Age of Bronze, Year 322

  ***

  “On your right, mistress Bellona!”

  Miori barely avoided the razor-sharp claws of the approaching harpy. Its wings brushed her as it flew past, and she let out a little curse. She summoned bows to her side and shot arrows after the creature, which let out a shriek and ascended further into the sky, now with an arrow’s shaft sticking out of its flank. It turned its head and piercing blue eyes of a beautiful woman’s face glared at her. Everything below the neck however looked like it belonged to an oversized eagle.

  “Thank you, Nerio,” she quickly thanked her assistant as she got herself ready and beheaded another approaching harpy with a quick swing of her halberd. The young woman by her side was a Deogemma herself, not a human attendant. A personification of war of dwindling power, who had chosen that instead of fading into obscurity once the daughters of Jove supplanted her, she would support one of them as their attendant.

  Her duties were similar to Medusa’s. She spoke for Miori, or Bellona, during the daily audiences, she kept the mansion and temple in pristine condition, she cooked for Miori, she washed and bathed her and offered her more inappropriate services as well, which Miori obviously declined.

  Right now, the two were working together to resolve a request from the citizenry. Harpies attacked a hamlet halfway down the mountain. These creatures were usually at the beck and call of Jove himself to mete out punishment to the wicked, be it by stealing food or even carrying the guilty straight towards the Furies.

  These, however, were feral harpies. The descendants of half a dozen of those who broke free from Jove’s control, flew away into the mountains and bred uncontrollably. They still stole food, but did so indiscriminately, and people they carried away never found their way to the trio of goddesses of punishment and remained lost forever. According to Nerio, human bones were sometimes found near harpy nests, so Miori had a very good idea what happened to the victims and wasn’t going to let them carry off anyone else on her watch.

  Four harpies were left, including the wounded one. The inhabitants of the hamlet were in the safety of their homes, watching the war goddesses tear through the creatures.

  Nerio was equipped with a bow and a short sword, though right now she only wielded the former. The girl with glowing hair the color of embers nocked another arrow and aimed carefully. She waited until one of the harpies broke off from the flock of attackers and rushed right towards her, then she let loose, hitting the harpy right in the chest. She still had to hectically jump out of the way as fifty kilos of dead flesh and feathers rushed her way and crashed into the ground. Hollow bones were shattered and ripped the creature apart from the inside, with a red splatter marking its landing. The sight was enough to make even Miori a little sick, even after the massacres she herself perpetrated against the sex traffickers of Tokyo.

  She had no time to dwell on it, however, as the next harpy came for her. She summoned fifteen long guns in a disembodied formation in front of herself and shot; she could watch how the creature in front of her was riddled with holes and uselessly soared towards the ground as well.

  “Aelia, no!” she heard someone shout. Miori turned around and saw a little girl storming out of one of the huts towards an abandoned doll lying at the center of the town square.

  “Foolish girl…!” Nerio started, but could only watch in amazement as Miori rushed past her, just in time to block one of the harpies’ diving attacks with her own body. Its clawed feet dug deep into the flesh of Miori’s shoulders, and she let out a pained groan, summoning short swords into her hands. She drove both of them upwards into the harpy’s chest and could hear it scream in pain before those same screams gave way to gurgling. It released its grip on Miori’s shoulders, only for her to grab it by the leg and swing it into the ground. Hollow bones cracked and splintered audibly, and Miori repeated the swing. Again, and again, and again until the creature stopped moving entirely. She took deep breaths as her rage at the creature’s attempt at harming a child died down and witnessed Nerio putting an arrow through the final harpy. With that out of the way she turned around and smiled, reaching out a hand towards the little girl.

  “Aelia, was it? Are you alright?”

  The expression on the young girl’s face, however, was one of terror. The child took multiple steps backwards before she turned around and ran back into the house she came from, clutching her doll tight.

  “…I don’t think you should attempt to comfort children looking like this,” Nerio commented as she stepped closer. She grabbed medicinal herbs from a pouch and applied them to her mistresses’ shoulders, who grimaced and hissed in pain. Only now she looked, and, sure enough, there were deep holes where the harpy grabbed her, gushing blood down her arms. Her supernatural healing was already at work, slowly closing the wounds, but she was a horrific sight all the same.

  “Besides, you smashed a harpy into pieces with your bare hands. I think that girl will remain scared of you,” Nerio said with a raised brow, and Miori blushed, averting her eyes.

  “I get angry when people target children.”

