Chapter 45
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: What Am I Supposed to Do?
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...What am I supposed to do?
Alright, let's check my situation.
Above my head, the hem of night's robe billows, blanketing the blue sky.
Beneath my feet, silk-smooth white sand tickles my toes.
Lift my gaze ahead, and the deep indigo sea ripples with waves, bidding farewell to the fading sunset.
The sweet sea breeze, cooling my sweat-dampened nape, could turn even the stoniest heart to sentiment, making poets of us all.
"Grrrrr!"
"Hmph...!"
But take just one step forward.
And you'll understand why England's great bard said life is a comedy from afar, a tragedy up close.
Either way, it's hilarious.
The sea before me is a quagmire that might swallow me at any moment.
And flanking me are two girls with immense power and backgrounds, none too light, growling at each other with me sandwiched in between.
"Hey, girls?"
I tried to gently broach the subject, hoping to sort this mess out somehow...
"You, stay, put."
"Don't you talk to my girl like that!"
"Who's whose girl?!"
"My sister said it. You have to cradle and protect the one you love like a baby!"
"What!?"
I'd ponder later how they teach romance down in the sea depths.
Ever since that wave swept us earlier, it'd been like this nonstop.
Luckily, with the warm midsummer night breeze, standing here drying off in the sea wind wasn't bad.
But the pressure from the sea princesses and mountain warriors encircling me—the flowers of my hands, no, me—kept my clothes soaked in cold sweat, showing no sign of drying.
"So... you grew up together on Pasos Island, right?"
"That's right?"
"Yeah! An unbreakable bond! Dia likes me so much!"
What should I even say?
If Neri was a chihuahua whimpering over her bone, Atalanta was a Doberman pondering how to cook it.
No matter how fiercely the chihuahua hugged and yipped over her bone, to the Doberman, it was all just one bite—bone or pup alike.
But the chihuahua clutching the bone she'd claimed was resisting so fiercely that impatience was starting to creep in.
'Still, that chihuahua's no ordinary one...'
If things went south, she could chomp down hard, and if the pup threw a tantrum in tears, the whole area could turn to scorched earth.
Word was, Neri was the youngest of over a hundred sisters, utterly doted on by her father and mother, let alone her siblings.
There'd been punks messing with Neri who got sucked into the waves and washed out unconscious.
And the infamous tale from Pasos: some dimwit alley boss heard she was a nymph, schemed with his gang, and they all turned up as drowned corpses.
'I've got to mediate between them somehow...!'
Or one of them might cause a massive incident...!
"Neri? Is that your name?"
"Nesneria! Don't call me that! I never permitted it!"
"Huh? Wait, then Dia is...?"
"Dianes is Dia! Don't call me that either! Dia never permitted it!"
Even after her coming-of-age rite as a nymph, Neri's youthful looks, combined with her innocent speech and actions, made her seem even more childlike.
That was why I'd spoiled her endless clinging without complaint, and why Atalanta, initially wary of the sudden arrival, gradually lost her edge at the tantrum-like antics.
"Ugh... What am I even doing with a kid..."
It was like the Doberman, braced for a rival snatching her prize bone, sighing in resignation upon realizing it was just an adorable little chihuahua.
"So, tell me the details. What happened?"
"What's to tell! Dianes and I were planning to live together on Pasos Island forever!
But some freak half-man, half-horse took her away on his own!"
"Half-man, half-horse? You don't mean Master Chiron, do you!?"
Atalanta had been about to grill me like a wife scolding a cheating husband.
But true to her hot-blooded huntress nature, she latched onto the odd way Chiron was described, her voice rising.
Watching them bicker endlessly like that...
For some reason, it made me feel like the biggest jerk alive, tempting me to just bury my head in shame.
In my previous-previous life, after leaving the orphanage, I'd spun through part-time jobs and cram school in a tiny room.
In my previous life, amid sect intrigues in the Demonic Cult, then endless battlefields and offices for "unifying the martial world."
There'd been women I'd spent nights with, but none approaching me like this.
The one I'd truly wanted to cherish had devoted herself to revenge and vanished without a trace.
After that, Heavenly Demon or whatever, I'd grown fed up and wandered the wilds.
'...Come to think of it.'
How did I die again?
"Hmm?"
A question I'd never pondered before floated into my mind, but it didn't linger long.
