Chapter 377

377 Nectar of the Gods #7

Tock, tock-.

Shilaya, a Gold Tier adventurer from Babel, entered making the grimy sound of her boots.

She grabbed the neck of a woman with her hand wearing a golden gauntlet and pulled her up.

“Ugh, let me go-!”

As the woman resisted, the hood pressed down on her face and was pulled off, revealing her hair, ears, and face.

Then, long hair flowed down like a curtain. Its color was crimson like Paranoi’s, but the red was brighter, resembling a sunset. Next to it, her short, pointed ears were visible.

The overall face looked like that of a young girl, but a scar running from the forehead to the cheek of the right eye resembled a hardened veteran’s.

The woman, or rather, the nymph quickly covered her face with her hair.

“Stop looking! And let me go-!”

The female figure struggled and writhed like a Thief Cat captured by a human, shouting as she thrashed her limbs about. I immediately recognized her as Ignoy, the nymph of muddy water, the one I had been searching for.

Indeed, Shilaya mentioned the same.

“One-eyed nymph… this is rare.”

Although Shilaya seemed to grow annoyed with Ignoy’s resistance, she then tightly clenched her fist and drove it straight into the nymph’s sternum.

Pak-.

A loud sound resonated, like striking a wet cardboard box with a club.

“Gueek-.”

The nymph Ignoy screamed in pain and dropped limply. Despite all the commotion, was it really necessary to strike her sternum so harshly?

Handling nymphs like this, Shilaya might just be a nymph-hater!

I imagined Paranoi’s critique echoing in my ears. I cleared my ears with a loud shake and asked,

“Didn’t you just say that this nymph attacked Bacchus? Is it true?”

“Did I say that?”

Shilaya narrowed her eyebrows as she looked at me.

Carrying Ignoy on her shoulder, she looked ready to attack with both hands, making quite an intense presence.

“No, you just said that yourself.”

“Yeah, I did. But it’s a Gold Tier classified matter. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask further questions and stayed quiet.”

A classified matter at the Gold Tier?

I’d never heard of it before. Perhaps, it’s like how monsters or beasts have tier-specific extermination rankings, and only high-tier adventurers are authorized to handle such information.

Indeed, if Bacchus really was attacked, it makes sense it’d be classified. If revealed, it could cause quite a stir among the populace.

I asked,

“I’d like you to share what you know with me too. I’m a newly certified god from High Hypos.”

“What does that have to do with anything? I don’t worship you, so your authority means nothing to me.”

Indeed, she had a point. Just because I’m a god, I can’t expect classified information to be handed over freely.

After all, people see high-ranking individuals abusing their power and withholding information as corruption.

But even as I heard her response, my thoughts were racing. What came to mind was the conversation I had with the tavern owner at the pub earlier.

“Right now, there’s no more alcohol being made in this world, is there? That should mean Bacchus is in pretty bad shape, right? This is a serious situation. And perhaps, I can help.”

Shilaya fell silent, as if listening to see what I might say next. At least, she wasn’t outright dismissing me, which was a better response.

I continued, riding the momentum,

“The bigger the problem, the more merit and karma you can earn by solving it. Imagine this: Shilaya, who resolved the Bacchus attack and restored his health. Future generations will sing songs about your name. You might even become more famous than Hippolyte.”

Shilaya reacted quite differently from what I expected.

“Don’t make me laugh. I’m already more famous than Hippolyte nationwide.”

Ah, so the reaction is like this. A fleeting moment of confusion passed, but I used my experience in lying smoothly to continue.

“Really? Then there’s an even better chance for you to become even more famous. But conversely, if you fail to deal with this properly, your infamy could surpass Hippolyte’s too.”

“What are you talking about? Are you threatening to interfere? Why would my infamy increase?”

“Interfere? No, quite the opposite. You’re the one hindering me. Do you know what people these days call me?”

“…”

Shilaya paused briefly, deep in thought.

“Healing god, Hassan.”

“Exactly. I’m generally known as that. With these hands, I can cure most serious illnesses. Perhaps even Bacchus, who is said to be in critical condition.”

“…”

“If you refuse to share information with me here, Bacchus’s condition could worsen further, and eventually, the responsibility will fall on you.”

“Responsibility on me?”

“Sure. You might miss the golden moment to act. The critical treatment window, you know.”

“Golden… time… golden time…”

As I thought about it, it sounded quite impressive and cool.

Since I’ve become a god, with followers and support behind me, I’ve gained a sense of ease, and my mind and tongue work exceptionally well.

What’s important is that I’ve almost stripped away the psychological armor of Shilaya, who’s tightly encased in her armor.

Soon, the soft yet solid nature of the Amazons may be revealed.

“Golden… time…”

Shilaya seemed to like the term “golden time” and kept muttering it to herself. I drove the point home with another comment:

“Alright, Penta Shilaya. Make your choice before you lose both the gold and time.”

“…”

I’ve done all I can. Any further talk would sound like empty promises. Now, all I can do is wait.

“Still impossible.”

“Hm?”

It seemed like failure.

When I felt disappointed, Shilaya looked around.

“This place isn’t secure enough. Let’s go somewhere else, somewhere truly private with no listening ears.”

*

I headed to a place with Shilaya where no one would likely be.

But even in such a secluded and secure place, there weren’t many options in the areas I knew.

Luna’s cottage.

The ruins of a shrine in the graveyard.