  “And that’s very admirable, mistress Bellona, but think about the impact it has on the little mortals witnessing your rage.”

  Miori let out a long sigh.

  “I’ll keep it in mind.”

  Nerio grinned and patted her back. “Ready for the trip back up the mountain?”

  “You can go ahead. I’ll enjoy the scenery and the walk a little longer.”

  “As you wish, mistress Bellona.”

  ***

  Miori was nervous. It had been a week now since Seika got attacked by the man called Scotus, and since then they both were hard at work winning the populace over by lending aid or performing ‘miracles’ for them. In Miori’s case, this was usually done through combat. Wild beasts like chimeras, (real ones this time, not shadowy imitations,) giant wolves, horse-sized lions, sea serpents, minotaurs and many more were Miori’s daily opponents, and wielding the familiar weapons of Bellona was her approach to defeating them all. She felt her strength surging, but something was wrong. She didn’t feel like she was as strong as she should be.

  Today, on the way back from her harpy-slaying mission, she wandered through the marketplace, listening to the people’s conversations, the peddlers’ cries as they announced their wares, criers who declared recent news, like the deeds of a mortal hero, recruitment drives for the guard, or monster sightings in the surrounding lands. And yes, she even heard the rumors. Fama was hard at work as always, spreading whichever gossip she heard among the people. Miori never met her in person, but as Jove put it, confronting her about the lies she spread was not a wise course of action; she would simply add the attempted intimidation of her person to the ever-growing pile of unsavory tales.

  As Miori listened closer, she could hear how the people spoke in hushed voices about the time Minerva froze in fear of a monster.

  Those rumors were rarer these days. Miori saw first-hand how hard Seika worked on dispelling them, accepting monster hunting tasks without a second thought. Jove sometimes urged Miori to go with Seika to support her, and she did.

  It was here that she heard rumors about herself, too.

  “Bellona is quite the savage one, isn’t she?”

  “I heard she cleaved a lamia in half without hesitation.”

  “I heard she crushed a centaur’s head under her boot.”

  “Just now she grabbed a harpy and smashed her into the ground until she was a bloody pulp.”

  “Some say once she starts fighting, she enters a rage that won’t end until she kills someone.”

  Some of the rumormongers noticed her and quickly tapped their compatriots’ shoulders. Miori stood there and watched while the crowd scattered.

  They don’t know any better, and there’s truth to what they’re saying. I can’t fault them.

  She sighed and turned around, stopping as she was face to face with Jove himself, who had his arms crossed in front of his body and showed her a wide grin.

  “Can you spare a moment, Bellona?”

  ***

  Miori followed Jove to his mansion. Only after they stood in the large temple hall, where he presumably received human petitioners of his own, did he turn around to face her.

  “The rumors have started to hit you as well, haven’t they?”

  “Straight to the point,” Miori sighed, but she nodded. “What can we do about it?” she asked, making direct eye contact.

  “Right now? Not a lot,” Jove admitted promptly.

  “If all of these are spread by Fama, can’t we just… imprison her?” Miori raised an eyebrow, stepping closer towards Jove.

  “On what charges? That she acts on her nature as the embodiment of fame and rumors? People would riot in the streets if they heard of the injustice.”

  “How are we supposed to fight against it, then?” Miori gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Jove sighed and stepped a little closer, gently patting her shoulder.

  “Be visible. Be helpful. Show the people that you’re not that person from the rumors,” Jove responded, then his expression softened a little.

  “I do have a task for you that might help with it. I want you to meet a certain man in the fields at the foot of the mountain. He will both help you train your martial abilities and assist you in keeping your… wilder side in check. No, don’t look at me like that. There’s a grain of truth to the rumors, and it’s that you are bloodthirsty when you fight, and even more so when people you care about or children are threatened.”

  Miori blushed a little and looked away from him, making him let out a laugh.

  “No need to be ashamed of it. But it can help to rein it in a little, if only to have our people rest assured that they’re safe with you.”

  Miori nodded, and Jove stepped closer, smiling as he handed her a scroll.

  “Here’s instructions how to get to him. Can’t have you descend the wrong side of the mountain now, can we? Rest up for today and go down there tomorrow.”

  Miori nodded, looking at the scroll and stowing it away.

  “Thank you. I’ll make sure to change the course of those rumors.”

