Medea, as mentioned before, was a woman who could not be avoided no matter how one discussed the hero Jason.
This point still applied even to the current Jason.
Because the goddess of the crossroads, Hecate, had become entangled with Jason precisely because of Medea.
Hecate had gone to see Jason in his childhood out of consideration for Medea.
In the end, this led to the matter of him becoming her disciple.
Thus, it was fated that there would inevitably be an inseparable entanglement between the two of them.
And the center of this entanglement was none other than this voyage for the Golden Fleece!
...
In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.
When another seabird took a sweet fruit from Jason's hand and flew away, and the compass given to him by the goddess of wisdom, Athena, was put away.
This journey that had lasted half a year finally reached its destination.
On the distant Black Sea coast, the land of the rare treasure, the Golden Fleece, known as Colchis, had finally arrived!
This voyage had taken a full half year in total.
Even subtracting the initial time to build the Argo and wait for the heroes to gather, the Argo had sailed on the sea for several months.
Along the way, they had truly experienced many things.
This was true not only for Jason but also for the other members on the ship.
It should be known that during the month Jason was away, if not for the wise centaur Chiron coming at Jason's request, the Argo would almost have disbanded.
But in any case, this long journey finally welcomed its end!
When the seabird soared freely in the sky, Jason conveyed this exciting news to everyone on the ship.
Immediately after, cheers and heated discussions erupted from the crew!
Then, as the excited heroes prepared to disembark onto the land...
"Master Jason, may I ask if I can accompany you this time?"
The blue-haired, blue-eyed ship spirit suddenly appeared before Jason and cast him a pitiful gaze.
"Accompany me?" Jason was slightly stunned and asked the Argo with some confusion: "You can come with me?"
As he spoke, Jason lowered his head and looked at the massive warship beneath his feet.
It was the gift given to him, crafted together by his teacher Hecate, Hephaestus, and the goddess of wisdom!
"Of course, my master." Seeing that Jason had no intention of refusing, the ship spirit happily said to him.
A short while later, everyone saw the continent of Colchis.
When the ship docked at the port, they encountered soldiers from the kingdom of Colchis.
"Welcome your arrival, heroes from distant Greece."
An elder stepped out from among the soldiers and said to them: "I am the seer of Colchis. I have learned of your existence from the mouths of the gods.
I also know of your great voyage this time.
The king of Colchis, Aeëtes, has sent me to formally invite you. Please, heroes, accompany me to meet the great King Aeëtes."
Hearing this, although everyone felt somewhat surprised, it was clearly not a bad thing, so they gladly agreed.
While the seer spoke, the soldiers who had been waiting and the passersby on the road looked up with shocked gazes at this grand and sacred Argo warship.
After all, in this era, such a massive warship was unique!
Then, following Chiron's instructions, Jason had Theseus, Meleager, and a few others carry olive branches symbolizing peace and disembark from the Argo.
Atalanta rode down on her pegasus.
The pegasus brother was not good-tempered with everyone. On the Argo, aside from Jason and Atalanta, he was even unwilling to carry Chiron.
Once all the heroes had disembarked, Jason noticed that the ship spirit had not followed, so he stopped and was about to turn back to ask her to come down.
To everyone's surprise, the Argo suddenly emitted a dazzling light, and numerous magic circles activated simultaneously.
Then, the massive Argo burst with brilliant light, causing a commotion as it turned into golden particles and gradually disappeared bit by bit.
In the end, beside Jason, it coalesced into the form of the blue-haired, blue-eyed ship spirit.
"You have this ability too?"
Ignoring the surrounding commotion, Jason looked at the ship spirit with equal surprise.
"Yes." The ship spirit nodded lightly and replied softly to Jason: "This is an ability woven for me by the goddess of the crossroads, Hecate, at the suggestion of the goddess Athena... The goddess Athena said that you would not often travel by sea and would frequently move around on land.
Therefore, to make it convenient to carry you and provide support, this is a necessary ability."
"Is that so?" Jason was stunned for a moment. "How come I did not know... It is not written in the Argo user manual you gave me."
