"..."
Faced with Alaric's accusation, Athena could only respond with silence.
Indeed, as Alaric had said, Athena herself felt guilty over the sacrifices of the Argonauts.
After a long while, she finally spoke hesitantly.
"I… I'm sorry… I didn't expect things to develop to this extent… I didn't mean for it to turn out this way… there were reasons for it…"
"Yes, there were reasons," Alaric nodded, his tone still unkind.
"But those were your reasons, weren't they? What do conflicts between your pantheons have to do with us mortals? Why must mortals pay this price in blood?"
"That's because… the people of the magical pantheon went too far…"
Athena seemed to want to explain herself, but even she could not continue with the reason she gave.
"Blatantly snatching someone else's national treasure right in front of them, such shameless behavior, and you actually dared to do it," Alaric said mercilessly.
"When faced with such vile guests, it would already be polite not to kill them outright, yet you still think the other side went too far?
Are you really that incapable of taking a loss?"
"..."
Athena was rendered even more speechless.
After a long pause, she spoke in a low voice.
"Since things have come to this… I have no way to revive those who died.
Then… is there anything I can do to compensate you? As long as it's something I can do, I'm willing."
Willing to compensate the Argonauts, Athena still had some conscience, it seemed.
But Alaric shook his head.
"Compensation? What can you compensate? Can the dead be replaced by some trivial compensation?"
Alaric's words deepened Athena's shame, and what followed struck even more sharply.
"Besides, this so-called compensation is just your personal intention, isn't it?"
"Yes," Athena nodded. "Does that matter?"
"It seems that for the sacrifices of the Argonauts, the Olympian gods feel not even the slightest shame," Alaric said, gazing at the goddess with a sorrowful expression.
"Only you would foolishly think on behalf of mortals."
"I just… want to make up for my mistake."
Athena did not feel happy at Alaric's words.
And Alaric had not said them to praise her.
"But what good does that do?" he abruptly changed tack.
"Leaving aside what you alone could possibly compensate, at the very least, before any compensation can be made, the Argonauts would need to be alive to receive it."
Alaric's words made Athena stiffen. She immediately spoke quickly, as if trying to cover something up.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand at all. Look, aren't you all still alive and well? By the way, what do you want me to do for you? I'll do my utmost."
Athena seemed to be trying to change the subject, but Alaric's words mercilessly cut off her attempt.
"Stop pretending, Goddess," Alaric's voice sounded like ten thousand years of ice in Athena's ears. "Stop covering up for those bastard gods.
I can guess it without thinking. The Argonaut expedition failed so miserably, they must be furious, right?
And in their eyes, as the direct parties responsible for this failed scheme, haven't we already become their targets for venting their anger, just waiting for them to make a move?"
"You… how do you know?" Athena spoke with a trembling, almost tearful voice.
"Do you think I don't know what those gods are like?" Alaric said disdainfully.
"So, when will it be? On the way back? Or after returning to Greece? A direct divine punishment, or an 'accident'? Or some impossible trial?"
As Alaric spoke more and more, his tone growing increasingly severe, the sorrow and guilt in Athena's heart only deepened.
Finally, Alaric saw her burst into tears with a wail.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I didn't mean for you to encounter all this…
I don't want them to do this either, but… but I can't stop them on my own… sob…
I don't want you to die… I don't want you to suffer this… but… but… sob… I'm just too useless… sob…"
Looking at the goddess before him, now sobbing, Alaric was stunned.
This goddess of war and wisdom, was she really this fragile? Crying outright in front of him?
When they first met, she had been so dazzling, so aloof and regal. How could she look so fragile now, like a child?
Speaking of children, Athena should be the youngest among the Twelve Olympians, shouldn't she?
But now, what was he supposed to do?
Looking at the crying Athena, Alaric felt at a loss.
Although the entire course of the Argonaut expedition had been firmly under his control, from gradually weakening the Argonauts along the journey, to the various challenges on Colchis, to constantly revealing those "truths" to the heroes, and finally to the heroes' resentment toward the gods and Athena being lured into appearing.
None of it had gone beyond his plan.
Except for the crying Athena before him.
To be fair, he knew that these gods who wielded immense power did not become more complex in personality despite living for tens of thousands of years.
On the contrary, they were purer and more genuine than anyone.
Like Aphrodite's terrifying fanaticism for love, or Artemis's cold, natural cruelty…
But a goddess being this real, this much of a crybaby, was something he had not anticipated.
From various sources, Alaric had learned that the goddess Athena was not only bold in her actions but also full of schemes.
Most importantly, she was somewhat petty, always finding ways to retaliate against anyone who offended her.
Very few on Olympus dared to provoke her, she was a notoriously difficult goddess.
Her one true weakness lay in her intense sense of responsibility and her attitude toward mortals.
Previously, when interacting with her, Alaric had exploited precisely this aspect.
Targeting Athena's care for mortals and her powerful sense of responsibility, Alaric repeatedly brought up the tragic fate of the Argonauts, constantly pointing out that it was all Athena's responsibility, making her feel sorrow and shame due to that overwhelming sense of duty.
At the same time, this served to divert her thoughts, filling her mind entirely with grief and self-blame, preventing her from noticing the oddities and inconsistencies surrounding Alaric himself.
Through these emotions, he further deepened Athena's resentment toward the Olympian gods, increasing the chances of successfully poaching her.
Up to this point, Alaric's plan had been fairly successful.
Sure enough, all the flaws, how Alaric, a mere mortal, could detect Athena, why he dared to speak to her with such an attitude, and so on, were all ignored by Athena.
At present, she was utterly consumed by guilt, not considering anything else.
This allowed Alaric to take advantage of her compensatory mindset born from self-blame and begin to "loosen the soil" in advance.
But now that she had broken down crying like this, Alaric felt the situation had reversed.
After all, no matter how tragic the Argonauts were in Alaric's words, the crying goddess was the one who needed comforting first.
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