The King of the Underworld is Tired

Thus, with Demeter, I crossed the entrance to the Underworld on a chariot.

"I’ve only heard about it, but that must be the famous iron vessel of Charon..."

"Demeter?! What brings you to the Underworld?"

We met Charon as he paddled, carrying souls on the Acheron River...

Krr. Grrrng?!

"A monster descended from Typhon? Was this always in the Underworld?"

"I infused my power into it to make it a divine beast, so it’s safe."

We also saw Cerberus, guarding the entrance to the Underworld...

"Pick up that piece of parchment floating by over there!"

"Damn it. Souls have increased lately because of that Gigantes' attack."

"We're running out of living space..."

Seeing the exhausted administrators of the Underworld, Demeter sighed deeply and spoke to me.

Her face was etched with deep concern.

"How could Kore live in such a place...?"

Together with Demeter, we went to where Persephone resided.

Surprisingly, my niece was quite calm.

Unlike the mischievous demeanor she often showed me, she was quietly weaving.

The moment Demeter spotted her, she rushed over and embraced her.

"Kore! How lonely must you have been in this cold, dark Underworld. Now that I'm here, we can go back..."

"I'm not lonely at all, Mother. Please, stop treating me like a child..."

"How can you stay in this dark Underworld when you're so young..."

"I've eaten food here, and I want to live with Uncle Hades in the Underworld."

Persephone pouted and gently pushed Demeter away.

Though Persephone is quite a powerful deity, Demeter’s overprotectiveness seemed a bit much.

"Haah... That's because of Eros's arrow. What you're feeling isn't normal, it's..."

"I swear on the River Styx, nothing has changed in me, and I wanted to marry Lord Hades even before I was struck!"

"W-what?!"

"Sigh..."

Demeter turned to look at me sharply.

An oath on the River Styx... Even Eros's arrows aren't powerful enough to create memories that never existed.

The golden arrow's power... It makes you vividly remember the exact moment you fell in love.

Therefore... what she says is true.

If someone already in love gets struck by a golden arrow...

Maybe that love grows even stronger, or perhaps it rekindles love that had begun to fade.

So... Persephone didn't fall in love because of Eros's arrow,

but her momentary affection turned into an unchanging love... forever!

Demeter looked at Persephone with a heartbroken expression.

Persephone quietly hugged her mother.

"K-Kore... Why of all beings did you have to fall for the Lord of the Underworld..."

"Well... I was in a situation where a Gigantes had grabbed my throat, and he saved me."

"Grabbed by the throat by a Gigantes? Are you alright now? That must’ve been during the attack on Mount Etna...!"

"Oh come on, Mom, I told you Uncle Hades saved me just in time."

Demeter checked Persephone for injuries, infusing her with divine power, looking at her with worry.

Anyway, what's necessary needs to be sorted out.

"Arrows, love... For now, you've eaten food of the Underworld, so by law, you must stay here..."

"Hades...!"

"But Persephone, aren't you the goddess of spring and seeds? If you stay here forever, the balance of the world will be affected."

The laws of the Underworld were originally made to maintain the world's balance.

If the goddess of the seasons were entirely confined to the Underworld, the living world would be in danger.

"Uncle, do you hate me? I swear it wasn’t because of the golden arrow..."

"Swearing on the River Styx makes that true. Since you’ve eaten Underworld food, you should live here... but do you realize how important your role is in the living world?"

"Ugh... But still..."

"Think about what I said recently. You are the goddess of one of the four seasons and of seeds."

She lowered her gaze, her voice trailing off.

"...Fine. I’ll go up to the living world from time to time. Alright?"

What a relief. But instead of going down to the Underworld sometimes, you’ll go up to the living world?

Does that mean she plans to spend most of her time in the Underworld?

"I’ll only go to the living world when I’m needed as the goddess of spring."

"Huu... Better Hades than some of the other gods who covet beauty, at least..."

Thankfully, it seems spring won’t disappear from the living world.

* * *

To convey the results of the Olympus meeting and also discuss Persephone's situation,

I gathered all the gods of the Underworld in the conference room.

Although many had already seen Persephone, formal introductions were still necessary.

"...So Persephone will stay here periodically."

"Hehe. Let me reintroduce myself. I’m Persephone, and I'm going to marry Lord Hades!"

Niece...

"We're already swamped with work, but a new goddess is always welcome."

"Tsk tsk... Such a young one bound to the Underworld. I guess love really makes people blind..."

"M-marriage?! Who decided on that?!"

"Putting aside Persephone for now, let me inform you of the outcome of the Olympus meeting."

I informed everyone of the conclusion that Chiron would be tasked with educating heroes by connecting the outer edges of the living world and Underworld.

To do that, I had brought the Omphalos stone as well...

"It fits with the prophecy, and it seems like a reasonable solution."

"We need to thoroughly manage the hero candidates' secrecy and impose many constraints..."

"But who will handle this? Does anyone have time?"

"Let’s put a barrier around the canyon where the heroes will train, so they can’t wander around the Underworld."

Monsters and Gigantes that have died will also come to the Underworld, so there will be plenty of training partners for the heroes.

Battling endlessly against immortal monsters would surely help produce powerful heroes.

"But... can humans withstand the aura of the Underworld?"

This is where the problem arose.

Well-trained heroes might be able to, but how could aspiring heroes withstand the power of the Underworld?

The Underworld is a place for those who have died and abandoned their mortal bodies.

