How-not to be an Olympian God!

Chapter 32 - Just A Casual Day Dismantling Unethical Business - Asphodel(2)

'Wow...' Alex wasn't expecting the change in scenery, much less a metropolis in the middle of Hell.

The fields of flowers and grass stretched out as far as the eyes could see, and he could now understand why this place was called 'The Asphodel Meadows'.

The grasslands here were boundless, and it would look like an ordinary prairie, if only there was a sky and a sun, but the place was instead dimly lit by torches and fireflies.

Looking around, he also noticed multiple quarries around the city, and could very vaguely perceive souls that were wielding mining tools, all hard at work.

As he was entranced by the unfamiliar landscape, Achilles tugged at his shoulders and told him, "Alex, we're moving."

Alex nodded and they followed the soul down the hill they were currently on.

While they were walking, their guide kept on informing them "This is Asphopolis, one of the many cities of the realm."

"As per most cities, it was constructed near mines."

Alex was curious at this insight and inquired the soul.

"Why are most cities constructed near mines?" He asked it.

"I see you're unfamiliar with the state of affairs in Asphodel. Here, you have to work to make a living...well, usually. Mines are simply one of the most efficient ways to do so." It concisely explained it to him.

He nodded and as they were discussing various related subjects, they found themselves entering the sprawling metropolis.

There weren't any high-rise buildings, because the cave's ceiling restricted building height, but instead, the city stretched very wide.

Achilles commented on the city, "For a place in the middle of the Underworld, there sure is a variety of facilities and buildings."

The soul nodded and replied, "Well, this wasn't here a few decades ago, until some cunning business soul figured out that since currency flow was so stable and constant, taking advantage of it to to promote new sectors and make a large fortune for themself."

'Capitalism follows you everywhere you go.' Alex lamented to himself.

It was, however, true that Asphodel had the perfect conditions for an advanced economy.

A willing and active workforce, check.

Low to zero inflation caused by a tightly regulated flow of currency, check.

Stability and security as guaranteed by Hades himself, check.

Ample resources, check.

And the best of all, an eternally living population with equally demanding needs, check.

This manifested itself very well in the urbanization of Asphodel. As they were walking through, he saw marketplaces, casinos, restaurants, shops and residential buildings.

Asphodel stood up to its name as the limbo of the Underworld, the place of great neutrality;

The soul was of great help, and unfortunately, they had to part ways.

They were standing in front of a very monotonous building made of gray concrete. The soul declared to the two, "I work as a guard here, and I have to report back to my superiors. Do you have any Asphodel Eternities?"

'Asphodel Eternities...? Oh, those are the currency here.' Alex realized he won himself quite a small sum last time when he gambled with Dionysus and thus nodded.

Achilles still had one question, though, and spoke out his query, "Do you know how to get to Elysium from here?"

The soul paused for a moment then said, "On the other side of Asphodel, you will find a flaming door that leads straight to Elysium. Wait, how do you not know this, aren't you Elysians?"

Just as Alex was about to respond, Achilles pinched his shoulders and replied "Memory loss, memory loss."

If the soul had a human face, it would undoubtedly look confused.

Achilles then turned to him and stated, "Let's go."

Alex was rather surprised at this side of Achilles, yet he found it humorous at the same time.

"Thank you for your help!" Alex exclaimed to the soul and followed the running Achilles with his own incredible speed.

As they were running, however, Achilles suddenly halted, causing Alex to look at him questioningly.

The former pointed at a certain direction with his eyes and Alex followed.

There were two souls and they seemed to be arguing.

One of the two had a sword and shouted at the one in front of it, "You have disrepected Lord Aplisto, and for that, your punishment will be purification in the Phlegethon River."

The other one was wailing and repeating "Please forgive me. I just can't survive with 20 Eternities a month, and the Ministry gives us 30!"

The sword-wielding soul seemed livid and screamed, "You dare doubt Lord's business practices?!"

A small crowd of souls formed around them, and started whispering among each other.

As so-called 'Elysians', Achilles and Alex stood out from the crowd and when the latter asked a random soul for context, it took them to the side, where no one could overhear them, and started complaining.

"A few years ago, Lord Aplisto, who owns the casinos in the city, banned workers from processing their earnings directly through the Ministry, that distributes Eternities based on work directly under the jurisdiction of Lord Hades, and now, every resource extracted from the mines, must pass through him before being sent to the Ministry, which he used to his advantage to lower wages and gain a big commission from every transaction."

It made sense now.

To Alex, the economic growth that Asphodel went through couldn't be one where every worker benefited, as that was too good to be true, and the cracks of this system appeared.

He was still confused by one factor, however.

"I understand this certain Lord Aplisto has a lot of money, but how would he enforce this on the residents." He asked.

The soul answered him, "He hired guards to heavily monitor the mines, and with the spilling of the Phlegethon River into Asphodel, residents who don't abide to his tyranny are thrown into it."

Alex remembered the scene of the corrupted soul from earlier, and got goosebumps on his body.

He wasn't a hero or a justice freak, but for a person to dare murder another person eternally just because they didn't follow their unethical practices was tragic.

He turned around to face Achilles, who seemed to know what he was thinking of, and nodded.

"Have you thought about forming a Union? Or boycotting his casinos so he doesn't have any monetary resources to enforce his will?" Alex was wondering about this, as he couldn't believe how unregulated their economy had to be for this sort of business to develop.

"Well, the casinos he owns are the only way us from Asphodel can entertain ourselves..." The soul sighed, and replied to him.

"Then make your own casinos....?" Alex was determined to find a way to solve this.

It dumbfoundedly answered him, "Easier said than done, he controls the entire market."

"One person won't be enough, but what if everyone steps in? There's got to be a lot of people who feel the same way as you do." Alex somehow felt really cool saying this line.

Achilles, on his side, was looking at him with his jaw wide open and whispered, "You're really doing this?"

Alex felt his blood boil at the thought.

To be the spearhead of a revolution against the tyrannous greedy people in power, that was a wish every kid had.

'And today, that would be us.' He nodded at Achilles and tightened his fists in resolve.

Thanking the soul for that information, he then jumped into the crowd from earlier, dispersed it and in front of everyone, proclaimed "Today ends the tyranny of Aplisto. Make your own casinos and stop purchasing his products until he is bankrupt and the vultures of your city have been cleansed out."

The crowd was all staring at him, and at first, they got back to whispering to each other, and then one of them spoke "Hell yeah(1)!"

The others then also started getting excited and screamed along "Hell yeah!"

Someone from the crowd helped the soul that was being shouted at earlier and the sword-wielding soul was stuttering.

Alex smiled and then left the scene, thinking that the rest would be done by itself.

Along with Achilles, they went to an inn in the center of Asphopolis and observed from their windows as havoc wreaked the city.

They proceeded to eat at the restaurant in the inn.

The food was a little unusual, being entirely composed of mushrooms that grew very well in this environment, but it was still tasty and filling.

After finishing their fill, they left the inn and walked around the dimly lit city.

There was a place with a nameplate that said "Aplisto's Casino" but no one was entering the building and they were all standing in front of it and screaming, "Vanquish Aplisto!"

"Vanquish Aplisto!

Seeing that the revolts stirred up successfully and everything was going along to the plan, Alex smiled.

Achilles smiled back at him and said "What an absolute madlad you are!"

"Hehe..."

This would just be a casual day dismantling unethical business down in the very ordinary Asphodel.