"Do not worry."
Hephaestus looked at Jason's tearful yet tearless appearance and softly comforted him: "Athena is not such a petty god... But if anything really happens, you can come find me."
"...Mm."
Withdrawing his gaze, Jason looked at Hephaestus who was lightly smiling and watching him, and nodded: "I understand, Teacher Hephaestus."
Hephaestus was slightly stunned.
She keenly noticed that Jason's address of 'teacher' at this moment felt somewhat different from before.
As for where it was different, Hephaestus could not quite put her finger on it for the moment.
Actually, it was simple. Now, the address of Teacher Hephaestus was called out from the bottom of Jason's heart, no longer because of the tribute.
Then Jason pushed Hephaestus's wheelchair, and the two gradually entered the deepest part of the temple.
In the coming days, Jason would stay with Goddess Hephaestus for a long time, learning forging techniques from the God of Craftsmen.
And at the end, when he had achieved proficiency, he would hand over the first item he forged himself to Hephaestus.
And that would precisely be the tribute Jason offered to Hephaestus.
Just like this, after Jason spent a few days with Hephaestus in Hephaestus's temple, on the evening of the third day, he explained the situation to Hephaestus. With Hephaestus's nod,
Jason then took out his caduceus staff and, amid the escort of a group of underworld butterflies, headed to the underworld.
Because in the following days, besides learning forging techniques from Hephaestus, Jason had another very important matter to attend to.
That was, within the next approximately six months at most, before Underworld Queen Persephone, Jason's elder sister, returned to the underworld.
Jason had to prepare the underworld wedding.
To offer his tribute to Underworld King Hades and Underworld Queen Persephone!
Thus, upon arriving in the underworld, Jason skillfully walked along the path of no return in the underworld. Accompanying him by his side were gracefully dancing underworld butterflies, these apostles of Goddess Hecate, illuminating Jason's path forward in the underworld.
Soon, Jason arrived before the gates of the underworld.
He looked left, then right.
Then, to Orthrus lying before the gate, who immediately closed its eyes upon seeing him arrive, with its two dog ears flattened down, pretending to see nothing and hear nothing, Jason said: "Lord Orthrus, may I ask where Lord Cerberus is?"
Where was the three-headed hellhound?
Jason was somewhat curious.
During the previous battle with the hundred-eyed giant Argus, it was because the three-headed hellhound Cerberus did not appear that things nearly went awry.
Orthrus originally did not want to pay Jason any attention.
But seeing Orthrus ignore him, Jason climbed onto its body, grabbed its ears, and shouted to Orthrus: "Lord Orthrus, where is Lord Cerberus? Where did it go!"
Orthrus had no choice but to open its eyes and look at Jason before it.
Looking at the Jason before it, who was so minuscule in comparison to itself.
Orthrus truly had an impulse to bite down and swallow this annoying fellow whole!
After all, in the end, it was because of Jason that Orthrus had become one of the hell's guard dogs, forever unable to return to the human world!
But... It did not dare.
Not to mention whether biting down would swallow the fellow or break its own teeth.
Just thinking of the 'dark forces' Jason had in the underworld, Orthrus could only let out a long sigh toward the heavens.
Woof woof woof!
Could not afford to provoke him. This fellow was truly unprovokable!
"That fellow Cerberus is now being watched by the Three Goddesses of Vengeance and is being punished in the deepest part of the underworld, Tartarus."
"Inside Tartarus, being punished?"
Jason was stunned, then said somewhat surprised to Orthrus: "Lord Orthrus, what did Lord Cerberus do? How did it suddenly get locked up in Tartarus?"
Orthrus did not answer, merely widening its eyes to look at Jason.
Even the snake on its tail behind it turned its gaze, joining the two dog heads in staring at Jason.
This naturally made Jason feel somewhat baffled.
Then, after pondering for a bit...
"Mm, could it be... Because of me?"
Evidently, Jason still had a certain degree of self-awareness as he pointed to himself, blinking his eyes at Orthrus and tentatively asked.
Orthrus still did not answer, continuing to look at Jason.
Thus, Jason thought some more, then as if recalling something, said: "Mm, wait... It could not be because of my senior brother's matter last time, right?"
Jason remembered. At that time, Hades seemed to have said that no living beings in the underworld were allowed to help... Even Hecate back then did not make a move.
Hecate merely handed over the item that the God of Light Apollo had asked to be passed on to Jason.
Orthrus laughed. The two dog heads, plus the snake head, all laughed together.
