"...Ha. Hades?"
nte anxiously called out to upon seeing my stiffened face, but I couldn’t focus on her.
Sacred Band? Homosexuality is true love? What on earth are they talking about?
It couldn't possibly be sothing Dionysus would dare to do, so has this culture really erged naturally?
Could it be Zeus's influence, having brought the Trojan boy, Ganyde, up to Olympus?
Or perhaps...
"Wait, I need to ask you sothing."
"Oh, are you a foreigner by any chance?"
I grabbed the arm of a boy who was running past. He seed accustod to strangers approaching him, not surprised by a man who appeared to be an outsider talking to him.
It was a good sign that many people were flocking to my city of Thebes, showing its prosperity. But first, I needed to figure out this strange situation.
"Yes, I’ve been away from Thebes for a while. What is this Sacred Band?"
"Sacred Band? That’s our elite force here in Thebes! They weren’t ford that long ago."
"So what I’m asking is... why is this group made up of n like that?"
I tried not to look at the hundreds of n still openly displaying affection toward each other as I questioned the boy.
"Oh, that’s because the wise philosophers all said so!"
"Philosophers?"
"Yes! After months of debating about love in the square, they concluded that [the love between n is pure, as it excludes the purpose of reproduction.] Pretty clever, right?"
Wait... what?
"Was this based on any divine oracle or other reason?"
The boy looked at with a puzzled expression.
"Huh? But wouldn’t the gods like it too?"
"Like this?!"
"Well, since our city of Thebes discovered part of the truth earlier than others, wouldn’t the gods be pleased with that? Even the theologians and priests say that the gods approve of relationships between n..."
So this is Zeus’s influence, after all...
Now that I think of it, these theologians have been around for a while too.
They aren’t priests, but people who write about stories related to the gods and their genealogies.
And these people also concluded that?
"nte... let’s go sowhere quiet."
"Hades..."
I sighed as I watched the boy run off joyfully, rewarded with a few drachmas for answering my questions.
Is this Dionysus's madness manifesting among humans? I should have paid more attention to Thebes.
I've been quite busy lately, neglecting Thebes, and now it's turned into this.
This is exactly the kind of situation where the power of a god cos in handy.
Once this date with nte is over, I’ll appear in the dreams of the king or the high priest of Thebes and deliver an oracle.
If I order the imdiate disbanding of the Sacred Band or declare that all those practicing homosexuality will be thrown into Tartarus, chaos will ensue...
But even a vague statent like Pluto does not favor sa-sex love should be enough to stop them.
I stopped my thoughts and gently held nte’s right hand, who had been quietly watching .
"Ah...!"
"Sorry, nte. I got lost in thought for a mont, neglecting you."
"No, it’s fine. As long as you weren’t thinking about other goddesses, I don’t mind!"
"It looks like there’s a festival happening over there, let’s head that way."
* * *
Hand in hand with nte, I headed in one direction.
It was a relief not to see any more of those strange Sacred Band people.
As I suspected, there seed to be a festival going on in Thebes today, with people walking around with cheerful smiles.
But what caught my eye were the mint leaves in everyone’s hair...
"Certainly, the festival has drawn quite the crowd today... I suppose I’ll take a mint leaf too."
"Yes, here you go."
A man, having bought a mint leaf from a street vendor, tucked it behind his ear.
It seed that participating in the festival required wearing a mint leaf in your hair.
So could today’s festival in Thebes be for nte?
"For three days only! Mint oil at a discount! Great for bathing, or even applying directly to your body!"
"Is it more effective than olive oil?"
"This is the mint perfu that supposedly reveals Elysium right before your eyes! And right now..."
"Indeed, a mint festival in a city that venerates Pluto."
"It’s fascinating that such a fearful god of the underworld is worshipped in this city."
"Shh, don’t say that here. The people of Thebes are mostly worshippers of Pluto, rember?"
"Even the priests at the far-off Temple of Apollo in Lydia acknowledge the benefits of mint."
"The god of dicine, Phoebus himself, has a favorable view of mint leaves."
"They clear the mind and reduce heat in the body. They also have other..."
So many people were talking about the symbol I had chosen and even holding a festival for it.
They were all praising and thanking the grace of the god.
No matter how many tis I see it, such scenes always warm my heart and give a sense of fulfillnt.
nte, who had been following , was also smiling pleasantly.
"Hehe... Hades, the humans really love mint!"
"That’s all thanks to you for creating it. It was certainly a great enough feat to make you a goddess."
nte looked at and bead brightly.
Is this refreshing scent coming from her, or from the humans nearby who are enjoying the mint festival?
