083 – Taming the Giant Owl! # 2
Oinoi spoke up.
"Owls and eagle-owls are basically the same animal, but an owl's head is a little rounder, that it is…! An eagle-owl has tufts of feathers sticking up like ears, that it is…!"
Oinoi's lecture was surprisingly substantive. I'd always mixed up owls and eagle-owls myself, but sure enough — owls really did have round heads, while eagle-owls had feathers jutting out on either side like horns.
"But both owls and eagle-owls are hunting animals…! They love meat very, very much, that it is…! I think it would be good to lure one with meat and tame it, that it is…!"
Luring the eagle-owl with meat. It sounded like a classic, textbook strategy.
Unfortunately, we had one glaring problem.
"We don't have any meat."
I was the type to carry around a mountain of nuts like peanuts, since they doubled as snacks for Keong-keong-i and Ang-ang-i. The two of them mostly lived on plant-based foods like nuts and honey, so I'd never had any reason to stock meat.
As for Kwang-kwang-i, my Ghost Spider shimmering in rainbow RGB colors — he generally sipped dew or hunted mice on his own, thank you very much.
Then Coris spoke.
"Large eagle-owls are the natural predators of Dog-Squirrels, that it is…! That is because… eagle-owls love to catch and eat squirrels, that it is…!"
Eagle-owls eat Dog-Squirrels?
That was a deeply Keong-keong-i-phobic thing to say. All this time I'd assumed Keong-keong-i was an apex predator, but apparently even that wasn't quite the case.
"Indeed, then we should simply use the Prime Dog-Squirrel Keong-keong-i as a decoy (that is, bait), that it is…! As the Prime Dog-Squirrel, Keong-keong-i would surely look very delicious, that it is…! A bait worth a full five billion, that it is…!"
Illinoi proposed using Keong-keong-i as live bait to catch the owl. Whether or not he actually understood the conversation, Keong-keong-i puffed up his fur in what looked very much like fury.
━Grrrr…!
That, ladies and gentlemen, was one seriously pissed-off Dog-Squirrel.
But it wasn't as if we had any better options on the table. I decided to win him over.
"Keong-keong, do your part well and I'll give you a whole canister of macadamia peanuts!"
I'd been portion-controlling his snacks for the sake of his weight management. If I handed them out just because he was cute, he'd get chubby and sluggish, and that wouldn't be good for his health either. For a Dog-Squirrel on a strict diet, my proposal must have sounded like liquid gold.
━Keong-keong…!
At my offer, Keong-keong-i bounced happily from side to side. True to his title as the Prime Dog-Squirrel, the fellow had a generous heart and knew how to strike a deal.
"Good. Let's draw up the battle plan, then."
According to Oinoi, the nymph who had forgotten her own name and transformed into an owl was called a Tiger Owl — supposedly because it was an eagle-owl with fearsome claws and a massive frame, like a tiger.
Now that I looked again, the striped pattern really did resemble a tiger's coat.
"Tiger Owls are nocturnal, so their eyesight is poor in bright places, right? And their senses are razor-sharp too. We exploit both of those to build a trap — and then, Keong-keong, you lure it all the way here."
I laid out the plan for Keong-keong-i, and soon Kwang-kwang-i began sweeping his front legs from side to side.
━Hio-ong…!
Spider silk began pouring out from the rainbow spider's legs. Oinoi marveled at the sight.
"The web of a Ghost Spider makes an excellent net, that it is…! Many nymph-phobic hunters used this very silk to capture our nymph sisters, that it is…!"
A net used to capture nymphs? Now that was an extremely unfriendly thing to hear — and yet, for a team that needed to capture a nymph ourselves, it was welcome news.
Kwang-kwang-i kept moving his front legs, extruding shimmering silk, while Oinoi, Illinoi, and Coris clung to the strands and worked with their hands.
"We shall weave the silk into a net, that it is…! If we throw this into the stream, we'll surely catch an enormous number of fish, that it is…!"
"Mheh-heh — it reminds me of the days when I, Illinoi, went hunting Yankees on the Illinoi Plains, that it is…! I was making Yankee nets out of twine back then, that it is…!"
