154 – The Heroes of the Nymphs and the Demon Lord’s Castle! #4
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that the nymph’s presence is growing…!”
“This Coris agrees!”
Oinoy and Coris were adventuring through various places in this “Paradise” while searching for traces of the “Nymph.”
Oinoy and Coris were quite serious about this task.
“Oinoy thinks that the man called ‘the master of the island’ is a very nymph-hating man who’s not friendly toward nymphs…! If the nymph sisters are here, the chances of being exploited are quite high…!”
“This Coris thinks the same…! Nymphs are very talented, so there have been many times throughout history when people captured and exploited nymphs…!”
Nymphs were mysterious fairies.
They could reveal knowledge unknown to people, create mystical potions, sing magical songs, dance enchantingly, and do many other mystical things…
Because they could do such wondrous things, they were often eyed with greed by various selfish people.
“Perhaps the mysterious nymphs are being exploited in a nymph-hating way on this island…! We have to rescue them quickly…!”
Nymphs valued community life highly.
It was second nature for nymphs to help those in distress.
“I want to rescue them quickly so I can brag about this storm cloud…!”
Oinoy, too, was a nymph who loved to boast.
The thought of showing storm clouds to the nymph sisters she was about to meet made her back tingle like an ant was crawling on it.
—Zzzi…
Oinoy removed the honey ant Ahn Ahn that was clinging to her back and placed it on her hand.
She needed the honey ant’s help as the road was already blocked by heavy burdens.
“The honey ant Ahn Ahn wants to move these burdens…! It’s ‘Zzzi Cutting’…!”
—Zzzi…
Nymph Oinoy executed a technique that her master Haildo had trained Ahn Ahn in.
Ahn Ahn then boldly cut through an old wooden box with its splendid horn.
Pat pat-.
Coris watched this with admiration.
“That’s a truly wonderful technique…! To teach a honey ant such a marvelous skill…! The master is a truly excellent teacher…!”
The old box broke, revealing the path.
As Ahn Ahn cleared away the debris of the box, a hole similar to a rabbit hole was visible in the wall.
Coincidentally or not, it was large enough for a nymph to enter.
—Sss…
Nymph Oinoy and Coris entered the interior of a building through that hole.
And to their astonishment, there was a large swimming pool inside the building.
“It’s a swimming pool…!”
“But it’s muddy water…!”
Indeed.
It was a splendid pool, but it was muddy water.
Since nymphs preferred clean water, their faces wrinkled in distaste, and they began to get very angry upon seeing the horrible swimming pool.
Just then.
“L-lets go! I was just enjoying a romantic getaway with my young girlfriend who’s like a granddaughter to me…! You punks…! Do you know who I am…!”
“Let us go! Just let us love!”
Men in black suits bound an old man and a young woman with ropes and brought them to this muddy swimming pool.
Instinctively, Coris and Oinoy curled up in a corner, but what was even more astonishing was what happened next.
“Old opposition lawmaker, Elder Man. There’s no need to be so scared. You will be reborn as a new person, like we did. With the power of nymphs…!”
Splash!
The men threw the old congressman into the muddy water.
It looked almost like torture, but what was even more surprising was what happened after the old man emerged from the water.
“O, brother…! Are you okay? Brother! What are you doing to me! What are you doing to someone over 70…!”
Drip drip-.
The young woman held on to the old man who had emerged from the muddy water, sobbing.
Soon, the old man, with his eyes wide open, spoke to the woman.
“Why am I your brother? Call me Elder! You wretched girl! What is this feeling? This feeling of my paltry moral compass vanishing! It feels refreshing, like being reborn!”
The old man, drenched in muddy water, had taken on a very fearsome expression, and his tone became even more aggressive. The woman, astonished, was also thrown into the muddy water by the men in black suits.
Splash!
“If there’s no bread, then eat cake, right? Hohoho. And our dog doesn’t bite! It’s just kids playing around!”
The woman who came out of the muddy water had transformed into a very sharp-tongued woman.
Seeing that, Oinoy was greatly shocked.
“Th-that is ‘Mud of Turmoil’…! Now I see that the nymphs on this island are not benevolent, nymph-friendly nymphs, but rather community-hating ‘mud nymphs’ for sure…!”
“Junkore and the master are in danger…!”
# # #
“Ildo, give me a kiss too. On the cheek-. Ah, good job.”
“Aunt, kiss me too!”
Memories of the past came flooding back.
When I was very young, I would kiss my cousins or aunts on the cheek, and eventually, I did the same with my kindergarten teachers and kids in kindergarten.
One day, my mom took my hand and said.
“Ildo, kisses are something you should only give to those you truly love.”
I was a good child.
After that, I followed my mom’s words closely, and inside me, I had the notion that kisses were something to be given only to those I truly love.
So now, I couldn’t help but be greatly surprised.
—Chuu.
It was because Ari had planted a kiss on my cheek so powerfully that it left a mark from her lipstick.
The scent of the lipstick and the uniquely sweet fragrance of a woman almost made me dizzy.
“Now, does this prove our love sufficiently…!? Is it not enough? Should we do it again? This time on the other cheek…!?”
Now that I looked, Ari’s face, while pretending to be brazen, was also very red.
To go so far as to perform such acts without hesitation for the mission, sacrificing herself!
It was a moment that moved me with Ari’s determination to love the country and succeed in her mission to expel the mobsters.
Just then.
“You, how dare you…! That fox-like girl…!”
Lee Jin-A got furious as if she was going to extort me.