Then it lay down again, continuing to close its eyes and cover its ears.
Seeing this, Jason, having obtained the answer, could not help but feel somewhat embarrassed.
Jason was not stupid, so he naturally guessed that Cerberus had likely taken the blame for him... After all, last time he had caused such a huge commotion in the underworld, so he was the true culprit.
"Mm, in any case, I should go find Teacher Hecate first!"
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Jason guiltily glanced in the direction of the Tartarus abyss, then turned around and walked into the gates of hell.
A short while later, Jason arrived before the ferryman Charon.
As soon as Charon saw Jason, the nether fire in his skull flickered twice.
Then, before Jason, who was about to show a fawning smile, could say anything, Charon crossed his arms over his chest and directly cut off Jason's words, saying: "Not ferrying. Go yourself!"
"Grandpa Charon, I was wrong. You are magnanimous and do not hold grudges against petty people. Do not be angry with me anymore." Jason hurriedly admitted his fault, his attitude utterly sincere.
"No, I am not angry." Charon shook his head, looking at Jason and saying: "I am just curious how many more ways you have to cross this River Styx!"
"Grandpa Charon, do not be angry. I will not dare next time..."
"I really am not angry... Actually, you crossing by yourself saves me trouble, since you come to the underworld every few days."
Hearing this, Jason sized up Charon.
Because Charon was a skull, Jason momentarily could not tell if he was telling the truth or lying.
"Mm... Grandpa Charon, you really are not angry with me?"
"If I were really angry with you, would I have helped you last time? ...I would have thrown you into this River Styx long ago!"
Charon laughed, his skull making a laughing expression.
"Thrown in... Grandpa Charon, throwing me in would not help anyway. I am not a landlubber. I can swim."
"And Grandpa Charon, just ferry me over this time. I really have no way to go by myself this time. If you do not ferry me, I can only swim across myself."
"Do you not have that strange lyre?" Hearing this, Charon asked curiously.
"That was the lyre that Sea Queen Amphitrite lent me. I returned it to her later. Now I only have this on me..."
Saying this, Jason took out the seven-stringed lyre given to him by the God of Light Apollo.
This lyre did not have the ability to cross the river surface. Being able to leave the underworld with it that day was mainly because of the God of Light Apollo.
The function of the seven-stringed lyre was to dispel all darkness and purify filth.
Seeing this, Charon pondered for a moment, then said: "I see... Alright, this time I can ferry you over, but next time, figure out a way yourself."
"Eh..."
"I mean it seriously." Charon said to Jason: "You will be entering and exiting the underworld even more frequently from now on... This is good for both you and me."
"Mm... Grandpa Charon, do you perhaps know about the matter of me offering tribute to Brother-in-law Hades?" Jason's eyes turned, and he asked thoughtfully.
"Lord Underworld King gathered all of us last time and instructed us to try our best to fulfill all your requests in the next six months."
Charon explained simply.
Hearing this, Jason naturally understood.
"Alright, I get it, Grandpa Charon. I will figure out a way."
Then, after crossing the River Styx, it was not long before Jason arrived before the gates of Goddess Hecate's temple.
"Teacher Hecate, open the door, open the door..."
"Your teacher is not in!"
"...Teacher Hecate, pulling this trick every time. You do not get tired of it, but I am tired of it."
Not long after Jason finished speaking, Hecate, who opened the door, looked at the grinning Jason with very unkind eyes and gnashed her teeth: "You this wayward disciple... One day I will definitely expel you from the place!"
"Hehe, Teacher, how could you possibly expel me from this place? You could not bear to... Let us not talk about that. Teacher, I came to find you because I really have something!"
Jason said this, seeing Hecate's expression growing darker and knowing that continuing to tease would surely bring disaster upon him, so he hurriedly changed the topic.
"Really have something? ...Which time you came to find me was ever without trouble!"
Hecate glared at Jason, then huffily turned and walked into the temple.
Hearing this, Jason thought for a moment and found that it seemed to be true.
Almost every time he came to find Hecate, he brought her trouble... It was just like the situation when Jason encountered Hermes.
No wonder Hecate always wanted to avoid Jason.
"From the looks of it... I really am a wayward disciple."
Jason tilted his head, thoughtfully finishing, but immediately stopped caring and said: "Whatever, wayward disciple it is. Anyway, I am still a disciple."
"Eh, by the way, Teacher, do not walk so fast. Wait for me!"
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PS: The recent plot is wrapping up a major event and beginning a new arc, so there will be a bit of daily life.