King of Underworld

Chapter 59

The Story of Perseus - (1)

Lately, Menthe has been acting quite differently. Whenever I wander around the Underworld, I often see her mumbling to herself with a vacant look in her eyes as she passes by...

“Ugh... I want to go back... No, I can't, but...”

Sometimes, I even find her crouching in the outer reaches of the Underworld. When I ask her what she’s doing...

“Lord Hades... I... I can’t go on like this... Please reward me! Give me some kind of reward!”

She would lift her head slightly, her eyes brimming with tears, pleading with me. The problem isn't just the pleading, but the fact that she suddenly tries to cling to me.

I tried to avoid it at first, but one time, I softened up and just let it happen. That’s when this happened: while Menthe was crying in my arms about how hard the work was...

“Menthe? Have you finished inspecting the fire intensity of the Pyriphlegethon River that I asked you to?!” “The ferryman Charon has been complaining about the strong mint scent... and here you are cozying up to Hades...”

“Eeeek?! I-I’m sorry!”

The moment suddenly turned tense as the fierce goddess Styx and the gentle goddess Lethe appeared and took her away.

Menthe, who looked as if she was facing the same fate as a mortal entering the Underworld, stopped trying to cling to me after that and started flinching whenever she saw me.

It’s as if she was scolded or trained somehow...

As this kept happening, I called Hypnos, the god of sleep, to ask about it.

“Are the goddesses bullying Menthe? She seems overwhelmed with work...” “...? From what I know, Styx has only given her half of what she usually handles.”

Is that true? One day, I decided to secretly follow Menthe around. From morning till night, she was diligently running around the Underworld working...

‘Isn't this actually less work than what others handle?’

Menthe’s workload was significantly lighter compared to the average workload of other gods in the Underworld.

Other gods even used their avatars to handle several times more work than she did, while Menthe, who didn’t know how to create an avatar, was running around in her physical form.

After that, I figured she would adapt to the workload eventually... so I stopped paying attention. After all, even I was making judgments and handling responsibilities with the help of an avatar while following her around.

And so, I watched Menthe gradually adapt to life in the Underworld with a contented gaze...

One day, the goddess of wisdom, Athena, visited the Underworld.

“Greetings, Uncle. Cough, cough.” “...? Why are you coughing?”

Our gods do not get sick. Aside from the curse of baldness, which not even Apollo, the god of medicine, can cure, most diseases do not affect the robust bodies of the gods.

But the goddess of wisdom, one of the twelve Olympian gods, is coughing? Athena forced a smile as she answered my question.

“Ah... It’s just that... Sniff The strong scent of mint from the entrance of the Underworld to the Acheron River...” “Is it really that bad?” “...Even Ferryman Charon was pinching his nose as he steered his massive barge... no, his iron ship.”

Mint, the symbol of Hades, was originally used to mask the stench of the dead during funerals in Thebes, where my temple was located, so its use was minimal.

At first, Thanatos, the god who harvests the souls of the dead, and Charon, who ferries them across the Acheron River, enjoyed the refreshing scent.

But if mint has spread so widely in the mortal world that Menthe was elevated to the status of a goddess...

How many dead would now be carrying the scent of mint?

“Oh... it seems that mint has become too widespread in the mortal world.” “Yes, the scent dissipates somewhat when the souls cross the Acheron River, but before that...” “We'll need to find a way to reduce the spread of mint in the mortal world.”

While it’s good that my symbol, mint, has become widespread, it’s unacceptable if it’s causing distress to the gods.

I need to find another solution.

“Damn it... Fine.”

King Polydectes of Seriphos, who was infatuated with Danaë’s beauty, sought to eliminate her son Perseus by sending him on a quest to retrieve the head of Medusa, one of the three Gorgons who could turn anyone who looked at her into stone.

“You know of this human, Uncle?”

“Even though I dwell in the Underworld, I keep tabs on those destined to become heroes. Especially someone like Perseus, a son of Zeus.”

The threat of the Gigantes is far from over.

I’ve been keeping an eye on humans destined to become heroes.

Especially those like Perseus, who is the son of Zeus.

A predetermined fate.

Not even the immortal gods can change the absolute law that governs it.

Not even the king of the gods, Zeus, can change a fate revealed through prophecy.

So, while I knew Perseus was fated to kill his grandfather, I didn’t dare consider altering that fate.

“A son of Zeus is my nephew, so I can’t just let him die.”

“Does that mean you’ll lend him the Helm of Darkness?”

“Well...”

Perseus is indeed the human fated to become a hero and may play a role in the war against the Gigantes.

Lending him the Helm of Darkness could be considered an investment in the future.

If it’s fate. But...

“It's true that Perseus is destined to slay Medusa and become a hero. But...”

There’s one reason I haven’t immediately agreed to Athena’s request.

“Wasn’t it you who turned Medusa into a monster after she was raped by Poseidon? And she was originally one of your priestesses, wasn’t she?”

Medusa had been a priestess serving Athena’s temple.

But, coveting her beauty, Poseidon raped her in the temple.

Like Artemis, Athena is a virgin goddess.

Having a sexual encounter in her temple was a grave act of desecration.

Unable to confront Poseidon directly, Athena instead transformed Medusa into a monster.

“Your nature isn’t so different from Artemis, it seems. Maybe confronting Poseidon was difficult, but taking out your anger on a human seems... unworthy of you.”

“Uncle, that’s...”

“You couldn’t say anything to Poseidon, who raped Medusa, yet you come here asking to borrow my Helm of Darkness to give to a human hero who is destined to kill her?”

Perseus is indeed fated to kill Medusa and his grandfather.

But it was Athena who turned Medusa, originally a victim, into a monster.

While I am inclined to lend the Helm of Darkness to ensure Perseus doesn’t meet his end, I’ll need more convincing.

“Let’s hear your renowned wisdom and reasoning.”