Chapter 93
Chapter 93 The Goddess of Mint and Thebes – (3)
“The lord of the underworld, who must be the most just of all, is, in truth, a clumsy god who often wavers like this. Have your illusions of me shattered a bit, Mente?”
“No, no… not at all. The Hades I know…”
Mente stammered, trying to deny Hades’ words.
The Hades she had seen was… truly a god among gods.
Unlike the other Olympian gods, he was a kind deity who cared for mortals and delivered fair judgments.
He was like a father to all souls who reached death.
But knowing the inner thoughts of Hades, who was revealing his heart to her now, tears naturally welled up in her eyes.
Even the stern and mighty lord of the underworld had worries like these.
She could only imagine how hard he must have tried to hide such thoughts from everyone until now.
Just imagining that made Mente’s heart feel like it was tearing apart.
Hades gently wiped away her tears, caressing her face.
With a soft smile, Hades reached his hand to the nape of her neck.
‘Ah… wait… is this… is he going to kiss me?’
Mente was an inexperienced virgin goddess.
As a nymph, she had no interest in men, and once she became Hades’ priestess, no one dared to touch her.
After becoming a minor deity of the underworld, she was subtly treated as Hades’ concubine, and thus revered.
As she felt her heart pound louder and louder, realizing that what she had only known through knowledge was happening to her,
the lord of the underworld, whom she admired, spoke.
“You’re the one who holds me back sometimes.”
“M-Me?”
“Yes, every time I recall you and the scent of mint… I find myself reflecting on my actions.”
Oh, how gentle he is.
Such sweet words—surely not even Apollo’s whispers could sound sweeter.
“And I’m always grateful to you for creating mint. I think of it as a great favor you’ve done for me.”
“A-And…? Is there more…?”
“…I think I share the same feelings as you.”
Thump.
The same feelings. This…
Hades’ hand on the nape of her neck slowly tightened.
Like someone entranced by the song of a siren, Mente’s body drew closer to his.
Hades’ handsome face, as perfect as a statue crafted by Pygmalion, drew nearer…
And finally, their lips met.
“Mmph…”
A brief kiss, like a fleeting dream.
* * *
As the short kiss ended, I looked at Mente’s face, still dazed and lost in a dream-like state.
Standing there with an ethereal expression, the goddess of mint seemed to be dreaming.
“He… hehe…”
“Mente? Are you alright…?”
“Just once more… Just one more time, Hades!”
Smooch.
“Mmph. Wait a moment…”
“J-Just a little more…!”
I pushed her back momentarily as she excitedly leaned in, touching my lips as if to reassure myself.
As we were briefly entangled, an old man with a cane passing by clicked his tongue at us.
“Hmph… Such impure love, being displayed on the street… Tsk. Step aside.”
I suppose the kiss with Mente broke my perception block…
Judging by his talk of impure love, this old man must be a philosopher.
Wait a minute—so pure love, as in homosexual love, is acceptable on the streets?
Ha… should I bring divine punishment down on Thebes…
“…Why has this culture spread like this?”
Ahem… No.
Even now, the scent of the past emanating from Mente, who was still clinging to my side, calmed me down.
When I return to the underworld, I’ll have to send an oracle to put an end to this…
After that, I spent more time wandering around with Mente.
I fed her newly made skewers from street vendors, and we even tucked mint leaves into each other’s hair…
It was truly a delightful time. Every time I saw Mente’s smile, it felt as if the weariness from my duties in the underworld was melting away.
After wandering around every corner of Thebes until evening, the first thing I did upon returning to the underworld was…
“…Are you the high priest of my temple?”
“Gasp… Lord Hades! What brings you to seek me out?!”
The first task was to change the strange culture that had spread in Thebes.
Next, I contacted Orpheus and instructed him to convey my will to the king of Thebes.
I also sought help from other gods to send oracles to the mortal world.
“So they engage in homosexuality? Doesn’t that mean the number of newly born humans will decrease…?”
“Perhaps it’s because Lord Zeus brought that mortal boy… Ganymede, was it?”
“…If Lord Hades says so, I’ll tell my followers as well.”
With my mind at ease, I allowed myself to fall asleep for a while.
Though sleep isn’t necessary for an immortal god, it was a good hobby to help calm the mind.
However, during the time when the lord of the underworld slept, chaos erupted in Thebes.
Because all kinds of underworld gods, including the patron deity of Thebes, Pluto, sent oracles.
“Lord Hades has expressed grave concerns about ‘true love between men’…!”
“…Why?”
“Wasn’t Lord Zeus encouraging true love?”
“It seems the lord of the underworld holds a different view, indicating that even gods have differing opinions…”
“We must have misunderstood something…!”
Most people of Thebes were followers of Pluto.
