Chapter 287
Chapter 287
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 287
Chapter Title: Delphi, To Delphi #2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Daphne let out such a piercing scream that my ears went numb.
It had slipped my mind lately, but it made me remember that Daphne was originally the type to get angry easily and raise her voice loudly in a bizarre way.
As the saying goes somewhere, I think I'd heard that one of her ancestors had nymph blood, which made her emotions flare up like that.
Sure enough, if nymph blood is mixed in, you'd get all sorts of persecution complexes, suddenly wanting to scream and such.
“What in the world is this—?!”
But still, Daphne seemed way too worked up. At this rate, everyone in the guild might start staring at me.
Sure enough, I could see the guards in armor over there drawing their weapons with a clank, wondering what was going on.
I didn't want to cause any trouble right before heading to Delphi. So, while thinking about how to calm her down, I pulled a small round object wrapped in paper from my pocket.
“Here, have this and calm down a bit.”
“Wh-what is this round thing!? What do you intend by giving me something like this!?”
“It's candy.”
“Ah, candy—.”
At the word candy, Daphne seemed to calm down considerably as she took the round bead from me. She carefully unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth all at once, and sure enough, she quieted down.
It was candy I carried just in case Paranoya got noisy with her paranoia, but who knew it'd come in handy here. More than that, calming down after eating candy—looks like even diluted nymph blood makes one a nymph.
In a fairly calm voice, Daphne spoke.
“A bunch of new graces have been added. What's 'Armor of the Night,' and 'Dark Eyes' or 'Sooty Skin'...? According to records, no one's received this many graces at once since Perseus—!”
“Ah, is that so.”
Well, in this world, even a single grace meant you'd never starve for life.
And graces themselves burden the body, so they say you can't handle two or more.
According to the witch Nemea, those with multiple graces are either great heroes or the gods' playthings.
I didn't get it back then, but I'm probably the gods' plaything. With all these grand beings constantly approaching and talking to me, there's no better way to put it. It's become pretty familiar now.
But to Daphne, it seemed like a huge shock.
Not just her—the people around started murmuring too.
Received multiple graces all by himself?
In this silent age where the gods have fallen quiet—?
What the hell? How do you even get graces?
I could vividly hear their questions buzzing in my ears. Ah, now I get why Daphne was so shocked.
“And your strength value is up to 15! Normally, stats rise evenly! How is this possible? What kind of training did you do?”
“Well—.”
Strength value of 15? In the world, is that even possible?
Isn't 14 the max? I heard even Hippolyte and Actaeon have been stuck at 14 for years!
That freakish-looking barbarian kid broke through it?
Murmurs swelled.
The crowd's whispers around me rippled like waves.
Maybe now's the perfect time to yell for a photographer? But contrary to my imagination, faced with the real situation, I just wanted to bolt from here.
“What on earth did you do? It doesn't seem like normal methods! What did you do in those few days?”
“Well, I don't really know either. I've just been doing some volunteer work lately.”
So I brushed it off vaguely.
Yelling hail chaos— makes weird letters appear, massages or special deeds raise karma value, and Luna turns that into levels with totems—. No one would believe that, obviously.
Even if they did, it'd be trouble.
People might try dissecting me and Luna to uncover the secret right away.
“Volunteer work, so altruistic acts?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
At my answer, Daphne scribbled 'altruistic acts' into her notebook with a scratch. She originally asked others about level-up secrets to train noobs.
Volunteer work?
Altruistic behavior? Does that raise karma?
I've heard of that. People who do good deeds to cultivate their minds.
Indeed, a strong mind makes a strong body?
I turned my head, and the murmuring crowd halted their steps, then hurriedly scattered.
They seemed to believe I'd grown through selfless volunteering. Could this harsh, bizarre city of Sodomora become a bit warmer starting tomorrow?
“What a racket. So it was you, Samaritan.”
Then someone addressed me from behind. Only one woman could appear right behind me without a sound.
“Ah, Lady Hippolyte.”
“I heard your strength value exceeded 15.”
“Well—.”
As I hesitated, Daphne swiftly showed the scroll with my stats to Hippolyte. Her brow furrowed slightly as she examined it.
“Extremely bizarre. But since you've shown so many odd things, Samaritan, I'm not surprised anymore. Still, breaking 15 is impressive. Mind if I check your strength?”
She held out her palm toward me like for a handshake.
“Grip my palm as hard as you can. I want to feel the power of strength 15 myself.”
With no choice, I loosely gripped her palm. Unlike Antiope's slightly callused one despite being an Amazoness, Hippolyte's palm was incredibly soft.
Who could imagine a mighty warrior from this palm?
Crunch—.
But the sudden grip from her palm was like a crocodile's bite. I screamed involuntarily.
“Eek—!”
Crushing my hand like that out of nowhere. Damn, it hurt so bad tears welled up. It really felt like my hand bones were grinding to powder.
“Hurry and push back. Otherwise, your bones will snap.”
“Like this, tch—.”
Have to fight back? So I squeezed with all my might. Then something pretty surprising happened, even to me.
“Ugh—. Kh—.”
Hippolyte, who had been dominating my palm with high pressure just moments ago, clicked her tongue in real pain.
Me, overpowering Hippolyte in strength?
Is this for real?
