Chapter 1397: Side Story 6
Chapter 1397 - Side Story 6
‘A friend.’
Ares had never made a friend in his life. Being born as the God of War made him arrogant. It caused him to look at the people around him as ants. To him, being born with a golden spoon and treating everyone as useless and trivial beings was something fun.
However… was it truly fun? He had seen Minhyuk act friendly and talk amicably with the soldiers whom he raised and nurtured. When he saw that, he realized that he had always been alone.
‘I like to drink alone. I like to train alone.’
On good days, he would either look at the distant mountains or curse the bar owner and force him to kneel. On bad days, he would beat up the soldiers until they were black and blue.
The concept of friendship was unfamiliar to Ares. While Ares pondered over the matter for an agonizingly long time, Philos ate food with the soldiers. Ares shook the distracting thoughts away from his head.
‘Nurturing an army is much more urgent.’
His previous soldiers had left these lands. This meant that he had to raise and nurture new people to be strong enough to rival the standards of the previous army. Alas, it was no easy matter. The soldiers whom he raised in the past were the elite of the elite. They were the ones he raised from their infancy and were the 1% that survived his harsh and gruesome training. Ares looked at the new soldiers in training and growled, “Hey, you f*cking bastards! Can’t you do something so simple?! What are you? A waste of space and food?! You bastards!”
The soldiers flinched.
“If you continue doing that, then I won’t let you sleep well today…”
Thwack!
‘...?’
At that moment, someone slapped Ares’s thigh. A thick and suffocating murderous intent erupted from Ares at the contact. Which crazy bastard dared to slap the God of War on the thigh? When he turned his head, he saw Philos with both of her hands on her waist and her cheeks puffed up in anger.
“I hit you! You can’t say that!”
All of the soldiers looked at her in shock.
‘Wait, what? Just now…?’
‘Hitting Lord Ares was not enough, she’s even trying to teach him?’
‘That brat’s neck will be broken in half.’
Ares, with his eyes filled with murder, glared at Philos.
‘What?!’
In response, Philos just raised her head higher and opened her eyes wider. Ares, who saw her wide and bright, glaring eyes, could only fall back on his seat.
“Brats, work hard.”
‘L-Lord Ares…?’
‘Heok…’
The soldiers were horrified. Lord Ares actually listened to the words of that kid?!
‘Why did I…?’
Unbeknownst to them, even Ares did not understand why he did that. They became friends because of the Olympus God’s Oath. But Ares still had one thought in mind, ‘If I don’t like my friend, then I can just kill her, right?’ If others heard this thought, they would be very startled. Nevertheless, this was what he honestly thought was normal.
‘So, why did I…’
He did not know. Perhaps it was because of that fleeting concept of friendship? There was also the fact that the anger that accumulated and bubbled up in Ares immediately melted away when he saw Philos’ puffed cheeks. Not only that, for the first time in Ares’ life, he experienced someone nagging at him. It was quite a strange feeling.
What Ares did not know was that all this was thanks to Philos’ absolute weapon, the Heart Thief.
Whenever Ares did not like what he saw in the soldiers’ training, he would jump to his feet and shout, “You f*cking bastards…!”
“Hit!”
“Shit! You incompetent bast…”
“That mouth! That mouth!”
“Hey! You, come here!”
“Why are you calling your comrades, ‘Hey!’?! What is that?”
Philos kept on scolding Ares. Normally, the soldiers would have already been flogged several times over. Things were different now. Their faces were glowing. This was because Ares would only end up whimpering, even though he was itching to grab the whip and lash at them.
“Then what do I call them if I can’t call them, ‘Hey!’?”
“Then, how about… friend?” Philos asked.
Ares nodded in answer.
“Then, friend. Would you like to die?”
The soldier was, in fact, very comfortable with being called ‘Hey!’. The word friend made him shudder.
“I’m telling you! You have to be nice! From now on, call them soldiers!”
Ares listened to the words of the child, who was smiling brightly at him. At that moment, he thought, ‘Should I just go and bury this brat?’
For some reason, he just could not bring himself to do that. All he did was stare at Philos’s back as she watched the soldiers with her hands on her waist.
***
Beyond the Heavens Empire’s conference room.
“Even if Philos had the ultimate passive skill, Heart Thief, I think it’s still impossible to use that to bewitch Ares.” Minhyuk denied the possibility.
Minhyuk knew what kind of person Ares was. He was a complete war freak, a madman who loved to see blood. Someone like that would definitely have a hard time accepting Philos.
“I lost my composure briefly and ended up choosing Philos as my proxy, but…”
Indeed, Minhyuk had chosen Philos as his proxy to complete the quest: Befriending the Masters of Olympus.
