episode_0068

Fifteen days have passed since the married women’s hell incident.

A repetition of overtime, leaving work, and going to work.

Even within such a daily routine, it was a happy Friday night on the way home from work.

“Section chief Joy nim, you’re here! Since you’re a great benefactor to our ‘Married Women’s Club,’ we’ll give you half a hell mackerel as a free service too!”

“Take our pomegranate juice too!”

The married women merchants gave me a lot of free services.

As I’m also human, I felt good receiving goodwill, but thinking about the background behind receiving this goodwill truly left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Even if I eat until tomorrow, I won’t be able to finish it all.”

As I was thinking various thoughts, I arrived home, which was full of cacti, before I knew it.

—Chirp! —Chirp! Chirp!

The cacti welcomed me from the front door, and my mood instantly became warm and relaxed.

I should take good care of the cacti this weekend.

“Joy, you’re late.”

“Yes, I had overtime today…Gasp! Melinoye nim!?”

[Goddess of Ghosts – Melinoye] [Perfect and Beautiful Goddess]

Melinoye nim was sitting on the sofa, controlling the TV.

As if it were her own home!

“Melinoye nim. What brings you here? As far as I know, I thought you were under disciplinary confinement.”

“Joy, weren’t you involved in an unpleasant incident with that foreign species elf a fortnight ago? I came first to check on your safety, just in case they might harm you.”

The elf she was referring to was Prince Zagreus’s second wife.

She underwent various investigations regarding the women’s association and the illegal solicitation matter, and even paid a hefty fine.

It must have been a humiliation.

I honestly expected her to retaliate against me afterward, but nothing of the sort happened.

It must be thanks to Nixdoti nim’s influence and the Married Women’s Club.

“Joy, it looks like you noticed I was here and even bought a lot of groceries. That’s good. I haven’t eaten dinner yet either, so we can eat together.”

Dinner with Melinoye nim?

Now that I think about it, I had no memory of ever eating a meal with Melinoye nim.

I had drunk alcohol once.

Was that our first meeting?

My life also became instantly difficult from that moment on.

“Since things turned out this way, I’ll specially demonstrate my cooking skills.”

Melinoye nim put on an apron and showed enthusiasm.

A goddess cooking?

Honestly, it made me uneasy yet also look forward to it.

“Melinoye nim, do you also know how to cook?”

Because I liked Greek and Roman mythology, I was someone who even completed a master’s degree in that field in graduate school.

If only I had money and leisure, I would have wanted to go beyond a doctorate and become a professor.

‘Somehow, it ended up like this, though.’

Anyway, it’s the goddess’s cooking.

For a man like me, it could actually be considered a dream or a fantasy.

“Joy, for a perfect and beautiful goddess, nothing is impossible. I am someone who has been acknowledged as good at cooking. I will show you.”

Melinoye nim plunged her hand into thin air and took out a book.

It was a thick book titled ‘The Goddess’s Standard’.

On the table of contents she opened, a list of items like ‘Goddess Cooking Methods’ and ‘Defense Methods against Evil Mistresses’ was written, which piqued my interest. However, Melinoye nim hid the book behind her back.

“Joy, this is a book written for goddesses. Be careful, because the moment mortals see it, their brains might burn black from knowledge they cannot handle.”

She soon turned on the kitchen stove and started bubbling a pot.

In the meantime, I took a shower, changed clothes, and tidied up my work bag.

‘Since she’s making dinner for me, it’s good because I save time.’

For a single person living a social life like me, you naturally come to prefer cooking for yourself.

Eating out and delivered food weren’t effective for physical recovery.

In that sense, Melinoye nim’s cooking, made with such effort, was honestly humiliating, yet I greatly looked forward to it.

At the same time, my long-forgotten dream also came to mind.

‘My dream was to get a job, get married, and live happily.’

An era of skyrocketing real estate and job scarcity.

In a world where let alone marriage, even dating became something not just anyone could do, dating, getting married, and forming a family was my dream.

