Taming the Giant Owl! # 1
━Hio-ong…!
Kwang-kwangi had made it back to us safe and sound. Clutched in its mouth was the feather of a large bird — and once again, Oinoi was certain it was an owl feather.
"It is exactly the same as the owl feather we discovered back then…! It is certain that the wicked nymph is here, in this place called a factory…!"
In other words, we had come to the right place.
The factory was, quite literally, an abandoned site. No one was watching it, no guards were posted — it was simply locked. But barging in uninvited would put us afoul of laws like 'unlawful entry onto private property.'
"Shouldn't we go through some kind of procedure first?"
I thought it would be best to contact the relevant agency and the official in charge. Cha Yura, however, let out a dismissive little snort and vaulted clean over the factory wall.
"I am the relevant agency and the official in charge. I'll handle any tedious paperwork later, so let's just get inside for now!"
She was brimming with enthusiasm. "Pull this off, and I'll become an Honorary Nymph too!"
So that was it — she wanted to become an Honorary Nymph. Apparently, once you became one, you earned the right to attend the nymphs' gatherings and even sing songs together with them.
What tremendous privileges those were. No, honestly, I had no idea what was so tremendous about any of it.
Scritch-scratch, scritch-
The nymphs crept their way over the wall on all fours. I climbed over alongside them.
Shhk-.
Now we were sneaking through the factory interior, the terrain of which Kwang-kwangi had already scouted out for us in advance. There was something like an 'unmanned alarm system' installed inside — the kind of device that would spew out a deafening racket the moment it detected intruders.
"Freeze!"
The instant Cha Yura extended her hand, cameras and alarm units seized up with a crackling shhhhk and ground to a halt. In the blink of an eye, she had neutralized every mechanical device in the area. Truly masterful mana control.
"That's not the work of an amateur."
"Of course it isn't! Let's move!"
And so we made our way to a spot piled high with shipping containers. What could they possibly be for?
Before long, Ang-ang-i spoke up.
━Zzjit…!
"So that's how it is."
"This Oinoi is curious about what Ang-ang-i just said…!"
"Honestly, I don't get it either."
I still couldn't understand what Ang-ang-i was trying to say. But I could faintly sense the little ant declaring, with rock-solid confidence, 'Leave it to me!'
Shhk-.
Ang-ang-i crept steadily toward the padlock sealing a container shut — and with his sharp mandibles, snap, severed it clean through.
Thud-.
The lock dropped to the floor. I approached the now-unsealed container and pulled open its doors — and in that same instant, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
Flap-flap, flap-flap-.
Inside the container was a white-feathered bird. You could well have called it a swan. The sight of the caged swan thrashing its wings in apparent terror made my face scrunch up.
"There are animals locked inside these containers!"
"So the rumor about illegal wildlife smuggling really was true. Do you think every container here is packed with animals?"
Shhk-.
Cha Yura and I pried open another container. Sure enough, just as we'd suspected — all manner of animals were crammed inside, trembling.
"To cage animals like this…. It is a most nature-hostile, un-nymphlike act…! Bad nymph…! It is utterly, disgustingly deplorable…! This is illegal…!"
Illinoi — fittingly, a nymph who had broken more laws than anyone — seemed to recognize instantly that these animals were being held unlawfully. Oinoi and Coris, too, frowned at the sight of the swans and raccoons trapped behind the bars.
"This Oinoi thinks the animals look pitiful…!"
"We should let them out…!"
I agreed that the animals needed to be freed. But a strange question nagged at me.
"Why on earth would anyone bring animals all the way here just to lock them up?"
Were they planning to open a zoo? Or dealing in animal trafficking somehow?
Just as I was mulling it over —
"Ah! Look over there…!"
Oinoi pointed at something. There, beating its wings with a great whump-whump, a massive owl was circling high above our heads.
A giant owl. Even Illinoi screwed up her face at the sight of it and shouted.
"Get down here this instant…! Nymphs are wingless fairies by nature…. Flying through the sky is egregiously unfair…!"
Perhaps Illinoi's protest actually got through, because the owl came swooping down at us with a piercing screech, wings thrashing the air.
Shkang-!
The giant owl raked out its razor-sharp talons. It seemed intent on hunting us.
"Freeze — Freeze-dent!"
Pat-.
Cha Yura thrust out her hand. Freeze-dent was her signature technique, so widely used that it had earned its own Wikipedia page. Supposedly it blasts out extreme cold from her palm to subdue and entomb her target in ice — the name being a pun on 'freezing solid' and 'President,' of all things.
She was clearly aiming to freeze the owl solid with that fearsome skill.
"What the—?"
But Cha Yura let out an uncharacteristically flustered cry. No ice was coming from her hand at all.
"My mana's being interfered with!"
Fwaash-!
And then the owl's enormous talons closed around Cha Yura and plucked her clean off the ground. The owl surged skyward once more.
"Put me down! Put me down, I say!"
Cha Yura flailed. Whether the owl took pity on her or not, at the height of its ascent it simply released her into the open air.
"Waaah!"
I threw out my arms toward Cha Yura as she began to plummet.
"I've got you!"
"Wheeeck!"
Wham-!
A tremendous shock ran through my hands as I caught the woman falling from a dozen meters up. But it was bearable. The owl regarded me with a long, low hoo-hooo-.
━Now you know what it feels like to be the hunted, don't you? I don't know how you managed to find this place, but you've come to the wrong place! Behold the terror of the wild!
Perched atop a container, the giant owl spread its wings wide and let out an enormous cry — so loud the nymphs clapped their hands over their ears.
The real problem came next.
