Chapter 70
"...Persephone, do you know what it means to eat food from the underworld?"
"Ah?! Was I not supposed to eat it? I'm sorry..."
Persephone's expression quickly turned gloomy.
The underworld is a completely different world from the mortal realm, so separate rules exist.
The contents summarizing this are well preserved on parchment imbued with divine power...
Laws of the Underworld.
Article 1, Section 1: Once dead, one cannot be revived.
Article 1, Section 2: All the dead must receive judgment to settle their karma from the mortal world.
.
.
.
Article 5, Section 2: .....
Article 5, Section 3: Anyone who has eaten food from the underworld even once must live here.
The case that applies to Persephone... is precisely this Article 5, Section 3.
It doesn't mean she can't go to the mortal world at all, but at least she has to move her residence to the underworld.
Because this rule applies even to gods, gods temporarily dispatched to the underworld never touched any food.
Neither Athena, nor Ares, nor Aphrodite ate any food in the underworld.
"Sigh... Anyone who eats food from the underworld must live here."
"Eh? Is that so? Then I'll be living with you now, Uncle?"
Because Persephone was hit by Eros's golden arrow, her reaction is that it's not bad.
But how will Demeter and Zeus think about this?
No... wait a minute, even if she's a young goddess who hasn't lived even 300 years,
how could she not know the laws of the underworld? Did she eat this on purpose?
The position of mistress of the underworld naturally comes with power and a high status, even more so for Persephone who was hit by the golden arrow...
"...For now, follow me. Don't leave my sight."
"Okay!"
It's better if I just keep her with me.
***
So I took her along for a while as I handled my duties.
"To you who met death after being expelled from Artemis's followers for losing your chastity..."
"...Glory to the merciful god... Thank you, Pluto."
While I racked my brain trying to make fair judgments, listening briefly to the circumstances of wronged souls,
Persephone had a face full of questions.
When I finished the backlog of judgments, she approached me.
"Uncle Hades. Why are you so lenient to humans?"
"Lenient?"
"Yes. It seems you show mercy even to humans who insult or act arrogantly towards gods."
Eyes full of pure curiosity, not sarcasm or dissatisfaction.
It's exactly the kind of thought a young god born under a high divine status and raised without want would have.
Overwhelming power of divine force and authority, pride in being responsible for maintaining the world's balance, a sense of superiority over weak humans.
This isn't just Persephone's problem.
Almost all gods would think like this, but...
"...It's better to abandon such thoughts."
"Huh..? What?!"
"The underworld is the place that decorates the end of mortals and their final destination. What would happen if I were harsh to them?"
"But aren't we gods beings to be served by them? If I just stop using my authority over spring, humans would..."
Because young gods have powerful abilities compared to their innocence,
they could sometimes be seen as cruel and capricious beings to humans.
This would be even more so for Persephone, who was born being revered and has the ability and lineage for it.
Demeter and Zeus often show harsh aspects to humans too... It seems she's taken after her parents' personalities quite a bit.
"...You certainly sound like a goddess who governs one of the four seasons."
"I'm the goddess of spring and seeds though...?"
"That's not what I meant. I just meant... your small actions could be seen as natural disasters by humans."
I continued speaking while looking into Persephone's eyes full of questions.
I hope what I've seen and felt in the underworld will be of some help to you.
"We gods are not absolutely perfect beings. Even Zeus or Athena can make mistakes."
"Even Father or the Goddess of Wisdom?"
"There is no perfect god. So be careful about using your authority based on momentary whims and short-sighted thoughts."
"Have you... one of the Big Three, Uncle Hades... ever regretted anything?"
"...Countless times."
How could one show only perfection while living for such a long time?
No matter how much they say I'm the god of mercy, the fair and just ruler of the underworld...
"There were times I regretted making wrong judgments by mistake, times I was swept up in momentary emotions."
"Ah..."
