Chapter 244
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 244
Chapter Title: Neri's Grievances
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-Hooeeek!
"No, I mean. Calm down a bit."
-Hieeek!
"Oh? A little spark? Dia, did you make it?"
"No. Picked it up on the way... what can I say. Like a lost puppy."
Nesneria. Neri.
My first bond in this world.
We walked hand in hand along the beach, as if we'd met just yesterday.
Just like that moment strolling together in Pasos.
We recalled and shared the time each of us had lived through, our hands clasped tight.
But that lasted only a moment.
I had to break a sweat over the screaming black flame dragon on my left hand... no, Corinetes.
When Neri walked with me, she always clung to my arm, but the deep sea churning within her was far too cold and profound for Corinetes's flames.
"Hahaha! It really is like a puppy. So cute~"
Every time Neri poked it with her snowy-white finger, the flame twisted away in artistic evasion.
As I watched, amused and letting it be, the flame sneakily extended its flickering tendrils, whining pathetically while nestled against my arm, on the verge of tears.
"Sigh... alright, alright. A little longer should be fine."
It was a hassle dragging around a whining spirit while trying to spend time with Neri after so long.
And it was pitiful to ignore the little thing screaming like it was about to flicker out, so I placed it on my palm and enveloped it in divine demonic energy.
-Fwoosh!
"Eek!"
It devoured the divine demonic energy like oil poured on a fire, blazing into a brilliant, massive inferno.
The flames soon flipped over, transforming into the shape of a small bird and perching on my shoulder.
"Chirp! Chirp chirp!"
"Why blame me for the form you took."
Proud of being divine flames or whatever, it was dissatisfied with assuming the shape of a tiny wren instead of something majestic.
But what could be done?
My divine demonic energy inherited the properties of demonic qi, transforming into the most suitable and desired form for whatever it touched.
"In other words, that form is your true, desired shape. You're just too weak to manifest anything else. Complaining to me won't change that."
"Dia, old man speech mode activated."
"Neri..."
I tried to put on some gravitas as the elder and a god, but this sea nymph, who always peered right into my soul, was as forthright as ever.
She'd smile brightly one moment, then flash with profound depth the next.
Approaching like the world's most harmless being, only to sweep you away in an instant—a goddess through and through.
And that forthrightness had always been a beacon to my lonely self.
Even if my flesh led me to lust and the arms of many women, that bold, wave-like smile crashing over me was hers alone.
"Sigh. I really can't beat you."
"Heehee."
"Peep! Peep!"
The flame grumbled alone amid our flirting, then flapped its wings and flew off. With things finally quiet, Neri and I resumed our stroll.
"So... that redhead became queen?"
"Yeah. The ones who grilled meat with you have already made names for themselves. Once Arcadia's sorted, they'll head back to their kingdoms."
"Hmm..."
Tok. Her white head lightly bumped against my arm.
How long did we walk like that?
The echoes of the little girl from the past faded, and now Nesneria stood before me as a woman.
Looking at her face, it hit me— it had been ages since I'd faced Neri like this.
"Hehe..."
"..."
Unlike me, who smiled unconsciously at memories of those distant Pasos days...
Neri's face was clouded with an inexplicable complexity and shadow, the polar opposite of her earlier joy and innocence.
"Then what about me?"
"Hm?"
Her soft hand stroked my face as she pressed on.
"Where are you headed? Can I come with you?"
-Woosh...
Her white hair fluttered in the sea breeze like waves crashing on the white sands.
Her always-bright blue eyes had sunk into a profound abyss, not even a sliver of light piercing through.
"Humans move so fast. The child I envied was led by your hand to become a king, and the ones who ran alongside you found their own paths in your wake."
Then what about me?
"The sea we shared was warm. But even that deep sea felt too narrow for you, so you burst out. I remained, but you've changed again."
The air shifted once more.
The waves of love, sorrow, and sadness turned into the sticky grip of the ocean depths, clutching at my throat.
"Dia, I'll say it again. Come to the sea with me. Sink into it forever with me—warm and eternal."
"..."
"Can't you?"
Hm, something's off.
The mood had been pure youthful romcom just moments ago.
Why the sudden horror vibe?
"I just keep flowing and crashing as waves, but you're surging and rising in places I don't know."
With those words, I understood the emotions Neri harbored.
