Chapter 108: Minos (7)
Around the time Hermes was moving to manipulate the situation,
Eris laughed, while Moros could not hide his bewilderment.
“No way—we literally did nothing?”
“Moros, that just makes it better. Why have you been acting so weird all this time?”
Eris was simply delighted at the thought of claiming the bull Minos had secretly swapped for Poseidon’s. Moros, however, was not.
If the gods discovered they had been anywhere near Minos, things would already be complicated enough. Now that idiot had gone and committed outright madness on his own.
If things went wrong, they might end up taking the full blame with no way out.
“Eris, we need to get out of here first. I can already sense Hermes approaching. If we’re found to have been here, who knows what’ll happen!”
Moros fidgeted anxiously, urging her to flee, but Eris had no intention of doing so.
Moros didn’t know it, but she had something—or rather, someone—to rely on.
“Moros, you’re old enough—stop rushing me. Your big sister has everything figured out.”
“…What exactly do you have figured out? That kid Hermes is definitely going to frame us. You know how the Olympians operate.”
Eris clucked her tongue at Moros’s words. No matter how she looked at it, this brother of hers didn’t seem to believe she was actually close with Poseidon and the other sea goddesses.
Sure, she didn’t have many friends, and she had never been invited to the other gods’ festivals or palaces, but that was just her being selective about company.
(…Which basically means voluntary or involuntary outcast. Either way, outcast, Eris.)
Whatever Moros thought, Eris was confident—at the very least, Poseidon and Amphitrite would believe her.
“So stop worrying. Even if Hermes comes and goes, we just play dumb.”
“…No matter how I look at this, it feels wrong…?”
***
Just as Moros predicted, Hermes quickly detected the lingering traces of the two gods.
“Huh? This is the goddess of discord Eris’s aura, and this is the god of doom and fate Moros’s aura.”
The traces were so skillfully concealed that only Hermes himself could have found them.
As the god of thieves, travelers, and messengers, he could detect them; any other god probably wouldn’t even notice.
If he had arrived just a little later, even Hermes would have missed them.
“Wow, talk about lucky. Who would’ve thought Moros and Eris were actually here?”
Hermes acted exactly as Eris had foreseen.
He immediately captured the lingering auras in a glass vial and sealed it—unaware that Eris and Moros were secretly watching.
Then, looking at the churning waves, he shouted,
“Lord Poseidon! This nephew speaks on behalf of all the gods of Olympus!”
At Hermes’s words, ferocious waves crashed and a storm raged. A massive wave rose as if to swallow him whole, then split in two as Poseidon and Gaia emerged.
Hermes swallowed hard at Gaia’s unexpected appearance.
He had expected Eurynome or Amphitrite!
“…Lord Poseidon, and Lady Gaia—please spare everyone on Crete. Lord Zeus says he will offer ample compensation.”
At Hermes’s plea, Gaia smiled with a rare, maternal warmth.
The smile was so benevolent that anyone seeing it might think she was already prepared to forgive Olympus entirely.
“Hehe, is that so? How amusing. Very amusing. Zeus thinks he can give me what I want?”
In stark contrast to her gentle expression, Gaia’s voice was as cold as the north wind in midwinter, laced with the venom of a fully enraged viper.
Cold sweat pouring down his face, Hermes stammered,
“W-well… it’s not that Lord Zeus can give everything, exactly… it’s more that he takes this very seriously… so perhaps… if you could consider it in that light…”
Hermes babbled incoherently, desperately avoiding Gaia’s gaze.
Any thought of using Moros and Eris’s auras as leverage had long since vanished.
‘No matter how you slice it, Lady Gaia is too much!’
Gaia’s smile deepened as she watched Hermes flounder in panic.
“Hermes, son of Zeus.”
“Y-yes! Yes ma’am!”
“It’s been a long time since we’ve spoken like this.”
“Y-yes… well, Lady Gaia is always so busy… hahaha.”
Hermes felt his stomach churn as he faced her.
Why me, of all people, facing someone Zeus or Hera should be dealing with!!
“Yes, that’s aside the point. I believe I said Zeus would provide ample compensation?”
Hermes hesitated again at Gaia’s question.
Though he had been granted full authority here, he wasn’t sure if that extended to issuing blank checks to Gaia herself.
He had no Idea what she might demand.
Seeing Hermes waver, Gaia gave an “as expected” expression and turned to Poseidon.
“Poseidon.”
“Hm?”
“I’m certain we agreed that I would handle this entire matter, correct?”
“Uh… yeah. Amphitrite and Eurynome both agreed, and neither Thetis nor Nereus, who returned from Olympus, objected.”
Gaia, reiterating what had already been settled in Poseidon’s palace, turned back to Hermes.
Then she swept her hand downward from the sky.
Gasp!
With a sound like someone being yanked, Apollo crashed down beside Hermes.
“Now that Apollo is here too, your options have broadened a bit. Listen carefully, sons of Zeus. I don’t ask for much. If Crete is truly that precious to you, swear upon the Styx that the glory of the first hero in the future will belong entirely to me—and I’ll allow room for negotiation.”
““Huh?””
Hermes and Apollo couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
They weren’t sure what “glory of the first hero” meant, but offering that in exchange for mere negotiation… wasn’t that pure bandit logic?
—Apollo, say something.
—What am I supposed to say?
—Come on, no matter how you look at it, this makes no sense. Whatever it is Gaia wants, it’s got to be huge—yet she’ll only negotiate if we give it up?
—…I was only sent down by Father to observe. How would I know what’s going on?
—Useless.
—What…!
Hermes and Apollo whispered furiously for a while, but there was no real solution.