In that sense, the current situation might be like a preview of my dream.

‘The problem is that it’s Melinoye nim.’

What’s my complaint about Melinoye nim, you ask?

Honestly, to be frank, Melinoye nim was the prettiest and most beautiful person among all the women I’ve seen.

And that includes all the goddesses.

That’s why it’s a problem.

‘Joy, you mustn’t come to like Melinoye nim, not even a little.’

I am human.

And Melinoye nim is a full goddess.

It means the two are destined not to be together from the very beginning.

Also, I am someone who must escape from this Soul Society and return to the surface world.

If I were to leave even a small lingering attachment behind when departing this land, it might become difficult to leave.

# # #

—Screeech! —Shrieeeek! —Kill me! Kill me!

A bright red, bubbling, boiling hot bath, like lava.

Inside it, chopped-up fish screamed.

“Joy, you like spicy and zesty things, don’t you? I specially made a refreshing and spicy stew for you. I made a lot, so you can enjoy it for a long time.”

A goddess’s cooking indeed far surpassed the common sense of humans like me.

A spicy stew of twisted nightmares.

I took a bite of it, and unexpectedly, it tastes good?

That’s a lie.

It was so unappetizing that it made me frown.

“Melinoye nim, I heard you were acknowledged as a good cook. Exactly by whom were you acknowledged?”

“Well, of course, I received it from my father, the Chairman, who is the culinary authority of this Soul Society. The Chairman acknowledged my food as a great delicacy. By the way, my cooking isn’t something just anyone can taste.”

Thus began the mealtime.

Melinoye nim picked up a spoon and elegantly took a mouthful of broth.

“Hmm, although it’s food I made, it’s truly delicious.”

Is her sense of taste strange?

Of course, such disrespectful thoughts shouldn’t be had.

If I honestly said it was unappetizing, I felt like I would be disintegrated, so I had no choice but to put all of the bubbling, boiling food into my stomach.

Watching me like that, Melinoye nim was wiggling her fingers.

“It seems to suit your taste, which is a relief. Actually, it was my first time making a dish with this much chili powder, so although it was just a little, I couldn’t know what it would taste like. Of course, I was confident, though.”

“Cough, I see.”

“Joy, I hear people in your hometown like such bright red and spicy things, don’t they? Now that I think about it, I’ve heard little about what kind of person you were on the surface world. Or how you somehow came to write a thesis about nymphs.”

“That…”

I recalled an old memory.

The reason I came to write a thesis about nymphs.

The reason I chose Greek mythology as my major.

Perhaps it was the fundamental cause of why I got a job at “Happy World” and came to suffer such hardships.

“On my seventh birthday, my father once gave me a book as a gift.”

It was a comic book version of ‘Greek Mythology.’

It was a comic book drawn to appeal to children, and the moment I saw one volume, I completely fell in love with it.

When children my age were fixated on things like dinosaurs or cars, I became fixated on the gods, heroes, and monsters in Greek mythology.

“So, how is the surface world? Do stars really twinkle so high up that you can’t even touch them? I heard mortals even launch huge metal objects into space.”

Melinoye nim seemed to have many questions about the surface world.

“Melinoye nim, have you never been to the surface world?”

“I’ve only lived in this Soul Society continuously from birth until now.”

—Swish.

Melinoye nim now stood by the window and looked up at the ceiling of the underworld.

The lapis lazuli, carnelian, and adamantine lightbulbs embedded in the Soul Society’s ceiling twinkled like stars, but.

Melinoye nim was wistfully looking at it with eyes burning like a gentle campfire.

“Those jewel stars were embedded by Daedalus, the head of the facilities team, following the shape of the sky. But I cannot know if they truly twinkle like real stars.”

“If you’re curious, it might be good to go out and see for yourself.”

As for me, because I am a mere employee, outings to the surface world are forbidden, but.

Melinoye nim was an executive and a princess.

Wouldn’t it be okay for her to go out at least once?