“I just thought that maybe Philos can make friends with the Gods of Olympus and gain their love just like she did with us.”
Nonetheless, now that he was thinking carefully about the matter, he realized that his thinking was too absurd.
“In the first place, Philos is someone we have to protect. Right now, in their eyes, Philos is nothing but my younger sister and a foreigner. She’s basically a thorn in the side of the Gods of Olympus.”
Hephaestus agreed the most with Minhyuk’s thoughts. “Ares can never be nice to anyone. This is for certain. And to be honest, he absolutely hates kids.”
Hephaestus had the greatest credibility among them. His words were, after all, based on experience. Just like that, Hephaestus began to detail what kind of person Ares was to the people in the conference room.
“Wow! He’s a true bastard…”
“He’s more like trash…?”
Everyone present in the conference room finally realized the seriousness of the matter.
Ben was already in tears. He sobbed, “Maybe our Philos is locked up in jail right now. That’s why she hasn’t been forced to log out yet!” Then, he jumped up from his seat and shouted, “We must gather our army right away!”
“Your Majesty! Can’t you hear our dear Philos crying and calling for us right now?!” Hephaestus fanned Ben’s words. “He must be torturing our dear Philos now! Maybe she’s already tied up and is being starved despite the food placed before her!”
“Heooook?!”
“My god!”
“That’s my baby!”
“All of you! Get up! Get your weapons ready!”
Minhyuk’s expression grew cautious and alert when he heard their words.
“How dare you touch our baby…!”
‘Ares, you bastard! If I get my hands on you…!’
Just when everyone jumped up from their seats and were about to leave…
[Guardian Mode is still in progress.]
[Philos’ favor with Ares has increased.]
[Philos’ favor with Ares has increased.]
“WAAAAAAAIT!” Minhyuk hurriedly stopped them from charging out. The notification left him utterly shocked that he could only bark out a laughter filled with disbelief.
‘It’s working…?’
He was quite surprised by Philos’ strength and power.
“Right now, the second phase of Our Dear Philos: The Absolute Weapon project has started…”
The second phase that he was talking about was none other than the Gods of Olympus.
***
Ares’s Army.
Recently, the training soldiers were highly excited. Lord Ares could never go angry at them when that strange kid was present. Because of that, the soldiers could engross themselves deeply in their training.
“What the hell is that kid?”
“I don’t care as long as it’s good for us.”
Even so, the soldiers did not like Philos. Of course, it was only natural. Why should the soldiers like her? The soldiers here had been training for a very long time, so most of their thoughts revolved around their muscles and their training.
“Ugh!” One of the soldiers groaned when he saw an injury on his arm.
He immediately sneaked a glance at Ares. Could anyone even dare to apply medicine and bandage to themselves when they were right under Ares’s nose?
‘That’s absolutely impossible!’
“Are you injured?”
Just then, the young girl named Philos approached the soldier. The soldier glanced around him vigilantly and said, “Go away, kid. Lord Ares is watching.”
He looked at Ares. That was when he saw an unusually soft look in the God of War’s gaze as he looked at the child in front of him. When his gaze passed over the soldier, it seemed to ask, ‘You’re doing something else instead of training?’ But if it was the usual, his gaze would show, ‘You’re done for!’ Not only that, he would also beat the soldier black and blue.
The soldier hurriedly avoided Ares’ gaze. Meanwhile, the young girl took out a bandage.
“No, it’s fine.”
Thwack!
“What do you mean by fine?! Absolute Saintess’ Heal!”
Philos had learned a lot of skills and abilities, and among them was Heal. However, due to her low skill proficiency, she struggled to heal an injury fully.
“Bandage Wrap!”
Philos, who imitated her brother, had also learned a lot of DEX-based skills.
The soldier felt his heart thump as he looked at the bear-printed bandage wrapped around his arm.
“With this, you’ll be fine!” Philos looked up at the soldier with her big eyes.
The soldier felt an unknown feeling wash over him.
‘What the hell? I feel like I want to protect her forever. I feel like I have to give her everything that I have. I feel like I can do anything for the sake of this child!’
It was a strange feeling.
“Ah! You’re injured too?! Absolute Saintess’ Heal! Bandage Wrap!”
The soldier stared at Philos, who had already walked elsewhere.
***
One week after.
Ares still did not like the soldiers, even though he was watching over their training. Regardless, something had changed.
“Friend.”
“Yes, Lord Ares!”
“If you don’t want to meet Hades on a rainy night after being beaten black and blue, you have to work hard. Do you understand? Do you want me to break your arms and legs, friend?”
“...”
Ares had grown quite amicable. Still, every once in a while, his anger would tip over the edge, and he would explode.
“Hey! You f*cking bastards! Do you really want me to come…”
“Philos!”