  “You’re going somewhere else to train?” Seika asked, embracing Miori from behind. They were lying in Miori’s large bed; as their bedrooms were rather extravagant open rooms facing the mountain range above the clouds, it was easy for the lovers to simply fly to one another’s bed if they felt like it. Miori smiled and slowly peeled Seika’s clingy hands off her breasts before she turned around and gave her a deep kiss.

  “Yes. Don’t worry, but I’ll be back before you know it.”

  “You’re going to miss Ayame’s visit,” Seika said with a little pout, but Miori only smiled and gave her another kiss.

  “Pay this one forward, then, alright? Tell her I’ll see her another time.”

  “Hm… fine,” Seika said with a little sigh but gave Miori a gentle smile regardless. “Have a safe trip, Miori!”

  ***

  Miori descended the mountain, passing by various villages on her way. Farmers, goat herders, small temple communities that sprung up near the top of the mountain to be closer to their ‘gods’, Miori could see all kinds of people and the simple yet apparently fulfilling lives they lived. She was a little envious, considering the strange turn her own life took, and how she never fully found peace because of it. Of course, due to this course of events she had her girlfriends, Seika and Ayame by her side these days, so she felt like she shouldn’t complain. Nerio was accompanying her for this excursion, of course, and the woman quietly hummed to herself as they kept descending.

  “Nerio, I’ve been wondering,” Miori started. “Why are you okay with Minerva and I taking the role you played before? I would have expected you to be more… hesitant, or even angry.”

  Nerio shook her head and gently patted Miori’s shoulder.

  “It is a little sad that my role in warfare is slowly being forgotten by the humans, true. But that doesn’t mean I’m necessarily useless. As a Deogemma, even if no humans believe in me at all, I still have the power to assist wherever I may. And I think I’m best suited to do this as my successor’s attendant.”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  “I appreciate your assistance in combat, but everything else… doesn’t it feel a little beneath you?”

  Nerio shook her head.

  “Oh, please. You don’t have to coddle me. I volunteered for this. I could have simply become an officer or even general in the capital’s forces, but I wanted to serve Jove’s child. Even with my body, if you had requested it.”

  She added a little wink to the last part and Miori blushed, clearing her throat.

  “I’m happily in a relationship with Minerva and a human woman from Earth, as I told you!”

  “Don’t worry, mistress. I will not get in the way of your romance,” Nerio added with a little laugh.

  “What’s the deal with offering bedroom services as a servant anyway?” Miori asked with a huff and Nerio grinned.

  “Oh, you don’t know? It all started with some maiden who served Jove...”

  “That already explains everything, thank you very much,” Miori cut her off with a sigh. She never read as much into the mythology as Seika, but even she knew the stories of ‘Zeus’ who slept with any pretty woman he could see.

  “Hahaha! So flustered by your father’s dalliances? Everyone knows about them, thanks to Fama.”

  “I can imagine.”

  The two kept talking about this and that, and with her companion, Miori’s path down the mountain felt like it was over in a flash.

  ***

  Miori stood in a wheat field which appeared to reach from the base of the mountain to the horizon. Its golden ears gently swayed in the wind as Miori and her companion walked along a small trail that cut right through the middle. She could witness farm hands working in the field, wielding scythes and cutting the long stalks with swift, deliberate cuts, while others helped pile up the cut ears and load them onto wagons.

  Miori looked around in confusion, checking the scroll again. She didn’t question the instructions to go to this large wheat field at first, but now that she was here in person, she could see nothing else, only the large, swaying sea of gold.

  “…what are we supposed to do here?” she asked Nerio, who could only shrug her shoulders in response, then a voice spoke to them.

  “Ah! The new farm hands Jove announced. Welcome!”

  Miori raised a brow and wanted to turn around to protest, but she was simply stunned by the sight. Another Deogemma stood before her, tall and muscular, with his hair and short beard glowing in a dark crimson hue. He wore simple rags like the farmhands around him, despite clearly being the lord of the region. Miori wanted to ask a question, but it was answered before she got to it as Nerio promptly fell on one knee and bowed her head.

  “Hail, master Mars! We have come to offer our assistance, as you have requested through High King Jove.”

  “Here you go. You will be using these tools to aid the harvest today,” Mars announced after bringing them to a shed. Scythes, a cart, a sled-looking contraption with many sharp rocks embedded in its flat surface and multiple baskets were neatly lined up inside, waiting to be used by skilled hands.

  “Excuse me, but I’m not sure you have the right people,” Miori finally managed to say, and Mars turned her way, running a hand through his short beard.

  “Really? But you are my sister Bellona, yes?”

