Not long after,
the sleepless dragon carried Jason out of the ancient forest.
All the way, it brought him into the kingdom of Colchis.
When the magic dragon landed at the palace of Colchis, the tense soldiers naturally held their weapons and surged forward.
King Aeëtes of Colchis appeared extremely serious. He clearly recognized this dragon as the one guarding the Golden Fleece.
However, why had it come here?
Could it be that Jason had failed and angered it, and now it had come to vent its fury?
As King Aeëtes pondered this in his heart and considered whether to seek help from his father, the sun god Helios.
"Hm... Brother?"
Medea, who had followed her mother, the queen, seemed to see something and suddenly let out a soft exclamation, interrupting Aeëtes' train of thought.
Then, following Medea's line of sight, Aeëtes saw the familiar youth who jumped down from the dragon's back as it lay there.
Afterward, Aeëtes was stunned.
The soldiers surrounding the dragon tensely were also stunned at this moment.
"It really is Brother!"
Before Aeëtes and the others could recover, Medea had already excitedly run toward Jason.
Only after seeing Jason catch his daughter did Aeëtes snap back to reality.
He looked at the dragon, then at Jason.
After a moment of hesitation, he finally approached Jason.
"Dragon Lord, it has been a long time... Jason, this is...?"
Catching Medea and patting her head, Jason looked at Aeëtes, who had respectfully finished greeting the sleepless dragon and was now gazing at him in confusion.
Glancing at the tense soldiers around them, he naturally felt a bit of a headache.
In truth, Jason greatly disliked such high-profile behavior.
Along the way, he had even tried to get the sleepless dragon to let him down.
But the sleepless dragon said it had business to attend to with King Aeëtes, so it might as well bring him along.
Moreover, since he had already made a promise to the goddess of wisdom Athena on this journey, he ultimately relented and did not, as usual, simply go invisible and sneak away.
"Um, this scent... Sniff sniff."
The sleepless dragon widened its eyes and looked at Aeëtes, who stiffened completely under its gaze. After sniffing twice to confirm, it said, "It is you, right? The one who made the agreement with me.
I came this time to tell you that I lost. The Golden Fleece has already been taken by him, so our agreement is void."
When the sleepless dragon said this so candidly.
Even Jason was stunned for a moment, let alone Aeëtes and the others.
"Brother, you already obtained the Golden Fleece?"
Medea blinked her eyes and looked at Jason in delighted surprise.
After Jason nodded, the smiling Medea sincerely felt happy for him and said, "Congratulations, Brother!"
Just as Medea finished speaking.
"Jason!"
From not far away, Chiron and Atalanta and the others arrived here.
When Atalanta saw the dragon, she gripped her Heavenly Bow very tightly, her brows furrowed.
But the instant she saw Jason, she immediately relaxed.
"What is going on?"
As she spoke, Atalanta arrived at Jason's side at extreme speed.
Then Atalanta looked at Medea, who was hugging him. As their gazes met Medea's, the two said nothing.
"It is fine." Jason shook his head. While replying to Atalanta, he also explained and clarified to the people around them, "This is the Dragon Lord who guards the Golden Fleece.
Everyone can stand down. It means no harm. It came this time to explain the situation... Right, Dragon Lord?"
"Yes." After Jason looked at it, the sleepless dragon nodded and replied, "That is right. I am not here to fight you all. You can rest assured... After all, I cannot beat this guy.
The thing you had me guard has already been taken by him."
As the sleepless dragon spoke, it even extended its claw to point at Jason.
Upon hearing this, everyone present naturally froze for a moment.
They widened their eyes, looking at the now so docile sleepless dragon.
Then they looked at Jason, who stood beside it, appearing so tiny in comparison.
After their gazes lingered between the two for a while, as the crowd gradually understood what had happened, they cast hot, adoring looks toward Jason.
This made Jason feel extremely uncomfortable.
But with things having reached this point, Jason could only endure it.
