115 – Master Detective Joy #2
The paths to the forest and the riverbank converged at a crossroads, where a single cabin stood, built from ancient underworld trees. Creak-creak. An old mailbox by the door groaned rustily in the breeze. Soft light seeped through the field-shaped window. Puff-puff. Smoke rose cozily from the chimney atop the mushroom-cap roof. Melinoë yanked my arm excitedly at the sight.
"Looks like someone's home nya...! Let's hurry in nya...! My teacher is an incredibly amazing person...! She'll surely help with this case nya...!"
There was something called emperor studies. It was the kind of scholarship pondered by royal families or chaebol heirs on how to properly rule and command people. As royalty of the underworld, Melinoë had been schooled in emperor studies and all sorts of other disciplines from a young age. And she said her teacher lived in that cabin.
Who on earth could the princess's teacher be? I was personally intrigued.
I knocked on the front door—knock-knock—and it swung open from inside on its own. Creeeak. The strange part was that it opened without anyone there. An automatic door? But there were no mechanisms in sight.
"Let's go inside nya...!"
Thud-thud-thud. Melinoë dashed in gleefully. I followed her, but oddly, her presence vanished the moment she entered.
"Hello? Melinoë?"
I called out to gauge any signs of life. Creak-creak. Stepping across the wooden floor toward what seemed like the living room, I heard clattering and clanging from the kitchen—loud and chaotic.
"Melinoë?"
Where had she gone, the one who'd run in ahead of me? Puzzled, I approached the kitchen and spotted a woman in a navy pointed hat dumping ingredients into a massive pot.
"One jujube. A handful of ginger... a strand of nymph hair..."
Her silver hair cascaded to her feet, shimmering like moonlight, and glimpses of her skin between the strands were dark as chocolate—her whole bearing was profoundly striking.
"To think guests would visit this hermit's cabin. Sit wherever. Forgive me, but I'm in the middle of something urgent and can't attend to you properly."
She spoke without turning, her voice laced with mystical power and utmost courtesy. I sank into a patched leather sofa that looked repaired multiple times. That gave me time to survey the room slowly.
Dogs, lizards, weasels, owls—all taxidermied like a hunter's trophy hut. But the formulas and drawings displayed like screens were closer to sorcery and superstition. Amid the eerie vibe, what eased my mind was the happy cacti. Flowering happy cacti. Quite a few of them.
As I gazed at them, the teapots on the table before me floated up on their own.
"Tea? Coffee?"
"No thanks. But those cactus flowers are lovely. They don't bloom without real dedication."
"A friend of mine's obsessed with plants, so I benefited. So, Director Joy, what brings you to my boundary cabin?"
"Well, it's not anything major—"
I scanned around for Melinoë. She'd led me here, after all. But the excited girl who'd rushed in was nowhere to be seen.
"Looking for something?"
"A little nymph came into this house. Name's Melinoë. Black hair, about this tall. Eyes like rubies."
"No idea. Maybe we crossed paths."
"Crossed paths?"
"My home sits at a crossroads where many things meet. The living and the dead. Order and chaos. Even good and evil blur and mingle. Guests get lost sometimes."
What was she on about? Mystic mumbo-jumbo wasn't the worst, but I worried about Melinoë vanishing like that. Who knew what chaos she'd cause out of sight, delaying my firing? It'd happened before; it'd happen again.
"I'm Director Joy. I'm investigating the 'disappearance of Goddess Artemis' by the Lethe River nearby. Mind if I ask about that case?"
"Ask away?"
"Seen any suspicious folks around lately? Even small clues help. Anything come to mind?"
"Director Joy, if we're talking suspicious, is there anyone more so than you? A living soul roaming the underworld for his own ends. Even stranger than the rumors."
"To be called 'strange' by Hecate, goddess of boundaries, crossroads, magic, and necromancy—quite the honor. Should I take that as a compliment?"
"Ho, I don't recall introducing myself. How'd you know?"
"Cabin at the crossroads. Symbols of dogs, lizards, weasels. All emblems of Hecate, goddess of magic."
Hecate. The greatest witch in Greek myth. Teacher to the witch Medea's own teacher, Circe. That gives some sense of her caliber.
"Plus the happy cacti. Probably a gift from Persephone. Only three in Soul Society could present such well-tended ones."