  ‘Sister’. That was new information to Miori, but she did her best not to let it show.

  “I am, and that’s why…”

  “Did Jove tell you what you are to achieve here?”

  “To train my martial abilities, and to… keep my wilder side in check,” Miori said, and he offered her a reassuring smile.

  “Then you are right where you need to be. Don’t worry, it will all make sense in due time. Do you need instructions on how to use the tools?”

  “Oh, I can take care of that!” Nerio announced and gave Mars a smile, who returned it.

  “You’re Nerio, aren’t you? I don’t think we ever had the pleasure directly.”

  “Oh, you heard of me?! But I’m not worthy…”

  The attendant appeared to be a little flustered, and Miori raised an eyebrow at her behavior. As she caught her mistresses’ gaze, the minor goddess of war turned a shade redder and looked away.

  “Either way, please instruct my sister in how to use these tools, then get to work. We have a rich harvest this year and I’d prefer not to waste a single grain.”

  “Of course!”

  ***

  Just a moment later Miori stood in the fields, holding a scythe, almost like the one wielded by the Dream Empress. Its blade shimmered in a dark blue hue and unmistakably communicated its own sharpness to the casual observer. Its wielder, however, was still utterly befuddled by this turn of events.

  “So the task we were supposed to help with… is farming?”

  “That’s right, mistress Bellona. Master Mars put in an official request that he’s short on farm hands, and it would appear that High King Jove handed you said request.”

  “I thought I would train, or at least receive pointers how to calm myself down so I don’t succumb to bloodlust and anger in combat…”

  “Master Mars is very unconventional in his approach, from what I heard. Let us trust his judgment,” Nerio said as she brought the cart over to the patch Miori stood in front of.

  Miori nodded and stared at the field in front of her, then she aligned the scythe blade. She made a swift motion, and multiple ears fell to the ground, though not all of the ones she aimed for.

  “You’re too stiff and lifting the tip too much, mistress Bellona! Relax and keep the blade level with the ground!” Nerio announced as she gathered what Miori cut down, loading it into the cart. Miori quietly grumbled to herself, but she followed Nerio’s instructions regardless. She kept her eye on the blade, making a slow practice swing. She kept her eye on the motion of the blade and nodded as she saw the effect of Nerio’s instructions as it cut through the whole area that Miori aimed for. She took small steps forward and moved her scythe in a half circle, keeping it level. The more she cut the wheat down like this, the more she felt a strange calmness taking hold of her. All of a sudden, the world and its woes were so small, so simple. Miori blinked and looked at the movements of her scythe again.

  Those movements… he’s not giving me some strange weapon training through farming work, right? Wax on, wax off?

  Not combat… finding the self…

  Miori stopped in her tracks as the strange thought echoed through her mind.

  Bellona?! Bellona, are you there?

  Deafening silence was her answer, but a small burst of warmth spread through her heart. Miori clutched her chest with one hand and suppressed tears that threatened to well up in her eyes.

  Hurry up and get better, Bellona. I miss you.

  “Is something the matter, mistress Bellona?” Nerio walked up to Miori’s side and touched her shoulder, but she only shook her head.

  “It’s fine. I was just thinking about something.”

  Nerio cocked her head but didn’t question her further.

  ***

  Miori and Nerio went to work. Miori cut the wheat with the scythe, while Nerio dutifully collected and bundled it to load it on the cart. Step by step, cart by cart, they cleared out their appointed patch of land, though, by the end of the day, the golden ears of wheat still surrounded them in all directions. The harvest had only begun, and Miori realized that she would be here for a while longer.

  As the sun touched the horizon, Mars walked up to them with a smile.

  “Good work! Not bad for the first day. Tell me, how did you feel doing this?”

  Miori blinked in confusion at that question and rubbed her chin, contemplating its meaning. She assumed that it served some kind of purpose in her training, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

  “…calm?”

  “That’s it!” Mars commented with an encouraging smile.

  “I don’t understand…” Miori sighed, and Mars let out a little chuckle. He turned towards Nerio.

  “Will you be alright bringing the carts in on your own?”

  Right after she nodded to his question, he turned back towards Miori and offered her a smile.

  “Let’s walk together for a moment.”

  Miori furrowed her brow and nodded, following him as he walked down one of the narrow paths running through the expansive fields.

  “That calmness… it grounds you. Farming is hard work. Backbreaking, even. But nowhere else are you this close to the earth and its fruits which men have so wisely cultivated.”

