King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 141

The King of the Underworld is Tired 141

Proposal

A moment later, the River Styx once again took the form of a goddess.

*Does she have a place to dress up in the river?* Her clothes and appearance seem a little different.

“…Hoo. Why propose so suddenly! At least set the mood a little…”

“Are you perhaps unwilling…?”

“How could I be unwilling! I was wondering how much longer I should wait before proposing myself!”

The goddess, no, Styx, pulled me close, her face flushed.

I didn’t resist and smiled, kissing her once more.

After a shimmering thread connected and then broke between us, she opened her mouth, her voice slightly trembling.

“Hoo… I’m the first to receive a proposal, right? You haven’t been to other goddesses…”

“Yes, you are.”

In the first place, Styx has been connected to me for the longest time, and she’s the goddess I understand the best.

I feel a little relieved now.

“Hmph. Hmph. I knew it! Of course, of course, it should be! But where did you get this ring?”

“I melted down the Styx Sword that you gave me. Hephaestus [the Greek god of blacksmiths and fire] did the work.”

“Ah…”

“Originally, I thought about other jewels or treasures, but I thought this was the best way to express my feelings.”

I hugged the goddess, who was covering her mouth and sobbing, and wiped away her tears.

It wasn’t difficult to comfort the goddess who was sniffling in my arms for a while.

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this moment? I’ve been dreaming about it…”

“Morpheus [the Greek god of dreams] must have had a hard time.”

“Ah, really! Even at this moment, you say such things? You heartless god.”

Goddess Styx smiled faintly and tapped my chest.

My lips naturally curled up at her cute appearance.

I sat with her by the riverbank for a while, sharing various stories.

We always enjoyed chatting, but with the change in our relationship, the words and feelings that arose were different.

“And I’m sorry to say, but I…”

“I know. I’m not such an oblivious goddess. No, in the first place, I didn’t think I could occupy the seat next to the chief god alone. Go visit the other goddesses soon.”

“Thank you. I swear on the River Styx… I will definitely make you happy.”

“…!”

*Splash!*

Ah. She fell in again.

* * *

Next, I headed to the audience chamber.

Originally, I was heading to the River of Oblivion… but I heard from the goddess’s attendant that she had gone to the audience chamber with documents.

“Hades… look at this…”

*Thud.*

The goddess with sleepy eyes placed a mountain of documents down.

Surely she shouldn’t be as busy these days?

“What is all this?”

“This time, during the Argonauts’ expedition [a legendary Greek expedition to retrieve the Golden Fleece], Gaia [the Greek goddess of the Earth] made a dragon rampage and killed the people of Iolcos, right?”

“Certainly.”

“The work increased because of the people who died then, and a few days ago, Heracles [also known as Hercules, a Greek hero known for his strength] came and made the work even more piled up.”

No, the manpower… no, the divine power has increased, so why is the work piling up?

Goddess Lethe clenched her fist and trembled slightly. A faint resentment seemed to emanate from her expressionless eyes.

“He’s completely ignorant of paperwork, let alone physical work. The lower gods who worked with him are complaining a lot. Even the god Apollo, whom Hades brought last time, said, ‘I can’t work with that guy!’ and stormed out…”

“Ah.”

“So the work got even more tangled, and I had to clean it up…”

Indeed. The teachings that Heracles learned from Chiron [a wise centaur in Greek mythology] were martial arts, etiquette, and other qualities and training as a hero.

He had never learned the work of an administrator.

The work of the underworld is busy, and because of the position of a god, it is a place where decisions are made even more.

In the first place, his divine power is the god of strength and struggle… Apollo is bound to get frustrated.

“Still, as a god, it’s something you have to experience someday. I hope you learn a lot from this opportunity.”

“Haa… process it quickly. I’ll help too.”

So, I moved to the office for a while and busily looked over the parchment.

Proposal? It had long disappeared from my mind.

*Thud.*

Until our hands suddenly touched in the middle.

“Ah.”

“What’s wrong? Did something suddenly come to mind?”

Ah, that’s right. I was originally going to propose to Goddess Lethe.

What am I even doing here… I have to finish quickly and confess.

But once I became conscious of it, I couldn’t concentrate on my work.

As I thought about how to bring it up, my hands slowed down, and the goddess’s scent next to me made my head spin.

“Hades.”

“…?”

“Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Ah. Is it that obvious?”

Goddess Lethe put down the parchment and stared at me, nodding.

Her tired eyes trembled.

“If you have something to say, tell me that first. I want to rest for a while too.”

“Yes. Then…”

I swallowed once and took out a small box from my pocket. Inside was the Ring of Youth that I had received from Zeus [the king of the gods in Greek mythology] before.

