066 – Native Nymph Hates Non-Native Species! # 5
“Kkungkkungi, first, investigate the staff. They’re wearing masks, so it’s hard to distinguish their faces. It’s crucial to check them first.”
What if I hide on this ship?
Then, disguising myself as a staff member who can conceal my identity behind a mask would likely have the best success rate.
So, the first principle is to investigate the staff.
Swish—.
I showed the staff list to Kkungkkungi, and soon Kkungkkungi began to shake its hands left and right.
“Meow…!”
Did it understand well?
Pat—.
Finally, Kkungkkungi disappeared somewhere.
I felt a mix of reliability and slight worry.
Will it be able to find them well?
Swish—.
A woman approached me.
“What are you doing here? Dinner time is coming up. They say there will be lobster for dinner, so if you don’t hurry, you might not get to eat.”
It was Lee Jin-A.
They serve lobster for dinner?
It was such a mouth-watering story that I quickly ran to the restaurant.
“This Inoi reminds me of the crayfish I met in the ditch…! But these are bigger and more magnificent lobsters than the ones in the ditch…!”
Inoi was holding one lobster in each hand.
Holding a lobster in each hand.
It was truly a luxurious and extravagant sight.
However—Inoi couldn’t quite break the lobster apart.
“Heheh, I will teach this gorgeous Nymph Illinois how to eat crayfish…! Nymph skill, smash the shell…!”
Illinois was wildly hitting the lobster with her fist.
Of course, the shell of the lobster was hard compared to the soft and round nymph fist.
In the end, Illinois got angry.
“This is extremely nymph-hating lobster…! This must be a trap from non-native species to mess with nymphs…! Call a lawyer for me…!”
As I watched Illinois, the surrounding elves chuckled.
“The short-eared fairy seems to have short patience like her ears.”
“So small and cute.”
They were treating her like a complete rookie.
But I also didn’t know how to eat lobster.
Do you just poke it with a knife?
Swish—.
At that moment, someone poked my side.
“Hey, how do you eat this? It’s my first time eating lobster.”
It was Lee Jin-A.
It seemed like it was her first time eating lobster too.
I was in the same boat.
I had only eaten them cut into pieces, served neatly at a buffet.
At that moment, Cha Yura, who was sitting at the table, looked at Lee Jin-A with narrow eyes and asked, “What, you don’t know how to eat lobster?” and began skillfully separating the lobsters.
Chop, chop, chop—.
Lobsters piled up neatly on the nymphs’ table.
Seeing that, Inoi was moved.
“Cha Yura is very kind-hearted…! This nymph-friendly action and appearance remind me of my nymph sisters…. I think it’s alright for her to become an honorary nymph…!”
“Oh, indeed, that’s excellent thinking…! Although she will have to go through further, better, and stronger evaluations, she shows a fairly good qualification for being an honorary nymph…!”
What is an honorary nymph?
Is it about being treated like a nymph even though one is not a nymph?
Soon Inoi spoke.
“Those who are appointed as honorary nymphs will be able to use nymph skills…! They will also have the right and duty to sing the song of the ditch…!”
I thought I had spent quite a bit of time with Inoi.
But the nymph race was still a complete question mark to me.
Every day was a fresh experience.
“I don’t know what it is, but it sounds good, right?”
Cha Yura, smiling slightly arrogantly.
Her gaze swept over Lee Jin-A and Seo Ye-rim.
It seemed she wanted to show the two how great she was.
Cha Yura has a greater desire to show off than I had thought.
Is it a need for approval?
Perhaps that’s why she could rise to S Rank.
Pat—.
It was at that moment.
Kkungkkungi jumped onto the table.
“Meow…!”
Did it find something?
Already?
“Wait a moment, I need to go to the restroom.”
# # #
Kkungkkungi led me to the cleaning supplies cabinet.
When I opened it, something fell toward me with a slight thud.
“Mom, what a surprise!”
It was a woman with white skin, but for some reason, she was only wearing underwear.
Clearly in a suspicious state.
I woke her up.
“Hey! Wake up!”
But there was no response.
Is she dead…!?
A chill ran down my spine, but her body was warm, and she was breathing well.
She appeared to be in a very deep sleep.
“Kkung…!”
Kkungkkungi pointed to the woman’s neck with its front leg.
Now I saw there was a small hole in her neck resembling an injection mark.
“I injected her from a slightly higher angle with my left hand. She’s likely deeply asleep due to the drug. Drugs… Aren’t they dangerous?”
A drug that puts people into a deep sleep.
Wouldn’t an antidote be necessary?
I knew someone whom I could discreetly ask for advice on this.
“Why did you call me…? I was in the middle of a life-and-death fight with a lobster…! It was like Pirates of the Caribbean on the table…!”
Illinois was a very peculiar nymph.
But I remembered that Illinois was the ‘drug nymph.’
“Illinois, you know a bit about drugs, right?”
“Of course…! I’m a master class who has studied all kinds of potions and herbs from the Illinois tribe…! I’m not called the drug nymph for nothing…!”
“Can you tell me what kind of drug was used on this woman who is asleep and won’t wake up? I’d also like to know if there are any health issues.”
Swish—.
I showed the woman lying down and covered in my outerwear to Illinois.
Illinois stared at the woman for a while and said, “Indeed, it is as I thought…!”
What exactly does “indeed, it is as I thought” mean?
Soon Illinois spoke.
“Once, Adam Smith, my top disciple, said…! There is no such thing as free in this world…! Everything must have a proper price…!”
Does that mean she won’t tell me for free?
This was the difference between Illinois and Inoi.
Illinois continued.
“So, with the request from the Nymph Relief Foundation, which will be established soon, the House Master will grant a request in exchange for what happened this time…!”
