Helena guided me in the corridor, but instead of returning to the main hall, we continued. At the end of this passageway, there was a wooden door with a caduceus engraved on it. At this point, I started to think that Hermes was a little too affectionate for his own symbol.
We crossed by this door, and when I looked back, there was a double door behind me, that was closed, and by my side was Helena, who appeared out of nowhere!
"This is Master Hermes's residence. The guest rooms are in the upper part of the hall; feel free to choose any of them. Currently, we do not have any other guests here. Personally, I recommend the first one, as it is the biggest, we have here."
This awfully good treatment in the best room, all alone, has so many benefits, and I have the freedom to ask around before accepting; there is also no clear deadline to reach a decision. Something is off here. Too good to be true.
"Thanks Helena. I appreciate your concern. If you allow me to say, It is very unlikely that any of the guest rooms are something unfit for at least a god visitor."
Helena smirked at my comment. I felt a profound sense of pride coming from her.
"Very perceptive. It is true that the rooms are in perfect condition. However, gods seldom visit others, even less stay overnight."
Oh, I think I misunderstood her feeling; she was mocking me.
"But I appreciate that you think so highly of my work, even without seeing it by yourself." I felt that she meant, Why are you complimenting me? I am not going to say anything.
Likewise, I scratched my head and replied, "This perfect estate does not have a speck of dust. Likewise, I only wondered if the guest rooms were at least equal or better."
Her smirk vanished, but she returned to her serious maid expression and indicated to me the first room.
"Thank you for everything, Ms. Helena." I sincerely thanked her. At first, I was expecting to be kidnapped or tortured until I agreed to the Hermes terms. But, I am being treated like a lord here.
"Call me Helena. Please think carefully about the Master Hermes proposal. And, if you feel something is not matching your taste, please ring that small bell over the waiter."
She had an odd way of addressing several matters in one speech. But, personally, I like her attitude—clear to the point and not in workaround ways.
"Right, Helena; however, I do not believe that I am going to use the bell." I said it while running my eyes over all the furniture. The place did not have a grain of dust; the bed was king-size with a nice and sweet pillow top. There were at least four pillows over the bed, and the fabric of every detail was very refined. I am not an expert, but even I can discern between a low-quality mass-produced linen and the truly marvelous fiber from some exotic place.
Not surprisingly, everything was colored using gold and green; of course, beautiful tones composed a delicate place. The feeling was like being in a 5-star luxury hotel, or more accurately, in a king's bedchamber.
"I will take my leave." Helena said while leaving and closing the door.
I enjoyed my first moment of solitude. I was constrained by all these mythical beings from the very start: Charon, Hermes, his temple, and now his magical mansion (after all, I was teleported somehow from that impressive wooden door).
As they said, I do not feel hungry or thirsty here, nor am I sleepy. Despite this, I felt some kind of drowsiness or lethargy. I think I am going to stretch a little and lie down a little bit.
--
I slept. I did not even turn off the lights; everything was as clear as a day. They told me that mortal souls did not feel fatigue here, but I felt rejuvenated. I thought of calling Helena by the bell, but now I do not know if I can walk around the mansion. I would rather not use this tool; I felt like I was some kind of spoiled brat.
Likewise, I rang it. I am a guest here, right?
A moment later, I heard someone gently knocking on the door. "Sir, did you call?"
It was a masculine voice, childlike. It sounded wrong in my head for some reason.
"Yes, please come in." He had the stature of a child, wore butler clothes, and was holding a small clock in his left hand.
"My name is Joseph. I was assigned to be your personal guide. I did not present myself earlier because I thought that you would like some private time, sir."
A thoughtful butler, I liked him.
"Yes, I appreciate your consideration. I needed it. However, I don't know if I can wander around, or what to do until my lunch with Hermes." I think I have seen him doing a little "tsk" when I called Hermes by his name without a proper title, but I heard no sound.
"There are no restrictions for you, sir Rufus. But I believe that it would be better to have breakfast first."
"Everyone told me that a mortal soul did not need to eat, drink, or sleep."
My declaration made Joseph halt his steps, as he was walking into my room.