"When you're angry, the mortals dying from the aftermath might seem insignificant to you, but..."
"......"
"Remember that for them, it's an irresistible disaster. It's those unjustly killed who come to the underworld."
Persephone's free-spirited divine power fluctuated greatly as she pondered my words.
Has she realized something about her role, about the responsibility for the domain she's in charge of?
"We can't always do it, but we gods must strive to make the best judgments possible."
"...I've never heard such words even from Mother..."
Persephone mumbled quietly, looking at the floor.
Right now, I felt her grow slightly.
The feeling of Persephone's vibrant and energetic power becoming calm and orderly.
Spring, one of the four seasons, will be a bit more stable, and seeds sown in the earth will grow well.
"For now, I'll assign you temporary quarters. And I need to tell your mother about this..."
"Hades, it's terrible! Right now in the underworld..."
Goddess Styx rushes in, opening the door and looking for me.
Could there be another Gigas attack?
"Chiron's dead soul... has come to the underworld!"
***
Chiron.
A wise centaur with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse.
He was skilled in all sorts of techniques and had vast knowledge, but his greatest strength was in education.
He was the one responsible for raising numerous heroes in the mortal world.
If Chiron is dead, it will be difficult to raise the prophesied hero who can defeat the Gigas.
"I'll go meet him right away. But he was an immortal being..."
"About that... he was tortured by suddenly invading Gigas and voluntarily gave up his immortality!"
"Oh no..."
There were only a few hundred Gigas who came to target Typhon at Mount Etna.
I didn't think they'd use the tactic of dividing their forces to kill Chiron...
Like when they corrupted Oedipus before, is Gaia targeting heroes?
Could Gaia have figured out the prophecy we gods knew...
No, if she had figured it out for certain, she would have immediately waged all-out war.
She must have guessed that heroes are somehow related to the Gigas,
but should we consider it as half-believing?
It's fortunate that it's not an ability to foresee all futures completely.
Well, even Prometheus doesn't have such an ability...
For now, I hurried to meet Chiron along with Persephone and Goddess Styx.
Yes, niece, you'd better stay where I can see you.
Soon, I saw Chiron in the form of a semi-transparent soul.
To think he really died and came to the underworld...
"Chiron."
"Lord Hades. It's been a while. I regret meeting you like this."
The centaur bowed his head with a bitter face when I spoke to him.
"I heard the Gigas tortured you. Rest comfortably here."
"...I feel guilty, as if I fled to death without fulfilling my duty of raising heroes well."
"Who could withstand torture if monsters comparable to gods are determined to do it?"
"Thank you, Lord of the Underworld. They... even my students..."
Thanks to Chiron's fame known throughout the world,
the place where he was always bustled with people wanting to become heroes.
But suddenly invading Gigas massacred numerous people.
Chiron and his disciples resisted, but they couldn't defeat monsters each comparable to a lesser god.
According to him, many of his disciples were massacred or fled.
"Only after coming to the underworld did I learn that fortunately, Gods Dionysus and Ares descended and drove them away."
"Hmm... While you were in the mortal world, Corinth and Athens were also attacked."
"It seems they appeared in all sorts of places."
"The Olympian gods descended and killed the Gigas, but the damage was not insignificant..."
"Rather than killing ordinary humans, they tried to destroy temples and sever the connection between mortals and gods. They rushed at heroes or demigods if they saw them."
After Chiron finished speaking, gods including Thanatos added explanations.
So they attacked human cities including Corinth and Athens...
"Many heroes died this time."
"I heard Athena hurriedly went down to the mortal world, but her temple was half-destroyed."
"I wonder what Olympus thinks about this incident..."
I gestured to stop the gods exchanging opinions.
"The rainbow goddess will come down and call me to the Olympian palace. For now, until then, we'll maintain our usual vigilance."
"Shouldn't we prepare a little more?"
"We have Demeter."
