Chapter 86: Love and Fire - (1)

Gaia has been quiet lately.

Is it because the aspiring heroes who gathered in Thebes have finished their training and returned to the mortal world, hunting monsters?

To prevent heroes from falling into Gaia's madness...

That's also why I gave each of them an item imbued with Dionysus's power.

Chiron must have been aware of this too, as he said he paid considerable attention to mental training.

"Lord Hades, Demeter and Persephone have arrived at the entrance of the Underworld."

"Is it time for Persephone to come... Let them in."

A messenger approached and reported that it was time for Persephone to come to the Underworld.

After a brief wait, the two goddesses entered through the audience chamber doors.

Demeter with her cold expression, and the golden-haired one running towards me...

"Uncle Hades! I missed you!"

Hug.

After a moment of hesitation about whether to avoid it or not... I met Demeter's gaze and just hugged her.

Her eyes softened again as she saw me accepting her daughter.

And to think she used to be so overprotective...

"Oh? You're accepting me well now? Hehe..."

"It's been a while, Persephone. Alright, now stand aside for a moment."

I put the brightly smiling girl aside and looked at Demeter.

The Earth Goddess, with her arms crossed, only opened her mouth when our eyes met.

"Hades. You must have received news from Olympus by now."

"If you mean that document about wanting to send Hephaestus to the Underworld because he caused an accident recently, then yes."

Rustle.

I took out the official document Zeus had personally written and sent to the Underworld again.

The handwriting was so scrawled that anyone could tell it was written in anger.

"Brother Hades, didn't you say the Underworld was very busy? That Hephaestus has caused a big accident, so for a while in the Underworld..."

I didn't know what happened, but an extra pair of hands would be good for the already busy Underworld.

I immediately sent a letter to Olympus gladly accepting, but...

"So, you, the Earth Goddess, came all the way to the Underworld to talk about..."

"That accident is the problem! That guy, he failed to rape Athena and impregnated Gaia instead!"

"What nonsense is this, Demeter?!"

What on earth is going on now...

***

The full story Demeter told me was as follows:

Athena visited Hephaestus's forge in the Olympus palace.

The Goddess of Wisdom wanted to ask the God of Blacksmiths to make her a good quality weapon.

It seems she was quite angry because her temple had recently been attacked by a Chimera.

But then...

"Hephaestus, perhaps a shield and a spear..."

"Huff.. Athena!"

Hephaestus, who had been rejected by Aphrodite and was living in solitude, attempted to rape Athena, captivated by her beauty.

But Athena is not only the Goddess of Wisdom but also the Goddess of War, so...

"Hah!"

"Huh?! Aaargh!"

Boom!

She threw Hephaestus, who was trying to rape her, with a shoulder throw.

However, the impact caused Hephaestus's semen to splatter on Athena's thigh...

Athena wiped it off and discarded it on the ground.

"So Gaia, the Earth Mother Goddess, bore Hephaestus's child, and Athena is temporarily raising that child?"

"Yes, that's right! That guy ended up taking after his father completely, trying to rape even a goddess who swore chastity..."

The reason Zeus was greatly angered and sent Hephaestus to the Underworld probably wasn't because of the attempted rape of Athena.

We are currently in a situation of hostility with the Earth Mother Goddess Gaia.

We can't know what Gaia, who unexpectedly bore the child of her great-grandson, might plot.

An unnecessary provocation, no, an insult... a rape attempt against a powerful enemy?

I used honorifics because she's not completely an enemy, being my and Demeter's grandmother,

But now she's pregnant with a child from my nephew Hephaestus...

"Hmph! So you understand why I came all the way here? When Hephaestus comes down to the Underworld..."

"Ah... yes. I'll make sure he doesn't even approach Persephone."

Fortunately, thanks to Demeter speaking up, I was able to stop my consciousness from drifting into the abyss.

She came to see Persephone off and to ask me to prevent the God of Blacksmiths from approaching her daughter.

Wait a minute, if Hephaestus's semen splattered on the ground and impregnated Gaia...

Don't we have an Earth Goddess on our side too? Demeter, who's right in front of me.

I glanced at Demeter's belly, but she didn't seem pregnant at all.

Still, it's better to hear it directly from her, just in case.

"But aren't you an Earth Goddess too? Are you alright..."

"Eek! Do I have to say with my own mouth that I was safe because I don't have full control over the earth?!"

"...I'm sorry."

Demeter, her face red and panting heavily for a while, left the Underworld,

and Persephone, who had learned about the true nature of the God of Blacksmiths who could be called her cousin, approached me and...

Hop.

She gently climbed onto my lap as I sat on the throne and made a seductive expression.

Hmm. Much less skillful than Aphrodite...

"Hehe! Lord Hades! If Gaia can have Uncle Hephaestus's child, wouldn't it be okay for us too?"