"And everyone told you the truth, sir. Nevertheless, you are not yet used to the soul form. It takes some time to adjust, but I believe that you have incredible sleep time."
He made a small pause, waiting for some questions, then continued.
"In the case of eating, drinking, or sleeping, the soul gets refilled. This is your afterlife; this is a place for resting. If you do something that a mortal, a living mortal, would do, you get 'additional' benefits."
This feeling from sleeping is challenging to describe, but I was feeling truly refreshed.
"One can be addicted to it. It is very delightful."
"Each person experiences mortal constraints differently. However, there are some who get addicted to it. This is a great cause of issues in some lower realms, especially the ones where lazy souls inhabit."
"Interesting. So there is a breakfast, right?"
Joseph noticed that, despising starving for new information about this afterlife, I must avoid small talk. Otherwise, I would get entangled in it easily.
"Please accompany me."
I followed Joseph to the dinner hall, to reach there, I needed to go through the main hall on the first floor, then to a door right besides the main stairs. This is similar to a great hall, where maybe a dozen people could enjoy a feast. However, there was only one plate on the table.
"Did I wake up later?"
"Quite the opposite, sir. It is five a.m."
"What? It is bright outside."
"The sun never sets in Hermes dominion."
"That is so unnatural." Joseph found my strangeness funny, as he was not making much effort to hold back his laughs.
"Is something else unnatural here, sir?" I felt the sarcasm in his voice a mile away.
"No, nothing else. Just the unset sun."
The breakfast was more like brunch; there was a lot of food there. Much of Brazilian cuisine includes bread, generous coffee servings, natural fruits sliced in gentle portions, some yogurt, and several small cakes with different flavors.
"You had some background research on me."
"A minimum of courtesy to our estimated guest."
I was amazed by my sleeping, but this breakfast proved that the afterlife had many more things that were even better.
I enjoyed my small morning feast and told Joseph that I would like to travel to Olympus and look for a library or something where I could get some information. Not only that, but I feared that they might get offended, even if Hermes recommended that I better understand my situation. And Olympus had libraries, right?
Joseph just nodded and asked me to get to the main door, he would show me the way to the library.
"However, I suggest that you go to the market before. There are numerous other mortal souls not related to Hermes there. They might provide a piece of outside opinion for you."
"Why are you so forthcoming? Did you fear that I would reject the &*@#&" I felt that the air from my lungs vanished, my mind was dizzy, I was going to pass out, did they poison me?
Some words and a green light encompassed me, and I felt my conscience coming back.
"Please refrain from explaining your circumstances and dealings with Master Hermes. You don't have enough divine power to transmit this information to others." His explanation left me astonished. I can't discuss my situation with anybody, or I will pass out. Now I understand why they were so easygoing with me.
I caught my breath, then said it to him. "So I am forbidden to speak to anybody about these matters?"
"I think you are gravely misunderstanding something, sir. What I meant is that you lack divine power to grant to others the knowledge that a god bestowed upon you." Joseph looked with some worries in his eyes. It seemed that my way of complaining put him on the edge.
"You can borrow divine power to be able to speak freely about that. However, I discourage you from doing that. Only gods and their servants possess such power here in Olympus. In other realms, angels and demons also possess divine power, but dealing with them is troublesome."
"If you have to elaborate on your situation to someone else, use a roundabout way or avoid disclosing it in details. I suggest saying that you have been assigned to a mission or have an endeavor to fulfill."
His long explanation provided me with much more information than I was expecting. I need divine power to spill out the beans about what Hermes discussed with me, it seemed like an automatic insurance whose balance pended towards godhood and against mortality.
I, personally, dislike such unbalanced situations. Furthermore, I felt a little manipulated. However, they have been clear and straightforward with me until now. I will not resent them for this, but Hermes or Helena should have told me that back.
"I understand." My dry answer made the butler gulp down his saliva. I think that keeping my mood high is one of his missions here.
"And what have you done? The green lights".
"I have cast a small restorative spell on you to prevent you from fainting."
Again, too much for the morning. I can rest, besides not "needing" it, there is a speaking barrier, and now magic is being cast over me. I am getting more and more unsettled.