Perseus' Story - (1)
Lately, Menthe has changed a lot.
Sometimes, when wandering around the underworld, she passes by with a vacant look in her eyes, mumbling to herself...
"Ugh... I want to go back... No, still..."
At times, she is found crouching on the outskirts of the underworld.
When I ask her why she is like this...
"Hades... I... I can't live like this... Please! Just give me a reward!"
She lifts her head slightly, tears welling in her eyes, pleading with me.
...
The problem is not just her pleading, but that she suddenly tries to cling to me.
After avoiding her for a while, I once softened and just accepted her, and that led to this situation.
While she was in my arms, crying about how hard her work was...
"Menthe? Have you checked the flame intensity of the Pyriphlegethon River that I entrusted to you?!"
"I received a complaint about the mint scent from Charon... and there's no time to be flirting with Hades here..."
"Yikes?! I-I’m sorry!"
Suddenly, the fearsome goddesses of Styx and Lethe appeared, taking her away again.
Since then, Menthe, who had looked like a mortal coming to the underworld, has been flinching and no longer trying to cling to me.
Yes, it was as if she had received some kind of training or reprimand...
As such incidents kept happening, I called upon Hypnos, the god of sleep, to ask.
"Are the goddesses bothering Menthe? She seems overwhelmed with work..."
"...? As far as I know, the goddess of Styx does not even do half of her usual work."
I wondered if that was really the case, so one day I secretly followed Menthe.
From morning till evening, she was diligently running around the underworld...
'Isn't this more like she's being given some convenience?'
Menthe's workload was far less than the average workload of the gods residing in the underworld.
Other gods even mobilized their clones and worked several times busier, while she, not knowing how to create clones, was just moving around with her main body.
After that, I thought she would quickly adapt to such a workload... and lost interest.
Even I, who was following Menthe, was moving my clones to make judgments.
As I watched Menthe adapting to the underworld day by day with a satisfied gaze...
One day, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, visited the underworld.
"Hello, uncle. Cough. Cough."
"...? Why are you coughing?"
Our gods do not fall ill.
Except for the realm of powers that even Apollo, the god of medicine, cannot heal, most diseases cannot invade the robust bodies of the gods.
But the goddess of wisdom from Olympus, coughing?
Athena replied with an awkward smile to my question.
"Ah... it's because of the strong mint scent from the entrance of the underworld to the Acheron River..."
"Is it that bad?"
"... Even Charon was pinching his nose while moving a huge ferry... no, a steel ship."
Mint, the symbol of Hades, is used to alleviate the scent of the dead.
Originally, mint was used during the funerals of the Thebans, where Hades' temple is located, so it was not a burden.
Thanatos, who harvests the souls of the dead, and Charon, who ferries the dead across the Acheron River, initially liked the refreshing scent.
But if mint has spread to the mortal realm to the extent that Menthe is revered as a goddess...
How many of the dead would carry the scent of mint every day?
"Oh no... Mint has spread too much in the mortal realm lately."
"Yes, when souls cross the Acheron River, the scent is diluted in the river, but until then..."
"We need to think of a way to reduce the mint that has spread in the mortal realm."
While it is good that my symbol, mint, has spread widely, if there are gods suffering from that scent...
I must think of some other solution.
"Um... uncle. The reason I came to the underworld is..."
"Athena, do you have a good idea? A way to naturally reduce the mint used in funerals among humans..."
"Do you want to reduce it naturally, not by prohibiting it through an oracle?"
Of course, it should be that way.
To limit the amount of mint used in funerals with an oracle after having given out mint...
That would be too much interference with humans.
"Then what if we spread mint through food? That way, humans won't waste precious mint as much in funerals..."
"...! That's not a bad idea. Now that I think about it..."
That's right.
Last time, Menthe created mint...
I had recognized her as the creator of mint and had intended to spread mint dishes worldwide.
I had forgotten about it due to being busy, but I should have used that method earlier.
Instead of trying to eliminate the strong mint scent by eating it...
If we make it so that people add mint to tea or food, the amount used in funerals would naturally decrease, right?
