Native Nymphs Hate Invasive Species! #5
"Kwang-kwangi. First, scope out the staff. They're all wearing masks, so you can't tell one face from another — we need to get a look at them up close first."
If I were going to sneak aboard this ship, disguising myself as one of the staff would be my best bet — the masks would hide my identity and give me the highest chance of success.
So investigating the staff first was a matter of ironclad principle.
Whoosh—.
I showed the staff roster to Kwang-kwangi, and before long, the little ghost spider began waving its forelegs left and right.
━Hio-ong…!
Did it actually understand?
Pop—.
And with that, Kwang-kwangi vanished somewhere. I felt a swell of pride, tinged with just a sliver of worry. Would it really manage to find what we were looking for?
Whoosh—.
A woman sidled up beside me.
"What are you doing over here? It's almost dinner time. There's lobster tonight too, so if you don't hurry, it might all be gone before you get any."
It was Lee Jina.
Lobster for dinner. That was a mouthwatering proposition if there ever was one, so I sprinted straight for the dining hall.
"This Oinoi finds herself thinking of the crayfish we met in the ditch waters…! But these are sea lobsters, bigger and finer than any ditch-water crayfish, they are…!"
Oinoi was clutching a lobster in each hand.
One lobster per hand. Now that was what you'd call opulent luxury.
Except— Oinoi couldn't manage to crack one open.
"Mmheheh! This glorious nymph Illinoi shall teach you how to eat a lobster, she will…! Nymph Secret Technique: Shell Smashing…!"
Illinoi began hammering the lobster with her fists — wham, wham—.
Of course, the lobster's shell turned out to be rather harder than a soft, round nymph fist.
Eventually, Illinoi threw a fit.
"This lobster is most dreadfully nymph-phobic, it is…! Clearly this is a scheme by invasive species to torment us nymphs, it is…! This one demands you call her a lawyer, it does…!"
The elves around the table burst out laughing at the sight.
"I suppose short-eared fairies have short patience to match their short ears."
"She's so tiny. Adorable."
They were treating her like a complete child.
As it happened, though, I didn't know how to eat lobster either.
Was I just supposed to poke around in it with a knife?
Whoosh—.
Someone jabbed me in the side.
"Hey, how do you even eat this thing? First time I've ever had lobster."
It was Lee Jina. Apparently this was her first time eating lobster too.
Same here. I'd only ever had the pre-cut, easy-to-eat pieces from buffets.
Just then—
Cha Yura, seated at our table, looked Lee Jina up and down with narrow eyes and said, "What, you don't even know how to eat lobster?" — and then began deftly separating the lobster meat with practiced hands.
Tak, tak-tak—.
Neatly prepared lobster piled up on the nymphs' table, ready to eat. Watching this, Oinoi was deeply moved.
"Cha Yura has the kindest of hearts, she does…! This nymph-friendly behavior and appearance remind this nymph of her nymph sisters…. It is Oinoi's belief that she would make a fine Honorary Nymph…!"
"Oho! Truly excellent thinking, it is…! Though further, better, stronger deliberation will be required, I can already see considerable Honorary Nymph potential, I can…!"
Honorary Nymph?
Someone who wasn't a nymph but got treated like one— was that the idea?
Before long, Oinoi explained.
"Those appointed as Honorary Nymphs gain the right to use Nymph Secret Techniques, they do…! They also gain the right and the duty to sing the Song of the Ditch Water, they do…!"
I thought I'd spent quite a lot of time with Oinoi by now, but the nymph race was still one giant question mark to me.
Every single day brought something new.
"I don't know what it is, but if it's good, that's all that matters."
Cha Yura smiled, a touch smug. Her gaze swept over Lee Jina and Seo Yerim.
She wanted to show them just how impressive she was, apparently.
So Cha Yura had a bigger desire to show off than I'd given her credit for.
Need for approval, was it? Well, if she had that much of it, no wonder she'd climbed all the way to S-rank.
Pop—.
Just then, Kwang-kwangi landed on the table.
━Hio-ong…!
Did that mean it had found something?
Already?
"Hold on, bathroom break."
The place Kwang-kwangi led me to was the janitor's supply closet.
