A Date with Neri
"Hehehe~ 𝅘𝅥𝅮"
"...Is this really all you wanted?"
I couldn't help but chuckle at the sea goddess's airy, humming laugh. She had been smiling so suggestively, as if she were planning to strip me down to my very soul, but the request she finally made was simply for a horseback riding date—a common pastime here in Greece.
"What are you talking about? Obviously, this is just the beginning!"
"Yes, yes. I shall serve you with the utmost sincerity."
-Neigh!
Baekpa, whose coat shone with health and whose eyes sparkled with vitality thanks to the excellent care he’d received, stood ready. Perched atop him was Neri, sitting sideways with the grace of a visiting Greek princess, wiggling her toes and looking thoroughly pleased with herself. The combination of the two was nothing short of a scene from a myth.
'A snow-white goddess and a snow-white steed, huh.'
It was a clear, bright afternoon, with Helios’s sun slowly descending past its zenith. Bathed in the brilliant, golden-dust sunlight, I took the reins of Baekpa with the goddess in tow and led them out of Antaios’s palace.
"Hahaha! Have a wonderful time!"
"Lady Nesneria, I hope you have a delightful time in Erytheia."
After I’d told them we were just going for a light tour of Erytheia, Antaios and Tinga had come out to the gate to see us off like hotel managers bidding farewell to VIP guests. I gave them a wry smile before we finally stepped into the city of the giants—Erytheia, the only center of civilization in the Oceanus Sea.
To briefly explain the arena island of Erytheia: it was a perfectly organized planned city, even by modern standards, divided into four districts with Antaios’s palace overlooking the center. The western district, where I usually went to buy gifts for Neri, was inhabited by human-sized residents. But the place Neri wanted to see today was the exact opposite: the southern district, where giants and demigods lived and interacted together.
As I pulled Baekpa’s reins to head toward the palace’s north gate, Antaios, who had been watching from his high office window, suddenly shouted down.
"Oh, right! Watch your ears when you first head out!"
"My ears?"
"You'll know when you get out there! Have a great time with the princess!"
Just as I was about to wonder what he meant, seeing Tinga clinging to Antaios’s side with a mischievous grin, the doors opened. The roar that erupted from the other side made my head spin.
As soon as we left Antaios’s palace, we were greeted by booming shouts that sounded like the noise of a normal city amplified twice over.
"So, this is why he said to watch my ears...!"
"Kyaa-! It’s so loud!"
-Neigh!
Even Baekpa was startled, his eyes widening as he snorted, and both Neri and I felt our eyelids twitch. It was as if a tsunami made of sound waves was crashing down on us. It was only natural, considering giants twice the size of an average Greek were crowding the streets to hawk their wares.
After a moment of shock at the sheer volume, Baekpa stopped moving. As the city’s panorama slowly came into view, neither Neri nor I could suppress our gasps of awe.
"Whoa...!"
"Haa...!"
The first impression was, in a word, massive. The roads were wide enough for chariot divisions to march side-by-side, and the stone buildings were five stories high—each story easily the height of a ten-story building. Wagons the size of monster trucks, pulled by horses much larger than Greek warhorses (likely bred on the Erytheia archipelago), were piled high with timber, complete with firewood sale signs.
"It really feels like a city of giants."
"I, I know, right...!"
But that didn't mean it was a city solely for giants. Antaios had many demigods and humans under his command—those who had challenged him and become his subordinates, just like his brothers, the Laestrygonian giants. To accommodate them, there were relatively normal-sized roads running along both sides of the massive thoroughfares. Humans and demigods rode horses or drove carriages, and I could see giants and demigods walking side-by-side, engaged in heated debates.
Not only that, but at every intersection, giant signalmen holding flags emblazoned with Poseidon’s trident and Gaia’s shield were busy directing traffic. I couldn't help but laugh.
"This is incredible...!"
From the paving stones on the ground to the vacant lots in the back alleys, this was a perfectly calculated, meticulously planned ancient city.
"Hyaaa..."
Neri seemed just as surprised as I was, perhaps seeing such a powerful, massive city for the first time. She had her mouth agape, too busy looking around to say anything else. In the meantime, I quietly procured the local specialty I’d brought to soothe her mood. Since ancient times, women have been unable to resist sweets, and Neri in particular was a sucker for them. My secret weapon was the giant baklava, a specialty of the giant district.
