‘No, actually, even if it’s properly translated, it’s still problematic.’

Perhaps Cerberus had gone mad from guarding the same place for so long.

Even if Hades himself was accustomed to staying in one place as the lord of the underworld, there was no reason his companion dog should be the same.

It was even more chilling that the three heads spoke in turn. Just as he was about to stroke the middle head’s neck.

“Man. Don’t like.”

Cerberus swiftly dodged Hades’ touch.

“… Ah, okay. I’ll pet somewhere else.”

Blinking his eyes, Hades moved his hand to the right head this time.

“Neck. Uncomfortable.”

… This time he raised his arm to the left head.

“Don’t touch.”

Crumble…

A corner of Hades’ heart shattered after being rejected three times in a row.

“Persephone, do you hear something crumbling? Is there an earthquake?”

“Isn’t that the sound of Lord Hades’ heart breaking?”

Hades staggered in place.

It was his limit to try not to sit down pathetically. In his mind, Cerberus’ “Don’t touch” played on an infinite loop…

“… Sigh.”

And what supported Hades was Persephone, who had followed him like a puppy.

Holding Hades’ lower back, she glanced at Cerberus.

‘Surely… he had his neck strangled by Heracles before, right?’

In the original myth, Cerberus was once strangled by Heracles, the hero of the world and son of Zeus, and taken to the surface.

If he had a similar experience, it would be difficult to offer his neck easily.

She nudged Hades’ side.

“Lord Hades.”

As if only then coming to his senses, Hades sprang up from Persephone’s arms like someone splashed with cold water.

“Why did you call?”

“You once told Heracles, who came to complete his labor, to take Cerberus away for a while, right?”

“… I did.”

Hades straightened his posture and looked at the ground with a guilty expression. He continued in a gloomy voice.

“But I only said he could take him for a walk as long as it was fine, just to get him out of the underworld for now.”

“…”

“But that damned fellow must have strangled his neck or something…”

Indeed, it was the doing of the one written as the hero of the world but read as the greatest destroyer in Greek and Roman mythology.

“Well, I thought it was unlikely that the guardian dog of the underworld would allow himself to be walked by a stranger’s hand without any connection…”

Hades groaned and rubbed his face.

“… I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

Persephone silently clicked her tongue.

‘Lord Hades is blaming himself, and Lord Asclepius is keeping his distance in advance…’

Then the only one who could solve this problem was herself.

Persephone approached Cerberus.

Cerberus’ ears, which had been drooping like its owner’s, perked up like a rabbit’s.

Just as Persephone smiled broadly at the somewhat cute sight and opened her arms.

“You. Mine.”

Cerberus bumped Persephone with his nose.

“What did you say?”

“What’s mine is mine. What’s yours is mine too.”

“…”

What’s with this guy?

‘He already understands how the world works?’

Persephone’s eyes narrowed.

“… Is that so?”

She grinned and took out a glass bottle from her bosom.

It was the medicine left over after feeding Cerberus.

“I’ve been taking some medicine, you know.”

“…”

“Then Cerberus will eat this too, right?”

She opened the glass bottle and approached Cerberus.

“Really don’t like it.”

“…”

“If you feed me that, I’ll hate you.”

This guy, suddenly speaking so well?

‘If I handle this right, the conversation might go quickly…’

After pondering for a moment, Persephone decided to be direct.

“… You’re the one who ruined the field, right?”

“Field?”

“The square-shaped land, with plants all packed together inside that square. Where you dug up the ground.”

“…”

Cerberus’ eyes rolled to one corner, showing the whites. It was typical of a guilty dog.

“Don’t ruin the field.”

“…”

“And don’t touch that place over there with the high pile of stones either.”

“Woo woo…”

“And don’t pretend you don’t understand and make dog noises.”

“Whimper…”

Cerberus scratched the ground with his claws.

How long had she waited for an answer from him?

Finally, Cerberus plopped down in place.

“Sorry…”

“You won’t do it again, right?”

