Somewhere in the gloomy underworld.

“Wait, wait a moment!”

The messenger god grabbed the shoulder of the Lord of the Dead.

Though it was said to be a shoulder, he had to grab the floor to catch the master of the underworld who hid his body in darkness, but neither of them found it amusing.

“Are you worried I might be hurt?”

“…”

“Like that ‘friend’ of yours?”

Hermes also knew about Hades’ past.

“First, I apologize for suddenly grabbing your shoulder. But you suddenly acted like this, so I didn’t know what you were going to do.”

Hermes was the one who went to the second war instead of the grieving Lord of the Dead who had lost his friend.

He was also a god who could think that Hades’ sudden outburst was clearly influenced by what he experienced in that war.

“As you know, they say you never know what a quiet person might do.”

The veins in his hand that made the quip bulged slightly.

At the end of the silence, the man clad entirely in black rose from the darkness.

“…I’m sorry. I acted without thinking.”

“If you’re sorry, how about giving me that helmet you’re wearing? I used it in the last war, and it was quite useful.”

“…”

Ignoring the brazen request, Hades dusted off his hands.

The surroundings were a dark corner where Hemera’s fingertips barely reached.

As they wandered around with the determination to thoroughly search for the missing person, it seemed they had come to a place where even the tributaries of the underworld river did not reach.

“More importantly, we should discuss Persephone’s location. Where do you think she might have gone?”

“Hmm, Elysium, perhaps?”

“…Why?”

Hermes tilted his head as if it were obvious.

“It’s the only place here where plants and animals grow properly. Wouldn’t she have gone to gather fruits or vegetables or something?”

Hades’ eyes widened slightly.

‘…Indeed, she would have.’

For her, besides her room, domain, and kitchen, there was also the option of Elysium.

Naturally, as a goddess of life, she would have been drawn to the paradise forest where warm sunlight enters.

For him, paradise was where his friend’s gravestone was, so he hadn’t considered it in such a ‘positive’ sense.

Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Hermes smirked.

“Well, you didn’t think she might have opened the gates of Tartarus and gone in, did you?”

“Of course not.”

Hades replied with a sigh as the tension eased.

“Then should we go there?”

“I suppose so? Shall I take you there?”

It was just as Hermes was about to grab Hades’ hand.

【Are you looking for the Seed Lady?】

A resonant voice permeated the atmosphere.

Hades and Hermes’ heads lifted simultaneously.

Hemera hovered above them.

【It might be better not to look.】

Large fingers containing clear air tickled the hair of the Lord of the Dead.

【Especially you, don’t go. The young lady will be angry.】

A question settled in Hades’ eyes. He carefully probed.

“Why is that?”

【Well.】

But Hemera moved her arm as if to say what more could she explain.

【They say ‘gifts are meant to be prepared in secret.’】

So Hemera’s words meant that Persephone was currently preparing a gift for Hades, so they shouldn’t carelessly look for her.

Smacking his lips, Hermes spoke to Hemera.

“Well, since I’m not the one receiving the gift, wouldn’t it be okay for me to go?”

【I heard you made a bet with her.】

“That’s right. I also need to prove that I won the bet.”

【…You won?】

Hemera’s voice cracked.

【Why?】

“Because the bet was that whoever gives Hades the exact gift at midnight on the 21st of Skirophorion wins.”

【…】

“Persephone didn’t come to Hades, the date changes in the underworld during the day, and I calculated the time down to the second, so I’m the winner of the bet.”

Hermes proudly thumped his chest.

However, the aura emanating from Hemera felt ominous. She shook her head as if troubled, brushing back her hair flowing in the breeze.

【Son of Maia, I’m sorry, but I think you’ve made a mistake.】

“…Pardon?”

【This bet was actually impossible from the start.】

At that moment, pink hair fluttered from behind a nearby rock.

“That’s right!”

A woman sprang out.

It was Persephone.

“This was a flawed bet from the beginning!”

She looked at them triumphantly, like a victorious general.

“What do you mean? Today is the 21st of Skirophorion.”

Hermes’ eyebrows furrowed in dissatisfaction.

As trivial as this bet might be, as the messenger god, he couldn’t easily admit to a mistake.

“Surely you’re not trying to make excuses for losing the bet now?”

Hermes tapped his staff on the ground with a mischievous expression.

The woman sitting on the rock chuckled.

“What’s the basis for the calendar you use in the underworld?”

“Of course, it’s based on the waxing and waning of the moon.”

“So that means the underworld uses a lunar calendar, right?”

“Yes. …Wait.”

At that moment, a ray of realization flashed through Hermes’ mind.

‘The longest day is in summer.’

And seasons like summer change according to the movement of the sun.

Not the movement of the moon!

Which means…

“Yes, it seems Hermes has just realized it?”

“…”

“For the 21st of Skirophorion to be the ‘longest day,’ you should look at the solar calendar of the surface world, not the calendar of the underworld!”

That’s right. The ‘summer solstice’ was based on the solar calendar, not the lunar calendar.

“So today is not the ‘longest day’!”

Persephone added, chirping like a parrot.

“The ‘summer solstice’ has already passed long ago?”

Hermes’ mental strings momentarily detached from his head due to the shock.

Come to think of it, when he first set up the ‘plan,’ the human who told him when the summer solstice was, while he was disguised as a merchant, was a farmer from the surface.

However, what’s crucial for farming is not the day-to-day dates but the change of seasons. And what properly reflects the change of seasons is not the lunar calendar, but the solar calendar.

So the calendar familiar to such a farmer would naturally be the solar calendar, not the lunar calendar.

…So in the end, it’s like this.

