Banquet of the Underworld - (2)
"Glory to the Underworld!"
Everyone raised their golden goblets high, echoing Thanatos's words before drinking the nectar. I too took a deep swig of the divine beverage from my cup.
Gulp. Gulp. Glug.
"Haa... So this is what nectar tastes like... It's incredibly delicious...!"
"Hahaha! Mente, now that you're a goddess, you'll get used to it soon enough."
"Heh. It reminds me of the very first time I tasted nectar and ambrosia... so very long ago."
"Hypnos, stop teasing the young goddess."
"So this is nectar..."
"Try the ambrosia too, Medusa."
The heavenly flavor was something no mint tea or Dionysus's wine could ever hope to match. Since its taste wasn't fixed to any one flavor, no drink in existence could rival it. Nectar didn't just taste good; it granted the gods a profound sense of mental fulfillment. That was why mortals who consumed nectar and ambrosia stopped aging.
But... if you drank too much, this was what happened.
"Hades... Let's share a drink together after so long... Hee..."
"You've had quite a bit, Lady Styx..."
Yes, exactly like the goddess now staggering toward me with her goblet. Her cheeks were flushed from all the nectar, and a seductive smile played on her lips.
"Hadeeees... Ehehe."
In truth, the intoxication would vanish the moment she summoned even a sliver of her divine power, so the gods often drank it the way humans enjoyed wine. But... it seemed she was deliberately letting herself get drunk.
"Oh my!"
Thump.
Ah. So this was her goal. She tripped over her own feet in an obviously unnatural way and gave me a pitiful look. Before I knew it, I had caught her. I was about to let go of the hand supporting her arm and waist to help her stand when...
"Ah..."
Lady Styx pursed her lips and closed her eyes. It was the expression of someone hoping for something rather troublesome from me.
"Eeeek! Get away from him, Styx! The second I take my eyes off you!"
"...Ah! Really? You're really going to do this, Lethe?"
Lethe, who had approached in an instant, grabbed the Goddess of Oaths by the collar and yanked her upright. The drunkenness that had made it hard for her to even stand vanished in a flash as Styx immediately began arguing with Lethe.
At least share the drinking cup with everyone else...
"Mente? There's nectar dripping from the corner of your mouth."
"....Eh? Ehhh..."
"Tsk tsk... That's why I told you to get married sooner..."
"They say Zeus and Poseidon don't just have wives; they have so many mistresses you can't even count them..."
"Lord Hades is certainly very popular."
Ahem... No, that's... Sigh...
I moved away from the group and walked over to where Medusa and the three Erinyes sisters were gathered. The three goddesses of vengeance had fearsome appearances—bronze wings, blood streaming from their eyes, and hair made of snakes—but they had finally accepted an invitation to the banquet they had always refused. As the host, it was only right that I approach them first.
This was a gesture to show the lesser gods and the Underworld's administrators. These were beings the Lord of the Underworld himself treated with such care and respect. ...Only by making that clear would they avoid being looked down upon.
"Medusa, are you enjoying the banquet?"
"Yes. Thank you for paying attention to me."
"Hmph! Of course the womanizing god would do that."
Alecto, whose name meant endless fury, glared at me once before turning her head away. Yet the snakes that served as her hair kept slithering in my direction.
Hiss. Hiss.
"Ugh... Why are these things acting like this again!"
"Hades, I've told you countless times not to do that..."
"Mmm..."
Alecto blushed furiously while scolding her own hair, Tisiphone let out a sigh, and Megaera nodded with her mouth full of ambrosia.
"Hmm... In any case, I will invite you to future banquets as well. You'll come, won't you?"
"...Hmph!"
"We'll see. It's not bad, but..."
For some reason, I felt like something similar had happened last time too... What was it? Still, having spoken with them this much, they probably wouldn't be ostracized at future banquets.
I next approached Charon, the ferryman of the Acheron, who was sitting to one side sipping wine. For some reason, he had left the nectar untouched and was only drinking regular wine.
"Lord Charon."
"Ah, Hades. Have a cup of this wine with me."
"You're not drinking the nectar?"
"Sometimes wine isn't so bad. The god who made this was Dionysus, right?"
Charon had ignored both the ambrosia and the food from the Cornucopia, drinking only wine. Then, as if something had occurred to him, he spoke to me.
"The souls coming to the Underworld these days have rather relieved expressions on their faces."
"Why is that? To mortals, the Underworld is..."
