Chapter 389

389 The Jungle Island, Ideope’s Tears #1

“Hurry, grab them! Before they escape-!”

The gaze of the pink-haired women suddenly turned hostile.

“Capture team! Throw out the nets and chains!”

Pabat, Pababat-.

Simultaneously, countless vines or nets like things flew towards me.

“What is this, svear.”

I was bewildered by this sudden hospitality.

Nets designed to capture people?

Having had a wretched experience with nets back at Desros’ arena, I reflexively pulled my body backwards.

“That wasn’t me!”

“Hey-! What will we do if only you escape!”

Elpride, who failed to react in time, ended up getting caught by the net thrown by the pink-haired women.

Elpride, caught in the net! This was quite a rare scene.

“This measly net!”

Elpride wriggled her arms and legs under numerous layers of vines. However, the more she moved, the more tangled the vine nets became, tightening her restraints.

“d*mn it, you’ve captured an odd one! What are you all doing?! Leave the woman aside, and capture the man!”

The pink-haired women who threw the nets seemed to show little interest in this trapped Elpride and growled at me alone.

Are they seeking revenge for something I did to a man, perhaps by hitting him?

There was a pink-haired lady with her hair tied in two braids and a man beside her, so I thought that Luna might have wandered off and I was about to scold her companion.

“Hunting team! You’ll have to go after him yourselves!”

At the cry of a woman wearing a strange bone helmet on her head, women armed with spears, chains, and clubs surrounded me.

“He’s, he’s way too huge! Do you think we can subdue him with just us?”

“I don’t know either!”

“Absolutely, absolutely we cannot let him escape.”

“More importantly, it can’t happen that we let the Nox Child Tribe get him!”

Luna had occasionally mentioned that the Ideope Archipelago was an island abundant with beauties. There was a time when the Ideope Archipelago was called a paradise due to its numerous beautiful women.

Indeed, upon coming here, it matched what Luna had said. Despite the flickering torches and menacing frowns, the cute pink-haired girls buzzing around made me feel unusually good.

“I, I’ll go first-!”

Someone lunged at me while I was lost in such thoughts.

It was a girl with long, flowing pink hair who had a spear, reminding me of Luna.

“Ta-ha-aat-!”

If the loud shout she made while opening her mouth was anything, it did resemble Luna.

But I didn’t have the time to examine further as her menacing spear drew an immense arc in the air and descended toward me.

“Capturing Voodoo!”

Shyaek-!

The weapon, primitive and thus possessing a barbaric power, aimed to strike my head, cleaving through the air.

Pabat.

I caught it with my hand, easily blocking the attack. My palm tingled slightly, but it was tolerable.

Swish-.

I pulled the spear shaft toward me.

“Ugh-!”

The pink-haired girl was drawn toward me with an expression of surprise.

I grabbed her by the hips and lifted her close to my face, examining her features closely. She had pink hair similar to Luna’s.

However, upon closer inspection, there were differences between her and Luna. While Luna’s eyes shone brightly like emeralds, this girl’s eyes leaned closer to a deep dark night.

Til-ing.

[Name : Li Aruru, lvl. 17

State: Insomnia] Fatigue Accumulated]

Her name is Li or Aruru. At level 17, she’s relatively strong for a girl who looks so soft.

“Let… Let me go!”

This girl wriggled trying to escape from my grip, but there was no way a mortal could overcome my strength, which reached 16.

Thus, her squirming was meaningless resistance.

Jjeggeok, Jalang-.

And each time, the bone necklace and bracelets around Aruru’s neck and wrist clinked and chimed, making me feel like I was playing some sort of musical instrument.

“H, this guy! Let Aruru go!”

The girls around me who had their spears aimed at me were not significantly stronger or weaker than this Aruru.

But then the girl I held cried out.

“This, this guy is incredibly strong! Be careful everyone! He’s as strong as a troll, no, an ogre!”

“O, ogre? As strong as an ogre? Aruru, is that true?”

Sullung, Sullung-.

At Aruru’s words, the breath or aura of the ladies surrounding me was greatly shaken.

