Chapter 32: Sisyphus... The Tale of Thanatos - (3)

As soon as Ares made eye contact with the awakened Thanatos, he immediately rushed to the Underworld...

And reported everything to Hades.

"Great Uncle Hades! You won't believe what Lord Thanatos was doing..."

"...?"

Ares, who had expected to fight powerful monsters that had defeated Thanatos, fumed like a child whose toy had been taken away.

Upon learning the truth, the Underworld gods were outraged.

"What? So this whole situation..."

"And who is this Sisyphus human?"

"Damn it! Thanatos was just sleeping?!"

"Lord Ares, surely you're not lying..."

"I swear by the River Styx, everything I said is true!!!"

Some Underworld gods ambushed Thanatos as he finally brought Sisyphus to the Underworld.

More precisely, they waited at the entrance and bound him with ropes.

"Ugh! Hypnos, why are you doing this! You too, Styx!"

"Do you have any idea how hard we worked while you abandoned your duties to sleep!"

"Ares said you were even snoring!"

Thus Thanatos was brought in bound, under strict supervision of two gods, like a criminal.

Of course, Sisyphus, stunned by this unprecedented situation, walked in on his own.

"No... uh... ah...?"

Only one welcomed Thanatos, who had briefly abandoned his duties:

"Urgh... I had a good rest... but now I must row again..."

Only Charon, the ferryman of the River Acheron.

So Thanatos and Sisyphus were brought before me, Hades.

Thanatos was bound in ropes by the angry gods,

While Sisyphus knelt in a daze, looking bewildered.

"Come on, all this fuss over sleeping for a few days! I only meant to sleep for one day!"

Thanatos shouted boldly beside the shell-shocked Sisyphus.

My head ached like Zeus after swallowing Metis.

"Soul harvesting must have been... quite exhausting, Thanatos..."

"That's right, Hades understands my struggles! I really only meant to take a brief..."

The other gods lined up beside me immediately erupted.

First, Hypnos, who had been forcibly putting to sleep beings who couldn't die while traveling the world:

"What?! A brief rest? How dare you speak such nonsense, Thanatos!"

Moros & Ceres, who also traveled the world dealing with overlapping death duties:

"Thanatos! How can you say such things!"

"You disrupted the world's cycle for days and that's all you have to say!"

Morpheus, who had appeared in human dreams day and night to implant suggestions not to harm life:

"Lord Hades! Thanatos must be in league with Chronos, the god of time! How else could he call this brief..."

Other gods and officials also condemned Thanatos's misdeeds.

They completely ignored Sisyphus, whom Zeus had already labeled a serious criminal.

"Y-You insolent fools! Try doing my job!"

"What?! I'm busy giving sleep to mortals every day!"

"Do you know how hard I work sending avatars to create dreams daily!"

"You think we don't work hard?!"

"Don't tell me you think you're the only one working in the Underworld?!"

Indeed.

All Underworld gods constantly worked themselves to death.

Even Hades, the highest authority, rarely had free time.

While Thanatos and Charon were busiest,

That didn't mean other gods were lounging around.

Just look at Morpheus and Hypnos, who had to control countless avatars every night.

In this situation, Thanatos abandoned his duties for days...

The other Underworld gods had to handle dozens of times their usual workload.

***

I waved my hand to quiet everyone and then spoke.

It was time to decide on Thanatos's punishment for abandoning his duties using Sisyphus.

"First... we need to decide on a punishment..."

"Tartarus!"

Hypnos shouted, his neck veins bulging.

He's the god of sleep, but he hadn't slept a wink for days.

"Sending him to Tartarus immediately wouldn't be bad."

"Hmm, the crime of disrupting the cycle is serious. Hades should pass a just judgment..."

Ceres & Moros, with dark circles under their eyes, spoke.

They had practically lived in the mortal realm for days, hurriedly harvesting souls.

"Since just sending him to Tartarus seems too light, how about making him continuously push a falling rock up a mountain?"

"Morpheus! Well said!"

"As expected of the god of dreams, such rich imagination!"

"Tartarus! To Tartarus!"

Morpheus ranted with wild eyes.

He seemed to harbor strong resentment for not being able to rest, unlike Thanatos.

"You crazy fools! If you were in my position, wouldn't you take a break too!"

"Better than you, who slept at the first opportunity..."

"Thanatos! Stop making excuses and accept your punishment!"

"Send Thanatos to Tartarus!"

As the Underworld descended into chaos, I quietly muttered, infusing my voice with divine power so all gods could hear:

"So if we send Thanatos to Tartarus, who will harvest souls from now on?"

Ah, silence fell.

The gods quieted down, seemingly not having considered this.

Everyone looked at each other uneasily.

