King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 92

Mint Goddess and Thebes – (2)

“…Hah. H-Hades-nim?”

Mente urgently called out, seeing my face stiffen, but…

I couldn’t pay attention to her.

Sacred Band? Homosexuality is true love? What the hell is this all about?

Dionysus couldn’t possibly do something like this, so is this a naturally occurring culture?

Did Zeus bringing Ganymede, the boy from Troy, to Olympus have an influence?

Or maybe…

“Excuse me, I have something to ask.”

“Ah. Are you perhaps a foreigner?”

I briefly revealed myself to the humans and grabbed the arm of a boy running past.

Perhaps he had a lot of similar experiences, as he wasn’t flustered even when a man who looked like a foreigner spoke to him.

It was a good sign that so many people were flocking to Thebes, which I ruled, and that it was prospering, but first, it was a priority to find out about this abnormal situation.

“Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve been to Thebes… what is this Sacred Band thing?”

“The Sacred Band? It’s our Thebes’ elite unit! The Sacred Band hasn’t been around for very long.”

“So, what I mean is… why was a unit like that, with men doing that sort of thing, created?”

While trying not to look at the hundreds of men sending affectionate gestures to each other, I asked the boy looking up at me.

“Well, all the smart philosophers said so!”

“Philosophers?”

“Yes! Do you know what the result of months of discussion about love in the public square was? It was the conclusion that [love between men is pure love, excluding the purpose of childbirth]. Ahem!”

No… what.

“Isn’t there any divine revelation or other reason?”

The boy looked at me with a puzzled expression instead.

“Yes? But wouldn’t the gods like it too?”

“This?”

“Because our Thebes realized a part of the truth before other cities. Theologians and priests say that the gods also do it with the same sex…”

It seems that this is indeed Zeus’ influence…

Come to think of it, the term theologians hasn’t been around for very long either.

Those who aren’t priests but write anecdotes about gods or their genealogies.

Those humans came to that conclusion too?

“Mente… let’s go somewhere quiet.”

“Hades-nim…”

I watched the boy’s back as he ran off happily after receiving a few drachmas [ancient Greek silver coin] as payment for answering my questions, and then I rubbed my forehead.

Is this the madness of Dionysus that humans see? I should have paid more attention to Thebes.

I’ve been quite busy lately, so I haven’t been looking after Thebes, and it’s turned out like this.

The power of the gods is for times like these.

Once my date with Mente is over, I’ll have to appear in the dreams of the King of Thebes or the high priest and give a divine message.

If I tell them to disband the Sacred Band immediately or throw those who engage in homosexuality into Tartarus [the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked], there will be great chaos…

If I only give a nuance that the god Pluto doesn’t like homosexuality… they’ll stop on their own.

I stopped thinking and took Mente’s right hand, who was quietly looking at me from the side.

“Ah…!”

“I’m sorry, Mente. I was lost in thought for a moment, leaving you behind.”

“It’s okay, as long as you weren’t thinking about other goddesses!”

“It looks like there’s some kind of festival over there, let’s go there.”

* * *

Holding Mente’s hand, I moved in one direction.

It’s much better now that I can’t see those strange Sacred… whatever they were.

As I expected, it seemed like there was some kind of festival in Thebes today, as people were walking around with cheerful smiles.

But what’s stuck in the citizens’ hair… mint leaves?

“It’s certainly crowded because it’s a festival day… give me a mint leaf too.”

“Yes, here you are.”

The man who bought a mint leaf from a merchant on the street stuck the mint next to his ear.

It seems that if you want to participate in the festival, you stick mint in your hair.

So, is the festival being held in Thebes right now for Mente?

“From today for 3 days! We’re selling mint-made oil cheaply! It’s good to put in the bath, and it’s good to apply to the body!”

“Is it more effective than olive oil?”

“This is the mint perfume that makes Elysion [the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and virtuous] appear before your eyes, and right now…”

“As expected of a city that worships the god Pluto, they even have a mint festival.”

“It’s amazing that they worship that scary lord of the underworld…”

“Shh, you’ll get cursed if you say that here. Did you forget that most Thebans are Pluto worshipers?”

“The priests of the Temple of Apollo in distant Lydia also recognized the efficacy of mint…”

“It means that Phoebus, the god of medicine, also thinks well of mint leaves.”

“It is said to have the function of clearing the head and lowering fever. Besides that…”

So many people are talking about the symbol I set, even holding a festival.

Everyone praises and gives thanks for the grace of God.

A scene that always warms my heart and makes me feel rewarded.

