14 Chapter 14 - The God of Delphi

(Apollo POV)

A woman with long pink hair.

With beautiful golden eyes, like the sun god.

This woman wore a white robe.

The same beautiful woman was sitting on a tripod.

Its white feet swayed from side to side.

And rising through the crack in the earth was vapor.

Vapor, the essence of the sun, covered her.

The pink-haired woman was the oracle of the "navel of the world".

The Oracle of Delphi.

And the priestess of Apollo.

Her name is Pythia.

•••

My eyes flutter open as I let out a sigh.

Serious! Once again, I woke up with a prophecy.

I couldn't help but grumble.

At least this proficiency was more accurate and not of the interpretive kind.

Then I will have a priestess named Pythia. I thought with a slight smile.

But that smile of mine was short-lived, as I noticed a different ceiling above me.

In addition to an unfamiliar but soft bed where I was lying.

My last memory was of defeating that serpent, and then that woman appeared and gave me something that helped in my recovery.

But where am I?

I thought, as I lifted my body and leaned against the wall.

In the next second, I felt a large amount of mana rush through the door of the room I was in.

My gaze went to the woman, who had a very voluptuous body but wore a white stripe over her eyes.

"I'm sorry for coming in unannounced, but how is Your Excellency feeling?" The beautiful woman asked, kneeling beside the bed.

Hmmm! Because in her voice and her way, there is so much respect for me.

I thought in doubt, but I still responded to the woman in front of me.

"I'm fine...Sword Maiden, right?" I think that was her name, at least what was engraved in my mind.

"Yes, Your Excellency." The Sword Maiden gave a happy smile.

That was a very peculiar name, but oddly enough it didn't seem strange to her at all.

"Well, first of all, I'd like to thank you for helping me with the Python poison."

Even though I could deal with that poison alone, the Sword Maiden saved me a few minutes of pain and anguish.

"I am very grateful for your thanks, but it was a great honor to have helped you, Your Excellency." There was more than a touch of humility, honesty, and adoration in her tone.

I didn't know what to say, because to be honest, even though I'm a God, I wasn't used to being worshiped and treated with so much respect, although this is the first time this has happened.

It was a strange feeling, but it wasn't a bad feeling.

"Mn!" I murmured with a slight smile.

"So, Sword Maiden, I'm sorry for asking, but where am I?" I asked, looking around, seeing the room tidy but simple, with just a white bed and a window with white curtains that let in sunlight.

"Your Excellency is in the temple, to be more exact, Lord Apollo is in my room in the Delphi temple."

"Oh! So I'm in the temple of Gaia?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

Well, if Delphi was created by Gaia, Mother Earth, then obviously this temple would be hers.

I thought, with conviction, until I saw Sword Maiden shaking his head in denial.

Hmmm?

"This was once Gaia's temple, now it belongs to the other God."

"Who?" I couldn't help but ask curiously, after all, who would be crazy enough to claim the temple that belongs to a primordial deity, who was the personification of the earth.

You have to be very stupid to claim Gaia's temple.

"You, Lord Apollo, this temple belongs to your excellency, the God of Sun and Light." Said the Sword Maiden, lowering her head with respect.

"I see, so this temple belongs to Apollo... wait, I'm Apollo." I exclaimed with astonishment in my voice.

How?

I don't remember signing up for any sweepstakes for a temple of a primordial deity.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand how this temple can be mine?" To say I'm confused would be a huge understatement.

The Sword Maiden stood still for a few seconds with her head lowered, but in the next instant, she raised her head, with her long golden hair falling over her back.

"In response to Your Excellency's question, the day before Lord Apollo fought Python, Lady Gaia gave an oracle that a young god of her descent would come to Delphi. The name of this young god was Apollo, who rules under the sun and light, and Your Excellency would have a conflict with Gaia's creation called Python, the ancient guardian of Delphi. And that from this conflict between Lord Apollo and Python, only one will emerge alive.

That being said, it has been decreed by Gaia, that the victor of this conflict will be the Patron and Owner of Delphi, which in this case is you, Lord Apollo." Her voice was as gentle as a feather and conveyed a sense of trustworthiness.

But even though her voice was gentle and soft, it wasn't that different from an anvil falling on my head.

I just wanted a good revenge in the classic style.

Where you arrive, take your revenge and leave, without any consequences for your action.

I let out a light sigh, realizing that it wouldn't be that simple.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have enough to be the patron god and owner of Delphi." I said sincerely.

The patron god is basically a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, person, lineage, dynasty, nation, culture, or occupation.

And let's be honest, I think owning a place that belonged to Mother Earth is far from my capabilities.

But a certain voluptuous woman didn't agree with me.

"I beg your forgiveness, but Lord Apollo is to blame, Your Excellency defeated a Titan who was much older than you.

In addition to Lord Apollo being the son of Zeus, you are also a descendant of Gaia, so there is no one more capable than Your Excellency to be the Patron of Delphi." She smiled confidently.

