I Picked Up the Abandoned Hero

20 – 20. Water Nymph

“…Ah?”

Arcel slowly regained his consciousness.

He couldn’t remember what had happened since he fell into the water.

I tried to get back to the surface, but I couldn’t swim high enough, and when I was out of breath, Alfred held my hand for the last time.

“Are you awake?”

And as usual, Alfred greeted me.

“Alfred? Are you all right?”

“Well, it’s okay for now, but we’ll have to wait and see if we can get out of here safely.”

Looking around, it doesn’t seem like you’re in the water.

Seeing that there are trees and bushes, it is not underwater, but that does not mean that this forest is a normal forest.

The leaves are bright blue.

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The illusion of looking at a blue jewel, it was not only the leaves, but also the fluffy grass on the ground.

“This is…”

But when you look up at the sky, you realize that this place is not a normal space.

There was someone in the sky who looked exactly like him, looking down as if he had brought a mirror.

“Could this be the spring of Hylas?”

“Precisely the forest where the spring of Hylas is located, somehow we both passed the nymph’s test. It took a little effort to pull you out of the water.”

At that time, I was out of my mind and didn’t know.

But little by little, the memories of the past overlapped and I realized that I had definitely been here someday.

Of course, it was a mess at that time because of the heavy rain, not the mysterious atmosphere like now, but I was sure that this place was the same place.

“Welcome to the world of fairies anyway, you’ve been here before, but I’m new here and it’s quite different.”

“Is that so, like the home of the elves, the spring of Hylas was in another world.”

“Yes, it is probably the place where the spring water of Hylas flows out where you humans often drown. It’s not very different, but the real spring of Hylas in the story I told you is in this fairy world.”

Alfred pointed his finger at the forest.

There floated water droplets large and small, fairy nymphs made of water that took on human-like forms.

“But is it quite surprising that you lost your holy sword here? How the hell did you come all the way here?”

“…”

Arcel closed his eyes for a moment and looked back on the past.

After being swept away by a torrent of floods caused by heavy rain like a pole, when I came to my senses, there was a nymph.

Due to her long life as a fugitive, the old scabbard of the holy sword fell off her body, and the nymph was able to save Arcel, but she couldn’t even take out the holy sword.

The holy sword has already fallen to the deep, deep bottom, and non-heroes cannot lift the sword, even underwater.

“At that time, I-“

“Wow, guys, look over there! You are human!”

Before I could finish my words, the nymphs in the forest found Arcel and Alfred and started showing interest.

A nymph smaller than a newborn baby.

The nymphs who could stand on Arcel’s hand had gathered around them before they knew it.

“Human! Pretty human! But what’s next to you?”

“If you touch me, I will kill you, you perverted fairies.”

“Alfred?”

However, Alfred reacted with great displeasure when the nymphs flocked to him.

I know that Alfred hates elves.

However, it was surprising that he hated even nymphs, but considering that elves are also of the same kind as fairies, it was strange.

And what else is a perverted fairy?

“Arsel, do you know why nymphs look like humans?”

“No? I do not know. Because I never thought of that.”

“Nymphs don’t have a specific shape at first, but there are cases where they blend into the water and hide in rivers or seas to observe creatures outside.”

“Hey?!”

Alfred suddenly ran his fingers from Arcel’s neck all the way to the tip of his pelvis.

Startled, Arcel shuddered and screamed.

“Ah, what are you doing all of a sudden?!”

“It’s roughly like that, the nymphs thoroughly inspect every nook and cranny of the bodies of humans who have entered the water. They imitate the shape and create their own appearance.”

“What does that have to do with what you just did!”

“Don’t you know? I just finished with that, but the nymphs out there must have already inspected every inch of your body.”

“What…?”

Then, after hearing Alfred’s words, I checked the nymphs walking out of the large fountain.

“Sul, no way-“

“Even the keenest person won’t notice, because nymphs are 100% water.”

There was definitely a nymph who looked like him.

If you look a little closer, it’s not just a resemblance, it’s the same.

The only difference, from the hairstyle to the proportions of the arms and legs, was the size.

“That’s why nymphs are in high demand among humans, as well as purifying polluted water. Because it can mimic the human body just like that.”

In fact, nymphs were often brought to water sources by various races, not just humans, to purify water.

It is intelligent enough to be able to converse, but it is docile and docile as it has no special interest in anything other than purifying water.

“Besides, the volume can be increased as long as there is water, so it is also used for a purpose similar to an aphrodisiac.

Arcel’s face turned bright red at Alfred’s explanation.

I knew that nymphs were friendly to humans, but it was the first time that they were used for such a purpose.

“I have to take that nymph too. It’s unpleasant to resemble you, but I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“Stop it right now-!”

“Evil!”

There, when Alfred tried to put a nymph who looked like him in a jug, Arcel threw a rock in a rage.

The flying rock hit Alfred right in the head.

“Ugh… What are you doing all of a sudden? Just because it regenerates quickly doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, right?”

Alfred protests while holding his head, saying that his head was almost crushed.

It was a bonus that the nymphs were frightened by Arcel’s actions and hid in the spring water.

“Why do you want to take that nymph away! What the hell are you trying to use it for?!”

However, Arcel also had many things to protest.

After the demon king explained what he used the nymph for, he said he wanted to take a nymph that looked just like him.

