Chapter 104: Minos (3)
With the recognition of his brothers and the authority of the sea god backing him, Minos formally inherited the throne from Europa and began to prosper like never before.
Poseidon’s endorsement caused even the surrounding islands to acknowledge Crete’s supremacy, allowing the island kingdom to expand its territory without a single war.
Accordingly, Minos’s royal power grew stronger day by day.
Along with that power, Minos poured tremendous effort into implanting law and principle into Cretan society—an achievement that, as the Moirae had said, truly began to sprout the fragile seeds of civilization.
“Rhadamanthys, I feel we must put an end to the logic of plunder and raw strength on our Crete.”
“But brother, that’s not something you can just declare and be done with. If you push too hastily, civil war could break out across the land. The law of the jungle is far too deeply ingrained in the Cretan people. Moreover, the reason your royal authority is accepted in the first place is that you possess the greatest strength in this kingdom.”
Minos fell into deep thought at his younger brother’s counsel.
Rhadamanthys was blessed with brilliant intellect, flawless logic, and powerful oratory. Because of that, Minos knew his brother was right: if he tried to force law and justice upon Crete too quickly, rebellion was almost certain.
Even Minos himself didn’t want to give up what was his—how much less would others?
Moreover, taking from those who already possessed was always difficult.
Rebellion itself didn’t frighten him. What worried him was the erosion of his authority and support that would follow.
“Then what should I do…?”
After days and nights of brooding, Minos finally came up with a scheme.
‘I’ll spread the rumor that I was personally taught law and justice by Lord Zeus himself. If I build a grand temple to Zeus, a lie of that scale will surely be accepted.’
Having already profited enormously from invoking a god’s name once, Minos again chose the easiest path.
This was his arrogance—and the mistake of a man drunk on his previous successes.
He had become king through Poseidon’s aid and authority, yet now he was borrowing Zeus’s authority as well. He completely forgot that this could be interpreted as declaring Poseidon inferior to Zeus.
To Minos, a few years might have felt like ancient history, but unfortunately, divine time and human time flow very differently.
***
“I must build a grand temple to Lord Zeus.”
“Pardon?”
“What are you saying all of a sudden?”
“Your Majesty, we already have a temple to Lord Poseidon.”
“Crete is an island. Without the favor of the sea god, only death awaits us. Please withdraw the order.”
The ministers naturally opposed Minos’s declaration with fierce intensity.
They were old enough, and had the records and experience of their ancestors to know:
If a temple to Poseidon had never existed, that would be one thing—but now that it did, its authority and honor had to be respected.
Yet Minos, as if he had expected their outrage, spoke to them soothingly.
“Last night, while I slept, Lord Zeus appeared to me in a dream. He said to me, ‘Learn law and justice from me, and establish them upon Crete.’”
At Minos’s utterly ridiculous dream story, the ministers were left speechless, mouths agape, unable to form words.
Even a child could tell it was a hastily fabricated excuse.
Worst of all, this was tantamount to deceiving both Zeus and Poseidon.
No matter how much Zeus favored his son, he would never tell someone already indebted to Poseidon to establish law and justice under his own name.
‘He’s gone mad. The king has truly lost his mind.’
‘How long has it been since he received Lord Poseidon’s grace, and he’s already acting like this…?’
‘We must inform Lady Europa at once.’
‘First, we should seek counsel from Lord Rhadamanthys who remains on the island. We need him to stop the king.’
The elders, priests, and officials who steered the kingdom felt a deep sense of crisis.
If things went wrong, Crete itself could be destroyed.
***
“Lady Europa, no matter that he is your son—we cannot let this stand!”
“Exactly. This will surely bring about the island’s ruin. We must not forget history.”
“Above all, the very fact that Lord Poseidon acknowledged Zeus’s son means we have already received enormous grace.”
Europa listened to the ministers’ pleas with a troubled expression.
It was difficult for her to step forward again now, and she knew all too well that once her son set his mind on something, he never gave up.
More than anything, she wasn’t even certain she should intervene in this matter.
“Please don’t worry too much. That child must have some plan in mind.”
As Europa tried to calm the crowd gathered around her, a sharp voice cut through the air and someone stepped forward.
“Do you truly believe that? Even if Lady Europa was once Lord Zeus’s beloved, isn’t this favoring one side far too much?”
