King Of Underworld [EN]: Chapter 65

“Netherworld Banquet – (2)”

“””Glory to the Netherworld!”””

Everyone holding up their golden goblets echoed Thanatos’s words and drank the nectar.

I, too, eagerly gulped down the divine drink in my glass.

Gulp, gulp—glug, glug—

“Haa… so this is the taste of nectar… It’s incredibly delicious!”

“Hahaha! Mente, now that you’re a god, you’ll quickly get used to it.”

“Hmm. It reminds me of when I first tasted nectar and ambrosia a long time ago.”

“Hypnos, stop teasing the young god.”

“This is nectar…”

“Try the ambrosia too, Medusa.”

A heavenly taste that mint tea or Dionysus’s wine could never match.

Since it doesn’t have a single, fixed flavor, no drink can ever surpass nectar.

Nectar isn’t just delicious; it also provides gods with mental satisfaction.

There’s a reason why mortals don’t age while consuming nectar and ambrosia.

However… drinking too much leads to this.

“Hades… let’s share a cup, you and I… Hee…”

“You’ve had too much to drink, Lady Styx…”

Yes, like Lady Styx, staggering and approaching me with a goblet.

The goddess, flushed and smiling alluringly, seems to have drunk a lot of nectar.

“Hadee…esss… Ehehe.”

In truth, gods can easily sober up by drawing on their divine power,

so they drink it with the same feeling as humans drinking wine…

But. It seems she’s deliberately drunk…

“Oh my!”

Thud.

Ah. Was this her aim…

She stumbled very unnaturally, sending me a pleading look, so I unconsciously caught her.

I tried to help her up, releasing her arm and the hand on her waist, but…

“Ah…”

Lady Styx pouted and closed her eyes.

As if she wanted something from me…

“Eeeek! Get off, Styx! What have you been up to while I wasn’t looking!”

“…Aah! Seriously! Are you really going to do this? Lethe?”

Lady Lethe swiftly approached, grabbed the oath goddess who had her eyes closed, and pulled her up.

Then, Lady Styx, who had been barely able to stand, instantly sobered up and argued with Lady Lethe…

Let’s share the cups together…

“Mente? You have nectar dripping from your mouth?”

“…Yes? Y-yes…”

“Tsk, tsk… if only you had married sooner…”

“Zeus and Poseidon not only marry but also have countless concubines…”

“Lord Hades is very popular.”

Ahem… no, that’s… haa…

I moved towards Medusa and the Erinyes [Furies] sisters.

The three goddesses of vengeance are intimidating with their bronze wings, blood flowing from their eyes, and snake hair, but…

They’ve attended the banquet, which they’ve always refused, so

I, the host, should approach them first. This is an act of showing respect to the lower gods and the administrators of the underworld.

I need to clearly show that these are beings I treat with such consideration so they won’t be mistreated.

“Medusa, are you enjoying the banquet?”

“Yes. Thank you for your concern.”

“Hmph! As if a philandering god would be so considerate.”

Alecto, whose name means unceasing anger… why is she glaring at me before turning her head?

And why are the snakes that make up her hair coming this way…

Swish. Swish.

“Ugh… why are these things doing this again!”

“Hades, I’ve told you repeatedly not to do that…”

“Umm…”

Alecto, scolding her own hair and blushing,

Tisiphone sighing, and Megaera, munching on ambrosia with her mouth full, nodding.

“Um… well, I’ll continue to invite you to the banquet often. Will you come?”

“…Hmph!”

“I don’t know. It’s not bad, but…”

For some reason, I feel like I’ve experienced something similar before… what is it?

Still, now that we’ve had a conversation to some extent,

they won’t be ostracized at future banquets.

* * *

Next, I approached Charon, the ferryman of the Acheron River [the river of woe], who was sitting on one side, sipping wine.

For some reason, he had left the nectar untouched and was only drinking wine.

“Lord Charon.”

“Ah, Hades. Have a glass of this wine.”

“Aren’t you drinking the nectar?”

“Sometimes wine isn’t so bad either. Was it Dionysus [god of wine] who made this?”

Charon, not eating ambrosia or food from the horn of plenty [cornucopia, symbol of abundance], only drank wine.

He seemed to remember something and said to me.

“Recently, the souls coming to the underworld have looked quite relieved.”

“Why is that? To mortals, the underworld is…”

“Yes, a symbol of unavoidable death and fear. But you see… as the number of your followers increases, more people are contemplating life after death.”

