It's interesting how easy it is to adapt to a new environment when you're fully immersed. If you are fully committed to your situation, if you strongly feel that what you are doing is important, then you can really adapt to almost anything.

Let me take Melinoë as an example:

There is simply no way around it...... She's one of the weirdest and most out of place I've ever met. She sees the world in a way that I can never understand and is happy with the things that make most people uncomfortable. But on our first day together, she inadvertently gave me a clue that gave me insight into the lonely soul beneath the horrible weirdness.

When I asked about him, she told me that Jim Henson had been one of her muses, inspiring artistic and creative energy. He knows her better than anyone, she says. He instinctively understood that nightmares and madness were not scary. Monsters can also be embraced and loved.

"Jim is a lovely man with a big heart," she said. "He calls me his RainbowConnection...... Lovers and dreamers, and ...... me," she sang softly, humming the rest of the tune, then suddenly turned to me and asked eagerly, "Would you like to eat tortillas tonight?" ”

So on the surface, I found a sad, lonely heart that needed sympathy. Does she sometimes make me uneasy? Truly. No problem. Profound.

But I've learned to ignore the unease she causes in some way, especially when I realize it's just who she is. She didn't mean anything, she just ...... Odd. After a while, those moments even became something I liked. After all, she tried to motivate me in a strange way. Muse doesn't do this just for anyone, and she's flattered that she feels I'm worth her effort.

I also quickly decided not to question some of Mel's weird quirks. For example, she is one of the most organized people I've ever met, almost to the point of obsession. By the end of our third day, she had taken full control of our office and the last sheets of paper had been filed.

That said, I'm desperate to be able to understand her file system. After an hour of searching, Hecate made a request hundreds of years ago – which, of course, still needs to be investigated – I gave up and asked Mel where it was.

"I've checked Hecate under H," I said, standing in front of an open file drawer, "I've checked necromancy under N, but I can't find the case file under either!" ”

"Check under S," Mel replied where she had sorted out the new ammunition cabinet that Daedalus had delivered that morning.

“S？” I asked, expressionless, closing the drawer and opening another.

"S, for Terrible Pants," Mel said. "I put all the files of Hecate there. She gave me collywobbles. ”

That's really what to say.

There they are, all the documents of Hecate...... Filed under "Terrible Pants" and organized by date. I shrugged my shoulders and walked on, then asked her for the papers when I needed them, instead of looking for them myself.

She is also a very interesting roommate. She insisted on making breakfast every morning, often more than the two of us ate together, resulting in more than a few dinners made with breakfast leftovers. Luckily, many of her breakfasts are healthy and delicious.

One day, she swept through our suite and rearranged my collection...... Alphabetically, sort by authors she likes and dislikes. Then there are books with scary monsters, books with beautiful monsters (including benevolent aliens, angels, and some clowns), and finally those that are fun but scary. All of them are carefully marked by her strange curly font. There were even a few empty places where my book didn't fit her category label.

I take it as a hint and try to fill in the gaps over time. I'm very much looking forward to finding a book that fits the "Heroes Love Their Parents Stories" category. I feel sad about the fact that I didn't even find one.

However...... Despite all her talent for organization and her almost obsessive need to do so, she always kept her socks by her side. Everywhere. I found them on the luggage rack near the door, on the back of the chair, on the bookcase...... It seems that in any place where socks are unlikely. There were black socks for bats, purple socks for pink butterflies, white lace socks with frilles, rainbow-colored socks with toes, and a pair of black latex stockings draped over my doorknob on a particularly unusual morning.

But I've never seen her wear shoes, let alone socks. As far as I know, she was always barefoot. Frankly, I'm not entirely convinced that her feet actually touch the ground when she walks.

I didn't ask. I'm just here to admire her eccentricity. It helped us get to know each other and I started to feel quite protective of her as if she were my little sister (even though she was actually a few thousand years older than me). It was a rewarding experience to get to know her.

The work itself was also rewarding as I began to understand how important my status as Hades' Avatar really was. The underworld is huge, and in my opinion, it is the largest functional bureaucracy in the world. Not every day is an adventure...... Most of the time, I'm just juggling a lot of paperwork, delegating some, doing some myself, and leaving the most important parts to Hades.

A lot of it – a lot of old paperwork that Mel and I had to do – is surprisingly normal for large organizations. Supply requests (which usually only require signature approvals), status reports, infrastructure reports, etc., most of which only need to be organized and filed.

Some of them are more interesting than they sound. For example, I am always amazed at what kind of requirements Elysium and Blessed Island make. For example, is it possible to offer a pillow made of cherry gelatin, but without spoilage, drying, oozing and leaving stains, or generally disgusting. As it turns out, the answer is yes.

(I don't understand the desire for them, but I don't have to.) ）

Similarly, what is needed in the Punishment Realm, especially the "special case" items needed for Tartarus to be truly cursed for punishment, it never ceases to amaze (and often frighten).

Someone has to take care of the eagle that eats Prometheus' liver every day. You wouldn't think all of these hawks would survive the liver of a Titan, no matter how big it is, would you?

(I've never thought about it before.) I still wish I hadn't. ）

This is followed by informal and formal meetings with other gods and avatars. Many people hold informal gatherings every few months just to see how everyone is doing and to see if there is anything important going on that might require their immediate attention. Hades was both very busy and very eccentric, attending these parties no more than once or twice in ten years...... Never. Since Persephone's death, there has been no one to replace him.

