106th
The Nymphs and Pluto’s Underground Labyrinth
106 ? Nymph Cult and Pluto’s Underground Labyrinth #4
“S, save me… .”
Barnes whispered softly, as if he was about to suffocate.
I too felt a little less excited at the sight of him looking so pitiful, like a veteran adventurer who had been so confident until just now.
“S, save me… .”
“No, you little shit!”
But that didn’t mean I forgave him. So I slammed my fist into his jaw again, knocking him unconscious.
The guy has become a quiet person who no longer makes a fuss or begs for his life. As the guy who used to be noisy and talkative becomes quiet, I finally find peace in my heart.
Barnes, you little bastard, you’ve become a good person.
I just realized this. Everyone becomes better when they get punched.
Aren’t big fists and clubs the best moral teachers for the uneducated people of this world?
Anyway, after I confirmed that Barnes had fallen to the floor without saying anything else, I stood up and asked outside.
“Am I right in saying that I won?”
“Yes, your victory is without a doubt. And Barnes Rodelheim is hereby expelled from the Guild and imprisoned in the Prison City! Guards!”
Clank, clank.
At Hippolyte’s call, guild guards in armor appeared. They picked up Barnes’ body lying on the sandy ground, turned it over, and dragged him somewhere.
If you lose a duel, you’ll be kicked out of the guild and even thrown in jail. Thinking back, there really wasn’t a more insane rule. Sval, it’s fortunate that you won anyway.
But even though I won the duel, I wasn’t particularly happy or excited.
Rather, as if someone had pulled out a leg, his mind began to calm down, and he could vividly hear everything from the surrounding noises to people’s breathing.
“That Barnes… he’s getting beaten up like some back alley kid.”
“That guy, wasn’t he a guy who had his own way of doing things?”
“I have to be careful about mentioning my parents in front of the Samaritans.”
“Damn, aren’t those guys swarming in the black wilderness across the continent? They’re fucking horrible. It’s a good thing the Samaritans are afraid of boarding ships.”
The audience was muttering among themselves as if they had just experienced something from the duel. It was as if they were trying to keep me from hearing their mutterings in a very depressed voice.
After the showdown, my concentration strangely increased, and I could hear the sounds of them swallowing saliva, exhaling, and all sorts of noises more and more clearly, making me feel like I was dying.
It felt like someone had unlocked the options in my world and turned the volume all the way up.
“Samaritan-.”
“There are talented people in the Mars Guild too-.”
“An alien species with terrifying power-.”
Those single words began to ring in my ears louder and louder, to the point where I was starting to feel a pounding headache.
“Pfft! Hassan, I made money! I bet 50 coppers on Hassan to win! I made 2 silver with 50 coppers!”
As Luna’s voice, jumping around outside the stadium, became particularly clear, this strange volume amplification phenomenon also ended.
“Luna, you bet money on me?”
“If I had more money, I would have bet a lot. Anyway, I won four times as much!”
“Oh, okay. That’s fine.”
* * *
The duel ended in my one-sided victory.
Luna’s little cabin is back again.
The private space on the second floor was filled with my groans.
“Ahh, ahh, is this really effective?”
“That’s right, if you put this on, it’s good for bruises. I bought it with the 2 silver I earned.”
“Oh, thank you. Ah, ouch…”
Luna placed a leaf shaped like a human hand on my red, bruised chest and stroked it. Normally, it would have been very ticklish.
Even that gentle touch only hurts my chest, which is throbbing with pain. I didn’t realize it when the blood rushed to my head with anger and excitement.
As I let out a sigh of relief in a safe place, the pain that had been piling up grew like interest and began to eat away at my body. It must have been because the adrenaline that had been surging through my body had subsided.
You said Barnes? Damn, that bastard really had fierce fists that could confidently challenge you to a duel.
I thought that if I hadn’t been so excited, I might have been defeated by that bastard’s sharp fist.
How did you win against Sval? If you fight him again, will you win? Of course, since he’s locked up in a prison cell, you’ll never see him again.
Luna said as she was recalling the duel that had just taken place.
“Okay, the chest is all attached! Is there anywhere else that hurts?”
“Hey, the side too… .”
“Side? Now all the leaves have fallen off. Hmm… .”
Luna looks slightly distressed as all the magical leaves that are supposed to reduce pain have fallen off.