  Miori looked at him from the corner of her eyes. “Did you have to get grounded like that in the past?”

  “I did!” Mars answered with a laugh.

  “I’m not that much older than you, Bellona. Maybe two years. But I was… a hotheaded youth right after I emerged. I rushed headfirst into danger and picked fights with anyone who looked at me the wrong way.”

  “I can’t even start to imagine… you’re a very different person from what you’re telling me,” Miori observed, and he smiled. They ascended a narrow path, and after a while, they were on a hill overlooking the fields. Gold extended in every direction, and from here Miori could see the patches where the farmhands had already cut the wheat down. It was barely a quarter of the field. By now, the sun had mostly disappeared, and the first stars shone in the sky above.

  “I felt like I had a lot to prove to myself and to others. I was even arrogant enough to go by my primordial name, ‘Ares’. But that is the past, now. When I heard the rumors about your brutality, I couldn’t help but be reminded of myself, so I wanted to try showing you all of this, since it helped me.”

  Miori nodded, but she had questions regarding all that, regardless.

  “I can’t quite wrap my head around it, however. According to everything I know, you’re the personification of war. Finding you on a field like this is… strange.”

  He answered her question with a laugh.

  “But that’s what a personification of war should also do! There can’t be only war, after all. Just like soldiers, we personifications of conflict need something to do in peace time as well, wouldn’t you agree?”

  Miori bit her lower lip and stared into the distance. So far, she never felt any inclination for anything other than bloodshed. Whenever she got into a fight as a Magical Girl, her approach was the most brutal and direct out of all the Magical Girls she knew. There was nothing besides combat which fulfilled her… or was there?

  At that moment she felt Mars’ hand on her forehead and took a reflexive step back.

  “No worries, all I’m doing is getting a feeling for your true nature, sister.”

  “My… true nature?”

  “By attuning to your crystal I will be able to read your nature… if you want me to, of course.”

  Miori hesitated. What if he could see that she wasn’t truly Bellona, but her partner, who was fused with her essence? Would her secret be safe? Her mind was buzzing with all sorts of negative possibilities before Mars’ next words tore her out of her thoughts again.

  “I will keep your true nature a secret, of course. That was part of the deal with High King Jove, and I will always remain loyal to him.”

  Miori bit her lower lip, but after a moment more of contemplation, she nodded, and in turn he put his hand on her forehead, closing his eyes.

  It felt a little weird. Like a warm essence was entering her mind, probing it like a tendril.

  “You’re human…?” Mars spoke quietly, furrowing his brow. “But you are one with the real Bellona. And I see her other names… yes.”

  He appeared to focus a little harder, and Miori felt the mind tendril dredging deeper into her being.

  “Enyo… that’s her primordial name. And there’s another… yes. It’s Ma.”

  Miori raised a brow and looked straight at Mars as he pulled his hand back and gave her a little smile.

  “Two of them?”

  “Some of us have a lot of primordial names. Jove, for example: he goes by Jupiter, Tinia, or Zeus.”

  Miori nodded, looking at him. “So, what do these names tell you about my nature?”

  “Well, it confirms that you are indeed a fierce personification of war. Or, rather, Bellona is. Her personality is rubbing off on you, isn’t it?”

  Miori cleared her throat and looked to the side.

  “It does. When we merge, I become a bit more like her.”

  “No need to be ashamed. That’s natural for fusion with a mortal. The next name, Ma, however, has something different to it.”

  “In what way?” Miori stepped a little closer, and she was met with a little smile from Mars.

  “…a fierce warrior, but also a mother,” he answered her, and Miori immediately took two steps back, looking to the side.

  “Not going to happen! In the first place I’m not into… well, men.”

  “Oh, that’s not a hindrance, if one knows the correct steps,” Mars replied with a little chuckle. “You’re very protective of children either way, aren’t you? I saw…”

  “I mean, who wouldn’t be?!”

  “Not to that extent, sister. You go above and beyond for the little ones wherever you can.”

  Miori let out a long sigh and looked back at the fields, now entirely shrouded in darkness, with only the light of the stars above.

  “Cling to that protectiveness. And to that tender warmth you express towards the children. That will be what roots you, Bellona.”

  Miori nodded, then she furrowed her brow, staring straight at Mars.

  “…wait, what did you mean when you said it’s not a hindrance?”

  Her fellow god of war showed her a wide grin. “…remember how I said that I felt like I had to prove myself?”

