The Villain of Ancient Greece

Night fell upon the Oceanus Sea.

The waves shimmered under the moonlight, and a cool breeze whispered across the surface. A small cedarwood boat drifted quietly, slicing through the mirrored starlight.

Creak—

A faint groan echoed from the floorboards inside the cabin as a small figure got down on all fours, half-crawling through the shadows in one corner.

In the dark, a pair of glowing purplish-red eyes, slit like a serpent’s, flickered with an eerie light.

Slowly, silently, the small head edged closer and closer… toward the slumbering figure lying nearby.

Suddenly, those closed eyes snapped open, locking on the face just inches away.

”…What are you doing?”

There was a beat of silence before little Medusa lifted her head, met Lorne’s gaze and answered in a muffled voice.

”I’m hungry…”

”Then go outside and find something to eat.”

Lorne pointed outside the door and spoke expressionlessly.

”But…”

Little Medusa stared straight at him as her pink tongue flicked out, wetting her lips.

”…you smell so good.”

”…”

Lorne’s mouth twitched hard as silence crashed back over the cabin.

Great. Here we go again.

Apparently, someone had developed a taste for him.

Of course, it wasn’t lustful or anything.

More like how his old witch mentor Circe used to eye him, with that same unsettling interest in his scent and body structure.

To put it bluntly, Medusa was showing the instincts of a predatory serpent-like monster.

Creatures like her usually prefer to suck the blood of creatures to absorb magic power.

The purer the target’s blood, the stronger the divine essence and magical energy it carried. And the stronger the magic, the sweeter the scent.

As a child of Zeus and future god of wine, Lorne practically screamed premium grade A+ snack pack.

And since she’d only just finished her metamorphosis, poor Medusa had been surviving on bland grilled fish for days now.

Her cravings for blood had been building day by day and tonight, they’d finally boiled over.

She wanted a bite.

Unfortunately for her, Lorne’s danger radar had always been top-tier.

”Gurgle~”

The distinct sound of a throat gulping echoed through the cramped cabin, snapping Lorne out of his thoughts.

When he came back to himself, he saw that Medusa had somehow crept up to him again without a sound.

His face darkened.

But soon after, he raised an eyebrow and extended his pale arm forward, wearing a half-smile.

”Wanna bite?”

Medusa couldn’t help but swallow again. Her eyes stared fixedly at that fair-skinned arm, her gaze gradually heating up, as if it could see through the skin, tracing every vein and the rich, scarlet nectar flowing beneath.

At the same time, her little head inched downward.

Smack!

Before she could get a taste, another hand came down like lightning and smacked her squarely on the head.

”Keep dreaming!”

Lorne’s face turned stern as he yanked his arm back, scolding her with visible irritation.

”It’s the middle of the night and you’re trying to ambush me? Can’t you show a little respect for your elders? I’m clearly stronger than you! Charging in like that without thinking, you were basically asking to get smacked.”

Medusa rubbed her aching head, fell silent for a moment, then muttered her thoughts.

”But... I’m really hungry.”

”...”

Lorne, who had been lecturing her with such passion, was left speechless.

Great. She didn’t hear a word.

Faced with a student who wouldn’t listen to reason, he waved her off angrily with a look of disgust.

”Go on, there’s leftover grilled fish from earlier in the kitchen.”

Medusa’s mouth twitched slightly and then, with a deadpan face, she turned to leave.

”Where are you going? The kitchen’s the other way.”

Lorne pointed in the opposite direction, exasperated.

”I’m not hungry!”

Medusa replied stiffly, shaking her head in firm refusal.

At the same time, she quickly jumped into bed, yanked the covers over herself, and tucked in tightly, building a full-body defense cocoon.

Watching the so-called fearsome Gorgon retreat in defeat before a plate of leftover seafood, Lorne couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle.

What the hell... she’s really just a kid.

Outside, the moonlight was bright.

A damp sea breeze drifted into the cabin, dissolving what little sleepiness Lorne had left.

Whatever. Might as well go for a walk.

Bored and restless, he glanced at the now quiet bundle of blankets beside him, then gently got up, threw on a coat, and stepped onto the boat’s deck to gaze out at the sea.

In the silent cabin again, a corner of the three-dimensional defense quilt was quietly lifted, and a pair of purple-red eyes looked at the back of the figure blowing in the wind on it, inexplicably absent-minded.

This person… really was different from all the humans she had known.

So strange...

But also… kind of comforting...

Medusa’s tightly curled body slowly relaxed. Drowsiness washed over her, and her vision began to blur.

At the same time, on the deck above, Lorne, perhaps just out of boredom, picked up a homemade harpoon and leaned over the railing to look into the water.

Fish again tomorrow, huh…

Medusa mumbled in frustration, letting out a long yawn. Finally unable to resist the pull of sleep, her little head tilted to the side as she drifted off into dreams.

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Morning.

A rich aroma, utterly different from the usual fishy smell, wafted into the cabin, rousing the slumbering Gorgon girl.

Medusa’s delicate nose twitched, and her weary spirit suddenly perked up.

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she sat up in bed, stepped out barefoot, and walked to the deck, curiously eyeing the pot of meat stewing in front of Lorne.

”What’s that?”

”There was a fish tide last night—attracted a bunch of seabirds. I took advantage of the chaos and bagged a few,” Lorne replied offhandedly, yawning as he stirred the pot with a wooden ladle.

Medusa looked at the blood-stained harpoon next to her and the small pile of bird feathers on the deck, and was slightly dazed.

”Almost done. Go wash your face—we’ll eat together,”

Lorne spoke, snapping her out of her thoughts as she obediently did her pre-meal routine.

Not long after, the bird meat that had been simmering all night, tender and falling apart, was served at the table.

Medusa looked at the oily, rich broth in her bowl, and the large chunks of bird meat. Her stomach let out a loud growl, and she subconsciously held it.

Still so hungry…

For a blood-feeding species like her, the magic and vitality in blood gave a kind of nourishment and fullness that ordinary food just couldn’t match.

But...

Medusa lifted her purple-red eyes slightly, sneaking a glance at Lorne, who was sitting by the boat’s edge gnawing on a piece of fish, and gently bit her lip.

It probably tastes really good.

The petite Gorgon cupped the ceramic bowl in her hands, closed her eyes, and took a big sip of the rich broth, imagining the sweet, metallic taste of blood.

In that moment of delusion, it truly felt as if she were drinking blood from the bottom of the bowl. A comforting warmth bloomed in her belly and spread to every part of her body.

Delicious!

Medusa’s eyes widened in delight.

She took another greedy slurp, savoring the warmth once again.

That familiar feeling returned, along with a faint metallic sweetness on the tip of her tongue.

Metallic sweetness...?

Medusa froze for a moment, her gaze settling ahead.

A hand holding a skewer, slender, pale, as delicate as carved jade.

But the only blemish was a faint scratch across the back of it.

Medusa opened her mouth, just about to speak, when Lorne, who had been leaning against the ship’s railing, suddenly sprang to his feet.

With a frustrated shout, he flung the fish in his hand into the crashing waves below and yelled in excitement:

”Land! It’s land! We’re finally ashore!”

At the same time, the coastline came into view, along with a stretch of mountains and the iconic marble buildings of a human city-state.

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