Forcing himself to bear the discomfort, Jason then took out the Golden Fleece, which emitted dazzling golden light under the sun's rays.
He turned around and, under everyone's gaze, came before King Aeëtes.
He bowed respectfully to him and then said, "Respected King Aeëtes, as you can see, this is your kingdom's treasure, the Golden Fleece!"
With that, Jason respectfully handed the Golden Fleece to Aeëtes.
Seeing Jason do this, everyone could not help but be stunned, puzzlement appearing in their eyes.
Aeëtes naturally did the same. He looked at the proffered Golden Fleece, then at Jason before him.
Feeling perplexed, Aeëtes asked, "Jason, what is this...?"
In response to Aeëtes' confusion, Jason smiled and replied, "Respected King Aeëtes, although I have completed the three trials to obtain the Golden Fleece and taken it, the Golden Fleece is, after all, your kingdom's heirloom treasure."
"Therefore, at this moment, I should return the Golden Fleece to you, the king, right here. And its final disposition should still be decided personally by you, the king."
Faced with Jason's answer, the momentarily stunned Aeëtes looked at him with an expression of deep emotion.
And the people listening around them could not help but be stunned once more.
"Are you not afraid that I will take it back but still not give it to you?"
Aeëtes looked at Jason in surprise.
He looked into those golden eyes of his.
As for Aeëtes' question, Jason merely chuckled lightly and replied, "As I said before, the Golden Fleece is originally your kingdom's possession.
Even though I have completed the three trials as stated by Your Majesty, that does not mean I have the qualification to take it away.
But..."
At this point, Jason's expression suddenly became serious as he said to King Aeëtes, "My best friends and brothers and I spent nearly half a year traveling from distant Iolcus to here.
Therefore, we will absolutely not give it up because of this.
We will beseech the most just god in the world, the goddess of judgment Themis, explain everything to her, and seek justice!"
Hearing Jason's words, Aeëtes could not help but look deeply at the Jason before him.
Then he reached out and took the Golden Fleece from Jason's hand.
Just as the sleepless dragon saw this and considered whether to spit a mouthful of saliva to dissolve him on the spot.
"Goddess of Judgment Themis, I think we will not need to meet her."
Aeëtes suddenly laughed, then raised the Golden Fleece high, his expression solemn as he said, "At this moment, under the witness of the great gods!
I, the king of Colchis, hereby formally entrust our kingdom's heirloom treasure, the Golden Fleece, to this prince from distant Iolcus, the captain of the Argo, Jason!
He completed our three impossible trials. He tamed the raging divine bulls, defeated the terrifying poison-toothed soldiers, and vanquished the mighty magic dragon.
Therefore, he deserves it.
From this day forward, the Golden Fleece belongs to this great hero Jason..."
Aeëtes' words were not yet finished when Jason suddenly interrupted him.
"No, it does not belong solely to me."
Jason shook his head and said seriously to King Aeëtes, "It belongs to the Argo...
It belongs to every hero of the Argo who came with me!"
Aeëtes was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "Yes, it belongs to you, to all of you, to every hero of the Argo.
Under the witness of the great gods!"
As he finished speaking, it was as if in response to this instant.
Golden light shone down, illuminating this land.
The golden radiance enveloped the entire kingdom of Colchis.
And at the same time...
"At this moment, witnessed by I, King of the Gods Zeus!
At this moment, witnessed by I, Queen of the Heavens Hera!
At this moment, witnessed by I, Lord of the Seas Poseidon!
At this moment, witnessed by I, King of the Underworld Hades!
..."
The majestic voices of the gods of the current divine court resounded in the ears of everyone present.
Everyone, after a brief moment of stunned reaction, naturally immediately bowed to the gods, expressing their reverence from the heart.
As for Jason, he was naturally the first to react and bow.
It was just that...
My heavens, you are all here? Are you really that idle?!
You would not have been watching from two days ago until now, would you?!
