Nymphs Love Summer Vacations! #1
“Our nymph sisters' first reunion has concluded most successfully…! We all gathered together, ate the honey ants' candy, and even sang the Song of the Ditch Water…!”
When I returned home, the nymphs were beside themselves with joy.
Apparently, their reunion had been a roaring success.
“With this, Yuranoi has officially become an Honorary Nymph…! It is important that she does not forget the Song of the Ditch Water we taught her today, and keeps singing it…!”
Among the nymphs sat not only the enormous tiger owl Kalinoi but also Cha Yura with her dark blue hair.
It seemed the nymphs had truly decided to accept Cha Yura as one of their nymph sisters.
“Mwehehe, nymphs have always been friends, sisters, and babysitters to princesses and young gods since ancient times…! Those friends who grow up alongside us become Honorary Nymphs…!”
Apparently, nymphs loved appointing kindred spirits as Honorary Nymphs.
But becoming one, I heard, required passing through a very long and grueling process.
“Ms. Yura. Keeping up with the nymphs must be exhausting, right?”
I said this to Cha Yura, who had spent the entire day entertaining the boisterously romping nymphs.
But Cha Yura showed hardly any signs of fatigue.
“Not at all—I enjoyed it! I even developed a new finishing technique with the nymphs!”
“Yuranoi has excellent affinity with Ice Water Nymphs, it is said…! This Coris gave great assistance in developing Yuranoi's new technique…!”
Coris was a nymph who wielded an icy chill.
And Cha Yura was an awakener who lowered the surrounding temperature, sculpted ice, and manipulated crystals at will.
“Freeze!”
Crack—
The moment Cha Yura spread her palm toward the ground, the yard froze over in an instant.
Shhhk shhhk shhhk—
Gliding across the ice on skates she'd conjured from it, Cha Yura spun round and round with the elegance of a figure skater.
And her form was truly magnificent.
“I trained in ballet and figure skating before I ever awakened, you see! If I can fuse that artistry with my combat instincts—”
Cha Yura spun and spun.
Then, just when it seemed she would leap clean into the air, she brought her palm snap down against the ground.
“Nymph Secret Technique: Icicle Barrage!”
Krrrk-krrk-krrrrk—
Thick icicles surged up in a wave before Cha Yura.
The sharpened spikes punched straight through and shredded old tires and rusty steel plates—a truly fearsome ability.
Watching this display, Illinoi let out a sinister chuckle.
“Mwehehe, from this day forward, Yuranoi shall perform a sing-along of the Song of the Ditch Water every night before bed…! And she shall call upon the President to generously realize our nymphs' welfare and populism…!”
Ah, of course.
Cha Yura was the daughter of the President of South Korea—the most powerful person in the nation.
It seemed the nymphs' scheme was to charm Cha Yura and extract boundless welfare benefits for nymph-kind.
Wait.
Not the nymphs' scheme, but Illinoi's scheme.
Anyway.
“Hey! Illinoi! Let's go!”
Seo Yerim called for Illinoi.
Illinoi promptly sprinted toward the car, and Coris climbed into the back seat of the electric vehicle as well.
Whoosh— off went the nymphs, along with Seo Yerim and Cha Yura.
“So when exactly is the yard going back to normal?”
I frowned at the yard, frozen solid into a sheet of ice.
Walking around like this, someone was bound to slip and break their neck.
Thankfully, the summer heat did its work, and within a few minutes the ice had melted away.
The day after the reunion.
Guests arrived in the morning—guests I never expected.
Ahn Gyeong-tae, a first-generation sniper with one eye replaced by a glowing red mechanical implant, and Kim Dan, a woman whose arms and legs had both been swapped for machinery.
I was surprised in more ways than one to have visitors so early in the morning.
“What brings you two here?”
Kim Dan glanced around the yard.
“As class president and vice president, we came to see whether you were living well. So? Anything happen with Jihyun yesterday? She hasn't made it to a reunion in ages, you know.”
They seemed entirely unaware of what had happened yesterday.
I was debating whether to tell them the truth when Ahn Gyeong-tae spoke first.
“We should keep in touch more often, Ha Ildo. Glad to see you're doing well. When news from someone goes quiet for too long, it usually means they're either dead or headed down a bad road. I'd rather not have to fight you if I can help it.”
Fight me?
What on earth was that supposed to mean?