"...Demeter should have seen you like this..."

Why on earth is Hephaestus being treated as an uncle,

He's your half-brother... no, cousin... damn, my head hurts, I should stop thinking about this.

"Ehehe... Didn't you miss me?! I thought about Lord Hades every day!"

Why did you drop the uncle title, niece?

And stop... rubbing against my arm.

***

I sent Persephone to an appropriate room,

and after some time had passed, two gods visited the Underworld.

"Great-uncle Hades, it's been a while."

"Hello..."

One was a muscular male god with his wrists bound and shoulders deeply slumped, Hephaestus...

The other was the Moon Goddess, Artemis, who seemed to be following him to make sure he didn't escape.

Judging by how Artemis periodically glared at Hephaestus with contemptuous eyes,

I guess this incident must have spread throughout the Olympus palace.

Most of the gods must know the full story of this incident.

"I've heard everything about what happened. Artemis, you may return now."

"Ah... and..."

"Do you have any message from Zeus for me?"

Artemis's sharp voice echoes in the audience chamber as she speaks with her head bowed.

It must not have felt like someone else's business, considering Athena, who swore virginity to the River Styx just like her, was almost raped.

"Yes, Father said to tell you to 'use Brother Hephaestus as you wish.'"

Hephaestus's face grew even gloomier.

But isn't this just reaping what he sowed?

"Tell Zeus I understand, you may withdraw now."

"Understood, Great-uncle."

Before Artemis left, she glared intensely at the dejected God of Blacksmiths.

Probably because he had committed a crime... he only avoided her gaze without any response.

"...Hmph!"

Thud thud.

After Artemis returned to the mortal world, I spoke to Hephaestus.

As I opened my mouth, his well-toned muscles, sagging like rotten meat, twitched.

"Hephaestus."

"Yes, Great-uncle."

"Why on earth did you do it? Athena is a virgin goddess who swore chastity to the River Styx, and you tried to force yourself on her without even a proper marriage."

"That... I've been wronged!"

What on earth are you claiming to be wronged about?

After you tried and failed to rape...

As I looked at him with disbelieving eyes, Hephaestus burst out in frustration.

"Uncle Poseidon clearly told me that the reason Athena was coming to the forge was because she liked me...!"

"Ah."

I understand as soon as I hear what happened. Those two never got along well to begin with.

During Poseidon's rebellion, I heard Athena was invited but didn't participate,

and Medusa, who had a relationship with Poseidon, was turned into a monster by Athena...

They even had a long dispute over claiming a mortal city.

In the end, Athena won because the city's people chose her gift of an olive tree over Poseidon's horse.

That city's name is Athens.

It's where the most faithful devotees of the Goddess of Wisdom reside.

"Poseidon tricked you to teach Athena a lesson... tsk."

"That's what I think too. But no one would believe me."

"Of course not! Who would believe the words of someone who tried to rape a goddess who came to the forge!"

"That... that is..."

Sigh... calm down. Calm down. I really don't know if this is right.

No. This is an education problem, it's highly likely he learned this because of Zeus's womanizing.

And he hasn't even consummated his marriage with his wife Aphrodite, which makes it even worse.

To think the firstborn son of Zeus, the supreme god, and the god of volcanoes, fire, and blacksmiths, would end up like this...

The future of Olympus looks so bright today.

"Call Eros, who's in charge of torturing serious offenders."

"Yes!"

After waiting for a while with Hephaestus in the audience chamber, I saw a young male god entering with ichor dripping from his fingers.

The God of Love prostrated himself as soon as he crossed the threshold.

"Lord Hades, I've really reflected a lot now..."

"Eros. Tell Hephaestus here about the work you've been doing, and you may return to Olympus."

Eros's face brightened up and his eyes widened.

The exhausted appearance he showed until just now had disappeared.

"Thank you! Lord Hades! Even if Mother tells me to, I'll never do it again, really!"

"Um... Great-uncle."

"What is it?"

"Do I have to take on the role of torturing criminals? If you could give me work as a blacksmith instead..."

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tell Zeus to transfer your affiliation to the Underworld."

...::;;

The root cause of the attempted rape of Athena incident is Hephaestus's loneliness.

It must be because he couldn't satisfy his desires despite having the goddess Aphrodite as his wife.

"Then I'll take my leave..."

"Please follow me, Lord Hephaestus!"

As I watched Hephaestus and Eros leaving the audience chamber, I held my head.

Wait... if he's so unstable that he'd try to rape Athena, a goddess who swore chastity,

what if a beautifully adorned Gaia appears? Wouldn't he turn to her?

Now that they even have a child between them, really, at this rate... hmm.

I can't force love on his wife Aphrodite either, so should I really have them divorce and find him a new goddess?

"...Hephaestus."

"Yes?"

I need to solve your damn marriage problem.