As soon as Ares t eyes with the awakened Thanatos, he imdiately rushed to the Underworld and reported everything to Hades.
"Uncle Hades! You won't believe what Thanatos has been doing..."
"...?"
Ares, who had hoped to witness a fierce battle between Thanatos and a powerful monster, was now sulking like a child whose toy had been taken away.
Upon realizing the full extent of the situation, the gods of the Underworld were furious.
"What? So this whole situation was because..."
"Who the hell is this Sisyphus human?"
"Dammit! You’re telling Thanatos was sleeping all this ti?!"
"Ares, are you sure you're not lying...?"
"I swear by the River Styx that everything I, Ares, said is true!!!"
Thus, so of the gods in the Underworld ambushed Thanatos as he was bringing Sisyphus back, tying him up at the entrance to the Underworld.
"Urgh! Hypnos, what are you doing! And you too, Styx!"
"Do you have any idea how much we’ve suffered while you were neglecting your duties and sleeping?"
"Ares even said you were snoring!"
Thanatos was bound and dragged away like a criminal under the strict watch of the two gods.
Of course, Sisyphus, utterly dazed by this unprecedented situation, walked along in a stupor.
"No... Uh... Ah...?"
The only one welcoming Thanatos, who had neglected his duties for a while, was the ferryman of the Acheron River, Charon.
"Ugh... I was just enjoying a short rest, and now I have to row again..."
And so, Thanatos and Sisyphus were dragged before , Hades.
Thanatos, bound tightly with ropes by the enraged gods, stood there defiantly, while Sisyphus, dazed, knelt with a blank expression.
"What? Just because I took a nap for a few days, you're doing this to ? I only ant to sleep for a day!"
Thanatos shouted boldly next to the completely out-of-it Sisyphus.
My head aches, as if I'm Zeus swallowing tis.
"You must have found harvesting souls rather exhausting, Thanatos..."
"Exactly! Hades, you understand my hardships well! I really only ant to take a brief nap..."
At that, the other gods standing beside imdiately exploded in anger.
First, Hypnos, who had been traveling around the world forcibly putting to sleep those who couldn’t die.
"What?! A brief nap, you say? Where do you get off saying such nonsense, Thanatos!"
Then Moros and Keres, who had also been suffering as they traveled the world because their domains overlapped with death.
"Thanatos! Do you even realize what you’re saying?"
"You disrupted the cycle of the world for several days, and now you say that!"
Morpeus, who had been appearing in human dreams night after night to suggest that lives not be taken for a while, added,
"Lord Hades! Thanatos must have conspired with the god of ti, Cronos! Otherwise, how could he think that ti passed so quickly...!"
Many other gods and officials condemned Thanatos’s actions as well.
By now, no one was paying any attention to Sisyphus, who had already been condemned as a major criminal by Zeus.
"You... you vile wretches! If you all had to do my job, you wouldn't think this was such a big deal!"
"What?! I’m busy every day distributing sleep to the living!"
"I’m constantly dispatching my clones to make people dream; do you know how exhausting that is?"
"Do you think we don't work hard?"
"Don't tell you think you're the only one working in the Underworld?!"
That’s right.
All the gods in the Underworld are constantly working to death.
Even I, the supre ruler, only occasionally get so free ti.
Of course, Thanatos and Charon are the busiest,
But that doesn’t an the other gods are lounging around.
Take Morpheus and Hypnos, for example. As soon as night falls, they have to work tirelessly, controlling their clones.
In such a situation, Thanatos’s neglect of his duties for several days ant that the other gods in the Underworld had to handle dozens of tis their usual workload.
* * *
I waved my hand to quiet everyone down and then spoke.
Since we had to decide on a punishnt for Thanatos, who had neglected his duties by using Sisyphus.
"First... we need to decide on a punishnt..."
"Tartarus!"
Hypnos shouted, his voice strained from lack of sleep.
He is the god who gives out sleep, yet he hadn’t slept a wink for several days.
"Sending him straight to Tartarus wouldn’t be a bad idea."
"Indeed, the cri of disrupting the cycle is serious. Hades, you should pass a fair judgnt..."
Moros and Keres, their eyes shadowed with exhaustion, added. They had been forced to live practically among the living for days while harvesting souls.
"Since sending him to Tartarus alone might be too light a punishnt, how about making him continuously push a boulder up a hill?"
"Morpheus! That’s a great idea!"
"As expected of the god of dreams, your imagination is very creative!"
"Tartarus! To Tartarus!"
Morpheus, with wild eyes, spouted his crazy suggestion.
It seed he harbored a strong resentnt against Thanatos for not having taken a break.
"You lunatics! Do you think you wouldn’t rest if you were in my position?"
"I’d rather not take a nap at the first chance I got..."
"Thanatos! Stop making excuses and accept your punishnt!"
"To Tartarus with Thanatos!"
I massaged my temples as it seed the Underworld was turning into a madhouse, and then I quietly muttered,
I infused my voice with divine power so that all the gods could hear,
"So, if we send Thanatos to Tartarus, who will harvest the souls?"
Ah, it’s quiet now.
The gods fell silent as they realized they hadn’t thought that far ahead.