When I asked, Ahn Gyeong-tae explained.
“A few of the first-generation guys have been stirring up trouble lately. Word is they never contacted you, though. Well, what you don't know can't hurt you, I suppose.”
“Stirring up trouble?”
My classmates were, by and large, responsible and upstanding people.
What kind of trouble could people like that possibly be causing?
Kim Dan and Ahn Gyeong-tae exchanged a look.
"……"
"……"
Something like a silent signal passed between the two of them, until at last Kim Dan changed the subject entirely, her gaze settling on the honey ants wandering here and there around the yard.
“A real honey ant!”
Swoop—
Kim Dan plucked up one of the honey ants.
Its horn was sharp as a blade, and its black exoskeleton gleamed like a chafer beetle's shell.
“That one's a knight ant.”
Honey ants usually squirmed and fussed whenever people picked them up, but perhaps Kim Dan's mechanical arm felt strange to the touch, because this one stayed perfectly docile.
On that whim, Kim Dan adopted the honey ant on the spot.
She looked absolutely delighted to be walking away with a honey ant that money couldn't buy.
“I hear these guys are incredible at housework, too? Think I could put one to work as my assistant? Word is honey ants can disassemble and reassemble entire cars. Could they build equipment too?”
Well.
I couldn't say for certain about that, but while each honey ant's combat aptitude was somewhat lower than the dog-squirrels', they did have a real knack for building things and tearing things down.
“Lucky, finding this first thing in the morning. Glad I came. Heh heh heh heh. I wish the others would come by and get a look at the ants and squirrels too. Should we just hold the next reunion here?”
At Kim Dan's question, the ever-composed Ahn Gyeong-tae gave a slow nod.
“We'll have to see how things go, but it doesn't sound bad. The scenery's peaceful, which is nice. Plenty of room in the yard, too. Lay out a table and grill some meat, and it'd be perfect. You've even got BBQ gear.”
And with that, they left the neighborhood.
Everyone was busy, it seemed.
Truth be told, so was I.
“Keong-keong. Come here.”
Snick snick—
I diligently stroked Keongkeongi from head to tail.
Then I called Ang-ang-i over and polished his whole body until it gleamed with a handkerchief, and gave Kwang-kwangi's song a proper, attentive listen.
“Kalinoi.”
I groomed Kalinoi's feathers carefully too.
With that, the morning's duties were complete.
Now I unfolded the notebook Seo Yerim had left behind.
Written inside was a specific location and date.
“So it's this week. What I need to prepare is… soccer, basketball, and other ball sports… Good grief, they play every event there is. So even megacorp executives play like ordinary people sometimes.”
A team-building retreat for the executives of the Telos Group.
Whether it was Seo Yerim's request or her command, I had been signed up to participate.
Frankly, it sounded like a bit of a chore—until the moment I flipped through the file she'd given me and decided it couldn't hurt.
“A vacation. It's been a while.”
The venue for Telos's executive retreat was an island a little south of Japan.
A southern paradise where palm trees grew lush and thick—a genuinely beautiful place.
Rumor had it the megacorp Telos had purchased the entire island, developed it into a resort, and fused it with cutting-edge industry to turn it into a getaway.
And that was why the island was named Telos Land.
“I'm genuinely looking forward to this. When was the last time I had a proper vacation like this? No—has there ever been one in my life? Oinoi! We're going on a trip, so if there's anything to pack, get it packed in advance!”
“This Oinoi is absolutely delighted at the thought of riding the exclusive airplane…! If we fly through the sky, perhaps Oinoi may even touch the clouds…!”
Come to think of it, nymphs always seemed to want to touch clouds.
Of course, even riding a private plane wouldn't let her actually touch one.
But dreams and hope were important things, and so I decided to keep that fact to myself.
“Hieeek…! If Oinoi must sit in this seat the whole time, there will be no touching of clouds…! This Oinoi was tremendously excited for the clouds' sake…!”
The private jet said to be reserved for Telos Group's highest executives.
Seated inside it, Oinoi trembled from head to toe.
Was she crushed with disappointment?
Drift, float—
But once that strange sensation took hold and the plane began climbing through the sky, Oinoi's face lit up at the view outside the window as if she'd never been upset at all.
“Master, look at that…! The world has begun to shrink…! Oinoi wonders where our well house is from up here…!”
It was Oinoi's very first flight.
