The Sweetness of Demeter's Love (Part 3)
That was how the story of Dionysus went.
“Mestra is the daughter of Erysichthon. As you’ve probably heard in the widely told legends, the wretched brute sold his own daughter to buy food and eat it. She’s the heroine of this tale—the poor woman sold to her father, a filial daughter through and through. How can a child born from such a disgusting man be so pure? Ah, but was Ares any different? Born among the high gods yet turned out such a brute… hmph~!”
“You must be careful with your words. I’m guessing the wine hasn’t fully left your system.”
“Sorry. Still a bit tipsy… Hey, someone, bring some water… glug glug…”
The nymphs rushed over in a flurry, pressed the water to his lips, and only after he drank did he continue.
“Anyway, if you just listen to the story of Erysichthon, Mestra ends up as the mere daughter sold into slavery, and that’s how the tale concludes. But that’s not entirely accurate. She was once Poseidon’s old lover, and thanks to that bond she received the gift of transformation from him. Yet this filial daughter didn’t flee or even cling to Poseidon’s embrace when she could. No, she did exactly as her father commanded—sold, returned, sold again, returned again, sold again, returned again… She wasted that rare power on some foolish errands…”
“Returned? Does that mean she came back home?”
“Of course she did. Why would I ever call her a filial daughter? That girl suffered plenty. Poseidon’s beauty that won his favor was sold to suitors, betrayed them, then sold as a slave, even turned into an animal and sold. Yet despite the fact that the hated Sisyphus himself came to study her ability, the girl still went home straight and cared for her father. An unbearably pathetic filial daughter she was.”
Chuckling at Dionysus’s exaggerated tone, I nodded along as the story finally turned serious.
“You must have noticed something too, right? After this tale ended, Mestra’s whereabouts suddenly vanished. There were rumors she was dragged away by Poseidon and stories she was eaten by Erysichthon, but neither felt quite right.”
“So what actually happened?”
“From here on, this is a tale that hasn’t left the outer world. When Mestra, driven mad by her father’s brutal death, felt sorry for her, Poseidon took her into his arms and offered her a long sleep. He thought that if she woke from the long slumber, she would heal.”
“If she woke up, her anger would have surely driven her mad.”
“Hahaha~! You’re exactly right~! The only difference is that unlike us, Poseidon only realized the truth very recently!”
“…Recently? Does that mean she avenged herself in Demeter’s forest?”
“That’s right.”
“Frrrr… frrrrr…”
My son Epiphos let out a heavy snort, understanding the story. There was a lot of meaning in that sound, but sadly I couldn’t understand a single word. If he could speak, the boy would surely have given me a thousand wise pieces of advice.
“Fr?”
“Ah, I see.”
In the midst of that, Epiphos poked me. Only then did I realize I had to say something.
“Can’t we just impose a punishment directly on Demeter or Dionysus?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“You still haven’t figured it out, huh? Recently… how many hundreds of years would you call it in your words…? We can’t meddle too much in this successor’s era. Trivial annoyances or blessings are fine, but wholesale slaughter is strictly forbidden. That’s according to Zeus’s will, and I’m not in a position to change it.”
“!”
I wanted to hear this more than anything!
Why were the temples decaying?
And with monsters called outlanders swarming everywhere and the gods’ power mysteriously weakened, I thought there must be some truth to it!
“Rumors say something’s going on between you and Gaia, right?”
“Sorry. I can’t explain in detail with my own mouth. But since I think you’re a trustworthy person, I’ll tell you what I can.”
Dionysus thought for a moment. He seemed to select what he could say and, stealing a glance at Achilles sitting beside me, chose his words more carefully before letting them out.
“It’s true that Gaia is politically opposed to us. After the gods caused some massive incident on the surface and clashes among themselves began over some schemes, we withdrew our hands from the lower world. Many gods were dissatisfied, but because we could still exercise at least some influence, the grievances settled down.”
“Influence? Is there no standard?”
“That’s rather vague. But the gods who stand with Zeus are granted a certain degree of freedom. Even so, we strictly restrict slaughter, so if you take that as the benchmark, it should be easy to understand.”
Oh, now I get it.
Since I secretly received help during this voyage, maybe it was okay to overlook those things…
And to add one more… tsk… This shouldn’t be told to anyone… But since it’s you, Perseus… I think Demeter would say it herself if I didn’t…
This time Achilles tugged my ear, whispering so only I could hear. I wondered what a grand tale it was, but once I realized how heavy the content was, I understood why it couldn’t be spoken lightly.
『The reason the surface world has become a den of monsters is largely our influence.』
Hearing those words, I fell into deep thought. The situation where we weren’t exercising influence on humans yet outlanders called monsters roamed freely. I finally understood why Dionysus said he couldn’t tell anyone. If ordinary humans learned the truth, every temple would decay and the gods would certainly face human hatred.
