"We've arrived!!"
"Yes! All that remains is to take the Golden Fleece!!"
We saw that the ship had finally reached Colchis, where the Golden Fleece was kept, and the heroes aboard raised their voices in delight.
After that, we all disembarked and made our way to the palace of Colchis.
Passing through the great golden gates at the palace entrance, we entered the audience chamber and came face to face with the King of Colchis, seated upon his throne.
"I am the prince of Iolcus in Greece. And those who came with me are the famed heroes of Greece."
"You are honored guests from afar, so I must see that you are treated well."
Once we met the king, Jason stepped forward first and spoke with him, and the King of Colchis welcomed us warmly and had a meal prepared for us.
The banquet hall was exceedingly splendid.
The King of Colchis treated the heroes from Iolcus as true guests of honor, and upon the table were piled mountains of delicacies even I, as king, had never seen before.
"Come, eat your fill! Warriors of Greece. You must have suffered much on the long road here."
At the king's boisterous voice, Jason relaxed and threw himself into the conversation.
But beside me, the situation was somewhat different.
The reason was that whenever the noblewomen and maids of Colchis, entranced by my silver hair and appearance, tried to edge closer, Atalanta would cut in front of them with lightning speed.
"Oh my, who might that silver-haired knight be..."
"Move. He is in the middle of a meal."
Atalanta growled in a low voice and shoved the approaching women back with her elbow.
For a moment, it felt as though her gaze belonged to a lion whose territory had been invaded.
"Atalanta, there's no need to be so sharp..."
"Be quiet and eat. The air here is foul."
She answered curtly and tossed a piece of meat onto my plate. I gave a dry laugh and took a sip of wine.
As the banquet deepened, the King of Colchis raised his cup and got to the point.
"So. Why have the prince and heroes of Greece come all this way?"
"We have come to take the golden fleece kept in this land."
"W-What did you say? You came to take the golden fleece?!"
At Jason's answer, the King of Colchis's expression suddenly hardened, and he fixed us with a sharp gaze.
"Yes. That fleece originally belonged to Prince Phrixus, my kinsman. And I must bring it back if I am to ascend to the throne."
Yet Jason, perhaps not noticing the change, continued in a proud tone.
"Just like the fellow beside me here."
As he said that, he pointed at me, and as a result the King of Colchis's gaze shifted from Jason to me.
"Jason. You..."
"...Prince of Iolcus. Who is that man, to make you speak so?"
"I am Astellon, King of Eirene."
"A-king?!"
At my words, the King of Colchis was startled and stared at me.
"A king of a nation... What business do you have here?"
"I entrusted the affairs of state to my father and came aboard as a warrior."
The King of Colchis's eyes changed in an instant.
What he had taken for nothing more than an adventure of heroes now revealed, at its center, a reigning king with real authority seated here as a warrior, and that fact pressed upon the King of Colchis with considerable weight.
He stroked his beard and looked me up and down.
"The King of Eirene, then... To think the ruler of a nation would personally row and wield a sword to come all this way. The kings of Greece are indeed full of spirit."
The King of Colchis's voice held both caution and curiosity.
He abandoned the light manner he had shown toward Jason, straightened his back, and faced me formally.
Thinking about it, if I were in his place and a foreign king had come from far away, I would be shocked as well... Damn it.
"King Astellon. Why has one of your stature joined this perilous voyage? Is it merely to recover the throne for that young prince?"
"There are several reasons, but..."
I set down my wine cup and answered.
"The greatest reason is that I wished to see what sort of land this is. I wanted to see for myself what lies at the edge of the world, and how the order established there differs from my own country."
Perhaps pleased by my answer, the King of Colchis let out a low laugh.
But that laughter soon turned cold.
"Very well. But the Golden Fleece is the sacred emblem that guards Colchis. Even if you are a king of another land, I cannot hand it over empty-handed."
Emptying his cup, he continued as though issuing a decree.
"At dawn tomorrow, come out to the plain. There are two bronze-footed bulls there that breathe fire from their mouths. Tame those beasts, plow the field, and scatter dragon's teeth upon it. If you can subdue all the warriors that rise from that ground, then I shall gladly give you the fleece."
The banquet hall fell silent as though cold water had been poured over it. Jason's face turned ashen, and Atalanta gripped her bow tightly, as if in fury.