The high priest of Pluto’s temple’s words spread rapidly throughout all of Thebes.
“What happens if we don’t follow the oracle? Will we face some kind of punishment in the afterlife?”
“No… But even though he’s the god of mercy, how could we…”
“Did you forget what Pluto’s other name is? He’s Hade—the king of the underworld.”
“Not all those who engage in homosexuality will end up in Tartarus, right?”
The pride of Thebes, the Sacred Band, was disbanded that day.
The king, who had received an oracle from Morpheus in his dream the previous night, had raged and frothed at the mouth.
Whatever oracle he had received in his dream, the king gathered his ministers and…
“Immediately disband the Sacred Band! And establish a royal decree banning love between the same sex…”
“Y-Your Majesty! But… the philosophers…”
“Throw all those damn philosophers into prison! Charge them with spreading nonsense in Thebes and angering Lord Pluto!”
Fortunately, none of the philosophers were arrested due to the ministers’ intervention, but their influence greatly diminished.
No mortal wished to incur the wrath of Hades, the god of the underworld and Thebes’ patron deity.
Especially since, besides Hades, many other gods sent oracles upon his request.
“Goddess Lethe, Goddess Styx, God Hypnos, and many others sent oracles to their followers…”
“Wasn’t the Sphinx appearing in Thebes long ago due to the gods’ wrath?”
“So are we to expect another monster like the Sphinx to appear because of the Sacred Band?”
“We’d be lucky if it were just a monster! Do you know what kind of punishment awaits you after death?”
“We were wrong to try and interpret the will of the gods to suit our desires. The story of Lord Zeus and Ganymede was just one example…”
“I never really liked that Sacred Band anyway.”
“Phew… I’ll have to keep my household in strict order. We can’t afford to anger Lord Pluto.”
Thebes underwent a major change overnight.
* * *
After finishing my date with Mente and easing my accumulated fatigue with some rest, I checked on the mortal world.
Focusing my mind to see how the mortals had interpreted the oracle delivered to Thebes yesterday…
“You damned philosophers! If I don’t find peace even in death because of you, will you take responsibility?”
“What? True love between men? You’re spouting nonsense…”
“The ones who whispered strange ideas into His Majesty’s ears and formed the Sacred Band are now strutting around like…”
Thud. Crash!
“Did Lord Pluto declare that this isn’t true love because he rules the underworld?”
“It seems he’s worried that humans won’t have descendants, likely due to his merciful nature…”
“Or maybe it’s because he was struck by Eros’ arrow and fell in love with Goddess Persephone?”
“What?! Are you one of those who support Persephone as the lady of the underworld? How dare you leave Goddess Styx, the goddess of oaths, aside!”
“Ha! How much has the goddess of forgetfulness done for us Thebans?”
Amidst a crowd cursing the philosophers who supported homosexuality, others sat around, speculating about my intentions as the god of the underworld.
A group was also assaulting a philosopher who had been one of the most fervent supporters of true love between men.
I didn’t really care to know whether this philosopher was gay himself…
Even the soldiers dispatched from the royal family watched the assault without intervening.
They took no action.
Listening to the soldiers’ conversations…
“We don’t interfere. We could face divine punishment if we help those who have angered Pluto.”
“But, Captain, I believe the god of mercy wouldn’t do such a thing. The one who cherishes mortals more than anyone else…”
“You fool! This is the first time Lord Pluto has ever issued an oracle about our Theban culture!”
“Still…”
“The god who never interfered in human affairs is now angry, so those fools won’t find peace even in death.”
Hmm, there’s more talk of the god of the underworld.
My reputation as the god of mercy is widely known, but it’s mainly due to the direct interference with culture through the oracle.
This oracle could be seen as a minor misstep.
Despite knowing that many mortals distort the will of the gods, I still made such an oversight.
I ended up imposing my personal likes and dislikes too strongly.
I need to make sure my true intentions are properly conveyed through the high priest…
Shortly after, a new oracle descended upon Thebes.
The people of Thebes responded swiftly to the message from Pluto’s temple.
“A new oracle from Lord Pluto! He does not personally view love between men favorably, but he declares that assaulting or exiling them solely for this reason is a definite sin!”
“Well, I tried to stop it…”
“What did I say? Lord Pluto is also a god of mercy, so we must exercise restraint in our actions.”
“Still, since he doesn’t favor such forms of love, we should be cautious.”
“Of course, isn’t Pluto the god of Thebes?”
Those who heard the oracle were relieved.
It seemed that Pluto, known as the god of mercy, was not greatly angered.
Afterward, Thebes developed a custom of slightly disapproving of homosexuals,
And a culture arose that viewed those caught in such love as unfortunate souls tricked by the god Eros.