━Grrrrowl….
━Rrraaaar-.
The beasts caged behind the iron bars began to break free, one by one, and close in around us in a ring. Among them were monstrous predators that looked quite capable of swallowing a nymph whole in a single bite.
Illinoi clenched her fist. "This Illinoi shall attempt to converse with the animals…! We nymphs are the friends of all beasts…! With a little dialogue, we shall be in each other's world…!"
━GRRRRR…!
A spotted leopard lunged straight at Illinoi. If I hadn't yanked her back by the scruff of the neck in that instant, those claws would have torn her body to pieces.
Dangling from my arm, Illinoi shrieked. "You dare attack this Illinoi…! A beast utterly devoid of intelligence…! I shall file a lawsuit…!"
"It's obvious that giant owl is controlling the animals…! Its true identity must surely be an Animal Nymph…!"
An Animal Nymph. I didn't know exactly what that was, but I pieced it together quickly enough — a nymph capable of commanding beasts and even transforming into one.
Grrrrr-.Growwwl-.
Beasts had us surrounded on every side. Cha Yura shouted, her voice shaking.
"My mana won't work! I feel like an ordinary civilian again! I don't know what's going on, but this situation is bad!"
It was true — mana was refusing to obey. I could feel the mana in my own body slipping beyond my control as well. And then the giant owl gave a long hoo-hoooo-.
━My feathers carry an effect that disrupts the cohesion of mana. And they're scattered all over this factory!
Was this real life?
Mana Jamming. An item with a power like that actually existed? So that was why Seo Yerim had been ambushed and had her hair shorn off at the scalp!
━Deny awakeners like you your mana, and you're as fragile as rabbits. Now — attack!
Grrrrowl-!
The predators came charging straight at us. My first thought was simple: run.
Scrape, scrape, clatter-.
A furious scratching sounded against the factory door — clawing, kicking. We had somehow escaped and secured ourselves a safe corner. The nymph Oinoi was shivering as she spoke.
"An Animal Nymph is what a nymph evolves into when she is unusually attuned to beasts…! And an Animal Nymph commands animals through a special song…!"
It certainly seemed that way. The animals stuffed into those containers were, in a word, 'weapons.'
Ssssss-.
Just then, a snake slithered in through a gap in a broken window. It was pale all over, but its open mouth was pitch black — and Cha Yura shrieked at the sight of it.
"Th-that's a black mamba! One bite is lethal!"
A deadly venomous snake had invaded — and it was Keongkeongi who rose to meet it.
━Grrrr…!
With a bark like rolling thunder, Keongkeongi slammed into the serpent's body.
Snarl-hiss, snarl-hiss-.
The two beasts fought for a brief while — until the black mamba, sensing danger in Keongkeongi's ferocious assault, turned tail and fled.
━Shhhh…!
"Keongkeongi is truly magnificent…!"
Yes. Keongkeongi truly was magnificent! And not only that — Keongkeongi, Ang-ang-i, and Kwang-kwangi were none of them falling under the dominion of that so-called Animal Nymph.
A question sparked in my mind. "Why aren't animals like Keongkeongi and Kwang-kwangi being controlled by the Animal Nymph? Is there some difference? If I could just figure out why, I feel like we could find a way to turn this whole situation around…!"
At that very moment, Coris thrust her hand up. "Could it be because they were tamed by the master of the house…! That would be why the Animal Nymph cannot command them…!"
Soon Oinoi shot her hand up as well. "Indeed, that must be it…! Taming…! To tame is, in every sense, an act of opening one's heart…! This Oinoi has just thought of something wonderful…!"
The scheming, quick-witted Oinoi seemed to have hit upon a genuinely good idea.
Crash-!
Just then the window shattered, and a tiger's foreleg — armed with razor talons — thrust its way inside. Cha Yura was aghast.
"I don't know what idea you've had, but put it into action NOW! If we stay put like this, we'll be torn apart and eaten alive!"
Seizing a nearby chair, Cha Yura swung it this way and that, fending off the tiger's foreleg. Even stripped of her mana, she fought with the ferocity befitting a true S-rank awakener.
What an admirable sight!
Watching her, Oinoi spoke up. "An Animal Nymph shares attributes very close to those of actual animals…! The Animal Nymph has currently transformed into a great owl…. Which means it may well be possible to tame her…!"
Taming a nymph transformed into a beast? Was such a thing even possible?
Soon Illinoi let out a grand gasp of admiration. "Indeed — if the House Master who tamed a prime dog-squirrel, an emperor honey ant, and a most unique ghost spider says it is possible, then it just might be feasible…! What good thinking…!"
Coris agreed brightly. "Even if we cannot tame her, the moment we create a single opening, our nymph sisters will surely be able to press their foreheads together…! When nymphs press foreheads, they can learn each other's names…!"
There was an old custom among nymphs of greeting one another at first meeting by touching foreheads. Through that single gesture, they could intimately share each other's age and name, their type of nymph, their health, even their mood.
"Nymphs who have forgotten their names are said to find peace in every way once their name is recalled to them…! So let us nymph sisters find her name for her…!"
Fwoosh-.
Oinoi raised her fist high. There was just one problem, though.
"And how, exactly, are we supposed to tame that gigantic owl?"
I cautiously studied the owl as it wheeled freely over the factory grounds beyond the broken window. An owl, sure — but it might as well have been a giant fighter jet.
Before long, Oinoi gave a sly little muh-heh grin. "Back when this Oinoi was learning how to tell owls from eagle-owls, I also learned what owls love best…! If the master of the house lends his aid, it is more than possible…!"