I placed my hand on my head.

Problems!

This is definitely problematic.

But that doesn't take away the fact that it was my fault for seeking selfish revenge, even though I don't regret it, it doesn't change the fact that it was my fault that Delphi no longer had a guardian.

And to be honest, I hate running away from my responsibilities.

"Since you think that, then I'm counting on you from today onwards." I said, with a resigned smile.

Sword Maiden smiles sweetly.

"I will not disappoint you, Lord Apollo." She lowers her head again.

Well, at least I have a high priestess, and it doesn't seem so bad to own Delphi.

The moment I thought of it, I immediately felt a connection with Delphi.

It was as if every grain of land in Delphi belonged to me.

I give a slight smile.

I don't think I can go back to my mother and sister right away.

I thought, looking at the rudimentary window.

•••

Two days have passed since I agreed to be Delphi's patron god.

Now I was sitting in what looked like an armchair while in front of me were some women kneeling.

They were priestesses of my temple.

Beside me was the high priestess.

"You all may already know, but from today onwards I will be the Patron God, owner of Delphi." I said, as imposingly as I could.

Even if it didn't suit me.

"""This is our honor, Lord Apollo."""

"Good. I'll count on all of you from today." I said, with a slight smile

"""We feel honored.""" Their expression was one of euphoria.

I just smiled at them.

The Sword Maiden was right.

In these previous days, she told me that most of Greece had never seen one of her gods, and even the priestesses and high priestesses did not have this "privilege".

Therefore, being in the presence of a Greek God and even more so of a God who is the Patron Saint of your home is one of the greatest honors possible.

As I sat here, I could feel the crowd of people outside the temple.

Since the only people who were allowed to see me were the priestesses, which weren't many, they were 8 priestesses, who served the temple of Apollo.

It could be said that this was very elitist.

The Sword Maiden smiled at me and walked towards the temple door, probably looking at the crowd of people outside.

"From today we will have sun in Delphi, and it will be forever." She said, and I could only hear the euphoria outside.

"Lord Apollo, the God of sun and light, will be the Patron God of our home."

As she said this, I raised my hand releasing my divine power, causing sunlight to heavily bathe the Delphic octopus.

"[Pure sunlight]." Saying this I could feel my divine power being drained, and along with that came the octopus' euphoric scream.

"My leg... I can move it." The old man's voice was noticeable.

"I feel energized."

"My daughter's illness has been cured."

"Hahaha! The pain, it's not here anymore."

Allergy voices were heard

""""Thank you, Lord Apollo.""""

Screams and more screams of joy sounded throughout Delphi.

A smile formed on my lips

Happiness is truly contagious.

I thought, resting my elbow on the protona's arm and placing the back of my hand on my cheek as the Delphi octopus screamed loudly in adoration.

The fervor continued for a while until the Sword Maiden raised her hand and the people fell silent.

"This was a testament to our God's generosity, but it does not mean that all of you should always expect his kindness. We are his servants and not the other way around, be good believers and you will have fortune in your life, be bad believers and you will have unhappiness in your lives." Her voice, which was always soft and gentle, was now stern and serious.

She even looks like a religious person from my past life. Calling it brainwashing wouldn't be far wrong.

"""""Yes, high priestess.""""" The people shouted in pure fervor.

I could see a slight smile on her lips, and then she turned and walked towards me, stopping next to me.

"I think it went well." I said, the beautiful woman next to me.

"Everything went well, Lord Apollo, all the nobles of Delphi, from the highest to the lowest social class, saw his glory covering all of Delphi.

Oh! This is surprising.

So that's why I spent so much divine power healing these people.

•••

I woke up on the third day ready to leave for the island of Delos.

How should I go back?

It's simple, I just need to follow the sun, which serves as a reference. It kind of gives me a pseudo-divinity of direction.

Everything was ready, I had already told Sword Maiden that I would leave today, but that I would constantly return to Delphi.

Nothing more surprising can happen…

The moment I thought this, the high priestess walked through the door of my room, which happened to be extremely luxurious.

"Lord Apollo." Exclaimed the Sword Maiden, a little lost.

"What happened?" I asked, realizing that I had to stop planting flags around.

"There's a strange woman who broke into the temple." She said, confused.

"A woman broke into a god's temple?" I asked, finding this fact a little funny.

Because not even thieves and the worst species of humans would dare to commit such "sacrilege".

"Yes."

"And why didn't you stop her?"

"Why did she say she is the oracle of Delphi and the personal priestess of Apollo?" She said, "looking" at me.

I raised one of my eyebrows.

"This supposed priestess has pink hair and intense golden eyes, similar to mine?" I asked.

"Yes, at least from the words of the other priestesses." Sword Maiden shook her head

I put my hand on my face.

I have to learn to truly stop cursing myself with my words.

I took my hand away from my face.

Well, then I guess I can spare a few more minutes.

"Then let's meet this priestess of mine." A humorless smile spread across my face.