"Well, isn't death just a deep sleep? Hypnos could..."

"Ceres, you oversee destructive death, so maybe..."

"Hmm. We'll have to think about that..."

I expected this.

No one seemed eager to increase their workload.

Now I could share my thoughts.

"We can't send Thanatos to Tartarus... Any deity with complaints can volunteer to harvest souls instead."

"Ahem. Hmm. Lucky you, Thanatos."

"I guess we have no choice..."

"Sigh... A wrongdoer escaping proper punishment, Dike, the goddess of justice, would lament..."

"Hmph...!"

"Instead, Lord Thanatos will serve additional days of labor. He will also be barred from receiving human offerings for a while..."

Considering Thanatos's already heavy workload as the busiest Underworld god, and the face of an ancient deity...

I suppose adding various punishments like this should suffice.

Thanatos's face crumpled as he stood up, the ropes binding him loosened.

He seemed to realize he would have no more vacations.

"And since I haven't been attentive enough to all of you, I'll periodically request support from Olympus..."

"But Hades, what about that human?"

Goddess Styx, who had been quietly frowning, pointed at Sisyphus.

***

I looked at Sisyphus, the human Zeus had sent Thanatos to capture.

His forehead was drenched in sweat, and he looked half out of his mind.

"Let's see, your crimes are..."

"Huh..."

"Don't be so afraid, there's a petition in your favor."

I reached out and picked up a parchment scroll delivered by Iris, the rainbow goddess.

It was a petition the river god Asopus had asked to be delivered to the Underworld recently.

I handed this scroll to Minos, one of the three judges of the Underworld standing nearby.

He slowly examined the contents and began to read.

"I shall read. Upon hearing of the human Sisyphus's capture, to the ruler of the Underworld..."

The contents of the document sent to me by the river god.

It detailed what Zeus had done to his daughter Aegina and expressed gratitude towards Sisyphus.

It also expressed concern that Sisyphus would face retaliation from Zeus.

"...Therefore, I humbly request some leniency and mercy for him."

As Minos finished reading the petition, the faces of nearby gods turned ashen.

"Sigh... Lord Zeus again...?"

"This time a river god was victimized..."

"It could be false, should we ask Goddess Mnemosyne to verify?"

I nodded,

And soon the goddess of memory read Sisyphus's memories and relayed them to me.

"Then I shall pass judgment."

Sisyphus looked up at me with a slightly hopeful expression.

"Ambushing Thanatos, the god of death, and consequently disrupting the world's cycle are undoubtedly serious crimes."

However...

"But the reason Thanatos came for you earlier than your destined lifespan was not your fault."

To be precise, it was because Zeus sent Thanatos in anger when his rape was exposed.

Still, Sisyphus wasn't entirely blameless.

From what I gathered, he planned to evoke sympathy by claiming his wife hadn't held a funeral.

But Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, had searched his mind and informed me.

It's not easy for a human to deceive gods.

"While your intention to evoke my sympathy using the funeral was wrong... you have a good reputation among the people of Corinth in the mortal realm, worthy of being called a wise king. And the real big crime is..."

"...Ahem!"

I glared at the god who was shamelessly holding his head high.

Thanatos, who had just returned from a good rest in the mortal realm, cleared his throat and avoided my gaze when our eyes met.

"...Originally, Lord Thanatos had no intention of using you, and if you had been brought to the Underworld, Minos here would have declared you innocent."

"Th-Then!"

Minos beside me smiled awkwardly and said, "Well... if it's related to Lord Zeus, it's a bit... ahem..."

But I ignored him for now.

"Therefore, I will judge your crimes again when you come to the Underworld after living out your full lifespan in the mortal realm."

"...! Thank you..! Thank you! Lord Pluto!"

Sisyphus prostrated himself and kept thanking me, his face showing relief.

Still, he would forget all his memories of the Underworld.

I nodded to Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness, and she approached behind Sisyphus.

With her, the power of oblivion manifested.

Sisyphus would forget all his memories of the Underworld.

"Huh...? Uh..."

"Oh, and by the way, at that time, I'll also judge you for the crime of imprisoning Thanatos when he fell on his own."

I finished speaking as I watched Sisyphus's eyes grow cloudy, losing his memories.

While it's true that Thanatos deliberately used Sisyphus, he should be punished separately for tying him up in the palace basement.

When he comes to the Underworld after his destined lifespan...

He might work with Phaethon on the outskirts of the Underworld for decades or centuries.

"Morpheus, send a messenger to Olympus and ask them to summon Iris to the Underworld."

"Huh? Why Iris, the rainbow goddess..."

What? Send Thanatos because there's a serious criminal?

"I'm going to complain to Zeus myself."

He's talking nonsense.