The Goddess of Mint and Thebes (1)
"Lord Hades! Shall we depart right now?"
Behind Mente, who was pestering me, I could see the hallucination of a dog's tail wagging furiously. It seemed the walk that had been cut short by the Gigantes' attack last time had left her quite disappointed.
"I haven't been paying enough attention to you. If I'd told you beforehand, I would have taken you along."
"That's... I wanted to go too, but..."
The Goddess of Mint made a troubled face, looking reluctant.
"Wanted to, but...?"
"Ah, no! If I cut in line, I'll get cursed... I'll receive a curse... I'll get stepped on..."
Suddenly she clasped both hands together and began trembling. What on earth was she talking about? A curse... and getting stepped on? What was that about again?
"Anyway, let's head straight to Thebes after passing through the place where the heroes train. I need to head up to the surface for a change of pace as well."
"Yes! I'll dress up beautifully to catch your eye, Lord Hades! Oh, and I..."
Mente, who had been leaving the audience chamber with a happy face, suddenly stopped in her tracks and spoke softly. With her back turned to me I couldn't see her expression, but her ears were flushed redder than I had ever seen them.
"Lord Hades, I think the chiton decorated with golden threads that you wore when we first met suits you the best. It's absolutely not my preference or anything, it's just..."
"If that one caught your fancy, then that's what I'll wear."
So that outfit had been to Mente's taste? I gave a small chuckle at her unexpectedly bold words and altered my clothing.
It went without saying that I was fully aware of my own appearance and popularity. Yet because of my lofty position as King of the Underworld, it was rare to find any deity who treated me without reserve. Most mortals, in fact, feared even the name Hades and called me Pluto instead.
That should have been the case... but the Goddess of Mint was different.
"Wow...! Lord Hades, you look incredibly handsome right now! Hehe... I'll be right back!"
When she had met me as a water nymph naiad rather than a lesser god... she had been a peculiar nymph whose curiosity and excitement outweighed any fear. Perhaps it was that very temperament that allowed her to become my priestess and eventually rise to the rank of goddess.
Mente and I made our way to the heroes' training ground infused with Persephone's power and soon spotted Chiron. The centaur sage was lecturing the aspiring heroes with a happier expression than I had ever seen on him.
"When nocking an arrow, keep your feet shoulder-width apart and your rear foot..."
Chiron drew his bowstring and took aim at the target. The heroes sat in a wide circle around the clearing, watching his every move with rapt attention. Once his explanation ended they scattered in every direction to practice their archery.
They seemed to be the ones less skilled with the bow; many drew their strings clumsily. That was when Chiron approached us. We had been standing at a suitable distance where the heroes wouldn't notice us, yet he had spotted us immediately.
"When did you arrive, Lord Hades? And the Goddess Mente as well."
"Chiron, it looks like the training of the heroes is going well."
"Of course. Didn't you send us quite a few heroes who had completed their trials not long ago? Thanks to them..."
Chiron paused mid-sentence and turned his head. In a clearing some distance away, heroes were facing one another with weapons drawn. I recognized a few faces. There was Bellerophon... and Perseus too...
Crash!
One man lightly dodged an incoming blade, hooked his opponent's leg, and sent him sprawling. The fallen man complained to his opponent with an aggrieved expression.
"King Perseus! What is a great hero like you doing here?"
"What do you mean? Raising the next generation is also a hero's duty, isn't it?"
"Still, a man who was once a king, doing training like this..."
"...? Cadmus is over there too. Compared to him I'm practically unknown. Come at me already!"
The sight of every famous hero who had completed their trials and died now training the next generation of heroes. When Perseus had died and come to the Underworld, Zeus had tried to turn him and his wife Andromeda into constellations. But after learning about the hero training camp in Thebes, Perseus had refused and expressed his wish to continue nurturing successors even after death. Zeus had respected that wish.
Originally we had planned to send him to Elysium, but he had knelt and declared that a man who had killed his own grandfather could not go there. He really did remind me of Cadmus in many ways.
"They are able to receive training of such high caliber. It is far better than when I taught them alone."
"I'm glad it has been helpful. If there are any heroes you want in the future, I'll send them here."
I watched the warmly smiling Chiron for a moment before turning my gaze to Mente. She was staring at the heroes' training with an awestruck expression.
"Wow... Lord Hades. Look over there. Is that the serpent Python...?"
"Mente, if we reveal ourselves to them it will only cause a commotion. Let's pass by quietly."
I urged Mente along and stepped through the gap in space.