When I opened it, something came slumping down toward me.
"Whoa, that startled me!"
It was a woman with pale, fair skin who — for reasons I couldn't begin to guess — was wearing nothing but her underwear.
Clearly a suspicious state of affairs.
I tried to wake her.
"Hey! Come on, wake up!"
But there was no response.
Is she dead…!?
A chill ran through me for a moment, but her body was still warm to the touch, and she was breathing steadily.
She appeared to be in an extremely deep sleep.
━Kwang-kwang…!
Keongkeongi pointed at the woman's neck with his foreleg.
Looking closer, I saw a small hole there — it looked like an injection mark.
"She was injected in the left side of her neck from a slightly elevated angle. The deep sleep is most likely due to some kind of drug. A drug, huh…. Isn't that dangerous?"
A drug that knocked someone into a deep sleep.
Wouldn't we need an antidote?
And I knew exactly who to ask — someone who could advise me without raising a fuss.
"Why has this Illinoi been summoned, she wonders…? This Illinoi was locked in a duel to the death with a sea lobster, she was…! The table was practically Pirates of the Caribbean, it was…!"
Illinoi was a deeply strange nymph.
But I remembered that she was the Medicine Nymph.
"Illinoi. You know a lot about drugs, right?"
"Of course…! This Illinoi is a master class graduate who studied every potion and herb in her tribe, she is…! She's not called the Medicine Nymph for nothing, she isn't…!"
"This woman is asleep and won't wake up. Can you tell what drug was used? I'd also like to check whether there's any risk to her health."
Whoosh—.
I draped my jacket over the fallen woman and showed her to Illinoi.
Illinoi studied the woman for a long moment, then declared, "Just as I thought, it is…!"
What exactly was so "just as I thought" about it?
Before long, Illinoi spoke.
"Edom Smith, once this Illinoi's foremost disciple, once said the following, she did…! There is no free in this world…! Everything must come with a proper price, it must…!"
So she wouldn't tell me for free, then.
This was the difference between Illinoi and Oinoi.
Illinoi continued.
"Let the House Master grant one request to the soon-to-be-established Nymph Relief Foundation, and this matter shall be settled as a give-and-take, it shall…!"
"Deal."
I accepted without hesitation. Whatever the nymphs wanted could hardly be anything difficult.
Illinoi soon mmheheh'd and clenched her fists.
"Nymph Secret Technique: Random Beating…!"
Dududududududududu—.
Illinoi's round little fists rained down on the sleeping woman. Not a single bruise was left, but it looked remarkably violent all the same.
"Hey, what are you doing right now!"
I was flustered in more ways than one.
And at that very moment—
"Mmmnngh—."
The fallen woman flinched and slowly regained consciousness.
Watching her, Illinoi said:
"The drug used is one called Kore's Breath, it is…! A flower whose properties match the kind once received by Princess Psyche when she descended to visit Kore, Queen of the Underworld…!"
Kore's Breath. A flower—.
It was a lot to take in, but according to Illinoi, it posed no danger to the human body.
"Deep sleep is the basic accomplishment of all Kore…! Sleep well and you become more beautiful, you do…! It must have been a rare flower — this one has no idea where they could have gotten it, she doesn't…!"
I see.
So it was a sleeping pill with beauty benefits, essentially.
A hard thing to get one's hands on, then.
"And nothing beats a nymph's fists for waking someone from a drug, nothing does…! This Illinoi can cure drug addicts by beating them soundly with her fists, she can…!"
Curing drug addicts by punching them. What a remarkable nymph Illinoi was.
So that's the level you had to reach to be a gang boss, huh.
Anyway.
The woman had woken up, and she stared at me in alarm.
"Kyaaah! Pervert!"
"Please don't panic. I'm not a strange man."
"This Illinoi was never a human to begin with, she wasn't…!"
Having Illinoi around really did make things feel even weirder.
Still, the woman who'd mistaken me for a pervert calmed down the moment she saw Illinoi.
"A fairy? An elf? But those ears are short."
"How dare you mistake these short and splendid ears for those of the long-eared elves, you dare…? This is most dreadfully nymph-phobic, it is…! Clearly the drug hasn't fully worn off, it hasn't…!"