“Philooooos~”
“NOOOOO! Lossie! Look here for a bit! Lord Ares is going to scold us!”
Philos appeared with both of her hands on her waist. She said, “You!”
“Haha… I’m going to kill all my friends someday~”
Ares jumped up and dashed away.
‘What the hell is wrong with me?’
At that moment, Ares saw a very unexpected sight.
“Lord Ares is angry again.”
“Work harder so that he won’t get angry!”
“If you don’t want to be called ‘friend’, then you have to work harder! Let’s train some more tonight!”
Ares looked at the soldiers in confusion. Why were they training much harder than they did in the past?
“That’s strange,” Ares said, a smile hanging unknowingly on his lips. “I can lead and nurture my soldiers even though I’m not getting angry. They’re also training on their own now, and not because they’re scared. And because their training efficiency increased, their growth rate also increased. I can also hear laughter among the soldiers. This has not happened before.”
The aide standing right next to Ares said, “That young girl named Philos has brought benefits to us.”
‘Is that it?’
“In the past, Lord Ares would beat up the soldiers until they could not move. That happened every day. Because of that, their training stopped. So, their efficiency and growth stopped.”
‘Ah!’
“That’s why I have always told you to do it in moderation. You have beaten them up every day. If they’re injured and cannot move, will they even have the time to train? Anyway, it’s all because you’re always angry.”
“You f*cking bastard…”
“Philos! Philooooos! General Ares is using bad words again!”
“You!”
“...”
Ares thought, ‘I’ll definitely torture you, you f*cking old bat!’
***
Philos usually lived in the barracks. Today, it was a bit different. She followed Ares to his home. This was because she had told the God of War that she would treat him to a delicious meal.
The castle where Ares lived was huge, spanning over 3,000 square meters in area, and luxurious. It was filled with rare trinkets and accessories. The strange thing was that Ares hated loud noises; he sent all the people in the castle to the city and lived alone in this place.
Ares watched Philos cook with her small and tender arms.
“This is my favorite adieu dish! Toowomba pasta and garlic steak!”
Ares just nodded. When she finished cooking, Philos ate the Toowomba pasta and garlic steak with gusto. She slurped the thick noodles and smiled happily as the flavor danced in her mouth.
“Wipe your mouth.” Ares reached out and wiped the kid’s mouth.
“Since you’re thirsty, drink this,” Ares said as he helped her drink the green grapeade.
Ares not only ate his steak and pasta, but he also took care of Philos. The dish that he was served was delicious; it was much more delicious than the dishes his servants had made for him.
Now, the people in this place were no longer afraid of Ares. In the past, the servants would not dare to cook a meal for Ares. This was commonplace since he was born. For the longest time, they dared not raise their heads in his presence.
That was no longer the case. Even the maids no longer cried while thinking, ‘Ah! I’m going to die!’ if they broke a plate.
‘This feels comfortable.’
This unknown emotion was something that Ares did not know of. Just when they finished their meal and Ares had led Philos to the bed…
“I’ll be in trouble if I log out! If I log out, I will definitely run into Minhyuk oppa. But I’m running away from home!”
Ares had already noticed earlier that Philos was Minhyuk’s younger sister. That was why her words were no longer a surprise to him.
Ares laid down on the single bed in a bedroom that was hundreds of square meters in area. In this night filled with thunder and lightning, he thought, ‘My soldiers… and I… are we becoming Minhyukified?’
He had been jealous when he saw Minhyuk and his soldiers act all friendly with each other. Back then, he thought to himself, ‘Why can’t I do that?’ He also thought that perhaps he was the one at fault and that his methods were wrong.
“Philos is scared!”
At that moment, Philos entered his room.
“Ares! Let me sleep here!”
“I don’t sleep with someone else in my bed!” Ares growled.
Nonetheless, Philos remained unfazed. She crawled into his bed and squeezed into his blanket. She even pulled Ares’ arm and used it as her pillow. Then… she promptly fell asleep.
Ares stared at Philos for a very long time.
‘Have I changed?’
Ares’ lips twisted into a smile.
‘No. I haven’t changed.’
He just realized how to train the soldiers more efficiently. Mad Dog Ares had lived like this since the day he was born. There was only one thing that changed.
“Philos. You’ll start training tomorrow too.”
He was determined. He would make sure that Philos would never get beaten up wherever she was.
‘I’ll show the world what happens when a crazy bastard like me trains someone seriously.’
Our Dear Philos: The Absolute Weapon. This project was developing in a very unexpected way.
At that moment, Philos opened her sleepy eyes and asked, “Ares?”
“Yeah?”
“Where did the aide uncle go?”
“...”
Ares could not bear to say that he had sent his aide to the mountain behind the castle.