Chapter 105: Minos (4)
‘Hah! That idiot. He should have at least listened to the bitter advice of the other humans!!’
While Zeus agonized over his reluctance to let go, Athena quietly approached and whispered,
“Lord Zeus, why not invite Lord Nereus and Lady Thetis—who are at least relatively reasonable—and ask for their opinion?”
“Hm? Them?”
“Yes. Lord Nereus and Lady Thetis are known as the wise ones of the sea, and they carry considerable influence. They might be able to voice the things we find difficult to say ourselves.”
Zeus fell into thought with a “Indeed…” expression.
Unaware that Clotho, the eldest of the Moirae, had visited Poseidon, Athena’s suggestion sounded particularly appealing.
“Hmm… In a situation like this, they could mediate almost as well as Mother Rhea.”
Hera, seated beside him, agreed as well.
“True. Since Olympus officially sent a letter supporting Minos, we now bear responsibility for whatever mess ensues.”
“…Hahaha.”
Zeus could only manage an awkward laugh at Hera’s sharp words.
He had nothing to say in his defense…
“Ahem. Then let us summon the more objective Lord Nereus and Lady Thetis to convey our position. Herme—”
CLANG. BANG!
—Don’t make me laugh, brat!!
—Who are you calling a brat, you late-born upstart?
—Grrr!
—Wooow!! Winner takes our side! One gold coin on the left if Ares wins, one on the right if Hephaestus wins!
—Hmm… In a short fight, Ares has the edge, right?
—Brother, Hephaestus. Look at the artifacts that guy’s wearing. No way Ares breaks through easily.
—I agree with Artemis. The trinkets Hephaestus occasionally makes for me are top-notch.
—Oh my! Sister, why do you get all the good stuff?!
—Hehehe.
Zeus had been about to call Hermes when he caught sight of the gambling den that had spontaneously erupted in the council chamber—and truly understood what absurdity meant.
He also realized why Athena had approached him privately instead of speaking from her seat.
“Th-these…! Sigh… Never mind.”
Seeing the chaos, Zeus swallowed his anger—for now.
At this rate, he needed to send a messenger first. Otherwise, the meeting might end with him beating his children senseless.
With gods brawling at the front, others opening betting pools, and still more joining in—what kind of conclusion could possibly come from this circus?
It would clearly be more productive to bring in Nereus and Thetis quickly.
“Sigh… Iris. Could you invite Lord Nereus and Lady Thetis here? Watching this any longer is giving me a headache.”
“Yes. Don’t worry—I’ll be right back, Lord Zeus.”
Iris gave an awkward smile, glanced at Zeus once, then hurriedly crossed the rainbow bridge toward the sea.
Normally she would have needed Hera’s permission, but…
“She already left the chamber with Hestia and Demeter.”
In the end, Zeus rubbed his throbbing temples at the thought of managing this mess alone, then roared at Ares—who was leading the charge in the brawl.
KABOOOM.
“ARES!!! SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!!!”
Gasp!
At Zeus’s thunderous voice, the rampaging Ares instantly bowed his head and scurried back to his seat.
Of course, he grumbled the whole way—enough to make Zeus clutch the back of his neck in frustration.
“Tch! Why is it always me getting yelled at…?”
“Th-there we go.”
Once Ares took the representative scolding, the rest of the gods—as they always did—quietly returned to their seats.
“Is it finally over? That took longer than I expected.”
“Hera… you could’ve stopped them!”
Only after hearing Zeus’s thunder did Hera casually stroll back into the council chamber.
Naturally, Zeus shot her a reproachful look.
“Hmph! It’s your fault for having to watch this mess in the first place.”
“…”
***
In stark contrast to the noisy chaos of Olympus, the depths of the sea were quiet.
More precisely, only Poseidon’s palace was quiet; the rest of the ocean had begun to churn roughly.
“Hmm… Amphitrite must be furious, all the way to the tips of her hair. Well, Minos did mess up. After receiving my acknowledgment, he went and invoked Zeus’s name again. Tsk tsk tsk.”
Unlike the Olympian gods, Poseidon wasn’t particularly enraged.
In the original myths, a Poseidon like that would have erased Crete long ago in a catastrophe, but he was not that god.
To be exact, he was far too busy using the gold he’d “borrowed” from Zeus’s and Olympus’s vaults to build a massive resort.
“This time I’ll put everything in. The casino Gaia vetoed last time, the golf course Eurynome shot down—everything.”
Above all, Clotho herself had come to ask for his understanding, so suddenly intervening now would be awkward.
“Anyway, he hasn’t completely broken his promise to me yet, has he? As long as he properly sacrifices that magnificent bull I’m managing, I can acknowledge that his merits outweigh his faults.”
He also held a positive view of the fact that Greece’s first true rule-of-law state was emerging.
