SDM 8

Chapter 8. Day 250 — First Protein (2)

As I climbed the hill with Thanatos, I found myself wondering about a few things, so I spoke to her.

“By the way, Lady Grim Reaper—”

“Call me Tana. I don’t particularly like that title.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. No one in the world likes death, after all.”

Tana grumbled as she stuck out her lower lip.

“Then, Tana-nim. Do you collect the souls of every single human whose name is written in the ledger every day?”

“That is correct.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure I understand, but there are a great many people who die every day, aren’t there? Wouldn’t that be an enormous amount of work if you had to visit every single one?”

“Oh? How did you know that?”

“The world is vast.”

“Most people don’t think about how vast the world is. Most humans spend their entire lives farming and making things in the polis where they were born. You really are special, Sisyphus.”

Tana giggled happily.

“Your guess is correct. I cannot personally collect every dead soul. If there is no problem, the soul naturally seeps underground and is guided to the Underworld.”

“Only deaths that cause problems are written in the ledger?”

“Hmm. I only collect souls whose deaths carry the risk of disrupting fate. The more resentment and injustice they carry, the more likely they are to refuse to go to the Underworld.”

“Then I suppose you could say that you resolve the grudges of unjustly deceased spirits.”

“Mwahaha! It is an important duty Father entrusted to me. If such souls are left alone, they can become evil spirits or monsters, so I must find them and send them away as quickly as possible.”

From that conversation, I realized that the Grim Reaper’s role was somewhat different from what I had previously imagined.

The time of a person’s death was predetermined by fate.

Tana wasn’t some terrifying being who personally brought about death.

Using her ability to communicate with souls, she prevented monsters from being born in advance.

In a way, her role was actually similar to that of a hero.

She might not be so bad after all.

I had been consumed by my hatred of gods for quite some time, but Tana belonged to a different lineage from the Olympians.

I decided to change my approach a little.

When I had brought her up here, I had intended to deceive her and send her away.

But perhaps it would be better to win her over and make her an ally.

“Tana-nim, you said the fairies receive prophecies from the Goddesses of Fate and write the names in the ledger. And the Goddesses of Fate tell them about deaths that could lead to monsters being born.”

“That is correct.”

“Then the names of Alcyone and Anticleia are strange. Neither of them has died yet, nor are they suffering from any fatal illness. I can say that with certainty. They aren’t the kind of girls who would die harboring resentment, either.”

“Is that really true? Then why are their names written in the ledger?”

I gently rubbed my fingers over the writing in the ledger.

The names of the two girls smudged.

“As you can see, unlike the other writing, there are traces showing that these names were added recently.”

“……Now that I look at it, even the ink is different.”

“If you look at the back of the paper, you can see that the pressure from the writing was so strong that this section is raised. Whoever wrote these names must have used a bone pen rather than the leaf pens used by the fairies.”

“Are you saying someone tricked me into killing innocent humans?”

Tana realized that something was wrong, and her expression became fierce.

For that moment, she truly possessed the intimidating presence of a Grim Reaper who passed judgment upon death.

“I wouldn’t necessarily put it that way, but…”

“No. You are right, Sisyphus. There are several more names at the front of the ledger that were written over in the same manner.”

Tana bit her lower lip with a dejected expression.

“How did I not notice this sooner? I took humans whose lifespans had not even ended yet.”

“It isn’t your fault, Tana-nim.”

“It is my fault. Father often warned me. We who operate at night have poorer vision than others, so we must keep our eyes open even wider.”

Tana sighed briefly before tightening her grip on the ledger, crumpling it in her hand.

“Yes. There is only one person who could have deceived me like this.”

“Who is that?”

“Hades, the lord of the Underworld. There is no one else who could have pulled a trick like this.”

“The reason is obvious.”

“What is it?”

“Look at the names that were forged. A princess from one kingdom, a lake nymph… They are all beautiful women.”

“Beautiful women?!”

“And according to the rumors, I understand that the god of the Underworld even abducted his wife, Persephone, and brought her into the Underworld.”

“Th-That is undoubtedly true.”

“Tana-nim, do you know what humans usually call someone who commits outrageous acts without thinking because of women?”

“What do they call him?”

“A womanizer.”

“A womanizer?”

“It means a bastard who’s crazy about women.”

“GRAAAAH…!”

At last, Tana seemed to understand.

Her eyes filled with fury.

“I will never forgive him! How dare he use me for his own desires! Those Olympians are always like this. They always do whatever they please. The gods of the Golden Age had far more dignity.”

Tana hopped up and down on the spot, overcome with anger.

The Golden Age she referred to was the period when the gods of nature, including Thanatos’s father, Nyx, the god of night, created the world and entrusted its management to the Titans.

The Twelve Olympians seized power during the Golden Age, ushering in what was known as the Silver Age.

The current era was called the Bronze Age, as humanity had multiplied and developed bronze for practical use.

“I have made an important decision, Sisyphus.”

“What decision would that be?”

“From this moment on, I shall no longer serve that woman-crazy bastard Hades. Father would not want me to use my powers like this, either. Let him collect the souls himself.”

Tana dropped her scythe to the ground and crossed her arms, huffing angrily.

Thanks to that, the immediate threat to the two girls had been resolved.

“I think you made the right decision.”

Tana puffed out her cheeks and snorted proudly.

“But if souls stop coming to the Underworld, won’t the god of the Underworld find it strange?”

“That bastard already owes me a great deal. Since things have come to this, I’ll collect interest on the debt as well. He has no choice but to meet my demands. I’ll handle it myself, so don’t worry.”

