Monsters in Greek and Roman mythology come in an astonishing variety.
Some display overwhelming strength and slaughter everything around them, while others can be killed if one properly exploits one or two weaknesses.
But there was something to remember.
After all, exploiting a weakness properly was something only a hero with the wisdom and strength to do so could accomplish.
To ordinary people who were not heroes, even the weakest monster was an object of terror.
"Whew..."
Slowly drawing my bowstring, I tracked the movements of the Catoblepas in the distance.
Looking directly at the creature would be idiotic.
Simply put, it was like Medusa turned into a bull.
No one looked Medusa squarely in the eyes, did they?
Well, there had been people who did.
They had all turned to stone and died.
"Don’t look at its eyes. Since it’s basically a bull, it’ll follow a bull’s habits."
"A bull’s habits?"
"It hasn’t noticed us yet. If it had sensed us in any way, it would be standing perfectly still."
If it had detected the two of us by sound, its ears would have perked up.
And if it had spotted us, it would have slightly raised its head to look our way.
But it was freely twitching its ears and swinging its head from side to side as it inspected the boar’s carcass.
"Using bows would be best if we want to disable those eyes, but..."
"That seems too dangerous."
Odysseus was right.
If we fired at the same time and even one of us missed, the creature would go mad.
Then it would naturally glare and cast its gaze in every direction. If we met its eyes while trying to track its movements, we would die.
Yet at the same time, it was the best method.
If we succeeded, we would effectively neutralize its most powerful weapon.
The fact that there was no other way besides shooting it with arrows also played a part.
"If we approach it instead, it’ll either charge us with its horns or spew venom."
"That’s dangerous in its own way."
"...Let’s split up. Once we’re apart, we shoot at the same time."
Fortunately, all our training and hunting had made us accustomed to shooting together.
It was as though we understood each other’s thoughts without needing a signal.
"What comes after is important. If one of us misses while we’re split up, that person draws its attention. The other takes Ctimene and Argos and runs. Then..."
"We get the adults? But won’t that leave the other person in far too much danger?"
"That’s the way to reduce the danger."
"What if we both miss?"
"That won’t happen. Are you lacking confidence? Then take Ctimene and run now. I’ll kill it by myself."
"What? Ha!"
A little provocation was all it took to ignite Odysseus’s fighting spirit.
Good.
"Then let’s split up. And..."
"You don’t need to say it. I’ll match your shot."
"Right. And, Odysseus."
"Yeah?"
"When you fire, pray to Athena. She might help us."
"...All right. I’ll try it."
After saying that, Odysseus moved away with his bow in hand.
I too held my bow and made a wide circle in the opposite direction.
I went right, Odysseus left.
Drawing a semicircle around the Catoblepas, we reached opposite sides and slowly pulled back our bowstrings.
In truth, Odysseus had been right.
Hitting its eyes was exceedingly difficult.
The Catoblepas possessed a death-dealing gaze, but the greater problem was that its eyes were hidden behind thick fur.
It was practically like having to strike an enemy hiding behind a curtain in a single shot.
So it was only natural that he worried we might both miss.
But I believed.
Creak.
I pulled the bowstring taut and aimed at its head.
Odysseus likewise drew his bow hard.
"...I believe. Not in you, but in the one who will not let you come to harm."
Then, in the distance, I saw Odysseus begin to murmur something.
At that moment, an unknown aura shimmered around him.
The air at Odysseus’s side became sharp as a honed blade.
At the same time, I began to smell cold metal and hear the sound of a heavy chariot charging nearby.
A mysterious force settled over an ordinary arrow made from an Ithacan olive tree, and it seemed as if fierce winds were gathering before it.
Odysseus did not seem to notice the changes taking place around him.
His endless concentration had already been fixed upon the Catoblepas’s head.
Watching him, I slowly exhaled.
"Whooo..."
The instant Ithaca’s fierce wind abruptly stilled, I released the string.
Fwoooosh!
The two arrows that left Odysseus’s and my hands at the same time flew straight toward the Catoblepas’s head.
Moooooo!!
The creature let out a torrent of agonized cries and began to rage.
"We did it!"
Odysseus shouted.
And I shouted as well.
"Take the two of them and run!!"
Because I had failed.
In the distance, I felt the creature’s horrifying left eye—enough to make my flesh crawl—staring straight at me.
It had fully recognized me as an enemy and focused all its attention in my direction.
Averting my gaze from it, I looked at the stunned Odysseus.
Odysseus wore an expression that said he had never imagined I would miss.