"Um... there’s sothing I’ve been wondering about."
"What is it?"
"It’s about when we first t. You ntioned making mint your symbol back then."
"...?"
"The lost mory... Can you tell what you ant by that? Why would you choose sothing as simple as a plant I made to symbolize it?"
"Yes, as a reward for bringing back a forgotten mory of mine, I will grant you one wish."
nte looked at with sparkling eyes.
But... even if I were to tell her now that there was a ti, long ago, when I was a mortal, she wouldn't believe .
The reincarnation of mortals is sothing handled by various gods of the underworld.
nte wouldn't understand the foods made with mint in a world where science had developed, or the fact that, back then, its distinct scent was sothing I would sll every day after a al to keep my mouth fresh.
So my answer is...
"The mint was a plant I was already familiar with."
"Huh? But before I accidentally created it, it didn’t exist in the world..."
"Long ago, in a ti you are unaware of... it was a plant that always existed by my side, and its na was Mint."
nte's expression grew distant, as if she were imagining sothing.
I didn't know what she was picturing, but I continued speaking.
"When that refreshing, distinctive scent reached my nose, I realized that the plant you created was the sa one I knew."
"Ah..."
"That's why I chose mint as my symbol."
The mint leaves stuck in the hair of the noisy humans around us...
To other gods, it may be nothing more than a peculiar plant with a unique scent, but to , it was a link to old mories.
A precious plant that reminded that I was once mortal, not an immortal.
That plant is mint. And the one who created it for is nte...
I brought my hand to her cheek as she gazed silently at .
She didn’t pull away; instead, she leaned into , and the refreshing scent of her hair drifted toward .
"I’m always grateful to you, nte."
"What do you an... I'm just a re nymph, and the grace you’ve shown , Lord Hades, is..."
"No, you've brought back mories to that nothing else could replace."
Strength, status, fa... Since my reincarnation as a powerful god, none of those things have eluded .
It’s been so long, I barely rember, but I’m sure in my past life, I worked hard to obtain such things.
So now, the one thing that slips through my grasp...
No, the one thing I clearly rember yet escapes like flowing water are the mories of my past life.
"...Sotis, I find myself thinking dangerous thoughts. At tis, I look down on mortals, much like the gods I once despised."
"Even you, Lord Hades, the one mortals call the god of rcy?!"
I am not just any god, and even Zeus, the king of gods, cannot easily interfere with .
Most gods are younger than I or hold lower positions.
And as the ruler of the underworld, I preside over what mortals fear the most—death.
To say I never feel any arrogance would be a lie.
"As an imperfect god... there are tis when mortals' reverence and fear of make feel as if I deserve it, and I fall into arrogance."
"Lord Hades..."
"As the great ruler of the underworld, there have been tis I thought I should punish the insolence of humans and assert my dignity."
"But Lord Hades, you are praised as the most just and rciful of all gods."
"That’s the result of effort, not sothing inherent in my nature."
I, who mortals call the god of rcy...
Even when I punished Tantalus recently, I had to suppress darker thoughts of giving him a more brutal punishnt.
I also had to hold back from wanting to execute him without giving him a chance to explain, driven by the fury of him cooking and serving his son to the gods.
Though most of that rage stemd from the fact that he dared to deceive and insult the gods, there was a lingering sense of resentnt at the idea that a re human would try such a thing.
"As the ruler of the underworld, who must be the most just of all, I am, in reality, a faltering god. Has your image of been shattered a little, nte?"
"No, not at all... The Lord Hades I know is..."
I smiled at nte, whose eyes were beginning to glisten with tears.
I reached out to wipe the tears from the corner of her eyes and gently rested my hand on the back of her neck.
Seeing the goddess’s fair skin up close stirred my heart. It seems I have the sa feelings as her.
"It’s you who holds back at tis like these."
"...?"
"Yes, whenever I recall the scent of mint, I reflect on my actions."
As ti passes, my view of mortals shifts, eroded by the flow of the ages. But what holds back is the mory of being human.
In my past life, it was a scent I encountered daily and didn’t find particularly special...
But now, as the god of the underworld,
That mint is a precious reminder that I, too, was once mortal.
"And I’m always grateful to you, for creating it."
"And... And... what else...?"
"...I think I feel the sa way you do."
nte’s face, which had been gazing longingly at , flushed bright red.
As I looked at her face, which seed ready to burst if touched, I gently pulled her closer by the back of her neck.
Like iron drawn to a magnet, the goddess’s face approached mine without any resistance.
Amid the overwhelming, fresh scent of mint... I kissed her.
"Ah..."
This sweet and refreshing sensation...
It's exactly like peppermint candy.
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