King of Underworld

Chapter 148: The Story of Asclepius – (2)

“Very well done. Next time, I’ll see you again in Olympus.”

“…?!”

*Squeeeak…*

The goddess Artemis gently stroked the fur of the resurrected boar before leaving with her divine beast.

Although this was a favorable outcome of avoiding divine punishment by carrying out the goddess’s command, Asclepius couldn’t fully feel relieved.

Unlike simply breathing life into those whose breath had stopped, the boar he treated this time was undeniably dead…

Regardless of the potential for achieving divine status as the god of medicine, wouldn’t this clearly provoke the wrath of Pluto?

“Uuughhh…!”

Asclepius was the possessor of the greatest medical knowledge in Greece.

His mind, which had absorbed all of Chiron’s medical teachings in just a few years, was rapidly spinning to devise a way to survive.

Even though it was by the order of the goddess Artemis, wouldn’t the punishment for wrongdoing fall upon him?

No matter how merciful Pluto was, bringing the dead back to life without permission was a grave matter.

Those entangled with gods rarely met a good end. I was no exception… I had to think of a solution somehow.

The only faint hope was that the part of divine territory I had dared to trespass into was the underworld.

Pluto was a god of mercy and justice… The wronged and the guilty alike were judged fairly after death…!

Wait a minute, did I resurrect that boar because I wanted to?

This was all due to Artemis’s *”overwhelming request.”*

The goddess of the moon and the hunt was one of the Twelve Olympians. Few dared to defy her.

However, if I explained this situation and sought Pluto’s protection…!

A glimmer of hope returned to Asclepius’s eyes.

‘Yes. I should head to Thebes right now and prostrate myself at Pluto’s temple to plead for forgiveness. If I answer everything honestly, surely the god of mercy and justice will forgive me…’

The medical hero immediately bought a horse nearby and headed for Thebes.

He had to reach Pluto’s temple quickly and explain everything before divine punishment was delivered.

—

This was the underworld.

A terrifying and truly gloomy place, just as all humans imagined…

“Who shoved a male soul into a female body again?!”

“Last time, someone reincarnated with half their memories intact. Why do these mistakes keep happening?”

“It’s probably the gods lounging above the clouds, isn’t it? We don’t make such errors…”

“Wait a moment, this needs to be reported directly to Hades.”

“Tsk, tsk. The Olympians laze about all the time and can’t handle a single matter quickly.”

The eerie gods were tirelessly at work, day and night.

Some were rifling through countless documents in one hand while managing souls with their words, even using their divine powers to relieve fatigue…

Observing their daily routine, I, too, was receiving reports.

“Hades, now that the hero of prophecy—no, the god of strength and struggle, Heracles—has ascended, the underworld training grounds should be closed.”

“Mm. Convey to Persephone that there’s no longer a need to neutralize the underworld’s aura and that she’s done well all this time.”

“I’ll return Chiron and the monsters to their original places. What should we do about the remaining heroes there?”

“Seal their lips with an oath on the River Styx and send them to the surface. They’ll be the last cohort. Inform Olympus of this and proclaim it to all divine beings of the underworld.”

I then closed my eyes and concentrated, shifting my focus to the mortal realm.

Among the many of my worshippers on earth, there were a few who shone the brightest and seemed most familiar.

As the days passed, it seemed my following grew stronger… It wasn’t uncommon for such individuals to emerge.

Was that devoted faith from Theseus? There was someone in Argos too, and why near the sea? That was Poseidon’s territory.

Ah, there. Finally, I found him.

Through the mind of the elderly high priest at my temple in Thebes, I spoke.

“Are you my current high priest?”

“This… this voice…! Could it be, Lord Hades?!”

As expected, I could sense him starting and immediately prostrating himself.

“From now on, the Hero Training Grounds in Thebes will be closed. This has been agreed upon by all the gods, so convey this message.”

“Yes, I will deliver your words!”

“Of course, if anyone with the qualities of a hero resides nearby, no divine light will descend upon them.”

“I understand!”

As I prepared to sever the connection and resume my duties, the high priest hastily added.

“Um, wait. Please wait a moment, Lord Hades!”

“…What is it?”

“This morning, someone named Asclepius, known as the greatest physician in Greece, has been pleading for forgiveness, claiming he resurrected the dead. If you would kindly consider his case…”

At the same time as his plea, a lower god in the underworld also reported to me.

“Lord Hades, this is a report from Lord Minos in the Court of Judgment. He claims that a soul of a monster that should’ve arrived here hasn’t, and he suspects that Lord Thanatos has fled again.”

What now?

—

I turned my focus to the lower god who had just delivered the report.

