"Queen of Olympus."
Those were the words Aster heard from the woman standing before him.
A being straight out of mythology, revered by countless followers. She was described as the mother of mothers, the goddess of marriage, the goddess of vows, and a deity of prosperity. All of these titles had been bestowed upon her by humanity.
There were also darker ones, such as Merciless Queen and Cold Goddess, but none of those had ever been proven.
Looking at her now, while Hera watched him with a smile that seemed to understand exactly what he was feeling, Aster felt somewhat nervous and incredulous.
"Wait, wait."
He raised his hand and narrowed his eyes at her.
"Let me see if I understood this correctly. You!"
He pointed at her.
"You’re the Queen of Olympus, right?"
She nodded with a smile.
"That’s correct! I just told you that."
"You’re also Zeus’s wife, the King of Olympus, correct?"
He asked again, this time more calmly.
"Ex-wife."
She answered in the sharpest tone possible.
"But your words are correct."
Her face now carried a frown, very different from the smile she had worn moments ago.
Aster noticed her mood worsening.
"So I summoned you, and when you arrived, you shouted that you were going to kill Zeus. Is that right?"
"Yes, yes. Absolutely correct."
She answered with a wide smile, now much more animated as she mentioned her desire to kill the man who had once been her husband.
Aster tilted his head.
"Why do you want to kill your ex-husband?"
He asked, genuinely curious about the family drama.
"That..."
She thought for a few moments, as though deciding whether she should tell him.
Then she shook her head.
"I’m sorry, but I don’t believe this is the right time."
Seeing that she had no interest in continuing, Aster gave up... for now.
"All right."
He put the matter aside.
He had too much to do and no time to worry about it at the moment.
’System, show me Hera’s status.’
?? ──────────────────────────────────── ??
Name: Hera
Title: [Queen of Olympus] — [Goddess of Fertility and Abundance]
Age: ???
Race: Divine
Rank: Divinity [Peak] — [Sealed]
Authority: [Fertility] — [Abundance]
Description: "Her Authorities in their full power have been lost, leaving only abilities of lesser impact. She can recover them again over time!"
Level: 1 [Added to the laws of the current cosmos!]
Trust: 37%
"She is studying you to draw her own conclusions. She prefers to wait and observe before deciding whether you are worthy of her trust and of being followed. She is afraid to place her hopes in you because there is something she deeply desires, but she does not yet know whether you are capable of helping her."
?? ──────────────────────────────────── ??
"Expected of a Goddess, but..."
Aster paused as he examined her status.
"It’s incomplete... Why?"
He asked.
Several pieces of information were missing, such as Strength, Dexterity, Speed, Intelligence, Mana, and Charm.
"And there’s more..."
His gaze stopped on a specific point.
"Authorities?"
What did that mean?
[Authority is achieved when your mastery over a concept, affinity, or ability reaches an extremely high level. It can only be exercised from the Sage Rank onward, when you begin to touch the truths of the universe and your affinities, abilities, and concepts become what are known as Laws, also referred to as Authorities. They allow you to touch the deeper rules of the cosmos.]
The Guide briefly explained inside his mind.
’In short... it’s a level of power so great that it would be pointless for me to try to understand any of it right now.’
[Precisely!]
[The reason is that it would make no difference. Anything I tried to explain about Laws right now would make no sense to your mind, and you would understand none of it. To begin comprehending them, you need to become closer to the cosmos. In other words, you need to reach the Sage Rank.]
’That makes sense. Your explanation only gave me the idea that it’s something much greater, but I didn’t understand any of the actual content. So it’s better to leave it alone for now.’
That kind of conversation was on a completely different level from Aster’s current understanding. There was no point in dwelling on it.
[There are circumstances that even I don’t fully understand. I only have some information.]
That was all the Guide said, and Aster did not press the matter.
Finally, there was one last thing that had caught his attention.
"Trust..."
He murmured.
’Guide... is this part just a meter?’
[Besides measuring the trust your summons have in you, when it reaches 100%, her Skills tab will appear on the status screen, allowing you to copy one of her skills.]
’That’s useful.’
She surely had some powerful abilities.
’But more than anything... I need to make her completely trust me to avoid problems in the future.’
Only a few seconds passed while Aster thought.
Hera continued watching him, assuming that he was still processing the situation, so she decided to leave him alone while looking around.
All Hera could see was a dense forest and the altar nearby.
"Aster..."
Hera called.
"Where are the others?"
Aster snapped out of his thoughts at her question.
Tilting his head, he repeated it.
"The others?"
"Your soldiers, your summons, inhabitants... structures..."
She looked around.
"All I see is wilderness around us. Why did you summon me here instead of your kingdom?"
"Ah!"
Aster finally understood what she was asking.
She had assumed that he already possessed an established territory, a government, and people working around him.
How would she react when she discovered that she was the first person he had summoned?
Aster gave her a small smile.
"Well... this is my kingdom."
Hera turned toward him with a... strange expression.
"Pardon?"
Perhaps she thought she had heard him incorrectly.
Aster shrugged.
"Look... this is my empire."
He paused briefly.
"Well... more specifically, it will be."
