"Demeter, please forgive the child."
Hestia spoke gently to Demeter. "You know he only acted according to the divine oracle. For my sake, will you let it go?"
With the earth regaining its vitality and Demeter's anger clearly subsided, Hestia began pleading on Jason's behalf.
It was evident that although they had only known each other for a few days, Hestia, who had praised Jason's beautiful eyes, had already grown fond of him.
The kind of fondness one feels toward a child.
At those words, Demeter glanced at Jason standing beside Hestia.
She fell silent.
At this point, although Demeter had not yet verbally relented, the restoration of life to the earth meant her anger had already dissipated by more than half.
Jason inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
This meant that the matter with the two goddesses, Demeter and Persephone, was finally settled.
The whole affair had taken Jason roughly half a year and had only been resolved relatively smoothly thanks to the help of numerous gods.
Though it involved several major gods, even Lord of the Underworld Hades and the hidden hand of God-King Zeus,
it also proved that Jason's belief that all gods were trouble was not without reason.
Jason then looked at Hestia beside him. He naturally understood that his own role in this incident had been minor; he had merely served as a messenger.
Had he not fortunately (and unfortunately) encountered Hestia, resolving the situation with Demeter would never have been this simple.
Even so, Jason felt no shame. As Hestia herself had said, after offending Demeter, he still had the courage to stand before her.
And part of his motivation had been his unwillingness to see countless living beings suffer because he had taken Persephone away. That alone was already commendable.
Especially since Jason was a transmigrator who, from the bottom of his heart, wanted nothing to do with these utterly unpredictable gods.
"I can forgive his rudeness toward me. I will not pursue the fact that he trespassed in my temple or took my daughter away."
After a long silence, Demeter finally spoke.
Her willingness to forgive was within Jason's expectations. After all, there was no deep hatred between them, and the very first thing Jason had said upon arriving was that Persephone had accepted him as her little brother.
Demeter, the ultimate daughter-obsessed goddess, would never lay a hand on him even just for Persephone's sake.
"But I have one condition."
Jason's expression did not change much. Demeter's condition was also within the scope of what steady Jason had anticipated.
Though it sounded troublesome, calming the anger of a major goddess made it clearly worthwhile.
"Please speak freely, Goddess Demeter," Jason said with utmost seriousness. "As long as it is within my power, I will definitely accomplish it for you!"
Jason assumed Demeter's condition would likely concern Persephone.
In that case, whether he asked his teacher, Persephone herself, or even Hades, it would be easy to arrange.
However…
How could anyone's life ever go completely smoothly?!
"I want him to stay and serve me for half a year!" Demeter declared, staring straight at Jason.
…Huh?
Jason froze.
"Serve you… for half a year?" Even Hestia frowned.
"Do not worry, big sister. I have no intention of using this opportunity to punish him," Demeter quickly clarified, knowing what Hestia was concerned about. "But he did take Persephone away. While she is gone, it is only fair that he takes my daughter's place and serves me, is it not?"
To be perfectly honest, the request was not excessive.
Compared to gods who casually assigned heroes "impossible" tasks, this was truly a simple one.
Moreover, Demeter had explicitly stated she would not punish Jason.
Half a year of service in exchange for a major goddess's forgiveness was an absolute bargain!
But…
No way!
Jason was stunned.
He naturally did not want to.
Spend half a year living with and serving a major goddess…? Absolutely not!
The mood swings of Greek gods were infamous throughout the future world.
Moreover, Jason had finally finished tempering his soul. He still needed to study magic under Teacher Hecate.
Relying on gods was external power. Only one's own strength was real and dependable!
Though Jason had once aspired to become Greece's greatest social butterfly, he also deeply understood that even social butterflies needed strength in this era.
Especially since he wanted to become immortal!
So no, definitely not!
Just as Jason was screaming internally while maintaining a calm exterior, both Hestia and Demeter turned to look at him.
"Um… I am truly sorry about this, Goddess Demeter."
Jason pretended to think long and hard before replying with difficulty, "Teacher Hecate and Sister Persephone are still waiting for me to report back, and I still need to continue my studies under Teacher Hecate…"
Just as Jason was racking his brains for an excuse,
"It is fine."
Hecate's voice suddenly rang out.
A underworld butterfly flew from the spatial pouch at Jason's waist, the one given to him by Athena. It scattered faint fluorescent light and formed a projection.