I slightly opened the lid, turned it to show the goddess… and opened my mouth to convey my wish…

“Please marry me, Lethe.”

“Oh…!”

“I will never forget my love for you. Not even until the end of the world.”

The goddess’s hand moved, trembling slightly, and reached out to me, and I took the ring and put it on her finger, feeling the soft touch.

The Ring of Youth is placed on a finger that seems like it would break if touched.

Humans say forgetting that comes with aging is the blessing of Goddess Lethe.

So, by giving her a ring symbolizing youth, would my intention to love without succumbing to oblivion be well conveyed?

“Yes. I like it too.”

And naturally, a kiss follows.

I gently hugged Goddess Lethe, who closed her eyes, and touched her lips.

*Churp.*

“Hoo… that’s nice… hehe. Am I the first?”

“Hmm. That’s…”

“…I’m not the first?”

Is the sudden chill the power of the goddess?

* * *

I spent some time appeasing Goddess Lethe, who had a sulky expression.

Discrimination between goddesses is unfair… No, why isn’t she the first… Still, it’s fortunate that she listens to me well.

I can’t become a husband who makes his wives fight like Poseidon [the Greek god of the sea] or Zeus.

Fortunately, everyone seemed to have a good relationship, perhaps because they knew that I disliked it.

Of course, it depends on my behavior.

Is it Mente next? No. She said she was going to go to the mortal realm to see her nymph friends.

So, it’s my niece’s turn… Demeter’s [the Greek goddess of agriculture] daughter, Persephone.

Following the divine power of the goddess of spring, I returned to the audience chamber.

My cute blonde niece was there. What is she holding?

“Ah. Uncle Hades!”

“…Kore.”

Don’t suddenly call me uncle. You’ve been calling me Lord Hades for a while…

If you do that, I’ll feel guilty about what I have to do from now on.

“I have to go back to the mortal realm tomorrow! And I prepared a gift… heehee!”

A gift? Is it a flower from the mortal realm or something?

I chuckled and sat on the throne, trying to stroke her hair, when I heard a sound of music.

♬♪~♩

“Oh? Is it Lord Apollo?”

“The sound of a lyre…?”

The sorrowful music that makes my heart boil slowly approaches.

I have heard countless music so far. Cadmus’s performance that even Typhon was captivated by… the sound of the lyre of the god of music, Apollo…

The ensemble of the Mousai [the Greek goddesses of music, song, and dance] goddesses… even the Siren’s song or Pan’s [the Greek god of the wild] flute.

But… this level of excellent melody is the first.

I wrapped my whole body with divine power, wondering if it was some kind of power or magic, but it wasn’t.

Then it’s pure skill. Is this level possible with only musical skill?

The number of people who can make this kind of music is very limited.

No, almost none. Would Apollo’s full-power performance be like this?

But Apollo is working in a corner of the underworld… it might be another god.

“Ah… sniffle!”

I saw Persephone next to me dropping the object in her hand and admiring it.

A stream of tears flowed from her eyes.

♪~

The sound of the lyre fills the underworld.

If it can bring tears to the goddess who is the personification of natural phenomena, it will surely have an impact on inanimate objects.

It will have a great impact on the gods working in the underworld, the endless punishments, and the sinners.

It wouldn’t be some god’s prank… nor would it be the magic of Goddess Hecate [the Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft, and crossroads].

Ha. Whoever it is, they’re really amazing. They shake the underworld with the power of music alone…

“Sniffle… sob.”

“Wipe your tears with this for now, Kore.”

“Yes… sob…”

After giving Kore a handkerchief, I sat on the throne and waited for the visitor.

The sound of music was gradually approaching here, so it must have a purpose for me.

So, are they playing music and coming in to ask me for something?

With a crooked smile, I rested my chin on the handle of the throne. Who the hell is it? I should see their face.

♬~

The waiting time was not long.

Soon, a human man playing the lyre came in.

His face is quite handsome, though not as much as the male gods, long hair, tears flowing from his closed eyes.

He was trained by Chiron in the underworld… and he was one of the heroes who was on the Argo.

*Thud.*

The moment the man took his hand off the lyre, the music that shook the underworld stopped.

The tears flowing from Persephone… Kore’s eyes also stopped for a moment.

The human who entered the audience chamber knelt before me, shedding tears.

“Lord of the Underworld! I am a humble human named Orpheus. Please save my wife, Eurydice!”

I quietly watched the human who was bowing his head to the ground.

Save the dead…?

Even if Zeus asked, I wouldn’t grant it, but you want me to make an exception for you?