The nymphs were far more dexterous than I'd given them credit for. By twisting the strange silk together they produced a net of respectable size, one that stretched and shrank like something woven from rubber bands.
"That's the limit! The window's going to shatter!"
Cha Yura shouted. Through the glass I could see the tiger's massive forepaws churning the air, dangerously close to smashing the window to pieces.
I called out to Cha Yura.
"Then on 'three,' please step aside! I'm going in!"
One — I loosened my ankles and wrists.
Two — I steadied my breathing, and—
"Three!"
I launched myself at the window like a bullet.
Crash—!
The glass shattered completely, and I was hurled into the middle of a menagerie of roaring beasts. Holding Keong-keong-i tight, I sprinted with everything I had.
"Keong-keong! Go!"
━Keong-keong…!
Keong-keong-i bolted for the rendezvous point, while I ran the opposite way around, circling toward the same spot. Up above, the Tiger Owl circling the night sky seemed to spot us, and hooted a long, low note.
━Sending out a Dog-Squirrel, are we? What do you hope to do? My, what a plump, adorable little Dog-Squirrel…! Did you really think that thing could escape me…!?
So the nymphs hadn't been lying — the owl really did have a taste for Dog-Squirrels. The giant owl began chasing after Keong-keong-i, and I ran for my life from the rampaging beasts, all of us converging on the rendezvous point.
The rendezvous point. It was the exact spot where Cha Yura had frozen the alarm sensors and cameras solid.
━Grrrr…!
But when I arrived, there was Keong-keong-i — cornered, back against the wall. The giant owl was stalking toward him with slow, deliberate strides, one step at a time.
━Come here! Good little Dog-Squirrel! I'll tame you nicely too! Refuse, and you'll suffer for it — I am the apex predator here!
Thus did Keong-keong-i become a Dog-Squirrel thrown into the tiger's den, in every possible sense. I didn't let that opening slip by.
"Ang-ang! Now!"
Vmmm—.
Ang-ang-i beat his wings once, then hurled himself at the alarm unit Cha Yura had frozen over — and rammed it with his horn at full force, shattering the ice.
That was the moment.
Bwee-ong, bwee-ong — WEEEEEEEEEEE—!
Deafening alarms erupted from every direction at once!
━Wh-what is this!?
The giant owl panicked. To senses that sharp, a wall of shrieking alarms was nothing short of pure poison! Seizing the moment while the owl flapped wildly left and right, I threw myself at the creature with everything I had.
"Hiyaaaah—! Take the spider-silk net, you beast!!!"
The instant I flung the web that Kwang-kwang-i and the nymphs had woven, the Tiger Owl fluttered in bewildered panic. But the net born of spider and nymph cooperation was astonishingly strong — every time the owl thrashed, it cinched tighter and tighter around its body.
━What is this! What is this! A spider-silk net? You dare use such a nymph-phobic object on me! You — I will NOT forgive this! Untie it at once! Untie it! Untie it NOW!
I felt like a poacher bagging a protected natural monument — and honestly, in South Korea, eagle-owls actually were natural monuments!
Wait — was I really allowed to capture a natural monument like this? I mean—
No. This owl wasn't actually a real owl. She was a nymph. If anything, a nymph had to be rarer than any eagle-owl, monument status or not.
"Whatever. I'm overthinking this."
Smack—.
I clapped a hand against my own cheek and cleared my head, then approached the owl tangled up in the net.
I could see several of the beasts from earlier chasing after me in the distance — but Ang-ang-i flung himself at them at full force and drove them back.
━Jeul-ji…!
WHAM—!
Thanks to the valiant stand of Ang-ang-i — a tiny honey ant throwing around the strength of a hippo or an elephant — the beasts couldn't close in on me! But I had no idea how long he could hold out, so I had to hurry!
"—There. Good girl."
With tense, careful hands, I reached out toward the owl. According to Oinoi, the key to taming one was to move very, very slowly — as slowly and harmlessly as possible, like a person who posed no threat at all.
━You cheeky little whelp! Get that hand away from me! Do you take me for a real owl? I am a nymph of beasts! A nymph, not an owl!
I knew it was a stupid thing to do. But thinking about it now — Oinoi, Illinoi, and Coris all loved being praised and petted. Earlier I'd watched Lee Jina patting Coris's head so tenderly, after all.