Hearing this, the ship spirit's face flushed slightly, and she said shyly: "Master, could you please not mention the manual anymore... The reason it is not there is because the goddess Athena said that when you learned of this, you would definitely be very surprised, and she insisted I keep it secret from you."
Hearing this, Jason blinked and thought for a moment, realizing that it did indeed fit Athena's personality. That mischievous goddess might even now be hiding somewhere, secretly laughing at his shocked expression.
"Then, do you have any other hidden functions?"
"This..."
Seeing the ship spirit's hesitant appearance, Jason could not help but roll his eyes and said: "Forget it, you do not need to say. I already know... The goddess Athena did not let you tell me, right?"
"Little master is so smart!"
Their conversation did not ease the surrounding commotion.
It was only when the self-proclaimed seer of Colchis stepped forward calmly and declared it a miracle from the great gods that the soldiers' discussions gradually subsided.
"Whenever you do something, can you make a little less noise?"
Atalanta led her pegasus over and scolded Jason: "Do you not dislike being stared at like this by others?"
The pegasus nodded and neighed softly: "Exactly, exactly!"
"This is not my fault. I did not know either."
Jason spread his hands helplessly.
After this small interlude, the heroes accompanied the soldiers of Colchis and headed toward the kingdom of Colchis.
It did not change much, but as time passed, the soldiers, including the seer, looked at Jason with added reverence.
Because from their inquiries, they had learned from the crew that this handsome man, who resembled the sun god Apollo, was their valiant captain, and the woman attending him at his side was the magnificent Argo, just built by the gods!
When the heroes boasted about these things to them, each one had an exceptionally proud and smug expression, as if they were talking about themselves.
"These guys... It feels like you have successfully brainwashed them all."
Seeing this, Atalanta could not help but mutter beside Jason.
Before Jason could respond, Atalanta asked again: "By the way, where is your senior sister and junior sister?"
"She seems not to have come..."
At this point, Jason's expression also showed some confusion.
Because that should not be the case. Medea could not possibly not know that he had arrived.
Logically speaking, she should have come running excitedly to greet him.
As Jason thought this, he also recalled if there was anything else he had not noticed.
But after sorting through it, he found nothing noteworthy...
While Jason was pondering, the elder seer led the group to a clearing in the forest, where a massive magic circle was engraved on the ground.
After having everyone enter it, the seer raised his hands high and called out to the distant kingdom of Colchis: "Lady Circe, the witch, I have brought the warriors from the distant lands. Please transport us back to the kingdom of Colchis!"
Circe?
Hearing the seer's words, Jason was stunned.
At the same time, stunned was the extremely beautiful nymph who had traveled with the heroes, Scylla.
Yes, it was the nymph who, upon hearing Jason play the seven-stringed lyre bestowed by the sun god Apollo, shed her siren shell and returned to her form as a nymph.
The nymph who had been persecuted by Circe!
She had never left. Since boarding the Argo that day, it was because Jason had promised her that he would give her a resolution.
During the underworld trip, Jason had mentioned this to Hecate and stated that he would handle it properly.
This was the reason Circe received the divine oracle from Hecate, claiming she had something to handle and coming to Colchis.
However, Circe did not know that Hecate, finding it troublesome, had not specified what it was and simply told her to stay here for some matter.
And upon hearing that she could meet the mysterious little junior brother, Circe came without a second thought.
Completely unaware that she had been set up by her teacher...
During this brief daze, the magic circle suddenly emitted a dazzling light, enveloping everyone and causing them to instinctively close their eyes.
When they opened their eyes, they were already in a small grove outside the kingdom of Colchis.
Just as everyone was somewhat surprised...
"You must be the little junior brother, right?"
Jumping down from a large tree, the pink-haired, rainbow-eyed witch Circe appeared directly before Jason.
As for how she could identify Jason at a glance from everyone present...
Well, just think about how eye-catching that spotless, sacred white robe was!
Circe examined the Jason before her, while Jason also examined her.
This was Hecate's first disciple, Medea's aunt, and the sister of the king of Colchis, Aeëtes.
Incidentally, King Aeëtes was the son of the sun god Helios.
Yes, the sun god Helios who drove the sun chariot.
So even before meeting, one could anticipate the scene when Jason would meet King Aeëtes...
