Chapter 107: Minos (6)
Zeus’s slip of the tongue had planted suspicion in the minds of all the gods.
Nevertheless, a majority of the Olympian gods had expressed their agreement.
Of course, it was now certain that Poseidon’s secret would reach the ears of his wives.
“Hahaha. Shall we adjourn the meeting then? We’ll provide ample compensation to the sea—perhaps even cede some other territory on the surface, hahaha.”
“…”
Zeus considered the meeting itself a success, but he felt that both he and Poseidon were utterly doomed. For some reason, the gods’ glares had grown even sharper than before.
‘I’m sorry, brother. It seems all the gold I gave you will be taken back. At least you’ll get less blame than me, so that’s something.’
Just as the matter seemed about to conclude amid the gods’ suspicious stares,
“Zeus, King of the Gods. I believe we should hear more from Lady Thetis and Lord Nereus. If this were truly a matter that could end so simply, Lady Amphitrite would not have stirred to this extent.”
Athena spoke with firm conviction.
Zeus flinched at her words.
The commotion in Oceanus that Iris had reported was indeed unusually severe.
If even the primordial Oceanus himself had been roused to action, the situation was grave.
Moreover, among the sea nymphs descended from ancient Oceanus were those capable of foreseeing the near future.
“Lady Thetis, Lord Nereus—do you have any further thoughts?”
Nereus continued cautiously, his face troubled.
“There is one possibility I hate to consider, but King Minos might break his vow to Poseidon.”
“What?”
Thetis added to Nereus’s statement,
“From Minos’s perspective, his fear of Poseidon may have faded. When he built Zeus’s temple larger than Poseidon’s, no punishment came. When he invoked the gods’ names, he was rewarded instead.”
Zeus felt a jolt of realization.
Humans were creatures that quickly forgot fear and grew arrogant. That was precisely why he disliked them.
Moreover, there were certainly gods who favored arrogant fools like Minos. If such beings had attached themselves to him, he might commit even greater madness without hesitation.
“Oh no!”
***
Minos was preparing the altar to offer sacrifice to Poseidon.
The kingdom had finally stabilized, and the law-governed nation he envisioned was receiving praise from various Greek states.
“Now, it’s time to prepare the offering to Poseidon. That magnificent bull sent by the god.”
Minos went to the pastures of Crete one last time to inspect the bull.
Among the many cattle in the Cretan pastures, the most striking by far was the bull intended as Poseidon’s sacrifice.
Moreover, every cow impregnated by this bull gave birth to healthy, beautiful calves, and the mothers themselves grew even healthier immediately after—nothing short of a miracle.
“Sigh… what a waste. If only we could keep this bull, Crete would grow even stronger…”
Behind Minos, who was lamenting over the beautiful white bull, the goddess of discord Eris and the god of doom and fate Moros watched silently.
“Moros, look—that must be the offering for Poseidon.”
“It certainly is magnificent. Only Poseidon could possess such a splendid bull.”
“Right? Heeheehee. So how about we take it for ourselves?”
Moros couldn’t bring himself to respond to Eris’s words.
Stealing an offering meant for one of the three great gods who ruled the world was an unforgivable act, even for children of primordial Nyx like them.
“Oh… my sister, please abandon such foolish thoughts. No one should ever do that.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“???”
Moros’s mind filled with question marks at Eris’s reply.
Wait—wasn’t suggesting they take the sacrificial bull the same as saying they should steal it?
“What nonsense are you spouting? No matter how much of a goddess of discord I am, I’m not the type to steal from a friend. Moros, you…”
Eris glared at him with narrowed eyes.
Come to think of it, he had been treating her like absolute trash who would take anything she wanted without regard for friendship.
Moros flinched under his sister’s glare. Based on her past behavior, he had been certain she was exactly that kind of person.
Well, she did go around causing all sorts of strife, so it wasn’t unreasonable to think that way. But he hadn’t said it out loud.
Saying it aloud might earn him a beating despite his age.
“…It’s not that—it’s just that you cut straight to the point without context. Suddenly saying ‘let’s take the bull’—who wouldn’t misunderstand?”
Eris eyed Moros suspiciously at his excuse but soon let it go. It all depended on what choice Minos made anyway.
“Suspicious… but don’t worry. In the end, all the suffering will fall on that Minos over there, won’t it? We’ll simply accept the bull that ends up abandoned and alone.”
‘Phew… thankfully she’s not pressing further.’
As Moros breathed a sigh of relief, Minos began to move exactly as Eris had predicted.
The amusing part was that Minos’s desires had swollen enormously even without Eris or Moros breathing a single whisper into him.
“We barely did anything, yet look at him…”
Moros shook his head at the unwavering conviction in Minos’s eyes.