Shaaaa—
"Wh-what?! The heroes still haven't come out... hup! O Great Hades...!"
The moment we crossed over to the surface, what greeted us was a middle-aged male priest staring at me and Mente in utter panic. A high-ranking priest with rather deep faith... I was certain his name was...
"Basileus, wasn't it? Your devotion in offering prayers without missing a single day is truly an example for all priests."
"To think you remember my name... It is an honor! Khup..."
Wait, no. Don't suddenly throw yourself to the floor and start crying... I had only given a small compliment for his daily morning and evening prayers. The floor here was stone and would be cold. We needed to move on quickly.
"It is uncomfortable for me to keep watching my priest prostrated on cold stone. Rise."
"But... how could I..."
"It is an order."
Only then did the priest cautiously stand up.
"Keep the fact that the Goddess of Mint and I have come to Thebes a secret."
"Of course! I swear on the River Styx... mph."
"...There is no need for such an oath."
The moment I heard the words "River Styx" I sealed his mouth so he could not speak further. Why did he immediately try to swear on the Styx? There was no need to go that far... Was his faith perhaps a little excessive? If we stayed here any longer he might actually faint. We needed to move on quickly...
We slipped past the man whose faith bordered on fanaticism, concealed our appearances, and blended into Thebes.
Yet the moment we stepped out of the temple connected to the Underworld, what we saw was...
"Come now, are you still going to insist? The principal wife of God Pluto is clearly the Goddess Styx!"
"Your own evidence is far too weak. After being struck by Eros's golden arrow, he..."
"That golden arrow wasn't even publicly declared by the priests of Pluto's temple. Stop making wild guesses."
"Then how do you explain the statue of Lady Lethe standing right beside Pluto's statue?"
A great number of Thebans were engaged in heated debate about my principal wife. Some argued with serious expressions while others offered opinions with interested faces. The problem was that their numbers were so great they filled the plaza in front of the temple and still spilled over.
When I met Mente's eyes she returned a similarly bewildered look.
"The Goddess of Mint was originally a nymph who became a lesser god. Doesn't that itself prove Pluto's favor?"
"That's only because she created the mint plant that symbolizes Pluto. It isn't favor!"
Just then the conversation turned to Mente. Whether turning her into a lesser god had been a sign of my favor... or merely compensation...
Squeeze.
At the same time I felt a small hand grasp my right one. The goddess's soft touch held me shyly. I turned my head to look at her.
"Lord Hades... I-I'm curious too."
"Mente."
"What... do you think of me...?"
A question thrown the moment we reached the surface. Though her face was flushed red, Mente looked straight into my eyes as she spoke. It was a question she had always wanted to ask.
A hint of anxiety flickered in her gaze. It was true that it had been Zeus, not me, who had elevated Mente to lesser-god status. But when asked whether I favored her...
"...Lord Hadeees?"
Her glossy turquoise hair and clear eyes. Even as a water nymph she had possessed beauty that did not lose to the goddesses. After becoming a lesser god she had grown even more beautiful.
When I simply stared at her without answering, Mente seemed to grow anxious and spoke hurriedly.
"I... I don't even dream of becoming your principal wife... but even as a concubine I..."
"Mente."
I slowly raised my hand and gently stroked her hair. She fell silent. Had it been the old me, I might have tried to avoid this situation, but I had decided not to run away anymore.
From the first moment I met the nymph Mente... the days she worked as my priestess in the temple, how she had come to like me, become a lesser god, and followed me to the Underworld, and all the times we had worked together flashed before my eyes.
The reason I could keep smiling even while buried under endless petitions and work... The Goddess of Mint who never lost her cheerfulness even in the Underworld had, before I knew it, taken root deep inside my heart.
"...You don't need to beg like that. I don't dislike you either."
"Ah..."
Her eyes widened into perfect circles before she relaxed and leaned into me. The refreshing scent that came from her entire body tickled my nose. While I was savoring the soft touch of her turquoise hair, something behind Mente caught my eye.
"I love you, Melediphos."
"I feel the same way. I like you too, Delkeneos."
Two men who appeared to be in their twenties and thirties were embracing each other. Even the surrounding citizens reacted as if there was nothing strange about it.
"Indeed. That is true love."
"Love with a woman is impure, merely for the sake of reproduction."
The utterly absurd scene made me quickly scan the surroundings. Hundreds of men wearing unified soldier uniforms were openly displaying affection along one of the streets. Just which madman had dared to poison my Thebes?
"....Ha. Lord Hadeees?"