Chapter 8
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Melancholy of the Nereid Nymph Neri
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Pasos Harbor.
The bustling wharves, alive with preparations for this season's sowing festival, had turned into a sea of unexpected tears.
"Waaah! Don't go! You can't go! I won't let you!"
"Neri... Just listen to me for a second... Gah! Not the hair, stop pulling my hair!"
"I don't care! I don't care, I don't care! Dianes can't go! You're staying here with me!!"
The young nymph, her silver hair shimmering like a misty dawn stream as she swung it wildly while sobbing endlessly,
and the boy shrieking in pain as she grabbed his hair while trying to console her.
Even Chiron, mentor to countless heroes, and Epharos, the high priest revered on Pasos Island, could only smile wryly,
while those diligently loading cargo passed by with warm, approving looks.
But the young nymph, clutching the boy's hair and spinning him around, was wailing in near agony.
"I'll come back! I'll be back soon!"
"Liar! My sisters told me! Human boys say they'll come right back, but once they sail away, they never do!"
"I swear I'll come back! Gyaaah! My hair, you're gonna rip it out!"
"I don't care! Don't go! Stay here with meeeee!!"
True to her name as a nymph of the sea, Neri shed an endless torrent of tears from her tiny body, as if an inexhaustible spring welled up within her.
"Heh heh. They say heroes are womanizers. Looks like you've already captured the hearts of the sea sisters."
"When Dianes came to our temple, Lady Nesneria fell for him at first sight. Dianes was especially kind to her, never showing any displeasure.
But I never imagined it would be to this extent..."
"Hey, elders! Stop just watching and help break this up!"
Seeing it as nothing more than a childish lovers' quarrel, the two old men smiled fondly, but I was dying inside.
I'd taught her some basic forms of the Golden Lock Stance and footwork because she was amazed watching my martial arts training and begged to learn. But Neri's strength was no joke—she must have practiced relentlessly.
"It is a hero's duty to embrace a woman and take responsibility for her.
I've reunited with an old friend after so long; I'll step aside for a chat. Handle this by then."
"Then please come to my office. There's a bottle of wine personally crafted by Lord Dionysus that I've been saving just for today."
Surprisingly, old man Epharos knew Chiron, and at his invitation, Chiron gladly departed, leaving me alone with Neri at the wharf.
"Tch... Tch..."
"Um... Neri?"
"Don't talk to me!"
Thwack!
Whether she'd run out of steam or not, Neri huffed and puffed before kicking my shin with all her might and storming off toward the woods.
Not that it mattered much—she was barefoot, so her feet probably hurt more.
"...Sigh."
"Hey, Dianes. What're you doing?"
"What's up, old man?"
The harbor master, who'd been watching quietly, chuckled and smacked my back.
"Ow!"
"You idiot boy! When a pretty girl runs off crying, you chase after her!"
"But when Neri's mad, she won't listen to a word..."
"Quit yapping! Get after her now!?"
"Gyaah! I'm going, I'm going!"
I screamed from the harbor master's swung stick and chased after her.
Nereid Nymphs.
Daughters of the great ocean god Oceanus and the sea goddess Tethys.
Born from thousands of crashing waves and the purest deep-sea currents, they gather in the ocean palace to stir the waves of the Aegean Sea.
Their songs calm the waves, enchant swimming whales, and summon storms that swallow islands whole.
Even among the Nereid nymphs, blessed with eternal life, immense power, and immortal beauty that heavenly gods envied, Nesneria was special.
The newest sister born after two hundred years.
The baby sister with silver-blue hair shining like waves under moonlight and a fleeting beauty sparkling like a dawn comet—she was the treasure of all her sisters.
Yet, to protect their exquisitely beautiful little sister, they kept Nesneria confined deep in Tethys's ocean palace, never allowing her to emerge.
They feared heroes or gods, lusting after her beauty from childhood, might abduct her.
Her only permitted outing was under the virgin goddess Artemis's blessing, on nights of the new moon.
Not that it amounted to much—just walks limited to the uninhabited forests of the tiny northern island of Pasos, far from grand cities like Thebes or Athens.
Young Nesneria, nymph-like in her boundless curiosity, frolicked countless times across Pasos Island under Artemis's moonlight, drinking in the world during her restricted freedoms.
So that one day, when her limbs grew long like her sisters' and her beautiful hair cascaded to her waist, she could pour her overflowing inspirations into songs to comfort sailors and make waves dance.
