Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: Deep Night, Small Moon, and the Stranger
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The baron is waiting for you.
Baron. A baron.
There were nobles interested in Nymph Echo's rapid development. This baron must be one of them.
Unlike in 21st-century Korea, where I savored the sweetness of capitalism and liberal democracy, this world has a class system.
People are assigned a class from birth, and they live lives predetermined by that class.
From the lowest slaves, who make up the bottom rung.
To the free folk, who form the bulk of society's population, and up to the noble minority bloodlines and royalty.
Nobles.
To me, someone who only ever encountered the word "noble" in games as a popular party class, nobles were a foreign concept.
Even in this world with its legally enshrined class system, I'd never met a single noble.
"-San."
Had I really never? Sure, maybe I'd brushed past one on the street once or twice. But they'd never crossed paths with me in any meaningful way, so I knew next to nothing about nobles.
It was like a mudskipper rolling around in the mudflats considering them its home turf, never mingling with the clear-water top-grade bass like Elizabeth.
From what I'd vaguely heard, my take on nobles was that they wielded influence and authority similar to Earth's congressmen or city councilors. They were just as hard to meet, too.
As an average citizen in Korea, it wouldn't have been an exaggeration to say I'd never see a congressman's face outside of the news in my entire life.
"Hassan, what are you thinking so hard about?"
Lost in thought, I snapped back to reality at the sound of Luna calling my name. Time had passed, alcohol had flowed, and the afterparty was ripening nicely.
Luna, who'd downed a few beers on her own, had slightly flushed cheeks. Next to her, Paranoya was—
"Goddess of the Hearth... prayer... response..."
Face planted in the table, she was out cold, mumbling in her sleep. It was about time to call it a night, all things considered. We'd polished off most of the roast bird we'd ordered as snacks.
I slurped down the remnants in my glass and replied nonchalantly.
"Not thinking about much."
"Liar...! I know now that a wrinkle forms between your brows when you're thinking hard!"
"Really?"
I hadn't realized I had that habit. After half a century of life, this was news to me. When did that even start?
Curious, I ran my palm over my forehead and asked.
"How'd you notice?"
"You pick it up when you check someone's face every day. Want me to guess what you're thinking right now?"
She stared—
Luna's cheeks were rosy from the drink as she locked eyes with me. That straight gaze, uncharacteristic of someone drunk, made me oddly embarrassed, and I wanted to look away.
People in this world had no qualms about staring into each other's eyes.
She stared—
Holding her clear gaze felt like it laid me bare, a little scary even.
"Hassan, no looking away. The mind-reading spell only works if we hold eye contact for a few seconds."
"Mind-reading spell? First I've heard of it."
"Of course! I just made it up!"
"Luna, you drunk?"
"No! I'm fine!"
Luna yelled. The noisy tavern full of drunks fell silent for a moment.
Seconds later, the split sea crashed back together, raucous tavern talk flooding my ears again.
"Guess it's time to head out. Better go before we get too wasted to walk."
"We're already at the inn. If it's bad, just crash here. But anyway, I figured out what you were thinking!"
Her bold declaration had me perking my ears, wondering what this pink-haired girl would say next.
"What was I thinking?"
"You were thinking... 'I should order Luna one more tasty bird skewer and a side of pea stew!'"
"Nope, not even close."
"No way! You totally were! Are you saying my spell's wrong? I'm Luna, voodoo priestess of Ideophe. The odds of my spells missing are—"
"Luna, you hungry right now?"
"Uh, yeah... Did you read my mind too?"
Maybe two birds weren't enough for three people?
Luna had been eating like she was in a growth spurt lately. The snacks clearly hadn't filled her up.
So I ordered the bird skewer and pea whatever she wanted. She mentioned it because she craved it. I'm not oblivious.
"See? You ordered exactly what I said. I nailed your thoughts...!"
"Yeah, good job."
Luna and I shared the extra food, then left the inn. We'd chatted excitedly during the afterparty, but with a nice buzz going, I couldn't recall the details.
Still, the booze, snacks, and this bright girl's chatter soaked into my labyrinth-weary body like water into parched earth, lifting my spirits.
Ahh, the fatigue's melting away.
Of course, things weren't fully wrapped up yet.
"C-Can't... walk..."
Paranoya, smashed after just two beers, staggered out the inn door and finally plopped onto the ground.
Having to drag a drunk along. Was there anything more annoying?
"Luna, can't we just book her a room at the inn and let her sleep it off?"
"No way. Nymphs attract too many creeps—anything could happen. She's wasted, so better to tuck her in at my place tonight."
"Fair enough. But how do we get her home like that?"
"I... can walk..."
Paranoya reflexively answered, but then she just sprawled out flat on the dirt.
No choice but to carry her.
"Want me to piggyback her?"
"...No! I'll do it!"
At my question, Luna hoisted Paranoya onto her back. She looked a bit unsteady carrying a girl her own size.
But her recent growth spurt was real—she managed without tripping or faltering.
"Heh, found a drunk nymph. Hee hee. Nymph mana potion. Nymph skin beauty gel. Nymph..."
I had no idea about her mind-reading spell. But I could guess what was running through her head right now.
I decided to play dumb.
* * *
I'd thought it was just a cramped, shabby hut. But coming back after all that ordeal, it felt like a real home.