Hera stood there, trying to open her mouth and say something, but every time she tried, no words came out.
Seeing her reaction, Aster explained further.
"So you’re... saying that you arrived in this world only a few minutes ago and that I..."
She pointed at herself.
"...was the first person you summoned?"
"That’s correct!"
"When I arrived here, I received the Summoning System, which allowed me to search for what I wanted in my first summon. And then..."
Aster pointed at her.
"You came."
Hera was surprised.
"Oh... And what were you looking for in me, Aster?"
Aster took a deep breath as he looked at her.
"Well, Hera. I was dead. Before that, I was just an ordinary person, you know?"
Aster began walking around her, looking at the forest, although his mind was focused on his life before all of this.
"I worked like a madman just to pay the bills. I’d go home, sleep, and wake up already thinking about work. I’d go out with my mother once in a while."
He paused briefly.
"I was an orphan who was adopted by a kind woman with a huge heart and a strong work ethic. We lived a simple but enjoyable life. We had our difficulties, but we were doing fine."
Aster glanced at Hera.
"Until..."
His gaze became distant for a moment.
"I was working another ordinary day when a colossal rain of flaming stones swallowed everything above our heads. Buildings collapsing, people being burned alive..."
He had lived through that terror.
"I ended up just like everything those stones touched."
Then he spread his arms with a bitter half-smile.
"And now I’m here!"
Walking until he stood beside Hera, Aster looked ahead.
"As you can see, I was just an ordinary nobody, like anyone else. I know nothing about magic, governing, management, commanding, conquering, or guiding."
He began listing everything he lacked.
"In short, I know nothing about what this so-called Game of Lords demands if I want to avoid being erased from existence by the others. They certainly know much more than I do, and they’re also far stronger."
Aster looked at Hera, who remained silent.
Once he began speaking, his nervousness disappeared. His voice came out calm and relaxed, even though he was standing before a being who could crush him without the slightest effort.
"I chose someone who could make up for these shortcomings and help me understand them so I wouldn’t become useless."
Aster took a deep breath.
"I need to become competent if I want to move forward and avoid being forgotten by whatever is waiting for me."
He paused.
"Hera, I’m not good with words. Maybe they’ll come out incomprehensible, or they’ll be understood the wrong way. I’m not good at expressing myself..."
Aster extended his hand.
"But this is the truth."
He stood face-to-face with her.
"I need your help!"
"I need your advice, your wisdom, and your experience. I need your guidance, and I need you to point it out when I make mistakes..."
Once he started speaking, everything came out naturally.
It was strange.
Aster was not a talkative person, so even he was surprised by his own behavior.
But it wasn’t a bad thing.
"I need you by my side..."
He became slightly apprehensive.
"Can I count on you?"
Maybe he had said too much.
Aster had practically vomited his entire life to a literal Goddess, and he didn’t know whether she actually cared or not.
’A life without importance. One life among thousands of others... Why should it matter?’
He wondered as he looked at the beautiful woman standing before him.
Hera looked at Aster, who was anxiously waiting for her answer, and smiled with satisfaction.
’He didn’t demand anything from me. He didn’t act as though he knew everything. He didn’t treat me like someone who was supposed to do everything for him. All he asked for was my help with his problem and for me to remain by his side to support him...’
She raised her eyes toward the sky.
’Ah... my friend.’
Then she looked back at Aster.
’Perhaps he is someone worth following.’
[? Hera’s Trust increased by 5%! ?]
A notification appeared before Aster.
He looked back at Hera, who was now smiling more serenely.
’Haaa... what a beautiful woman.’
Aster looked away.
’I need to strengthen my heart. Otherwise, I’ll look like an idiot around her all the time.’
"I accept your offer, Aster."
Hera extended her hand and took his.
"You can count on me from now on... but know this..."
She smiled, sending a slight shiver through Aster.
"I am very demanding. Be prepared."
"Gulp."
Aster swallowed hard.
’This woman is scary... I’d better stay on her good side.’
After confirming their vows, they both stepped back slightly.
"And now... what will our first steps be?"
Hera asked.
Aster tapped his finger against his chin as he thought about her question.
’I have the troop and worker summons to make. I also have the materials. When the system finished integrating after I arrived here, I received some basic information, almost like a manual.’
’That stone on the altar is called the Management Core. I can do many things through it, and its main function is construction. Yes... I can build my kingdom through it.’
’All I need is raw materials.’
’Of course, I can still build things manually, but why would I, if there’s something there capable of doing it for me and saving me time?’
’I can also move it to another location, as long as I’ve been to the place where I want to relocate it.’
Aster wanted to explore the surrounding area and find out whether there was a better location to become the heart of everything he intended to build.
’But doing that with only Hera is unrealistic. I don’t have an exact idea of what exists around here, and she seems to be enormous. I don’t know what might inhabit this region. I need to proceed carefully.’
’And there’s more... first I need to build a place for the troops and workers to stay. And for Hera as well.’
He murmured while looking down.
"I have a lot to consider."
Aster nodded.
"I need to build shelter first, before anything else."
He then raised his head.
"But to do that, I need materials..."
An excited smile appeared on his face.
"It’s time to draw the raw material tickets."