Then one day, as usual with the new moon, Nesneria ascended Pasos Island with her sisters but ventured deeper into the forest alone than ever before.
The woods, always filled with whispers of spirits and animals, were eerily silent, and even Artemis's chariot, which always protected them, had vanished into the darkness. This drew fear from the depths of young Nesneria's heart.
It felt like any moment, some wicked spirit or monster would burst from the shadows to seize her beauty.
Overwhelmed by inexplicable dread, she bolted back the way she'd come.
No matter how loudly she called, her reliable sisters didn't appear, nor did the forest spirits and animals she often played with.
What had happened?
Had some terrifying monster, scary even to the spirits, appeared in these woods?
Her fears compounding, her steps quickened until she reached the stream where she and her sisters often bathed.
"S... Sisters? Where are you?"
But her sisters, who always bathed under the moonlight, were nowhere to be seen—only the stream flowed quietly.
Had they returned to the sea without her?
As she timidly lifted her head, terror pressed heavily on her shoulders.
They'd told her that if lost, pray to the new moon in the sky—but the heavens above were pitch black.
The beautiful new moon chariot, the dawn crescent, even the constellation guardians—all hidden in a black sky that seemed to crush young Nesneria.
Unable to decide what to do, she barely held her trembling legs when suddenly, rustling came from across the stream.
"Eek!"
Like a frightened rabbit, Nesneria collapsed in place, shaking violently.
The rustling bushes amplified her terror, and as it slowly parted, her fear peaked.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"What the—?!"
But contrary to her imaginings, no massive wild boar monster or evil beast emerged—just some boy.
A boy with hair black as night and deep obsidian eyes.
His androgynous face was as beautiful as her eldest sister's, whom Nesneria adored.
"...What. Lost?"
The first human boy she'd ever seen.
And one as beautiful as her sisters, no less. His blunt words made Nesneria's eyes go wide.
Raised as the pampered baby since birth, fawned over by everyone from forest spirits to fierce beasts, this was the first time she'd received such indifferent, scolding eyes.
"Uh... Um..."
"Jeez, whatever family lets a kid wander the woods alone on a new moon night. What kinda brains they got?"
You're a kid too, aren't you? The retort rose to her throat, but Nesneria barely held it back.
From earlier, a strange prickling energy emanated from the boy before her.
"Wh-who are you?"
"Me? Hmm..."
She'd heard from her sisters.
Gods sometimes disguised as humans or animals to snatch pretty girls like her. Was he a god transformed to take her?
"Are you... a god?"
"Huh? God? What's that about? Wait, I did reach a certain realm once before turning back into a kid, so not entirely wrong...?"
Muttering something incomprehensible, frowning, the boy stared at her intently, trailing off as he slowly approached.
"Uh. Uhh?"
Tilting his head as if amused, the boy suddenly brightened like he'd realized something and met her gaze.
"Not human, huh? For a sec I thought you were from Haenam faction. But your pure energy makes even those dark guys look shabby by comparison."
"Ah..."
Eyes blacker and prettier than the black ruby ring her second sister got from a land king.
In those beautiful eyes, Nesneria's heart plummeted.
Curiosity and cunning, pride and longing, memories and recollections.
Human emotions immortals living eternal lives and long-lived beings lacked sparkled within like sunlight dancing in ocean depths.
Mesmerizing.
More beautiful than any jewel piled mountain-high that she'd received recently.
"Spirit or fairy type, I guess?"
"Y-yes. I'm Nesneria, a Nereid nymph of Tethys's palace."
"Elf?"
"Nymph."
"Hmm... Ah, nymph! I remember that storyteller mentioning them. Nereids are sea ones, right? That's why you feel like the ocean."
Nodding as if discovering something new, the boy looked delighted.
Then his face hardened slightly, and he politely bowed, introducing himself.
"I am Dianes, under the protection of the great father of lightning, Zeus's temple. I greet the sea nymph, sister of a thousand waves."
His posture was elegant and refined, like a prince of some kingdom.
As he bowed, his jet-black hair swayed like a veil, and Nesneria stared blankly.
'Fluffy... Feels like it'd be nice.'
"Huh?"
"Ah...?"
When Nesneria came to, she was petting his fluffy-looking hair.
Dianes lifted his head with an exasperated look, as if to say What do you think you're doing?
Flustered under his gaze, Nesneria's face flushed beet red.
And so their bond began.