Mente, who was holding my hand and following me, also had a pleasant smile on her face.

“Hehe… Hades-nim. Humans really like mint!”

“It’s all thanks to you for creating it. It was an achievement worthy of becoming a god.”

Mente looks at me and smiles brightly.

Is this refreshing scent coming from her? Or is it coming from the humans nearby enjoying the mint festival?

“Um… but I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“When we first met. You said you would use mint as a symbol.”

“…?”

“What do you mean by saying you had lost memories…? Why would you use a plant that I made as a symbol…?”

“Okay, I’ll grant you one wish in return for restoring my lost memories.”

Mente looks at me with sparkling eyes.

But… she wouldn’t believe me even if I told her that there was a time long ago, when I was a mortal.

The reincarnation of mortals is managed by several gods belonging to the underworld.

Mente wouldn’t know about the various foods made with mint in a world with developed science, or the fact that I cleaned my mouth every day after meals with its unique scent.

So my answer is…

“That mint was a plant I originally knew.”

“Yes? But until I accidentally made it, it didn’t exist in the world…”

“A long time ago, in a time you don’t know… the name of the plant that was always by my side was mint.”

Mente’s face, which was looking at me, changes vaguely.

I don’t know what she’s imagining, but I continued to speak.

“When that refreshing and unique scent that is so divisive touched the tip of my nose, I knew that what you made was that plant.”

“Ah…”

“That’s why I made mint my symbol.”

Mint leaves stuck in the heads of humans chattering noisily around me.

To other gods, it’s just a plant with a unique scent, but to me, it was a medium for recalling old memories.

A precious plant that reminds me that I was once a mortal, not an immortal.

That is mint. And Mente, who made it, too…

I brought my hand to Mente’s cheek as she quietly looked at me.

She doesn’t avoid it, but rather leans her body towards me, and a refreshing scent emanates from her hair.

“I’m always grateful to you, Mente.”

“What are you saying… the grace I, a mere nymph, received from Hades-nim…”

“No, you have restored memories to me that cannot be replaced by anything else.”

Power, status, honor… I, who was reincarnated as a powerful deity, lacked nothing.

Too much time has passed, so I don’t remember well, but I’m sure I tried to get those things in my previous life.

So what I don’t have in my hands now is…

No, I definitely remember, but what flows out like water is the memory of my past life.

“…I sometimes have bad thoughts. Sometimes… I look down on mortals like the despicable gods I hated.”

“Even Hades-nim, who is called the god of mercy to humans…?!”

I’m not just a god, but one of the three main gods, and even Zeus, the king of the gods, can’t treat me carelessly.

Most of the gods are younger than me or of lower rank.

And the divine power I’m in charge of is the underworld, which mortals fear the most.

I am the lord of the underworld, with everything: position, wealth, and power.

It would be a lie if I didn’t have even a little bit of arrogance.

“Because I’m not a perfect god… whenever mortals praise and fear me, I often fall into arrogance, thinking it’s natural.”

“Hades-nim…”

“There were times when I thought that I, as the great master of the underworld, should not tolerate the rudeness of humans and should show my dignity.”

“But Hades-nim is praised as the most fair and merciful of all the gods.”

“That’s the result of effort, not my innate nature.”

I, who am also called the god of mercy to mortals…

Even when I punished Tantalus recently, I had to suppress myself to avoid inflicting even more terrible punishments that flashed through my mind.

Also, the feeling of wanting to execute a serious criminal without giving him a chance to explain.

Most of the thoughts that formed the basis of that were anger at the one who killed his son and made him into a dish,

But there was also a slight anger at the fact that a mere human dared to deceive and insult the gods.

“The master of the underworld, who should be more fair than anyone else, is actually an clumsy god who often wavers like this. Has the fantasy about me been shattered a little, Mente?”

“No, no… not at all. The Hades-nim I know is…”

I smiled and looked at Mente’s face.

A slight amount of water can be seen in her clear turquoise eyes.

I reached out and wiped her eyes and put my hand on her soft nape.

Looking at the goddess’s fair skin up close, I was naturally moved. I guess I have the same thoughts as her.

“It’s you who sometimes holds me back.”

“M-Me?”

“Yes, every time I remember the scent of mint while reminding myself of you… I look back on my actions.”

What holds me back as my perspective on mortals gradually wears away with the passage of time is the memory of being human.

It wasn’t that special in my previous life, it was a scent I always smelled…

Now, as the god of the underworld,

Mint is what reminds me that I was once a mortal.