The Hero Has a Plan (Extra Update)

"Child, Hades didn't give you a hard time, did he? If he bullied you, you must tell Mother!

Bullying you is the same as bullying my little Clotho! I will teach him a lesson." Nyx held Thaumas in her arms, speaking with heartache.

"Goddess Nyx, please don't worry. Lord Hades is actually a kind god! Although he looks fierce, he was willing to forgive me after I knelt and admitted my mistake!" Thaumas snuck in a little bit of his own agenda.

"What! He actually made you kneel! How detestable. Why are the younger generation of gods so unreasonable? They aren't even half as cute as my little Clotho!"

Nyx was currently feeling quite dissatisfied with the King of the Underworld.

"It's alright, I've already been forgiven. However, I still need to do something to earn the Underworld King's full pardon!"

Thaumas said this after finishing his little report; he had already forgiven the Underworld King for his cold reception. Now, he only needed to offer a sacrifice to secure the god's forgiveness.

Furthermore, he already had a fairly complete plan in mind.

"Then child, have you thought about how you're going to do it? Do you need Mother to help you?" Nyx caressed Thaumas's head; the youth stayed in the embrace of the Night like a small kitten.

"No need, Goddess Nyx. I am very grateful for your help, but I already have an idea. If the need arises, I will not hesitate to use the power of the Night," Thaumas said softly.

Must say, the embrace of Goddess Nyx is truly warm! It really is just like a mother, taking meticulous care of her child.

It is a warmth I haven't felt in a long time. Does it feel the same in the arms of Goddess Hera?

It is the scent of a mother!

It is truly reassuring.

"By the way, child, didn't Hades only give you seven days? Am I disturbing you right now? Do you need me to say a few words to get him to extend the time?" Nyx suddenly felt worried.

"It's fine, I want to have a good rest today! One day of time isn't too long."

That arrow had drained too much of his spirit, yet Thaumas had still held on until now.

"Mm. Sleep, have a good rest! When you wake up tomorrow morning, you will have to begin the next leg of your journey." Nyx gently rocked Thaumas as if coaxing a baby, lulling him to sleep.

Work hard tomorrow, our great hero!

"Hey~ Griffin! Long time no see. Sorry for making you wait nearby for so many days!"

Griffin rubbed affectionately against Thaumas, just like an old friend reunited after a long separation, its two wings flapping with excitement.

Then it ran into the distance, brought back a horse, threw it at Thaumas's feet, and chirped excitedly.

"Griffin, how many times have I told you? Don't do this! I don't like eating horse meat! Besides, this is all raw; how am I supposed to eat this?" Thaumas looked at Griffin with resentment. He really wanted to crack open its big head to see how it was wired.

But immediately, Griffin shook its head, its wings and claws gesturing excitedly about something.

"What is it! So you wanted me to help you roast the meat! I thought you were giving it to me."

After hearing this, Griffin thought for a moment, then gently patted Thaumas's shoulder with its wing, looking very magnanimous, as if to say, "I'll share some with you once it's roasted!"

"Alright, alright, but you have to come do something with me first!" Thaumas nodded, agreeing to Griffin, and added:

"If we succeed, you go catch the food, I'll do the roasting, and we'll eat together, how about that? It's a little compensation for you staying here all these days."

"Mm--! Mmm-zhi!" Griffin chirped confidently.

"Then it's all up to you! Let's go find Goddess Athena first!" Thaumas laughed.

"No need to look, I've been here the whole time!" Purple hair and golden eyes—it was indeed this goddess!

"Eh, when did Goddess Athena arrive?" Thaumas was a bit surprised.

"Mm?" Griffin blinked its large eyes, also filled with confusion.

"I am the Goddess of Wisdom for heroes, after all! As long as you need me, Thaumas, I will respond. How about it? Isn't that much better than Hera? Do you want to come and switch to the embrace of wisdom?" Athena said suddenly, with a hint of excitement.

"I'm sorry, Goddess Athena. I have already said that I will never betray my own faith!" Thaumas replied.

"Tch! Boring! Then why did you call for me?" Athena was unhappy.

Hm? Then why did you respond to him? You are also a contradictory existence. Thinking about it, you two are actually quite a match.

"Of course, I wanted to ask the Goddess of Wisdom for her help!"

"Mm!" Athena's eyes lit up. "Asking for a god's help comes with a price, you know. You wouldn't be unaware of that, would you?"

"Of course, I will agree to one reasonable request from the Goddess," Thaumas nodded to indicate.

"But you still owe me a tribute!" Athena retorted, though the excitement in her eyes could not be hidden.

The tribute Athena spoke of referred to the price of wisdom guiding a hero forward, though Athena did not want to receive this gift so early.

"But, Goddess of Wisdom, you will still accept this unredeemed gift voucher, won't you? After all, wisdom has already told me the answer," Thaumas said confidently.

"After all, this is another one of my tributes; would you really refuse it?" Thaumas had long since figured out Athena's personality.

"Then, I will accept it. However, after this, you are not allowed to go do other things; you must help me with a favor first!" Athena agreed to Thaumas.

"That goes without saying!" Thaumas replied.

"Then, what do you need me to help you with, child? Speak boldly! I will help you!" Athena said happily.

"I would like to ask you, Goddess, to help me get an audience with Goddess Demeter!" Thaumas proposed this request.

"Hmm, so, what is it you want?" Athena's wisdom had already allowed her to guess.

"That's right, I am going to bring life to the Underworld!"

In this current timeline, it is unclear which link went wrong, resulting in Hades failing to abduct Persephone.

Persephone should be the goddess representing grain seeds, but before marrying Hades, she existed merely as a subordinate deity to Demeter.

As stated in the Commentary on the Heroic Poems, Persephone's brothers—Hermes, Ares, Apollo, and Hephaestus—had all once lain with her; subsequently, Demeter hid her deep in the mountains, isolating her from contact with other gods.

Perhaps this is the reason why certain things have changed.

Legend has it, As Queen of the Underworld, Persephone showed mercy only once.

She was deeply moved by the song of Orpheus and agreed to let him bring his wife, Eurydice, back to the mortal realm.

However, Persephone set a harsh condition: Eurydice must walk behind Orpheus, and Orpheus was forbidden from turning around to look at her even once before they reached the surface.

Orpheus agreed, but just as they were about to return to the world of the living, he could not resist turning back to see if his wife was following him, and as a result, he lost her forever.

But looking at it now, the story of pitying Orpheus is the Hades version, because Hades and Persephone have yet to meet.

Perhaps they have already met, but Hades did not orchestrate the abduction of Persephone as he did in the original.

In other words, The Underworld as it stands now has no garden of Persephone!

This is the opportunity!