The Hero Wants to Renovate the Underworld (Extra Chapter)

The garden of Persephone.

Persephone is the Queen of the Underworld in Greek mythology, the daughter of Demeter and Zeus.

Persephone possesses a garden, located within the Underworld, cultivated specifically for her.

The garden is filled with all manner of strange flowers and exotic grasses, flora unique to the Underworld that would never grow in the mortal realm.

Furthermore, this garden even contains many flowers from the world of the living.

The Underworld generally forbids the presence of mortal life, but there is an exception to every rule, and this is it!

In Greek mythology, the story of Persephone is linked to the cycle of the seasons.

It is said that Persephone was abducted by Hades, the King of the Underworld, and brought to the realm of the dead to become its queen.

During her search for her daughter, her mother Demeter discovered that the earth had become barren, having lost Persephone's care.

In the end, Zeus intervened to mediate, allowing Persephone to return to the mortal realm to reunite with her mother for six months each year; this period constitutes spring and summer.

When Persephone returns to the Underworld, the earth grows cold and desolate, which is autumn and winter.

Thus, in mythology, the garden of Persephone symbolizes the cycle of life and death, as well as the changing of the seasons in the natural world.

Moreover, the current Underworld is truly a place of blackness, a scene of withered, desolate gloom, just as Thaumas had said long ago.

He truly dislikes this interior design style of the Underworld!

As expected, he simply cannot stand things that are too ugly.

He does not harbor delusions of creating a "Garden of Thaumas" in the Underworld; he only needs to bring a miracle to this "dilapidated" realm!

Now then, "Thaumas, are you prepared for how you will persuade Demeter?" Athena asked with curiosity.

?

"Isn't it you, Goddess, who is supposed to help me persuade her?" Thaumas expressed his shock.

"Hmm? Such matters surely require the sincerity of the person involved, and you only asked me to introduce you. Since you've already said it, you cannot be greedy!" Athena said cunningly.

Fine! Very well!

Just you wait, Athena. Don't let me catch an opportunity, or I will certainly humiliate you properly!

For the meager wages you pay, you want to freeload on the labor of Thaumas? You had better be prepared to be overthrown by him!

Sooner or later, he will rise up and become the master!

And so, harboring a mood vastly different from the ease he felt moments ago, Thaumas watched as Athena knocked on the gates of Demeter's temple for him.

Thaumas never doubted the craftsmanship of Hephaestus; temple after temple had long since proven one thing—the God of Smiths was worthy of his title.

However, both Hera and her daughter were currently busy cultivating their relationship, so it wouldn't do to trouble them.

Hermes was unreliable, and currently unreachable; who knew which hero he was off finding amusement with? He couldn't even manage his duties as a messenger, no wonder he was kicked out of the ranks of the major gods.

As for Apollo... he would absolutely not consider that path!

As for the Goddess Nyx, if he truly troubled her, he would really have to submit to Clotho, wouldn't he? Hmm... actually, that might not be so bad! But after all, he had already refused.

In that case, he could only rely on wisdom.

No, wait!

Thaumas thought he had Athena's personality figured out, but now it seemed...

It seemed Thaumas was the one being manipulated.

Could it be? Is wisdom truly this powerful?

It was Thaumas who had underestimated the heroes of the world, and even more so, the Goddess of Wisdom!

Athena looked at Thaumas with a smile, but to Thaumas, this smile looked extremely sinister no matter how he viewed it.

She is not cute at all!

Thaumas was vexed; why did he ever provoke this goddess?

"It is Lady Athena! Greetings, Lady Demeter is already waiting for you in the main hall." A nameless Nymph walked out of the temple to attend to Athena.

Nymphs are minor goddesses in Greek mythology, sometimes translated as spirits or fairies, and are also viewed as a type of sprite.

They haunt forests, fields, springs, and the sea.

They are spirits manifested from nature, generally appearing as beautiful young maidens who love song and dance.

They do not age or fall ill, but they can die.

When they unite with the gods, they can also produce immortal divine offspring.

Many Nymphs are free, while some serve the gods, such as Artemis, Dionysus, Apollo, Hermes, or Pan.

Satyrs (half-human, half-beast forest spirits) often chase Nymphs to revel with them.

Nymphs also once seduced Hylas (the adopted son of Heracles).

These scenes have been depicted by Western painters and have become immortal works of art.

In truth, Ancient Greece originally possessed many indigenous deities.

But after the Second Titanomachy, Atlantis was destroyed, and the remnants of the Greek pantheon drifted near the Aegean Sea.

They occupied this place, and because their true Machine God bodies were essentially scrapped, they transformed into pure conceptual deities, merging with these indigenous gods to give birth to a batch of minor deities and many a Nymph.

Led by this Nymph, Thaumas and Athena soon met the principal herself, the goddess Demeter.

Demeter, is the goddess of agriculture, grain, and harvest in Ancient Greece mythology, and one of the twelve Olympians. In Roman mythology, the deity corresponding to Demeter is the goddess Ceres.

Demeter is the daughter of Cronus and Rhea, the younger sister of Hestia, and the elder sister of Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus; she later bore the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, with Zeus.

Demeter taught humanity how to farm and bestowed vitality upon the earth.

She possesses boundless power, capable of making the land fertile, plants flourish, and crops abundant, or causing the earth to wither, all things to perish, and not a single blade of grass to grow.

She can grant people endless wealth, yet she can also leave them destitute and penniless.

As the goddess of the earth and harvest, her true form is an interstellar supply production ship.

It is also because of the skills this machine brought her, allowing her to continuously produce supplies for the people on the earth, that she was revered as a principal deity.

Even after losing her true Machine God body, she still retains the associated authority, [Thou Art the Abundance of Tilling the Stars], which is her formidable ability.

She has golden hair, with a wheat-shaped ornament inserted on each side of her head, and her hair is braided like ears of wheat.

She is quite beautiful, but Thaumas does not particularly care for this style.

"Athena, why have you come to find me so suddenly today?" Demeter asked curiously.

"Oh, Demeter, it is not I who seek you; this child here, he begged me to introduce him to you." Athena stated the situation directly after exchanging greetings, but then added:

"By the way, this child is a follower of Hera. You must have seen it! He pierced through the Hell Gate and caused Hades to lose face, so he is currently trying to find a way to seek the forgiveness of the King of the Underworld."

"Eh--!! Is this the child Hera has been showing off every day!! I've finally met him! How wonderful! Quick, child, come over here and let me see you, come here!"

Demeter said excitedly.

This is bad, why do I always get the feeling that something terrible is about to happen!