I attend these meetings, mostly out of curiosity, as I rarely say or do anything on his behalf. But it gave me the opportunity to get to know the other gods and their avatars, and – perhaps more importantly – it gave them the opportunity to get to know me. I learned a lot by observing who attended.

For example, I learned that Hades was not the only god who avoided regular meetings. Neither Hephaestus nor his avatar Vulcan attended more frequently than Hades. Hera rarely attends unless she has something important to work out, and her avatar – Juno – stopped attending altogether centuries ago. Aphrodite usually forgets to attend, and her Avatar Venus - is often late and always apologizes for it.

Most of the time, these meetings are glorified social gatherings. But this is an opportunity to get to know my colleagues and let them get to know me.

Madame Venus turned out to be more charming and friendly than I expected (only known Aphrodite's youngest daughter, the would-be Penelope). She's a bit of a bubble brain (in her own words), but Venus is so genuinely warm and loving that it's hard to resist her. As she points out, love comes in many forms and does not require the intellect to identify. "You don't need to be a great thinker," she once said, "to understand all forms of love." ”

I suspect she's smarter than she appears.

For all the bureaucratic work I have to do, the most important aspect of my job is controlling monsters. This is a recent responsibility for Jupiter, and Eos is very happy to have someone in this role full-time. Still, I often called her to lend a hand and she was always helpful.

Between the two of us, we managed to keep things under good control. At first, I just called her to help when I really felt like I needed help. As she says, I'm completely inundated with a backlog of documents that would make the most efficient pushers cry, even if most of them just need to be read, stamped, and filed.

After a while, I started calling her more often, just to have company when I was out on some business. She even made the paperwork more bearable and wasn't particularly bothered by Mel's outlandish behavior.

"You need to get out of that moldy office," she joked one day. "You're going to be as sullen as your patron, and you're too young and pretty to have that happen."

So together we fought monsters, and in general we managed to keep things under control very well and keep our work out of the eyes of mortals. Of course, there was an "incident" in Tokyo, but we managed to convince people that it was just a publicity stunt for the upcoming anime movie.

Then she did something unexpected...... She called me and invited me to lunch.

"I know this great bistro in Paris, not far from the Eiffel Tower. Good food, good wine...... You'll love it. See you there at noon GMT. Good? Good bye! ”

Before I could protest, she hung up...... Really, I don't want to. I really enjoyed her company, so any opportunity to spend more time with her would be a good one. I called her back and wanted to know the exact location.

I guess it's going to be a business lunch. We'll catch up on some of the little details and maybe find a better way to handle some of the paperwork that we're passing back and forth. She might even want to evaluate my performance so far and give me some advice to help me improve.

So I dressed up a little. I want to look professional. She taught me how to change the look of my uniform, so I arrived at the (very glamorous) diner, wearing a black skirt that had just brushed my knees, a cream top, a skirt under a black jacket, low heels and stockings. I found it very funny when the impression of the stockings in my mind even included the seams at the back of my legs.

The same goes for EOS. I drove her to the tavern for a few minutes and was waiting for her when she arrived. It wasn't until she muttered in my ear that I realized she was there, "Those stockings gave me all sorts of naughty thoughts." I agree. ”

Her voice sent a shiver down my spine with pleasure, but I was a little shocked when I found out she was wearing the jeans, biker boots, t-shirt, and fur coat she usually wore.

She grinned. "You're overdressing."

"It seems so," I replied, trying to hide my embarrassment. "I want to ...... I don't know what I'm thinking. ”

"It's okay," she smiled warmly. "You look so good."

That's when we really started to get to know each other, not just colleagues, when I found out she was going to be one of the best friends I've ever had. It has also become a tradition. She would invite me to lunch, and I would dress a little over...... Just wanted to see if I could get that reaction again.

It was fun, and more than anyone – even Mel – helped me not only accept my position as a Pluto lady, but also enjoy it and be proud of the work I did.

Unfortunately, the only black spot on my horizon is Hades himself. I realized that for him, I would never be able to replace his lost wife. Frankly, I don't want to either. I always try to respect him at all times to keep a professional distance between us, even if it makes it difficult for me at times.

I looked with some jealousy at the ease of friendship that existed between Zeus and Eos, Athena and Danae...... Between almost every other god and avatar I've worked with. In my first two years as Lady Pluto, the only time I saw a conflict between Avatar and their patron was during a meeting with Ares and Mars. EOS told me afterwards that they often quarreled, but there was no real animosity.

The next time I see them, I can understand what she means. Yes, they argue fiercely...... But Ares' pride in his son was evident when Mars won the argument, and when Ares won, Mars was completely content to admit it to his father.

Not having that kind of relationship with Hades – not a competitive one, but just a friendly, give-and-receive one—was the painful emptiness of my life. He was never so polite and he always tried to respect me...... But he was cold and never even tried to establish a connection with me rather than a professional connection imposed on us.

My mother tried to make up for it by keeping in regular contact with me...... But that's not the case, so my work environment is still a bit monotonous.

Luckily, the work itself is very fulfilling. And it's never boring. Time didn't actually fly by – in some cases, it trudged through the mud – but before I realized it, it was time to actually get open for business.