The underground prison of Tartarus is especially dark and vast. This is because it houses prisoners who have received various punishments.

“Who’s that guy over there, bound to the burning wheel with his limbs spinning around?”

“Ah, he’s bound there for the crime of trying to forcibly take the queen of the gods.”

“We should cut it off.”

One scream.

“Then what about that guy tied up over there, having his guts pecked out by birds? It’s not Prometheus, is it?”

“No. That one was released, and this one… has the crime of trying to forcibly take the mother of the sibling gods Apollo and Artemis.”

“Let’s cut it.”

Two screams.

Sisyphus shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

‘This damn thing… is tourism?’

In the first place, where are there tourists who would tour the underground prison of Tartarus…!

“Who else should we cut?”

“Ah, then could you also cut off a bit of that guy driving the chariot over there?”

“Isn’t he your brother? No favoritism.”

“Aw…”

Sisyphus had hoped they could cut off his hated brother’s thing too, but unfortunately this wish alone could not be fulfilled.

Iasion, wiping the blood off his sickle, looked around with an air of intrigue.

“Hmm, but do they all possess physical bodies? They seem to be in a lot of pain.”

“Eh- yes. That’s the very principle of how they suffer for eternity.”

The huge sickle with a sharp blade seemed to resemble the weapon Cronus used to castrate his own father.

Sisyphus gulped and stammered a reply.

“The other souls who only have spirits are in the Asphodel Meadows, the outer region here, and are doing much better.”

“Well, but if you only have a soul, you can’t properly feel sensations and it would be boring.”

“Well… but the essence of our life is the soul. Memories and the self reside in the soul too.”

Sisyphus shook his head.

“Of course, the harmony of body and soul is important, but prisoners of Tartarus can’t be granted such a thing, right? For the prisoners, the body is merely a medium for the soul to suffer.”

“Hmm…”

“Yeah, there happens to be one more guy around here besides me that this principle could be applied to…”

Near here was a piece of trash who had tried to feed his own son’s flesh to the gods – I won’t bother remembering his name, so let’s just call him ‘trash’.

The enraged gods imprisoned him in a pool, forever unable to drink its water, and made him gaze at the fruit tree-filled sky, but never able to reach the branches for eternity.

He had received a punishment of devoting his whole life to something unattainable, just like Sisyphus himself.

After walking for some time, they soon arrived at the pond where that trash was immersing his body.

Persephone, unable to contain her curiosity, leaped out first, and Iasion followed after his daughter. Sisyphus shouted.

“Wait, don’t get too close…!”

At that moment, the trash, who had been as black as a corpse, raised his head at the loud voice.

“Those gods, as beautiful as the setting sun…?”

His voice was terribly cracked from being unable to drink water, his skin clinging to his bones.

Sisyphus frowned at the gruesome sight.

Seeing other people for the first time in a while, he was saying something to the farmer’s mother and daughter, but it was all nonsense.

The conclusion was that he wanted them to pick the fruit hanging above him and scoop up the water below to let him eat and drink.

Sisyphus tried to dissuade them, saying there was no need, but Persephone shook her head and Iasion calmly raised a hand.

“Hmm, okay. I’ll pick it for you.”

It was Iasion who broke off the branch with the fruit…

He stabbed the trash’s finger with the sharp end of the broken branch.

“Argh!”

When a protest was heard at the end of the scream, as if asking what he was doing, Iasion brazenly retorted.

“I picked it for you, didn’t I? Your finger.”

He broke the branch once more, shaking the fruit part onto his own palm.

Examining the ripe, red fruit, he gulped with regret.

“Is this delicious? I can’t eat it though…”

“Shall I eat it for you?”

It was Persephone’s fingers that grasped the red fruit. She chewed and swallowed the fruit right in front of the trash.

“Mmm, delicious!”

…For the first time, I was worried the trash’s brain vessels might burst.

Next, the trash spoke again. This time, it seemed he was asking them to bring him water…

Persephone, every time she scooped up water, put on an unbelievable act of “Oops, my mistake!” “Ah, it’s cold!” “Eek, a bug!”

“Huh? I did bring it to you. The water absorbed into the ground will ‘bring’ moisture to the small lake below you.”

Then, pointing at the dampened soil, she told the dejected trash.

Sisyphus gazed at the very similar mother and daughter with hazy eyes.

“What are you looking at.”

“Why are you doing this?”

…They’re crazy as a pair.

* * *

Sisyphus, who had given them a tour of Tartarus, came out to the underworld, inspected the fields, and immediately fled.

By the time Persephone brought the fish trap threaded with Nyx’s hair net, not even a whisker of Sisyphus could be seen.

“He refused the meal too? Is he ill somewhere?”

Persephone moved Sisyphus’s portion that she had prepared in advance onto her own tray.

Unfortunately, Iasion could not stay in the underworld, so he could not eat Persephone’s cooking.

The only thing perhaps edible was the buttered bread.

The butter was made from goat’s milk Hermes had procured from the surface, and the grains except for beans were also still purchased from what the humans on the surface had grown.

Persephone reluctantly passed a slightly cooled lump of bread to Iasion.

He carefully brushed the golden brown, cross-split surface of the bread, then took a fairly large bite and swallowed.

Soon, Iasion slowly nodded his head.

“…It’s fluffy and delicious.”

“Right?”

“Did you make it?”

“Yes!”

Iasion compared the flat, rough lumps of wheat flour he had been eating while living as a wanderer on the surface with the soft bread his daughter claimed to have made.

‘Out of so many things, she became good at cooking. I’m glad to know that now at least.’

With such thoughts, Iasion imagined his wife and daughter bustling about in a cozy house without him.

But for some reason.

