097 – Nymphs Love Summer Vacation! # 4
The CCTV clearly recorded a scene where I entered a sashimi restaurant with Squirrel Beast, overpowering people and tearing off the mob boss’s mechanical arm.
The situation was dizzying in many ways.
Not only that, but I also grabbed Reiko’s hand, who was wearing a maple kimono, and suddenly pulled her away somewhere.
“…….”
How did this happen?
I rummaged through my head, but nothing came to mind.
No matter how much I watched the CCTV footage, it felt like someone else’s story, as if I were watching a movie or drama.
“The house master is renting out Core Reiko! Core Reiko is the princess of Japan Telos! This could turn into a political problem if we’re not careful!”
I heard that Reiko was a rather important woman in Megacorp Telos.
I had kidnapped such a woman!
Illinois added more remarks while I couldn’t come to my senses.
“Kidnapping is a very illegal act! Everyone knows that the Trojan War, which happened because of the kidnapping of Best Core Helene, caused the deaths of many people and the disappearance of a nation!”
I knew that too.
But I truly couldn’t remember anything.
Just then, a yakuza wearing a black suit rushed in and said.
“Boss! Sir! We found the Squirrel Beast! It was definitely that Squirrel Beast from yesterday!”
Squirrel Beast.
That mention jolted me awake.
Soon, the yakuza showed us his phone, and it seemed a post with a picture of the Squirrel Beast was quite hot on social media.
“#Kawaii. #K-Squirrel. #Amusement Park Mascot.”
“Telos Land’s specialty.”
It was obviously Kkungkkungi!
And it seemed Kkungkkungi was currently in this Telos Island amusement park!
I wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed worth checking out.
Without a moment to lose, we hurried to the amusement park, where a crowd had gathered to take pictures of Kkungkkungi.
As soon as Kkungkkungi spotted me, he scurried up my legs and climbed onto my shoulder.
“Kkungkkungi! So, you were here! Why are you here!”
I asked.
Kkungkkungi quickly replied.
━Kkungkkungi…!
Still, I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
Just then, a person who seemed like the manager approached me and said.
“You’re here to find someone from the lost child shelter, right?”
What lost child shelter?
When I headed there, I saw someone lying under a blanket, sleeping soundly.
It was Lee Jin-A.
Lee Jin-A was here?
The manager continued.
“That little Squirrel Beast and this young lady were sleeping together on the carousel. I couldn’t just leave them like that, so I brought her here to lie down. She’s part of your group, right?”
Indeed.
Swoosh-.
Kkungkkungi rubbed his tail all over Lee Jin-A’s face.
Soon, Lee Jin-A groaned and snapped back to consciousness.
“What’s going on? I was sleeping so well.”
Lee Jin-A seemed surprised to see us.
She looked around in confusion.
“Where is this place?”
“Do you remember anything? What happened yesterday?”
“Memories….”
Lee Jin-A frowned.
Maybe it was from a hangover; her head seemed to be pounding.
But she remembered quite a bit more than I did.
“I was drinking at the beach… I got involved with the yakuza… And then we followed the yakuza….”
Is this real?
It felt vaguely familiar.
“And then… I went to rescue Seo Ye-rim, who was being kidnapped by the yakuza in a black car, and Illinois said we needed to save the fish trapped in the sashimi restaurant… And then I got captured.”
Now I understood why Illinois had been in the sashimi restaurant.
She had gotten caught while trying to rescue the fish.
Had Illinois also been quite drunk?
Yet, in just one night, she had become an elder in the yakuza.
Then Ari asked.
“What happened next? What happened next?”
“I think we just went to the amusement park and had a blast… After that, I remember riding some strange unicorn…”
I started to realize what had happened from Lee Jin-A’s words.
I must have mistaken Reiko for Seo Ye-rim while drunk!
They looked similar!
Thinking Seo Ye-rim was being kidnapped by Reiko, I had acted out recklessly!
Fleeting memories that had been cut off earlier began to bubble up.
At the same time, I recalled where I had left Kalilnoi.
“Oh my…”
I headed towards the zoo attached to the amusement park.
In the zoo, there was an enormous cage filled with birds, where various birds were being raised together.
Upon closer inspection, I saw Kalilnoi, the giant horned owl, sitting quietly on a perch.
“Kalilnoi!”
I called out.
Kalilnoi, who had been dozing off, spotted me and waddled over. Then, flapping his large wings, he started to hit me!
Papapapapa-!
His feathered wings were so fluffy that it didn’t hurt at all, but it felt like he was saying, “Why did you leave me behind?” I felt incredibly sorry.
Soon, a zookeeper, who appeared to be in charge, spoke.
“Korean owl! Kawaii desu! It’s really big! He was so happy since last night!”
It seemed Kalilnoi had been receiving attention from visitors to the zoo since the morning.
I asked the Japanese woman who seemed to be the zookeeper.
“Do you know why I left this owl here yesterday?”
“Well, it seems he wanted to ride in a taxi with a young lady. He kept trying to get into the taxi, so I took him in and left him here. He mentioned having to escape from some yakuza.”
