Fate: I Heard After Death, You Can Ascend to the Throne of Heroes?

In the twilight of the evening, Promise turned his head to see Athena leaning over, her silver hair falling onto his shoulders.

The two of them exchanged glances for a moment.

"Wait—" Promise's eyes widened as he instinctively stood up and raised his voice, "Goddess Athena, why are you here…!"

Before he could react further to her sudden appearance, a strong wave of dizziness overwhelmed him.

As the world spun and his vision darkened, Athena, as if anticipating this, reached out and caught the staggering boy in her arms.

After a while, Promise finally came to his senses.

Feeling the softness and fragrance of the goddess, just as he was beginning to enjoy the moment and relax, he suddenly remembered that this goddess was Athena.

Not only was she the Goddess of Wisdom, but she, like Artemis, was a virgin goddess!

Realizing this, his body stiffened, and he quickly pulled away from Athena's embrace.

The latter blinked her golden eyes and smiled at Promise, saying, "You can rest a bit longer. I don't mind."

"No, no, thank you, Athena…" Promise forced a smile and tried to stop himself from taking a step back.

'It's fine, Promise, even though she's a virgin goddess like Artemis, it doesn't mean she's a romantic fool like Artemis!'

"Hmm…" Athena squinted slightly, her golden eyes seeming to see right through Promise, giving him immense psychological pressure.

She sensed that he was thinking something inappropriate and had the ability to read his thoughts directly, but in the end, she chose not to.

Glancing at the radiant image of herself in the painting beside them and then looking back at Promise, recalling the surprises he had given her today...hm she decided to be forgiving.

"Did you always know who I was?"

As she spoke, Athena took two steps forward and, from who knows where, produced a golden apple, which she personally fed to Promise.

Then, with barely restrained excitement, she approached the painting.

While Promise, still chewing on the golden apple, watched, Athena carefully picked up the painting and examined it, showing the most genuine, beautifully serene smile she had ever revealed.

The sunset bathed her in its glow, and the breeze outside rustled her waist-length silver hair.

In this moment, Athena, though not as dazzling as in the painting, exuded a gentle beauty.

Promise, who had engraved this beautiful scene in his mind, almost couldn't resist the urge to sit down and capture this exquisite moment on canvas again.

Resisting his artistic impulse, he took a bite of the golden apple. 

As it melted in his mouth and a warm current surged through his body, rejuvenating his spirits, Promise finally shook his head and responded to Athena, "No, I didn't know."

After a slight pause, he continued, "I just felt halfway through that this was the real you…"

As he spoke, he glanced at the painting.

Indeed, Promise didn't know at first. 

It was only halfway through when he felt the inconsistency that his mind pieced together Athena's true likeness.

And once he completed the painting, he knew who she was.

"...It seems Hera was right."

Hearing this, Athena turned her gaze from the painting back to Promise.

She remarked, "You truly are an exceptional child."

Promise was a genius.

Even though he was indeed at the bottom of Chiron's class, in the realm of painting, he was truly a prodigy, with a talent that could only be described as astonishing!

After all, he had surpassed Chiron completely in just three years.

The reason Promise never cared about this wasn't because he was unaware of his own abilities.

Besides Chiron's reluctance to talk about it to prevent him from using it as an excuse to leave the mountain, the main reason was that the legend inscribed on his Heroic Spirit Class Card didn't include this aspect.

So Promise always saw it as a hobby, not paying it much mind.

But he didn't realize that the reason it wasn't inscribed on the card was simply because he hadn't created a painting that could be considered legendary.

And now, clearly, he had done so!

Faced with Athena's praise, he wasn't particularly pleased. 

Instead, he thought of something else, and his gaze toward the goddess grew strange.

"Is something wrong?" Athena tilted her head slightly.

"Well... it's nothing significant," Promise hesitated, thought for a moment, and finally couldn't help but say, "It's just, Athena, do you remember the oracle you gave to Jason?"

"Of... course..." Athena, who had nodded instinctively, suddenly realized what he meant.

This was essentially admitting that she had known all along that Hera had mistaken someone else for Jason.

So the farce that morning...

The atmosphere suddenly grew silent.

Athena blinked, looking at Promise, and the latter blinked back at her.

After a long moment...

"Yes, the painting is really good."

Athena, shifting her gaze, expressed her admiration for the painting.

"It's an honor to receive your praise, Athena."

Promise replied dutifully.

They tacitly agreed not to continue discussing that matter.

However...

It turns out, dealing with virgin goddesses is really so much trouble!

He had already known that these gods cared about nothing but their own entertainment.

If he were a normal person aspiring to be something else other than what he was aspiring to be, he would have really hated and resented this goddess, who just saw her own amusement and didn't care that this so called amusement would take two innocent lives. 

Sure..

'Athena is absolutely unreliable. '

'I need to stay away from her from now on!'

Even though he wanted to die.. but he only wanted to die and did not wish to be turn into some animal o tree. 

Athena glanced at Promise, who still seemed to be smiling, and felt amused.

Although she hadn't pried into his thoughts, given her wisdom, she could roughly guess what he was thinking from his demeanor.

However, Athena was in a particularly good mood today. 

So instead of getting angry, she found his demeanor somewhat endearing.

Smiling gently, she admired the painting and asked, "By the way, Promise, what is your wish?"

"My wish?" The latter looked at Athena in confusion.

"Yes," she nodded. "Since you have offered me a tribute, I should grant you a favor in return. So... tell me your wish."

As she spoke, Athena looked at Promise again and said, "Just like Jason's wish is to become a king and reclaim his throne."

"Tell me your wish, and I shall make it come true!"

...When did I offer it to you?

Looking at Athena, who was clearly captivated by the painting in her arms, Promise wisely kept that question to himself.

As for his wish, did he even need to think about it?

"I want to become a hero..."

Athena glanced at Promise with some surprise, given his frail appearance.

However, in the age of ancient Greece, such dreams were normal, so she didn't think much of it. 

She was just about to nod when...

"And die gloriously on the path to becoming a hero!"

...Huh?

Athena blinked, looked at the boy, hesitated for a moment, and then asked uncertainly, "Did you just say..."

"To become a hero!"

"No, the last part."

"To die gloriously!"

Athena remained silent for a while. As a well-traveled goddess, she had heard all sorts of wishes, but this wish...

"Are you sure you don't want to become a hero and enjoy the glory and praise?" Shr couldn't help but ask.

"No, while I do hope people will sing of my legends, I more desire to die in a grand epic, a heroic sacrifice."

"To have my legend live on forever!"

Looking at the boy, who was shaking his head and growing more excited and passionate as he spoke, the goddess fell silent.

After all, she could discern lies and sense the determination in Promise's words.

"I think I understand why you haven't been allowed to leave the mountain and why Chiron is still overseeing you..."

'It's one thing to say you want to die gloriously, but basically, you just have a death wish!'

"But that's not a bad dream!" Athena smiled.

Anyone else might hesitate or be confused, but not her. 

She was Athena.

Mother of Heroes!

In ancient Greece, she was always either causing trouble or on her way to cause trouble.

So this was right up her alley!

Moreover, Athena finally understood Clotho's prophecy about Promise.

"He too will bring you glory!"

Thus,

"I accept." She agreed readily.

Facing this frail youth, probably the most fragile she had ever seen, who yearned to become a hero and meet a grand end, Athena gave her response and made the vow she would regret for the rest of her life...

"I swear by the name of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, that Promise, the student of Chiron, will become a shining star of this era under my witness."

"And when that time comes, I will grant you an end that will astonish the world."

"Let the world sing your name, and let your legend be eternal!"