However, having just finished inviting Doros, Ereshkigal felt a tinge of regret in her heart.
A strange sense of melancholy welled up within her, and she couldn’t help but bite her crimson lips.
Her palace, it seemed, was not all that magnificent.
The Underworld had never been a magnificent place; loneliness and desolation were its synonyms.
While building a luxurious palace in the Underworld was not a difficult task for Ereshkigal, it still required a bit of effort.
However, she had never really cared much for such things.
Furthermore, because of the Great Flood created by Enlil, the number of souls arriving from the surface had increased so much that the bird cages she made were not enough.
Ereshkigal spent most of her time busy with this, so how could she have the time to properly decorate her palace?
At the same time, Ereshkigal secretly regretted not taking some time to renovate it.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t feel so… poor, seeing her palace through the eyes of Doros during his visit?
That’s right, what deity’s sleeping quarters were like hers?
While there were decorations, they were far from what a Goddess of the Underworld should have.
Thinking of this, Ereshkigal couldn’t help but mentally note down Enlil in her little book.
If it weren’t for him having nothing better to do than start some Great Flood, she wouldn’t be this busy.
On the way to the palace, Doros naturally didn’t stay idle; he chatted with Ereshkigal about matters regarding the Underworld, and from time to time, he would praise how hard Ereshkigal worked and how wonderful she was.
This left Ereshkigal feeling a bit dazed.
Was she really that amazing?
She was only doing what was within her duties, after all.
But when it came from Doros’s mouth, it sounded completely different.
Looking at her, shy yet pretending to be serious as she said things like ‘It is the duty of the Goddess,’ her little arms, which were swaying visibly due to her happiness, exposed her inner thoughts completely.
How long had it been since she had been complimented?
Doros felt a surge of emotion, followed by understanding.
Right, as the Goddess of the Underworld, other gods avoided her; they wouldn’t even think of praising her.
And the only one who dared to descend to the Underworld was Ishtar… he recalled the rumors in Kusha and his understanding of her from his previous life.
Doros could only think that if she kept quiet, Ereshkigal might not do anything excessive to her out of sisterly affection, but if she were to speak up…
Life and death are fated; wealth and honor are in the hands of Heaven.
Amen.
Ishtar: “Ereshkigal, why didn’t you greet This Goddess personally when I visited the Underworld today… Forget it, a gloomy woman is indeed a gloomy woman.
This Goddess will not hold it against you since you have stayed in the Underworld for so long.
However, this Underworld of yours is indeed not as good as the outside world.
Do you want This Goddess to take you out for a stroll?
After all, it must be hard for you to stay here alone for so long.”
Ereshkigal: “Heh, showing off again.
It seems I went too easy on you last time.”
The words of concern in Ishtar’s speech were naturally ignored by Ereshkigal; in her understanding, these words from Ishtar were undoubtedly meant to highlight her own status as the ‘Mistress of Heaven.’
Thinking of this scene, Doros smiled subconsciously.
As they got closer to the palace, Doros was subconsciously stunned by the scene before him.
What first caught his eye was a huge mountain?
No, perhaps calling it a pillar reaching the heavens would be more appropriate.
It stretched from the surface of the Underworld upwards, and with Doros’s eyesight, he couldn’t see where it extended to at all.
Right next to it below was a huge palace, with various lifelike reliefs carved onto its walls, and one could vaguely see that most of them depicted the same goddess.
The answer went without saying; how could there be a second goddess in the Underworld?
Just as Doros was immersed in this, a questioning voice rang in his ears.
“How is it?
Although my sleeping quarters are a bit simple, they should still be passable, right?”
Looking at Ereshkigal, who was lowering her head in embarrassment beside him, Doros took a deep breath.
This is simple?
You aren’t comparing it to Ishtar’s, are you?
“Lady Goddess, it is my honor to visit your sleeping quarters, and this is one of the best palaces I have ever seen.”
Upon hearing this, Ereshkigal’s uneasy mood lifted, and she immediately raised her head, hands on her hips, and said: “Is that so?
As expected of the High Priest personally chosen by This Goddess, you certainly have some of the same taste as This Goddess.”
Gazing at the blonde girl before him, Doros did not answer but stared into her magnificent red eyes, then smiled slightly.
“Alright!”
No, wait.
Doros realized what he had done.
How could he have made such an abnormal move?
Staring directly like that was disrespectful.
He glanced at Ereshkigal, who was talking incessantly, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, she hadn’t noticed.
What Doros didn’t know was that Ereshkigal was already incredibly shy inside and could only use this method to alleviate her somewhat flustered mood.
Could this be the attraction between the masters of the Underworld?
As the Mistress of the Underworld, Ereshkigal was stunned for a moment, then realized what had just happened.
The [Blessing of the Underworld] was indeed mutually attractive, and it seemed that Doros’s accidental descent into the Underworld this time was inseparable from this.
[Under Ereshkigal’s explanation, you learned that this heaven-reaching giant tower is called the [anchor of the underworld] by her.
It is used to tie the Underworld beneath the surface, preventing the Underworld from moving randomly, similar to places like the Inner Sea of the Planet.]
[What surprised you even more was the origin of the [anchor of the underworld]; it was formed from the spine of the Creator God—Abzu, who was as famous as Tiamat.]
[In that War of Betrayal, Tiamat was banished by the gods, and after Abzu was killed by the combined efforts of the gods, his body sank into the earth, forming the current Underworld.]
[You couldn’t help but sigh that the origin of the Underworld was actually like this.]
[At the same time, you sighed inwardly at the cruelty of the Sumerian gods; they could even ruthlessly strike down their own Creator God.]
[But as Ereshkigal continued to explain the origins of the gods, the status of the gods in your heart kept falling.]
[To them, humans are just tools; they use them when they want and discard them when they don’t.]
[Selfish, heartless.]
[That was your first impression of them, but you also learned that a very small number of gods were not like that.]
[Moon God Nanna, Utu Utu… and more importantly, you actually heard the name of Ishtar among them.]
[Seeming to notice your confusion, Ereshkigal explained that in her view, Ishtar was just spoiled, and essentially did not have the ways of the other gods.]
P.S.
The setting of this book is Archer Rin’s personality.