376 - God's Wine, Nectar #6

Nymphs are mysterious and peculiar folk.

Paranoy is right next to me, and I've spent a lot of time with Paranoy, but honestly, if someone were to ask me what I know about Nymphs, there isn't much I could answer.

Just that their stature and appearance are young, like adolescent girls. That they love sweets and enjoy living in nature, among flowers and trees.

And that because of their inherently magic-beloved constitution, their bodies themselves were once considered precious commodities, leading to severe overhunting and a significantly reduced population?

Because of this, a foundation was established to protect and aid such Nymphs, or so I hear.

A Nymph Relief Foundation, you say.

It's an organization I've heard mentioned here and there, but if you ask what it actually does, no one gives a clear answer.

An organization shrouded in mystery, how suspicious.

"Now, lead the way to this 'Relief Foundation' or whatever it is. They say there's a high probability the Nymph of the Muddy Water is there."

"D-Do we really have to go to the Relief Foundation-imnidat...?"

I knew well from Luna's testimony that Paranoy had once been involved with that Relief Foundation.

Paranoy, having joined the Relief Foundation, had apparently caused trouble by advocating for Nymph rights and such.

But Paranoy didn't seem to want to talk about what happened there. No matter how much I pulled his cheek, he wouldn't open his mouth.

"Gwaaaat, I, I don't know anything-imnidat...! I didn't see anything-imnidat...! It's true-imnidat...!"

Even a child would know that reaction was extremely suspicious and that he was lying.

"Do you really want a knuckle sandwich?"

But no matter how much I intimidated him-.

"Tell me, and I'll give you candy."

Even when I tried to coax him with candy, Paranoy absolutely refused to talk about that place.

Paranoy was originally a Cultist with a rebellious spirit who hadn't even succumbed to torture. So I knew well how difficult it was to make him open his mouth.

"I, I don't know anything-imnidat...!"

On the one hand, I could even sense a kind of fear from the trembling Paranoy. He was filled with terror, like a Shiba Inu discovering a tiger plushie.

Because of that, my curiosity and wariness towards the Nymph Relief Foundation only grew. Perhaps another Nymph might know something?

* * *

"Nymph Relief Foundation?"

Echo, the innkeeper of the Nymph's Wing Inn, rested her chin on the table and seemed lost in thought for a moment. A voluptuous married woman lost in thought, it truly felt like time stood still.

The married woman, Echo of the Stream.

She was the first Nymph I met on this Gaia Continent. And the Nymph whose Growth Weakness Curse I had lifted for the first and last time.

I thought she might know something about the Nymph Relief Foundation.

"Well, now that you mention it, I think I might have heard of it-."

Echo, the Nymph of the Stream, also only gave a vague answer.

Of course, the difference was that she didn't seem to be deliberately hiding it like Paranoy, but rather genuinely didn't know, yet she still couldn't answer.

Just as I was feeling a slight disappointment, Echo continued, as if something had just occurred to her.

"Now that I think about it, someone from that 'Foundation' did come once."

"Is that true?"

"Yes, I definitely remember that. Someone from a 'certain Foundation' seemed interested in me after my appearance suddenly changed."

Seueuk-.

Echo the Nymph covered her chest with her palm.

Her deeply cut purple dress was not so much that of a chaste lady as it was utterly captivating, truly befitting an innkeeper.

It made me understand why the innkeeper's white hair seemed to grow more and more each day.

I asked.

"What did those 'Foundation' fellows say?"

"Well, they asked if my husband tormented me. If he abused me.... Things like that, I suppose. Questions about common misunderstandings that men married to Nymphs often face."

"Men married to Nymphs face misunderstandings?"

"Yes, well, I'm not like that anymore, but other Nymphs, especially Nymphs of the stream, are often small and naive, aren't they? Like Paranoy's sister."

Indeed, that's true. Echo and Paranoy are both Nymphs, but completely different. Their way of speaking is different, and their thoughts clearly diverge.