Everyone began to glance at each other nervously.
"Well, isn’t death just like a deep sleep? Hypnos, you could..."
"Keres, maybe your domain over disastrous death might be more suitable..."
"Um. We should think this through more..."
Just as I expected.
Everyone seed to be avoiding any additional work.
Now I can finally speak my mind.
“Thanatos cannot be sent to Tartarus… If a deity has a complaint, they’ll take it as a sign that he’s shirking his duty to harvest souls instead.”
“Ahem. Well, lucky you, Thanatos.”
“No other choice, I suppose…”
“Hmph… For soone who has committed a wrong to go unpunished, the goddess of justice, Dike, would weep…”
“Hmm…!”
“Instead, the god Thanatos will be sentenced to a few extra days of hard labor. In addition, he will not receive any offerings from humans for a while…”
Considering Thanatos is the busiest in the underworld, along with the old god’s dignity that has existed since the beginning of ti…
So random additional punishnts should suffice.
Thanatos’s face scrunched up as he untied the rope binding him and slowly stood up.
It seed he had realized there would be no more vacations for him.
“And since there’s sothing I haven’t been able to take care of for you all, I will regularly request support from Olympus…”
“But Hades, what are you going to do about that human?”
The goddess Styx, who had been frowning silently, pointed at Sisyphus.
* * *
I looked at Sisyphus, the human Zeus had sent Thanatos to capture.
His forehead was drenched in sweat, and he looked half out of his mind.
“Let’s see, your cris are…”
“Ah…”
“Don’t be so afraid; there’s a petition on your behalf.”
I reached out and picked up the parchnt scroll handed to by Iris, the goddess of the rainbow.
A while ago, the river god Asopus had asked to deliver this petition to the underworld.
I handed the parchnt scroll to Minos, one of the three judges of the underworld who was standing beside .
He slowly examined it and began to read aloud.
“Then I shall read it. To the lord of the underworld, upon hearing that the human Sisyphus has been captured…”
The content of the docunt the river god sent .
It detailed how his daughter, Aegina, had been wronged by Zeus and expressed his gratitude to Sisyphus.
It also contained worries about Sisyphus being retaliated against by Zeus.
“…Therefore, I humbly plead for so leniency and rcy towards him.”
As Minos finished reading the petition, the faces of the nearby gods turned pale.
“Sigh… Zeus, again…?”
“This ti, was the river god the one who suffered…?”
“What if it’s a lie? Shouldn’t we ask the goddess Mnemosyne to verify it?”
I nodded,
and soon the goddess of mory read Sisyphus’s mories and relayed them to .
“Then I will render judgnt.”
Sisyphus looked up at with a face showing a glimr of hope.
“Your cri of ambushing Thanatos, the god of death, and disrupting the cycle of the world is indeed a grave offense.”
But…
“However, the reason Thanatos ca for you earlier than your destined ti was not your fault.”
To be precise, it was because Zeus, angered after his assault was discovered, sent Thanatos.
Still, it’s not like Sisyphus is entirely blaless.
From what I found out, he planned to stir up sympathy by claiming that his wife didn’t hold a funeral.
But the goddess of mory, Mnemosyne, examined his thoughts and inford .
It’s never easy for a human to deceive a god.
“Trying to invoke my sympathy by using the funeral was indeed wrong, but… you are well regarded among the people of Corinth, and are even called a virtuous ruler. Moreover, the real grave offense is…”
“…Ahem, ahem!”
I glanced sideways at the god who was shalessly holding his head up high.
When Thanatos, who had recently returned from a restful few days in the mortal realm, t my gaze, he coughed awkwardly and looked away.
“…Originally, Thanatos had no intention of using you, and if you had been dragged to the underworld, Minos here would have ruled you innocent.”
“If… If that’s true!”
Minos, standing beside , offered an awkward smile and added, “Well… when it cos to matters involving Lord Zeus, it’s a bit… ahem…”
But I ignored him for now.
“Therefore, I will judge your sins when you return to the underworld after living out your natural lifespan.”
“…! Thank… Thank you! Lord Pluto!”
Sisyphus, his face showing relief, prostrated himself and repeatedly thanked .
Though he’ll forget everything he experienced in the underworld.
I nodded to Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness, and she approached Sisyphus from behind.
Her power of oblivion began to manifest.
Sisyphus would forget all the mories of what happened in the underworld.
“Huh…? Huh…”
“Oh, by the way, when you return, I will also hold you accountable for imprisoning Thanatos, who collapsed on his own.”
I finished speaking as I watched Sisyphus’s eyes beco clouded and his mories fade.
It’s true that Thanatos had deliberately tried to use Sisyphus, but he must still be punished for keeping him tied up in the palace basent.
When Sisyphus arrives in the underworld after his lifespan is over…
He might spend tens or hundreds of years working in the outer reaches of the underworld with Phaethon.
“Morpheus, send a ssenger to Olympus to summon Iris to the underworld.”
“Yes? Why call for Iris, the goddess of the rainbow…”
What? Is there a serious criminal and you want to send Thanatos?
“I’m going to personally complain to Zeus.”
What nonsense.
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