Even the outskirts of the Underworld are filled with an aura of death that isn’t suitable for the living. 

“Even if the living stay for a while, isn’t the underworld a place where one’s flesh and bones grow gaunt?”

“Maybe for a half-god or a completed hero, but for a pure human, the underworld…”

“If we use our power, it will only grow stronger… we need a god of the living realm.”

“Uncle Hades, I think I can solve this problem!”

Just when they were considering a way to separate part of the underworld, Persephone spoke.

With the power of the goddess who governs spring and seeds?

“Are you sure you can do it? The underworld is under my domain, so it will consume a lot of energy…”

“If it’s just a small canyon, I’ll be fine!”

“Are you sure, Persephone? Even if you are the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, you’re not among the Twelve Olympians, are you?”

“…It would be too much for a young goddess like you.”

“Neutralizing another god’s domain, and that of Hades, at that…”

“I can do it! I can’t just play around here in the underworld!”

If she, who ate the food of the underworld and has to stay here periodically, takes on the task, it would be perfect.

But she would have to continually emit her power in the canyon, which would be very exhausting.

Even if they tried to find another god from Olympus…

There’s no god who would willingly stay long in the underworld.

If they were one of the Twelve, they have their duties to fulfill, which makes it even more unlikely.

“…For now, come with me to the outskirts.”

* * *

We came to the outskirts of the underworld, where Persephone and the heroes would train.

Waiting for me at the enormous canyon that stretched across the outskirts of the underworld was Chiron.

“Lord Hades. I’ve heard the story.”

“Indeed. As you know, I hope you will help nurture the heroes here.”

“Hmm… I never imagined I would train students in the underworld…”

“Is it impossible, then?”

“There are even better aspects, actually. If we use the monsters that have died and come here, they’ll make great teaching materials.”

The monsters that died and came to the underworld received the blessing of oblivion and became as tame as lambs.

Some became divine beasts similar to Cerberus, guarding various parts of the underworld…

“Python, whom Apollo killed, is also living here peacefully.”

“You mean the giant serpent who was originally the owner of Delphi.”

The great serpent Python.

One of the monsters born from Gaia, the earth goddess, and Poseidon, it was the original owner of Delphi.

Since it had prophetic abilities, it foresaw that Apollo would grow up to kill it and take its place, and it tried to kill the young Apollo, but failed.

Later, when Apollo grew into a god, he shot thousands of arrows and killed Python.

Python's wife, Pythia, surrendered easily, so Apollo did not kill her but made her the oracle of the Temple of Delphi.

Of course, the reason Apollo could kill Python, the child of Gaia and Poseidon, was...

"Poseidon, Gaia is now our enemy. Including the monsters that are her children..."

"Hmm… destined to die, though..."

"The god of prophecy must be on our side."

It was possible because of the tacit agreement among the gods who opposed Gaia.

"There's Python, and also the Gigntes that died, and the Sphinx that Oedipus defeated, and the sea monster killed by Perseus..."

"I’m worried the heroes will find it too hard. Haha!"

"Um... Uncle Hades. Shall we start now?"

It was time to neutralize the power of the underworld.

After telling Persephone to begin, I stepped back with Chiron.

Rumble...

First, I used my power to separate the canyon as much as possible.

Then I scattered the energy to reduce Persephone’s burden as much as possible...

When I nodded at her, a bright light erupted from the body of the goddess of spring and seeds.

Whoosh—

“Hiss…”

At the same time, I felt a gentle and warm power wrapping around the canyon.

And also saw the sweat dripping from Persephone’s neck and the ichor flowing from her nose…

“Ugh… Ugh.”

The place to nurture the heroes was completely covered by the divine power of spring.

There was a sense of awkwardness, like something blocking the energy of the canyon that I had previously felt as my domain, which made it certain.

However, Persephone, having spent all her strength, collapsed on the spot.

Thud.

I quickly approached her and supported her back.

As I wiped the sweat off Persephone’s forehead, she looked at me and smiled faintly.

“Are you okay? It seems like you overexerted yourself.”

“Haah… I’m a little tired… but it’s okay! If I rest, I’ll recover soon…”

Swoosh—

The goddess of spring, who had overexerted herself, fell asleep in my arms.

Even in her completely defenseless state, she showed a warm and lively atmosphere. I looked at her for a moment.

“…Lord Hades.”

“The fact that Persephone was struck by the golden arrow… was fortunate for us gods.”

Chiron, knowing the reason why Persephone remained in the underworld, approached quietly.

The reason she exhausted herself to the point of falling asleep was likely because she had fallen for me.

She had sworn by the River Styx, so it wasn’t because of the golden arrow that she had fallen for me.

If not for the golden arrow, I wouldn’t have thought of bringing her to the underworld.

I would have thought it was just a fleeting emotion from a young goddess and ignored it.

“…If the goddess of spring didn’t stay in the underworld periodically, nurturing the heroes would’ve been difficult.”

Though I tried to avoid facing it…

Not all those who came to the underworld were victims of the gods’ love affairs or jealousies.

There were also those who loved each other so deeply that they committed suicide together, or who happily accepted death just to stay with each other for even a single moment.

“Love… What is it, truly? It’s quite difficult.”

“…Even Lady Aphrodite would have a hard time defining that emotion precisely.”

I gently cradled the sleeping Persephone in my arms, holding her back and the backs of her knees, making sure not to wake her.