Demeter discovers that her daughter is not the best!

[T/N: I just checked, so sorry, yesterday, I forgot to inform you all beforehand about no second chapter due to a long first chapter; therefore, how about two long chapters today, as compensation?]

After two more days.

Immediately after Demeter returned to her temple, she pushed open the laboratory's door.

"Jason, Medea, did you two miss your mother?"

Jason, who was doing experiments in the laboratory, heard Demeter's voice, so he very decisively and skillfully grabbed Medea, who is explaining the precautions to be taken while making a new potion, then secretly and lightly pushed her toward Demeter.

Before Medea could react, she was already held in Demeter's arms.

Then Demeter began rubbing Medea's head and cheek.

"...Do you usually treat Medea like this?" Hecate, who hasn't yet left and currently sitting on the side, strangely looked at Jason.

Jason turned his head to look at her and while smiling embarrassedly at Hecate, he said: "I'm sorry, teacher, I forgot you are still here, so I subconsciously..."

On the other side, Medea, who is held in Demeter's arms, obviously could not wait to complain to Hecate about just how many times Jason has done something like this, but has to bear it in.

After all, although she has become somewhat accustomed to Demeter's enthusiasm over the past few months, in Medea's heart, she is still the great Goddess of Harvest, one who must be respected at all cost.

So Medea still finds it very difficult to resist or act willfully in front of Demeter.

"Well, you are..."

And Demeter, who was busy rubbing Medea, heard this conversation, and naturally noticed Hecate, then looked at her in slight puzzled.

After all, before Jason became her student, Hecate was a hikikomori who hasn't met many other Gods in years, so even within the not very large circle of Gods, not many still remember Hecate by face.

Hecate stood up, then greeted Demeter gracefully while smiling: "I am Hecate, the daughter of Asteria, and it has been a while, Goddess Demeter."

"Originally, you are..." Demeter, who is still rubbing Medea's face, nodded lightly, but her expression is a little dull.

Demeter naturally does not like Hecate, after all, although she is a friend of Persephone and also the teacher of Medea and Jason, she is the main culprit responsible for Persephone deciding to leave her side and go to the underworld.

After all, it was when Persephone had gone to meet Hecate in Underworld, that she met Hades for the first time and then fell in love with him.

But now that things have reached this point, Demeter will obviously not discuss her resentments with Hecate now.

However, immediately, as if thinking of something, Demeter released Medea and got up, and while Medea breathed a sigh of relief and stared at Jason with an aggrieved face, Demeter asked Hecate with a slight frown on her face: "Since you are here, it means... You were here when Hermes came a few days ago, right?"

"Um." Hecate nodded calmly: "I was here at that time... To be precise, it was because of Hermes being here that I rashly entered your temple without your consent, Goddess Demeter, I hope to get your understanding for this."

While replying, Hecate couldn't help but glance at Jason, who is beside her.

Because knowing about Demeter's daughter con personality, Hecate expected Demeter's first reaction upon seeing her would be to ask about her daughter Persephone, like if she is happy in Underworld or something along those lines.

'Persephone is her daughter after all.'

'But now...'

"That means... this child chose you because you were here?"

While speaking this, Demeter's brows furrowed even deeper.

Seeing this, Jason naturally guessed that Demeter had misunderstood, but just when he was about to explain out loud, Hecate reached out to stop him.

"Um, You can say that." Hecate smiled and nodded to Demeter: "Although it wasn't my intention, my coming here did prompt this child to choose me between Hera and me."

"Then do you know just how much of a disaster that will bring to this child?!"

Demeter's face turned sullen and she is already gotten a little angry at this moment.

And due to her anger, as if responding to her suppressed emotions, her entire temple began trembling slightly.

"I can probably guess so, that's why I stayed here and didn't immediately go back." Hecate calmly said to Demeter: "Goddess Demeter, can you tell me something?"

"Why should I tell you anything?"

"Tell me, so that I can protect him better, you can't?"

After Demeter heard Hecate say this, she observed Hecate for a while and her emotions gradually calmed down.

"If that's the case... then come with me." Demeter turned and left after saying this.

Hecate followed, leaving only Medea and Jason in the laboratory.

*****

"Yeah, today's homework seems to be unfinished... In fact, I have always wanted to complain, while making potions, shouldn't I take a big cauldron, then throw all kinds of things in it, and while mixing with a big spoon, say something strange, like a spell, right?"

"But why is it that the more I do it, the more I feel like I'm doing a chemical experiment, except for the fact that apparatus are enchanted with spells."

"Chemical experiment? Brother Jason, what is that?" Medea, who has just organized her hair after getting out of Demeter's hands, walked over.

"And using a big cauldron to make potions... Isn't that too wasteful? And the more advanced a potion is, the more precise calculation is required as well as better control of the amount of ingredients, and if you are not careful, all your efforts will be lost. Brother Jason, please don't mess around."

"I know, I'm just saying."

After he finished speaking, Jason looked at Medea, who has a hesitant expression on her face while looking at him with clear worry in her eyes, and couldn't help but smile while saying: "What's wrong, I'm your brother, if you have something to say to me, shouldn't you say it directly?"

"Forget it, you don't need to say it, I already know what you want to ask... In fact, since I have made such a choice, it obviously means that I am mentally prepared, but I didn't expect that the teacher will actually... ."

Speaking till here, Jason couldn't help but feel a little complicated.

Till now, Jason's choice has naturally been very different from the choice that Hecate has made for him just now.

Previously, Hera would have only hated him alone, but now, after the words of Hecate doing this spread out, Hera will naturally start hating and targetting both of them.