  Miori nodded, and he narrowed his eyes with a little mischief.

  “Most of what my younger, more hotheaded and ignorant self wanted to prove to himself was his masculinity. Because I have two mothers.”

  Three days later, Miori finished her last cut through the long stalks of wheat. They fell to the side and Nerio dutifully collected them, piling them up in a cart.

  The work had been meditative, just like the first day. Instead of receiving martial training, Miori felt like she went through one very long therapy session involving admittedly monotonous work.

  “That’s all of them, mistress Bellona! We can immediately start threshing after bringing the carts over to the arena.”

  Miori nodded absent-mindedly, with her thoughts still lingering on the talk she had with Mars, and Nerio pulled the cart over to a large circle on the ground. It was different from the rest of the field, as its foundation was cut from slightly uneven stone. Nerio spread the wheat from the cart, and Miori helped her until the entire ground was covered, then she grinned wide, producing the strange sledge and presenting it to Miori.

  “Here we go. Now our tribulations can truly begin!”

  An awkward silence followed. With every passing second, Nerio appeared more and more flustered.

  “B-because… this is a tribulum,” she explained sheepishly.

  “Oh. Ooooh! Haha,” Miori responded and added a fake laugh out of pity, which only caused Nerio to avert her eyes and cover her reddening face with her hands.

  ***

  They continued with the threshing in turns. Either Nerio stood on top of the tribulum, or Miori did, while the other one pulled it over the wheat on the ground, splitting it apart with the sharp rocks at the bottom of the sledge grinding over the stone foundation. The humans around them had an ox do the pulling part, but as Nerio explained, this would be good training. Besides, they were stronger than an ox, anyway.

  This continued for the next hours, and after finishing, they swept the separated grains off the stone foundation and filled them into baskets. Finally, the grains were separated from the chaff by tossing it into the air. The chaff was blown away by the wind, while the heavier kernels neatly landed right back inside the basket. This marked the end of their involvement in the farming work, as Mars quickly informed them.

  “Thank you. From here we can do everything ourselves. Your help was invaluable, though,” he assured them and gave Miori especially a warm smile.

  “I do hope you learned something from your visit, though, sister.”

  Miori nodded. “I did. Thank you. I’ll think about what you told me.”

  Mars then turned towards Nerio and the two looked each other in the eyes for a suspiciously long time, before Nerio cleared her throat and walked up to Miori’s side.

  “Let’s go home, mistress Bellona.”

  The two took the long, arduous way back up the mountain, and as the field was reduced to a pretty sight far below them, Miori spoke up.

  “I was wondering where you were going the last two nights… guess I know, now,” she spoke in a teasing tone, and Nerio blushed furiously.

  “You noticed?! Oh, I’m so… please forgive me, mistress!”

  “Forgive you…? You didn’t do anything wrong,” Miori said with a raised brow.

  “Ah, well… technically, I’m yours.”

  “And as I told you, I don’t want you that way. Having you as my friend and companion is more than enough. I don’t care who you sleep with. In fact, I wish you happiness with whoever you choose for that.”

  Nerio beamed Miori a bright smile and bowed her head.

  “Thank you, mistress Bellona.”

  Miori gave her a little smile in return, then she withdrew back into her thoughts. They dwelled on Mars’ declaration for a while longer.

  ‘Two mothers? How did that happen?’

  ‘Juno is the one you should ask for the details, but yes, I am her and Flora’s child. So, it is not entirely impossible for you to become a mother, Bellona, even if you never sleep with a man.’

  Miori shook her head.

  Where are my thoughts going all of a sudden?

  Still, despite her best efforts, she daydreamed about a child with Seika’s face, for the entire duration of the trip back home…

  ***

  As they arrived at the capital, Miori got a strange feeling. People around them were quietly talking among each other, discussing strange rumors yet again.

  “Did you hear? Apparently, Medusa…”

  “What a cruel thing to do to a victim of rape…”

  “Makes you question whether our gods are truly worthy of worship.”

  “She rides around on her trophy like she wants to rub it in everyone’s face.”

  She kept hearing partial conversations on the way back to her estate and just as she was about to enter, something rapidly descended and touched down next to her. It was a white, winged horse, and Seika sat on top of it.

  “Se- Minerva! We heard strange rumors when we entered the city. Is everything alright? What’s with the… uh… horse?”

  Seika gave Miori a tired look before she replied.

  “I think it’s best I explain this back at my own palace. Follow me.”