Not my home, mind you—Luna's.
"Ughhh... Sorry..."
"Huff, it's fine. That was rough."
Luna laid Paranoya in the corner of the first floor, covered her with a thin blanket, and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
She'd been red-faced and rambling from the booze earlier.
But sobering up from carrying Paranoya, Luna seemed mostly clear-headed now.
Not surprising. I'd noticed from our first drinking session—she was a heavyweight. I thought my tolerance was solid, but she outclassed me.
That led to swearing some oath on the River Styx or whatever. And now here we were, living under the same humble roof. Felt weird thinking about it.
What if I hadn't gotten drunk then?
I might still be hopping inns alone, and Luna could've gotten fed up with city life and headed back to her hometown solo.
Fate was a strange thing.
What if I hadn't gone to the Mars Guild? Or gotten slapped by Daphne? Or taken that temple cleaning quest?
Who knows.
"Shower tomorrow, Hassan. Let's hit the bathhouse in the morning!"
"Sure, sounds good."
"Be nice if the house had plumbing..."
Her wistful comment reminded me of my few days crashing at Hippolyte's.
It was smaller than expected, but her place had a shower stall like a phone booth.
"Expensive to install a shower?"
"Needs permits and all to hook up the water lines. A simple basin is fine, but that's gross."
"Hm, yeah."
Luna was surprisingly clean for a swamp kid. She'd hate washing with collected rainwater.
I'd wash with anything as long as it got me clean. Guess men and women just sense these things differently.
"Anyway, wonder if kyungkyung came back? Been away a few days."
Giving up on washing tonight, Luna poked around the first floor, opening jars. Figured kyungkyung the wolf spider might be inside one.
But I doubted a runaway beast would return. Even house cats rarely come back once they bolt.
"Whoa, Hassan. Look at this!"
Luna called me over. Peering into the jar—
Grrr. Grrr.
A bizarre noise from a tiny jar. A rainbow-colored, utterly grotesque and creepy spider huddled inside.
"Whoa, it really came back."
"Right? Told you it would."
Damn, a runaway spider returns home. Wild. At this point, it could legit be a pet. Not for me, though—way too scary-looking.
"But looks like more than one. What's that on its back? Babies?"
I frowned at the colorful hump on the spider's back. If kyungkyung was palm-sized, the little one was finger-length.
It differed from your standard wolf spider—no fur, sleek and transparent, like a blue jelly spider.
I'd heard scorpion young were soft like that. Maybe kyungkyung's babies looked like this when young?
Lots of legs made it creepy, but the smooth, hairless body toned down the horror a bit.
"Guess it went out and had babies?"
"Hassan, the little one's not a baby. It's a male."
"A male?"
"Yeah! Male wolf spiders ride on the female's back like that. They move in when she makes a nest and live off what she brings back."
"So it just chills at home eating what the female hunts? Total house husband—"
Mid-sentence, damn, it sounded just like me. Crashing at Luna's place. Shit, I just spat in my own face.
But Luna, petting the spider through the jar opening, didn't seem to care what I'd said.
"It's brought its boyfriend home. Soon it'll lay eggs. Train wolf spider young from the start, and they're great in combat."
Woof.
More spider babies, huh.
Good for no mosquito bites in summer, I guess... But not a scene I cared to picture.
Still, as a guy freeloading at a woman's place, or maybe because of its jelly-like texture and look, that male wolf spider kinda grew on me.
Looking again, even with all those legs, it was sorta cute.
Anyway, we'd checked on kyungkyung's return, and night was deepening, so Luna and I hit the sack.
I figured I'd pass out the second my head hit the floor, so I lay on the deer-hide blanket.
But Luna, not tired apparently, fiddled with the ox skull instead of sleeping.
"Could just use it as a talisman like that. Ngh, can't get this in Ideophe. Obsidian dagger and a dullahan's skull. Damn... At this rate, I'll be an advanced ritualist..."
She was over the moon with the ox skull from the labyrinth haul, beside herself with glee.
"That good, huh?"
"Yeah!! A talisman like this amps up spell power! They boost accuracy and potency!"
"Better than expected."
Back when we met, I'd pegged her spells as superstition, like knocking over branches for directions or party tricks.
But they'd proven subtly useful plenty of times. If they got stronger and more accurate like she said, no wonder she was thrilled.
"How's it look? Matches?"
She posed with the eerie bone helmet on her head.
It gave off a creepy cult voodoo priestess vibe like Somnia, but also reminded me of a bone-headed Pokémon—kinda funny.
"Deep in the night, joyous voodoo!"
Luna started dancing, swaying her shoulders and hips. It evoked ancient shamans performing human sacrifices—odd vibe.
But.
When does she sleep?
I'm sleepy.
"Looks good."
"..."
Did my curt reply rub her wrong? She'd asked, but showed no reaction. Maybe I needed fancier praise. Just as I thought that—
"Huuu..."
A small sigh leaked from Luna under the skull helmet, and a chill wind blew in. Forgot to close the first-floor window?
Luna froze mid-dance.
"Hassan."
She called my name. Her eerily calm tone chased off my drowsiness.
"Yeah?"
"What... do you think of me, Luna...?"
"...What I think of you...?"
The sudden question threw me for a loop.