“Besides, Olympus will take appropriate measures. Won’t they, Iris?”
Poseidon glanced at the rainbow that had suddenly appeared in the sea.
The sea creatures and spirits were keeping their distance from it, so the visitor was obvious.
“I greet the Ruler of the Seas, Lord Poseidon, who holds dominion over all healing and life.”
At Poseidon’s words, Iris burst out from the rainbow.
As she emerged, rainbow light scattered through the dark depths, creating a beautiful spectacle.
“Skip the formalities. We’re both sea beings—no need for that. Thanks to Hera, we see each other often enough anyway.”
“Hehe, my father may be Thaumas, but I’ve never even seen his face. And this is official business.”
“Fine, fine. Do it your usual way.”
“Lord Poseidon, you never change.”
Iris had seen him as a sea otter during the Typhon war, and even without that, she couldn’t help chuckling at his unchanged demeanor—though she didn’t let her guard down.
She had never seen Poseidon truly angry, but from the Argos incident alone, she knew he could act at any moment.
Fortunately, as far as Iris could tell, Poseidon currently seemed to have zero interest in Crete.
“So why are you here? You’re usually glued to Hera’s side.”
“Ugh. I’m not that bad…”
“No, you are.”
“…”
“…Anyway. I come bearing a request from Olympus: please invite Lord Nereus and Lady Thetis to Olympus.”
Poseidon stopped teasing Iris and nodded at her words.
“No direct comment on the Minos situation, so they’re using the calmest voices in the sea—Nereus and Thetis? Definitely Hera’s idea. It reeks of her sneaky style.”
Iris was relieved he’d stopped teasing her, but the next implied question was just as troublesome.
She wasn’t bold enough to shout, “No, it was your foster daughter Athena’s idea!”
So Iris simply laughed it off.
“Ha… hahaha.”
“Well, whether it’s Hera’s idea or not—fine. It’s not a difficult request.”
With those words, Poseidon waved his hand and handed Iris a single pearl.
“This is proof of my permission. Take it with you.”
“Thank you.”
Iris accepted the pearl, expressed her gratitude, and hurriedly departed.
If she lingered too long, there was no telling how badly the reckless Olympian gods would get beaten by Zeus, and conversing with Poseidon was, for her, an extremely uncomfortable ordeal.
Poseidon watched Iris vanish in an instant, then turned his gaze toward Crete.
Right now, Minos’s choices mattered far more to his decision than whatever Olympus concluded.
“Please don’t make this annoying. I’m already struggling to build this thing behind Gaia’s and Eurynome’s backs. Sneaking out the gold isn’t easy either.”
Muttering words that would earn him a beating if they heard them, Poseidon sank deeper into his chair with perfect nonchalance.
***
Unaware of the situations in Olympus or the sea,
The people of Crete praised King Minos.
Ever since he took the throne, the waves had been calm and fishing had flourished day by day—they had no choice but to praise him.
Of course, they found it strange that the temple to Zeus was being built so grandly, but since their excellent king was the one ordering it, they buried their doubts deep in their hearts.
—Isn’t this bigger than Lord Poseidon’s temple?
—Oh? So it’s not just me. I’ve been wondering the same while building it.
—I don’t distrust King Minos, but… is this really okay…?
—Lord Poseidon hasn’t said anything, so maybe it’s fine?
—Nonsense. Don’t you know Poseidon doesn’t intervene lightly? If he does, we’re all dead.
—That’s… true…
Not only the common people but even high nobles were filled with mountain-sized anxiety over King Minos’s actions.
“We should leave Crete at once.”
“Impossible. Lady Amphitrite would notice us fleeing.”
“Exactly. And if the mainlanders found out we were cursed by Lord Poseidon, we’d be captured and offered as sacrifices.”
“Watch your mouth. We don’t know yet if we’re cursed.”
“But Olympus is definitely paying attention to us. We must be cautious and offer even greater sacrifices to Poseidon.”
High nobles, warriors, and wealthy merchants began offering more lavish sacrifices to Poseidon out of fear of Minos’s actions.
For them, survival came first.
The problem was that Minos merely sneered and scoffed at their behavior.
“Hah! I haven’t broken my promise to Poseidon yet. So there’s no reason for punishment.”
Minos was arrogant from beginning to end.
He ignored his mother Europa’s counsel and dismissed the warnings of his brothers Rhadamanthys and the now-departed Sarpedon.
Repeated success had given him immense self-confidence—to the point where he believed himself the only one chosen by the gods.
“In the end, all we have to do is sacrifice the bull Poseidon gave us and worship Lord Zeus even more grandly. Lord Zeus and the Olympian gods who follow him will protect us.”
Minos’s eyes were clouded with delusion. Every word from his mouth was nothing less than blasphemy against the gods.
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