“It’ll get better if you just apply some saliva!”
Luna, like someone who has lived in this savage world, spoke without thinking and lowered her head next to me.
Blink, blink.
And then he licked my reddened left side with his tongue?
“Huh, heh heh.”
But it tickled me so much that I burst out laughing.
“How is it? Are you okay?”
“It seems okay. But, it seems like other places are a bit sore too. Could you put some saliva on those too?”
“where?”
Luna raised her head and stared intently at my face. I found her appearance cute, and my playful side kicked in.
“My, my lips too… .”
“Ha, it looks like Hassan hasn’t been hit yet! I, I’m going to prepare for the expedition tomorrow!”
Luna then slapped my back with her palm and got up. As Luna had said, it was probably because she had to prepare various things for the expedition tomorrow.
Of course, I had an important position in the expedition tomorrow. Maybe it was because of the aftereffects of the duel earlier, but I really didn’t want to do anything, so I decided to just lie down.
It’s fortunate that I won the duel.
What is this feeling of having been at a loss?
Clank, clank.
At that moment, there was a loud noise of something like a flat iron plate hitting the wooden floor. I turned my head and saw Luna picking up an old breastplate from the floor.
“What are you doing?”
“The armor I took from that guy named Barnes earlier. I’m trying it on, but it doesn’t fit me.”
“Well, it must have been made for men.”
Of course, the armor of the guy I got as loot didn’t fit my body. I’ll have to sell it used at the armor shop later and buy a chest armor or something.
Even if it’s used, if you include the iron gauntlets in each armor, you should be able to get around 30 silver. Thinking about it that way, it seems like I didn’t get much out of the duel.
No, wait.
If you earn 30 silver in one fight, isn’t that pretty lucrative?
At this point, I was seriously considering indiscriminately PKing the guys who looked weak and looting their valuables.
… .
When I got up from the blanket and turned my head at the sight of Luna’s strangely quiet appearance, I saw Luna curled up in a corner of the room, diligently muttering something.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re going into the labyrinth tomorrow. You’re going to apply a protective spell with paint like this.”
Intrigued by the mention of protective magic, I looked closer and saw that Luna was painting her toes with dye contained in a small glass bottle.
You’re getting a pedicure. The dye color is a light pink, so I think it goes well with Luna’s hair.
But it seems more like showing off than sorcery.
Of course, I didn’t say anything like that.
Just watching Luna’s adorable toes get a pink pedicure seemed to ease the pain in my body a little.
“Why are you looking at someone else’s feet like that? Should I put some Hassan on you too?”
“no.”
I watched Luna for a while as she painted and groomed her fingernails and toenails.
Slurp, slurp.
Luna opens her mouth, either because she is embarrassed by the sight or because she cannot stand the silence.
“Hassan, I never thought Hassan would have a second name.”
“My second name?”
“It’s Jigress. Why didn’t you tell me? I didn’t know you had a last name…”
Luna frowned as if she was very upset. Was she upset that I had hidden something from her? But this time, I also felt a little wronged.
“I couldn’t tell you. Because I didn’t know I had a name like that. It just came to me.”
I had never heard of such long-winded titles as “Jupiter’s descendants” before. To be honest, from my perspective, it just felt like they were making fun of me.
“If you don’t know Hassan, then it must be a new surname given to you by the guild.”
“Does the guild give you a last name too?”
“Because the Mars and Minerva Guilds also do temple work. Hippolyte also works as an adventurer and a priestess. The priestesses of the temple sometimes give out surnames like oracles.”
I thought of Hippolyta, who was wearing red robes during the duel. I didn’t know she was wearing armor or casual clothes.
Wearing that robe, she looked like a priestess.
“Hmm, I see.”
“Anyway, it’s a good thing to have a surname. It’s a way for humans, imperfect beings, to get a little closer to the gods who reside in the high mountain of Hypoth. It elevates a person’s status!”
Does it mean that a person’s status has increased? Does it mean that the flesh quality has improved? I had a hard time understanding what Luna was talking about. It wasn’t something that was written in an encyclopedia.
I don’t know what having a surname has to do with being close to the gods.
Also, in fact, I wasn’t really interested in things like surnames or people’s ranks. But Luna started talking like she had been waiting for a story she knew to come up.
“Most gods have two names. One is a name that we creatures can easily call. And the other is the Great True Name.”