But this was…
Wasn’t it their fault after all…?
“So the reason we became like this was because of the conflict with Gaia…”
“Shh! Shh shh! No, that’s enough. You’re smart and immediately saw the core, but others won’t. There are far too many ugly stone blocks in this world who are foolish yet cling only to their own beliefs. If those idiots start shouting this truth in loud voices, we’ll be in real trouble.”
I was certain this was a problem with the conflict with Gaia.
“Understood. I’ll pretend I never heard this story today, and Dionysus, you can pretend you never told me.”
“Great! That’s exactly it!”
Dionysus pulled away from my ear, took a few more sips of wine, and regained his composure.
“Glug… phew… Anyway, do you understand the flow of the story? We can’t really blame humans right now. Especially me—I’ve done so much in the past that I’m the biggest problem here. Demeter also destroyed the surface in a fit of rage when her daughter Persephone vanished. And since she’s a very kind goddess, she can’t be harsh with Mestra, who knows her circumstances.”
“So you called my husband to deal with it?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah! We were all paying attention and Zeus liked it too—! ………Huh? Husband?”
Dionysus gave me a strange look at my and Achilles’s relationship, but he quickly steered the conversation back to the main topic.
“Hmph~! Anyway~! Right now the one managing this forest is me and Demeter. To revive the sacred forest and add more symbolism, we planted more vines, and after we press the grapes into wine we plan to hold a small festival. That way we’ll earn Demeter’s and my worship. But recently intruders related to what I mentioned have appeared, and if we can deal with them, Demeter and I would both be overjoyed.”
“Intruders? Based on the story, it should be Mestra’s doing, right?”
“That’s what I heard too.”
At my and Achilles’s question, Dionysus laughed loudly with a “hahaha, hahaha.”
“Haha, hahaha, women’s rage is scary, isn’t it? Apparently she met Medea and came back. That witch is the type who fits the word ‘rage’ perfectly. The stronger her resolve to end anyone who betrays or angers her, the more women seem to have than men… some kind of poison… Anyway, Mestra is the type.”
“Type?”
“She didn’t take revenge the ordinary way—stabbing someone with a knife or something. Her rage had indeed peaked, but the peak was so clean and rational that she acted with perfect logic. As a result she became a merchant under her father’s name, hired many people, and started overrunning this forest. The humans around here call her Erysichthon’s merchant.”
“Haven’t you, Dionysus, ever taken direct action? After all, you’re a god—surely the other side wouldn’t act recklessly.”
“Like I said, the moment I revealed myself, they didn’t act rashly. But as she kept nibbling at the edges of the vineyard and forest, the workforce ran out. I wanted to secretly poison them with madness and kill them all, and I have the power to do it. If I did, it would clash with Poseidon too, which is troublesome.”
Even killing them wasn’t an option.
And then there was Poseidon…
“Because of this old matter, Demeter’s mood has been extremely foul. So I want to resolve it as soon as possible. That old story—when Hades snatched Persephone. While Demeter was searching for her daughter… Poseidon took Demeter to…”
“……rape her, right?”
“That’s right. Without showing it outwardly, she hasn’t let Poseidon near her since then. Not to mention that annoying guy is already keeping an eye on Mestra’s back. How irritated would she be? If she explodes even once more, it won’t just be one or two casualties on the surface.”
This quest had become more dangerous than I imagined.
Demeter going berserk—how many humans was I supposed to imagine dying?
“Let me summarize. We need to persuade or subdue the Mestra that Poseidon is backing, get her to leave this forest, right? Or persuade Poseidon to order Mestra to leave…”
“The latter is impossible. Poseidon is the type who doesn’t easily let go of a woman he likes or a family member he’s attached to.”
Thinking about Poseidon’s family affection, Dionysus’s words were not wrong. Among Poseidon’s children there were many monsters and broken personalities, and his main way of dealing with them was to punish the heroes who killed them with trials or curses. Moreover, if I did anything to the beloved Mestra, I wouldn’t escape punishment.
“Hmph.”
“They mainly operate at night, so you should stay here in the morning. Demeter is staying here for a while to calm her mood, so if you show your face and talk to her, she’ll be very happy.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Where to?”
“I was just briefly visiting until you came, but the forest has grown well and I’ll be leaving this area for a while. In a way, I’ve left the fate of this forest to you and Achilles.”
“What are you going to do? Just throw it on us like this?”
“It might be difficult, but I think it’ll work out somehow. I’ll go greet Demeter. You two go help Achilles plow the fields.”
“You’re using it?”
“There’s work that needs doing, so use it efficiently.”
At my words, Achilles laughed heartily while pulling out the tool and went back. I headed toward the direction the nymphs were leading—some distance from the giant oak in the center of the forest. That place was Demeter’s only summer hideaway.