"There's a strong perception that men who marry Nymphs are men who trick naive girls and torment them. My husband isn't like that, but there are actually quite a few bad men like that."

"Is that so?"

"If you look at myths and legends, there are countless stories about heroes who abandoned Nymphs and made them cry. They're called heroes, but they're very wicked fellows. Gods too."

I could only nod.

Perhaps because Nymphs lived lives targeted from all sides, they often harbored a common sense of victimhood. It seemed even Echo, the Nymph of the Stream, couldn't help it.

After lamenting for a long time about how much Nymphs had suffered at the hands of heroes, gods, and men on this Gaia Continent, Echo cleared her throat with an Euhm- and then laughed.

"Oh my, look at me. I've wasted your precious time with useless chatter."

"It's alright. More importantly, can you tell me more about this 'Foundation'?"

"Hmm, now that I think about it, I believe I chased them away because I thought they were rude for treating my husband like a criminal. I think they left a business card. Do you happen to have it?"

Only then did the innkeeper, who had been mopping the floor of the now-empty Shop, straighten his back.

"I think I can find it if I look. Wait a moment."

After saying that, he disappeared somewhere, and after a long rustling sound, the innkeeper reappeared.

He handed me something.

"Here, it's here. I kept it because they were quite memorable individuals."

Seureuk-.

What the innkeeper handed me was a small piece of iron. A square, hard, and thin piece of iron. If you were to make a business card out of an iron plate, it would look exactly like this.

Engraved on it were embossed letters.

『Gaia Continent - Nymph Relief Foundation, Sodomora Branch.

Sodomora City, South Gate, 45th Street - Venice's Dance Building, Room 302.』

It was an address. Contrary to what I expected, that it would be hidden in some distant, remote place, it seemed to have an office within Sodomora.

45th Street, South Gate, isn't far from this Nymph's Wing Inn.

"Take it if you need it. It's useless to us."

Having received permission from the innkeeper, I carefully tucked the business card into my inner jacket pocket. Just as I was about to leave.

"Euhm, heum-."

I noticed the innkeeper, who was somehow hesitating. It felt like he had something to say to me but couldn't quite bring himself to.

"Do you have something to say?"

"Euhm, well-."

Why is he stalling like that? Is it about his wife, Echo? Is he going to complain that nobles and adventurers are hitting on her and it's difficult?

"Well-."

However, my prediction faded as the innkeeper began to speak in earnest.

"Lately, business hasn't been good at all. No customers are coming. Look here. It's lunchtime, but there are hardly any customers who came to eat, are there?"

Seureuk-.

At the innkeeper's words, I looked around. Indeed, there were only a few tables with customers, and flies were buzzing everywhere.

The innkeeper continued.

"It's been like this since the day before yesterday. It's quite a deep problem. Our inn is a pub, but all the alcohol we're supposed to sell has become unusable, so it can't be helped."

"What do you mean? Please explain in more detail."

"The taste of all the alcohol has changed. The grapes aren't fermenting, they're just spoiling easily. It's mostly the same in other places, not just our pub. Alcohol isn't being made properly."

"No, is that even possible?"

"It's possible. Unless Bacchus-nim, the God of Wine, extends his power to the world, just like Ceres, the goddess who brought winter."

"That would be true."

"You, what was it. You built a Temple recently, and even met Bacchus-nim directly, didn't you?"

I recalled meeting Bacchus in the deer forest.

"That's right."

"Then, could you perhaps ask Hypnos if something has happened to Bacchus-nim? Alcohol isn't being made. This is quite a terrible thing. I'm dying of curiosity as to what's going on."

"...."

I fell silent for a moment, lost in thought.

Elfriede's words, that Bacchus didn't have much power left, came to mind. Would it be too much of a leap to connect the alcohol not being made with Elfriede's words?

"I'll try to find out what happened."

"Hoo-. Thank you very much for saying that. I feel relieved."

