[Greek Mythology] The Demons Under My Command - Chapter 8

Li Jia’s overall feeling right now could be summed up in three words: at a loss.

After Hera left, no matter how hard she pulled, the ring wouldn’t come off.

What to do?

She couldn’t possibly chop off her finger, could she?

This was no different from having a GPS tracker plus a time bomb installed on her.

Even if she completed the capture mission this way, wouldn’t it still be a dead end?

Hera said that she would die if she left her. So, once she returned to the modern world, wouldn’t she die because of this ring, though she didn’t know how the death would occur?

Perhaps she should ask the system if there was any way to “painlessly” remove the ring.

If she died, the system wouldn’t gain anything good either.

Li Jia called the system several times with her mind, but there was no response.

She remembered what the system told her before it left.

Sigh…

How could she forget, the system was currently frozen/crashed.

Li Jia got off the bed and sat on a wooden chair by the central round table in the inner chamber, resting her chin on her hands, her eyebrows furrowed almost into a twist, her lips tightly pursed, and her chin slightly tucked in. A cloud of gloom seemed to hang over her whole being.

It wasn’t until two figures, one black and one white, entered the room that Li Jia snapped back to reality. She had been spacing out for so long.

However, what caught her attention before the people was the aroma of the food.

Grape leaf-wrapped rice, chickpea and onion soup, and fried cheese…

Heaven knows how much she loved eating cheese.

Li Jia couldn’t help but swallow. She hadn’t eaten for two days and two nights. She wasn’t like a god, who had long since transcended the desires of the palate.

Not only did she love to eat, but she was also very gluttonous. A large part of why she wanted to return to the real world wasn’t because of any attachments, but simply because she couldn’t bear to leave those delicious foods behind.

“Little beauty, time to eat. We knew you were hungry, so Doolin and I rushed over non-stop.”

The girl in the white maid outfit, Winslow, smiled and placed the food in front of Li Jia, nodding to signal that she could start eating.

The other girl, wearing a black maid outfit with a high ponytail, set down the tray in her hand.

Doolin smoothly pushed it toward Li Jia, said nothing, and then turned to leave, but didn’t actually go far, choosing to stand guard by the door.

Doolin was a head taller than Winslow, with sharp, cold features, and an aura of icy coldness enveloped her whole person.

Li Jia then noticed two long knives with golden patterns tucked into her back. The black handles and silver blades created a solid, shocking presence.

Seeing Li Jia looking at Doolin, Winslow casually leaned close to the girl beside her and whispered, “Don’t be angry, Doolin is a little shy around strangers, but she’s a really good person. I’ll stake my life on it.”

Li Jia found her earnest look very cute, and chuckled honestly, “I believe you.”

She was starving, and since they were all girls, Li Jia had no reservations. She picked up her chopsticks and began to eat heartily.

Seeing her eat with such relish, Winslow was also in a good mood.

She could eat and sleep well; she looked like she would be easy to take care of.

They had previously considered selecting attendants for Her Majesty Hera, but those people never had the courage or determination to choose Her Majesty Hera.

Thus, the matter of attendants had been shelved for many years.

Since this little beauty was willing to choose and stand by Her Majesty, they would naturally treat her with genuine sincerity.

Li Jia ate her fill, put down her bowls and chopsticks, patted her round tummy, and let out a burp. Seeing that Winslow hadn’t left, she started chatting with her.

To know the enemy and know yourself is to secure a hundred victories without a single loss.

She had now successfully become Hera’s attendant and moved into her residence.

The plot had begun to enter the one-third stage. She needed to understand Hera’s habits to prevent her from being clung to by “trash.”

Winslow was a little chatterbox with no hidden agenda.

Li Jia asked, and she answered everything. In no time, Li Jia understood her current situation clearly.

Hera’s divine residence was located in the Hot Spring Stream. Including Li Jia, there were only four people in the mansion. Hera liked quietness, and as long as they didn’t disturb her daily, she always turned a blind eye to trivial matters.

Winslow and Doolin were orphans she had taken in, and the Hot Spring Stream was their home.

“Then, what kind of person do you think Her Majesty the Goddess is?”

Li Jia carried the tray with Winslow to the kitchen, asking curiously along the way.

After thinking for a moment, Winslow said softly, “Cold on the outside, warm on the inside; reserved and modest.”

“She is the best Goddess in the world.”

After saying that, she added timidly.

“Is that so? It seems I worried too much.”

Li Jia felt a bit apologetic. Calculating the time, she had only been in this world for about four days. Apart from the book’s description of the Goddess’s capricious temper, she had no other way to understand her.

The only system that knew the plot of the book was now mute.

She even doubted whether what the book said was truly the fact. Her contact with Hera was limited, but Li Jia firmly believed she wasn’t a jealous person; otherwise, Winslow and Doolin wouldn’t have stayed in her mansion all this time.

“Li Jia.”

Winslow saw her lost in thought, took the tray from her hands, and placed it in the stove.

“Don’t be afraid. Her Majesty Hera won’t make things difficult for you. Even though you are her attendant in name now, she won’t ask you to do tasks as lowly as a slave.”

“Her Majesty advocates for equality for all. As long as you don’t make a big mistake, even if you do, she will protect you outside. Once you enter the Hot Spring Stream, you are Her Majesty’s person.”

