I've Possessed Persephone - Chapter 57

Persephone, who had screamed, widened her eyes.

The fence was broken, the furrows collapsed, and even the storehouse door had fallen off……

“No, even the ground is dug up?”

The herb garden was also terribly torn up.

After checking the storehouse, farming tools like shovels and hoes were also gone.

A heartbroken Persephone slumped down in place.

Fortunately, the beans had been harvested in advance, or else there would have been even greater damage.

‘What am I going to tell Lord Asclepius?’

The herb garden where stems were growing seemed to have suffered great losses.

For some reason, tears welled up uncontrollably.

She sat down on the border stone of the waterway and hung her head low. Her shoulders trembled and shook.

“Just what kind of bastard……”

Of course, it wasn’t because she was sad, but because she was angry.

Persephone’s voice vibrated mercilessly like an active volcano. She tightly gripped her elbows with both hands.

“……I don’t know what kind of son of a bitch it is, but if I catch them, I’ll grind their bones and drink them.”

Persephone, who had been scrutinizing her surroundings with blazing eyes, suddenly stood up.

“Lady Hemera!”

【Why did you call− Oh my.】

“Did you happen to see who ruined this field?”

Persephone called out to Hemera and asked a question.

【Ah……】

However, there was no answer from Hemera. Instead, only a regretful groan echoed.

She managed to speak with difficulty.

【I’m sorry. I don’t know. It seems this disaster happened at night.】

“At night?”

【Yes. When my mother, Nyx, was spread over the world.】

Then does that mean even Lady Hemera doesn’t know who ruined the field?

There was no other choice.

“I’ll go around and look for a bit!”

She had to ask around and catch the culprit.

* * *

Now even the Underworld had become midsummer, with sunlight quite intense.

Persephone pinched the collar of her clothes near her chest and fanned it.

Since the sun itself hadn’t risen in the sky, it was cooler than on the surface, but it was still hot nonetheless.

“How dare they make me suffer like this, I must kill the culprit with my own hands……”

Muttering like a madwoman, Persephone reached the office.

“Everyone! Emergency situation!”

She shouted as she flung the door open with a bang.

Inside the office were Hydra, Thanatos, and Hades.

Good. All the officials who could hear her complaint were gathered.

“I woke up to find some crazy bastard had ruined the field…… Wait, why are you all acting like that?”

But the atmosphere was strangely odd.

Hydra jumped up in surprise, and Thanatos hurriedly tried to hide the messenger bird they were reading.

Only Hades frowned and gestured for them not to do so.

“What is it! What’s going on!”

Persephone couldn’t stand being left out of the situation.

Her body shot forward like an arrow, and she snatched the messenger bird that Hydra was about to send away again.

“Gotcha!”

Even a messenger bird is somewhat of a living being. It couldn’t help but be drawn to her, the goddess of life.

Persephone smugly curled up the corners of her mouth and opened her hand to read the report submitted by the soldiers.

[There were deep marks dug close to the castle walls as well.] [A corner of the castle wall has collapsed. Flowers have also been torn out.] [The banks of the Acheron River are also damp. ……]

Overall, the news was not much different from what Persephone had experienced.

However, the messenger bird sent by Charon, the ferryman of the Acheron River, had additional content below.

[Judging by the type of divine power, could it be ‘that person’?]

……Who is ‘that person’?

Persephone furrowed her brows and looked at the three.

Strangely, except for Hades, the other two – Hydra and Thanatos – were avoiding her eyes. As if embarrassed.

How much time had passed?

Thanatos broke the silence first with a reluctant tone.

【……Sprout, wasn’t it you who caused the trouble?】

“You suspected me?!”

Persephone’s shout caused the messenger bird to flutter and fly towards the sky.

“No, that, we didn’t suspect……”

“Then are you saying you resented me?”

“No, no! How could we!”

Hydra shook her head vigorously as if it was preposterous.

【Calm down, calm down.】

“How could I−”

【Hydra’s words are not a lie. We didn’t suspect or resent you.】

“……Why?”

Persephone’s voice raised at the end.

Could it be because enough camaraderie had built up to immediately suspect or resent her? Just as Persephone looked at Thanatos with expectant eyes.

【One doesn’t needlessly suspect if the puppy they’re raising might have caused trouble, right?】

He rubbed the back of his neck with a sour expression.

【…….】

“……”

【…….】

“……Ah.”

The heat drained from Persephone’s face.

So Thanatos’ words weren’t saying that they suspected Persephone might be the culprit.

Rather, they had naturally assumed she was the one who caused the incident, but thought, ‘Well, it could happen!’ and immediately considered how to clean up the mess.

She pointed at herself and asked.

“So you’re saying I’m like a son of a, I mean, a puppy?”

【Tsk, no cursing.】

Thanatos inhaled sharply and narrowed his eyes.