***
Unaware that the sibling gods Eris and Moros were watching,
Minos began turning the wheels in his mind once more.
“After all, isn’t Poseidon beneath Lord Zeus? As long as I uphold law and justice—one of Zeus’s divine domains—Poseidon will be powerless to act.”
The problem was that Minos’s current self-conviction had reached the point of self-deception.
He alone remained blind to the fact that everything the people of Crete now worshipped ignored Poseidon and even deceived Zeus.
“Yes, we cannot live forever in fear of Poseidon. It is right that we now offer our faith to Lord Zeus, king of the gods.”
With this strange certainty, Minos selected another bull—one that resembled Poseidon’s gift as closely as possible—rather than the original.
Several months later, when the altar was finally complete and ready to fulfill its purpose,
Minos personally slaughtered the substitute bull in secret, washed it with clean water, placed it on the altar, and spoke toward the sea.
“Lord Poseidon! In accordance with our vow, I offer the white bull you have granted me!”
The moment Minos presented the bull, Hermes—the messenger of Olympus—appeared in a frantic rush.
Given the current situation on Crete, Olympus had to intervene right before the sacrifice was complete, as the sea gods were watching closely.
Even delivering a direct oracle themselves could be seen as overstepping.
However, the siblings Moros and Eris lingered around Minos, and their mere presence had swallowed him in greed and desire—that was the variable, if anything.
Thus, Olympus was one step too late.
Since the entire nation—from commoners to ministers, priests, and elders—would surely panic and try to stop him, Minos’s bold deception, carried out in secret, fooled not only the Cretans but others as well.
***
“Argh! We’re too late. He’s already offered the bull to Lord Poseidon.”
Hermes panicked. That idiot Minos had already presented the bull to the sea—Olympus could no longer interfere.
In short, all their plans had gone awry.
“What now…?”
He didn’t particularly want to get involved, but Minos’s daughter Acacallis—who had ties to him—lived here, and with Zeus’s plans in motion, he had no choice.
Hermes racked his brains as hard as he could.
He considered Nereus’s and Thetis’s advice, Poseidon’s personality, and the temperaments of the currently most enraged Amphitrite and Eurynome—everything—to devise a solution.
‘Hmm… Zeus’s authority won’t work. No other Olympian owes Poseidon a favor. Athena, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus are actually on Poseidon’s side… Artemis has been obsessed with his sea otter form lately. Apollo and Ares aren’t even worth considering. Demeter and Hestia would side with Poseidon. Hera pretends otherwise but is close to him too.’
Hermes prided himself on schemes, but the more he thought, the stranger it seemed. Zeus clearly wanted Crete, so there should be gods to help—yet only a minority were on the king’s side. What kind of situation was this?!
“No way—is this Olympus or Poseidon and friends? Six out of eleven on Poseidon’s side! Seriously!! Why did Zeus dump this on me?!!”
***
Does that mean we have to give up Crete…?
Hermes considered simply returning to Olympus. They likely already knew the situation there, and the sea gods certainly did.
As proof, the waves around Crete were growing increasingly violent.
At that moment, a sheet of paper flew to Hermes.
—Hermes, I grant you full authority over Crete. Buy as much time as you can or find another way to persuade them. We’ll prepare negotiations in the meantime.
The paper spoke in Zeus’s voice before burning itself away.
And with that, Hermes suddenly bore full authority—and responsibility—for every variable on the ground.
“Th-this damn father of mine!!!”
As Hermes wailed, high in the sky, Zeus could almost be seen giving a thumbs-up through the clouds.
After screaming for a while, Hermes pulled himself together.
No matter how angry he was at Zeus pulling an “I don’t know, you handle it,” he was merely the messenger god. Defying his father wasn’t easy.
“If only I were Athena-level, I could ignore it…”
Sighing in lament, Hermes racked his brains once more. He had no choice but to do his absolute best.
After staring at the increasingly menacing sea for a long while, Hermes suddenly jerked his head up.
Eureka!
“That’s it!! What if we steal Pasiphaë, daughter of Helios? She’s the woman Minos loves most—his advisor, sorceress, and divine partner who enables his strong rule!!! What greater pain for a man than having his most beloved woman and partner taken from him? And if we spice it up by making it look like another god’s influence…”
Hermes sprang into action the moment he decided. The waves and sea conditions around Crete left no time to waste, but more than that, he needed to punish the headache-inducing Minos and fabricate evidence quickly.
Hermes flew straight toward Minos’s vicinity to manipulate divine traces.
Wrath would pour down in minutes. He had to set everything up before then.
“First, falsify traces with gods that are suspicious but too awkward to confront directly.”
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