Sisyphus...
The Story of Thanatos - (3)
As soon as Ares met the eyes of the awakened Thanatos, he rushed to the underworld...
He immediately reported everything to Hades.
"Hades, Uncle! Do you know what the god Thanatos is doing right now..."
"...?"
Ares, who had expected a fierce battle with the powerful monster that had defeated Thanatos, sulked like a child who had lost a toy.
Upon grasping the situation, the gods of the underworld were outraged.
"What?! So this whole situation is because of..."
"Who is this Sisyphus human?"
"Damn it! So Thanatos was sleeping?!"
"Ares, are you perhaps lying..."
"I swear by the River Styx that everything I said is the truth!!!"
Thus, some of the gods of the underworld attacked Thanatos, who was late in bringing Sisyphus to the underworld.
To be precise, they waited at the entrance of the underworld and bound him with ropes.
"Ugh! Hypnos, why are you doing this! Styx, you too!"
"Do you even know how hard we worked while you were sleeping on the job?!"
"I heard you were snoring loudly!"
So, Thanatos was bound and dragged like a criminal under the strict watch of the two gods.
Of course, Sisyphus, in the face of this unprecedented situation, was dazed and walked over on his own.
"No... uh... ah...?"
For a brief moment, the only one welcoming the slacking Thanatos was none other than...
"Ugh... I had a nice rest for a while... but now I must row again..."
The ferryman of the River Acheron, Charon.
Thus, Thanatos and Sisyphus were brought before me, Hades.
Thanatos was bound with ropes due to the wrath of the gods, while Sisyphus knelt in a daze, looking lost.
"Is it really possible to be treated like this just for sleeping a few days? I only wanted to sleep for one day!"
Thanatos shouted proudly beside the seemingly dazed Sisyphus.
My head ached like Zeus had swallowed Metis.
"Harvesting souls must have been quite... exhausting for you, Thanatos..."
"Indeed, Hades, you understand my plight well! I truly only wanted a very brief..."
At that moment, the other gods lined up beside me immediately reacted.
First, Hypnos, who had been going around the world putting the living to sleep against their will.
"What?! Just a brief moment? Where do you get off saying such nonsense, Thanatos!"
Morpheus and Keres, who also shared some aspects of the death god, had also been struggling around the world.
"Thanatos! Is that even something you should say right now?!"
"You broke the cycle of the world for several days and you dare to say that!"
Morpheus, who appeared in the dreams of humans day and night, whispering hints to not harm their lives for a while.
"Hades! Thanatos must be in collusion with the god of time, Chronos! Otherwise, how could he say it was just a brief moment...!"
Many other gods and overseers condemned Thanatos's actions.
Sisyphus, already marked as a major criminal by Zeus, was completely ignored.
"These... these insolent fools! You think you can do my job?!"
"What?! I am busy every day sharing sleep with the living!"
"Do you know how hard it is for me to send my clones to make them dream every day?!"
"Do you think we don't work hard?!"
"Surely you don't think you're the only one working in the underworld?!"
Indeed.
All the gods of the underworld were always working tirelessly.
Even Hades, the highest authority, only found time to relax occasionally.
Of course, the busiest ones were Thanatos and Charon, but that didn't mean the other gods were idly playing around.
Just looking at Morpheus or Hypnos, they had to control their clones tirelessly every night.
In such a situation, Thanatos had neglected his duties for several days...
The various gods belonging to the underworld had to handle dozens of times the workload they usually did.
I waved my hand to silence everyone and then spoke.
I had to decide on the punishment for Thanatos, who had neglected his duties by using Sisyphus.
"First... we need to decide on a punishment..."
"Tartarus!"
Hypnos shouted, veins bulging in his neck.
He was the god who shared sleep, but he himself had not slept a wink for several days.
"Sending him straight to Tartarus wouldn't be a bad idea."
"Well, breaking the cycle is a serious crime. Hades will give a fair judgment..."
Keres and Moros, whose dark shadows loomed under their eyes, spoke.
They had been living in the mortal realm for days, hastily harvesting souls.
"I think just sending him to Tartarus is too lenient, so how about the punishment of rolling a stone up a mountain repeatedly?"
"Morpheus! Well said!"
"Indeed, as the god of dreams, your imagination is quite rich!"
"Tartarus! To Tartarus!"
Morpheus, with his eyes wide open, rambled on madly.
Perhaps unlike Thanatos, he seemed to harbor strong resentment for not being able to rest.
"These crazy fools! If you were in my position, would you think I would not rest?!"
"Rather than you, who just took the opportunity to sleep..."
"Thanatos! Stop making excuses and accept your punishment!"
"To Tartarus with Thanatos!"
Seeing the underworld descend into chaos, I rubbed my head and quietly murmured.
I infused my voice with divine power so that all the gods could hear...
"So if we assume we send Thanatos to Tartarus, who will harvest souls from now on?"
Ah, it became quiet.