"P-Polites!"
"Odysseus!! Protect your sister!"
"...!! I’ll be back as fast as I can!"
Snapping out of it at my shout, Odysseus scooped up Ctimene, who had been bravely covering her own eyes, along with the puppy Argos, and fled toward the village.
"Whew... He’s gone."
Feeling the aura of death targeting my life, I took a deep breath.
There was something I had not told Odysseus.
"Sorry, but I’m actually safer without you here."
From now on, I was going to fight with the intent of killing that thing.
No matter how I thought about it, the creature was far too dangerous even if it had gone blind.
Just as Odysseus ultimately returned home despite it taking him over twenty years, I too cherished my home and Ithaca.
That was why I could not stand the thought of a monster like that bringing chaos to our village.
"I am fated to die at Odysseus’s side. Which means..."
Without him here, I could never die.
*
"Pant, pant!"
Odysseus raced down the steep slope faster than he ever had before.
His body was heavier and more unsteady than usual because he was carrying Ctimene and Argos, but even so, he descended smoothly without stumbling once.
The sharply honed air still lingered beside Odysseus, protecting him from danger.
"If I don’t hurry, Polites will be in danger...!"
His closest friend was in danger right now.
That fact made Odysseus frantic.
Polites.
It was impossible to believe that he, practically Odysseus’s only friend of the same age in Ithaca, might die.
Polites praised the gods at every turn, yet was strangely cynical when it came to himself.
Despite his appearance, he often seemed like a sage who had lived through the world for a long time and come to understand many things.
That was why not only the adults around them, but children like his younger sister Ctimene also followed Polites so well.
Odysseus himself was no exception.
They said that one felt no jealousy toward a true friend.
Odysseus had never felt any ill will toward Polites, despite all the affection he received.
He had simply believed that it was only natural.
After all, Polites had been like that from the very first time Odysseus saw him.
He had even vaguely imagined a future where, together with Polites, he could make Ithaca prosper even more.
That was how unimaginable Polites’s death was to him.
"Polites...?"
Perhaps his little sister felt the same unease, for Ctimene, who had remained so brave until moments ago, looked around with anxious eyes.
Odysseus tried to reassure her in the way Polites had taught him countless times.
"Ctimene, let’s go ask Father to help Polites. So just stay calm a little longer."
"Polites..."
Come to think of it, how was Polites so much better at handling Ctimene than Odysseus was, when he did not even have a younger sibling?
Though all sorts of stray thoughts filled his mind, Odysseus did not stop running toward the village.
When he finally arrived, he did not bother going all the way to the palace.
"Odysseus? Why are you in such a hurry—"
"A monster appeared! Polites is holding it off alone right now, and he’s in danger!"
"What? A monster?"
As expected, the villagers fell into confusion.
Even amid that, the men who could move at once began gathering with farming tools and weapons in hand.
After entrusting Ctimene and Argos to the maids in the village, Odysseus headed for the hunting grounds with the men.
"Polites said never to look the monster in the eyes! He said you’ll die if you meet its gaze! And if you get carelessly close, it spews venom from all over its body!"
"A dangerous creature. We must form an encirclement and fight it with spears and bows!"
Thus, Odysseus climbed the ridge until his breath burned in his throat, finally leading the people to the hunting grounds.
They immediately saw the monstrous bull in the distance and tried to avert their eyes.
But then someone noticed something and cried out.
"...It’s d-dead! The monster is dead!"
"What?"
"What do you mean?"
Before they could fully comprehend it, the man shouted again.
"Polites! Polites killed the monster! But something’s wrong with him!"
At those words, everyone looked at the monstrous bull at once and saw the anomaly.
The hideous monster bull lay dead, blood streaming from both eyes. Beside it, Polites had collapsed unconscious.
What in the world had happened?!
The instant he realized it, someone rushed forward.
It was Odysseus.
Reaching Polites’s side at once, Odysseus saw that patches of his friend’s body had turned a deep bluish purple.
He appeared to have been struck by the monster bull’s venom.
"Polites! Polites! Wake up!!"
Thinking his friend might die, Odysseus hurriedly shook both of his shoulders.
Perhaps it worked, because Polites let out a groan and slowly opened his eyes.
"Polites! Are you all right?! What the hell happened?!"
Polites murmured something as Odysseus blurted out his worry and questions at once.
"What?! I can’t hear you!"
Odysseus leaned in to listen to his friend.
"Get the fuck away from me..."
"?"
And was met with a completely unexpected curse.
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