Chapter 24 - Goddess of the Forge

(Apollo POV)

Leaving the forest, we quickly arrived at the entrance to the village I had seen before.

During the time we were walking, Casca had woken up in my arms.

The exact moment she woke up, her chocolatey face instantly turned red.

She apologized, got out of my arms, and walked beside me until she reached the entrance of the village.

"This is where I say goodbye, Lord Apollo." Wizard stopped and bowed, making his robe flutter against the wind.

"I see, so you're going to go after your brother? If you want, I don't mind accompanying you in your search for your brother." I asked, not wanting to know her little brother's name at all.

"Yes, I'm going after my brother. I would never dare bother Lord Apollo with this matter, especially when it comes to my brother. Let's just say he's quirky."

"Well, I wish you luck, and by the way, don't forget my proposal. You and your brother are more than welcome to Delphi."

Having a mage in Delphi would only be advantageous; even if Delphi were a sacred site, I would rather have an elite group that could protect Delphi without me, well, they would also have to be loyal to me.

Having an army wouldn't be bad, either. But for now, this is just a passing thought.

"I will indeed have it on my mind, Lord Apollo." Wizard smiled slightly at the corner of her lip, seeming happy with the idea of living in Delphi.

After that, she said goodbye to Casca and Chiron.

Meanwhile, my vision turned to the peaceful village.

There were several rudimentary wooden houses scattered around the quiet village, which was quiet, even too quiet.

Humans, no matter how weak they are, all have mana in their bodies. Mana is something natural to human beings, whether on a larger or smaller scale.

But strangely, there wasn't a shred of mana signal in this village.

"This village shouldn't be this quiet." Casca said next to me.

"Did you live here, Casca?"

"No, I lived on top of that mountain with my family." She pointed to a not-very-big mountain that was relatively close to this village.

Casca's black eyes possessed a tone of longing and sentimentality.

"I see. We'll go there later."

At my words, Casca gave a slight smile, meanwhile, my eyes fixed on the village.

Without thinking much, I walked towards this peaceful village.

Casca and Chiron followed me, while Wizard walked away from us.

Our footsteps sounded through the village, but nothing was noticeable; silence took over this place until a voice echoed next to me.

"Smell of blood." Chiron said.

Perhaps because he has been with the centaurs for so long, he has become very familiar with the smell of blood.

"From what direction?" I asked.

"Practically coming from every house." By saying this, he points to a specific point.

Turning my face in that direction, I see an outstretched hand with a dried stain of blood underneath the hand.

I frown and head in that direction.

Stepping on the wooden floor, a creaking sound echoes, and inside the house, I get a better look at a woman of approximately 80 years old holding two children's corpses in her arms.

There were three arrows stuck in her body, which also dug into the children's bodies.

Hmmm!

I move my hand and pull out one of the arrows from the corpse.

Small drops of green liquid ooze and drip onto the floor.

"Poison." I exclaimed.

But it wasn't just any poison, the smell and texture was the same as what Centaurs used.

Chiron beside me recognized this poison immediately.

"Centaurs!" His eyes were sad.

While in Casca's eyes, there was a slight anger and hatred.

"They really like attacking villages, huh?!" I said it with a sarcastic smile, which contained a bit of anger.

I understand that this is the circle of life in Greece, where the weak have no right to anything.

Deaths, r*pes, murders, massacres, and abuses.

This can be considered something normal in the times I'm living in.

But just because it's normal doesn't mean I can't get angry.

I stand up, breaking the arrow in my hands.

"Casca and Chiron, drag the corpses to the city center; I think the least I can offer is a somewhat dignified funeral."

Even though I felt angry at the Centaurs, I didn't blame them too much, since they were just following their instincts and the rules of this world.

In my old world, it was always taught that the victim is not to blame, but in this world, the greatest percentage of blame lies with the victim for being weak.

But at least I won't let their bodies rot without any pride.

At least this will prevent some illnesses, even if the illnesses a corpse can bring aren't that serious, especially if they don't have a water contract, but it will help clear the dying smell in the air.

