That centaur teacher—Chiron.
The span of his teaching career could perhaps be called completely comprehensive. Nearly every troublesome child of any fame in Greek myth had, at some point, studied under him for a time.
The Gemini siblings, Heracles, and many other famous heroes were no exception.
The moment Tia brought up that teacher whose name carried a strange sense of nostalgia—
the roguish expression Castor had been wearing vanished instantly, replaced by a bitter sort of reverence.
As memories of that unforgettable period of instruction resurfaced, he could not help shivering all over.
"That great sage...?"
Castor lowered his head and thought for a while.
Almost unconsciously, he reached back to rub the spot on his spine where his teacher had once lashed him with a bowstring, as though the pain from those days were still etched there. Then he scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.
"Back then, Pollux and I got disciplined pretty badly by him..."
Tia could plainly see the lingering fear in him.
It was completely different from the Chiron he knew from film and television. Granted, painful instruction might well have been the best way to handle problem children like them, but that centaur teacher ought to have been a gentle person.
Pushing aside those wandering thoughts, Tia slowly said, "I want... to go to Mount Pelion and ask him about something beyond mere 'martial skill.'"
"What is it?" Castor frowned, a trace of wariness entering his face.
Tia pondered for a moment, a deep glint passing through his red eyes.
Looking at the olive branches swaying in the courtyard, he calmly spoke the thing he sought:
"Something concerning... 'immortality.'"
"Why?" Castor froze, incomprehension and shock filling his azure eyes.
"Why would you pursue something like that? As demigods carrying the blood of the Father of Heaven, lifespan is hardly some curse we need to worry about."
"For reasons... that can't really be put into words."
To call it immortality was not quite accurate. It leaned more toward a kind of body-alteration magecraft.
Something that could allow fragile homunculi to obtain bodies like ordinary people, so they would no longer be treated as tools—discarded as broken shells the moment their allotted time ran out.
And perhaps...
for himself as well.
On this land of the Age of Gods, methods were as plentiful as gold, and so—
he could no longer afford to live carefree as he had before adulthood. He needed to set goals, then move toward them. That was what he had to do.
[Castor rubbed his head, thinking your behavior rather strange.]
[Normal people do not ignore the long lifespan already before them and instead worry about survival crises hundreds or thousands of years in the future.]
[He thinks your gaze reaches far too far ahead, but as your friend, he has no intention of stopping you.]
[And so, this simple conversation comes to an end.]
[Castor had originally planned to continue training in swordsmanship a little longer, but seeing that you have completely lost interest, he can only wave his hand and say tomorrow will do.]
[You return to your room.]
[As the saying goes, human pursuits are usually such cheap things. In your view, even if it were unrelated to your true needs, it would still be an excellent excuse.]
[You have already found your reason for seeking Chiron's instruction, and what you want is by no means limited to improving the lives of homunculi.]
[Rather—]
[it is a solution for your own survival.]
[Human Order Correction—a judging mechanism unique to the Type-Moon world. It determines whether the current world holds the possibility of "having no future," and thus triggers the world's self-corrective mechanism.]
[A worldline that loses its future is forcibly severed from the main trunk of history. In the end, everything within it is destroyed, until it reaches its termination.]
[You naturally understand this. After your transmigration, the head of the Einzbern family explained the matter to you. Though it is something that may not necessarily happen in the future, you still want to prepare for it as thoroughly as possible.]
[But you hesitate.]
[The solution you had been contemplating was to trigger Human Order Correction within this simulated world.]
[You wanted to see with your own eyes how a world is pruned. You wanted to use that knowledge to devise countermeasures. You wanted—]
[You immediately stop this dangerous train of thought.]
[Even if the people in the simulation are fictitious roles, to you they are still living, breathing human beings. You do not want to satisfy your own needs in such a way.]
[But seeking out Chiron remains necessary. Because on Heracles' original path, Chiron served as his teacher, instructing him in three fields: combat, medicine, and astronomy.]
[And since you have already decided to go to war with Orchomenus, making sufficient preparations is what you ought to do now.]
[You also do not wish for the soldiers of Thebes to throw away their lives just because of a single word from you, so you decide—]
[to stand against all of Orchomenus by your own strength alone.]
The furnishings of the room were as they had always been, though everything was noticeably cleaner than before Tia had left.
The servants had come in to clean, yet that lion skin remained where it was, untouched by anyone.
That was because the majesty of the gods was known everywhere across this land. Even peasants seen by the roadside had praised the thunder of the Father of Heaven.
Of course, as human beings, people both relied on the gods too much—
and feared them too much as well.
Tia did not think that was necessarily a bad thing.
He stepped into the courtyard, carrying water drawn from the life-giving source of the Ismenus River.
With that crystal-clear water, he washed his hands and face, then raised high the lion skin from Mount Cithaeron.
"O great Pallas Athena, Glaukopis who sees through darkness and ignorance, Tritogeneia who governs the sturdy shield and reason."
Tia took a deep breath. This invocation-like speech was a ritual process he had heard from the priests.
"I—Heracles—hereby offer to you the blood of a demigod."
With that, he dug his fingernail into his wrist and opened a cut.
In an instant, blood that should have been crimson began to flow, yet for some unknown reason, there seemed to be the faintest trace of pale gold hidden within it.
The blood continued spilling out, and the iron bucket that had once held water was soon dyed red.
Tia waited for some change in the surroundings—
but nothing seemed to happen.
[You fall into thought. You lift your head and see a snow-white owl descend from the open roof over the center of the courtyard.]
[The moment Athena learns of your summons, she immediately sends down an avatar from Mount Olympus.]
[When she sees that you harmed yourself just to meet her, she quietly feels a sharp pang in her heart.]
[Idiot.]
[But outwardly, she still has to put on her usual composed appearance.]
[And so—]
"My, little one, what is it you wanted with me?"
The snow-white owl slowly spoke. Flapping its wings, it landed on Tia's shoulder. Its feathers brushed over the cut on his wrist, and the wound instantly healed without a trace.
"Whatever request you have, I'll listen. Next time, don't use such an extreme method to call for me, all right?"
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