King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 109

The King of the Underworld is Tired 109 (109/140)

The God of Fairness, Hades – (2)

A stern gaze looking down at him.

The dignity emanating from the lord of the underworld, the king of the dead.

Dike [the Greek goddess of justice], kneeling before Hades, the king of the underworld, thought.

‘The only one qualified as the god of fairness is the god before her eyes.’

As she could discern good and evil, there were not many gods qualified.

Regardless of their high or low positions, most gods were self-centered and had arbitrary thoughts.

It was not uncommon for them to show mercy one day but be enraged the next, claiming their divinity had been violated.

Since gods usually maintain the same personality they had at birth… mortals had to suffer constantly.

It goes without saying that unfairness was rampant even among the gods, based on the logic of power.

At least, only a few gods, including Hestia [goddess of the hearth], consistently showed mercy.

On the other hand…

Among the capricious and disaster-prone divinities, his character, no, his divine character, stood out.

Far from mistreating mortals, he rebuked the gods and established justice as the chief god.

Mortals sing of his mercy, which reaches not only the dead but also the humans of the living world.

Wasn’t Hades the one whose benevolence was widely known on earth, receiving faith comparable to that of Zeus?

Surely, if Hades accepted her, she would be able to spread justice to the world far more effectively than now.

* * *

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

I couldn’t answer easily.

First of all, I felt the weight and responsibility contained in Dike’s words.

As the goddess of justice, she chose to borrow my power as a way to correct order.

Clearly, if Dike became my subordinate divinity, the high-ranking divinities of Olympus would also be wary of me.

As the goddess of justice, she also oversaw the concept of fairness.

But she wants to transfer that concept to me and become a subordinate divinity herself…

It is not difficult to accept a subordinate concept to me, already one of the three chief gods, rather than making a mortal into a god.

It’s not power that doesn’t suit her, nor is it a position she can’t handle.

She has the justification. I agree as well.

It’s not a bad decision to have the goddess of justice under my wing.

But…

“Do you think I am qualified to be the god of fairness?”

“Yes? Of course…”

“When humans started calling me the god of mercy, I remained silent. That meant the gods were that harsh to humans.”

That meant the little mercy I showed them touched them greatly.

However, I think the divinity of fairness is a little different.

“I am not perfect enough to oversee the concept of fairness. Do you know how many mistakes and wrong judgments I have made while in charge of judging souls? I always regret it, and I am always worried. The god of fairness you are thinking of is definitely not like this.”

“But, Hades, don’t you always strive to make fair judgments?”

“……”

“There can be no perfectly fair god, but isn’t Hades the one who strives to give perfectly fair judgment to mortals?”

Certainly. I think I had this conversation with Lady Lethe [goddess of oblivion] too.

Although there are only me and Dike in the audience chamber now, it was as if I could hear Lady Lethe’s voice telling me.

She told me, who was trying to make the fairest judgment possible…

‘Hades, aren’t you a primordial god, Chaos? Isn’t that obvious?’

My heart is a little heavy. Of course, there is also the purpose of receiving my protection, but…

As the goddess of justice, she must have judged that I would be able to fulfill the responsibility of fairness.

Divinity has the responsibility to maintain the balance of the world and fulfill its duties.

Can I manage the aspect of fairness well, not just the underworld, wealth, or mercy?

I closed my eyes and pondered.

As I fell into thought without paying attention to anything, I naturally heard the voices of the believers in the living world calling me.

I could have ignored the voices of the believers, but I just listened to the sounds coming to me.

The place where I hear the most voices is still Thebes.

Next are Argos and Ethiopia, and the kingdom where Psyche was…

“Great God Pluto! I ask for your mercy!”

“May our son, who died on the battlefield, be happy in the underworld…”

“Thanks to your grace, I was able to build up this wealth, so I will offer 20 cows as sacrifices!”

“Thanks to the mint that the god of mercy sent to the living world…”

“Pluto, protect me…”

“God… I am wronged. Please, please avenge my grievances.”

“I swear to Pluto, I really didn’t commit the crime!”

Humans praying to me in all sorts of situations.

There were those who called me as the god of wealth, but these days, many people are looking for the aspect of mercy.

That’s because… this is a world with mythological monsters, absolute royal power, and gods with human hearts.

Humans with no power to rely on are only gods, especially those who are friendly to humans.

Pitiable. Pathetic.

