Io was a princess.
Their king was Inachus. One day, Zeus happened to encounter Io and was immediately attracted by her beauty.
He then transformed into a handsome man and came before Io.
"Oh, young lady, how fortunate the one who possesses you would be! But no mortal in the world deserves you. You are only fit to be the wife of the king of all gods. Let me tell you, I am Zeus. You do not need to be afraid!
At noon, the heat is unbearable. Come quickly with me to the shade of the tree on the left to rest. Why are you tormenting yourself under the fierce sun at noon?"
Faced with Zeus's pursuit, Io was frightened.
Thus, she began to flee.
But how could a mortal possibly escape the god king Zeus? To obtain Io, Zeus summoned thunder and lightning, turning the clear sky into a dark world shrouded in dark clouds.
Then, just as Zeus prepared to take advantage of the darkness to do what he desired.
Queen Hera, who had been tracking him, suddenly appeared from the clouds and prepared to question Zeus, who had just caught Io.
Seeing Hera arrive, Zeus naturally was also startled. To extricate himself, he quickly came up with a plan and turned Io into a snow-white little cow.
But Zeus's actions did not escape Hera's eyes.
Hera immediately saw through her husband's trick. After coming before the panicked Zeus, she pretended to praise this beautiful animal and inquired whose little cow it was and what breed it was.
Zeus, in his embarrassment, had no choice but to lie and say that this cow was just a creature from the earth, a purebred.
Hera pretended to be very satisfied with his answer and requested that Zeus give this beautiful animal to her as a gift. This left Zeus with no choice but to hand Io over to Hera.
And after Hera took Io away, she was still uneasy. Thus, in the end, she had the hundred-eyed giant Argus help guard Io.
Because the hundred-eyed giant Argus was particularly suited for guard duty. He had a hundred eyes. During sleep, he only closed one pair of eyes, while the rest remained open, shining like stars, bright and divine.
And under the hundred-eyed giant Argus's guard, the pitiful princess Io, transformed into a little cow and able to only make mooing sounds, could only shed tears while nibbling on the grass.
Thus, there was later the matter of Zeus entrusting Hermes to rescue Io, Hermes finding Jason, and handing this task to Jason.
And during this period of time, because Argus was not always in a fixed pasture, as Hera instructed him to constantly change Io's residence to make it difficult for Zeus to find her.
In this way, Argus took Io wandering across the Greek mainland.
Until this day, when he brought Io back to her homeland.
...
...
After several days passed.
Holding the guide bestowed by the Goddess of Wisdom Athena, Jason, riding the pegasus and bringing Atalanta, hurried for several days.
On this day, they arrived at the periphery of the kingdom.
Because the Goddess of Wisdom Athena's guide could only provide direction, Jason and the others did not know the exact distance to the target.
But this was not a big deal.
Because...
"Neigh!"
The pegasus flying in the vast blue sky suddenly stopped.
Then it turned its head to look at Jason and neighed softly twice more.
Hearing this, Jason was slightly stunned. After understanding the pegasus's meaning, a helpless expression appeared on his face, and he nodded to the pegasus.
Thus, the pegasus turned direction, flapped its wings, and flew toward a certain place in the forest.
"Did something happen?"
Because it was descending, Atalanta sitting behind could not help but reach out and grab Jason's clothing corner.
"An old trope. It seems we are about to arrive at the destination... In any case, you will know soon."
A bitter smile appeared on Jason's face.
At the same time, he felt a bit relieved.
This unreliable Brother Horse finally knew to remind him...
Then, just as the pegasus brought the two to a secluded place, and Jason had just gotten down from the pegasus.
He was pounced on by a goddess who had been waiting for who knows how long and hugged in her arms.
"You are not obedient, little Jason... Clearly, I was the first to seek tribute from you, but up to now, it seems you still have not prepared it for me."
A gentle voice with a hint of complaint rang beside Jason's ear, and that familiar soft sensation assaulted Jason once more... The eldest sister among the Olympian gods, one of the three virgin goddesses, Hestia, appeared.
Hugging Jason, she puffed her cheeks, pinched Jason's cheeks, and voiced her gentle complaint to him.
And because he had some preparation this time, Jason no longer appeared so panicked... It was just that Atalanta on the side, who had not yet gotten down from the pegasus and had her eyes wide open, clearly did not understand the situation for a moment.
"No, noble Goddess Hestia, how could I possibly forget the tribute for you? I have always kept it in my heart!"