Apollo was a god of prophecy, but compared to Gaia he was a drop in the bucket—and Gaia was subtly pressuring them.
In the end, they had no choice but to accept her terms.
‘No helping it. Father gave me full authority anyway. At least with Apollo here, I can shift some blame.’
‘Sigh… I should have stayed higher up. I was so shocked by Lady Gaia appearing that I slipped. Still, Hermes is the one with full authority here.’
‘‘All future responsibility goes to that guy (little brother/brother)!!!’’
***
“Yes. Then, in the name of Olympus, I swear upon the Styx: the full glory of the first hero in the future shall belong to Lady Gaia.”
At Hermes’s declaration, Gaia nodded with evident satisfaction.
Poseidon, who had merely watched the entire scene, couldn’t help shaking his head.
It felt exactly like witnessing a massive scam contract being signed.
“The first hero… that’s probably one of Zeus’s kids. If things go wrong, humans, other races, even fantastical creatures might end up engraving Gaia’s name deeper than Zeus’s…”
With those words, Poseidon looked up at Olympus in the sky with pitying eyes.
If the main reason Zeus couldn’t let go of Crete was to expand his influence, then with that oath he had just been thoroughly swindled while wide awake.
Contrary to Poseidon’s thoughts, Hermes, Apollo, and Gaia all seemed satisfied, so he decided not to concern himself further.
“Zeus is unfortunate, but what can I do when my woman wants it? I’ll just cooperate.”
Gaia, whom Poseidon glanced at, looked utterly delighted at the chance to screw Zeus over once again…
“Ahem. Then, before negotiations, please examine the evidence I collected. Here are traces of Eris and Moros.”
Hermes presented the vial containing the captured auras to Gaia and Poseidon.
Poseidon nodded as he took it. So that’s why they were so confident.
Unlike Poseidon’s acknowledgment, Gaia shook her head as if she had expected this.
“Tsk tsk tsk. Of course those children were here. With a madman like that around, how could Eris—that little mischief-maker—not come to watch?”
Hermes flinched at Gaia’s words. Setting aside the fact that Eris and Moros had been present, most gods would react with unease or dismay upon hearing their names. Yet Gaia was far too calm.
“W-well… depending on how you look at it, Minos’s rampage could be seen as influenced by those two gods.”
“True enough. Their mere presence does exert influence.”
Hermes smiled at Poseidon’s agreement.
‘At least Lord Poseidon understands.’
But Gaia’s next cold words instantly deflated him.
“Hmph. You’ve got the cause and effect backward. Eris and Moros came to this island because Minos is a madman—not the other way around.”
Hermes let out a silent lament, gazing skyward with eyes full of regret as Gaia’s icy words left him breathless.
‘Father, this is too much!’
***
In the end, Hermes—having been thoroughly burned white—managed to conclude negotiations with Gaia safely.
Olympus lost quite a bit, but what choice was there? The power dynamic between giver and taker was crystal clear.
Hermes himself felt he had done enough. Minos’s personal punishment was unavoidable, but as long as he didn’t die or face total ruin, even Hermes thought that was fair.
—I agree. Making the gods suffer this much… If he weren’t Father’s blood, I’d have punished him myself.
—Brother Apollo feels the same. Even I grind my teeth just thinking about that guy now.
Hearing the half-brothers whisper, Poseidon shook his head.
“Minos might end up suffering far more than he can handle. That aside, the Moirae sisters did ask us to go easy—don’t you think this is a bit much, Gaia?”
“No need to worry too much. The Moirae only care that the civilization established on Crete is preserved. Surely I wouldn’t put my husband in a difficult position.”
“…Fair enough.”
“Wait. What was that reaction just now?”
Poseidon inwardly cursed his momentary silence. A few past incidents had made him slip up.
Naturally, Gaia’s eyebrow twitched and shot upward as she caught the subtle cue.
“Ahem. More importantly, what punishment should we give Minos…?”
“…”
Poseidon tried whistling casually to dodge her glare, but her eyebrow refused to lower, and her beautiful brow remained furrowed. As cold sweat began to trickle down his back,
Hermes—who had been brainstorming with Apollo how best to torment Minos—overheard Poseidon and jumped in.
“Lord Poseidon, I have an absolutely brilliant idea! Even Brother Apollo approved!”
Ah! Damn it!!
Poseidon mentally sighed at Hermes in relief.
Now most of Gaia’s anger would redirect to Hermes. He was Zeus’s annoying son anyway—Hermes was definitely in for a rough few months.
“I will never forget your sacrifice.”
“Huh?”
Ignoring Hermes’s confusion at the sudden remark, Poseidon gestured.
“Go on, tell us this brilliant idea. Hahaha.”
Hermes tilted his head at Poseidon’s odd reaction but excitedly launched into his plan, adding Apollo’s experiences for flavor.
“So, King Minos’s most beloved woman is Queen Pasiphaë, right? We take her from him in the cruelest way possible—right in front of his eyes. Um… according to Brother Apollo’s vast experience, one of the greatest pains a man can feel is having his woman stolen. Even gods struggle with that kind of torment.”
“…”
“So Lord Poseidon—you steal Pasiphaë. But just taking her would only make him resent the gods and be done with it. Instead, have the bull he coveted steal her. Then Pasiphaë bears the bull’s child, that child grows to love the bull, and finally Pasiphaë herself is taken by the sea.”
Poseidon could only feel dumbfounded as Hermes grew more excited with every word.
In the end, it was just recreating the original Minotaur myth.
How was it that every Greek god’s ideas were so identically twisted? It made his head spin.
The average Greek (divine) mindset was truly dizzying.
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