– ‘Summer solstice’ mentioned by the surface farmer: (Solar calendar) 21st of Skirophorion
– ‘Summer solstice’ understood by Hermes looking at the underworld calendar: (Lunar calendar) 21st of Skirophorion

→ Conclusion 1: Since it’s a confusion between solar and lunar calendars, of course they’re different dates!
→ Conclusion 2: Hades’ birthday, which is the ‘summer solstice,’ is not today either!

Hermes’ face, having reached this realization, instantly crumpled like an old man’s. A muttered curse leaked from between his lips.

“…Damn it.”

Unbearable frustration gripped the messenger god’s heart.

In the end, Hermes collapsed face-down on the ground.

“Ugh, to think I made such a mistake…”

“Hahaha!”

Persephone rolled over, cackling.

She was currently very pleased to have pointed out a flaw in Olympus’ representative trickster.

If she spread this story around, her divine reputation would surely rise.

Hermes, his pride severely wounded, shouted at her.

“You were definitely flustered when I first told you the date!”

“…Ahem, of course I was!”

Persephone cleared her throat and crossed her arms.

“But I recalculated with Hemera’s help. I confirmed that my memory was correct.”

“That’s unfair, getting help from others for this!”

“Hmph, you didn’t tell me that the date changes during the day, not at night, either!”

“That’s common sense! How long have you been in the underworld!”

“Isn’t it also ‘common sense’ that the longest day is judged by the solar calendar? Oh my, don’t tell me you didn’t know that either?”

The messenger god brazenly put on a thick skin, but it had no effect on Persephone.

She raised an axe over her head, which she had gotten from who knows where.

“The calendar suitable for farming is based on the sun, not the moon! How could I, who lived on a farm for over a decade, not know exactly when the longest day is?”

Persephone’s cheekbones and shoulders twitched together in elation.

When Hermes couldn’t say anything, she became even more triumphant.

“Come on, praise me for realizing the ‘fundamental absurdity’ of this bet!”

“…”

“Furthermore, as the person responsible for this situation, I would appreciate it if you first invalidated the bet and forfeited!”

Persephone deliberately used difficult and serious phrases as she placed her hand on her chest. Her nose was held as high as Mount Olympus.

“Haaa…”

Hermes let out a sigh that could reach Tartarus.

In conclusion, this was the messenger god’s oversight in confusing the lunar and solar calendars. The summer solstice had already passed, so the bet was structured in a way that there could be no winner from the start.

He rubbed his solar plexus vigorously.

“Ugh, my stomach hurts.”

“…”

“I’m glad my junior has surpassed me, but my stomach hurts a bit. Next time, I must definitely deceive her.”

“That’s unsightly, Hermes. Stop and admit that you made a mistake.”

“I know that, you know?”

Hermes’ irritated eyes shot towards Hades who was trying to stop him.

Discovering a faint smile on the corners of Hades’ mouth, he frowned deeply.

“You seem secretly pleased?”

“…I think it might be the first time you’ve been outsmarted.”

“I’m going to sulk… Whether the dead die or not…”

A laugh escaped from between Hades’ lips.

* * *

“I’ll leave the gift on your desk, so look at it later!”

“Alright.”

Hades waved his hand towards Hermes flying off into the sky. Persephone also saw him off with a beaming expression.

At that moment, something at Persephone’s waist caught Hades’ eye.

‘There’s something there.’

Something that looked like a gift was tucked into Persephone’s side.

It was wrapped in large leaves or straw, so its identity couldn’t be determined.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s that at your side?”

“It’s a gift for you, Hades.”

Hades’ face stiffened. He pointed behind himself with an ambiguous expression.

“Ah, then… should I leave now?”

Persephone didn’t want the identity of the gift to be revealed.

Hades, who thought he might have to leave her side, looked at Persephone, but.

Her face, which had momentarily become blurred, cleared with dissatisfaction. Before he could ask what was wrong, she gracefully jumped down from the rock.

“No, there’s no need for that.”

“Why?”

“I was going to give you a gift because I was afraid I’d be the only one not giving anything when everyone else was.”

Persephone scratched her cheek as if regretful.

“And as I said earlier, your birthday has already passed.”

“…I see.”

Indeed, numerically, the lunar calendar appears to be a month or two ahead of the solar calendar.

If it’s the 21st of Skirophorion (*June) in the lunar calendar now, it’s probably around Hekatombaion (*July-August) in the solar calendar.

‘…Seeing that I feel somewhat disappointed, I must have unconsciously expected something too.’

Hades swallowed a bit of bitterness and looked at Persephone, trying to appear composed.

“But it’s okay!”

But could Persephone have read the emotion in his demeanor?

“What is?”

“Usually, the new year is in midsummer, right? I can just say what I’m giving to Hades is a New Year’s gift.”

She added, as if to say he shouldn’t be disheartened.

Hades lowered his slightly trembling eyelids.

New Year, right. There was a New Year.

Normally, when one thinks of New Year, winter comes to mind, but farmers considered summer or autumn, when seeds are sown, as the new year.

It seems Demeter made summer the new year.

There’s no concept of New Year in the underworld, but indeed, when she and I were in a senior-junior relationship, everyone thought of summer as the new year…

“I’m the first to give you a New Year’s gift too, right?”

“…Yes.”

“And I was the first to give you a birthday gift.”

“…That’s right.”

Hades replied with difficulty.

Persephone decided to be satisfied with the fact that she was the first, regardless.

She had beaten the messenger god in the bet, so it didn’t matter, she thought.

Her gaze turned to the ‘gift’ wrapped in leaves.

Persephone, who was about to hand the gift directly to Hades, suddenly went “Ah!” and put her hands behind her back.

“Before we have the gift-giving ceremony!”

“Hm?”

“Let’s bring the daffodil pot from the office first.”

Her eyes sparkled like the morning sun.