King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 179

The King of the Underworld is Tired 180

Afterword – 21st Century Olympus

Gods are immortal beings.

Unlike mortals, they don’t die, no matter how much time passes.

Even if they lose the faith of humans, are trapped in Tartarus [the deepest abyss of the Underworld], or are beheaded.

B.C. A.D.

According to the concepts arbitrarily divided by humans, it is the 21st century A.D.

The Olympian gods still exist.

That includes me, Hades, the god of the underworld.

I’ve had many children, and the underworld has been largely automated, making it quite leisurely.

Of course, there were times when I had to make important decisions, but compared to the past, Elysium [the paradise of the Underworld] is no different.

Naturally, the faces of all the gods, including Charon [ferryman of the Underworld], Thanatos [god of death], and Hypnos [god of sleep], showed a sense of ease.

On the other hand, I am suffering from a slightly troublesome matter: a problem with my children.

“Father, it’s me.”

I was leaning against the audience chamber wall, closing my eyes, when I heard a voice calling me from outside.

The voice of Zagreus, the son born between Persephone and me.

“Is that Zagreus? Come in.”

“Yes.”

The figure of Zagreus walked into the audience chamber.

A neat black suit, a tired face, and that action of rubbing his eyelids… he must have worked overtime again yesterday.

My son stopped a little away from the throne and poured out his complaints to me.

A seemingly wronged look and gesture. Did someone cause another incident?

“Father, please do something about Melinoe.”

“…?”

“She ran off somewhere again after getting involved with the god Morpheus [god of dreams]. Of course, she abandoned her work. Thanks to that, not a single human had a nightmare last night…”

Melinoe.

The goddess of nightmares, ghosts, and madness, and my daughter.

Perhaps because she was born from the goddess Styx [goddess of the River Styx]. Melinoe, who resembled her with beautiful long black hair, showed a somewhat lax or negligent appearance.

Perhaps because she received a portion of the madness domain presided over by Dionysus [god of wine and ecstasy]. Sometimes she acted unexpectedly…

“Couldn’t you find her in the underworld?”

“Yes. I searched the entire underworld with the goddess Lethe [goddess of oblivion], but there was no trace of her. She must have run away to Olympus.”

“Olympus? Could it be that she went to the mortal realm to play? Surely not Olympus…”

“No. It must be Olympus! Do you know how often she sings about Olympus? I’ve heard her say so many times that she likes the bright Olympus more than the gloomy underworld.”

Just like now, she was pursuing love and escaping from the underworld.

But how much age difference is there between her and Morpheus, the god of dreams… No. I’m not one to talk, having married Persephone.

“Thanks to her, only Makaria and I are suffering! I don’t know why she hates the underworld so much…!”

“Ah. Ah. Okay. I understand. I’ll go up to Olympus and look for her.”

“Yes? You’ll go yourself, Father?”

“Yes. I’ll take her back while seeing Zeus for the first time in hundreds of years. You take over this position for a while.”

“Again, me…”

I should leave the proxy of the underworld to Zagreus for a while and go to Olympus.

But have I been asking for this too often? Zagreus droops his shoulders and grumbles.

“Can’t you just ask Makaria or other children to do it?”

“Ahem. Who else can I trust to leave it to if not you? And you need to keep doing the work of the god of the underworld to get used to it.”

“Yes… I understand.”

I patted Zagreus on the shoulder a few times and left the place.

Now I have many children, but the most trustworthy child is Zagreus.

Makaria, another daughter born from the goddess Lethe, is a divinity representing peaceful death.

She is always really busy helping with the work of the god Thanatos.

So, I deliberately leave my seat from time to time and entrust the work of the god of the underworld to Zagreus.

If Zagreus grows more… even if something happens to me, there will be no major chaos in the underworld.

Strictly speaking, he is a successor with a similar position to Triton, the son of Poseidon.

* * *

Whoo-oong-

As I crossed the Acheron River [one of the rivers of the Underworld] on Charon’s boat and ascended to the surface, what I saw in my eyes was an airplane flying in the sky.

When that was first created, the reaction of the Olympian gods was enormous.

I wasn’t too surprised because I had knowledge of my past life, but everyone was making a fuss.

At this rate, wouldn’t they soon reach the realm of Uranus [god of the sky], who rules the universe? It seems that humans are growing well even without heroes. Should the gods all retire? etc.

There was also an opinion that the person who created that for the first time should be made into a constellation.

Of course, it was ignored according to Zeus’s policy of not interfering much in the human world.

“Oh? Uncle Hades? I was just about to visit the underworld.”

“Hermes. It’s been a while, but your outfit has changed a lot.”

