[Greek Mythology] The Demons Under My Command - Chapter 15

The Marriage Temple and a Trip to the Mortal World

After eating and drinking, Winslow packed some small cookies and a sealed bottle of milk for Li Jia, placing them in her custom-made Kuromi backpack.

Li Jia looked at her with heartfelt gratitude—this is what a true best friend is.

The little cloth bag was surprisingly spacious.

Winslow also really liked it, so Li Jia drew her a Cinnamoroll design and asked her to take it to the Goddess of Weaving.

The Goddess of Weaving personally worked on it, with extremely high efficiency; the blueprint was delivered in the morning, and the bag was finished by noon.

The Goddess of Weaving tentatively asked Li Jia if she could have these designs, as she wanted to mass-produce them. Li Jia, with a generous wave of her hand, readily agreed.

The Goddess of Weaving was ecstatic, as these were styles she had never seen before. She promised Li Jia that any future clothes she made for her would be completely free of charge.

Li Jia felt a bit embarrassed by the praise and could only agree to draw more modern clothing designs for her in the future.

Since the Chief God (Hera) was taking Li Jia out, Winslow felt bored staying alone in the Hot Spring Glade, so she quickly changed her clothes and decided to join them.

“It’s rare; this is the first time I’ve seen you go to the Marriage Temple with us.”

Dorian touched the knife at her waist and smiled uncharacteristically.

“Hmph, none of your business. It’s nice to go out once in a while to relax.”

Winslow turned her head, braced herself on Dorian’s arm, and climbed into the divine carriage.

Winslow’s legs weren’t as long as Dorin’s, so she couldn’t step up like her and had to let Dorin fetch a small stool to help her up.

Outside the Hot Spring Glade, Hera’s exclusive ride, the Peacock Convertible Chariot, was waiting.

The peacock’s gorgeous tail feathers signified its extremely noble status. The eye-like patterns on the peacock feathers contained a hidden supervision over order, representing the unassailable divine authority.

The peacock serving as Hera’s mount showcased her nobility and majesty.

Seeing the actual object in front of her, it felt different from the AI-replicated images in books. Li Jia was very excited, like an elementary school student going on a field trip.

As expected of Hera, everything has to be the most flamboyant. This is too cool.

“How long are you going to stare?”

Seeing Li Jia look completely awestruck, Hera sighed, extended her hand, and motioned for her to hold on and climb into the chariot.

“It’s my first time seeing it; I’m naturally a little curious.”

Li Jia stuck out her tongue sweetly.

She was sure that if archaeologists saw all this with their own eyes, their shock and excitement wouldn’t be any less than hers; they might even be scrambling to dig right away.

“Then look all you want. The more you see, the less strange it will feel.”

Hera’s expression was calm as she whispered in Li Jia’s ear, steadying her as she helped her into the chariot.

Li Jia’s face blushed. This naughty Goddess, why does she always like to stick so close to me, intentionally or unintentionally, and always say things that make my heart race?

What’s going on?

This is completely different from the Hera Li Jia read about in books… shouldn’t she be a high-and-mighty goddess?!

Aloof and restrained, Untouched by the mortal world.

That’s what the book said!

This doesn’t fit her persona at all.

Did her personality change because I transmigrated in?

Before she could figure it out, the chariot took off. Winslow rushed over to Li Jia, chatting with her idly.

The rising sunlight painted the sky in a magnificent molten gold. The clouds and the horizon merged into a beautiful jade, reflecting each other’s brilliance.

A gilded chariot rolled across the fluffy clouds, its wheels spinning to kick up fragmented dust of light, like scattered grains of the Milky Way. The peacock sculpture on the roof spread its azure wings, its tail occasionally brushing against the drifting mist, leaving behind a streak of fleeting, glorious luminescence.

Li Jia leaned over the railing, with Hera carefully circling her waist to prevent her from falling.

Below was a churning sea of clouds, rolling mountains, and waves spread out like mirrors on the ocean.

Li Jia was mesmerized by the beautiful scenery.

Where the chariot passed, the clouds scattered like startled sheep to both sides, revealing the distant, dark blue outline of the mountain range and the strip of light at the foot of the mountains, woven by the lights of thousands of homes, winding like a galaxy.

Farmers toiling in the fields beneath the clouds recognized Hera’s chariot and stood up, bowing their heads in prayer.

This is kind of awesome.

Li Jia finally understood the meaning of wielding power by riding on someone’s coat-tails.

No, it’s more like wielding power by riding on someone’s glory.

“How is it? Isn’t it prestigious to be Hera’s attendant?”

Winslow squeezed beside her and whispered; she needed Li Jia to know how incredible Hera was, and becoming her attendant was absolutely worthwhile.

Of course, Winslow thought highly of Li Jia and believed she was more than worthy of Hera, and anyone she liked couldn’t be bad.

After a while, the Peacock Convertible Chariot stopped at a palace. The palace was suspended in the sky, with four white marble columns supporting its four corners for stability.

The columns were wrapped with sculptures of red-eyed silver snakes. The snake scales glowed eerily under the crystal lamps hanging from the dome, as if they were about to break free from their constraints and shoot up into the sky.

The palace was connected to the mortal world’s Marriage Temple below. The main altar in the temple was built from seven-colored polished stone. The statue of the goddess on the altar wore a long red and black robe, her exquisite beauty hidden behind a hanging veil, revealing only a pair of red pupils.

They seemed to contain ancient, unmelting ice and, yet, also the warmth of all growth.

The hall was so quiet one could hear the crackling of burning candles. The sandalwood incense rising from the burner swirled into a mist at the feet of the statue.

In a trance, it looked like a current of air brushed by the statue’s fingertips, carrying an unassailable solemnity.