Loneliness. And a sense of exclusion.
Born of the sea, she was bound to it inescapably, while I roamed the land, witnessing and reshaping all manner of things.
That gulf was what had plunged this lovely spirit into anguish.
"Dianes?"
"...Really, I can't beat you."
"Then...?"
A dark ecstasy flooded Neri's face at my words.
Just like the ever-changing sea itself.
Jason and Akis were already giving me chills with their constant attempts to drag me into the depths.
Bright and innocent one moment, gloomy the next, childlike then mad—the essence of the sea.
I could only manage a bitter smile; it was unavoidable.
"Then let me ask one thing. If I'd wanted to sink into the sea following you, living idly in some dragon palace, gazing only at you... would you have even looked my way?"
"...!"
Daughter of Okeanos, sister to a thousand waves.
In the sea, their prestige rivaled the Olympian gods themselves.
Even as she strolled Pasos's beaches at my side or was welcomed with tears and laughter in the heroes' forest, countless eyes were fixed on her.
And small wonder—this Greece was a land where the sea stretched farther than the earth.
To bear the prestige of the sea meant wielding power incomparable to any earthly authority.
It wasn't for nothing that Poseidon had hesitated to bless the new port of divine Arcadia.
If affection or lust were tainted by greed, could it still be called love?
And would Neri have spared a glance for a man with such ulterior motives?
"My path holds no peace. The place where you are is the nest I return to for rest. You're the precious one who guards that nest."
I'd once dreamed of a quiet life by the sea with her.
Even now, I hadn't fully let go of that longing for tranquility.
She couldn't know how sweetly tempting her vision of quiet peace sounded.
"But the momentum is set. I'm swept along like I'm riding a tiger's back on these currents. I'll have to ask for your patience with more long waits ahead—I'm sorry."
"..."
At my words, Neri schooled her expression and stared silently at me.
Vivid as beach waves, eerie as deep-sea currents, serene as ocean ripples— I could only smile bitterly; gods were gods, after all.
Like a defendant awaiting judgment, I met those eyes steadily for who knows how long.
"...Sigh."
"Gah!"
In the end, Nesneria let out a sigh, grabbed my face roughly, and grinned fiercely.
"My sister said the same. Men are the type who need to chase blood winds outside more than skirt-chasing to feel satisfied."
"Oh, the Sea Queen makes sense. No wonder she can handle Uncle Poseidon."
"They sleep in separate rooms. Brother-in-law cheats so much she can't stand the sight of him."
"...Oh."
"What can you do~ I'll understand. It was my fault I couldn't keep you from leaving Pasos in the end."
Her rambling hit the mark in some ways, missed in others—a true mypace mutter. Before I could question it, Neri waved her hand breezily and took the lead.
"Heard it from Tethys sister. You have to head to Father's domain?"
"Tethys?"
The reason Neri had been waiting for me in Olympia—one I hadn't asked about—was revealed.
"Yeah, her lovers arrived at the sea and told her. Somewhere... Thespi...oi?"
"Thespiai?"
"Yeah, Thespiai."
My fifty swordsmen I'd trained had finally taken Thespiai, after all.
And the moment they reached the sea, ghostly sisters sniffed them out, revealing my destination. Jason wouldn't miss that the only path to the perilous seas lay through Olympia.
"Good thing I left that short note for them."
"Right? So this Nesneria has prepared a ship to cross the dangerous seas personally—for my lord!"
-Splash!!
As Neri boasted and clapped lightly, something enormous suddenly surged from the distant sea.
-Pffft!
"...A crab?"
Breaking the surface, it was a crab so massive it could be mistaken for an island at first glance.
Claws that could bisect three bulls at once, legs as thick as pillars from Aphrodite's temple.
And atop its back—larger than any pleasure cruiser—a quaint little house adorned with a cave and corals, an utterly bizarre sight.
Bubbling and gurgling, its shiny eyes alternated between me and Neri before it brought one massive claw to its head.
"That's... a greeting, right?"
"Yeah! Its name's Carcinus! A new friend Hera entrusted to me recently!"
-Clack! Clack!
Neri grinned innocently before the colossal crab the size of a small hill.
And Carcinus clacked its claws in greeting.
My feelings in that moment could be summed up in one phrase.
"...My god."