“Okay.”
I readily accepted.
It wouldn’t be difficult to ask a favor from the nymphs.
Soon, Illinois, who had a mischievous smile, clenched her fist.
“Nymph skill, smash it…!”
Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam—.
Illinois’s round fist.
It was wildly hitting the sleeping woman; although no bruises appeared, it looked very violent.
“Hey, what are you doing right now!”
I was quite flustered in many ways.
It was at that moment.
“Umm—.”
The woman who had been lying down stirred and slowly regained consciousness.
Seeing that, Illinois said, “The drug used is called ‘Breath of Core’…! It’s a type of substance with the same ingredients as the flowers that Princess Psyche received from Core, the queen of the underworld…!”
Breath of Core.
Flowers—.
It was a complicated matter, but according to Illinois, it posed no danger to the human body.
“Deep sleep is Basic as Core…! Sleeping well makes you beautiful…! It must have been a hard-to-find flower, I wonder where it was obtained…!”
Oh, I see.
So, it’s a sleeping pill with beauty effects.
It’s quite a rare item.
“And there’s nothing better than a nymph’s fist to wake her up…! This Illinois can cure drug addicts by smashing them with my fist…!”
To cure drug addicts by punching them.
Illinois was an amazing nymph.
Only someone with such abilities could be a gang boss.
Anyway.
The woman woke up and looked at me, startled.
“Ah! Pervert!”
“Don’t panic. I’m not a weird person.”
“This Illinois is not even a person…!”
Having Illinois around makes it even weirder.
However, the woman who mistook me for a pervert calmed down when she saw Illinois.
“A fairy? An elf? But your ears are short.”
“How can you confuse these short and cool ears with the long-eared elves…? It’s very nymph-hating…! Clearly, you are still under the influence of the drug…!”
Illinois clenched her fist.
Soon the woman sighed in relief.
“I don’t know well, but you’re a fairy, right? If you’re with a fairy, you must not be a bad person. What on earth happened? Where are we?”
I explained the situation to her well.
Though it was just pulling her out from being trapped in the cleaning supplies cabinet.
Soon the woman said, “I am Joo Jeong-Ah, a bartender from the Valhalla district. I was walking and felt a prick on my neck, and then I lost my memory—.”
“It’s clear that you’re still under the influence of the drug…!”
Illinois was once again clenching her fist.
I realized that Illinois seemed to enjoy hitting people.
Anyway.
“My clothes and my access key! They’re all gone!”
Bartender Joo Jeong-Ah panicked at the disappearance of her belongings.
I felt like I could catch a clue about the incident.
# # #
“So, the bartender from the Valhalla district is actually a fake who stole her identity, right?”
Lee Jin-A frowned after hearing my explanation.
She probably felt the vibe of a troublesome incident.
“Who in the world would do that?”
“I don’t know that either. I plan to check that place out now, but since the situation could escalate in various ways, I think it’s better for you and me to join forces.”
“Why not tell Seo Ye-rim?”
Lee Jin-A’s suggestion was reasonable.
However, I had a more rational reason.
“Try to set a fire on this ship. You know we’re further south than Jeju Island right now, right? If the ship springs a leak or something happens, it could be dangerous.”
Seo Ye-rim was a bomb.
Should I blow up the ship just to catch a mosquito?
Soon, Cha Yura, who had been listening to the conversation, spoke.
“That being said, Seo Ye-rim can be a bit reckless. Alright then. I’ll use my strength for you guys. I’ll show you the capabilities of an S Rank Awakened being, which is different from C Rank. Lee Jin-A, you better watch closely, my skills.”
With that, Cha Yura confidently puffed her shoulders and chest while looking down at me and Lee Jin-A.
But why is she standing on a box?
Does she want to look down on us?
Cha Yura said, “First, if we look at the cross-section of the ship, the bar is located in this area at the Valhalla level. I’ll use my abilities to seal off these entrances so the target can’t escape.”
Cha Yura’s ice was solid.
No one below S Rank would be able to escape from her blockade.
I felt reassured already.
“Yura, we also need to calculate the probability of having allies. Also, I want to evacuate people first; would that be alright? Under Yura’s name, can you call all the VIPs to our Midgard hall?”
Cha Yura was the princess of Korea.
If Cha Yura called people, all the VIPs in Valhalla hall would escape.
Then the only suspicious bartender would be left in that place.
“That’s a good plan.”
Now only the execution remained.
“Korea’s pride, Ms. Cha Yura will make an important announcement. Guests currently on board, please gather at the Midgard party hall by 8 PM.”
Thud, thud—.
One by one, people moved toward a destination.
I seized that opportunity to head to the Valhalla hall.
There was the bartender.
“Submit.”
Swish—.
I spoke directly.
When the masked bartender tilted her head—.
Rustle, rustle—.
The entrance to the hall where the bar was located became perfectly frozen in blue ice.
“Now, surrender already! We already know your identity!”
As Cha Yura climbed atop a square box.
Her scolding made the woman with her face covered by a mask glow with fierce eyes.
“Oh no, this is bad. There’s someone else hiding beyond that wall, isn’t there?”
How did she know without even seeing Lee Jin-A?
Is she a Sensor-type ability user?
Perhaps she could be the same person related to the plague doctor mask!
“You won’t escape today.”
“Oh ho, will it really be like that?”
Swish—.
The woman drew a dagger from her waist.
She seemed fully prepared to resist instead of surrendering.
But—.
That woman still didn’t seem to realize!
That I had Kkungkkungi, her natural enemy as a Sensor-type user…!
Kkungkkungi was currently attached to the ceiling above the bartender’s head—.
As soon as I gave the signal—!