【Anyway, is it really not you?】

“That’s right! My field was damaged too!”

【……If that’s the case, this is truly a big problem. You won’t be able to cook.】

Thanatos’ face turned pale.

“……Persephone?”

Finally getting a chance to talk to Persephone, Hades called out to her.

“Calm your excitement and come here quickly. There’s something I need you to confirm.”

He tapped the middle of the document. Looking closely, it was a soldier’s report describing the current situation.

“First, part of the castle wall was destroyed, and the ground was dug up.”

“So?”

“When we examined the destroyed parts, traces of divine power containing life were detected. That divine power was identical to yours.”

Persephone’s strength drained away.

In other words, it was no different from leaving fingerprints.

Pouting her lips like a duck, she turned her head away abruptly.

“……But, it really wasn’t me.”

“I know that.”

Persephone’s eyebrows shot up.

“How can you be so sure? There’s no evidence to prove my innocence?”

“There’s sufficient evidence.”

Hades shook his head calmly.

Could he perhaps know who the culprit is? Hades’ voice, looking straight at her, was strangely resolute.

Persephone, blinking her eyes, lowered her gaze to the document Hades was pointing to again.

“So what I want to know is if there’s anything more you know. Is there anything else you can tell me?”

“No, I really don’t know anything. Except that my field was destroyed in the same way……”

“……I see.”

He seemed like he might ask more, but Hades only gave a simple affirmation. Rising from his seat, he pointed to his subordinates.

“I’ll go take care of the castle wall first. Hydra, Thanatos. You two take charge of Persephone. Understood?”

“Yes.”

【Yes.】

Hades concealed himself in the darkness, holding the documents.

After seeing him off, Persephone whirled around and glared at Thanatos and Hydra. Feeling guilty, they both raised their hands in unison.

【……As I said before, we didn’t suspect you.】

“Of course, we just thought it was Miss Persephone……”

Just as an enraged Persephone was about to approach them, hissing.

Peep.

“……Huh?”

A messenger bird that had made a crying sound perched on top of Persephone’s head.

Soon, letters floated up from that bird.

[Persephone’s shovel, hoe, and grain sacks found.]

These were items obtained from the castle wall.

【Aha, so the sprout really wasn’t the culprit.】

“……Suddenly flattering me?”

【Well, you’re not the type to leave such sloppy evidence trails, are you?】

Thanatos pointed at the messenger bird’s letters while watching Persephone’s reaction.

【Sprout, if it were you, you would have thoroughly hidden any items that could reveal your identity. I believe you’re not such a foolish deity.】

“……That’s true.”

The treatment implying that she would have naturally destroyed evidence was a bit ambiguous, but at least it meant she was that meticulous, so it probably wasn’t meant badly.

Persephone tried to think positively as she rubbed her temples.

‘Wait a minute.’

Come to think of it, are there many creatures that can cause such trouble in one night without even considering the simple concept of ‘destroying evidence’ so blatantly?

No, absolutely not.

‘And even the fence was broken, right?’

Thinking carefully, that was clearly a phenomenon that couldn’t be created by human hands. Unless it was several times larger than a person.

‘Something that doesn’t have the same concept as gods or humans, but is that huge……”

Her head was instantly filled with thoughts. Persephone’s thought process, which had reached its ultimate conclusion, finally arrived at a single conclusion.

The culprit, no, the culprit creature is not a spirit or a deity, but a monster.

And aside from Hydra here, there is only one monster in the Underworld.

“……Cerberus.”

The watchdog of the Underworld.

* * *

Persephone headed towards the entrance of the Underworld where Cerberus would be. Hiding behind a rock, she slightly turned her body to observe Cerberus.

‘Oh, still as handsome but scary-looking as ever.’

A long snout with seemingly tough black fur. And eyes with glinting gazes.

It was sniffing and licking its tongue, perhaps showing affection to the entering souls, but there was dirt on those paws that were scratching the ground.

Just looking at that dirt, there was a texture that could be felt, and Persephone, who had always distinguished soil while tending to her field, could clearly tell.

That was soil from her field.

Thanatos and Hydra, who were hiding together behind a nearby rock, poked their heads out slightly.

“It’s certainly suspicious. Come to think of it, this wasn’t something a human could do, right?”

【That’s right.】

“……But who’s going to ‘communicate’ with Cerberus and how?”

Everyone fell silent.

They looked at each other warily.

Even Persephone, who usually jumped in without thinking of the consequences, couldn’t approach carelessly because she had been attacked under the pretense of playing before.

“Can’t Lord Hades come?”

“Well, we’ve sent a messenger bird already, but… We don’t know when he’ll arrive.”

“……”

Persephone tightly closed her eyes and then opened them.

After a moment of silence, she pushed Thanatos forward.

“……Let’s start with the person who can fight!”

He was the first sacrifice.