King of Underworld

Chapter 26 The Story of Pluto’s Temple – (3)

In the end, I made a reasonable compromise.

“The one you see beside me is the goddess Lethe, who governs the River of Forgetfulness, and the one who rules the River Styx is…”

“So, has Pluto married both of them?”

“The Styx you swear by, that Styx goddess…”

Beside my statue in the temple, the statues of Lethe and Styx were placed.

And the two goddesses were looking at them with satisfaction.

“Hmm. This is right. How could you leave me out when we even have a child together? Next time, make sure to include me…”

“Styx… A sword isn’t a child. By that logic, Hades’ child with Hephaestus would be the bident…”

“Sss! Don’t mention that weapon that tormented Kynee!”

How did it come to this?

Was it Lethe’s fault for boasting about having her statue placed next to mine?

Or was it Styx’s fault for begging me not to leave her out after hearing about it?

And by the way, Kynee is mine…

But it didn’t end there.

“Is that Morpheus?”

“Gasp! Why is there a statue of Thanatos?”

“So, do all these gods live in the underworld?”

Yes, eventually, other gods also asked for their statues to be placed.

Thanatos approached suspiciously, clearing his throat…

Or Hypnos, who hinted that sometimes humans didn’t recognize him…

“Isn’t this too much…?”

“Th-Those are the goddesses of vengeance, aren’t they…?!”

Yes, I also made statues of the goddesses of vengeance.

Judging by the humans’ intense reactions, they seemed quite pleased.

Though it was Hades’ temple, humans’ attention was stolen by the many statues surrounding them.

Eventually, they came to their senses and started kneeling in prayer.

“Um… Let’s just pray.”

“If I pray to the goddess of forgetfulness, will painful memories disappear?”

To think that so many believers would gather.

I should have used this method to exert influence in the mortal world sooner.

So, a busy day passed with worshippers coming and going from the temple all day long…

“Lord Hades, as expected, there was no mention of the Gigantes today.”

At the end of the day, Parona, the high priestess of my temple, offered her prayers.

It was a bit pitiful to see the dark circles forming under her eyes due to the rapidly increasing workload.

She had to examine those who wished to become priests of Pluto,

Direct the personnel sent by the royal family due to my oracle, offer sacrifices, and so on.

She had been given many tasks.

After all, since mine was the only priestess in my temple, it was no wonder Parona was burdened.

After finishing her prayers, Parona collapsed onto her bed.

“Phew… It was another tiring day…”

Still, as a priestess who offered direct devotion to me, I could intervene in the mortal world through her body.

I quietly infused her with power to relieve her fatigue.

Vitality was transferred through the invisible thread of faith that connected Parona and me.

“Ah… My fatigue… Thank you, Lord Hades.”

Work hard again tomorrow and bring me information about the Gigantes.

* * *

The next day, Hermes visited the underworld.

“The messenger of all, Hermes, has arrived, Uncle!”

Could it be that he was going to inform me about what Olympus was doing regarding the Gigantes?

The cheerful Hermes reached into his robe and pulled out a scroll.

“Most of the gods of Olympus held a meeting. My father was serious the entire time.”

He said the gods had been summoned due to the news that a Gigantes who could pose a significant threat to us had been discovered.

There was speculation that another war might break out, and there was also discussion about giving humans oracles to find the Gigantes.

Poseidon, who rules the seas, ordered his subordinates to search the coasts and rivers,

And hundreds of eagles under Zeus’ command searched the world thoroughly.

Other gods, like Pan, the god of nature, also scoured the earth, but…

“No traces of that Gigantes were found anywhere. I wandered until my sandals wore out, too…”

Wait, sandals can wear out? Hephaestus’s inventions are truly unpredictable.

I glanced briefly at the winged sandals Hermes was still wearing.

Hermes continued, saying that according to Athena, the goddess of wisdom, the Gigantes that Cadmus killed likely operated alone…

But it was possible that Gaia might have sent it to test the gods’ defenses or reactions.

“Poseidon and Demeter could overturn the earth to force them out… But human lives would be at risk…”

The reason why the fight against the Gigantes was disadvantageous for us.

“That’s the problem. We have things to protect.”

“You’re right. The situation is different from the Titanomachy that happened before you were born.”

The war with the Titans was simply an all-out war between opposing deities.

But now, we have humans and other beings to protect.

One might think that if humans died in the fight, they could just be recreated… But,

The gods, who had already grown fond of this world, could not easily make such a decision.

Many gods, like in the case of Cadmus and Harmonia, have shared love with humans.

Even Zeus has fathered numerous children with mortal women…

Leaving that aside, it wasn’t easy to turn a blind eye to those who always prayed to and worshiped them.

