King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 180

The King of the Underworld is Tired 180

Afterword – 21st Century Olympus

Gods are immortal beings.

Unlike mortals, they do not die no matter how much time passes.

Even if they lose the faith of humans, are trapped in Tartarus [the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans], or get their heads cut off.

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 goes for me too. Hades, the god of the underworld.

I have had many children, and the underworld has become highly automated, so I am quite free.

Of course, there were times when I had to make important decisions, but compared to the past, Elysium [the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and virtuous] is no different.

Naturally, gods like Charon [the ferryman of the underworld], Thanatos [the personification of death], and Hypnos [the god of sleep] all had relaxed expressions on their faces.

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

“Father, it’s me.”

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

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

“Is that Zagreus? Come in.”

“Yes.”

The figure of Zagreus walking into the audience chamber.

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

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

An almost aggrieved look and gesture. Did someone cause another accident?

“Father, please do something about Melinoe.”

“… ?”

“She ran off somewhere after getting involved with the god Morpheus [the god of dreams] again. 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 [a Titaness and 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 realm of madness presided over by Dionysus [the god of wine, festivity, madness and ecstasy]. Sometimes she did unexpected things…

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

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

“Olympus? Could she have gone to the mortal realm to play? Could Olympus be…”

“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.”

She was pursuing love and escaping from the underworld, just like now.

But how big is the age gap 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 find her.”

“Yes? You’re going 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 this favor 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 if not you? And you have to keep doing the work of the god of the underworld to get used to it.”

“Yeesh… I understand.”

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

I have many children now, 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.

When Zagreus grows up 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-

Planes flying in the sky caught my eye as I crossed the Acheron River [one of the five rivers of the underworld] on Old Man Charon’s boat and ascended to the surface.

The reaction of the Olympian gods was enormous when that was first created.

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 [the primal Greek god of the sky], who rules the universe? It seems that humans are growing well even without heroes. Shouldn’t 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 rejected according to Zeus’s policy of not interfering much in the human world.

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

“Hermes [the messenger of the gods]. It’s been a while, but your outfit has changed a lot.”

“Ah. Haha. Outfit? Well… Hephaestus [the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes] went through a little trouble.”

Hermes’s outfit, which 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. Maybe you can find her at the banquet hall?”

“Banquet hall?”

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

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 world, saying it was a god or an alien, and the gods became a little more careful.

* * *

The scenery of the Olympian Palace, which I climbed up after a long time, had changed considerably.

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

Weeing- Shooooong…

They look like columns made of marble, but 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 they are 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. 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 an automatic door of modern civilization made by humans. But is it because it’s 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 been up to the palace, how could it change like this?

Driiiiing~♪ ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫

“Ahahaha! Pour it on!”

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

“Of course, Euterpe [one of the Muses, the goddess of music]!”

“Haha! Hera [the queen of the gods and Zeus’s wife]. Come this way! You look really beautiful after a long time.”

“Oh my. Really? Then wait a moment…”

There were colorful lights shining with divine power on the dark ceiling of the Olympian Palace.

And on one side, DJ Apollo, wearing sunglasses and a suit, was operating the equipment to play music, and Zeus and Hera were kissing under the dim lighting.

The most excited one was Dionysus, dancing with the nymphs. In another corner, 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], wearing a white dress, sitting on a chair and drinking nectar.

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

“Is that Hades?”

Okay. Let’s start by greeting him.

“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 reception is inadequate…”

“This is 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. This is what human clubs looked like.

In the past, gods spread culture to the mortal world. These days, gods are even accepting their culture.

They prosper and develop and surpass themselves with their own power without the help of God… 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 bottles of alcohol 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, a colorful cocktail was placed in front of me.

“…What is all this?”

“Ah! The bottom layer contains nectar, the upper layer is the juice of golden apples taken from the tree that Lady Hera opened to everyone, the upper layer is brandy made directly by Lord Dionysus, and the honey syrup containing honey produced by bees directly beekeeping by Aristaeus [a minor rustic god credited with various inventions beneficial to mankind, including bee-keeping], and…”

They really put everything in it.