"Neri, try this. It’s a baklava made here."
The massive pastry, nearly the size of my face, was generously coated in honey and cream, emitting a sweet, intoxicating scent. I cut it into bite-sized pieces and held it out to her. Neri, who couldn't resist a sweet treat, reached out to take it, but—
"Ugh!"
With a look of realization, she quickly pulled her hand back and tilted her chin up, acting haughty.
"H-Hmph! How dare you make a noble goddess use her own hands!"
Crossing her arms and turning her head away, Neri began to act like a proud villainess, struggling to keep her mouth from melting into a smile.
"...What?"
"H-How unrefined, asking me to eat while on horseback! I, I cannot tolerate this!"
"And what is the first-place winner of the Phasos Apple Stealing Contest saying?"
Of course, that had been an event organized by the local farmers to give some treats to orphans during the Demeter festival at the Zeus temple. While other kids managed to grab one apple in their mouths and three or four in their pockets, Princess Nesneria had stolen an entire basketful without anyone noticing. And she’d even had the reddest apple clamped in her tiny mouth as she ran back.
"That was a huge hit back then. Everyone was laughing so hard."
"Puuu..."
Anyway, Neri, whose cheeks were puffed out in dissatisfaction at my indifferent reaction, eventually muttered with a pout.
"...Feed me."
"What?"
"Feed me!"
She shouted it out, then seemed embarrassed by her own words, huffing and puffing.
"Honestly! Amphitrite was right. Men are completely oblivious. Their eyes are only sharp when they’re looking for other women. What’s the point of just bringing flowers and gifts once you’ve already caught the fish... Haa!"
"There, is this better?"
The moment her cherry lips parted, I took the opportunity to pop the bite-sized baklava into her mouth. The sweetness spread instantly, and Neri’s eyes, which had been burning with indignation, softened—though for some reason, she still glared at me even after I’d done exactly what she wanted.
"...Crunch!"
"Ouch."
Neri bit down on my finger, which had stopped in front of her lips as if in retaliation, but that level of grip strength couldn't possibly do me any damage.
"Want another one?"
"Hmph! (I don't know!)"
"Can you at least let go of my finger?"
"Hmph hmph! (No!)"
Now she was just nibbling on my finger, laughing happily as if she found it funny, or perhaps she actually liked the taste.
"Ahem! Neri...!"
The more maddening part was me. I couldn't be too firm because I was the one at fault, but she was taking this opportunity to bite my finger in the middle of the street. Everyone on this island knew my face by now, and here I was in such a bizarre situation.
-Nom nom nom...
What made me even more frantic—no, drove me crazy—were Neri’s eyes. Every time she nibbled on my finger, her gaze changed. She shifted from a young girl lost in the impulses of first love, to a great white shark satisfied with its catch, to a temptress seductively teasing me.
She was everything from Neri, the young nymph of Phasos, to Nesneria, the sea goddess who had subtly ensnared me in the Dragon Palace. Like the tide rising deeper with every step, her blue eyes shifted their hue, and before I knew it, I had forgotten even to stop her.
-Lick!
"!?"
Contrary to the sensation of her neat teeth grazing my finger just enough to tickle, there was the surprise of her soft tongue darting out to lick the tip of my finger. Hypnotized by that strange gaze, I acted like a teenager, my shoulders jumping as if electrocuted by the sensation.
"...Hehehe 𝅘𝅥𝅰"
And Neri, of course, wouldn't miss that reaction. They say a hungry great white shark can detect the scent of blood from thousands of kilometers away, right? Neri was currently reminding me of exactly that kind of shark.
Teasing, yet satisfied. And the playful face of a predator smiling slyly, as if looking forward to more.
Caught in that strange magic, not only was I affected, but the booming hawking of the giants on the street had also quieted down, and the attention of the entire street was focused on us.
"Blehh~"
-Swoosh!
Leaving behind a soft, sticky trail like a snake slithering past, Nesneria’s tongue licked my finger. Then, she leaned in close to my ear and whispered sweetly.
"For now... is this enough?"
"...Thank you."
Feeling as though all my energy had been drained in that brief moment, I quickly grabbed Baekpa’s reins and hurried out of the street. Of course, the eyes that had gathered toward us didn't leave until we were long gone.