Chapter 65
"""Glory to the underworld!"""
Everyone who raised their golden cups high followed Thanatos's words and drank nectar.
I too took a big gulp of the divine drink in my cup.
Gulp gulp- Swallow-
"Wow... So this is the taste of nectar... It's so delicious...!"
"Hahaha! Menthe, now that you've become a god, you'll get used to it soon."
"Hmm. It reminds me of a very long time ago.. when I first ate nectar and ambrosia."
"Hypnos, stop teasing the young god."
"So this is nectar..."
"Try ambrosia too, Medusa."
A heavenly taste that tea made from mint or Dionysus's wine could never match.
Since it's not a fixed taste to begin with, no drink can match nectar.
Nectar not only tastes good but also gives gods mental satisfaction.
There's a reason why mortals don't age while eating nectar and ambrosia.
However... if you drink too much, this happens.
"Hades... Let's share a drink after a long time... Hehe..."
"You're very drunk, Goddess Styx..."
Yes, like Goddess Styx stumbling towards me with a cup in hand.
Having drunk a lot of nectar, a seductive smile forms on the goddess's lips as she walks over with a flushed face.
"Hadeeees... Hehehe."
In fact, it's just enough intoxication that could be quickly dispelled by drawing out a little divine power,
so gods drink it like humans drink wine, but...
Well. Somehow it seems she's deliberately acting drunk..
"Oops!"
Thump.
Ah. Was this her goal...
As she tripped very unnaturally and fell while sending me a desperate look, I caught her without thinking.
As I was about to let go of her arm and waist that I had grabbed and help her up...
"Ah..."
Goddess Styx puckered her lips and closed her eyes.
As if she wanted something troublesome from me...
"Eek! Get away, Styx! Again, the moment I'm not looking!"
"...Ah! Really! Are you really going to do this, Lethe?"
Goddess Lethe, who approached in an instant, grabbed the oath goddess who had closed her eyes and lifted her up.
And Goddess Styx, who had been so drunk she could barely stand just moments ago, immediately sobered up and complained to Goddess Lethe...
Let's all share drinks together..
"Menthe? Nectar is flowing from your mouth?"
"....Huh? Yes..."
"Tsk tsk... That's why you should have married earlier..."
"Even Zeus and Poseidon have countless concubines on top of their marriages..."
"Lord Hades is really popular, isn't he."
Ahem... No, that.. Sigh...
I moved my steps towards where Medusa and the three Erinyes sisters were.
The three goddesses of vengeance have an off-putting appearance with bronze wings, blood flowing from their eyes, and snake hair, but...
They've come to attend the feast they've been constantly refusing until now,
so I, as the host of the feast, should approach them first. This is an act to show the lesser gods and underworld administrators.
These are the ones that I, the lord of the underworld, treat well and look after to this extent.
...I need to show this clearly so they won't be mistreated.
"Medusa, are you enjoying the feast?"
"Yes. Thank you for your consideration."
"Hmph! How considerate of such a philandering god."
Alecto, meaning unceasing anger... why did she glare at me once and then turn her head?
But why are the snake heads acting as her hair...
Hiss. Hiss.
"Ugh... What's wrong with these things again!"
"Hades, I've told you many times, stop doing that..."
"Umm..."
Alecto, getting angry at her own hair and blushing,
Tisiphone sighing and speaking, and Megaera nodding while chewing ambrosia with her mouth full.
"Umm... I'll keep inviting you to feasts in the future. Will you come?"
"...Hmph!"
"Well. It's not bad, but..."
For some reason, I feel like I've experienced something similar before... What was it?
But since we've had some conversation,
they won't be shunned at feasts in the future.
***
Next, I approached Charon, the ferryman of the Acheron River, who was sitting to one side sipping wine.
For some reason, he was drinking only wine, leaving the nectar untouched.
"Lord Charon."
"Ah, Hades. Have a glass of this wine too."
"Aren't you drinking nectar?"
"Sometimes the taste of wine isn't bad. Was it Dionysus who made this?"
Charon, who was drinking only wine without eating ambrosia or food from the Cornucopia.
He spoke to me as if he had remembered something.
"These days, many souls coming to the underworld have quite relieved expressions."
"Why is that? To mortals, the underworld is..."
"Yes, it's a symbol of inevitable death and fear. But... as your believers increase, more people are thinking about life after death."