Soon after, Lee Jin-A also pressed her lips on the other side of my cheek—smooch—and as I encountered the signature scent of bubble gum from her and the warm and soft sensation touching my shoulder, one that I had never felt in my life, I became dizzy.
While I was bewildered by that pressure, it was Yua-Ri who let out a loud sound.
“You… you…!”
Yua-Ri’s face turned even more crimson.
Then she pulled my arm.
“Get away!”
Thud-.
My shoulder screamed.
At the same time, Lee Jin-A pulled my shoulder.
“Get away!”
“Gaaah!”
I felt the daze that had been overwhelmingly spread over me instantly transform into pain.
Could it be that the feeling I had was similar to that of a zookeeper falling into a bear den and being torn apart by the bears!
“Th-they are fighting over love like that.”
“I’ve never seen such an embarrassing scene before.”
“Even I’m blushing just watching…?”
The members of the organization were whispering as they looked at me.
They too were blushing and avoiding eye contact.
Did emotion-manipulating Lee Jin-A use some trick?
Yeah, this is all an act!
I thought that I, too, should shed a layer in response to the women’s self-sacrificing devotion.
—Sss…
I shrugged off the women and stood up.
“How can I prove my love? Should I take it off here to prove it?”
—Sss…
I attempted to unbuckle my belt and unzip my pants.
Then the male members of the organization began to gasp “Whoa!?” and “No! Don’t! Don’t take it off!” in horror, and even the Demon Lord Jun opened his eyes wide in shock and tried to stop me.
“No. Let’s not do that here. No matter how you look at it, if you go that far, we will really be forced to cease operations.”
Sweat trickled down Jun’s forehead.
It seemed he was genuinely panicking.
“I didn’t think you were like this, Ildo. In many ways, you’re quite impressive. After all, the world doesn’t always allow itself to be bound by rules. If you live kindly, you only end up losing.”
—Sss…
Demon Lord Jun took out a photo from somewhere in his coat and presented it to me.
It was a photo of a nerdy-looking boy wearing glasses and with a bowl haircut.
He looked like one of those boys in middle school who are somewhat good at studying, quiet, and listen well to teachers.
When I thought it might be a picture of his brother, Jun said.
“That’s me. Isn’t it funny?”
Really?
I couldn’t believe that this snake-like man had such a quiet past.
Soon, Lee Jin-A chimed in.
“That was when he was dating my sister.”
Truly shocking in every way.
Soon, Demon Lord Jun stroked his chin and chuckled.
“Yeah. I was dating Sun-A back then. She was my first love. But Sun-A dumped me and started dating one of my friends who was a bully at school. That was when it all started. That I became like this.”
Demon Lord Jun.
He said he realized he had been dumped by his first girlfriend.
“Women prefer to date good-looking bad boys who treat women poorly over living boringly with nice, kind, and ugly men. All the women I’ve dated have been that way.”
Really?
I couldn’t understand it in my head, but Jun spoke as if he were someone filled with conviction.
“Being good doesn’t help at all. The fact is that bad men ultimately dominate life. The likes of you and me, bad men who make women cry. Laws are like that too.”
“…….”
“It’s those who commit all sorts of bad deeds, earning money and seizing power, and then hastily locking their doors and kicking the ladders away to keep what they have built. That is what the law is, isn’t it?”
Hahaha-.
The members of the organization laughed.
I frowned at the sight.
Demon Lord Jun was treating the citizens who live morally while abiding by the law as fools.
I was ignorant of systems or laws, but it was clear that Demon Lord Jun was an anti-social character.
If individuals with this mindset wield the power of the Awakened and roam the world, good citizens and common people wouldn’t be able to sleep in peace!
This guy.
I had to do something, I thought, when Demon Lord Jun spoke first.
“Ildo, how much do you know about nymphs? How about turning this world upside down as bad men together? I have a nymph too.”
Nymph.
At that talk, I snapped to attention.
The reason I had decided to assist Ari in her current mission was that the nymphs might be involved.
Just as I was contemplating how to approach the subject, Demon Lord Jun spoke first.
“Demon Lord Jun, do you have a nymph companion?”
“…….”
Demon Lord Jun smiled instead of answering.
I couldn’t comprehend.
Weren’t nymphs supposed to recognize good and kind people?
Oinoy and Coris had also acted as if they wanted to smack him while looking at Demon Lord Jun’s picture, exclaiming, “I want to beat him!”
Yet such nymphs were with Demon Lord Jun.
Could it be that they were being coerced and threatened?
“Are you threatening a nymph, coercing them to work for you?”
I asked frankly.
As the one appointed as the protector of the nymphs, the “master of the house,” I couldn’t forgive someone like Demon Lord Jun who might be exploiting nymphs.
“Threatening? Rather, I want to ask you the question. Master Haildo. ‘Companion Nymph,’ you say? To have a nymph as a partner, are you out of your mind? Nymphs are—.”
—Sss…
Demon Lord Jun swiftly closed his mouth, as if he was about to say something.
Then, someone appeared behind him.
“Y-you came in person.”
“This can’t be….”
The menacing-looking organization members started to tremble.
Demon Lord Jun also had a very serious expression.
“Muhehehe….”
The new character was a girl with dirt-brown hair who was grinning mischievously.
She looked to be around 13 years old or so.
Wearing leopard-patterned sweatpants, her expression exuded confidence.
“I am the mud nymph Morales…! I’m the nymph who loves to stir up trouble and create disruption…!”
