abcnovels
Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Chapter 43 – Fairy And The Hunter
Nesneria, affectionately called Neri.
If I look back at what this little sea spirit meant to me, it was probably the first connection of this life.
She was the only color that painted the bleak orphanage life.
The place called Greece was always at war, with frequent incidents and accidents, making orphans as common as street stones.
Among them, the fortunate ones were taken in as workers on small farms, while many were kidnapped and sold as slaves far away.
In the midst of this, I was quite lucky to be entrusted to a proper temple of Zeus.
At least three meals a day were properly provided, and I could learn writing and various things from priests skilled in theology and mathematics.
I was sick of the fact that all three of my lives started in an orphanage, but objectively, that was how it was.
However, the orphanages of ancient Greece, where the concept of children’s rights was nonexistent, had to be strict, and the orphans were so busy working in a military-like atmosphere that they had no time to look away.
Even I was only allowed to act independently after the priests witnessed the gift of Poseidon and the miracle of the Temple of Ares.
You could imagine how strict and suffocating that atmosphere was.
Moreover, the mental age difference with the other kids was so vast. The only one who would talk to me was a kid named Talos or Talus, who kept picking fights with me, but I didn’t have any friends since dealing with the kids felt like a chore.
Although I fell into a somewhat different and unfamiliar world, in the end, my childhood spent in Greece without any thoughts started at the orphanage.
Neri jumped into my everyday life just like the morning star in the night sky.
As a spirit of the sea, she would always quietly walk beside me whenever I strolled out of the orphanage.
When I danced with a staff and a wooden sword, she would totter, trying to imitate me, often stumbling and whimpering.
Living as if by chance, wandering through a lucid dream.
A white wave that suddenly seeped into my view as I took a step back and lived moderately.
To me, Nesneria was such an existence.
And in her arms that suddenly embraced me again, in her scent, in her perfume.
My already slightly numb reason and rampaging emotions simultaneously froze.
“Neri!”
“Kyah! Finally, finally, we meet again!”
Neri, whom I reunited with, was unrecognizable at that moment.
The spotless, clean white mini-skirt-like activewear she always wore was nowhere to be seen.
Her dress, adorned with blue silk and blue gem brooches, looked like a gently rippling blue sea, beautifully complementing her white skin.
The tiara, decorated with pearls and coral, made her violet-tinted silver hair shine even more.
And those innocent blue eyes that overwhelmed everything else made one naturally think of a sea fairy.
-Whoosh!
“What?!”
“Hehehe…! We met again, we met again…”
As if she would never let go, Neri’s white arms wrapped around my back, her face buried in my chest, causing her violet-silver hair to ripple.
With her face covered, Neri’s quiet sobs touched me, making me realize how much she thought of me, and I slowly tried to embrace her.
“Wait! What do you think you’re doing?!”
Suddenly, a sharp voice from behind was accompanied by a strong arm that grabbed my arm, which was reaching out to Neri.
“…Huh?”
“A-Atalanta…”
It had been a while since we last met—to be precise, not even two weeks. Nevertheless, Atalanta’s intrusion into our reunion made Neri lift her head in surprise.
I snapped back to reality, seeing Atalanta’s eyes glaring at me and Neri as if she were about to rip my arm off.
“You, you…!”
With a face as red as the setting sun sinking below the sea, Atalanta trembled as she glared alternately at me and Neri.
The emotions reflected in her red eyes were shock, sorrow, and jealousy.
‘…Oh dear.’
I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow welling up in those brimming eyes.
Atalanta, perhaps due to her recent experience in the mental world, was showing feelings toward me that went beyond mere affection.
Reflecting on my own newly awakened human emotions, I, too, harbored something more than just fondness for her.
Thus, I had planned to end the day with a sunset walk on the beach, a date-course cliché seen countless times in dramas.
She was incredibly happy about it, too, and the atmosphere was perfect.
From Atalanta’s perspective, it was as if a third party had suddenly intruded.