Something—
Something seemed to click.
Kalilnoi, being so large, must have kept trying to enter the taxi and was thus left in the cage! He was too big to fit inside!
The destination of the taxi we had taken—
It must have been Yoko’s tattoo shop.
“So, that means… the person who got a couple’s mana ring tattoo with my senior is Reiko! That means we used the same room—”
Ari seemed to have reached the truth in many ways.
I also knew where I needed to go.
The truth.
It was something I had held in my hands from the beginning!
“Taxi!”
# # #
Taking a taxi back to the hotel where I had awoken, I opened the door to the room which I had woken up in that morning. Inside, there was a woman sitting on the bed, crossing her arms.
“What the hell! Where have you been wandering! You! You left me in this room while I went to have a meal! We were engaged last night!”
She looked like Reiko, who resembled Seo Ye-rim.
I felt relieved that Reiko was alright in the hotel room, while at the same time, cold sweat trickled down my back.
“Um, Reiko, what happened to us yesterday? Did I… get engaged?”
“Huh? Is it because you don’t remember anything? That’s really unbelievable. This ring represents our engagement!”
Swoosh-.
Reiko showed her left ring finger.
On Reiko’s ring finger was a mana mark shaped just like the ring on my hand.
My head spun with Reiko’s words.
What on earth had I done?
Reiko then said.
“We have already overcome a huge mountain and are married…! We climbed so many mountains…!!! These torn wrappers are proof of that…!”
Engaged? Married? I remembered nothing!
I only knew that Ari spoke seriously.
“Do you have any evidence? Is there any proof that you did such a thing? There’s a white spot on your chest. Can you tell if it’s on the left or the right?”
“Th-that… is it on the left…?”
“Wrong! There’s no white spot on your chest!”
“…I was too confused at the time! I was being dragged around! They forcibly brought me into this room! I repeatedly said ‘yamete!’ but they took off my clothes!”
“That’s also a lie! I asked around here today, and it doesn’t seem like you were forcibly dragged! You had plenty of opportunities to escape if you wanted to!”
Ari pointed her finger at Reiko.
Reiko trembled at Ari’s detective-like reasoning.
Then Ari added.
“Why was Kkungkkungi chained up?”
━Hioooong…!
“What do you mean by that?”
“Senpai, Kkungkkungi was indeed chained, right? To the ceiling.”
That was true.
When I opened my eyes, Kkungkkungi had been securely chained to the ceiling.
Like a prisoner!
Ari then said.
“Reiko didn’t report you to the Japanese government, but she’s Awakened! Psychokinetics! She’s specialized in handling metal precisely! It was Reiko who chained Kkungkkungi! Why did you tie him up? Was it because he was a hindrance? Because Kkungkkungi kept trying to protect you?”
“…….”
“And you dropped Ahn Ahn and Kalilnoi too, didn’t you? You wanted to take advantage of your drunk senpai, but they were getting in the way! That’s why you left Illinois and Lee Jin-A behind!”
“Y-you….”
Reiko trembled.
Ari pressed on, sounding almost accusatory.
“Above all, you’re the one who left lipstick marks on senpai’s cheek! Reiko! The scarlet red that you like! Was that done forcefully too? Come on, admit it! What’s your scheme?”
“I don’t understand Korean… W-wata… I’m Japanese.”
She averted her gaze.
Then Ari scowled and shouted.
“Stop lying! Seo Yeong-ja! Your father is Korean! This is more than just a matter of Telos Corporation’s shares; it could escalate into an international issue! Tell us the truth!”
I always thought Ari seemed like a little girl.
But now, Ari was confidently authoritative, making me feel like I should apologize and make reparations for my wrongdoing.
Soon, Reiko said.
“I wanted to win against Ye-ri-mu…! I took advantage of the fact that he mistook me for Ye-ri-mu, using my freedom to enjoy the amusement park I wanted to go to and get a couple tattoo…”
Reiko spilled her story.
“It was so much fun. I’m sorry… Please keep this a secret. Our Japanese branch has a reason to win this time…!”
Reiko seemed to have grown up like a princess, living in a highly monitored environment, and had taken advantage of me to enjoy some freedom.
“Also, I thought if I took Ye-ri-mu’s player, I could get back at that bothersome Ye-ri-mu…! But that man—he didn’t touch me at all…! He’s impotent!”
I felt waves of relief wash over my mind in many ways.
None of the worries I had harbored had come to pass, and no one had been hurt.
Of course, the mob boss had had his mechanical arm ripped off…
Anyway.
In the end, it was all Reiko’s scheme to manipulate a drunk me.
Swoosh-.
Then Reiko grabbed my hand.
“Please… Please, will you engage with me? I feel like I can trust you…! You didn’t lay a finger on me despite everything I tempted you with! If not, my life is over…”
Pleadingly, Reiko’s eyes sparkled with tears.
She looked very sad and desperate.
“So, is there any reason I must engage with Reiko? Why does my life have to end?”
