Episode 5. Aide Hydra

July 5, 2024

Persephone hurriedly untied the ribbon of the pouch.

‘Wait, these aren’t silver coins, are they?’

Looking closely, the coins inside the pouch didn’t have the even sheen characteristic of silver. Their colors, sizes, and even shapes varied.

They were plant seeds.

Unable to even think about reaching the riverbank, Persephone stared intently into the pouch. It was understandable; she had absolutely no idea the ferryman of the pitch-black Underworld would carry something like this around.

“How does he have these…”

Just as Persephone slipped her hand inside the pouch, Charon, who had been wiping away tears—even though no tears could fall, he was brushing his cheek with the back of his skeletal hand—jerked his head up.

He approached Persephone like a dog that had found food.

Smack, smack, smack!

Then, he began to strike the bewildered Persephone’s shoulder quite hard with his staff, hitting her multiple times.

It was a gesture clearly filled with malice.

“Hey, wait! The boat is sinking!”

Panicking, Persephone flailed as she dodged Charon’s attacks.

“Alright, I’ll give the pouch back! I said I’ll give it back!”

Persephone raised both hands as if pleading with him to stop, but…

“Patooey!”

Instead, she had no choice but to take the splash of water Charon kicked up right in the face.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Ah! I’m telling you, I’m not supposed to be here!”

As Persephone suddenly yelled, a yellow light erupted from her body.

Startled, Charon backed away.

In an instant, her vision was filled with golden waves. It was a warm and bright color utterly unseen in the Underworld. Everyone faced with the sudden light source squeezed their eyes shut.

A wind blowing from an unknown source brushed against Charon’s cloak, then immediately fluttered toward Persephone’s wet hem.

After enough time passed to take three or four deep breaths.

“…?”

At a strange sensation filling her arms, Persephone opened her eyes again.

A bundle of plump grains and fresh flower stems was nestled heavily against her chest. It undoubtedly came from Charon’s seed pouch.

Just as the King of the Underworld wielded darkness itself as power, Persephone also possessed a divine force.

Although she was close to being an unnamed god, still referred to by her childhood name ‘Kore,’ her mother was the Goddess of the Earth. Naturally, the inherent potential of her divine power was bound to be exceptional.

Persephone had just witnessed the manifestation of that very potential.

She scanned the bouquet with wide, surprised eyes.

‘Did I make these grow?’

A vitality incomparable to anything in the Underworld overflowed from the fresh leaves, stems, and petals.

‘I’ve never made them grow this big before.’

Feeling a bit dazed, Persephone slowly raised her gaze.

Two hollow eye sockets were pierced into Charon’s skull. The ghostly blue fire blooming inside those holes flickered on and off frantically.

It was exactly like a crow’s eyes sparkling at the sight of a shiny jewel…

Watching his reaction, Persephone slowly curled up the corners of her mouth.

So, this Charon admired things from the mortal realm. That explained why he was carrying a seed pouch instead of coins. It seemed he was using the silver coins he collected to gather things like seeds from the surface.

If things had turned out like this, couldn’t she try to persuade Charon by giving him a bribe—no, a gift?

Quickly shifting her stance, Persephone splashed her way toward Charon’s ferry. Grabbing the hull of the boat, she leaned her face forward.

“Um, sorry about that.”

Drooping her shoulders, she sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

Faced with her sudden meekness, Charon hesitated. He seemed to realize she had some kind of ulterior motive.

However, Persephone smiled even more brightly.

“I have a situation where I absolutely have to get out of here, so I acted out of haste.”

“…!”

Charon clicked his jawbone threateningly.

Persephone held her hands out in front of her chest to placate him.

“No, wait, I probably am the woman your boss is looking for, but…”

Charon, who was about to draw his staff, tilted his skull.

“I’m a living god, so I shouldn’t be here.” Persephone quickly added, “So, how about this? Could you maybe contact your boss after I go up to the surface?”

Charon’s body leaned slightly toward Persephone. His gesture held wariness rather than outright hostility.

Observing her, his eye sockets repeatedly turned pitch-black and then brightened again. It was an action akin to a human blinking.

Meanwhile, a tiny messenger bird fluttered up behind Charon’s back.

“…Uh-uh!”

Clicking her tongue, Persephone leaped out of the river and onto the ferry. Hovering briefly in the air, she snatched the messenger bird right out of the sky.

“You shouldn’t try to trick me!”

Falling back into the river, she lifted the wings of the fluttering bird.

Sure enough, dotted, glowing characters were written on the underside of its wing. The message was, naturally, something along the lines of, ‘The woman you are looking for is at the River Acheron.’

This ferryman had tried to quietly notify the King of the Underworld of her whereabouts while keeping her occupied.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

Giggling, Persephone infused the messenger bird with the same divine power she had emitted earlier.