“Ah. Haha. Outfit? Well… Hephaestus [god of blacksmiths] went through a little trouble.”

The outfit of Hermes [messenger of the gods], whom I encountered at the entrance to the underworld, had changed a lot.

A dress shirt and shorts, a caduceus [Hermes’ staff] disguised as an ordinary cane, winged shoes disguised as sneakers, and a bag on his back.

Is that the fashion of travelers these days?

“Is Melinoe in Olympus by any chance?”

“Ah. The cute niece who plays pranks with nightmares? Hmm… I think I saw her. You can probably find her at the banquet hall.”

“Banquet hall?”

“Yes. Uranus visited Olympus this time. He was talking about humans’ advancement into space…”

After hearing some more news from Hermes, I headed to Olympus.

Of course, I didn’t forget to hide my appearance so that I wouldn’t be caught by the artificial satellites or various sensing devices launched by humans.

Apollo was once caught by a satellite while examining the state of heat near the sun.

At that time, there was a commotion in the mortal realm about gods or aliens, and the gods became a little more careful.

* * *

The scenery of the Olympian palace, which I ascended to after a long time, had changed considerably.

First of all, the magnificent building built on the clouds was the same, but…

Weeing- Shoooo-oong…

Although they look like pillars made of marble, they are actually elaborately made mechanical devices, unmanned devices floating next to the river where the Milky Way flows, etc.

They are made similar to humans, but soulless pseudo-humans, or rather cyborgs. Machines with beautiful human appearances bow their heads this way.

– Welcome. Lord Hades. Thank you for visiting Olympus.

As I approached the magnificently built steel door, a voice flowed out along with Hephaestus’s divine power.

Oh ho. It senses my divine power. Hephaestus has changed Olympus again.

A red light flashed once from a small hole, and the door opened automatically.

It’s like the automatic doors of modern civilization made by humans. But perhaps because it was a door made on the clouds, I felt a sense of incongruity.

No matter how much Hephaestus is, he couldn’t have made all of this overnight. How much did he suffer?

What I saw when I entered the banquet hall was really… really amazing.

I don’t know if my eyes are wrong from being struck by Zeus’s lightning, but I never thought Olympus would change like this.

No matter how many hundreds of years I haven’t ascended to the palace, how could it change like this?

Dri-ri-ring~♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫

“Ahahaha! Pour it on!”

“Apollo-niim! Please turn up the music a little more!”

“Of course. Euterpe!”

“Haha! Hera. Come this way! You look really beautiful for the first time in a while.”

“Oh my. Really? Then for a moment…”

In the dark ceiling of the Olympian palace, there were colorful lights shining with divine power.

And on one side, DJ Apollo [god of music], wearing sunglasses and a suit, was operating the equipment to play music, and Zeus [king of the gods] and Hera [queen of the gods] were kissing under the dim lighting.

The most excited one was Dionysus, dancing with the nymphs. In another corner, the goddesses were dancing with seductive figures…

“Hmph. They’re putting on quite a show. It’s worth enjoying in its own way.”

White hair. The physique of a small girl. Proto-genoi [primordial deities], sitting on a chair and drinking nectar while wearing a white dress.

Lord Uranus, looking around with eyes watching the clowns’ antics, looked this way.

“Is that Hades?”

Okay. Let’s greet him first.

“Greetings, Lord Uranus. But what brings you to Olympus?”

“Zeus kindly invited me. I was bored looking at the constellations anyway.”

“Ah… but I wonder if the hospitality is lacking…”

“It’s not bad. Isn’t this how the humans you created play? I’m sure they called it a club.”

Ah. Club. No wonder.

The music, the atmosphere, and even Hephaestus’s machine that goes around pouring drinks. The humans’ club was shaped like this.

In the past, gods spread culture to the mortal realm. These days, gods have come to accept their culture.

They prosper and develop and surpass themselves without the help of gods… good.

While I was talking to Lord Uranus, one of the nymphs wearing a black dress called me from over there.

A faintly shining shelf stacked with liquor bottles came into view. I don’t think that’s all nectar.

“Um… Lord Hades. Would you like me to pour you a cocktail?”

“Cocktail? Not nectar? Pour it for now.”

“Yes!”

Pouring-

The nymph takes out a glass and places it in front of me, tilting several bottles in turn with skillful hands. Is this the floating technique?

When the skillful and quick hand movements were over, there was a colorful cocktail in front of me.

“…What is all this?”

“Ah! Nectar is at the very bottom, the juice of golden apples from the tree that Lady Hera opened to everyone on the upper floor, brandy made directly by Lord Dionysus on the upper floor, and honey syrup with honey produced by bees that Aristaios [minor god of beekeeping] personally beekeeping, and…”

They really put everything in it.