As Jason gazed at the beautiful witch before him, his eyes drawn to her pointed ears, just like Medea's, he smiled and said to Circe: "Senior Sister Circe, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Jason, Teacher Hecate's youngest student. I have long known of your existence from Teacher Hecate's stories, and I am very happy to meet you now."
Circe did not respond to Jason's words. Her rainbow-colored eyes simply gazed at him with admiration.
It must be known that regarding Jason's growth, even the gods, who were extremely picky and obsessed with beauty to the extreme, could find no flaws.
Whether in appearance or temperament, it was enough for him to stand out.
Thus, after a moment of scrutiny, Circe could not help but mutter: "No wonder, no wonder Medea has always been unwilling to let me see you. Even this time, with Teacher's order, she had quite a few complaints...
Little junior brother, may I ask if you have a wife..."
Circe's outstretched hand had not yet grasped him when a gust of wind sounded, and her stomach took a solid hit...
"Circe, I have been waiting for you for a long time!"
Along with it came Scylla's furious voice.
Seeing Scylla's angry appearance, the heroes nearby could not help but be stunned.
Usually, Scylla, this nymph, was very gentle on the ship, to the point that everyone had basically forgotten she was once a dangerous siren.
"Wait, wait, Nymph Scylla, wait a moment!"
Seeing Scylla punch Circe flying and prepare to follow up with a heavy blow in her fierce manner, the momentarily astonished Jason hurriedly stepped forward to stop her.
Normally, no one could stop her, as Scylla had seen the culprit who had tormented her for who knows how many years.
But the one intervening was Jason, who had touched her curse.
Thus, Scylla unwillingly stopped.
"What are you doing!" Circe, clutching her stomach, naturally glared at Scylla with extreme depression and anger, while saying to Jason: "Junior brother, who is she? Why does she come at me like she wants to kill me right away!"
"Circe, look at me. Look at me properly. Who am I!"
Scylla glared angrily at Circe.
Circe looked at Scylla depressedly for a while and said: "Who are you? I do not know you at all!"
"You really do not recognize me?" Scylla widened her eyes.
"I really do not know you. Who are you? You suddenly punch me. Do you know who I am..."
"I know exactly who you are, that is why I want to hit you. Circe, let me ask you, do you remember the name Scylla? ...Let me ask you again, do you remember the name Glaucus!"
Hearing the name Scylla, Circe looked blank, but adding the name Glaucus...
Circe's eyes gradually widened, clearly remembering.
"Senior Sister Circe, if I am not mistaken, Teacher Hecate asked you to come here, right? The matter is actually like this. It was I who asked Teacher Hecate..."
Jason stood between the two, about to speak up to explain and thinking about how to mediate the situation.
"Hahaha... Little junior brother, see you later. We will talk next time we meet!"
To Jason's shock, the embarrassed Circe laughed twice, and in the next second, she transformed into an eagle and fled directly...
"Circe, do not run! Stop right there!"
Seeing this, Scylla nodded apologetically to Jason and immediately chased after her.
After they left, the people standing in place were at a loss for a moment, not knowing how to react.
Even Jason was the same for a while.
After all, Circe had run away far too decisively...
"Ahem, heroes from distant lands, why do you not follow me first to meet the great King Aeëtes of Colchis?"
In the end, it was the elder seer who remembered his mission, cleared his throat, and asked the Argo crew.
Everyone looked at each other, and finally, all gazes converged on Jason.
Jason hesitated for a moment, then looked at the ship spirit beside him.
"Argo, could I trouble you? Go watch over them and try not to let things get out of hand."
"As you command, my master."
The Argo nodded lightly, then burst into extremely fast speed, chasing after the two.
She was originally an excellent creation of the god of craftsmen, Hephaestus, and after subsequent modifications, even more so.
Although the ship spirit had not fought with this body until now, even great heroes like Theseus and Heracles would find it challenging to face her.
After all, this was a gift made jointly by three goddesses, no less, who had reached the pinnacle in their respective divine domains!
With her going to "mediate," Jason felt at ease. Then, he followed the elder seer toward the interior of the kingdom of Colchis.