Before long she threw her hand up high and shouted.
“Oinoi could not touch the clouds, but this Oinoi has ridden an airplane…! Surely no other nymph in existence has ever beheld a view this high…!”
Good for her, I suppose.
In contrast to the thrilled Oinoi, Illinoi was throwing a full-blown tantrum.
“If we fall like this, everyone dies…! This Illinoi simply cannot believe in this thing called an airplane…! It is totally Final Destination…! Get me down at once…!”
Unlike Oinoi, Illinoi seemed genuinely terrified of the plane.
The flight time was one hour.
Illinoi spent nearly all of it out of her mind.
“Just as Icarus's wings melted when he rose toward the sun, this airplane will surely suffer a meltdown…! Gwaak…!”
Gwaak.
Apparently, that was the scream nymphs let out when they suffered an enormous psychological shock.
Severe enough to wound the soul, supposedly?
In other words, something like a death rattle—yet Seo Yerim merely scowled at the sight of her.
“Hey! We're not going to crash, so quit whining! You're giving me a headache!”
“Gwaak…! Inside an aircraft risen this high into the sky, one cannot even call a lawyer…! A machine this nymph-phobic must cease to exist…!”
In the end, we had no choice but to strap the furiously wriggling Illinoi into her seatbelt.
An hour later, when we landed on the island, Illinoi sauntered off the plane as proud as you please, as though nothing had ever happened, and declared:
“…Indeed, this Illinoi has conquered the heavens…! Even that Icarus surely could never have flown as high and mighty as this Illinoi…! Feeling very good…!”
I didn't quite follow, but if Illinoi's mood had improved, that was what mattered.
Pop—
Right after, Oinoi stepped off the plane and shouted too.
“The weather is extremely warm…! This island is tremendously nymph-friendly to Oinoi, a nymph born of summer…! There is a stream-like swimming pool over there…!”
Pop—
Oinoi was overjoyed at the sight of the swimming pool installed at the hotel resort.
Then Coris, who had slept through the entire flight, cried out as well.
“This Coris has never taken a cruise with the nymph sisters, but she is glad to think that this airplane journey is something she can do…!”
Coris had come along on this trip too.
Oinoi and Illinoi had wanted to invite her.
The nymphs dove straight into the pool and unleashed their "Nymph Secret Technique: Splash Around Wildly!", splashing about to their hearts' content.
Just as Seo Yerim shouted, “Hey! Unpack your luggage first!”—
a "hohoho" laugh rang out from somewhere.
“Yerim-chan. Long time no see. Your temper looks as savage as ever, desu ne.”
A bizarre language.
Was this the legendary "fluency in zero languages"?
I turned my head to find a woman wearing a yukata patterned with deep crimson maple leaves.
Her face resembled Seo Yerim's enough to startle me at first glance, but looking closer, she had a mole beneath her left eye and short hair.
She also seemed about a head shorter.
A cousin? A relative?
“She resembles Kore Yerim tremendously…! She must surely be a cousin…! The makings of a Kore are plain to see…! Telos was a family of Kores all along…!”
So she really was Seo Yerim's cousin?
The yukata-clad woman, presumed to be Seo Yerim's cousin, studied me through narrow eyes.
Then she gave a soft little laugh.
“So this koitsu is Yerimu's champion? You do know, right? If that man loses the match, our Nippon branch gets the shares? Yare yare—this year might just be the year headquarters changes hands?”
“Seo Youngja. Some things you only find out by playing. Don't come crawling and sniveling after you lose this year too.”
Heh— Seo Yerim scoffed.
The woman who seemed to be Japanese frowned.
“Not Youngja—Reiko! You should at least properly remember your own cousin's namae, no? Well, whatever. Victory belongs to us, desu…! The athletes we've brought this time are the treasure of Nippon's S-rank hunters…!”
“Domo. Yerimu-san. 'S. Ninja' desu.”
A masked figure, face and entire body concealed beneath mechanical armor, appeared from who-knew-where and formed a hand sign.
The strange cousin and the odd ninja alike were absolutely overflowing with ambition.
Then Illinoi, who had been listening to all this, spoke up.
“This strange Kore's language is so bizarre that this Illinoi cannot understand what she is trying to say…! Who in the world talks like that…? This is, without question, a cheating movement designed to deceive this Illinoi…! Call a lawyer and an interpreter here immediately…!”