So, I thought we should drop Neri off and take some time to introduce each other…
“Who are you?! How dare you enter here without permission?!”
“Me? Nesneria. And who are you to butt in?!”
“It’s not your name I’m asking for!”
With eyes ablaze, the two beautiful girls growled at each other, and I couldn’t help but shrink back.
What should I do about this situation…?
Just as I was about to gather my thoughts and open my mouth again.
-Swooosh!
“Huh?”
“Ahh!”
“Whoa!”
Suddenly, a huge wave surged in, sweeping Neri, Atalanta, and me away.
“Gah! Pfft?!”
“Cough, cough! D-Dianes?!”
“Waa? Huh? Huh?!”
The sudden wave brought salty seawater into our eyes, noses, and mouths, drenching us from head to toe.
Even in the chaos, I pulled the two of them close to prevent them from being swept away by the wave.
We were tossed around on the sandy beach for a couple of turns.
-Swoosh…
As the wave receded, the three of us could finally open our eyes slowly.
“Wow! That was a big wave!”
To be precise, the ones who were disoriented were only Atalanta and me.
Though usually clumsy and innocent, Neri was indeed a Nereid nymph.
Despite being called a nymph, with both parents being sea gods, she could avoid getting even a hem of her clothes wet unless she allowed it.
Although she was thrown from my arms by the last wave, Neri, who was hugging my arm like a doll, stood up cheerfully with a bright smile.
“Ha… indeed… huh?!”
Following Neri, I, too, tried to get up.
Something soft and warm touched my face.
“Uh… what? Oh?”
“Wait, this, just a second?!”
Warm, soft, and peculiarly resilient smooth brown skin.
With a faint muscle outline and a cute navel in the center, without a single small scar.
Only after my gaze traveled up to that point did I slowly begin to understand the current situation.
Atalanta’s originally fluttering clothes had ridden up to her belly, and she, in a rush not to lose me to the waves, had wrapped my head in her hands and bound my chest with her legs.
“Cough, cough! Dianes!? Are you okay?”
“Uh… well…”
Atalanta, who had spit out the water and come to her senses, grabbed my face nestled in her bosom and looked around.
The problem was that to others, it would appear that both Atalanta and I were in a very compromising state.
“Get off!”
“Eek! What is this?!”
Neri suddenly lunged and pushed Atalanta, who screamed at the sudden attack but quickly turned to evade it.
“Eeeek!”
“Hmph…!”
In an instant, I found myself caught between the sea nymph and Artemis’s huntress.
Caught in the middle of two girls burning with fierce hostility towards each other, I could only sigh repeatedly in exasperation.
“Hey, girls?”
“Dianes! She’s bullying me!”
“Here we go again!”
Just as she sometimes ran to me to escape her mischievous sisters’ pranks, Neri, with teary eyes, clung to me, but Atalanta, unwilling to stand by, ground her teeth and tried to push her away.
Or at least, she attempted to.
“Take that!”
“Huh?”
Grabbing Atalanta’s extended arm, Neri twisted it, disrupting her balance and pulling her down.
It was a perfectly clean, no-frills goldfish technique, and just as Atalanta staggered, Neri tried to trip her.
-Bang!
Atalanta withstood Neri’s counterattack by planting her foot firmly on the ground as she was about to fall.
Neri’s eyes widened in surprise, as if she hadn’t expected it, and Atalanta glared fiercely at her.
“What?”
“Hmph! Where do you think…?! A nymph should just sing like a nymph!”
Atalanta growled low like a wounded leopard, twisted her wrist to grab Neri’s arm, and pulled her back.
“What? Kyaa!”
“Stop.”
It looked like Atalanta was about to slam Neri into the bare ground.
Despite their fierce momentum, I squeezed between them and forcibly pried their hands apart.
“Let go! Dianes!”
“Why are you stopping me?!”
“Hey, girls? First, calm down…”
“Who is she to stop you from hugging me?!”
“Dianes, explain properly. What is this nymph saying right now?”
….What should I do?