A hazy silhouette of light formed in midair. Then a pair of bright, intelligent eyes slowly opened and settled on Ryo.
Ryo felt the curiosity in that gaze, as well as the probing force of Hera's divine authority washing over him.
His brows knit together.
With a wave of his hand, he sealed off the surrounding space before speaking coldly. "It seems Lady Hera is... quite curious about me."
Anyone with basic social awareness could hear the sarcasm in his voice.
And Hera certainly did.
The phantom quickly became solid. A beautiful blonde woman appeared before him. Her hair was elegantly pinned up, she wore the attire of a married noblewoman, and a white off-the-shoulder dress draped gracefully over her figure. Her features were gentle and refined.
Ryo narrowed his eyes.
Without thinking, his gaze drifted to Hera's arms, pale and smooth as white lilies.
'So that's why she's called the White-Armed Goddess. I've never seen anyone with arms that beautiful. They even overshadowed her ample chest.'
Noticing that his irritation had eased slightly, Hera looked a little surprised before explaining, "My apologies. There was something I needed to confirm, so I took the liberty of testing you."
"Confirm something?" Ryo looked at her with amusement. "What was it? Trying to pinpoint my location so you could organize an ambush?"
Hera let out a quiet sigh. "It seems my actions have made this meeting rather unpleasant."
As she spoke, she bowed respectfully toward him. "I can only apologize. But from my perspective... that test was necessary."
Ryo stared at her in surprise.
The Hera of rumor was supposed to be consumed by jealousy and quick to anger. Instead, she seemed remarkably reasonable.
"So?" he asked. "What did your little test prove?"
If she considered it important enough to risk offending him, he genuinely wanted to know why.
Hera hesitated. Her expression grew slightly awkward before she answered, "The result was... favorable."
"In what way?" Seeing her discomfort only made Ryo more curious.
After a brief silence, Hera forced herself to continue calmly. "I've confirmed that... you are not Zeus's child."
Ryo turned to look silently at Eunomia.
'Why are these two exactly alike?'
Then he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do I seriously have to explain who my parents are again? I'm just an ordinary human from Japan."
"No, you've misunderstood me." Hera shook her head. "What I wanted to confirm was whether you were a child Zeus had given birth to himself after transforming into Metis."
"...He can even do that?" x2
Ryo and Leticia blurted out in unison.
The room fell silent.
Then Leticia slowly bit her thumb. "...Actually... If it's Zeus... that does sound like something he'd do."
"He is umm..." She trailed off, unable to continue.
The mere thought shattered every remaining expectation she had of Zeus's moral limits.
Ryo, however, was thinking about something else.
'So... if I'd told him to go fuck himself... he'd actually...?'
He quickly shook the thought from his head.
Then he began to understand why Hera had needed to confirm whether such a thing was even possible.
Within the Greek Myth, there existed a version of Zeus who had overcome his destined death, defeated and absorbed the Fourth King, surpassed all limits, and ascended into an omnipotent God King second only to Chronos himself.
Hera had been afraid Ryo was part of a similar scheme.
In other words... If Zeus transformed into Metis, gave birth to a child himself, nurtured that child until it reached sufficient maturity, and then absorbed it... There was a very real possibility of recreating that supreme Zeus Spirit Rank.
Given enough accumulation and a bit of luck, such a Spirit Rank might even elevate Zeus into the realm of the Two-Digit beings, placing him among the strongest existences in Little Garden.
"...I didn't even know that was an option."
Ryo couldn't help shaking his head.
The more he thought about it, the less unreasonable Hera's suspicion seemed.
Because if anyone could come up with something that twisted... It really was Zeus.
"So now you're certain?" he asked helplessly.
"I am." Hera studied his face carefully before shaking her head again. "But you don't resemble Athena's younger brother either. And I'm not talking about Spirit Rank. I mean your personality."
Ryo smiled, "You've got a good eye."
'At least someone in Greece can see things clearly.'
Hera smiled back. "To me, your personality feels more like a mix of Zeus and Hades."
Ryo's smile froze.
'Hades, maybe.'
'But Zeus? What part of me resembles that guy?'
Seeing his expression, Hera's smile turned teasing. "The way you looked at my arms just now. It's exactly like Zeus."
Ryo immediately shut his mouth.
He adopted the expression of someone who had decided she wasn't worth arguing with.
Hera chuckled. "Oh, you're much better than Zeus. At least you still know how to be embarrassed."
As she spoke, she casually waved a hand.
The solid Martian ground split open.
Tender green shoots burst through the cracks, growing rapidly and weaving themselves together.
Within seconds, they had formed four elegant vine chairs.
"Good. Let's sit down and talk." Ryo said, then glanced at Leticia.
Understanding immediately, she stepped forward and unlocked the shackles binding Eunomia's wrists.
Moments later, the four of them took their seats.
At the same time, more vines sprouted into a matching table. Before each seat, a snow-white flower bud bloomed.
Its petals slowly unfolded, revealing a clear, glowing liquid inside.
A rich aroma of flowers mixed with the fragrance of sweet wine filled the air.
"Mars is still as inhospitable as ever..." Hera sighed.
She plucked a petal, took a delicate sip from the flower, and then looked at Ryo. "I came here today for only two reasons."
Ryo did the same. The wine was surprisingly mild, lightly sweet with very little bitterness.
"Not bad." After another sip, he looked up. "Go ahead. What's the first?"
"The matter of Ares." Hera sighed again.
"You've come to mediate?" Ryo asked in surprise.
"No." She shook her head. "I only hope that... you'll leave him to Hephaestus."
"..."
Ryo inhaled sharply. "So this is what brotherly love looks like?"
Strangely enough, in the myths he knew, Hera had always favored Ares.
But in this world, it seemed she'd chosen Hephaestus instead.
Then again, Hephaestus was practically the Olympian treasury. Of course she'd favor him.
Compared to Ares, who had apparently abandoned his own mother the moment things turned dangerous, Hephaestus was the far more dutiful son.
Ryo silently agreed. He could treat it as repaying the favor Hephaestus had once done him.
Besides, watching one brother deal with another sounded entertaining enough.
"And the second reason?" he asked.
Hera fell silent for a while.
Then she spoke softly. "I'll still need quite some time before I fully master my authority."
"...?"
Ryo caught the odd implication in her tone but had no idea where she was going with this.
Seeing his confusion, Hera hesitated.
Finally, she sighed, "What I mean is... After you ascend to the throne, I hope you'll allow me to remain Queen of Heaven."
This time Ryo understood exactly what she meant.
And once he did, he was completely dumbfounded.
.
.
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