Type-Moon, I heard that after death, you can ascend to the Throne of Heroes?

Because when he thought of Atalanta's wonderful expression later, Brother Ma was so happy that he ate a lot of grass.

Also, when Atalanta comes back later, no matter how you look at your promise, you will be beaten up before it’s over!

“…the wisdom to solve any problem.”

On the gods' side, many of them who had reacted looked towards Athena with extremely strange eyes.

Then, they nodded in understanding.

Ah, you are worthy of being the one whose fate intersects with that of Athena!

So, after some time.

When Nuoyan had run about one-tenth of the distance, he saw Atalanta running back and taking back a green leaf.

Seeing her come back, Nuoyan waved and greeted her with a smile.

"You run really fast, Atalanta."

Atalanta was stunned for a moment, and looking at Nuoyan who was running leisurely in front of her without any hurry, Atalanta remained silent.

What the hell, didn't you say you were going to beat me and change my fate?!

At this moment, Atalanta was actually a little angry.

After all, he said so many nice things at the beginning, but now he looks like he has given up.

Then, when Nuoyan ran past Atalanta, Atalanta stopped and her body stiffened.

Because at this moment, she suddenly recalled what Meleager said to her during the game three days ago.

If it is a promise, are you willing to stop for him?

… Am I going to stop, am I going to defeat him?

When victory was at hand and the chance to fulfill her promise was before her eyes, Atalanta felt not happiness but panic.

Until, she recalled what she said before the game.

Atalanta promised Nuoyan that she would try her best and would never lose to Nuoyan on purpose. She promised.

If you say something wrong, it would be a real disrespect to him!

Atalanta's eyes became firm as she thought so, and she started running again, returning to the starting point as fast as she could.

At that point of origin, she saw Tenma and everyone else who had witnessed the match.

In fact, if Atalanta had been more distracted at this moment, she would have discovered that everyone was looking at her with a strange expression.

Not only did they not cheer for her triumphant return, many of them even tried to hold back their laughter, and quite a few had expressions of annoyance on their faces.

Then, just as Atalanta steeled her resolve and prepared to place the leaf on the stake to end the game...

Wait, where are the wooden stakes?!

Atalanta was stunned. She stood at the starting point and looked around subconsciously. Then, looking at the hole in front of her, Atalanta... fell into silence.

“Pfft…Hahahaha!”

I don’t know who started it, but the first one to laugh out loud was the one who started it.

Probably that bastard god disguised as a bard.

And there’s no doubt that laughter is contagious.

When someone started laughing, everyone burst into laughter, including Atalanta's cheap father, the king.

Even Meleager, who was wearing bandages, laughed so hard that the healed wounds on his body split open and the bleeding could not be stopped.

Then, Atalanta's face naturally darkened little by little.

The holy blue eyes glared fiercely at the Pegasus beside him, scaring the laughing Pegasus so much that he quickly lowered his head, as if to say, "Don't look at me, I don't know anything."

"......promise!"

Atalanta raised her voice, and the sound of gnashing teeth echoed across the plain.

She turned again and ran away.

Atalanta chased after Nuoyan, and this time she ran much faster than before.

And the moment Atalanta disappeared, everyone could no longer control themselves and laughed unscrupulously.

That laughter resounded throughout the entire Kingdom of Arcadia, and even the gods were not spared.

With the help of anger, Atalanta ran at the fastest speed in her life and soon caught up with Nuoyan in front of her.

But looking at Atalanta who was chasing him like a ghost and drawing the bow, Nuoyan was very calm. He even stopped running and just stood there waiting for her.

"Promise, you..."

Atalanta was so angry that she didn't have time to finish her words.

"What? And I advise you to be careful. If you dare to hit me, I will lie down right now, believe it or not?" The promise with his head held high and the righteous look made Atalanta unable to stop at once.

What's more, when Atalanta thought about the consequences of punching Nuoyan, she found that she really couldn't swing her fist.

"Besides, I didn't break the rules. I didn't ask Tianma to take me to race with you. Besides, I was running honestly now, preparing to get the leaves from the ancient tree and then return to put them on the wooden stake."

Nuoyan said this to Atalanta with an innocent look on his face.

"Give me back the stake!" Atalanta opened her eyes wide and said angrily, "Nuoyan, where did you put the stake?"

"Hey, what? The stake is missing?"

"Shocked, why is it gone? Where did it go?"

Atalanta, who was almost laughing out of anger at Nuoyan's poor acting in front of her, was about to reply.

"Oh, this is troublesome, because if the leaves are not placed on the stake, the game will not end. But this game is witnessed by the gods, so there must be a result.

If this doesn't end, Atalanta, you'll be in trouble."

Hearing this, Atalanta was slightly stunned and hadn't reacted yet.