“Put that matter aside for now. Inform Lord Thanatos and Lady Mnemosyne that I will investigate.”

“Yes? Yes… Understood.”

“Pause all other reports. It seems a mortal life has been resurrected.”

I heard murmurs—some blaming Lord Thanatos for fleeing again, others accusing Charon of negligence.

In any case, I closed my eyes again to hear the high priest’s plea.

“A mortal named Asclepius is prostrate, confessing to resurrecting the goddess Artemis’s divine beast.”

“Asclepius?”

“Yes! He’s said to be Greece’s greatest physician, and I’ve heard that some ignorant fools already worship him as the god of medicine!”

I had indeed heard of him before. He was in my memory… Wasn’t he one of the Argonauts?

I’d have to verify this directly by reading his memories.

“Let me borrow your body for a moment to converse with him. Bring this Asclepius into the temple.”

“…Yes, yes! It is a great honor!”

*Swoooosh—*

Descending into the body of the high priest, I stared at the mortal named Asclepius.

Nearby, in the body of another priestess, the goddess Mnemosyne had descended as well.

Asclepius noticed the glow in the high priest’s eyes and immediately bowed his head to the ground.

It seemed that, as Greece’s greatest physician, he could discern my presence just by looking.

“This humble sinner greets the lord of the underworld!”

“Whether you are a sinner is for me to decide. Explain your situation first.”

“Yes! I…”

He began to pour out his story.

How he had once breathed life into humans who had drowned and lost consciousness, leading to rumors of his ability to resurrect the dead.

How the goddess Artemis had suddenly appeared, demanding he revive the Calydonian Boar, and how he had reluctantly treated it, only for it to truly come back to life.

And how, fearing he had defied my authority, he had immediately come to this place to plead for forgiveness.

Hmm. It didn’t seem like he was lying, but confirmation was necessary.

When I glanced at Lady Mnemosyne, who had descended into the priestess, she nodded.

Well… So he really resurrected the dead?

To bring a dead being back to life was a feat akin to storming the underworld, like Orpheus had done.

Upon examining him more closely, I could sense a divine aspect in him that was closer to that of a god than a mortal.

If he had truly resurrected a completely dead being, he had achieved an extraordinary feat approaching divinity.

“…It’s true. Resurrecting the dead without my permission… You have indeed committed a grave offense.”

“……”

“Ordinarily, such a serious crime would warrant immediate execution, but considering that you have come to plead for forgiveness and that the act was due to Artemis’s coercion rather than deliberate intent, I will spare your life.”

“Thank… Thank you, Lord Pluto!”

“But remember this. If you resurrect the dead even once more, you will be dragged to Tartarus.”

Asclepius, who had been repeatedly bowing in gratitude, hesitantly raised his head at my words.

What shone in the eyes of the heroic physician was not fear, but curiosity.

“Um… Lord Pluto…!”

“…?”

“I have treated those who drowned and lost consciousness before. Wasn’t that also a resurrection of the dead?”

All heroes are like this. Somewhat arrogant, honing their craft to approach divinity.

Their fearless determination is a hallmark of all heroes.

And naturally, reviving the dead wasn’t what he had done. My faint memories from a previous life told me so.

That act was… CPR… resuscitation… or something like that. Anyway, it was a medical practice to save those on the verge of death.

“Pulling someone back from

the brink of death does not count as reviving the dead.”

“Ah…! So I hadn’t truly resurrected anyone…!”

“But refrain from even that act now. Your medical skills have surpassed Apollo’s, and there’s a possibility you could bring back the dead.”

“Understood! Then, may I write down what I’ve learned in books?”

“…That doesn’t matter.”

Ending the connection, I returned my consciousness to the underworld and turned my gaze to Thanatos.

The god of death, with his dark wings, was looking around busily.

“Thanatos. Why didn’t you inform me of a resurrected soul? I only learned of it from another divine report.”

“…Such a thing happened? I wasn’t aware.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I truly didn’t know. Do you have proof?”

I stared at the god of death, feigning ignorance in front of me.

Hah… This wasn’t some lower divine being.

The god of death, who knew when, where, and how every soul in the world perished, didn’t know?

Utter nonsense… Might as well admit he’d been subdued by a mortal.

“Sigh… Anyway, that soul is said to be Artemis’s divine beast. Go retrieve it.”

“Tsk. Does it matter if one boar’s soul doesn’t come to the underworld…?”

I could hear the grumbling voice of Thanatos as he slouched out of the audience chamber.

I hadn’t mentioned which soul it was… Yet he referred to it as the boar.

…As expected.

He knew all along but avoided retrieving it because it was too much trouble.

*Sigh.*