“Yeah…”

Persephone’s stern expression instantly softened.

She grabbed Hades’ arm, which had gone limp like a squid, and rubbed his hand on Cerberus’ muzzle.

“That’s right, that’s right. Our Cerberus, good dog, good dog.”

The situation seemed to be resolved like that.

* * *

Hades thought. Thanks to Persephone, Cerberus was also soothed, so today was a cool day when work could be done comfortably.

“What’s wrong?”

Until he received urgent news from Thanatos.

Maybe the fortunate thing is that he seems to know where the fellow ran off to.

When Hades, who had been traversing space riding the darkness, emerged from the ground again, it was when he reached Persephone’s domain.

“… Cerberus! Come here!”

Hades’ eyes caught the sight of Cerberus playing with Persephone.

‘He’s running around quite well.’

He leaned against a nearby tree with his arms firmly crossed.

Hades’ gaze wandered to the storehouse, then lingered on the field still full of life despite the harvest being gathered.

‘Hydra is here too.’

Hydra was munching on food with vegetables and meat sandwiched in bread while looking at the plants near the field.

But Persephone seemed to have already finished breakfast, training Cerberus by throwing the broken shovel handle far away.

“Fetch!”

Just as he thought that Persephone was really good at taming animals as expected, and that he would have no regrets if she just smiled brightly like that.

‘No, this isn’t right!’

Hades shook his head and slapped his own cheek.

At the quite loud cracking sound, two pairs of eyes turned towards Hades. He cleared his throat and emerged from the shade like smoke.

“What are you doing, Persephone? With Cerberus.”

“Ah…”

Persephone’s voice trailed off as she spotted Hades.

Cerberus, too, seemed startled to see Hades, shaking his ears with a flutter.

Even more ridiculous, he didn’t stop there but hid behind Persephone with a whimper!

Hydra, who had been eating breakfast, also hid behind Cerberus. Like brother and sister, they resembled each other in unnecessary ways.

“… I, I’m sorry.”

Meanwhile, Persephone, who had been watching the eye contact between Hades and Cerberus, scratched the back of her head.

She rubbed Cerberus’ snout as he whined.

“But he kept coming to my field. Does he like me?”

“… Hydra, is that true?”

“Ahaha…”

Hydra just laughed without answering, but enough context was conveyed.

‘So Cerberus is the problem, is that it.’

Cerberus was not only his companion dog, but also an honorary assistant and the guardian dog of the underworld.

He was clearly different from ordinary human dogs in that he bore responsibilities and had the ability to fulfill those duties sufficiently.

“Do you still have any of that medicine Asclepius made back then?”

“Ah, yes. I do, but…”

“How about feeding it to him?”

Persephone’s eyes clouded with doubt. Hades explained.

“No, you did warn him not to destroy the walls or fields back then, but thinking about it now, I don’t think we completely solved the problem.”

“What’s the problem?”

“We didn’t ask ‘why he destroyed them’.”

Persephone covered her mouth with a gasp.

‘That’s right, we didn’t ask about his motivation!’

If you don’t know why it happened, you haven’t rooted out the problem.

Understanding this, Persephone quickly brought the medicine and sprinkled it on the raw meat that was Cerberus’ treat.

Hades, who was scratching Cerberus’ ears, carefully observed the creature’s demeanor.

“… Cerberus.”

“…”

“You understand what I’m saying, right?”

Cerberus had his head turned away from Hades, but his ears were open as if listening to his voice.

“Last time you turned the underworld upside down, and now you’re playing with our guest.”

“…”

“I know it’s fun to play, but I heard the soldiers on the wall play with you every day.”

“…”

“Can you tell me why you came all the way to this deep place?”

Persephone and Hydra watched the guardian and his companion dog with anxious eyes.

After enough time had passed to take ten deep breaths, Cerberus opened his mouth.

“… Plutus.”

Hades’ face hardened.

Cerberus’ eyes gently turned towards Hades.

“Miss him.”

“…”

“When is he coming back?”