Ch.161161. Deserted Island (3)

At the sight of the suddenly appearing white bull, I found myself staring at it in confusion.

[I’m Cretinus~, a gift sent to you at the request of the blacksmith god Hephaestus to his uncle~.]

“….Hephaestus?”

The moment I realized through the bull’s words, spoken with a peculiar drawling manner, that Hephaestus had sent him.

‘….Wait a minute.’

A rather shocking hypothesis formed in my mind.

The blacksmith god Vulcanus, clearly modeled after Hephaestus, is… no. His inspiration, Hephaestus, is the son of Zeus and Hera.

And if his uncle is being mentioned, especially one who can deliver a “gift” through sea foam and water like waves….

I’m guessing this deity might be modeled after Poseidon, the god of the sea?

Anyway, despite figuring out this connection, I was still confused.

The white bull who introduced himself as a gift sent by Hephaestus’s uncle, Cretinus, seemed to notice my confusion and calmly continued.

[Ah, just so you know, I’m a divine beast of the sea god Neptune~. I was sent to assist the adopted child of Circe, one of the few remaining descendants of the ancient gods~.]

‘….So that’s it?’

And with that, the white bull Cretinus’s explanation was convincing enough for me.

Neptune…. The name used for Poseidon in ancient Rome before Christianity was introduced, which means the “Cretinus” before me was sent by Poseidon.

And when it comes to “Poseidon” and “Cretinus,” there’s one very famous story.

Crete. The birthplace of the Minoan civilization, which plays a significant role in Greco-Roman mythology, is traditionally known as Zeus’s homeland and the origin of the Minoan civilization, the oldest in Europe.

According to the legend from that island, Minos, born between Zeus and Europa, received help from Poseidon, which allowed him to defeat his brothers and become the king of Crete.

However, after receiving this help, Minos didn’t provide any compensation to Poseidon, who had greatly assisted his ascension to the throne. Slightly annoyed, Poseidon confronted him about why he hadn’t offered the promised bull sacrifice.

Facing the imminent risk of his country or family being cursed, Minos, after some thought, claimed there was no suitable bull worthy of sacrifice. In response, Poseidon created a magnificent white bull using the waves.

….But unfortunately, Minos’s wife Pasiphae, taking a liking to this handsome bull, made the insane request to keep it for herself rather than sacrifice it.

And Minos, in an act of sheer madness, granted her request, keeping the bull and instead offering an old, sick bull as a substitute sacrifice.

Naturally, this outrageous act of embezzling the intended sacrifice was quickly discovered by Poseidon. Enraged, he cursed Pasiphae to fall in love with the bull in question, resulting in her becoming pregnant and giving birth to the famous Minotaur….

I suspect that the “handsome white bull” from that story might be of the same kind as the one standing before me now.

Of course, considering the characteristics of this world, which seems similar yet entirely different from Earth, the likelihood of this story being true in this world is extremely low.

After all, the Minotaurs in this world are more of a race than a single individual, and their origin is as an artificially developed military species from the ancient imperial period.

Anyway, as the handsome white bull who introduced himself as a gift from the blacksmith Hephaestus and the sea god Neptune watched me with bright, attentive eyes.

I accelerated my thoughts slightly and tried to deduce why such prominent figures would send me a “gift.”

Neptune and Vulcanus are among the few ancient gods who survived as most lost their influence and faith, being pushed aside by the new pantheon gods.

Unlike Vulcanus, who has been reduced to a minor deity worshipped only in regions closely associated with blacksmiths or volcanoes, Neptune is uniquely one of the ancient gods who managed to survive the changing times and still exerts significant influence, especially along coastal areas.

In other words, he’s a tier 1.5 deity, just below tier 1 gods like “Golden-Handed Jephtal” or “Blood-Soaked Sword Cronima,” still occupying a major position in the pantheon.

So when such a deity approaches me with a gift, I, being well-versed in the nature and temperament of ancient gods, began to worry and think frantically.

And the most useful conclusion drawn from this process was just one:

“….Cretinus, did the sea god send you as a gift truly because I’m Mother’s adopted son?”

In other words, I decided it would be better to directly ask the reason and observe the response, and it didn’t take long for an answer to come.

[Yes~. Lady Circe is the last human descendant of the ancient gods, and her ancestor is Lord Neptune~.]

“Oh? Then….”

[I think he sent me down with the feeling of treating a grandson~.]

According to the divine beast, the snow-white bull Cretinus, who spoke with his distinctive drawling manner (deliberately extending the ends of his sentences), Mother is surprisingly a descendant of the royal family that carries Neptune’s blood.

Of course, most royalty from ancient nations claimed to be descendants of gods, and divine blood often doesn’t pass down to descendants, so the fact of being a god’s descendant itself isn’t particularly surprising.

But the reason Mother receives such attention, to the extent of sending gifts to even an adopted son like me, is because she is one of the few people who still carry the blood of the gods.

During long periods of war and chaos, most descendants of ancient gods had their lineages cut off, and over time, the blood became diluted and naturally disappeared.

As a result, practically only Mother remains as a blood relative that the sea god Neptune can detect with his power. So perhaps he’s providing support by sending a divine beast to me, who, although not blood-related, am Mother’s son?

Neptune, and his presumed original form Poseidon, is famously known for stories of avenging his children when they are harmed or killed.

Even in the well-known Odyssey, Odysseus had to wander for ten years because he blinded some one-eyed giant who happened to be Poseidon’s son after the war had ended. There are many such legends, perhaps because many of Poseidon’s children were monsters.

If these characteristics are reflected in our world’s sea god Neptune, then this kind of behavior isn’t particularly strange.

To put it bluntly, if Poseidon tried to cover for children who committed all sorts of evil deeds from blasphemy to murder to rape, it’s not strange that he would hold a descendant like our Mother in special regard.

Anyway, now that everything was clear, I had no intention of keeping this divine beast at a distance.

“Cretinus, you’re a divine beast of the sea god Neptune, right?”

[That’s right~?]

“Then, do you also possess abilities related to the sea?”

[Of course! Despite how I look, I’m the fastest swimmer in my family!]

A valuable divine beast sent directly by a god to supplement my lacking underwater combat abilities, which none of my animal friends possessed….

Although still at an intermediate level, there was no reason to reject a promising talent that could easily surpass the upper ranks when fully grown.

Unlike other things, this was a gift so attractive that I would have to swallow it even if it were a trap, just to neutralize the poison.

“Alright, I’ll be counting on you then.”

[Thank you~.]

And so, I finally decided to accept this bubbly bull, Cretinus, as a new animal friend…. that was the outline of the incident.

“Yes. ….And may I ask one favor?”

[What is it~?]

“Could you please stop deliberately extending the ends of your sentences?”

[….Ah. I understand what you mean. I’ll be careful from now on!]

As a side note, after correcting Cretinus’s speech pattern that had been bothering me, I later learned from him, once we became somewhat close, that this drawling manner of speech was something like a dialect.

He explained that during the automatic translation process of the “Animal Communication” magic, the dialect was slightly mistranslated.

….Well, that doesn’t have much significance right now.