The influence I can exert on the mortal world through the temples in Thebes and Argos is gradually increasing.
But I thought it was still a minor faith, yet if Charon can feel it, it seems there are quite a few believers.
"Those who lived honorable lives in the mortal world and died show very composed appearances."
"That's really good news."
"Don't your believers believe they'll receive fair judgment after death? As that influence spreads in the mortal world..."
As Medusa's anecdote spread from Thebes,
rumors that my mercy reaches even humans who became monsters gradually spread.
If I just listen a little to the mortal world right now...
"Is it alright for you to pass away with this false accusation?"
"Don't worry too much... Pluto is a fair god..."
"Ugh.. Those scumbags will surely be judged in the underworld!"
"Can you say the same thing about your innocence in front of God Pluto?"
"Of course! I can even swear in the temple!"
"...Since you're so confident, let's investigate again."
But there are still not many who call me Hades.
Even though I'm called the god of mercy or wealth rather than the god of the underworld... this is really unavoidable.
To humans, death and the underworld are as fearsome as Zeus's thunderbolts... hmm.
As proof, most of those who pray to Thanatos's statue in Thebes are old people.
Last time, the rumor about Medusa reached the ears of Perseus, who had become king.
At that time, he came directly to my temple in Argos to pray to me.
"Lord of the underworld... Is it true that Medusa, whose head I cut off, was originally human?"
Perseus's face was a mixture of slight disbelief, guilt, and worry.
I possessed the body of a priest and answered him...
"It is true that she was transformed into such a hideous appearance by the tricks of fate."
"Umm...! How could this be..."
"She, who has become a lesser god of the underworld, wants to meet you. Would you like to have a conversation?"
"...!! Please!"
As Medusa, who had become a god, requested from the side, I switched with her.
Medusa, possessing a human body, seemed to have no particular feelings even when meeting Perseus who had cut off her head.
"So you're the one who cut off my head. Perseus."
"Are... Are you perhaps Medusa...? I don't know what to say..."
"...It's fine. You were also just swept up by fate, I don't hate you."
"But..."
Perseus looked very embarrassed and apologetic.
The one who achieved heroic deeds was not bad in character either.
As their conversation lengthened, I quietly left the place.
Some time later, a small temple was built next to my temple in Argos...
The owner of the temple was Medusa, a lesser god of the underworld.
***
'Rumors spread that King Perseus himself occasionally visits Medusa's temple to pray...'
As I was reminiscing about the anecdote of Medusa and Perseus, I came to my senses at a loud noise.
Thanatos, the god of death with black wings, had rushed into the banquet hall urgently.
He had hurriedly left the banquet hall earlier... Did he go out to see what was happening?
I should give Thanatos a vacation sometime...
"Ceres, Moros, Charon, it's terrible! A war has broken out in the mortal world!"
"What?! Again?"
"Damn it! Let's go quickly, Moros."
"Have those humans started another war?"
Charon, who had been gulping down wine, threw away his cup and got up hurriedly.
The other death gods, Moros and Ceres, also left the banquet hall.
"A war in the mortal world...? How many souls will come this time..."
"Lord Hades. I'm sorry, but I think I should go too."
More than half of the lesser gods and administrators who heard this news rushed out.
The three Minos brothers also glanced around and headed towards the judgment hall.
"How come every time we try to rest a little, there's a great flood, a hero's rampage, a war..."
"It can't be helped, Hades... Let's go back to work."
Goddess Lethe left a word as she passed by me.
I was at a loss for words seeing her beautiful eyes drooping lifelessly.
"Lord Hades?! Is this what underworld feasts are usually like?"
"...?"
Medusa and Menthe froze at the sight of gods and administrators leaving the banquet hall in an orderly fashion, as if resigned.
Yes... This is the underworld. We can't rest easy.
Menthe, whose eyes met mine, swallowed the ambrosia she was eating and said awkwardly.
"Lord Hades. Should I perhaps work too..."
"Menthe, let's continue developing mint foods that we couldn't finish earlier. And methods to spread them to the mortal world..."
Since it's come to this, let's finish what we were doing and then rest.
Regrettably, the feast ends here.
As I was about to return to the office with Menthe, who was making a sad face,
I heard Medusa say something.
"The underworld is... a unique place indeed."
I think so too.