With that image in mind, I laid my hand on the forehead of the owl trapped in the net, and with my nails slightly raised, gently scratched her head.
━Ohh — ohhhhhhhh…!?
Nothing like the fearsome beast she appeared to be — her feathers were soft and fluffy, and warm. She felt exactly like a gigantic stuffed animal.
The owl was remembering something from long, long ago.
It was the memory of someone tall stroking her head. The memory of splashing through forests and streams with her sisters. Once upon a time, someone used to pet me too. Even I had a time when I was small and young.
Shhh, shhh—.
The man's hand moving over her feathers stirred up that old warmth — that attention, that kindness. And I thought those days were so far gone that even memory of them had vanished.
The owl. The nymph who had lost her own name studied the man petting her fur, thinking seriously. So the little nymphs don't follow him for nothing. To think such a harmless, innocent person still existed in this world. No wonder that child was keeping such a close eye on him.
Shhh—.
Slowly, the owl raised her net-bound body and addressed the man.
━Listen here, you. Whelp of a Haildo. Your petting just now told me you're kind and trustworthy enough for nymphs to follow. So let me ask you one thing. What exactly do you plan to do with me, once I'm tamed?
"Huh? What do I plan to do?"
Haildo looked rather flustered by the question. Apparently, he hadn't given the slightest thought to what came after the taming.
Pop—.
Just then, he sensed the nymphs approaching from far off. As the owl's mind cleared, the rampaging beasts went still, and in that gap the little nymphs came crawling up over the containers, inch by inch.
Whoosh—! Oinoi threw up her hand.
"The master of the house has tamed the eagle-owl, that it is…! As expected, this Oinoi believed in the master of the house, that it is…!"
"Indeed, even by my eyes it is very amazing, that it is…!"
"This Coris wants to ride on the eagle-owl's back and touch the clouds in the sky, that it is…! I wonder if that would let me become an adult, that it is…!"
They were little nymphs, all of them. They approached the owl, and at last Oinoi — who seemed to be the foremost among them — pressed her forehead gently against the owl's forehead.
And in that instant, a flood of memories surged through the owl's mind. Oinoi, fleeing and wandering lost through a strange world in every direction — and the master of the house, who had extended his kindness to her without asking for anything in return.
Shhhhh—.
By the time anyone noticed, the great nymph had returned to her human form. Haildo gaped at her.
"…The nymph is huge!? I thought nymphs were all tiny, like little kids!"
She was indeed a huge nymph, just as he'd said — big enough to be mistaken for an elf. The large nymph reached down and stroked Oinoi's forehead as she spoke.
"I am Oinoi, nymph of the ditch water. You've found yourself a good person, little one. If I had met someone like him sooner, I wouldn't have done such foolish things as I have now."
"A nymph of beasts — Kalinoi, that it is…! A pleasure to meet you, that it is…! This Oinoi has never seen a nymph who could transform into a Tiger Owl before, and I think you are very impressive indeed, that it is…!"
Kalinoi. That was the name of the great nymph.
Then Coris thrust her hand up high.
"This Coris heard that in the Moon Forest there lived a nymph who could transform into a bear, that it is…! That nymph's name was Kali-something-or-other, that it is…! I'm curious whether you can turn into a bear too, that it is…!"
"That would be my older sister, Callisto. Like me, she was a nymph of beasts — but though she suffered a terrible injustice, she died as a bear, and no one ever took my sister's side. I have always been so sad about that."
Drip, drip—.
Tears welled up and slid down Kalinoi's cheeks.
"This Oinoi shall grieve together with you, that it is…!"
"This Coris is so sad that tears are about to spill, that it is…!"
Before long Oinoi wrapped Kalinoi in a hug, and Coris, the Ice Water Nymph, embraced her as well. It was a genuinely moving scene — even Haildo and the belatedly arriving Cha Yura found their eyes growing damp.
Only Illinoi was furious.
"This Illinoi shall never forget the egregious act of nearly being attacked by brainless animals, that it is…! Do not even think of glossing over this with touching feelings, that it is…! This Illinoi is starting a ferocious legal battle right now, that it is…! Someone call a lawyer here immediately, that it is…!"