* * *

The sunlight streamed down on my head as I stepped out of the inn.

Lunchtime.

And I had roughly two things to do.

To chase after Ignoie, the Nymph of the Muddy Water, to find information about Nectar, the God's Wine, and to ask Bacchus why alcohol wasn't being made properly.

Information about Ignoie could be found at the Nymph Relief Foundation, and the address of that Relief Foundation was now in my pocket as a business card.

However, I didn't know who to ask for information about Bacchus. Should I go look for a Temple? Where is Bacchus's Temple?

Therefore, the conclusion narrowed down to doing what I could immediately. So I went to the Nymph Relief Foundation building, which was said to be located at Sodomora's South Gate.

Seeing the sparkling three-story marble structure, the Relief Foundation seemed quite wealthy.

Ttok, Ttok-.

I went up and found Room 302 on the third floor, then knocked on the Door. However, there was no discernible sign of anyone inside.

"Is anyone there?"

Ttok, Ttok-.

I knocked on the Door again.

"If no one's there, I'm just going to open it and go in."

Am I not the successful candidate for the executive recruitment hosted by the Thieves' Guild? Since I had splendidly picked a titanium lock, I could easily open a crude doorknob like this.

Dalgeurak. Dalggak-.

As I rattled the doorknob for a long time, only then did I hear footsteps from inside, along with a small voice.

━Who is it?

It was a thin, weak female voice. Because the Door was thick, it was difficult to guess her age.

I said.

"Ah, I came here for some business with the Relief Foundation. My name is Hassan."

━Hassan, as in the one who set the city on fire?

"Yes, that's me."

━The Silver-rank adventurer, that young god who also established a Temple recently...?

"That's also me."

━What brings such a person here...?

"I'm looking for someone."

━Looking for someone? A Nymph?

"Yes, a Nymph named Ignoie...."

Baseurak-.

Was the name Ignoie the problem? A significant movement from inside was clearly conveyed to my senses.

I don't know exactly why, but there was a reaction.

"Do you know anything about Ignoie?"

━I don't know. That's the first I've heard of that name.

"That can't be. I heard she was last seen near the Sodomora Relief Foundation. Ignoie is a criminal who committed a great sin. You will face severe punishment if you hide her."

━We don't know any Nymph like that. Whatever crime she committed, whatever she stole, it has nothing to do with me-.

The woman's voice had become quite irritable.

At that, I pushed the locked Door in front of me with all my might.

Ppigeok-.

Kung.

At the same time, the doorknob shattered, and the Door fell inward with a hollow sound.

What met my eyes was the empty, desolate, and eerie interior. There were few pieces of furniture, and only small bundles of documents lay scattered on the floor.

It felt exactly like someone had attempted a midnight escape.

And that someone would be this woman.

I narrowed my brows as I looked down at the small woman.

"Hello. Excuse me for intruding. Though I already have."

"T-That's trespassing! You can't just come in! Why did you break the Door!? This is a titanium steel plate Door. Why did it break so easily!?"

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The woman was very short. She was wearing a gray robe and had her head covered, but she was probably a Nymph.

Although I don't have as good a nose as Luna, I couldn't help but notice the strong sweet scent, like Paranoy's.

I looked down at her and said.

"I only said she committed a crime. I didn't say Ignoie stole anything."

"Th-That-."

"You, you know something, don't you?"

"Gueu...."

The woman was extremely hesitant.

"Well...."

Just as the woman was about to open her mouth from beneath her robe, a Ttokak- sound and a rather large presence came from behind me.

"Ignoie, Nymph of the Muddy Water. So you were hiding here after all."

It was Silaya, a Gold Tier adventurer and an Amazoness. She had come to this Foundation building.

And she added a statement that even I couldn't believe.

"Ignoie, I'm arresting you on charges of assaulting and attempting to murder Bacchus, the Chief Deity."

It was the moment when the choices I had been pondering-Ignoie's whereabouts and Bacchus's safety-merged into one.