Punishing a single village or nation was one thing, but wiping out the entire earth was another.

“I have given orders to the nymphs and lesser gods to contact us immediately if they find any Gigantes.”

Apollo has also issued oracles at the Delphi temple to inform humans of the danger posed by the monsters.

It seems the other gods have also taken their measures.

“Then I’ll be on my way! I still need to visit Demeter!”

“Until next time.”

* * *

“Lord Hades, please bestow your grace upon the new priests.”

After sending Hermes off, I heard Parona calling for me from the mortal world.

A few people dressed in black knelt before her inside the temple.

It seems the high priestess, Parona, had selected some followers to assist her.

As they all bowed their heads and clasped their hands, I felt their sincere faith being conveyed.

Good, it seems she chose well.

If they were merely pretending to pray or falsely professing their faith, I would have noticed immediately.

“Thank you…”

“Oh… This is…!”

“Is this a sign that we have been recognized as priests?”

The black divine energy wrapped around their bodies, sharing fragments of power.

It would help alleviate minor ailments and allow Parona or myself to sense when a priest died.

I also granted them a portion of the wealth blessing, so they wouldn’t be greatly outmatched by other gods’ priests.

Especially against the followers of Dionysos, who were spreading throughout Thebes.

As I gathered followers in Thebes, where Dionysos had already established his presence, it felt like I was encroaching on my nephew’s playground…

Dionysos, the demigod born between Semele, the daughter of Theban hero Cadmus and Harmonia, and Zeus, eventually ascended to become one of the twelve Olympian gods.

At that time, all the thrones of the twelve gods were already occupied, but…

Hestia, the most virtuous goddess of Olympus, yielded her golden throne to Dionysos.

Though his vengeful acts against those who slighted him during his path to godhood were problematic,

It was impossible to demand leniency from the god of wine and madness, so there was no other choice.

I recall the memory of when Pentheus, the king of Thebes, who had been killed for offending my nephew, arrived in the underworld.

“I was truly wronged! Lord Hades! I was merely doing what I had to for the people of Thebes…”

“…Well. Let’s talk after you drink some more water from the River Lethe…”

“Aaaah! Mother!! Lord Dionysos!!!”

Even after crossing the River Lethe, Pentheus, who had been killed by his own mother driven mad, still retained his memories, his grudge so intense.

It was heartbreaking to see him screaming as if the madness of Dionysos had taken hold of him.

Even Thanatos, who brought him to the underworld, had a bitter expression.

“Take it easy… Take it easy. Ordinary humans can’t endure your madness.”

“…I’ll be careful since Uncle Hades says so.”

Although I said this, I honestly doubted whether the god of madness could restrain his madness.

Even as I spoke to him, I thought it would be difficult.

* * *

“Hades..!”

“What is it?”

As I continued to observe the mortal world, the goddess Lethe called out to me.

The emotions on her fair face were bewilderment and concern.

“I think I made a mistake when I blessed the followers…”

Many humans had come to believe that Lethe and Sty

x were my wives since their statues had been placed beside mine.

So, when praying to me, many also offered prayers to the statues of the goddesses beside mine…

“Some of them prayed to me to erase their unpleasant memories… So I erased a bit, but…”

I quickly looked at the mortal world.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, Father… Don’t you remember me? It’s me!”

“Move aside! Stop bothering someone you don’t know!”

“You went to pray this morning, so why are you…”

A white-haired old man, who seemed on the verge of receiving a visit from Thanatos, was having a dispute with a middle-aged man.

But they looked like father and son, and the old man seemed unable to recognize him.

“He prayed for me to erase his unpleasant memories… So I just erased a bit…”

“How much of that old man’s memory did you erase?”

“I made a small mistake… From the most recent ones… About 30 years…”

Good heavens… Goddess, what have you done erasing 30 years of his memory?

It seems there was a significant mistake in the process of blessing the followers.

“We need to quickly ask the goddess Mnemosyne to restore his memory.”

“Ugh… He was so desperate in his plea, so I just barely touched it…”

In my previous life, this was called… forgetfulness? Dementia, wasn’t it?

Feeling guilty for accidentally causing harm to the mortals, I grabbed Lethe’s cheeks and stretched them out.

Her soft, goddess-like skin stretched along with my touch.

“Mmph! What are you doing…?!”

“Be mindful when bestowing blessings upon mortals. Especially since humans, no matter how long they live, can only live up to about 100 years. For beings like us, 30 years might be a short time, but for humans, 30 years of forgetfulness is a true catastrophe…”

I found myself nagging unintentionally, just like Styx.

“Okay…”

I didn’t pinch her ears, so why are they turning red?