Damn, it was totally real.
I made Hippolyte furrow her brow! That's as good as angering her, manipulating her emotions as I wanted, right?
I can control others' emotions!
In that moment of ecstasy, my vision spun, and suddenly my body was rolling on the floor. Hippolyte's solid greave pinned my throat, crushing me.
Just that kept my body immobile, like Sun Wukong under a mountain rock.
“Gahk—.”
What? Wasn't I winning just now? Rolling on the floor like a subdued rioter, I was baffled.
“Ah, sorry, I used a technique without thinking. Getting overpowered in strength—impossible, so I panicked.”
Hippolyte seemed flustered by her own action and helped me up.
What, so I still can't beat Hippolyte.
But for that instant, it felt like I was pinning her down with strength? World, Hippolyte yielding and frowning—I saw it first.
To the Nymph Relief Foundation! They're recruiting volunteers! Let's join and earn graces through good deeds!
The crowd's reactions varied at our display. As I dusted my butt, Hippolyte peered at her palm and said.
“Anyway, impressive strength. Reminds me of the Samaritan I met before.”
“The woman with the club?”
“Yeah, she probably had strength 15 like you. Samaritans' strength is truly astonishing.”
I imagined the Samaritan woman who'd given Hippolyte her first defeat. Must be insanely tough-looking since she's insanely strong.
As I pictured from strong woman to gorilla, Hippolyte spoke.
“You're here for Delphi, right? Any spare seat in the carriage?”
“Lady Hippolyte's leaving the city too?”
“Yeah, we learned something new at the entrance of the dungeon we destroyed this time. Now that we know why Ceres the goddess is furious, I'll report it to the High Mountains—Hypnos.”
I see.
So the last spot goes to Hippolyte. But I wondered if a Gold Tier adventurer like her could leave the city.
Just having a Gold Tier stationed boosts defense, soldier and adventurer morale, and citizens' peace of mind.
Perhaps reading my mind, Hippolyte said.
“With Actaeon here, and Antiope or Vice Vine, leaving for a month won't cause issues.”
“I see.”
“So, departing tomorrow morning?”
“Probably.”
“Members?”
I briefly explained the departing members to her. After hearing it all, Hippolyte narrowed her slender eyes and nodded slowly.
“Noisy journey ahead—.”
*
*
*
“Aaah, Hot-san—! The sea, the sea's in sight—! We've finally almost reached Delphi—! It was such a long, long journey—!”
Paranoya shrieked noisily.
Probably from peeking out the tent window in the luggage compartment. The rippling waters sparkled blue in her crimson eyes.
A vast waterway slapping everywhere. So blue you couldn't tell sky from water.
But Paranoya was wrong.
“Filthy Water Nymph, that's not the sea—it's the Menos River near Sodomora. And it's been less than a day since departure; still a long way to go.”
Hippolyte, who had been dozing quietly, answered instead. Shocked, Paranoya's face stiffened by the second.
“Th-then what was my month-long journey…? I definitely traveled a whole month…! Visited Toran Village, met sea nymphs too…!”
“Paranoya, quiet!”
Luna's sharp remark shut her up.
Lucky for me, sitting right next to her. Not even a day in, and I already wanted to turn back.
“But it really felt like a month….”
Still, the dejected Paranoya looked pitiful.
I said.
“You were dreaming. You slept three or four hours ago.”
“Th-that was all a dream…?”
“Yeah, a long dream. Looked like a good one, so I didn't wake you. Nothing to do in the carriage but sleep anyway—.”
“Then Tolli, Okeanos's sisters, all dreams…?”
I didn't get what she was saying, but fresh from sleep, Paranoya babbled nonsense. Like I said, confusing dream with reality.
I said.
“Yeah, a dream.”
“But it was so vivid… Battling those horrific monsters, Hot-san frolicking with beauties, all dreams….”
No, what kind of dream is that.
Curious about the content, as I was about to ask, Luna, whittling wood with her dagger, spoke.
“Maybe a prophetic dream! The god of light likes nymphs, sometimes whispers prophecies into their dreams. So, what'd you dream?”
“Ah—? But I forgot it all. Guess it really was a dream…!”
See, damn, listening to Paranoya's just a loss.
Indeed, only Luna and I reacted; Hippolyte and Elfride sat arms crossed, in light sleep.
Sleeping amid this rattling and a noisy nymph. Thick nerves? True veteran adventurers.
I turned my attention from Paranoya to the tent window. The nobly flowing river was stunning.
World, me with leisure to admire scenery. All that arson fuss feels like ancient history now.
A long trip ahead.
Finally Delphi-bound, delayed for all sorts of reasons despite saying I'd go.
The white-robed man, Jupiter, said he'd prepared a fitting gift, so go to Delphi.
Wonder what's there.
While I'm gone long, will Antiope feed Kongkong properly?
More than that, why's everyone so eager for Delphi.
Pathetic, but my heart races a bit.
Gazing at the Menos River, lost in thought that way, feeling sentimental—Paranoya yelled “Ah—!”
“In the dream, I saw another Samaritan in a vast field…!”
[Author's Note] Over 200 chapters of so much happening in Sodomora... Hot-san finally leaves the city for travel...!!! He's going on a trip I can't... A bit jealous...