And there is a high probability that most of the hatred will be transferred to Hecate!

After all, previously, Jason has been showing that he is responsible for his own decisions, but now, Hecate has claimed that she is the one responsible for Jason's decisions and took most of the blame on her.

Moreover, once Hecate has said this, no matter what Jason says from now on, most of the Gods, who don't know much about him, will never easily believe otherwise.

So, Jason can only let this continue.

But, although it doesn't matter to him anymore, this also gave Jason a diversion to a previously lost path.

Originally, the 'ordinary' path had almost been completely cut off, but Hecate now connected it again, giving Jason the possibility of choosing 'ordinary' again.

*****

'It seems like, my evil student... if I don't become the evil one here, it wouldn't have easily worked out anymore.'

Hecate returned back immediately after she got the answers from Demeter.

And as Hecate has expected and even Jason has expected.

They confirmed that although his choice has completely angered Hera, Jason doesn't need to worry too much in a short time.

After all, just because of the destiny informed by the three Goddesses of Fate, Zeus would not allow Hera to directly target Jason.

Therefore, Jason determined: 'My current situation is somewhat similar to that of Heracles.'

'What I need to watch out for are the tricks hidden in the shadows.'

'And in Teacher Hecate's case, although she will soon be hated more than me, unlike my case, Hera in herself won't dare to easily act against her.'

So, Hecate left Demeter's temple shortly after figuring out what she wanted to know; because she also knows that Demeter doesn't really like her much.

And on the other side, Jason, who couldn't sit still upon knowing about approaching troubles, naturally began to think about how to deal with the problem of Hera!

So that night, Jason secretly put the sleeping potion in the apple for Medea, and after she fell asleep early, he sat alone by the window, then picked up a pen and paper in his hands, and started planning.

But even after thinking about a countermeasure for a long time, Jason could only choose to put this matter aside for the time being; because he has to admit that this matter isn't something that can be resolved in a short time.

'After all, this is not the same as what happened in the case of Demeter and there was a rather clear solution in front of me.'

'Rationally, the possible solutions are actually those three paths in disguise.'

'First, is to choose to leave Hecate and go back to Hera.'

'Because, in this case, although Hera will still be dissatisfied with me, due to prophesy, Hera, upon finally winning over Hecate, may not make things too difficult for me.'

'The second is to have a good relationship with other Gods, such as Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and especially Zeus and Hestia, then let them put pressure on Hera.'

'Third, if I find that I can't escape no matter what, then I have to try my best to end it once and for all!'

'First one is the easiest, but I have already made a choice.'

'Second one has just too many unknown factors, after all, Greek Gods are petty and troublesome. So, I might not get a chance to solve Hera's problem and even create more troubles for myself!'

'As for the third one, under current circumstances, I can hardly think of a way that can possibly lead to success through this method.'

After all, currently, Jason just does not have the power to kill Hera; moreover, he is well aware of the fact that once he killed Hera, he will be standing against almost every other God.

So, under such thinking, Jason immediately grasped a very important point.

'In the end...it all comes down to my own strength!'

'Although my current soul has reached a state of pseudo-immortality and almost nothing can kill me except for things on the level of God King Zeus's thunder, it is extremely easy for all Gods to imprison me for a lifetime, and it is exactly because of this that I am so passive.'

'So my first goal now should not be to make choices for the future, but to increase my own strength!'

'After all, Teacher Hecate has also said that these three paths are actually 'miracles', and if I don't try hard enough, the path I'm most likely walk on is still Jason's original path.'

After thinking of this, Jason fell silent, and quietly burned the paper in his hand with unquenchable fire.

'It's time to change my thinking... It seems the paths Teacher Hecate has shown me had indeed impacted me a lot, making me almost again reach the state of confusion!'

'Right now, I can only put Hera's matters aside, anyway, under teacher and Zeus's eyes, she won't be able to do much to me in a short time, so learning magic from Teacher Hecate is still the top priority.'

'But it is not just this, I have also learned during the last few months of studying that my talent is indeed not much on the magic side. So although I will not give up learning magic, I also need to pay attention to Teacher Chiron's side... I probably need to discuss this with teacher Hecate.'

'There are still more than two months left before this half-year assignment ends, so during these two months, I can't continue to reject Demeter. After all, as the Goddess of Harvest, as long as she is willing to help me, it will be relatively easy for me to obtain many things for improving my strength.'

'However... now that I have offended Hera, how should I effectively ensure that I have greater chances of getting Divine Flame of Olympus in the future?"

Jason thought for a while.

Then he took out a new piece of paper with the names of many gods already written on it, and while thinking about it, he began crossing them out one by one.

In the end, only three names were left on the paper.

Zeus, Hestia, and Athena.

After another short thought, Jason crossed out Zeus because if it isn't necessary, Zeus is the last God that Jason wishes to interact with.

Then after thinking and pacing between Hestia and Athena for a long time, finally... Jason crossed out Hestia.

'It seems that in the future we will be seeing each other more... Goddess Athena.'

******

Soon, the remaining months also passed.

So, when the agreed time arrived, Persephone returned to the temple of Demeter with clear nervousness written on her face while riding on the golden-horned deer lent to her by Artemis.

While entering the temple, just when she was thinking about how to again get along with her mother...

"Go back!"

"...What?"

In the temple, Persephone stared blankly at Demeter looking at her with a bad expression, while hugging Medea with one arm and Jason with the other.

Clearly noticing that her mother doesn't want to let both of them leave.

"Go back, go back to your underworld! Jason, Medea, don't go, don't leave mother, okay..."