Casca and Chiron left, going straight to the houses, taking people's bodies, and placing them in the middle of the village.

Obviously, I helped them both.

In this collection of corpses, I found swords and bows in good condition inside the houses.

I held one of the swords in my hand.

The blade cut was good and had a good balance. Although I didn't really recognize the metal used in the blade, to me, with my layman's knowledge of swords, it looked like a good sword.

"That is good." I said, sheathing the sword in its scabbard and placing the bow at my back.

The use for me was zero, but let's say that after improving a little, I have a good use for these weapons.

I thought we looked at Casca and Chiron, who had just finished placing all the corpses that were already in a state of decomposition lining up between them.

Walking towards the two and standing next to them, I saw Chiron with a shirt and something similar to a skirt on his equine part. I didn't need to ask to know that Chiron hadn't taken those clothes from one of the corpses.

Since this Centaur was too polite and respectful to do this, he probably took these spare pieces of clothing that were kept by their no longer living owners.

"Well, their souls are already peeling away in the underworld or the Elysian Fields, but now I, Apollo, have laid their bodies to rest from this world." I said, clapping my palms together.

And the sun above the sky shone brightly, and a column of sunlight fell upon those bodies.

The bodies began to burn, and little by little, they were all consumed by the flames of the sun.

We remained silent for a few seconds.

But after a few seconds, I broke this silence.

"Then I guess our next destination is your house, Casca."

"That would be great… there's a well in my house so you can bathe." The last part of the sentence trailed off with a shameful tone.

I looked at Casca who had a slight blush on her cheeks.

The shame probably came from the dirt that was on her body.

Oh! I think I was a little insensitive in not noticing your condition. The dirt on her body must be something that is bothering her.

I moved my hand, placing it on her head.

"[καθαροί]." I said, and a slightly golden light shone over Casca.

"Mn!" She let out a slight moan, feeling her body being cleaned and all the dirt from her body being eliminated.

[καθαροί] was a Hecate spell that was used to cleanse the body, pulverizing all dirt.

Well, when you spend two years with the goddess of magic, you learn both tricks.

Casca with a look of wonder, after all her entire body was clean in a matter of seconds, even her clothes.

"Thank you, Lord Apollo."

"You're welcome. Well, I still want to go to your house, it will be a good place to start the basics of your training."

Before we left, I wanted to build a base for them, especially for Casca.

"OK."

"Yes, teacher."

So the three of us climbed the mountains while the fire crackled behind us.

••• ••• •••

(3rd POV)

A woman walked down the corridor of Zeus's palace.

This woman had beautiful red hair that went down to her neck. And on her body, she wore a white shirt that revealed a little of her cleavage and long dark blue gloves on her hands, in addition to wearing blue shorts, which matched her long brown boots that went up to her thigh.

She had sharp features and a slender body; she would certainly be a beautiful woman if it weren't for something that diminished her beauty, because, on her beautiful face, she wore an eye patch over her right eye, while her other eye was a beautiful crimson.

If it weren't for that detail on her face, she would certainly be a beautiful woman who wouldn't lose to Athena.

But this woman would rather die than remove the patch from her right eye.

She had lived with this eye patch for so long that she had already gotten used to it a long time ago.

For her, it seems much better that everyone thinks she looks weird with that eye patch than that they run away in fear or disgust when they see her right eye.

So the woman's footsteps sounded down the corridor, reaching the huge golden door of Zeus's hall.

The moment she touched the door, it opened, revealing the hall where Zeus was sitting on his throne.

{Hmmm! You never get tired of sitting on that throne.} She thought and approached her father.

(Hephaestus image / DanMachi)

"Father, I Hephaestus came at your call." Hephaestus said, elegantly, even if that elegance didn't suit her.

This woman with an eye patch was none other than Hephaestus, the goddess of fire, artisans, Forges, metallurgy, carpenters, sculptures, and blacksmiths.

Zeus looked at his daughter without emotion; there was no pride or disgust, just an emotionless look.

"Hephaestus, I called you because I want you to forge certain items." Zeus said, without much hesitation.