And Aruru added another comment to drive the point home.

“A-and… When you look closely, he’s really good-looking… He’s a handsome man…!”

What?

I couldn’t help but be flustered by that remark. When was the last time someone called me handsome?

At least since coming to this world, I’d only heard insults, being called a bandit-like figure or a savage. Neither Luna, Elpride, nor Hippolyte, who had deep ties with me, had ever complimented me this way.

Paji-ji-.

Suddenly, a strong thought crossed my mind. Maybe the standard of beauty varies across regions and individuals.

Perhaps on this jungle-filled Ideope island, I am considered handsome. Maybe the height and musculature honed by various laborious tasks could be perceived as attractive.

Hwarreok-.

At that moment, I heard something burning. My vision suddenly became very bright, and I felt warm.

“This brat, rescue me, not indulging in such leisure!”

It was Elpride.

The flames at the tip of Elpride’s staff began to burn and brighten the surroundings, incinerating the vine nets that had bound her.

“Are you losing your wits over compliments? It’s undoubtedly a trick to capture you, fool-!”

Indeed, Elpride’s angry voice heightened my vigilance again. It seemed that the real fight was about to begin.

“B-but she uses the spell of fire!”

“Th-this, we can’t defeat her alone!”

The pink-haired girls, terrified by Elpride’s flames, started to lose their fighting spirit one by one.

In essence, confronting a mage is equivalent to facing paradoxical spells and chants. Not to mention, Elpride, who handles flames, delivered a performance vibrant enough to crush their will to fight.

“You, surrender now, or we’ll burn everything. The one on the tree, your homes!”

Elpride’s flames coiled around the trees like living snakes. Long flames of fire.

Watching them slowly climb from the roots to the trunks made it seem as if they were vipers aiming for the eggs in the nests, creating a chilling atmosphere.

Seeing this, the pink-haired girls trembled as if utterly frightened.

“A, it can’t be! If the houses burn-!”

“S-someone do something! Perhaps Silencing Voodoo-!”

“All higher-level healers have been drafted for the expedition. What can we do with just us!”

Suk-.

As the girls trembled out of fear, someone slowly walked toward us.

Jjeggeuk, Jalang- the sound of heavy jewelry echoed. Turning my head, I saw a woman wearing a bone helmet that reminded me of Luna. She confidently threw down the staff-like object she had been holding.

“We are a splinter of the Tatari tribe, Oeun Na-rak. The fire mage and ogre-like warrior. We admit defeat to you. Please, stop burning down our territory-.”

She actually knelt down and bowed deeply in front of me. For a moment, I worried she might launch herself at me using the momentum of kneeling down, but soon the other girl followers around her also put down their weapons and bowed their heads to the ground.

I could also see some of the girls beginning to weep, confirming it was likely not a trick.

“Elpride, that should be enough.”

“Hmph, not even a nap, tiresome.”

As Elpride flicked her finger with a sound, the fiery serpents that had been ascending swiftly vanished.

Simultaneously, the surroundings darkened again, and the previously chaotic atmosphere began to settle down.

The only sounds now were the trembling breathing of the girls and rustling leaves swaying gently in the breeze.

I let Aruru down to the floor and asked the bone helmeted woman kneeling in front of me.

“I’m sorry for attacking one of yours so suddenly; there were some misunderstandings, but I’m sure no one got fatally injured.”

I’ve been practicing lately to control my strength carefully, so no one should have died.

Probably.

Suk-.

Shifting my gaze, I slightly raised my head.

A lush jungle. Through the leaves and bushes, the morning sun was rising. That’s when I realized a long day had passed and morning had come.

“Then, could you lend me something to eat and some water to cleanse myself, please?”

*

A house built on the tree.

A perfect area used as a hideout.

Sitting in the chair there, I was surrounded by multiple pink-haired women.

“I am the chief of Oeun Na-rak tribe, Garuru.”

The woman with the bone helmet, Garuru, was a young chief.

She was probably in her early thirties, older than me.

Though she appeared young, she might be even older.

Suk-.