In this era, food ingredients are precious, so the amount of mint leaves discarded with corpses would decrease, and the souls would no longer emit a terrible mint scent.
"... Uncle?"
Honestly, I am fine, but since Charon of the Acheron River is suffering, as the king of the underworld, I cannot just stand by.
Thus, the reason I am making mint into food is all thanks to Charon... or rather, because of him.
Just as I was about to call Menthe to assign her this task, Athena called out to me.
"The reason I am here is that I would like to borrow your Quine."
You want to borrow my Quine made by one of the three Cyclopes, Arges?
That is like borrowing Zeus' thunderbolt or Poseidon's trident.
I straightened my posture and looked into Athena's eyes.
"The goddess of wisdom must have a reason for saying such a thing. Explain."
"Yes. It is to lend it to a human named Perseus, who is destined to become a hero."
"... I have heard of him. Are you talking about that poor human who is fated to kill his grandfather?"
The king of Argos, Acrisius, who is a human in the mortal realm, had no sons, only a daughter.
So he went to the Oracle of Delphi to hear a prophecy about his offspring, but...
"You will not only be unable to have a son, but you will also die by the hands of your daughter's child."
"What. What did you say?!"
Hearing such a terrifying prophecy, King Acrisius imprisoned his daughter, Danaë, in a large tower, but Zeus transformed into golden rain and entered the tower to have relations with her.
Thus, Danaë and the child she bore from Zeus, Perseus, were cast into the sea by King Acrisius.
To be precise, they were placed together in a wooden box and set adrift in the sea, where they were rescued by a kind fisherman and taken to the island of Seriphos.
However...
"Perseus. It is the king's command. Bring me the head of Medusa."
"Y-You want me to bring the head of Medusa?"
"If you refuse, you will be executed for defying the king's order. What will you do?"
"Damn... I understand."
The king of Seriphos, Polydectes, was enamored with Danaë's beauty and sought to kill her son, Perseus, who was a hindrance to him.
He sent him to the monster Medusa, one of the three Gorgon sisters, who could turn anyone to stone with her snake hair!
"You knew about that human, uncle."
"Even though I am in the underworld, I cannot be unaware of a human destined to become a hero."
With the threat of the giants not yet over,
I had been keeping track of humans destined to become heroes.
Especially if he is a son of Zeus, like Perseus.
A predetermined fate.
An absolute law that even the immortal gods cannot dare to change.
Changing a fate discovered through prophecies is something even Zeus, the king of the gods, cannot do.
Thus, I knew that Perseus was fated to kill his grandfather, but I could not dare to change that.
"If he is a son of Zeus, then he is my nephew, so I cannot let him die."
"Then will you lend me your Quine?"
"Well..."
However, since Perseus is indeed a human destined to become a hero,
And he might play a significant role in the war against the giants,
I could lend him my Quine as an investment for the future.
If that is fate.
But...
"It is true that Perseus is the one who will slay Medusa and become a hero. However..."
The reason I do not immediately accept Athena's words is simple.
"Isn't it you who turned Medusa, a victim of Poseidon's assault, into a monster? Originally, she was a priestess serving you."
Medusa was a priestess in Athena's temple, but she was raped by Poseidon, who coveted her beauty.
And like Artemis, Athena is a virgin goddess.
Having relations in her temple was a tremendous sacrilege, and unable to directly confront Poseidon, Athena instead turned Medusa into a monster.
"Your temperament is no less than Artemis's. While it may have been difficult to protest against Poseidon... you are taking out your anger on a human hero destined to kill her."
"Uncle, that is..."
"You cannot say a word to Poseidon, who raped Medusa, but you want to borrow my Quine to give it to a human hero destined to kill her?"
It is true that Perseus is fated to kill Medusa and also to kill his grandfather.
But originally, it was Athena who turned Medusa, a victim of rape, into a monster.
While I am thinking of lending my Quine to ensure that Perseus does not meet his end,
She will have to persuade me a bit more.
"Use your renowned wisdom in Olympus to come up with an excuse."