Night had already realized that once or twice could still be called coincidence, but one after another after another...
Being sought out by gods from every direction this quickly, with gods even willing to throw away their dignity to snatch him, to the point that even the original trajectory of mythological epic completely reversed and was heading toward some unknown strange and twisted future.
He did not consider himself to have such overwhelming personal magnetism that simply showing strength on the battlefield, shouting a few soul-stirring cries, and reciting some poems could attract this many burning gazes that felt like they wanted to consume him.
From the goddess Eris's complete lack of restraint, to Ares's abnormal flip to the Greek side, and his direct bee-line to recruit him.
If he said the influence of his bewitching charm had nothing to do with any of this, he would not believe it himself.
Indeed...Night was aware himself that he had something of a natural quality that attracted divine beings.
But this quality should at least have some time to ferment.
But right now it was too fast.
Like compressing what should have taken over a decade into an instant.
Where before they might have observed for a long time, like Apollo at the beginning, who chose to witness the hero's epic from the shadows, watching the birth of a new legend from hiding, but now was not even above stepping in directly.
Night: "..."
You gods. Do you have not even a shred of restraint?!
You are all chief gods for goodness sake!
And when he looked at Athena, the dignified and beautiful goddess before him, gentle as Sasha from Saint Seiya, had maintained elegance and composure throughout her conversation with him, Night's heart slightly came to ease.
Good. Athena at least looked fine for now.
Otherwise, facing the possibly completely chaotic Greek universe ahead, he would not even know how to continue finding his way forward.
After all, compared to the Trojan War, having to interact with these divine beings whose level of existence was so far beyond his comprehension, with no ability to resist them, there was nothing he could do.
The uncertainty was simply too great.
And what je did not know at this moment was that though Athena appeared completely calm, her gaze had never once left him.
As divine beings, the gods naturally were not so far gone that they had lost all self-awareness.
They could all sense the bewitching charm on Night's body.
But this charm was not perfectly mastered like that of the goddess of beauty.
Though it was similar in nature to a divine power, it ultimately existed only on a mortal's body.
If they chose to, they could completely resist this charm.
But this charm carried no power to enchant or control people's hearts.
It simply made the good qualities of a person more magnified and visible.
The gods did not resist this kind of charm that let them better understand the hero's true nature.
Just as you could not deny that being good-looking was also a form of capital.
Like playing a strategy game.
If a handsome guy and an ugly guy appeared before you at the same time waiting to be recruited, even if both characters had nearly identical stats...
Ninety-nine percent of people would choose the handsome one.
Of course, such a thing depends upon the gender, afterall people generally have a repulsion towards the good looking people of the same sex, however, in the Greek mythology where Gods are omnivorous, this attribute was at Max.
And Athena, finally able to observe openly without hiding, taking in, no, appreciating this beauty, could not help but marvel at how great Night's charm was.
Especially for divine beings like them who freely expressed their feelings and did not restrain their desire to enjoy and appreciate beauty.
One could say the gods were all actively and willingly drowning in this beauty without wanting to leave.
Athena was already considered one of the better ones among the gods.
But having already developed an appreciation from the start, she did not resist this beauty at all.
Just one more look. Just a tiny bit more.
With an inner world that was anything but calm, but an outward composure completely intact, the image of a brilliant, wise, and gentle older sister, Athena performed with great steadiness, and was even comforting Night that with her here,
Ares would not be able to hurt him.
After that, Athena simply moved in with hom openly.
Watching over him twenty-four hours a day, like a true valkyrie, guarding her treasury with dedicated diligence.
Night, who initially believed Athena should be fine, finally began to sense that something was off.
Even if she promised to protect him.
He was nothing but a mortal.
Keeping a trace of her divine sense to observe and watch over him should be sufficient, right?
Why was she personally present, sticking close to him, in an uninterrupted twenty-four-hour watch?
Did she really take herself for a bodyguard?
Even at night when he was sleeping, this goddess was there.
When Night said she did not need to stay overnight...
Athena said with complete composure. "As a god I do not need rest. Even without sleeping, I feel no tiredness the next day. Do not concern yourself with how I feel.
I promised Artemis I would protect you from Ares's harm.
Naturally I also need to guard against a surprise attack from him at night."
Night: "..."
He was silent.
In the end he could only say one thing in his heart. "Hiss!"
That is not the issue of whether you sleep or not.
And Athena's behavior was perfectly normal.
Not the slightest bit like the frenzied and blatant desire of Mach earlier.
That burning breath, the desire burning in those eyes as though wanting to swallow him whole.
It was as though it were all still vivid right in front of him.
And it was under the guardianship of this goddess of wisdom, who seemed normal and yet not normal at all, whose behavior was truly questionable as to whether she was any kind of proper goddess.
Very quickly, Night learned to accept and let things lie.
Since he could not stop it, he would simply ignore it.
Treating her as though she did not exist, he slept when he needed to sleep, rested when he needed to rest, and continued doing his own things.
But because of Athena's presence, Night had not been able to go visit Briseis for quite some time.
This made him frown repeatedly!
He could only insist on playing music every morning, hoping to encourage the girl and let her know he had not forgotten his promise to get her out.
To keep her from losing the will to survive.
And under these special circumstances, Night could not do anything for the next few days.
Even during the assembly when Ares descended, he exchanged a few glances with Achilles, and after that he had no chance to meet with him at all.
There was absolutely no time to discuss new plans.
Since there was nothing to be done, he would calm down first and focus on improving himself.
And so in the time that followed,
Night simply began trying to further master the power of the divine artifact, while also making use of Athena at the same time.
After experiencing the advantage of drawing on the strengths of many schools of thought several times in the simulation, Night turned his attention to Athena, who held the title of war goddess.
Athena's martial skill was not weak...
She was one of the rare divine beings who held the name of the god of martial arts.
When Night attempted to seek guidance from Athena on martial skill, although the latter was a bit surprised to hear that he actually wanted to learn martial arts from a divine being.
However, this boldly greedy request did not arouse Athena's disgust at all.
Instead she deeply appreciated Night.
That martial skill already reaching a peerless and unrivaled level for this era, and yet still wanting to learn more martial knowledge, the drive to keep improving without stopping.
This was the mindset a qualified warrior and a powerful hero should have.
And as the goddess of wisdom, Athena never begrudged those who were eager to learn when they came to her for guidance.
Of course...though she was not a petty god, not just anyone had the right to have her personally teach them.
For a mortal to receive a divine being's teaching, it required great fortune, the divine being's appreciation, and even depended on the their mood on the day.
And Athena's goodwill toward Night was clearly of a level where this kind of help was something she did not resist at all.
She even revealed a very interested expression.
.
.
.
(End of the Chapter)