“She is protective of her own.”

Outside, a light rain began to fall. Clouds and mist rose in the mountains, and moisture seeped in through the screen window, the coolness making one feel a little more awake.

The dim secret room, with a mixture of the dampness of the rainy season and the scent of herbs, had a wooden bed laid out in the innermost dark corner. The candlelight from the bedside candle flickered and wavered against the wall as the wind drifted through the cracks.

The tall figure on the bed was reflected on the wall by the candlelight. She had removed her clothes, and her back along the spine was covered in bloody marks.

Doolin glanced at it, roughly counting in her mind. No more, no less, exactly twelve wounds.

Not one more.

Not one less.

Suddenly.

A few drops of cold rain slid down the steel beam of the roof and landed on the back of her neck, then spread down her spine. In a short while, her back was like a red canvas soaked in fresh blood.

Even Doolin frowned at the horrifying sight, but the person on the bed remained calm, showing no emotional fluctuation.

Doolin walked over to the herb shelf, picked up a small porcelain bottle, and poured out two pills, handing them to her.

There was no way to alleviate the divine punishment. The only thing Doolin could do for her was to give her tonics to stop sweating and solidify her body, preventing dehydration.

Without hesitation, she reached out with her fair, slender fingers, picked up the pills, and swallowed them. She then flicked her wrist, using a bit of divine power, and the bloodstains on her back were instantly washed away, leaving only crisscrossing scars on her back.

Harming a companion, Mount Olympus would naturally send down divine punishment. Twelve streams of divine power surged and swirled within her body until she could no longer bear it and “ugh” spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

“Your Majesty, why do you put yourself through this…”

Doolin paused, wanting to say more but not knowing what to say. She and Winslow had followed the Goddess for nearly three hundred years, and she knew deeply that Hera was not one to poke her nose into others’ business.

That girl was her attendant, the first attendant in thousands of years to choose her without complaint or regret.

What position or status did she have to make a decision for Her Majesty the Goddess?

“Withdraw. Do not tell anyone that I am healing.”

“Including her.”

“Three days will be enough.”

Three days were enough to survive the divine punishment and repair her soul.

The beads of sweat on her forehead indicated her weakness. Her golden hair became dry and lost its luster as her divine power dissipated. Her vision also blurred, making it difficult even to straighten her spine.

Doolin took a deep breath and blew out the candle.

She did not want others to see her sick and frail appearance.

Including herself.

She backed out and locked the door of the secret room.

With a “creak”, the door closed, and the person on the bed heavily slumped onto the mattress, closing her eyes. In the pitch-black secret room, only faint, barely noticeable breathing sounds remained.

Doolin gave Winslow a few instructions, saying that she had to go on a long trip with the Goddess to handle some troublesome affairs, and asked her to take good care of Li Jia.

Winslow readily agreed and didn’t suspect anything, as Hera sometimes took Doolin to handle difficult matters. She had also been asked if she wanted to go along but was refused by Winslow.

Winslow was a slacker who only loved lounging in the mansion, so during the days they were not in the mansion, she was the one looking after the place.

She had felt a little lonely before, but now it was better; there was one more person in the mansion, and someone to keep her company, which was what she wished for.

For the rest of the time, Doolin guarded the door of the secret room closely.

Li Jia knew Hera wasn’t in the mansion, and the anxiety she had been carrying completely subsided. She wasn’t ready to face her capture target yet.

Everything had happened too suddenly, catching her off guard. She needed to calm down and replan her capture strategy.

During these three days, Winslow dutifully played the role of the housekeeper, introducing Li Jia to every nook and cranny of the mansion. Fearing she might get lost, she even gave her a map of the Hot Spring Stream.

“But there’s a secret room on the back mountain that you can’t enter. Something unmentionable is locked inside.”

Winslow led the person to the back mountain and pointed solemnly to the area below the pond.

“Her Majesty Hera and Doolin go in for a few days every time they return. According to Doolin, they are ‘refining’ those evil spirits inside. However, Her Majesty Hera is very powerful; she is the only Goddess in the Divine Realm whose divine power is comparable to that of Zeus.”

As she spoke, her eyes were full of admiration, but when she mentioned Zeus, her disgust was undisguised.

A promiscuous playboy who deserved to be mentioned alongside Her Majesty Hera?

“Does Her Majesty Hera also have to personally deal with affairs?”

Li Jia asked curiously.

“That’s a long story. The Twelve Gods each have their duties. It’s just that some Gods are unwilling to carry out their obligations themselves and take in many, many attendants to help them with their work. Like Demeter, she has more than a dozen attendants helping her sow and tend to the farmland and flowers.”

“Or like the Sea God, who simply has several children and shares his divine power with them to help him deal with these matters.”

“Her Majesty has no attendants and is unwilling to get involved with any man, so she handles all her divine duties personally, with fairness and justice. She has rescued many couples in discord and many women, which is why people wholeheartedly offer her sacrifices at her temples.”

“The wedding temple’s incense has always been the strongest, and Her Majesty Hera’s divine power is also the strongest.”

Winslow’s eyes were full of unconcealable pride.

In Heaven and Earth, there was only Her Majesty Hera.

She was the recipient of the wishes of all people.

She enjoyed the submission of all directions.

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