With such thoughts in his heart, Jason only felt his head begin to ache faintly again.
Of course, his facial expression showed no abnormality whatsoever.
And once this miracle faded, after the gods had all spoken and strongly asserted their presence, and the golden light disappeared, everyone present finally raised their heads.
At this point, Jason also took the Golden Fleece back from Aeëtes' hand.
After receiving it, Jason turned around and looked at Atalanta, Chiron, Theseus, and the heroes of the Argo who were now looking toward him.
Jason took a deep breath toward them and then said, "This journey... has been so long!
Most of you came to aid me because of that one letter I sent, all because of my willfulness.
Without you, I would not have made it to today.
Therefore, now, please allow me to express, on behalf of myself, my most sincere gratitude to all of you!"
With that, Jason bowed deeply to them. Before they could react, he raised his head again and said solemnly and excitedly, "But now, everything... is worth it!
Look, the gods are blessing us. We have completed the trials given to us by the gods. From this day forward, our deeds will surely spread to every corner of the world!
It... is the glory belonging to all of us on the Argo!"
Jason raised the Golden Fleece once more, and a beam of golden light shone upon it.
Thus, the matter of the Golden Fleece.
Finally came to a close.
And after everything ended...
"How does it feel to be the center of attention, Captain Jason?"
When the two were alone, walking on the palace roads of the kingdom of Colchis.
As the bright sunlight shone on their bodies and the breeze stirred their hair.
Atalanta's lips curved slightly upward as she said softly to Jason.
"Please do not mention it!"
Jason covered his face and complained depressedly to Atalanta, "You clearly know that I hate this the most, yet you still ask me."
"I thought you had already grown to like it."
Atalanta covered her mouth and chuckled lightly.
"How could I possibly like it?" Jason rolled his eyes. "It is so troublesome, is it not!"
"But now, the name of Jason is certain to resound throughout the world. The bards will also sing of the deeds of Jason, his name."
Atalanta blinked at Jason. As she spoke, her expression carried a touch of emotion as she said, "Jason...
You have finally become a hero, after all."
"... Yes." Jason was silent for a long time before sighing lightly in reply, "I have finally become a hero."
"Then, how does it feel to become a hero?"
Atalanta looked at the Jason before her.
In a daze, she seemed to see the him from several years ago when she first came down from the mountain, and the Jason she had seen as a child.
Just as Medea had said, she envied Atalanta immensely.
Because aside from the gods, only Atalanta had witnessed Jason's entire life!
Even if the events she witnessed were not comprehensive.
Many events still lay hidden in the world, waiting for time to ferment and spread before they would be known to people.
But clearly, Atalanta was the fortunate one.
"Um... No particular feeling."
Jason thought for a good while before shrugging in reply to Atalanta.
"Now that I think about it, the reason I hated becoming a hero so much back then was ultimately because it was too dangerous.
Whether it was the profession of hero or my own fate...
But now... I truly did not expect that it would be her who broke the fate named 'the hero Jason' for me."
"... Medea, huh."
At this point, Atalanta's voice suddenly grew a bit fainter.
"Yes." Jason nodded without noticing and revealed a slightly proud smile as he said, "And let me tell you, my little sister is really starting to resemble me more and more.
Yes, yes, it seems my upbringing of her when she was little was quite effective, after all.
It was not in vain that I put so much heart and soul into nurturing her back then.
It is just that if she could understand the meaning of 'an elder brother is like a father' and 'one must not bully one's elder brother,' that would be perfect... Hey hey, Atalanta, why are you walking so fast?
Wait for me, wait for me!"
Atalanta did not heed Jason. From her expression, she seemed quite calm as well.
But...
Just as Medea had always envied Atalanta, in truth, was it not the same in Atalanta's heart?
Of course, Atalanta would never admit this.
After all... was it not too cunning?
Unlike her, who needed to strive, Medea was fated, destined to have entanglements with Jason.
She would forever occupy a place by Jason's side.
Was that not cunning?