One was me. Another was Mrs. Kshalri from the happy flower shop. The last was the big boss's wife, Persephone.
"I hear you're friends with Persephone and serve as her secretary. That right?"
"Sharp as ever, Joy. Worthy of the 'capable man' title. But call me former. I'm no secretary now, nor some grand goddess. My shares are under 1%."
Under 1%? Why? Hecate was a tightrope walker par excellence, fitting her boundary goddess title—a leverage investment master. Titan by birth, she'd sided with Zeus in the Titan War, shone in the Gigantomachy. When Persephone vanished, she'd helped her mother Demeter search with torches. New moon goddess too. Ghosts, magic—she oversaw it all. That meant massive shares. More shares meant more authority here.
No goddess fitter to teach ghost goddess Melinoë.
Yet here she was, hermit with under 1%. As a Greek myth major, how could I not be hooked?
As I pondered, Hecate chuckled softly.
"Deep in thought, eh? Artemis's disappearance—an unprecedented mess, everyone's rattled. That night, a full moon hung over the underworld. Probably."
"Full moon—"
"Selene's shift, goddess of the full moon. She might know something. Hard to meet—she avoids people—but convene the 'Moon Council,' and you can."
Moon Council. Melinoë had mentioned it.
"Takes two moon goddesses' agreement. Selene's elusive, and Artemis is missing—"
Three moon goddesses, by my reckoning: Selene for full, Artemis for crescent, Hecate for new. But post-Happy World hire, I'd learned four.
"Thanks. That's a big help."
No time to waste. As I stood, Hecate smiled.
"Tell that child hi for me, Melly."
###
Outside the cabin, Melinoë was catching honey ants. Holding one in each hand, she looked like a mischievous kid.
"Muhuhu, once caught in this Melinoë's grasp, escape is fated impossible nya...!? Obediently become my kin and offer ant honey candy nya...!"
Zzzt... Zzzt...
"Melinoë, where were you? I looked everywhere."
"Muhuhu, even this Melinoë doesn't know nya...! Teacher's house is a weird space nya...! Strange things happen all the time, and it's totally normal nya...!"
So we'd crossed at the boundary crossroads cabin. Good thing no real trouble.
"Hecate says hi."
"As expected nya...! So what did my teacher Hecate say nya...? Surely huge help finding missing Artemis nya...!"
Help, yes. The full moon that night might've witnessed the scene. Meeting full moon goddess Selene could yield key clues. Problem: Moon Council needs two moon goddesses' approval minimum.
Hecate's yes secured, but the other? You'll see why.
"Ooh, shit...! Total weirdo nymph...! Back in Hot Mountain and on earth, Nixdoty saw tons of weird nymphs like Paranoy, but this one's extra freaky!"
Pandora Market West Gate spa. Prince Zagreus's first wife, Nixdoty, hoisted Melinoë by the side and spun her like an airplane.
"Up-up!"
Melinoë flailed in protest.
"Put me down nya...!"
"Puhehehe! If a cutie like you were my sister-in-law, I'd kiss you daily! Mwah—."
Nixdoty sucked Melinoë's cheek like mochi. Melinoë thrashed harder.
"Eek...! This Melinoë's shares are getting sucked away nya...!"
"Nymph hair, nymph sweat, nymph hand-wash water... Nymph stuff makes premium potion ingredients, and I can harvest tons from her! Oh yeah! In the jar you go! I'll brew you up quick!"
"Gah...! Boiling this Melinoë for potion brew is beyond barbaric nya...! Unacceptable nya...!"
...What a circus. Anyway, Luna Nixdoty was a moon goddess. Moons aren't just crescent, full, new. There's the dark moon—new moon day, no visible moon. Full's opposite, shrouded in darkness. That's Luna Nixdoty.
"Lady Nixdoty, I'd like to convene the Moon Council. Would you approve? For Artemis's disappearance, I need Selene's take, and it's the only way to meet her."
"Director Joy! Wait, manager? Section chief? Dunno! Your rank changes every time! Anyway, you've helped me plenty, so sure thing!"
Easier than expected? Relief—she's flighty.
But Nixdoty muttered something odd.
"Weird, though? I swear no full moon lit the underworld that night."