Jason hurriedly replied to Hestia, "It is just that noble and understanding Goddess Hestia, you also know I have always been rushing about... But rest assured, before long I will definitely offer tribute to you. I guarantee it to you!"
Hearing this, Hestia thought about it. It seemed that was indeed the case.
"Little Jason is still the most obedient." Thus, Hestia no longer pinched Jason's face but indulgently stroked his head, saying, "But this is also because I like little Jason you so much, so I am so expectant of your tribute.
Speaking of which, little Jason, after not seeing you for a while, you have grown taller again... In a bit more time, if I want to stroke little Jason your head, I will have to tiptoe."
Hestia said this smilingly, then tilted her head to look at Atalanta.
And at this moment, the recovered Atalanta, who had gotten down from the pegasus, naturally did not dare to be neglectful seeing this beautiful goddess with brown long hair looking toward her.
At the same time, she also understood what Jason's words just now referred to.
Thus, just as she stepped forward to bow to Hestia and prepare to say something.
She saw Hestia walk before her and say, "You should be Artemis's child, the Atalanta she often mentions in her mouth... Yes, indeed very cute."
Hestia sized up this Atalanta before her, clad in beautiful emerald green clothes, then looked at Jason and smiled with a satisfied nod.
Atalanta inevitably felt some doubt toward Hestia's behavior. Jason felt his head growing a bit big... Because during their last meeting, Hestia had shown some interest in this matter.
She had even advised Jason to find a partner, and even directly expressed letting Jason go find her sister Medea, and this Atalanta...
"Goddess Hestia, may I ask what brings you to find me this time? ...Goddess Hestia, you also know about the matter Lord Hermes entrusted to me regarding Io..."
Jason hurriedly changed the topic, bringing Hestia's train of thought back.
"Yes, this time I came to find little Jason, actually for the matter of Io... It is because of the request from Io's father, Inachus."
Hestia, whose wandering thoughts had returned, then explained the circumstances to Jason and Atalanta.
It turned out that after Io returned to this land, she very luckily encountered her father and brothers and sisters.
And although Io had turned into a little cow, her mind was undamaged. This allowed her to scratch a line of words on the ground with her hoof, telling her father and brothers her true identity.
Just as King Inachus, looking at his once beloved daughter who had actually turned into a little cow, felt heartbroken to the point of despair.
And prepared to take her away.
The hundred-eyed giant Argus walked out, snatched Io from Inachus's hands, led her away, then took Io up to the tallest mountain in the surroundings, where he currently pastures her.
"...Later, Io's father Inachus sought my help. He and his children kept crying before me, so I agreed to their request."
"I see." Hearing this, Jason nodded in realization to Hestia and said, "Rest assured, Goddess Hestia. I will definitely handle Io's matter properly and certainly rescue her!"
After all, even if Hestia had not appeared, Jason would still rescue Io because of the matter of the tribute to Hestia.
"Yes, of course I believe you, little Jason... But I hope you meet Inachus this time and tell him you will go save Io."
Hearing this, Jason looked at the smiling Hestia who spoke softly to him and hesitantly said, "Goddess Hestia, this..."
"Little Jason, I know you do not want fame, but I already promised Inachus that a hero riding a pegasus and clad in white clothes would save his可怜 daughter... So you must go meet Inachus. Only then can he feel at ease!"
Hearing Hestia's words, although Jason felt helpless in his heart, he could only nod to Hestia.
"That is good, little Jason... Actually, I have always felt it quite regrettable, because few people in the current world know little Jason your name."
Hestia lovingly stroked Jason's face and said, "You are clearly so kind and cute. Your name should be sung by bards across the entire continent, passed down through the ages!"
Atalanta, hearing Hestia's words and looking at the helpless Jason whose face clearly wrote 'No, absolutely not!',
Could not help but recall the days they had spent together these past few days.
Over these few days of interaction, Jason... once again refreshed Atalanta's understanding of him!
Of course, this time it was not in a good aspect, but a bad one.
Because over these two or three days, Jason had found ways to take the game she hunted back as compensation, and moreover, all of it was the meat she had already roasted.
After two or three days of gnawing dry rations afterward, Atalanta could not sit still and hunted prey to give to Jason.
But every time, Jason would deliberately wait until she finished preparing it before coming over to pick up the ready-made...
Was it not said that this guy was extremely diligent, following his teacher to learn, not sleeping a wink over three years, very hardworking and assiduous?
Goddess Artemis, were you deceived?
Evidently, what Atalanta did not know was that Jason had a precedent of not studying properly, nearly angering the centaur sage Chiron half to death!