Chương 51: Toxeus
At that moment, Atalanta noticed a sound that resembled bones cracking.
She blinked, watching the red-haired young man crying tears of joy in front of her.
The young man was Meleager, one of the most outstanding participants in the hunting festival besides Promise.
Atalanta also recalled that he was the one Goddess Athena had mentioned who was destined to die at the hands of his own mother, one of the two people whose fates Promise was trying to change.
Well...it was uncertain how Atalanta would react if she knew that Meleager's fate included some responsibility on her part. Most likely, she wouldn't care at all.
"He's fine now... but if you don't let go, he really will be in trouble soon," Atalanta said calmly, recognizing who he was.
Hearing this, Meleager finally noticed the huntress standing nearby.
He had been able to arrive so quickly because he had already placed informants around the kingdom.
Promise and Atalanta were quite noticeable, so the moment they entered the city, Meleager was informed.
"Beautiful huntress, you are indeed here!" Meleager said, his face beaming with excitement as he looked at Atalanta.
Due to his excitement and nervousness, he unconsciously tightened his grip on Promise.
"...If you don't let go, he really is going to die," Atalanta frowned, looking at Meleager with displeasure.
Even though Meleager's gaze toward her wasn't one of possession or invasion like many other men, she still didn't like it.
If it weren't for Promise, she might have already turned and left.
Finally realizing what Atalanta meant, Meleager released the boy, who then slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Promise hadn't expected that his second near-death experience would be in the embrace of a hero.
Fortunately, it was Meleager and not Heracles; otherwise, Promise might have found himself waking up back at the Clock Tower.
.
.
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Calydon Kingdom,
Inside a room of a temporary inn.
In the room lit by the afternoon sun, Promise, who had just woken up, was eating a golden apple while looking rather displeased at the embarrassed Meleager in front of him.
He really didn't expect that while Pegasus didn't manage to kill him, this guy almost did!
Now, there were only two golden apples left...
'Speaking of which, it seems that Athena did not give me a golden apple when we met last night?'
After all, she had given him a golden apple every time they met.
Due to the incident with Artemis' hunt last night, Promise hadn't noticed this detail for a while.
Now that he recalled it, he also found Atalanta standing against the wall beside him, looking at the golden apple in his hand with a puzzled look on her face.
Promise didn't say anything about this and just focused on eating the golden apple to feel his body recover significantly, and only after he fully revitalized, did he addressed Meleager,
"Forget it, I won't say much.
Just know that I have already noted this down in my noteboo,k and we will settle this account sooner or later!
By the way, did something happen? As soon as I entered the town, I felt something was off."
"Tonight, there will be a sacrificial ceremony for a god," Without waiting for Meleager, who was smiling awkwardly, to respond, Atalanta spoke lightly.
During the time while Promise was resting, she had already gathered the information.
In fact, everyone outside was talking about this matter, so she only needed to stand in a corner and listen for a while to find out what was going on.
"Last night, believers in the temple spread the news throughout the kingdom that a great god would descend here tonight, and this great deity has issued an oracle that everyone must gather under the sacrificial altar this evening.
At that time, she will choose the bravest warrior of the kingdom in front of everyone to deal with the terrifying beast that has been troubling the kingdom for a long time... the gigantic boar as big as a small mountain!"
Calydonian Boar?
As Promise listened to Atalanta, he was slightly taken aback before he found that the latter was looking at him with a very strange lo,ok which left him puzzled.
"And that goddess is none other than Athena, one of the twelve most revered deities on Mount Olympus... the Goddess of Wisdom!"
Calydonian Boar,
This well-known myth in Greek mythology has a simple origin.
The King of Calydon, Oeneus, who was also Meleager's father, held a grand sacrificial ceremony during a bountiful harvest year.
The first fruits of the harvest were offered as sacrifices to various gods: grains to Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, and oils to Athena, the goddess of wisdom.
There were rich offerings in front of the altars of almost every god, except for the altar of the goddess Artemis, which remained empty.
Angered by this slight, Artemis sent a wild boar to ravage Calydon.
She didn't command the boar to attack the town but to destroy all the harvests of Calydon.
Thus, every harvest season, the Calydonian Boar would come down from the mountains, destroying the crops and fruits they had grown, and trampling anyone who stood in its way or couldn't get out of its path in time.
"It was precisely because of this situation that I participated in the hunting sacrifice at that time, hoping to receive a gift from the goddess Artemis, hunt the boar, and gain the forgiveness of the goddess.."
.
.
.
In the hallway of the Calydonian Kingdom.
As Meleager led Promise and Atalanta toward the kingdom's palace, he explained the reasons in detail to them.
"Therefore, I am truly grateful to you, Promise. Thank you for willing to ask Goddess Artemis for such a gift on my behalf!"
Looking at Meleager sincerely expressing his gratitude, the latter rolled his eyes and said grumpily, "Alright, if you really appreciate me, just don't suddenly hug me next time. I don't want future bards to sing legends where this great hero dies in such a ridiculous way!"
Hearing this, Meleager's expression became awkward again.
But before he could respond, Atalanta said to Promise, "Isn't that exactly what you want? It just happens to fulfill your wish to go to the Underworld."
"Not at all. I'd rather be hunted than thi... No, I don't want to be hunted. I don't want any of it!"
Meleager watched from the side, looking at the two and slowly closed his open mouth.
He looked at Promise, then at Atalanta... In fact, he had noticed it just now.
Because he had fallen in love with Atalanta at first sight, Meleager naturally spent a lot of time secretly observing her.
Therefore, he actually knew that Atalanta hated men, and she was also a little cold and aloof.
She didn't want to contact anyone, and there was no other person in her eyes.
Since he met her, Meleager had never even seen her smile.
But now...
Watching as Atalanta conversed with Promise, occasionally smiling naturally, he couldn't help but lose himself for a moment.
"Meleager, hey, Meleager... Hey, what are you doing!"
Promise waved a hand fiercely in front of him, and Meleager snapped back to reality.
Then Promise looked at Meleager, whose eyes were still fixed on Atalanta, and then glanced at the huntress, who was looking away with her head tilted.
He couldn't help but say helplessly, "Alright, act normal... By the way, where are you taking us?"
"Oh, um... I'm taking you to meet my father."
Meleager, having returned to his senses, couldn't help but glance at Atalanta again before explaining to Promise, "I've already told my father about your affairs, and he's very eager to meet you both.
Now that you're here, and you've brought a gift from Goddess Artemis, he will surely be very pleased!"
As he was about to say more,
"I don't think it's necessary."
a disheveled, bearded middle-aged man suddenly appeared and interrupted the conversation.
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