"Dianes?"
"Y-Yeah?"
Suddenly, Atalanta's grip snared my wrist and arm like a noose tightening.
"So... everything she said is true?"
"W-What?"
The vague wonder about my death felt trivial now as Atalanta fixed me with blazing eyes and a forced smile.
"What do you mean, what! Dancing together by the seaside! Holding hands at the market!
And then..."
With each word, fury boiled inside her, and she pressed me tearfully.
"Epharos Gran—er, High Priest of Zeus himself made you swear an engagement vow!"
And Neri delivered the finishing blow.
No, wait.
What?
"Neri?"
"Yeah?"
Epharos Grandpa made us swear an engagement?
I was stunned at the idea of an engagement I didn't even know about, but Neri just tilted her head, eyes wide, as if wondering why I was surprised.
"You don't remember?"
"No, what are you talking about?"
This was mythic Greece.
A casual joke could get someone killed.
Even muttering drunk gossip alone was safer than that.
Especially oaths, vows, promises—sacred bonds. No matter how playful or small, with gods always listening, I never uttered them lightly.
No wonder temples taught: never swear rashly or make promises you can't keep.
And yet, me—the Heavenly Demon of the Central Plains, who prized vows like gold through fasting, chastity, and careful speech—even shrunken as I was—forget an engagement?
Impossible.
"We did! You don't remember!?"
"Hey, Neri? Calm down and explain step by step?"
No matter how I racked my brains, there was no memory of an engagement rite with Neri at Zeus's temple.
Epharos Grandpa had forbidden me wine, fearing I'd do something regrettable drunk, since other kids might, but not me. So no blackout excuses either.
Yet this innocent sprite called me her fiancé with utter conviction.
-Crunch...!
"Ugh... eek..!"
And Atalanta was wringing my arm like she might fling me away any second.
"So... a while back, that king tuna Poseidon sent as pocket money! Remember?"
"Oh, that time?"
Yeah... After practicing Mad Wind Shredding Horn Spear by the sea for the third time, Neri showed up hauling a massive tuna at least three times her size.
Too big for just us two, and mindful of temple opinions, we'd donated it together.
The orphans gorged on giant tuna even fishermen struggled to catch.
"And?"
"That's when! Epharos Gra—cough, the High Priest said..."
'Dianes, Poseidon blesses you and Lady Nesneria. Cherish your bond.'
"He did!"
So you're my fiancé!
Neri declared triumphantly, hugging my arm tight.
"....Hah?"
"Mm...."
Atalanta's vise-grip loosened on my arm.
As I'd half-suspected, Neri's childlike misunderstanding left me with a wry smile too.
"Got it?"
"Nngh... Even sooo..."
"What? Got what?"
Understanding my meaning, Atalanta sighed, half-deflated, half-bewildered.
She must find it absurd to have gotten jealous and fought over someone mentally and physically a ten-year-old.
"Phew... Anyway, Neri, nice to see you again."
Sure, we'd sparked back-to-back disasters right upon reuniting, but seeing Neri again was pure joy for me too.
"Hehe... Really?"
"Yeah. So, introductions again? This is Atalanta, my senior from Heroes' Forest and today's guide."
"...What are you doing?"
"Just play along for a sec."
I'm trying to stop you from getting dragged into the sea, you know.
Atalanta frowned at my sudden push for polite greetings.
Whether we reached an accord or she tore me apart on a "nice boat," we had to defuse this spot right now.
A hundred sisters were surely watching her baby sis's romance from the deep, eyes aflame.
"Hmph! I'm Nesneria, lady of a thousand waves, singer of the sea. Pleased to meet you, Atalanta."
Hands on hips, chest puffed proudly, Nesneria was the picture of a child.
To me, it was just cute—I gently stroked her hair.
Atalanta sighed, face struck with reality.
"...I'm Atalanta, leader of Karyklo's hunting band in Heroes' Forest. Greetings to the sister of a thousand waves."
Still, she was a sea spirit born of god and goddess union.
Atalanta bowed courteously to Neri.
"Right, Atalanta? Now you know who Dia belongs to?"
"...A one-sided engagement declaration from a child playing pretend, without the other's consent?"
"What?!"
...Of course, Atalanta didn't let it slide quietly.
But the wildfire had dwindled to embers. Small mercies.
....So, what am I really supposed to do now?