"Yes, the symbol of inevitable death and fear. But you see... as the number of believers who trust in you grows, more people are pondering what comes after death."
Through the temples in Thebes and Argos, my influence on the living world was gradually expanding. I had thought it was still a minor faith, but if even Charon could feel it, there must be quite a few worshippers.
"Those who lived honorable lives and died show remarkably composed appearances."
"That's truly good news."
"Don't your believers trust that they will receive fair judgment after death? It seems that influence is spreading through the living world..."
Medusa's story had quietly spread from Thebes, and rumors that my mercy could reach even those turned into monsters were slowly circulating. If I just listened to the surface world right now...
"Are you really okay with going back while bearing this false accusation?"
"Don't worry too much... Pluto is a fair god, so..."
"Those trash will definitely be judged in the Underworld!"
"Can you say those words—that you are innocent—in front of God Pluto as well?"
"Of course! I can even swear it in his temple!"
"...Since you're so confident, we'll reinvestigate."
Still, not many people call me Hades yet. No matter how much I'm called the god of mercy and wealth rather than the god of the Underworld... this is something that can't be helped. To humans, death—and by extension the Underworld—is as terrifying as Zeus's thunderbolts. Hmm.
As proof, most of those praying at Thanatos's statue in Thebes are elderly people. Last time, even King Perseus heard the rumors about Medusa. He had personally visited the temple in Argos to offer prayers to me.
"Lord of the Underworld... Is the rumor true that Medusa, the one whose head I cut off, was originally human?"
Perseus's face was a mixture of faint disbelief, guilt, and worry. I had possessed a priest's body to answer him...
"It is true that she was transformed into that hideous appearance by a cruel twist of fate."
"Ugh...! How could this be..."
"She has become a lesser goddess of the Underworld and wishes to meet you. Would you speak with her?"
"...!! Please allow it!"
Since the newly deified Medusa had asked from beside me, I switched with her. Even when Medusa, possessing a human body, met the man who had severed her head, she didn't seem to hold any particular emotion.
"So you are the one who cut off my head. Perseus."
"Th-that... Are you truly Medusa? I don't know what I should say..."
"...It's fine. You too were simply caught up in fate. I do not hate you."
"But..."
Perseus looked extremely awkward yet genuinely apologetic. The hero who had accomplished such a great feat had a good character as well. When their conversation grew long, I quietly withdrew.
Some time later, a small temple was built beside my temple in Argos... and its owner was Medusa, a lesser goddess of the Underworld.
'Rumors began to spread that King Perseus would occasionally visit Medusa's temple in person to offer prayers...'
As I was reminiscing about Medusa and Perseus, a loud noise snapped me back to reality. The God of Death with black wings, Thanatos, had burst into the banquet hall in a hurry. He had rushed out earlier... so he must have gone to check on whatever was happening.
I really need to give Thanatos a vacation one of these days...
"Keres, Moros, Charon, big trouble! War has broken out in the living world!"
"What?! Again?"
"Damn it all! Let's go, Moros."
"The humans started another war?"
Charon, who had been gulping down wine, threw his cup aside and jumped to his feet. The other gods of death, Moros and Keres, also left the banquet hall.
"War in the living world...? I wonder how many souls will come this time..."
"Lord Hades. I'm sorry, but I must go as well."
More than half of the lesser gods and administrators who heard the news rushed out in a flurry. The three Minos brothers glanced around before heading toward the courtroom.
"How is it that every time I try to take even a little break, there's a great flood, a hero's rampage, or a war..."
"It can't be helped. Hades... let's go back to work."
Lady Lethe brushed past me, leaving those words. Seeing her beautiful eyes droop with exhaustion, I was at a loss for words.
"Lord Hades?! Is the Underworld's banquet always like this?"
"...?"
The sight of the gods and administrators leaving the hall in perfect, resigned order left both Medusa and Mente frozen in place.
Yes... This is what the Underworld is like. We can never truly rest easy.
Mente, who had made eye contact with me, swallowed the ambrosia in her mouth and spoke awkwardly.
"Lord Hades. Should I be working too..."
"Mente, let's finish developing those mint dishes you couldn't complete earlier. We should also discuss how to spread them to the living world..."
Since things had turned out this way, I might as well finish what I was doing before resting. It was a shame, but the banquet ended here.
As I was about to take the pouting Mente back to the office, Medusa's quiet words reached my ears.
"The Underworld really is... a unique place."
I think so too.