When she took off the helmet, a mature beauty with pink hair, reminiscent of a kindergarten teacher, was revealed, making me flinch in surprise.

Would Luna become this refined-looking housewife when she grows older than me?

She explained that this place was the tribe called ‘Oeun Na-rak’ and that their group was a small clan with less than thirty people.

I asked.

“So, to reach the Nox Child Tribe, I should have landed on a different island, not this one?”

“Yes. You should head to the Crescent Moon Island that crosses the Pale Sea. So, you hail from across the sea, from the huge continent?”

The chief, Garuru, carefully observed me from head to toe. Then her gaze shifted to Elpride sitting beside me.

“An interesting continent person.”

“Beautiful, she has pointed ears like the nymphs I’ve seen before.”

Indeed, as people who live on a closed-off island, the existence of an elf seemed strange and unfamiliar. Of course, compared to the attention I’ve been getting, this is nothing.

“Hotan, I believe your name is Hotan. An intriguing name.”

“There’s a newcomer boy named Hotan. His name sounds fun. They said he’s a son of Pluto. Is that true?”

“Ah, they probably meant an orphan from a tribe that worships Pluto. Well, anyway, Hotan, try this too. This is bread made from hardened millet. I just baked it!”

“Drink this barley tea of mine too!”

It’s difficult to believe we were enemies pointing weapons at each other just before dawn. Oeun Na-rak girls are extremely amicable toward me.

“Wa, it’s delicious.”

“Delicious!”

“Truly hilarious!”

It’s so amicable that if I evaluate their food as delicious, they burst out laughing as if enjoying a great story.

With such an enthusiastic response, I’m starting to wonder if I might be the one getting teased.

“Wa, his arm is like a log. Extremely firm. He actually resembles an ogre.”

“Can I poke it too?”

“His stomach feels like a steel plate. So this is a man from the continent.”

As delicate fingers gently caress or poke various parts of my body, it seems they are not mocking me.

How long has it been since I’ve received so much goodwill from cute, young girls? Ever since, never. This is the first experience of my life.

Truly, this island can be called a paradise without hesitation.

Guaaaaak.

Just then, Elfride pinched my thigh from under the wooden table, and I had to pretend nothing happened.

I asked Chief Garuru.

“You said ‘tribe,’ but there are only girls. There are none of the male gender, correct? Is there any particular reason for that?”

“There are plenty of reasons. Our Ideope Island itself has been cursed, and what few men we had have all been taken by the Nox Child Tribe and the Deep Na-rak Tribe.”

“Taken?”

“We’re at war. It’s routine for us to raid each other’s tribes, kidnapping young children or males. If we don’t do that, there’s no way to sustain our tribe.”

War.

The image that crossed my mind was of pink-haired girls weaving through bushes and jungles, swinging clubs at each other.

Though the name war sounds horrific, imagining these girls who resemble Luna engaging in pillow fights doesn’t make me take it seriously.

“Anyway, thank you for the wonderful hospitality. We’ve come here as we have business with the Nox Child Tribe. We’re searching for someone. Have you ever heard the name Luna?”

“Luna?”

Garuru shrugged at my question. She then looked around at the other girls, but they all only shrugged.

Someone asked.

“Is she your girlfriend? Have you come all the way to this island from the continent to meet your girlfriend?”

“Envious. I might as well go to the continent and meet some men this time.”

“Ah, but there’s Scylla and Charybdis in the sea. We might perish.”

“Who knows? Dying here locked up on the island, constantly at war, and losing even the men we have, might be worse.”

I don’t fully understand, but listening to their conversation, these pink-haired girls seem to dream of going to the Gaia continent.

However, they’re afraid to venture out due to the sea monsters and whirlpools mentioned in the Odyssey.

Anyway, now my business here is finished.

Crossing over to the large island on the other side, there should be the Nox Child Tribe where Luna is.

“Do we need a boat to cross?”

“No, the current will subside around lunchtime. The water will drop to a level where you can cross on foot. It’s better to rest here until then and proceed afterward.”

At this comment, the girls standing nearby raised their hands high.

“Wow, Hotan will be here till lunch!”

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