King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 108

Hades, King of the Underworld, is Tired – (1)

Returning to the Underworld with Persephone, I saw several gods hunched over parchments, rubbing their weary eyes.

Those glances directed at me were undoubtedly resentment for my recent rests outside.

“Hades… you’ve been wandering outside the Underworld quite a lot lately…”

“There’s a backlog of documents to process.”

The goddess Styx hands me a towering stack of documents.

Yes, yes. I know what I have to do.

“If you had returned any later, Thanatos would have almost escaped again.”

“Again?”

“Frankly, I also felt the urge to quit,” the god Hypnos says, avoiding my gaze and shaking his head.

Sighing, I sat down and skillfully flipped through the parchments, moving the quill to approve them.

Thanks to the chief god who’s always running around causing trouble, everyone is suffering. Really.

Then, a document bearing the official seal of Olympus caught my eye.

I was visiting Eros’s wedding as a guest, so we didn’t discuss official matters.

As I stared at it, the goddess Lethe explained the document’s purpose. “…That. It’s an official document from Dike, the goddess of justice in Olympus, stating she wishes to relocate her residence to the Underworld.”

“I didn’t see her at Eros’s wedding earlier…”

“Why would the goddess of justice want to leave Olympus and come down here?”

“Not just a temporary assignment, but settling down here permanently?”

“Hmm… perhaps.”

The gods exchanged glances and muttered, looking at me.

“Could it be a fifth (wife)?”

“No.”

Dike.

The goddess of justice, daughter of Zeus and Themis.

One of the Horae [goddesses of the seasons], and sister to Eunomia, who governs order, and Eirene, who governs peace.

Just as my alias is Pluto, her other names are Astraea or Iustitia.

“It seems she couldn’t attend Eros’s wedding due to work.”

“What should we do about it? It’s welcome news to have another god join us in the Underworld, but…”

“Yes. It’s unclear why she wants to move to the Underworld. There might have been a conflict with another god…”

The goddess of justice, Dike, is quite a busy deity.

Justice is a fundamental concept inherent in almost everything. It’s a cornerstone of civilization and order.

Even now, she might be traveling the earth, judging the wicked and setting things right.

“Let’s summon her to the Underworld for now. I should speak with her and then decide.”

“Yes. Then I’ll send a message to Olympus.”

Why would Dike volunteer for such a thankless place? The Underworld is the worst workplace that everyone avoids.

Does she think it’s unjust to watch us suffer here?

…Surely not.

* * *

And so, I gazed at Dike kneeling on one knee in the audience chamber.

Golden hair, a clear sign she is the daughter of Zeus, and the strong divine power inherited from Themis, my aunt and Zeus’s wife.

Beautiful appearance and a strong, unwavering tone.

This high-ranking deity, who seems to rank just below the Twelve Olympians…

“…Put the sword and scales down for a moment; just let them float in the air.”

“I cannot, Uncle! If I separate myself from these items even for a moment, justice will not prevail…”

She was kneeling but still clutching the scales and sword.

“I’m just saying it looks uncomfortable. And why are your eyes covered?”

“I will explain the reason now. It is also related to why I wish to reside in the Underworld.”

The goddess of justice’s eyes had the power to see through injustice.

It was to track down and judge all forms of injustice and set justice right. But… why are her eyes covered?

Dike began to speak.

“As the goddess of justice, I traveled the world and judged injustice. Mortals committed so many transgressions. There were those who tried to reject death, like Sisyphus, and those who were chillingly cruel, like Tantalus. There was also a human who called himself Zeus, my father and the king of the gods, and rampaged.”

“There was definitely such a guy. Was his name Salmoneus, Sisyphus’s brother?”

Salmoneus.

Salmoneus, Sisyphus’s brother, who attempted to defy death, established his own kingdom in the Elis region and became king.

He gathered people with his bare hands, built up his power, and eventually became king, a great businessman, but…

“Uhaha! I am the god Zeus!”

“Your Majesty…? What are you talking about…”

As soon as he became king, he became obsessed with power, proclaimed himself Zeus, and began to commit all sorts of bizarre acts.

Let’s take a look at his misdeeds one by one.

“Everything Zeus can do, I can do too! Look at this! Khahaha!”

“Yo… Your Majesty!”

“Look! This is the thunder of Zeus!”

After building a steel bridge, he drove a bronze chariot across it, trying to mimic the sound of thunder.