"After all, in this case, Atalanta, you will be running in this race all your life, with no results, and will never be able to get married?"

Nuoyan smiled and told Atalanta so.

After hearing this, Atalanta was completely stunned, and at the same time she completely understood Nuoyan's idea.

Looking at this scene, Nuoyan smiled slightly, then turned around and continued running forward.

Atalanta stood there in a daze for a long time, her holy blue eyes following Nuoyan's back...

Ah, I really am.

It's impossible to beat him.

Atalanta smiled again, and subconsciously pursued the promise.

She came to the promise,

At this moment, Nuoyan was a little tired from running, so he strolled down.

So Atalanta stayed with him.

The two of them didn't say anything for a while and walked a long way in silence.

Atalanta naturally had a lot to say and her mood was complicated, but in the end she said nothing and did not thank him either.

Because there is no need for this between them.

then......

"Then again, if that's the case, there's no need for you to get the leaves of the ancient tree." Atalanta thought of this and said this casually.

Hearing this, Nuoyan tilted his head to look at her and said, "Because I hold grudges!"

"Holding a grudge?" Atalanta, who obviously did not expect to get this answer, looked at him in confusion.

"Yeah, holding a grudge!"

Nuoyan nodded, not feeling embarrassed at all, but rather proudly said: "Atalanta, have you ever thought about why I had to drag you along and let others spread your name? It was because you laughed at me when we first met!"

Because of the thief's spread of reputation, Atalanta did laugh at her promise at first.

"......ha?!"

But now the truth had come out so late that Atalanta couldn't understand it all at once.

"You went even further this time, actually laughing at me and calling me a fool in front of so many people!"

"At first I really didn't want to pick that leaf, but now..."

As he said this, Nuoyan looked at Atalanta with a smug look on his face.

"The stake is in my hand right now, and the leaf is also in my hand. Atalanta, if you ever make me unhappy, I will...hahahaha!"

Placing the leaf on the stake faster than Atalanta would mean victory.

And victory means getting the beauty.

"T-This...Promise, you bastard!"

"Oh, someone is being beaten, someone is being beaten, Atalanta is beating someone, Goddess Artemis, God Apollo, please save her, please save her!"

In the early morning, under the blue sky, the bright sunshine shines here.

Atalanta, furious, chased after Nuoyan, who was holding his head.

And under this warm light, the two gods were watching this scene silently.

"Actually, there's no need to go through so much trouble."

Apollo, who was standing next to Artemis, couldn't help but chuckled and said, "There's no need for the leaves and the stakes. Just tell her how much effort the child has put in to be able to come to her, and that's enough...

Am I right, Artemis?"

The moon goddess Artemis heard this but did not respond.

Pegasus was imprisoned in the sky, and the gods no longer responded to the call of promise, but even so, the weak boy did not stop.

Even though he entered the dense and dark ancient forest alone, and even though he faced the wild beasts and monsters along the way of the Age of Gods and suffered so many injuries, he still came to her.

However, when the golden-horned deer appeared, it actually represented that Artemis finally softened her heart.

Chapter 6: Argo, set sail! (k)

"So, there is such a simple method?"

"Yeah, if I had known earlier, I could have also..."

When Atalanta came back and found the stake gone, she went in search of her promise. The onlookers laughed and then became angry again.

Especially those who lost to Atalanta in the competition.

They looked in the direction of Nuoyan with anger, envy and great jealousy, and complained to the people around them about the injustice of fate, saying that if they had the chance again, they would definitely do better and be more outstanding than Nuoyan!

After all, judging only by his appearance, Nuoyan doesn't really look like a hero.

So the crowd became noisy again, and the defeated people echoed one after another.

Watching this scene, the bard god Hermes hidden in the crowd just thought they were noisy and boring.

He lowered the feather hat on his head, unwilling to read on.

Stupid guys, even if I give you another chance, the real game was already over when that young man arrived.

This is a race, but the real track is not here.

The people here don’t know, but the gods who have been watching Nuoyan know very well in their hearts that the real runway is actually the distance between Nuoyan and Atalanta.

This is a very long distance, and even the goddess of night, Nyx, secretly helped and made the sun rise a step later, so that the promise could be fulfilled.

And even if you knew the answer, and were given another chance, could you really pull out the wooden stake that represents the end?

Hermes smiled disdainfully.

You should know that this game was witnessed by gods from beginning to end, and that god was Apollo, the god of the moon and light.

The reason why Nuoyan was able to pick up the wooden stake representing the finish line was not because he thought of this, but simply because he... was Nuoyan.

And in fact, even if this matter did not involve a promise, the two gods, Artemis and Apollo, would protect Atalanta, and the scene in the original myth where someone borrowed the power of the goddess of beauty to make Atalanta submit would never happen.

Because now Atalanta is actually the favorite of the moon goddess Artemis.