The gods fell silent as if they hadn't thought that far.
Everyone looked at each other.
"Death is surely a deep sleep, right? Hypnos will..."
"Keres, your domain of destructive death seems to..."
"Um. We should think about that gradually..."
I knew it would turn out this way.
Everyone seemed reluctant to have their workload increase any further.
Now I could finally voice my thoughts.
"Thanatos cannot be sent to Tartarus... Any god with grievances should understand that they will have to harvest souls instead."
"Cough. Cough. You're lucky, Thanatos."
"It can't be helped..."
"Ah... how can the one who committed a crime not receive proper punishment? The goddess of justice, Dike, would lament..."
"Hmph...!"
"Instead, the god Thanatos must also serve a few days of hard labor. Furthermore, he will not receive human offerings for a while..."
Considering the heavy workload of the busiest Thanatos in the underworld and the dignity of the ancient god...
I thought I could add various punishments.
Thanatos's face crumpled as he untied the ropes binding him and stood up.
It seemed he realized there would be no more vacations for him.
"And I have not been able to pay much attention to you all, so I will request periodic support from Olympus..."
"But Hades, what about that human?"
The goddess of the Styx, who had been quietly frowning, pointed at Sisyphus.
I looked at Sisyphus, the human whom Zeus had sent Thanatos to capture.
His forehead was drenched in sweat, and he looked half out of his mind.
"Let’s see, your crime is..."
"Hah..."
"Don't be so scared; there is a petition in your favor."
I reached out and picked up the parchment that the goddess of the rainbow, Iris, had delivered.
Not long ago, the river god Asopus had sent a petition to be delivered to the underworld.
I handed this parchment to Minos, one of the three judges of the underworld standing beside me.
He slowly examined the contents and began to read.
"Then I will read. This is a petition to the lord of the underworld upon hearing that the human Sisyphus has been captured..."
The document sent by the river god contained details about what had happened to his daughter Aegina at the hands of Zeus and gratitude towards Sisyphus.
It also expressed concern that Sisyphus might be retaliated against by Zeus.
"...therefore, I humbly request some leniency and mercy for him."
As Minos finished reading the petition, the faces of the nearby gods turned ashen.
"Ha... is it Zeus again...?"
"Did the river god suffer this time...?"
"It could be a lie, so how about we ask the goddess Mnemosyne to confirm?"
I nodded, and soon the goddess of memory read Sisyphus's memories and conveyed them to me.
"Then I will render my judgment."
Sisyphus looked up at me with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"The crime of ambushing the god of death, Thanatos, and thereby breaking the cycle of the world is undoubtedly a grave sin."
"But..."
"However, the reason Thanatos came for you before your appointed lifespan was not your fault."
To be precise, it was because Zeus, angry that his assault was discovered, sent Thanatos.
Still, Sisyphus was not entirely blameless.
From what I gathered, he intended to evoke sympathy by claiming his wife had not held a funeral for him.
But even this was something the goddess of memory, Mnemosyne, had brushed aside and informed me.
It is never easy for a mortal to deceive a god.
"Using a funeral to evoke my sympathy is indeed wrong... but among the people of Corinth in the mortal realm, he seems to have a good reputation, enough to be called a wise king. And the real crime is..."
"... Cough cough!"
I shot a sidelong glance at the shameless god.
Thanatos, who had just returned from a long rest in the mortal realm, coughed and avoided my gaze when our eyes met.
"... Originally, the god Thanatos had no intention of using you, and if you had been dragged to the underworld, Minos here would have declared you innocent."
"Then...!"
Minos, who was beside me, wore an awkward smile and said, "If... it involves Zeus, then perhaps... ahem..."
But I ignored him for now.
"Therefore, you will live your life fully in the mortal realm, and when you come to the underworld again, I will judge your crimes anew."
".....! Thank you..! Thank you, Pluto!"
Sisyphus, with a face that showed he was alive, bowed down and repeatedly expressed his gratitude.
Though he would forget all his memories of the underworld.
Nodding to the goddess of forgetfulness, Lethe, she approached Sisyphus.
With her came the power of oblivion.
Sisyphus would forget all the memories he had experienced in the underworld.
"Uh...? Uh..."
"Oh, by the way, I will also hold you accountable for the crime of imprisoning the fallen Thanatos."
As I finished speaking, I watched Sisyphus's eyes cloud over as he began to lose his memories.
It was true that Thanatos had used Sisyphus, but he would have to face separate punishment for binding him in the palace's dungeon.
If he were to come to the underworld after his appointed lifespan...
He might work alongside Phaethon in the outskirts of the underworld for dozens, if not hundreds, of years.
"Morpheus, send a messenger to Olympus and ask Iris to come to the underworld."
"Yes? Why would we need the goddess of the rainbow Iris...?"
What? There’s a major criminal, so send Thanatos to capture him?
"I will go directly to protest to Zeus."
What nonsense is this?