As the daughter of the earth goddess, she had a natural affinity with all flora and fauna. A messenger bird was closer to an inanimate object, but it wasn’t completely devoid of biological traits. Once imbued with her power, it quickly became docile and started following Persephone.

Astonished, Charon slumped down as if in utter despair.

Persephone gathered the bouquet she had tucked under her arm. Then, applying strength, she hoisted herself fully onto the ferry.

“Don’t be like that. I’ll give you this.”

Charon’s skull snapped toward Persephone.

“In exchange… if I give you this, just let me go.”

Witnessing the fresh bouquet, his jawbone clattered, repeatedly opening and closing. The ghost fire inside his eye sockets flickered continuously.

As if tempting him, Persephone waved the flowers right in front of Charon’s eyes.

“You like this kind of stuff, don’t you.”

“…”

“No?”

“…Is it all done.”

Sighing heavily, Hades massaged his furrowed brow.

Finding a person was much harder than expected. Since this was definitely not something he could handle alone, he had sent out a notice to the administrators of all the rivers flowing through the Underworld: Tell me if you find ‘Kore’.

‘Should I return to the palace now and give orders to my aides as well?’

Letting out a deep sigh, Hades trudged into the corridor of the royal palace.

The King who had returned to the Underworld had a mountain of work to do. Not only did he have to review the verdicts passed by the judges who weighed the sins of the dead, but he also had to design new infrastructure for the ever-increasing residents of the realm and oversee its overall security.

Stepping into his office, Hades swallowed a groan at the sight of the paperwork piled high on his desk. He had only been away for a moment, yet the documents waiting to be reviewed seemed to have multiplied like rabbits…

‘Kore should be arriving here soon, too.’

But with this much work, it seemed he wouldn’t even have a chance to meet the victim and discuss appropriate compensation.

‘It can’t be helped.’

Shaking his head, Hades called out to his nearby aide.

“Hydra.”

There was no answer.

“Hydra!”

When he called out a little louder, only then did the aide’s jade-colored hair jolt as if startled. She jumped up from her seat.

“Ah, Lord Hades!”

The aide smiled broadly, flashing sharp fangs.

“You’re back early!”

Her murky yellow eyes, complete with vertical slit pupils, filled with sheer joy upon spotting the boss who could now suffer alongside her in this pile of work.

Hydra. The monster that used to coil itself in a murky swamp. The terrifying water snake whose hundred heads were severed by the hero of salvation, Hercules.

Hades had given the originally fierce, grudge-filled monster a human form and a new life. In return, Hydra was repaying his grace by faithfully serving as his aide.

Aside from the fact that she occasionally had trouble hearing and had to be addressed loudly and clearly, she was highly competent.

Hades gestured for her to come closer.

“I have a task for you.”

“Ah, yes. Please tell me.”

Hydra picked up a nearby reed pen and a sheet of papyrus, stepping up to his desk.

The task he was about to give her was to prepare a place for Kore, the victim of the traffic accident, to stay briefly when she arrived in the Underworld.

‘First off, how should I sugarcoat and explain what I’ve done?’

In the divine realm, Hades’s public image was that of the cold-blooded and ruthless King of the Underworld. If the news that he had run over Demeter’s daughter with a chariot was added to that reputation, he feared he would be treated like absolute scum with zero moral compass.

After hesitating for a moment, Hades finally spoke.

“Originally, our Underworld is free to enter, but leaving is a different story entirely. However, there was a guest from the mortal realm who recently stopped by the Underworld.”

“That’s true. But what about it?”

Rolling her eyes, Hydra nodded. The recent guest from the mortal realm who visited the Underworld was a clear reference to Hercules, who had barged in and dragged Cerberus up to the surface.

Hades continued carefully.

“Another guest like that might… be coming to the Underworld in the near future. I want you to prepare a room for such a guest.”

“Is there another bastard like Hercules coming by any chance?”

Hydra, who absolutely loathed Hercules, recoiled in disgust and bared her fangs.

“Wouldn’t a punk like him be an intruder rather than a guest? Why would we need to make a room? I can just kill him with poison.”

“No, calm down. It won’t be someone like Hercules. Since they didn’t seem to be that strong.”

At that moment, Hydra’s eyes went perfectly round.

“Could it be someone you know?”

“…”

Hades’s lips clamped shut. Pushing his guilt aside, he opened his mouth again.

“…Why do you ask?”

“Well, you said they didn’t ‘seem’ to be strong… so I wondered if you had seen them in person.”

“…”

“But wait, did Lord Hades ever have a friend? You didn’t, right?”

Having casually delivered a critical hit to Hades’s pride, Hydra narrowed her eyes.

“…Could it be…”

Pursing her lips, she suddenly snapped her fingers.

“Ah, you have a fiancé you’ve promised to marry!”

Thrilled by the prospect of her boss’s romance, the aide clapped her hands together in excitement.

“You’re trying to build a newlyweds’ home, aren’t you!”