Hera and Dorian walked into the palace to sort through the fate-binding scrolls (yuan tie) that had not been processed the day before, while Winslow took on the role of tour guide.

Based on Li Jia’s own understanding, the Marriage Temple was equivalent to a modern-day Civil Affairs Bureau.

Every day, many people came to the mortal Marriage Temple to pray for love, get married, and seek annulments.

In short, it was about marriage, divorce, and some emotional issues that couldn’t be resolved, which required Hera’s intervention.

If a couple mutually loved each other and wished to marry, or if they were completely fed up with each other and wanted a divorce, they would simply toss their contract scrolls into the Contract Barrel, which would automatically seal or dissolve their spouse rights in the divine registry.

If one party disagreed, Hera would make a judgment on whether to dissolve the contract based on their life stories. If the disagreeing party had an extreme reaction, Hera could directly impose a sanction (cheng jie).

Upon hearing this, Li Jia thought, this is pretty good.

It could maximize the avoidance of risks. Although there’s a saying that “a couple for one day has a debt of kindness for a hundred,” some part ways very badly.

A couple is like birds in the same forest, flying off in different directions when disaster strikes. To separate amicably is a blessing.

This reminded Li Jia of her neighbor aunt from her past life. At that time, Li Jia’s mother was still alive, and their family of three was happy.

As long as Li Jia could remember, there were often sounds of a woman crying and shouting from the downstairs neighbor’s apartment, mixed with the pleas of a young girl.

In Li Jia’s memory, the man downstairs would start beating his wife whenever he was drunk, complaining about why she hadn’t given him a son, which made him feel unmotivated and lacking in purpose every day he worked. The abuse would be followed by the sound of tables and chairs shattering into pieces.

At two in the morning, the woman’s cries of “Help me!” echoed throughout the entire hallway. Li Jia’s mother, unable to listen anymore, was about to call the police, but Li Jia’s father stopped her: “A judge can’t resolve a family dispute. If you call the police, he’ll hit her even harder. Just endure it; it will be better when the child grows up.”

Li Jia’s father was speaking the truth. The neighbors had called the police dozens of times, big and small, but the police would only give a verbal warning, as a couple having a fight was too common.

Until one day, when Li Jia was returning from school, she saw the neighbor aunt hurriedly dragging a suitcase downstairs. Her entire face was beaten until it was swollen and bruised, unrecognizable. When she saw Li Jia, she panicked and ran away.

Later, someone asked Li Jia if she had seen the aunt. For some reason, this was the first time Li Jia had lied, saying she hadn’t seen her.

Later, the news spread that ‘Old Zhang’s wife ran away with someone, even abandoning her own flesh and blood,’ condemning the woman for being irresponsible and heartless.

Later, Li Jia’s mother passed away, and Li Jia was admitted to a sanatorium.

As she grew older and gained more life experience, Li Jia could understand the aunt’s actions. If life could be protected by law, and if the police could take action, then tragedies wouldn’t happen.

When a woman’s life safety cannot be guaranteed, anything else is nonsense.

However, Li Jia also found it strange. Intentional murder could lead to the death penalty, but once married, it might only result in an eleven-year sentence, sometimes even probation or a reduced sentence.

After being released from prison, the perpetrator could start a new life, but what was the victim’s fault?

One-sided divorce wasn’t allowed; the other party had to agree. Perhaps to keep the marriage rate looking good, they even added a divorce cooling-off period.

Compared to all that, Li Jia sincerely felt that the Marriage Temple was accumulating great virtues and truly safeguarding the rights of women.

In the palace, the air carried a calming strength. Hera sat at her desk, her gaze sweeping over the fate-binding scrolls. Her fingertips gently traced the paper, as if touching the story behind every word.

The sun rose, and warm light shone from the top of the dome, coating the golden hair at her temples with a halo.

At this moment, Li Jia suddenly understood that so-called justice was never a cold set of rules; it was Hera’s careful deliberation over the protagonists in the scrolls during countless days and nights.

It was the responsibility of facing a situation where she knew it was hard to satisfy both sides, but still striving to uphold the principle of “reason.”

The eight characters of Impartial and selfless, not biased or skewed (- dà gōng wú sī, bù piān bù yǐ) shone brighter and brighter in Li Jia’s heart as she watched.

Li Jia’s expression grew increasingly tender as she watched the deity bent over the desk, processing the documents.

Seeing Dorian and Hera completely focused on their official duties, Winslow patted Li Jia’s shoulder and suggested taking her to see the mortal world.

Since arriving here, Li Jia had only stayed in the Hot Spring Glade and hadn’t had a chance to see the outside world. After asking Hera, and seeing the little one’s eager look, Hera didn’t say anything, tacitly agreeing. She only told Winslow to look after her and to definitely return before dark.

Winslow hadn’t visited the mortal world in a long time either, and she quickly nodded in agreement. The two of them, carrying their small backpacks, left the palace one after the other.

As soon as Winslow stepped out the palace door, Hera’s divine decree floated into her ear: “Remember to take her to lunch.”

Alright, alright, fine. I give up.

Winslow rolled her eyes dramatically. She’s not an idiot; how could she starve Li Jia to death?

“What’s wrong with you?”

Seeing Winslow roll her eyes so much she almost convulsed, Li Jia asked curiously.

“Nothing, I choked on my water,” Winslow said casually.

Li Jia looked around and didn’t see her drinking any water, but perhaps the way non-humans drink water was different from hers.

But Winslow and Dorin aren’t deities, so they aren’t immortal and indestructible. Then what are they? Will I die?

Never mind. Li Jia originally wanted to ask, but then thought, who asks about work when they’re out having fun?

I should be a fun person; when it’s time to play, I play properly, and when it’s time to work (the quest), I work properly (the quest).

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