On the other side of the projection sat Hecate in her temple in the Underworld.
"Serving for half a year, I permit it. As for Persephone, I will speak to her later."
…Hecate, you unreliable teacher!
Hecate's brows furrowed slightly. She glanced at the expressionless Jason beside her, examined him for a moment, then turned to Demeter. "However, I hope the great goddess will agree to one small condition of mine.
For these six months, I want you to guarantee his safety. And I hope the great goddess will provide me with some rare herbs I need."
Demeter was the goddess of harvest. In her grief and rage she could wither the earth and kill all things, which meant she could also make anything grow rapidly.
Any rare herb of any age or quality was, to her, merely a matter of expending a little divine power.
…Damn it!
I get it now. My dear teacher, you absolutely sold me out for some herbs, didn't you?!
Hecate glanced at Jason again.
Though she could not hear what he was saying and his expression remained normal, Hecate somehow felt he was badmouthing her.
"No problem."
After brief consideration, Demeter nodded and agreed to Hecate's request. To her, these truly were minor matters.
Seeing this, Jason suddenly felt exhausted.
Utterly exhausted at heart.
Having such an unreliable teacher truly made one's heart weary!
With things having reached this point and even Jason's "guardian" Hecate having spoken, Hestia naturally did not object.
Only because she was a little worried did Hestia decide to stay for a few days, which moved Jason deeply.
Meanwhile, after ending the projection, Hecate immediately summoned Medea.
"Teacher Hecate, has Big Brother Jason returned?" The moment Medea arrived, she eagerly asked.
"No… but do not worry. Next, I will let you go meet your dear big brother." Hecate rolled her eyes at Medea, who had become like this after only meeting Jason a few times.
"Demeter has forgiven him, but the condition is that he must serve her for half a year. This happens to be a perfect opportunity.
Medea, you have been studying under me for over a year now. You have mastered most ordinary potion recipes. And as Jason's senior sister, you can take my place and go to Demeter's temple to teach him what you have learned."
"I will give you some seeds and special potion formulas later. Have Jason sweet-talk Demeter into giving him a medicinal field. Plant these and brew the potions, then make him drink them."
After obediently accepting them, Medea looked at Hecate in confusion. "Teacher, these are…?"
"Though Jason's body and soul have been cleansed by the inextinguishable flames and the waters of the Styx, his flesh is still that of a mortal. Both the exterior and interior need to be transformed, or he will not be able to withstand the burning of divine fire.
Originally, I planned to spend several years slowly searching for divine medicines to strengthen his essence, but with Demeter there, everything becomes much simpler."
"Oh, I understand, Teacher." Upon hearing it was for Jason's benefit, Medea carefully put everything away and nodded obediently.
Hecate continued, "Persephone is my friend, and Jason has been accepted as her little brother. Demeter will not mistreat you two; she should even treat you quite well.
There are probably many rare items there. Medea, you can also use this time to collect some divine-grade herbs."
"As for how you will enter the temple where Demeter currently resides… once you leave the Underworld, go to a city under the protection of Goddess of Wisdom Athena and seek Athena herself.
She will be more than happy to help you, because right now she is probably losing her mind trying to figure out what happened."
At this point, Hecate could not help smiling.
The Jason she had practically in her grasp had flown away again, and this was the second time Athena had been frustrated. For a goddess of wisdom who almost never failed, it would be impossible not to go mad.
"Also, when you see Jason, tell my dear disciple to behave himself a little. Just because he has Hades's protection now does not mean I cannot guess what he is thinking!"
Medea listened and secretly smiled at the sight of Hecate gritting her teeth.
Finally, Hecate suddenly sighed and said to Medea, "Lastly, remind him not to play unnecessary little tricks. After all, he is my student. There are things I do not say for his own good…
Never mind. Let him decide for himself. I have said what needed to be said. If he truly wants to seek the truth, I will not tell him, but I will not stop him either."
After giving all her instructions, Medea left the Underworld.
Hecate, now alone in her temple, originally thought she could finally relax, return to her experiments, and stop worrying about troublesome matters.
Yet after only a few experiments, every single one ended in explosions…
"Aaaaaargh… This is so annoying! Why do I care so much? Whether the gods live or die, which path he chooses, what does any of it have to do with me?!"
With a loud slam, Hecate irritably smashed the object in her hand onto the table.
"That wretched disciple! I really took in a wretched disciple! I never should have gotten involved with that little rascal in the first place!"