"Ah... Since the Earth Goddess had the Omphalos Stone, she must have figured out the Gigas's base now!"
The Gigas's last attack achieved the feat of killing Chiron,
but conversely, it revealed their base to us.
Demeter must have informed Zeus,
and even now, numerous gods must be keeping a close eye on the Gigas's base.
Now the Gigas can never attack while avoiding the gods' eyes.
What's left for them is all-out war or Gaia's schemes.
***
Persephone hadn't intervened at all since earlier, just her eyes sparkling.
At least she doesn't interfere while I'm working. Did my words earlier affect her mindset?
Goddess Lethe tilted her head, looked at Persephone, and said:
"Hades, who is that goddess who's been here since earlier? She doesn't seem to be a lesser deity..."
"Ah, I'm Persephone!"
I should explain in advance to avoid being falsely accused of deceiving a goddess and bringing her to the underworld.
Keeping quiet tends to cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
"She's the daughter of Demeter and Zeus whom I met near Mount Etna. For reference, she was hit by Eros's golden arrow and saw me, and she also ate food from the underworld."
"What?!"
"Eros's golden arrow... no, then..."
"Does Demeter know about this too?"
"I'm planning to go up to Olympus soon and explain directly."
The expressions of the many gods gathered here changed.
There's nothing I can do even if you look at me like that. I just brought her along briefly because I needed to urgently receive reports on whether Gigas attacked places other than Mount Etna...
"I told you I was fine even after being hit by the golden arrow!"
"Yes, yes."
"Ugh.. it's true! You saved me before I was hit by the golden arrow, so take responsibility!"
"...What?"
"No... Hades... why do you keep increasing the number of goddesses every time you go out?"
"Before it increases any more..."
The crowd hurriedly turned their heads to look at Goddesses Styx and Lethe.
And I can see Menthe, who appeared late by opening the office door, frozen.
As everyone froze, Persephone suddenly spoke with a sob:
"Lord Hades, you touched me gently back then, didn't you! I don't care! Take responsibility!"
"Wh-What?"
"Wait, have I gotten old and my ears are going bad? Should I visit Apollo..."
"Who touched what?"
"Hades...! What did you do!"
No, why are you all acting like this towards me?
This is a misunderstanding...
Persephone, even though you've made progress as a goddess, your cheerful personality like spring remains the same...!
"Niece... Making strange noises about me hugging your side and putting you down on the chariot when you were being strangled by a Gigas..."
"Th-That's it, isn't it! I want to marry Lord Hades!"
"Hades. You really didn't touch her except for putting her down on the chariot, right?"
"The Gigas aren't the issue now! Explain everything quickly..."
"L-Lord Hades... I'm fine being a concubine, but if there are too many..."
The underworld has always had all sorts of things happening,
but lately it seems especially so. Did Gaia cast some kind of curse?
"Lord Hades. Iris, the rainbow goddess, has come. Probably dispatched from Olympus about the Gigas matter..."
"...! Let her in immediately."
She must have come to invite me to a meeting at the Olympian palace.
We need to discuss the Gigas matter, and I wonder how I should explain to Demeter?
Amidst the noisy underworld, Iris, the rainbow goddess, arrived.
"I've come to see the Lord of the Underw..."
Iris, who was entering, stopped speaking, looked around at the situation, and opened her eyes wide.
Seeing Iris like that, Moros, the god of inevitable death, spoke as if it was nothing unusual.
He had been leaning against one wall of the office with his arms crossed since earlier.
"Ah. Iris, don't be surprised. This is the usual scenery of the underworld."
"Lord Moros, what is going on here..."
"It's really nothing. Just the daughter of Demeter and Zeus being hit by Eros's golden arrow and seeing Hades, eating food from the underworld, and now arguing with three goddesses who like Hades."
"What? Wh-Whose daughter?"
The rainbow goddess's face turned pale, and the seven-colored halo she always emitted behind her back faded.