Illinoi clenched her fists again.
The woman soon let out a breath of relief.
"I don't really understand, but you're fairies, right? Anyone with a fairy can't be a bad person. What on earth happened? Where is this?"
I explained the whole story as best I could.
Not that "the whole story" amounted to much more than pulling a woman out of a janitor's supply closet.
Before long, the woman said:
"I'm Joo Jeong-ah, the bartender of the Valhalla zone. I was walking along when I felt a sting in my neck, and after that I don't remember anything—."
"Clearly the drug hasn't fully worn off, it hasn't…!"
Once more, Illinoi clenched her fists.
Now that I thought about it, Illinoi really seemed to enjoy hitting people.
Anyway.
"My clothes, and my access key! They're all gone!"
Bartender Joo Jeong-ah panicked at the discovery that her belongings had vanished.
And I felt like I finally had a rough thread to pull on.
"So you're saying the bartender in the Valhalla zone is a fake who stole that woman's identity?"
Lee Jina frowned as she listened to my explanation. She must have sensed the coming of a troublesome case.
"Who on earth would do something like that?"
"No idea. I'm planning to go find out now, but things could escalate in a lot of ways, so I think you and I should join forces."
"Why not tell Seo Yerim?"
Lee Jina's suggestion was reasonable.
But I had a more reasonable reason of my own.
"Light a fire on this ship and see what happens. You do realize we're further south than Jeju Island right now? If the hull gets punctured or something goes wrong, we're in serious danger."
Seo Yerim was a walking bomb.
Was I supposed to detonate a bomb just to swat a mosquito?
Before long, Cha Yura, who had been listening to our conversation, spoke up.
"Well, Seo Yerim is a bit reckless, isn't she. Very well. I'll make an exception and lend you my strength. The power of an S-rank awakener — something far beyond a C-rank. Watch closely, Lee Jina. My skills, I mean."
With that, Cha Yura looked down at Lee Jina and me and puffed out her shoulders and chest with total confidence.
Come to think of it, why was she standing on top of a crate? Did she just want to loom over us?
Cha Yura continued.
"First, looking at the ship's cross-section — the Valhalla level where the bar is located is right here. I'll use my power to seal off these entrances so our culprit can't slip out."
Cha Yura's ice was solid.
Anyone who could break through her seal would have to be projecting firepower at S-rank level or beyond.
I was already feeling reassured.
"Yura, we also have to account for the possibility of accomplices. And I'd like to evacuate the passengers first — will that be alright? If we use your name, we can summon all the VIPs to our Midgard Hall, can't we?"
Cha Yura was Korea's princess.
If Cha Yura called, every VIP in the Valhalla Hall would file out without question.
Which would leave only the suspicious bartender behind.
"Good plan."
All that remained was execution.
「The pride of Korea, Ms. Cha Yura, has an important announcement. All guests currently on deck are asked to gather in the party hall of the Midgard zone by 8 PM.」
Krrrsssh—.
One by one, then two by two, people began drifting toward the hall.
I slipped through the crowd and headed for Valhalla Hall.
The bartender was there.
"Surrender."
Whoosh—.
I said it point-blank.
As the masked bartender tilted her head in confusion—
Crack, crrrriiick—.
The entrances to the hall housing the bar froze over completely in blue ice.
"Now, surrender at once, intruder! We already know who you are!"
At some point, Cha Yura had climbed atop a square crate. At her shout, the eyes of the woman behind the mask flashed sharply.
"Oh dear, this is a problem. There's one more of you hiding behind that wall, isn't there?"
She knew Lee Jina was there without even looking?
A perception-type ability user!
She might be connected to that plague-doctor masked woman — or she might be the same person!
"There's no escaping today."
"Ho ho. Is that so?"
Shiiing—.
The woman drew a dagger from her belt.
She looked fully prepared to fight rather than surrender.
But—
That woman still didn't know!
That I had Kwang-kwangi — the natural predator of perception-type ability users…!
Kwang-kwangi was at this very moment clinging to the ceiling, right above the bartender's head—
The moment I gave the signal—!