Dancing in the Legendary Sea - Chapter 6 Part 2

By now, Lokira had even forgotten to breathe. She shrugged her shoulders with caution. Orionis added hesitantly as if he was misunderstood for harboring any intention to repeat the previous action.

“Please stay still. I’m not trying to do anything! I have always heard about Delos, and Shinsu (*Divine Water) with power to do what you were doing earlier. I didn’t think there was a girl like you…..”

Orionis swallowed while trying to say something more. Lokira could notice it. Perhaps a complicated situation outside that could not be told to her now, crossed her mind. She was curious about something other than that.

“Divine? I am a beast that will bring chaos to the world, the high priest said that I have to hide in the sanctuary. For that reason, I should never show myself publicly to people.”

“Those were only rumors, except for the omission that the doe is kept in captivity!” Orionis shouted with a loud voice. The wound must have hurt suddenly, so he frowned and picked up the medicine scattered on the floor. Lokira was surprised that he recognized herbs without explanation. Orionis continued again.

“If you didn’t know it before, know it now. Shinsu is a precious commodity. Shinsu has a priceless ransom tag. The rumors spread about it is that it’s ferocious. Because just having it supersedes everything else and raises a person’s status.”

“Why the hell is that…….?”

“Two decades ago, there was a new man in Crete. Prince Soma* who was born by a corrupted Queen.” (* The myth said the prince was named Asterion).

Lokira flinched at the mention of the familiar story. The Minotaur of Crete was a precedent that the high priest often used to teach her.

“Thanks to that, Crete has good business. They built a grand labyrinth and put pressure to support maintenance costs and various manpower at each alliance meeting. A mysterious guardian. Other countries forced themselves to curry favor because they feared that Shinsu would harm their land.”

“The high priest said that the king offered a human sacrifice to be eaten by the Shinsu.”

“It’s a story that Crete made up because it’s too incredulous to believe.”

Orionis roughly crushed the pain medicine. He began to rub the juice from his hand into the wound. Lokira was at a loss for words because he used a primitive treatment method in contrast to the century old healing tips she learned at the temple. Also, because his words seemed to make more sense than the stories she has ever learned.

“So, Theseus, the present king of Athens – it was said that he was young at that time and he traveled quite a bit. He said he didn’t believe the story, so he disguised himself and went to Crete. The truth was revealed only when he entered the labyrinth. The prince, who was called an ox-headed monster, was simply someone who experienced a problem with his head during birth and also suffered asphyxiation.”

Even though Lokira opened her eyes wide and drooled at the unbelievable story. Orionis said more.

“King Minos was a coward. While confining his son who was difficult to get rid of, he put out a rumor about his son as if he was concerned about it. For the sake of national interest, he even spread rumors that his wife was unclean.”

“Well, how did you know that?”

“Atlantis is close to Crete. The news from there is more detailed than the upper neighborhood of my own country.”

He said that as if she was asking the obvious. Lokira couldn’t believe it. So what was all that ‘education’ she received from the high priest? Has she been beaten countless times to avoid becoming a human-eating monster?

Orionis put on a smile. “In a situation where it is impossible to know if there is a god or not, all the stories about fighting monsters are like that. How about Perseus choosing and killing the sisters? In fact, it is said that they took the snake venom refining method that was monopolized by the female family of a certain family. A paralytic drug that is so versatile that it can be used for many purposes.”

“So, then, it’s an advantage that Delos has me too……?” Lokira said, trying to manage the shock. In fact, she wanted to deny it.  It couldn’t be. Maybe this man was trying to deceive her. If not so, for what reason did she have to live locked up here?  But this man’s words seemed to make sense. Based on what she had heard from him so far, the philtering sisters who knew how to make paralytic drugs were much more plausible than the monster sisters who turned people into stones. Other than her, the only monsters she encountered were in old stories. But if we were talking about potioneers and philterers, there were still a lot of them! Orionis finally found the wrappers. He wrapped it around the wound and exhaled a bitter breath.

“In my opinion, you are roughly the same.”

“….”

“Those are lies. These days, the right to arbitrate sanctuary is stronger than ever. The little boy who is the owner here is the incarnation of Apollo. In addition, there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders to protect Artemis’s beast.”

Lokira got confused. Everything that she heard and learned became unfamiliar. She had no idea. She didn’t expect that her existence was known outside the sanctuary, or even how it was being told. She felt like the whole world had gone topsy-turvy and disorganized. Orionis looked in her eyes and added in a low voice,

“So……It’s funny for a person who killed someone to say this, but don’t beg while being punished. I will wonder if it’s a real deer, I’ll catch a girl like you and see it for myself.”

As if she was trying to diminish the threat just a little, Lokira’s face turned red while reflecting on the fuss he made.

“But, my horns are real.”

“That’s just all it is. Some people are born with tails. Some people are born twins. It’s no big deal if your hair grew longer than others.” He spat out loudly. “I’m a blasphemous bastard who doesn’t believe in God. I’ve always suspected Delos’ fortune, but I’m so relieved to find out (the truth) .”

He rolled up the pillowcase and threw it at Lokira.

“Go back up.”

“Ah….”

“Thank you for the food and medicine.”

He muttered, and suddenly his eyes opened wide.

“Now don’t interfere. I said before that women I associate with me die. Don’t get caught like an idiot and get back fast before you get beaten to death.”

Lokira quickly got up, hugging the pillowcase and the water pouch. Come to think of it, she had taken too long. She ran out under the moonlight to go back quickly.

Then, suddenly, she remembered that she had forgotten one thing. The man told her his name but she didn’t tell him her name yet.

“I, my name…. It’s okay to call me Kira.”

She then realized how she was speaking more naturally than before. She didn’t have the courage to say this to anyone other than Roxias. Orionis said,”Oh,”and turned to the other side. Soon he laid down on the floor.

Then, Lokira jumped up the stone steps. New learning now filled her chest, different from before she went down. A monster with deer antlers on its head, neither human nor beast. A curse by Artemis. She has always been told to suppress her vicious nature and be ashamed of herself. But the man was bizarre. He said he was a killer, and he didn’t beat the monster to death. She affirmed that the feeling was amazing.

“Orionis. Orion. Atlantis is his home….”

He told her not to intervene again. However, Lokira already knew she couldn’t stop this from escalating anymore.