Before I knew it, I was twelve years old living as Iskios, and today again I spent my school(?) life protecting my chastity from the homos.
Under Teacher Chiron, I learned martial arts, medicine, geography, music, and the arts that branched out from there. By now, I could tell whether a plant was a medicinal herb or a poisonous weed at a glance.
Naturally, my ill-fated connection with Jason continued. He kept trying to recruit me into his inner circle, saying that once he became king after the funeral, he'd bring me in as one of his close aides, but I had no interest in that and always turned him down.
...While studying under Teacher Chiron, I realized something. For all his many problems, Jason was one of the few who had seen through me. What that means is simple: whenever we had exams, I always maintained my position in third place.
Yeah. I always aimed for third. In physical disciplines like martial arts... Heracles, who was already called a monster even in this age, naturally took first place, so that was the one exception, but aside from that, I always stayed in third.
My pretty-boy looks already made me stand out whether I liked it or not, so the only way left to hide myself was through my actions. To avoid drawing any more pointless attention than I already did... for that, I concealed my strengths, my specialties.
And yet, besides Teacher Chiron, Jason was the one who noticed that I was hiding my talents. He might fall short when it came to raw strength... but I had no choice but to admit that he was sharp.
"Hey, Iskios. Got a minute~?"
"....."
A twelve-year-old boy with a bulky frame blocked my path with a leering grin. He was one of Teacher Chiron's students. As a bonus... he was also one of the men constantly hunting for a chance to get at me.
My looks had always been the kind that stood out from the start, but I think I seriously underestimated just how much. Black, glossy hair, softer to the touch than the hair I had in my previous life... and eyes so blue they were hard to find even around here.
I was pretty sure blond hair and blue eyes were supposed to be rare in the old West, right...? This guy was another one from that homo category, so I was just about ready to smash up my own pretty face if I had to, when I spotted my savior behind him and waved with a bright smile.
"Hey! Heracles!"
"Eek...!?"
The moment that boy... or rather, that young man(?) with a build no normal twelve-year-old could possibly have came over, the leering brute flinched and stepped back. The young man's(?) golden eyes looked down at both me and the creep.
In the end, the creep retreated, unable to hide his frustration, and I let out a sigh of relief before greeting Heracles, my savior for the moment.
"Thanks, Heracles."
"It seems you have it rough as always, Iskios."
This giant... he looked like a young man, but he was actually the same age as the rest of us twelve-year-olds. His name was the famous, legendary Heracles.
The very hero who would one day crush demonic beasts through the Twelve Labors and overcome tasks impossible for any ordinary human—the most famous hero in all of Greek mythology.
Even if this was still his childhood, I had been stunned the first time I met Heracles. Now, though, it felt fresh in its own way. And these days, he had become the friend who protected me from men targeting me in a sexual sense.
"What did you do today? Did Teacher Chiron teach you how to use a bow?"
"Yes... I shot down a bird flying high in the sky."
".....You're learning at a seriously terrifying pace..."
Heracles answered in his usual blunt way and pointed up at the sky.
Just like in the myths, Heracles had no talent for music or medicine, but in exchange, as a being who might as well have been the ultimate weapon, he was top-class in martial skill.
Swordsmanship, spearwork, shield use, hand-to-hand combat, even the use of clubs... he was basically the king of all things physical.
"At this rate, aren't you going to graduate before any of us?"
"Hmm... that may happen..."
"Aaaah... if that happens, I'll hate it..."
"...Do your best."
Pat pat. In his blunt way, Heracles patted my shoulder to comfort me. It was only that one short line, but honestly, it made me happy.
In this end-of-days Greece, among all the students learning under Teacher Chiron, Heracles was the only one I had a truly close relationship with.
At first, I approached Heracles to use him as a shield against the homos who were after my face, but somewhere along the way, talking with him made us grow close. Before I knew it, Heracles had become my best friend.
Jason... well, he was more of a troublesome friend who kept trying to latch onto me from his side, but our relationship wasn't bad. As for the other students, the one I was closest to was Peleus, one of the few Greeks who was actually decent and mild-mannered.
As for the rest, they were either homos or basically Mohicans A, B, and C from some post-apocalyptic manga, the kind who'd run around doing whatever they wanted while yelling, "Filth should be sterilized!" Nothing more, nothing less.
"By the way, Heracles. Have you decided what you'll do once you graduate and leave here?"
"I haven't thought that far ahead. What about you, Iskios?"
"Me? I'm... going to live quietly and peacefully somewhere quiet."
"Quietly?"
"Yeah. Peace is best! I think a peaceful everyday life is the best thing there is."
Even Achilles, the hero of the Trojan War, originally had two paths before him: a normal human life, or death as a hero.
"Of course, if I'm going to live a quiet life, I'll be self-sufficient. First I'll farm and harvest crops, then barter with them, and—"
"Mm, sorry, but I don't really understand what you're saying. It's too complicated for me..."
Ah... damn it. I got carried away and started rattling on about myself again... how rude of me...
"Sorry, sorry. Once things start prospering, I'll treat you to something good—"
But before I could finish, I stiffened at the sharp sensation of someone staring into me and quickly looked around. This definitely wasn't my imagination, so I scanned the area warily.
Twelve years had passed since I was born into this end-of-days Greece. A lot had changed in that time and made me who I was now. One thing I had never possessed in my previous life was this ability to infer something about a person just from the way they looked at me.
In this environment, whether I liked it or not, I had been forced to hone that sense. And right now... I could feel a different kind of gaze. At the very least, I knew this stare was fundamentally different from the sticky looks I usually got from the homos.
Who is it...? Who the hell is it? It wasn't the gaze of any of the other students who had come to Teacher Chiron's hut to learn. Not Actaeon, not Peleus, not Telamon... not Jason either. And if Teacher Chiron had business with me, he would have come in person.
"What's wrong, Iskios?"
"No... it's nothing..."
Heracles didn't seem to have noticed, so I brushed it off for now, but I could feel it clearly.
From somewhere... not very far away, someone was watching me. To clear up that question, I turned my steps toward where Teacher Chiron was.