Of these two, the graveyard’s shrine ruins seemed most suitable. Bringing this unfamiliar woman to Luna’s cottage seemed a little risky, so in the end, my only choice was the secluded and eerie graveyard.

A very deep grave dug to bury someone.

When we stepped into it, the enclosed feel made it seem like a decent bunker surrounded by earth.

“Definitely quiet here. Few people come around. It’s nice and brings back memories of the battlefield.”

Shilaya seemed pleased with the location as well.

I thought, this place could work nicely as a personal underground space just for me in the future.

Once Paranoi’s office renovations are done, I’ll have the priests hire someone to set up my own private basement here. A soundproof basement, just for me.

Just imagining it feels good.

Would it cost around 5 gold to build?

As I was deep in thought, Shilaya, casually seated on the dirt floor, started speaking.

“So, you, as a god, probably understand better than anyone how much chaos this story would cause if it spreads. I’d prefer if you kept this secret unless absolutely necessary.”

“That goes without saying.”

I glanced at the nymph tucked under Shilaya’s arm. Her sternum must have been hit quite hard; despite being unconscious for a few minutes, she showed no signs of waking.

It was hard to believe that this nymph, known for her disgraceful reputation as the “muddy water” nymph, had attacked Bacchus, causing him to become critically ill.

Still, Bacchus had fallen seriously ill due to some event.

It was hard for me to believe.

After confirming that no one, not even a single bug, was around, I slowly asked,

“So, what happened? Is it true that this nymph attacked Bacchus?”

“Hard to believe, but it’s true. During the Amazonian Festival, a funding event was held in the city of Babel, and Bacchus appeared causing a commotion.”

“When was that?”

“About three days ago.”

If it was three days ago, that would be around the same time Bacchus appeared in Sodomora’s Deer Forest. To be precise, it was right after.

Shilaya continued,

“Bacchus is one of the biggest sponsors of the Amazonian Festival, so he often pushes himself to participate in the funding events on time, providing support.”

“Indeed.”

I imagined Bacchus surrounded by the Amazons. Fitting. If that position had been mine, how happy I would have been!

“The funding night was in full swing when Lord Bacchus drank the wine offered by a nymph and lost consciousness. That nymph was her.”

Tap, tap.

Shilaya slapped the nymph’s back a few times with her palm. Even with that shock, the muddy water nymph, Ignoy, showed no signs of waking.

“I knew this nymph often misbehaved. Because of that, she was even expelled from the Maenads, Bacchus’ followers. Likely, she wanted revenge, and that’s why she tried to bring him down.”

A crime of revenge and grudges. Bacchus, with his cold-hearted mindset, believed in imposing hardship and trials to maintain faith among humans.

Naturally, a nymph like this would be one among many who harbored grudges against Bacchus. Even I, for instance, had people who didn’t like me for no reason. Given Bacchus’ high-ranking position in Hypos, it’s hard to imagine how many enemies and dislikers he must have.

“But Bacchus is the god of wine. Does it make sense that he would become critically ill from drinking wine?”

“We found that odd too. The investigation we conducted on the drink at our Babel Mars Guild revealed non-Gaia toxins.”

“Non-Gaia toxins…?”

“And we identified it to be Eight, a deadly poison. See this sample.”

Crack.

Shilaya reached into her chestplate. After some rustling of armor, it sounded like she was retrieving something from beneath her chest area.

From Hippolyte to Antiope and then Shilaya—storing items in their bosom seems to be an Amazonian trait.

“Here it is.”

In her hand was a small transparent vial, about the size of my thumb, sealed with a cork.

Sway.

The golden liquid inside shimmered almost like the nectar of gods, but knowing it was Eight, the deadly poison, it sent shivers down my spine rather than admiration.

“Is it safe to keep something so dangerous stored in your chest?”

“This place is the softest and safest, so it’s less likely to break, you know.”

Upon reflection, it makes sense. The storage area between Amazonian bosoms was designed for storing precious and fragile items.

“Anyway, it’s a dangerous poison. Even a single drop can destroy land the size of this graveyard. It’s stronger than Hydra venom.”

“Strong to that extent?”

“Yeah, I hear you managed to defeat a Hydra. So, you’d understand how dangerous and grotesque this substance is.”

Hydra venom.

That was extremely perilous. Even I, someone with immunity to various toxins, found my eyes and nose burning from it. Others bled from their faces just from its fumes.

If it’s stronger than that, it’s understandable how a god like Bacchus could become critically ill. Bacchus’ power was indeed significantly decreased.

With a swish, Shilaya returned the poison to her chest and continued,

“Anyway, this poison is something the exiled nymph couldn’t possibly obtain. This came from across the sea, the winter continent of Albrheim. There’s a strong snake there whose venom this is.”

“Albrheim…?”

Hearing the name Albrheim, visions of pale-skinned elves with pointed ears came to mind.

Suddenly, I remembered the story from Elves like Elpride or Kalidur. The tale went that the Elves tried to revive their perished homeland by taking a god from the Gaia continent.

This current event doesn’t seem unrelated to that.

As I was lost in thought,

“This nymph couldn’t have done this alone. Absolutely impossible. There’s definitely a conspiracy behind this. The elves who keep infiltrating the continent must be involved as well.”

Shilaya concluded her analysis, showcasing the keen insight worthy of an adventurer who calls herself Hippolyte’s rival.

Indeed, I agreed with her observation.

“So, what’s Bacchus’ condition? Where is he now?”