Gasp!
At the words of the priest clad in a sea-blue himation, every person in the hall instantly fell silent.
On this island, there was only one priest with enough authority—and enough universal respect—to speak to Europa like that.
“No matter that you are Poseidon’s priest, isn’t that arrogance? Do you now believe an old woman relegated to the back rooms need not be shown courtesy?”
“Of course not. I merely thought that Lady Europa, still under Lord Zeus’s protection, might have forgotten something. That is all.”
“…”
Between the priest and Europa, who had just traded barbs, the ministers and elders kept their mouths shut as if by prior agreement.
There was nothing to gain by getting involved, and, truth be told, many of them quietly agreed with the priest.
‘I’ve been wanting to say that myself.’
‘Right? Does she think she can live here completely untouched by consequences?’
‘Poseidon’s priests have always been blunt—it’s nothing new.’
‘If they weren’t Poseidon’s priests, they’d have died a hundred times over by now.’
‘Still, when they’re on our side, it feels pretty damn good.’
Even Europa could no longer keep up the staring contest given the mood in the room.
In the past she might have used Zeus’s authority to punish the priest severely, but the man standing before her was Poseidon’s priest.
She was neither native to the island nor as long-lived as the other elders, yet she had read more records about the sea gods than anyone and knew their priests’ temperament perfectly.
Above all, she knew exactly what would happen if she killed a priest of Poseidon while living under the sea gods’ dominion.
Even as Zeus’s former lover, there were limits to what she could do here.
“Sigh… Very well. I will say only this: being Poseidon’s priest does not give one license to be rude.”
“Is that so? Then I apologize. But please remember that the first rudeness came from Lady Europa.”
“What did you say?!”
“Nothing can be placed above Lord Poseidon. Not even Lord Zeus of the heavens, Lord Hades of the underworld, nor the Protogenoi themselves.”
Europa felt her anger drain away, replaced by sheer exhaustion at this lunatic priest.
What could one possibly say to a madman who dragged even the Primordials into the argument?
She should have remembered the cardinal rule: never argue with the insane…
***
Unlike Europa’s fury, Poseidon’s priests were universally known to be incorruptible, selfless, and deeply respected.
That was because any priest of Poseidon who was not incorruptible had long since died.
The reason was simple:
They had been killed—by sea gods, river gods, spring nymphs, or other marine divinities—for “sullying Poseidon’s name.”
In short, the ones still alive were the truly incorruptible… and more than a little mad.
“Sigh… Fine, I apologize for the rudeness. But know that I absolutely do not mean what you think I do. And I believe King Minos will handle this well. His intentions are clear, and his goals are noble. I will personally warn him never to misuse the names or will of the gods again.”
At Europa’s firm declaration, the elders, the other priests, and the ministers all nodded—they had gotten the answer they wanted.
For Europa to go this far was already the maximum she could do; demanding more would be an insult to the authority of Zeus’s beloved, the queen mother, and the former ruler of Crete.
Only one priest, as always, was different.
“So… you are clearly opposing the construction of the temple?”
“…”
“Hahaha. Poseidon’s priests and their love of clarity—always making the same mistake.”
“It’s not a mist—”
“Yes, yes, we understand. Your meaning has been fully conveyed to Lady Europa.”
“Then, Lady Europa, we shall take our leave.”
The elders, priests, and ministers instantly clamped the offending priest’s mouth shut and bolted from the room like fleeing rabbits.
They had gotten what they came for—there was no need to stoke his wrath any further.
In the palace they left behind, amid suffocating silence, a furious scream finally erupted.
“UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”
***
The elders, priests, and officials had acted swiftly, but Minos did not budge an inch.
Paradoxically, he was—aside from his brothers—the strongest individual on the island, and so his will prevailed.
The law and principles he had once spoken of vanished; in the end he enforced his will through raw power.
Despite Europa’s counsel, Minos pushed ahead and built the grand temple to Zeus.
In his mind, establishing law and order on Crete was far more important than any of these concerns.
Whether because of this or in spite of it, Crete began transforming beautifully into a nation truly governed by the rule of law.
The island of Crete, which had teetered between barbarism and civilization, ruled by the right of the strong and unchecked license, finally found stability.
With that stability came explosive growth, and Crete laid the foundation to become a great power whose influence reached even the Greek mainland.
