The Created God (3)
"Whoa...."
Ceres's reaction to watching Hades properly kick into gear and handle its workload was just a little exclamation of awe. Or rather, that was all she could do besides letting out that gasp.
With Hades's assistance—analyzing a soul's entire life the moment it entered for judgment, summarizing its crimes and good deeds from life—it wasn't hard to process even hundreds of thousands of souls. That said, even this Hades wasn't perfect in every way.
"Uh, that's a bit harsh of a verdict, don't you think?"
"Hm? Let me see... Yeah, it is."
Hades had slapped a full theft charge on a woman who'd stolen bread to feed a starving child and gotten stoned to death for it. Other death gods might've considered a parent's desperation to save their kid and gone easy—maybe postponing punishment until the child arrived in the underworld—but Hades lacked that kind of leniency.
"Speedy judgments are great, but this part's got issues."
"Well, it's just a system I made to assist you all, after all."
I'd carved it out of a chunk of my own divinity, but I had no intention of making it a fully independent god.
"Still, it's fast, the summaries are spot-on, and it'll definitely help."
"Right? With this thing around, even one of you could handle the workload of three. That's how confident I am."
Before, it took two out of three to keep the underworld running smoothly. And the best part?
"Keep using it for judgments and feeding in the verdicts... and Hades will learn from them on its own."
"Learn?"
"Yeah. It'll train on countless judgment outcomes, getting faster and faster until it can handle the exploding human population. When that happens, you'll all be praising me for making it."
"You think...?"
I nodded slightly. Humans hadn't hit the billions yet. In a few thousand years, when they reached tens of millions, hundreds of millions... it'd get ugly. Wars killing tens of millions at a time... Nah, can't have that.
No way. I wouldn't let something that horrific happen. Anyway, more humans would be born and die over time, so prepping ahead made sense.
"If you could've made something this good sooner, that would've been nice."
"This came from ongoing research, you know."
I gazed at the black stone slab. There I was inside it—hornless dragon version, black-haired, bustling away busily. Looked pretty cute, actually.
"But does this Hades ever get tired?"
"It's a fragment of my soul, linked to me as its power source. As long as nothing happens to me, it won't have issues."
Unless I cut the connection myself, that is. And through that link...
"And like this, I can link my consciousness to Hades too."
The me on the black slab spoke, and Ceres jumped in surprise. Bet she didn't see that coming.
"If there's an emergency where you need to reach me, call through Hades."
"Got it. That's handy. Sometimes there are judgments where I'd love the Life Goddess's take."
"Don't call for judgment advice. Only if it's something that absolutely needs me."
"Yeees. I'll let the other two know."
Perfect. Now I wouldn't have to worry much about the underworld. One big worry off my plate... Yeah! Next up: upgrade the automated prayer system for the Life Goddess and offload even more work! Basically... dump all her duties as Life Goddess onto it!
Hand off tasks to fragments bit by bit, and eventually... the world would run itself without me lifting a finger! Then I could hibernate to my heart's content! Sprawling out for centuries at a time! Free from obligations, even if just a little!
While testing Hades's performance with Ceres and helping judge souls...
"Found you."
A voice came from behind.
"Took forever to track you down, Mom. If Moros hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known."
"Sagarmatha...?"
"Yeah. Me."
Whaaat?! Sagarmatha?! Why the hell are you here?! Our agreed hangout time was over! Sure, I'd bailed early for underworld business, but the deadline had passed!!
"One year. That's what we agreed. But you left before it was up... You broke your promise, Mom."
"No, the scheduled time was over, so it was done!"
"But you left early. Even if underworld stuff is important, you promised me first."
"Well, the underworld maintains the world's balance—super important..."
"You said we'd hang out for a year. That's an important promise. Breaking it isn't like you, Mom."
Ugh... It was just a few days early. And he's hitting me with this guilt trip... But yeah, I did cut our time short.
Hmm...
"Sigh. So, what do you want from me?"
"One year. Again. Hang out. That's enough."
"You came all the way to the underworld for that?"
"Yeah. Your stuff's the most important."
What a pain this guy was.
"Fine. I broke the promise first, so I can't argue. Underworld business is mostly wrapped up anyway."
"Yeah. Let's go home, Mom."
I let out a small sigh as Sagarmatha grabbed my arm and tugged, then turned to Ceres.
"So yeah, you're in charge of Hades cleanup. Just show the other two how it works—that's plenty. Call me through it if something comes up."
"Ah, y-yeah. Safe travels..."
Ceres just saw me off without much else, probably overwhelmed by Sagarmatha's presence. Made sense. To a dragon-descended Ceres, Sagarmatha—one of the ancestral dragons—was like some ancient elder. Technically, he was ancestor to gem-scaled dragons, not her black dragon line... but with Erebos gone and dragons dwindling, hierarchy mattered a ton.
Leaving dazed Ceres behind, I got dragged off by Sagarmatha's hand.
Nidavellir. The dwarves' grand underground city, nestled beneath the massive mountain range encircling the sacred peak of Sagarmatha. No non-dwarf got in without a proper invitation.
I was strolling its streets. Hard to believe it was underground—the place glowed like daylight, lit by lamps embedded with glowing mana stones. A sight no ordinary human would ever see, dead or alive.
Ah, but no time to gawk. I checked the signs around me and headed to my destination: Southeast District, 75th Road, Building 11. 75-11. This it?
I straightened up in front of the sizable mansion, grabbed the iron knocker on the door, and rapped hard.
Thud! Thud!
The metal rang out loudly. After a moment, a voice came from inside.
"Who is it?"
"Is this the home of Brass Mirror?"
"A human? Why's a human looking for the master?"
The voice sounded wary. Fair enough. Brass Mirror—that dwarf mocked as "fake gold" by those who despised the name—was knee-deep in shady dealings. Though he'd amassed a fortune doing it.
"Tell him an archaeologist is here."
"Archaeologist?"
"Yeah. That'll do."
I patted the paper tucked in my bosom. No need to show it yet. I'd had to flash it to enter Nidavellir, but proof of a favor owed to Brass Mirror wasn't something to whip out lightly. To stubborn dwarves—especially rich ones—it was worth a fortune in silver.
A short wait later, the heavy door creaked open.
"Come in. The master awaits."
"Right."
I stepped into the massive mansion. Past corridors lined with ornate statues and artwork, beyond a statue of a dwarf planting a huge hammer into the ground. Hm. That hammer... the one I'd found for him. Earthshatter. Using a relic weapon as a prop for a statue. Well, it was a treasured heirloom made by his ancestors. Can't just swing that around carelessly. Suited it for display.
I passed through a door a tad small for humans and entered the room. And there...
"Oho! Long time no see, archaeologist! Still scrawny as ever!!"
"Long time, Brass Mirror."
The old dwarf with his golden beard welcomed me. If I could borrow his power... could I find clues on Baal? No idea. But if I could, it'd be great.