Perhaps I might even be able to go out to the surface world by following Melinoye nim, you know.

But Melinoye nim shook her head.

“When my father took office as Chairman, Nyx nim and Erebus transferred their authority on the condition that my father would be bound to the underworld. Therefore, their descendants, Zagreus and I, also became bound to this underworld.”

Is that so.

So to speak, by being bound to the underworld and becoming a complete god of the underworld, the Chairman was acknowledged by the primordial beings for his legitimacy and right to rule.

And that binding spell was extended to their children, Prince Zagreus and Princess Melinoye, as well.

For that reason, Melinoye nim couldn’t follow when Persephone nim returned to her parents’ home.

“Then, Joy, since it’s late, spread out the bedding.”

Wait.

“By any chance, are you staying the night at my place today…!?”

“It’s late, isn’t it? Those rebel fellows might be lurking anywhere at any time, so even for me, roaming the streets at such a late hour is dangerous.”

“That’s true, but Melinoye nim! Couldn’t it become a great blemish for someone aiming for the CEO position to stay over at an employee’s house…?”

“I am a perfect goddess. Since I wasn’t seen by anyone while coming here, no one will know I’m here. Also, I left a ‘ghost clone’ in my temple.”

“A ghost clone?”

“It’s a new divine power I acquired as my stake exceeded 15 percent. I can gather ghosts and create a clone that looks exactly like me. Like this.”

—Round and round.

After summoning a ghost, Melinoye nim molded it here and there with her hands to create her own form.

Its size was small like a doll.

“Master nim! I am Melinoye!”

“This one is Mini Melinoye. If you gather more ghosts, its size gets bigger and its intelligence also goes up. Now, Mini Melinoye, go spread out the bedding and take out the pillow.”

The honey-like rest of a burning Friday instantly became a nightmare.

# # #

“Ahem.”

The CEO, too fearful to even call by name, cleared his throat in front of a certain door.

He didn’t even fear lightning, but for some reason, he felt nervous when he stood in front of this door.

“Melly, I have something to say, may I come in? It’s been a fortnight since you received disciplinary confinement for fighting with your sister-in-law. I’d like to talk about future matters soon.”

—Creak.

As he opened the door, his daughter Melinoye was sitting on a chair.

The CEO, Hades, gulped as he saw that sight.

‘When she’s angry, her expression is just like her mother’s! Blood doesn’t lie, does it!’

He had to quickly appease her anger.

Otherwise, there’s no telling if something ter-ri-ble might happen.

So the Chairman held out the box he had hidden behind his back to the princess.

“This is a special honey candy made with Bashkir honey from the surface world. Of course, I know you don’t like honey candy at all, but since I have no particular place to put it, I was thinking of leaving it here—”

—A quick glance.

The Chairman, who read the mood.

Soon, his daughter, who had seemed extremely angry, reached out her hand to the candy box and began rapidly putting the candies inside into her mouth.

‘There! It’s done! Her anger has subsided! But something’s a bit strange. My daughter never shows herself eating candy in front of others, does she? Because…’

The Chairman’s daughter, Melinoye, was a nymph.

However, she herself did not acknowledge that fact and disliked it.

‘Was it because she thought the reason she lost in the succession struggle with her older brother Zagreus was due to her being a nymph and not a complete goddess?’

The sight of such a daughter devouring candy.

It was when he felt it was extremely suspicious.

—Whoosh whoosh…! —Whoosh whoosh…! —Whoosh whoosh…!

He wondered if his daughter was making a strange sound, and then.

Wasn’t she transforming into countless ghost particles, as if a cotton doll was scattering?

Seeing that sight, the Chairman’s anger flared up completely.

“Melly, you deceived me! To think you would use a trick only your brother would! Did you get bad influences from Zagreus? No, this isn’t that Zagreus fellow!”

The place Melinoye, who was under disciplinary confinement, would go.

Flames fiercely flared up in the Chairman’s gaze, as he thought there was only one place she would go.