I thought it was funny how he was chattering like a sparrow who had been splashed with water, so I decided to react with a pretended interest. I guess this is what love is like.
“What is the great truth?”
“Well, the true names of the gods are not something that we, creatures, can call without permission. That’s why they gave us the first name on Earth that we can call without permission.”
I didn’t quite understand what it meant to give a name. So I racked my brain and asked Luna what I understood.
“If we compare it to Mars, does that mean that the name Mars is fake and that there is another real name?”
“That’s right! Anyway, first name and last name. Having two names like this is a sign that you, as a created being, are getting closer to the creator gods. That’s why nobles and famous adventurers all have second names.”
“Aha, so that’s what it is.”
It seems that guys with surnames are either from fairly successful families or are famous adventurers who are given surnames.
Luna had a second name, Noxdotti, and Hippolyte had a second name, Heavensinger, which is rarely mentioned?
Elfriede didn’t really mention it, but there was a surname called Desmund.
I am.
I was just Hassan.
But I also ended up with a strange second name.
It felt really strange to me, like I had another father who had given me a last name without permission. It was like, ‘My father has an even number!?’
“But why the hell is it called Jigress? I don’t like it because it sounds like a strange meaning.”
“The second name is only used in prayers and religious ceremonies anyway, so I don’t think it’s okay since I won’t hear it on a regular basis.”
If it’s a name used during religious ceremonies, would it be similar to a baptismal name in a church?
If that’s the case, I don’t think I’ll ever tell anyone about my new name.
To begin with, Sval and Hassan aren’t my real names.
Actually, my real name is Hassan.
A mountain man with the surname Ha.
As I was thinking about how it came to be Hassan, the face of the first friend I made when I came into this world, a rascal, came to mind.
For a savage known for his brutality, he was a rather stupid looking guy.
The name Hassan was originally a nickname he gave me. What would he say when he saw my fancy last name?
I’m glad to say, ‘Fuck, brutal cubs, you succeeded!’
“Hassan, what are you thinking?”
While I was lost in thought, Luna was staring intently at my face.
“I applied it all over my fingers too. Did it spread well?”
Luna’s fingernails were dyed a light pink like cherry blossoms and swayed. At that sight, the flames and black smoke that had been burning in my head instantly went out.
“Krrr, I can’t stand it!”
I hugged Luna’s waist like that, laid her down on the blanket, and rubbed my face on her soft, smooth chest.
“What, what!?”
Molkang, molkang.
Luna’s soft and warm skin had a corner that melted people’s emotions. It was the warmest and softest thing I had ever encountered in this world.
I feel like I can understand why men often act so stupid when they start dating or getting married.
When you bury your face in something this warm and soft, all your worries and concerns, as well as your thoughts, just melt away like water.
It would have been nice to just kiss Luna on the face, but I decided to put my ear to the left side of her chest and quietly listen to her heartbeat.
Thump, thump.
A steady and even heartbeat. Something very healthy is definitely beating beyond this soft skin.
“Phew, it tickles! Hassan, what are you doing?”
“I’m listening to your voice.”
“My voice…?”
“Me too, Luna. Wherever you are, I can recognize you just by your voice.”
“Oh, really…?”
Luna seemed to understand what I said, and lay still, staring at the ceiling without saying anything else.
Heart pounding.
Heart pounding.
When I was deeply absorbed in the sound of my heart pounding like that.
Suddenly, I had the thought that I should not only remember the sound, but also get used to the soft texture on my palm.
I wish I could tell later if it’s Luna or not just by closing my eyes and touching her chest. I’m smart after all. Then let me touch it.
Hehehe.
“Hassan, I’m a little worried that we’ll be able to do well in Pluto’s Labyrinth tomorrow.”
“Huh, huh? What are you worried about?”
“Is that so? Me, Hassan, the convert Paranoy, the dwarf Didier, and the decision maker Velmina. I’m a little worried about the five of us entering the labyrinth…”
“Wait a minute, what?”
…five people?
[Work Review]
By the way… Luna also knows a lot… So, for fun, let’s look at her intelligence stats…
Malco : 2 mcr
Dr. Inspiration Platan: 3 mcr
Luna: 1.5 mcr
Hassan: 1 mcr
It’s about that much…
MCR is the numerical value of the average intelligence in this world, ‘Michuri’…