The influence that can be exerted on the mortal realm through the temples in Thebes and Argos is gradually increasing.

But I thought it was still a minor religion; if Charon can sense it, there must be quite a few followers.

“Those who have lived upright lives in the mortal realm and died show remarkable composure.”

“That’s really good news.”

“Don’t your followers believe that they will receive fair judgment after death? It seems that influence is spreading in the mortal realm, so…”

As Medusa’s story spread by word of mouth, centered around Thebes,

the rumor that my mercy extends even to humans turned into monsters gradually spread.

If I just listen closely to the mortal realm right now…

“Is it okay for you to die with false accusations?”

“Don’t worry too much… Pluto [Hades’ Roman name] is a fair god…”

“Grrr… those bastards will surely be judged in the underworld!”

“Can you say the same words, that you are innocent, before Pluto?”

“Of course! I can swear it in the temple!”

“…Since you’re so confident, I’ll reinvestigate.”

But still, not many people call me Hades.

No matter how much I’m called a god of mercy or wealth rather than a god of the underworld… this is inevitable.

Death, and therefore the underworld, is as frightening to humans as Zeus’s thunderbolts… hmm.

As proof, most of those who pray to the statue of Thanatos in Thebes are elderly.

Last time, the rumors of Medusa reached the ears of Perseus, who had become king.

At that time, he came directly to the temple in Argos and prayed to me.

“Lord of the underworld… is it true that Medusa, whom I beheaded, was originally human?”

Perseus’s face was a mixture of slight disbelief, guilt, and worry.

I possessed a priest and answered him…

“It is true that she was transformed into such a hideous appearance by the whims of fate.”

“Umm…! I can’t believe it…”

“She, who has become a lower god of the underworld, wants to meet you. Would you like to talk to her?”

“…!! Please!”

Medusa, who had become a god, happened to be requesting it from the side, so I switched them.

Medusa, possessing a human body, didn’t seem to have any particular feelings even after meeting Perseus, who had beheaded her.

“You are the one who beheaded me, Perseus.”

“Th-that… are you perhaps Medusa…? What should I say…”

“…It’s fine. You were also swept up by fate, and I don’t hate you.”

“But…”

Perseus looked very embarrassed and apologetic.

The one who achieved the heroic feat also had a good character.

As their conversation grew longer, I quietly excused myself.

Some time later, a small temple was built next to my temple in Argos…

and the owner of the temple was Medusa, a lower god of the underworld.

* * *

‘Rumors spread that King Perseus occasionally visited Medusa’s temple to pray…’

As I recalled the story of Medusa and Perseus, I snapped back to reality at a loud noise.

Thanatos, the god of death with black wings, rushed into the banquet hall.

He had hurriedly left the banquet hall earlier… I guess he went to find out what was happening?

I should give Thanatos a vacation sometime…

“Keres [spirits of violent death], Moros [god of doom], Charon, we’re in trouble! A war has broken out in the mortal realm!”

“What?! Again?”

“Damn it! Let’s go quickly, Moros.”

“Those humans started another war?”

Charon, who had been gulping down wine, threw down his glass and hurriedly stood up.

The other gods of death, Moros and Keres, also left the banquet hall.

“A war in the mortal realm…? How many souls will come this time…”

“Lord Hades. I’m sorry, but I think I should go too.”

More than half of the lower gods and administrators who heard this news rushed out.

The three Minos brothers also glanced at each other before heading to the courtroom.

“How can it be that every time I try to rest, there’s a great flood, a hero’s rampage, a war…”

“It can’t be helped. Hades… let’s go back to work.”

Lady Lethe passed by me, leaving a word.

I was speechless at the sight of her beautiful eyes drooping powerlessly.

“Lord Hades?! Is this what a netherworld banquet is usually like?”

“…?”

Medusa and Mente froze at the sight of the gods and administrators leaving the banquet hall in an orderly fashion, as if resigned.

Yes… this is the underworld. You can’t rest easy.

Mente, who met my eyes, awkwardly swallowed the ambrosia she was eating.

“Lord Hades. Should I also work…?”

“Mente, let’s continue developing the mint dishes we couldn’t finish earlier. And how to spread them to the mortal realm…”

Now that it’s come to this, I should finish what I was doing and rest.

Unfortunately, the banquet ends here.

As I was about to return to my office with Mente, who was making a sad face,

I heard Medusa’s words.

“The underworld is truly… a unique place.”

I think so too.