* * *

After a while, I opened my eyes again and looked at the goddess of justice.

“I still don’t think I am fit for the divinity of fairness.”

“Ah…”

The goddess of justice droops her shoulders with a mixture of disappointment and sadness.

But my words are not over yet.

“But…”

“…?”

“I will trust your judgment to uphold justice to the end in this world.”

“That… does that mean?!”

“The divinity of fairness you proposed. I will accept it.”

Her face brightens again. Well. Even if you’re so happy.

Wouldn’t you regret it if you worked in the underworld for only a few days?

At the same time as I accepted the divinity of fairness, I felt various powers and strengths being created.

Unlike the divinity of mercy that humans naturally called for, this was a form similar to the transfer of divinity.

“Thank you! Hades! As expected of a judgment worthy of the divinity of fairness…! If you just tell me what to do in the future…”

“Then take this first. Gods belonging to the underworld should do this much.”

“…?”

Thump.

I handed over the pile of parchment that was stacked right next to me.

Is it too little for a competent goddess of justice? Maybe I should add a little more…

“Hades… nim [term of respect]? What is all this?”

“Hmm? Don’t you know when you see it? The parchment at the top is a report reviewing the financial status of the underworld and the sacrifices sent by the believers…”

“No, that’s… there’s more work than I thought…”

“More work? That’s the amount for the afternoon. Even that includes things that have been processed by lower gods before being reported to me, so there’s much more?”

“……”

Ting-

The sword and scales fell weakly from the hands of the goddess in charge of justice.

It seems she doesn’t have a hand to receive it because she’s full of parchment I gave her. You should just float it in the air and carry it around…

“By the way, when you’re done with that, stop by Lady Styx [goddess of the River Styx] and get a new job.”

“……”

A dark cloud formed on Dike’s face, who had always been expressionless even when seeing any injustice.

* * *

Hades’ temple in Thebes.

The high priests were suddenly busy from the morning.

“Lord Hades’ oracle has been given to the high priest?!”

“What did he say this time…!”

“I wonder if he will give us plants like mint like last time.”

They ran to the high priest’s room, heard the contents of the oracle, and hurriedly left the temple and moved in all directions.

The reason is…

“Lord Hades said that the goddess of justice, Dike, is also a god belonging to the underworld!”

“What?! Why is the goddess of justice in the underworld…!”

“Anyway, that’s what happened, so we have to make a new statue of the goddess! Call a sculptor and get good quality marble…”

Some priests went to theologians and the palace to explain the changes.

The rumor spread quickly throughout Thebes…

The discussion about the mistress of the underworld that was taking place in front of Hades’ temple was transformed into a discussion about divinity.

“The goddess of justice is in the underworld…?! Can you understand what this means?”

“I think we can just accept the oracle as it is.”

“Then… does that mean that justice belongs to the area governed by God Pluto?”

“Pluto is the god of mercy, so it’s not strange.”

“Justice can’t be under mercy? Something is wrong. The divinity of God Pluto that we knew…”

“Then maybe judgment and fairness…?”

“If you include the divinity of justice, isn’t he in charge of the law?”

After discussing for a while, they reached a new conclusion.

That’s because there was a case where a monster died and was promoted to a goddess.

“Wait, doesn’t everyone know the story of the goddess Medusa?”

“The story of Pluto making Medusa, who was unfairly turned into a monster and died, into a goddess?”

“Isn’t it that if you go to the underworld, you will be punished for the sins you committed while alive, and if you have done good deeds or died unfairly, you will be rewarded?”

The citizens of Thebes gathered here thought.

Fairly and justly judging dead humans, giving appropriate punishment and rewards, and mercifully caring for mortals…

“Then is God Pluto the god of justice, fairness, and judgment…?”

“…Actually, how about assuming that all these concepts are included in the concept of the underworld?”

“Fair judgment awaits at the end of mortals… that sounds right.”

“Those who have committed sins fall into Tartarus [the deep abyss in the underworld], so this is judgment, and the example of the goddess Medusa is fairness and mercy?”

“No wonder… the three goddesses of revenge also belong to the underworld!”

“Judgment must be made fairly, so the divinity of justice and fairness too…”

And so again from Thebes…
The rumor that God Pluto is the god in charge of justice, judgment, and fairness began to spread widely.

Surprisingly, there were almost no people who expressed opposition or disagreement,

This newly discovered fact… matched the actions of God Pluto that they had seen so far.