At the same time…

“This is lightning! Hahaha!”

Swish-

“Ugh… Uwaaagh!”

“His Majesty has gone mad!”

“To dare call Zeus mad, execute them all!”

He threw torches at the people, claiming they were Zeus’s lightning bolts.

Naturally, news of this insane mortal’s actions reached Olympus.

So Zeus, to show him what real lightning was, casually tossed down the weakest, most insignificant bolt.

And just like that, Salmoneus’s kingdom was completely vaporized, sending countless humans to the underworld.

“Salmoneus is now in Tartarus [the deepest, darkest part of the underworld], eternally punished to drive his chariot.”

“I’ve heard of his punishment. But…”

The goddess of justice, Dike, bit her lip and said to me,

“The other humans, except for Salmoneus, didn’t commit sins worthy of being struck by lightning. Even if he is my father, I thought the punishment was too harsh! It was a judgment that tipped my scales too far to one side. Of course, there should be punishment for blasphemy, but killing those who served him as king was too much… But this isn’t the only thing! There was also the incident when the god Apollo killed Orion…”

I also considered the circumstances and granted favors in the underworld to the humans who weren’t Salmoneus.

I couldn’t harshly judge those who were simply caught up in his madness.

She listed all sorts of misdeeds and sins committed by the gods. Her divine power seemed to emanate faintly as she spoke, as if she was bursting with frustration.

Well, it would be frustrating for the goddess of justice to stand idly by when she sees injustice.

Hmm. I understand why you came here.

“…And there have been dozens of similar incidents… Also…”

“I roughly understand what you’re saying, Dike.”

“There’s still more to tell…”

“You want to stay in the underworld, under my protection.”

* * *

The goddess of justice, Dike, is not one of the twelve Olympian gods.

In this world, justice didn’t hold much power.

She was the daughter of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Themis, a Titan [a race of powerful deities predating the Olympians], so she possessed great power, but that was it.

Whenever she tried to punish other gods who went against justice, she had to consider their backgrounds and connections.

“Lord Poseidon?!”

“Dike. Even if my son played around with humans a little…”

“What’s wrong with a god punishing humans a little? You’re a god yourself, yet you sound like Uncle Hades…”

“Lady Artemis…”

“Wait, that’s my favorite beast. It may have eaten a few mortals, but…”

“Lord Dionysus…”

Dike’s eyes possessed the powerful ability to see through injustice.

But she covered her own eyes with a blindfold.

If she couldn’t do anything even after seeing injustice, what use were these eyes?

Dike’s sword possessed the power to judge all injustice.

But she always had to hesitate before wielding it.

If hesitation taints the swing for justice, what use is this sword?

Dike was clearly the embodiment of justice.

But those stronger than her were above justice, which was supposed to be a pillar of order.

The impassioned voice coming from Dike’s mouth suddenly stopped.

She raised her head and looked up at me. The emotions visible in her eyes were pleading, longing, and desperation.

“Yes. You guessed correctly. Uncle… Lord Hades is called the god of mercy.”

“……”

“Among the numerous Olympian gods, there aren’t many whose scales are tilted towards good. Especially not this much…”

I looked at the scales held in Dike’s hand. They were tilted steeply to one side.

One side held the weight of good, the other the weight of evil.

A divine object of the goddess that weighs right and wrong.

Even Zeus himself had to face his own karma.

“Since some time ago, I’ve felt that my place isn’t Olympus but the underworld. I simply couldn’t bear to keep my eyes open in Olympus…”

“……”

“Just as Nike, the goddess of victory, accompanies Athena, gods who govern higher concepts sometimes have gods who govern lower concepts under their command.”

“I know that as well. Then…”

“Although you are already called the god of mercy by humans, in my eyes, you are the most fair and just god, Lord Hades.”

So, just as Ares, the god of war, commands Deimos, meaning defeat, and Phobos, meaning fear…

Just as Athena, the goddess of war, commands Nike, the goddess of victory…

“I, Dike, the goddess of justice, ask to follow the lord of the underworld and the god of fairness.”

A divine declaration filled with divine power echoed in the audience chamber.

Less than the oath of the River Styx [an unbreakable oath sworn by the gods], but a resolution and declaration made in the name of a god’s divinity.

What Dike is saying now is…

Nothing less than acknowledging me as the god of fairness and accepting the divinity of justice as a lower concept.

Not only the underworld, wealth, and mercy, but also the divinity of fairness?