From what I heard, Hades had been running the Underworld rather incompetently and had accumulated numerous problems.

Now that the ledger tampering had been discovered, Tana intended to use the opportunity to demand that Hades fix every problem in the Underworld.

“Come to think of it, Sisyphus, where were you headed?”

“Perfect timing.”

We had just reached our destination.

A ranch filled with cattle.

This was the place I had intended to bring her.

“There are no people here. Only cows.”

“Look over here.”

I jumped over the fence.

Tana was too short to climb over it, so she grabbed onto the fence and struggled. I slipped my hands under her arms and lifted her over.

“Do you see those two cows over there? Their names are Alcyone and Anticleia, respectively. They even have name tags.”

“They really do?”

“Yes. They gave themselves those names as a joke when they were young.”

“But what does this have to do with anything?”

“There’s no rule saying that only human names have to be written in the ledger, is there?”

Tana understood what I meant and let out a wicked little giggle.

“What a splendid plan, Sisyphus. I can already imagine Hades’s face when he receives those magnificent female cows.”

With that, Tana drew something on the cows’ bodies.

A sparkling purple substance spread from her fingertips.

It looked like liquid, but it didn’t flow downward.

So this is mana.

She drew a circle and filled it with all sorts of complicated shapes.

Then—

Flash!

A brilliant light burst forth.

It was the first time I had ever witnessed magic right before my eyes.

—Thud!

The next moment, the two cows were lying dead with their tongues hanging out, and ominous smoke drifted from their mouths.

Tana muttered something under her breath, and the two bodies sank straight into the ground.

Had their souls returned to the Underworld?

“That concludes my business in Corinth. I have completed my duties. Whatever complaint he makes, it is Hades’s fault. This should serve as a warning.”

“What will you do if Hades refuses to accept it?”

“Mwahaha! That would be simple.”

Tana bared her teeth and grinned.

“War.”

Then her expression quickly softened, and she turned toward me, hopping excitedly.

“This is finally a vacation! Sisyphus, may I stay here until Hades sends me a reply apologizing?”

“You want to stay in Corinth?”

“Ah, well… If you don’t want me here, I shall leave. No city welcomes a Grim Reaper, after all. I understand.”

As though she had remembered an unpleasant memory, Tana immediately became dejected and let her hair droop.

Since Tana was surprisingly easy to reason with, she had helped me avoid an unjust situation, and I had begun to feel a little sympathy for her.

Pat, pat.

Tana’s twin braids sprang straight up.

“Our Corinth is famous for its hospitality industry. We have plenty of rooms available, so why don’t you stay for a while?”

“R-Really?”

“Of course. There will even be fireworks at tomorrow’s festival. Would you like to watch them with us?”

“Fireworks!”

Stars sparkled in Tana’s eyes.

“Sisyphus, you really are a wonderful human! I like you. I shall even grant you the special privilege of stroking my soul.”

Whoosh.

Thanatos lifted her robe, revealing her chubby lower belly.

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t have to be shy. Here, touch it.”

“Your belly button?”

“That is correct. The navel is the passage through which the soul enters the body at birth. It allows one to clearly perceive the shape of a soul. I only allow people I am truly close to touch it. Go ahead and reach out.”

“I’ll save that for another time. I don’t want the citizens to get any strange ideas.”

A passing farm manager had spotted Tana and me from a distance and was standing there with his mouth hanging open.

“More importantly, we have some beef for the first time in a while. Would you like to join us for dinner?”

“I wholeheartedly agree. There is no god anywhere who dislikes meat!”

And so, I invited Tana to my estate, and we had dinner together.

There was plenty of meat, so the entire family, along with the servants, ate their fill.

“That meat we ate back then was delicious.”

After countless hours of practicing headbutts against the image of Hades in my mind, I pushed Wilson back up to the fourth floor.

—Rustle.

The water deer was hiding in the grass, waiting for me to come up with Wilson.

“Let’s have another go, water deer. No… Mr. Water Deer.”

I was still weaker than the water deer.

So, out of respect, I decided to address it politely.

Rrrr…

The moment I pushed Wilson upward—

—Tap!

Mr. Water Deer charged out.

Fifty meters.

Thirty meters.

Twenty meters.

Now!

Tap!

I pushed Wilson aside and put all my weight into the soles of my feet.

My gastrocnemius muscles, contracted to their absolute limit, exploded with power and generated tremendous forward momentum.

“Hup!”

[The skill ‘Headbutt’ activates.]

Whoooosh—BOOM!!

A heavy impact reverberated through my shoulder.

After several long months, I had finally caught up to Mr. Water Deer’s speed.

“I did it…! Meat! It’s meat!!”

Mr. Water Deer was knocked unconscious by the single blow and collapsed onto the ground.

Wilson, whom I had let go of, rolled down the slope, but who cared?

Right now, the joy of finally obtaining meat was far greater.

I buried my nose in Mr. Water Deer’s belly and sniffed deeply.

A strong, gamey smell.

There was no mistaking it.

That was the smell of protein.

“Hahaha! Hahahahaha!”

I slung Mr. Water Deer over my shoulder and descended all the way to the ground, laughing like a madman.

Starting a fire and preparing the meat took only a moment.

—Sizzle, sizzle.

I patiently waited until the leg meat had browned beautifully, allowing the Maillard reaction to develop.

Finally, the moment I took a bite and chewed—

“Wow.”

[Your muscles are strengthened through protein supplementation.]

[Strength has increased by 5.]

“So this is what Mr. Water Deer tastes like.”