Chapter 43
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Interlude: The Sisters of the Thousand Waves
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You can dodge Hermes' eyes, but you can't escape the nymphs' gossip.
This was a common saying among the heroes and gods of Greece.
They lived far longer than humans and spread far wider than humans ever could.
Whenever two of them met, the gossip squared and squared again in an instant, sharing and spreading every tale across the Greek lands.
They were flowers and trees, the breeze that wiped the sweat from a traveler's brow.
Their smiles were melted into the rocks of towering mountains, the streams and rivers flowing across the land, and every crest of the white waves carrying sailors.
Sometimes weaving beautiful romances with heroes, sometimes playing mischievous pranks to tease them—these were the nymphs.
And among these nymphs, there were some particularly special ones.
The daughters of that distant sea, the sisters known as the Nereid nymphs, bearers of the thousand waves.
Unlike other nymphs, who were spirits dwelling in trees and winds, they were the daughters of Oceanus.
He had passed the throne of the Aegean to Poseidon and now guarded the vast, treacherous sea named after himself.
Their mother was the witch of the ancient deeps, the lady of clear waters, the primordial nurturer goddess Tethys.
Their proudest sister, the sea goddess Amphitrite, was queen beside the lord of the seas, Poseidon.
And Hera, queen of Olympus, had always cherished these daughters of her foster parents, so no god or hero could treat them lightly.
In truth, there had been the incident where Queen Cassiopeia of Ethiopia arrogantly claimed her beauty surpassed that of the thousand-wave sisters.
The nymphs, singing by the seashore, flushed with unprecedented humiliation and immediately complained to their brother-in-law and eldest sister.
Amphitrite's eyes spun in rage at the insult to her sisters, and since it meant her own husband had been mocked by a mere human, Poseidon was furious as well.
Thus, Ethiopia was plagued by deep-sea monsters and massive tsunamis without end, teetering on the brink of destruction for sheltering such a foolish queen.
In the end, the hero Perseus saved Ethiopia, and the princess Andromeda, nearly offered as sacrifice, lived happily as the hero's bride...
After the matter was resolved, Amphitrite and Poseidon publicly declared on Olympus:
If they themselves had not punished Ethiopia and the arrogant Cassiopeia, the ancient sea titan sinking in the distant sea of trials would have risen to Greek soil in person.
He would have drowned not only those who insulted his daughters but everyone even remotely connected to them, they implored Zeus—please ensure the sea princesses are protected from any threat.
Zeus then proclaimed that any god or hero who harmed them would taste his thunderbolt, as lord of Olympus and authority of the skies.
After that, no great hero, no mighty monster or alien race dared approach the beautiful women singing at sea.
They could only admire them from afar at the water's edge.
It wasn't a matter of their courage.
"That's why we have to go!"
In the sunken ship deep off the coast of Messenia.
Wearing the blue jumpsuit her mother Tethys had personally sewn, Queen Nymph Galatea shouted to her sisters.
After their mightiest eldest sister Amphitrite became Poseidon's bride, and her second-eldest sister Thetis—who had inherited their mother's secrets—withdrew from the world,
She, leader of the Thousand Wave Sisters, had summoned all the sea's sisters to Messenia's waters by her authority for the first time in centuries.
Thanks to her, local fishermen and sailors scratched their heads at the sudden currents, but none dared complain to one backed by the sea lord and the ancient sea titan.
Anyway, at the prow of the grand sunken ship in the deep sea, the leader of the thousand waves raised her voice.
"Lady Aphrodite has decreed: the bold shall claim a hero!"
-Right! Right! Right!
"These so-called heroes are all timid cowards who won't even approach us. We have no choice but to go to them!"
-Right! Right! Right!
The beautiful daughters of Oceanus, numbering a hundred, waved their arms and chorused in response to their queen's command.
"Proud sisters! What do we lack compared to those land nymphs?
How long will we just flutter our skirts to tales of flowers and trees' petty romances?!"
Their authority was no less than any goddess.
Their beauty surpassed any nymph, never bowing to them.
"Then why must we be denied Aphrodite's blessing and languish in loneliness like this?!"
At the queen's anguished cry, the hundred lesser goddesses bowed their heads.
"Who knew brother-in-law and big sis would blow up like that..."
"Who could've guessed they'd even ask Zeus for protection..."
"Honestly, if Mom hadn't stopped Dad from going on a rampage..."
The absolute protection proclaimed by Olympus's king and the sea's lord.
Plus the titan of the trial-filled sea standing behind them.
They could roam any sea freely, but no hero or god dared approach them because of it...
At the blooming age of youth(?), they were unwittingly in a state of total isolation.
A few sisters were faring well with romances among the gods, at least.
Even so, most wave sisters had never even glimpsed love's edge, hearing only of other nymphs' tales, spending wistful nights imagining strolls along the shore with handsome young men.
"But now, opportunity knocks! Everyone knows our lovely youngest, Nesneria's destined little hero Dianes, right?"
Of course they did.
The proud maknae who succeeded in her first man-hunt(?) in centuries.
And not some god treating them as one-night playthings, nor some ignorant brute monster blind to divine proclamations.
A boy her own age, handsome to boot, and by forest nymph reports, a little hero rivaling Heracles in strength.
Even nymphs worried the dear youngest had fallen for some weirdo sighed in relief and celebrated her love.
And while dressing Nesneria to perfection for the perfect reunion with her lord after he left Pasos Island, coordinating with forest nymphs for the ideal moment, plotting strategies,
Athena's inspiration flashed in Queen Nymph Galatea's mind.
"Today, we orchestrate the perfect reunion for our baby sis!"
Once Nesri and the target bonded, contact Dianes under the pretext of confirming her lover.
Build intimacy step by step, ultimately arranging meetings with other forest heroes' men!
The queen's speech, brimming with unprecedented passion, enraptured her hundred sisters.
The operation was now at its peak.
"Target and baby sis made contact!"
"Baby sis's reaction?"
"Seems like she's only got eyes for her lord?"
"Perfect timing..."
The nymphs, watching from afar in real-time with their powers and every informant at their disposal, lest they be interrupted.
It was the moment everyone teared up at the young lovers, torn by fate's call but reunited by nymph passion and love.
"Huh?"
"What's up, twenty-second sis?!"
"...Next to the prospective brother-in-law..."
"There's a woman! A woman's there!"
-What?!
At the sudden reef's appearance, the queen and her hundred sisters screamed.
-Shwaaaaa!
Their voices became the sea's currents.
The sea responded to their shock with house-sized waves sweeping the shore.
The lovers tenderly embracing, and the woman behind them with jealousy flaming in her eyes, were all swept away in an instant.
"Whoa! The huge wave took 'em all!"
"Yes! How dare she touch our baby sis's prey!"
"We'll tell Dad!"
"Hey, that's a bit..."
Anyway, as the sisters cheered having given a piece of their mind to the impudent human wench beside their beloved maknae's lover, Galatea clutched her face alone and sighed.
"This is bad..."
"What's wrong, sis?"
The queen glared sharply at her clueless sisters cracking open Dionysus wine in celebration, grinding her teeth.
"That's giving her a piece of our mind?!"
"Huh?"
Everyone was baffled at Galatea's sudden anger, not understanding.
But soon, seeing the two lovers and one interloper on the shore after the waves receded, they all fell silent.
"By Pontos! We just helped her instead!"