The only thing that comes to mind is Demeter’s tearful face when he last saw her.

The god of agriculture, who had become an ill-fitting wanderer, could only munch on the bread for a long time like a sheep grazing grass.

He tore the bread and let out a hollow laugh.

“The ones I ate on the surface were hard, but this seems to be chewed up quickly without hurting my teeth.”

“You sound like an old man.”

“If you include my time as a constellation, I’m older than His Majesty the King of the Underworld, so I am indeed an old man.”

Meanwhile, Persephone couldn’t take her eyes off her father, who had been showing curious appearances and words all day since meeting him today.

‘The eye color is definitely different, but looking closely, the eye shape and features are similar.’

Between the bread, she had put a fragrant filling of olive oil, vinegar, and herbs mixed with fish meat, but at this moment, Persephone was observing the god who was her biological father rather than tasting the food.

‘Do I resemble my father?’

Wiping her mouth, Persephone flipped over the fish trap and asked.

“By the way, are you good at cooking?”

“Not as good as your mother.”

“As good as me?”

“I don’t know since I haven’t spent much time with you.”

“Do you know how to dress a fish?”

“…”

“I can do it.”

Iasion brushed the crumbs off his hands and gestured as if asking for a knife.

He struck the heads of the vigorously flapping fish with the handle of the knife.

Iasion, who removed the scales, guts, and fins of the unconscious fish, skewered the food on branches and placed it over the campfire.

After cooking the fish thoroughly, he handed the grilled fish to Persephone after letting it cool in the wind.

“Eat.”

“Oh…”

“What, did you think I couldn’t do it?”

“No way. You’re someone who looks like royalty but even commits theft.”

“…My brother was indeed the first king of a certain region.”

Persephone exclaimed, “Then I’ll eat well!” and eagerly tore into the fish.

Since it was given by her kind and handsome father whom she met for the first time, she cleanly picked the bones, leaving no flesh behind. Just as she was about to finish…

“…You’re living well.”

Shading the sunlight falling on Elysium with his hand, he murmured softly.

“Making nets like this, catching and grilling fish to eat. Cooking, taming prisoners. Very capable.”

Persephone, who had spit out a fish bone, blinked for a moment before speaking.

“If you meet Mom again, could you tell her that I’m doing well in the underworld, boldly taking charge?”

Iasion’s gaze fell upon her. She smiled, bending her eyebrows.

“She’s very worried because of the prophecy. Although I’m conquering the underworld in my own way, she used to fret over me a lot…”

“…”

“It’s not that you can’t meet her, right?”

Iasion, who had been silently looking at her, smiled weakly.

“Hmm, if I send news, it will be revealed that I came to the underworld too. Is that okay?”

“Gasp…! That’s right!”

“Either way, your mother will try to usurp the throne of the underworld, so let’s keep this as a memory between us.”

Persephone imagined Demeter throwing a fit and jumping up and down in her mind. She couldn’t help but laugh.

“Pfft…”

At that moment, laughter erupted from beside her.

Persephone stared at Iasion covering his mouth with round eyes. For a moment, her father glancing at her was captured in her view.

‘Did Father also think of Mom rampaging?’

She couldn’t miss this opportunity. Persephone hastily crossed her eyes, making them meet in the middle.

“Ack!”

Iasion finally yielded to his daughter’s facial attack.

Bending over, he held his stomach with his arms and chuckled.

They say laughter is contagious. As Iasion kept laughing, Persephone also smiled, giggling.

Before long, Persephone’s shoulders were also shaking.

Iasion shook his head side to side.

“Ah, we shouldn’t laugh. Your mother is just worrying about us.”

“So what. When Mom comes down, Hades will be at a loss, so if anything, just imagine the chase between the earth goddess and the king of the underworld.”

“Ahahaha!”

Iasion, bursting into laughter, even clapped his hands.

They laughed together until their solar plexus hurt. There was no need to mind anyone, so the laughter came out refreshingly.

Around the time Persephone wiped her tears, Iasion, who had finished laughing first, pressed on his ribs.

Clearing his throat with a cough, he asked.

“Hmm, then have you ever felt frustrated because of your mother’s attitude?”

“Not really these days.”

Persephone shook her head.

“She nags a bit, but I understand since I know the prophecy.”

“…”

“Why are you asking that again?”

“…No, I was going to tell you in case you were frustrated because you couldn’t understand your mother. It seems there’s a separate reason why your mother is so extreme.”

“You mean it’s not simply the prophecy that’s the problem?”

This was a story she was hearing for the first time.

Persephone gestured, poking the campfire.

“Tell me.”

“Really?”

“I’m curious.”

“…It’s a dark story though.”

“I don’t mind.”

Just as people have bright sides, they also have dark sides. Let alone the world where people gather.

She shrugged as if it didn’t matter either way.

Swallowing dryly, Iasion’s eyes settled somewhere in the forest.

“Before you were born, we had two sons, one of whom lived out his lifespan and became a constellation.”

“…”

“But the other one…”

Iasion licked his lips with his tongue.

“He died even though he could have lived long.”

Persephone’s hand stopped.

“He died… before the prophecy was made, right?”

Iasion nodded at her question.

“That’s right. I was human before becoming a constellation, so I died before my son and don’t know the details. But your mother…”

“She would have directly witnessed the death of her son, no, my older brother, so she’s paying a lot of attention.”

Persephone, thinking she should treat her mother better when she returns, carefully asked.

“So, what kind of person was my deceased older brother?”

“He was kind and gentle.”

“How much?”

“To the point where he was called ‘Wealth’ because he was said to be abundantly endowed with virtue.”

“…What was his name?”

Iasion answered.

“Plutus.”

One of Persephone’s eyebrows arched up.