The powerless of the inland regions began to look toward Crete with longing; many wished to migrate there.
At the same time, a small number of sorcerers, knights, mercenaries, and lords who commanded large armies also turned their eyes to the island.
They were fascinated by the fact that rule by law and principle, rather than raw strength, actually increased productivity and even elevated the authority of the powerful.
Meanwhile, Minos’s governance and the rapid rise of Crete naturally drew the attention of the Olympian gods as well.
After all, it had been Olympus that sent the letter asking Poseidon to acknowledge Minos in the first place.
Opinions, however, were sharply divided.
Some gods viewed him favorably, while many others found his apparent deception of the gods deeply offensive.
“That boy is outrageously insolent. Deceiving the gods? Depending on how you look at it, this could even be seen as undermining Lord Poseidon’s authority.”
At Athena’s words, goddess of war and wisdom, the gods who agreed raised their voices in unison.
“Exactly. Insolent brats. They don’t even properly worship us who dwell on Olympus. Pathetic humans who couldn’t survive a day without our power.”
“Hmm, Boreas, don’t use this chance to air your brothers’ grievances about the winds. It’s tiresome. Still, I agree they’re arrogant. They’ve lost the spirit of Ares. Isn’t strength itself justice?”
“Tsk tsk tsk. That’s exactly why everyone says your head is empty, you meathead.”
“What?! Who are you calling meathead, you ugly blacksmith?!”
“You wanna go…?”
Ares and Hephaestus, already on bad terms, bared their teeth at each other.
“Right! Sister Athena is totally right. Those jerks are infuriating. They don’t even properly honor cute sea otter—no, I mean Lord Poseidon’s authority!”
“Little sister, since when have you been such a Poseidon fan…?”
“Hmph, I’ve always been close to Lord Poseidon. I’m the one managing the cattle you neglect, big brother.”
“That’s…”
Apollo and Artemis immediately started their own sibling bickering.
“Oh my. So this is what Nerites was talking about.”
“What’s going on, Aphrodite?”
“Hehe, the whole sea is watching Crete right now. Nerites kept mentioning some island—this must be it.”
“I see. By the way, you’re still meeting Nerites? I thought you two broke up.”
“Why do you care, shorty?”
“Ugh, how long are you going to call me shorty? I’m fully grown!”
“Hermes, you’re still a baby. Go drink more of Mommy’s milk, then maybe big sis will play with you.”
Hermes fluttered around Aphrodite, fawning as usual.
In short, every god qualified to attend the Olympian council was loudly voicing their own opinion, turning the hall into a chaotic mess.
Seated on the largest throne, Zeus pressed his temples. Hera, beside him, wore the same weary expression.
“Zeus, what are you planning to do about this? It might be better if Poseidon stepped in quickly. From experience, the other sea gods look ready to explode.”
Hera knew from past incidents what happened when Poseidon lost interest.
After the Typhon war, while the Olympians were busy cleaning up, several kingdoms had been overturned by enraged sea gods.
Demeter, listening nearby, added to Zeus,
“Zeus, you must remember that Crete’s current situation is entirely thanks to Poseidon’s concession. If maintaining order after the Typhon war hadn’t been the priority, he would never have allowed it.
“You’re right,” Hestia chimed in. “Poseidon just loves gold too much—he let it slide for the gold he took from my vault. Otherwise, no chance.”
At Hestia’s words, Zeus sighed again while watching the still-arguing gods.
His brother was off somewhere using the gold he’d “borrowed” to build another weird thing, while Zeus had to deal with this headache…
“Maybe I should just let it burn.”
Zeus envied Poseidon, who was probably enjoying his hobbies right now, but he knew he couldn’t do the same.
Poseidon didn’t care about power or prestige—he lived as he pleased, and his desires were still loomed huge.
“And that marriage alliance of his is way too strong now…”
In the end, abandoning Crete would have been the easiest path, but Crete was showing the potential to become the first true rule-of-law state in all Greece.
Moreover, Zeus—who craved absolute justice and order to spread across the world as a symbol of himself—could not easily give it up.
After the Typhon war, how much effort had he poured into establishing a mighty symbol of law across Greece to counter the now-stronger Hades?
Considering how most attempts had failed due to his own behavior and the other gods’, missing this chance in Crete might mean failing forever.
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