Even though his feelings for his daughter were neutral, unlike his wife Hera, who felt disgusted and hated her daughter, Zeus had to admit that there was not a single living soul that could compare to his daughter in the forge, not even the Cyclopes.

"What exactly does the Lord Father want me to forge?"

Hephaestus already expected that this was the reason why her father called her.

{It's obvious you want me to forge something; after all, that's all I'm good for.} She thought sarcastically.

"Two divine artifacts." Zeus placed his hand on his cheek and looked intensely at his daughter.

"I see, no problem." Hephaestus shrugged, even though they were divine artifacts, it wouldn't be too much work in terms of handling.

After all, it was Hephaestus who forged the vast majority of the Olympian gods' divine weapons, so creating two more divine artifacts wouldn't be a problem.

"But who are these two artifacts for?" Hephaestus asked because she needed to know the divinities of these gods and even their gender, but Honestly, she already had an idea of who these two gods were.

"Phoebus Apollo, The God of the Sun and Light, and Artemis, The Goddess of the Moon and Hunting." Zeus exclaimed.

{Hmmm! Obviously, it would be for Zeus's new favorites.} Hephaestus thought so, but there was no jealousy or envy in her.

A long time ago, she had already realized that she wouldn't be anyone's favorite; being number 1 for her was just a fleeting dream, just as someone loves her with all their heart.

Having this thought, she passes her hand over the eye patch.

"Hephaestus!?" Seeing her trapped in her thoughts, Zeus called her.

Her father's voice brought her out of her self-deprecation.

"Yes." Hephaestus had a stoic expression on her face.

"Mn! Well, how long will it take?" He asked.

"How much time do I have? And what kind of weapons should I make for the twin gods?" She responded with a question.

"9 years, weapons will be given out when Apollo's punishment is over, while the type of weapon is completely up to your imagination."

"Hmm…. Okay, 9 years is more than enough, especially considering that I have the Cyclopes to help me." Hephaestus said, already thinking about what types of weapons she would make for the twin gods.

Cyclopes were great blacksmiths, nowhere near Hephaestus' level, but it would help with the timing issue.

"So before 9 years of time, is it possible for you to finish?"

"Yes, I will easily finish in 9 years, Lord Father."

"Good." Zeus said, losing interest in his daughter.

Hephaestus just shrugs, seeing that this is more than a sign for her to leave her father's palace.

Not really caring about her father's behavior, she turns and walks outside.

{I prefer his indifferent behavior a thousand times over my mother's disgusting behavior.} She thought, passing through the large gate, which closed the moment she passed through it.

She walked, realizing that she would be a little busy with the forging for a while, which was seen as a good thing by her.

She loved having her thoughts turned to metallurgy.

Her mind was already working at full speed.

Hephaestus was already thinking about the structure, the designer, and even the synergy of the two divine artifacts for his two younger brothers.

"Artemis and Phoebus Apollo." Hephaestus muttered, remembering them from the previous meeting.

But the image of Apollo stayed in her mind longer.

It was impossible not to agree that Apollo was handsome.

If Aphrodite could consider herself the supreme female beauty, Apollo was considered the pinnacle of male beauty.

But she quickly dismissed any thoughts that came even remotely close to romance by shaking her head.

"What a stupid thought. Apollo is the blinding light of Olympians, and I am just the dirt." She says with a deprecating smile as her hand passes over her eye patch again.

Relationships or any kind of intimate contact were not meant for someone like her.

"Let's focus on what I'm only good at; if I have my forge, that's more than enough for me." Hephaestus gave a slight smile, removing her hand from her eye patch, and walked out of Zeus's palace, thinking about the artifacts that she would forge for the twin gods.

She already had a slight idea of one of the materials she would use in Apollo's artifact.

"Python." Hephaestus murmured the name of the serpent's corpse that is in Delphi.

{Python's corpse will be great material for Apollo's divine artifact.} With that thought, a smile formed on Hephaestus' lips.

(A/N: Well, which weapon do my dear readers think would be best for Apollo?)