it together today, you could say we caught it wisely."
Honestly, it was a bit of a stretch, but it did not matter.
There was no god who disliked an offering.
And it was about time I made an offering to Athena.
As it happened, an olive tree representing her stood right beside the rabbit, so the conditions were good as well.
"Lady Athena, please accept this offering. Praise us, who have succeeded in this hunt by clumsily following the wisdom you possess. We will continue to wisely overcome the hardships ahead, so please watch over us."
As I offered the prayer in my own words, Odysseus stood beside me and prayed along.
Ctimene, who had somehow marched over proudly with Argos in tow, stared intently at the two of us before bowing her head to the olive tree and the rabbit beneath it.
After finishing my prayer, I patted Ctimene on the head.
"Ctimene, are you already trying to curry favor with the gods at such a young age?"
"God!"
"Yes, yes. May Athena protect you."
We buried the rabbit offered to Athena beneath the olive tree.
Normally, people might make an offering and then cook and eat it, but this rabbit did not have much meat on it.
Back in Korea, after setting out food for ancestral rites, everyone ate it together once the rite was over. I suppose it works similarly here.
Fortunately, my parents and the adults did not say anything about my eating offerings.
When one truly made an offering to the gods, after all, it was burned in fire or offered solemnly on a special day.
Compared to that, what I was doing was closer to a prayer of thanks than an actual offering...
"Let’s go, Odysseus."
Having safely finished our hunt, I was about to head back.
But at some point, Odysseus had fallen silent.
Then he quietly gave my arm a little tap.
Wondering what was wrong, I followed his gaze... and saw something in the distance.
A boar.
But the boar was not important.
In front of it stood a huge cow.
More precisely, something resembling a cow was confronting the boar.
There wasn’t a cow like that...
I remembered clearly.
I had already herded cattle with Philoetius quite a few times.
As a result, I had roughly memorized the faces of every cow on the island.
But that thing... I had definitely never seen it before.
Legs far too large for its body.
And an enormous head dragging along the ground.
The boar was about to charge the creature, whose eyes were hidden beneath a thick mane.
Yet before the boar charged, I watched the grass around the thing blacken and die.
Then the boar that rushed at it... suddenly met the creature’s raised eyes, and its entire body stiffened before it collapsed.
Instant death.
"..."
"..."
A monster.
One of the various monsters that occasionally appeared throughout Greece had appeared here, in the flesh.
And it was a monster with some exceedingly ominous traits.
"...Polites."
"Get down first. Let’s hide behind that rock."
"All right."
I took Ctimene, Argos, and Odysseus behind a rock where the creature’s gaze could not reach us.
Then I told Odysseus the traits I had quickly grasped a moment ago.
"It’s a monster. A pretty powerful one, too. I think it gives off poison."
"Poison?"
"Yeah. Before the boar charged, its presence suddenly changed, and the grass growing on the ground died in an instant. Poison is the most likely explanation."
But the poison was merely an additional danger.
The real problem was its eyes.
"The boar met its gaze and died instantly. Its eyes probably have some kind of power."
"It’s like Medusa."
"Right."
Eyes that could kill an opponent merely by looking at them.
It was a truly vicious ability.
I thought I had a rough idea of what the creature was.
A Catoblepas.
I had once read about it while looking through a wiki on Greek mythology in my previous life.
It was a monstrous bovine whose abilities matched the traits I had observed almost perfectly.
"Polites, I don’t think it would be good to just run away like this."
In truth, there was almost nothing the two of us—or rather, the four of us—could do against a Catoblepas.
But fleeing now was dangerous as well.
It might sense our presence and charge us, or the adults who came to help us might end up being hurt.
"I agree. But Ctimene is the problem..."
"I’m a problem?"
"No, that’s not what I mean..."
Facing a Catoblepas was a matter on an entirely different level from hunting rabbits.
If Ctimene slipped beyond our control and met its gaze... the result would surely be horrific.
"Odysseus."
"Yeah?"
"Let’s handle it ourselves for now. At least neutralize that threat before we call for help. That seems right to me."
"Whew... All right. Let’s give it a try."
At my words, Odysseus’s body trembled.
But I knew that trembling was not born of fear.
Perhaps because he was a hero, his body shook with the exhilaration of facing such a tremendous monster.
I had to keep the reins on him.
"You saw that boar die, right? We have to be more cautious than ever."
"Polites, don’t worry. I’m very calm right now."
"That’s good. And... Ctimene."
"Mmm?"
"Can you close both your eyes for me?"
Ctimene blinked, then squeezed her eyes shut.
I had her cover her eyes with both hands in that state, then picked up Argos and Ctimene at once.
While the Catoblepas turned its body away for a moment, I quickly moved them to a distant rock and set the two little ones down there.
"If you wait here like this until we come back, I’ll give you a tasty snack."
"Snack...!"
"You can do that, right?"
"Mm!"
"You too, Argos. If you keep Ctimene safe, Odysseus will give you a delicious meal."
Pant, pant.
Cleverly, he did not bark, instead raising a forepaw in reply.
After petting the two of them, I picked up my bow and approached Odysseus.
"Shall we give it a try?"
"All right!"
And so the two of us began approaching the monstrous bovine in the distance.
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