“I’m going to bring it to my grandmother, because it’s the same here as Hylas spring water anyway.”

“Huh?”

But the reason why Alfred wanted to contain the nymph was different from what he expected.

“Aren’t you a cheeky nymph who gropes your body without permission and even dares to imitate it? Wouldn’t it be fitting to give her grandmother a gift as an ingredient for her magic?”

“Ah… Was it like that? Mi, sorry I stopped misunderstanding.”

Arsel calmed down, but at the words that followed, the nymph in the form of Arcel was frightened.

“I’m sure she won’t look good, because her grandmother is a much more eccentric than I am.”

“Huh…!”

In the end, the nymph gave up Arcel’s form and hurriedly ran away to the spring.

It was a moment, but it was thanks to Alfred’s bright smile on the nymph.

“Is that… Your hair okay?”

“It’s okay. My skull was crushed and my brain was crushed in half, but well, since I met you, I’ve seen a lot of bad things about my head, so I’m getting used to it.”

As the misunderstanding was resolved, Arcel felt sorry for Alfred, and after hearing the answer, he felt even more sorry.

“…I’m really sorry. I thought you were going to use the nymph for some other purpose because it looked just like me.”

“You have a lot of pretty weird ideas, but why do I have to use that nymph? There is a real object right next to it, so why not?”

“What does that even mean!”

“Don’t worry, it’s faster for me to renew my body than wash it anyway. Even if you wash it, you won’t ask others to wash it like the demon king.”

“No, what the hell are you…”

In the end, Arcel leaned against the tree, rubbing his forehead.

“What’s wrong, are there any other problems?”

“Nothing. Anyway, the nymphs have helped me in the past, so please take a look.”

“Okay, then I just scoop up the spring water.”

I felt like I would be the only one who was strange if we talked more than this anyway.

“By the way… Is it okay to go near this fountain?”

“It will probably be fine. Since the spring over here is the dwelling place of the nymphs, Hylas’s bitter desire has little effect. It’s not that deep in the first place.”

As Alfred said, the spring in front was relatively shallow.

The deepest water depth is a little less than 2m, so wouldn’t it be perfect to cool off in the midsummer heat?

“Humans, what did you come here for?”

“?”

As Arcel approaches the fountain, the nymphs poke their heads out. When Alfred approached, he rather had the feeling of running away, which was a little unexpected.

“We are looking for the spring of Hylas. There is an important item that was missing there.”

“Hillas? Ah, Hylas! The story of Hylas is famous. Poor Hylas, waiting for a human who never returns, you can’t leave forever~”

“Right! Hilas couldn’t leave forever~ Poor Hilas! When can I leave Sam?”

“Ummm…”

Arsel is a little taken aback by the nymph’s reaction.

The nymphs listened to Arcel, but instead of continuing the conversation, they gathered together and sang something like a song.

It was natural for her to be embarrassed as it was quite different from the nymphs Arcel had seen so far.

“The remaining nymphs in the world of fairies are still children, so it will be difficult to have a proper conversation. Usually mature nymphs go outside.”

Alfred says that these nymphs are still young.

Since nymphs are fairies, like elves, they need more than 200 years to mature mentally.

Until then, they are not very different from children, and they are not good at controlling their abilities, so they live in the world of fairies.

“Yes! That guy is right! We are still young! I can’t go outside because I’m young~”

“But I will go out someday~ But Hilas is not allowed to go out forever! Waiting for a human who doesn’t come back like an idiot!”

The nymphs came out of the water before they knew it and held hands and circled around Arcel.

“My pity, Hilas! When can we go outside? I probably won’t be able to go out forever~”

The figure was quite cute, but the words that came out of his mouth were rather dark.

Hilas’ story seems to be famous even among nymphs.

Arsel felt a little creepy and went to Alfred’s side.

The nymphs didn’t come close to Alfred.

As if he was scared.

“…The nymphs don’t come close to you?”

“Yes, because I put a protective shield against the water to keep the nymphs from coming to me. Unlike you, I’m modest and shy, so it’s kind of hard for someone to touch my body…”

Alfred speaks shyly.

“Don’t say things that will mislead anyone who hears them! And I was very embarrassed when a nymph like me appeared. But, come to think of it, you are not wet at all.”

Unlike Arcel, who was wet all over, Alfred was dry.

His hair isn’t wet either, and it’s shiny as usual.

He was different from his wet self and was envious.

“Thanks, he was embarrassed at first because he couldn’t swim. At first, I went in to rescue you, but no matter how much I swung my arms around, my body wouldn’t rise.”

“Could that be why you fell into the water with me?”

Alfred nodded.

“Somehow, I couldn’t find a nymph that looked like you…”

He said that in order to swim, he had to swim through the water to push himself off, but he couldn’t because the water didn’t touch his body.

“…Did you ever think of using flying magic?”

“It’s not like I didn’t think of that, but I suddenly felt the magical energy of the nymphs somewhere. So I just took you and kept going downstairs, and you were here.”

“Is it okay to say that it went well in the end?”

I almost drowned, but since I got closer to my destination, it would be fair to say that it was okay.

“Eh…”

Still, I can’t help but feel my body tremble.

It was because I had been submerged in the water for so long, and the temperature here was lower than outside, so it was quite chilly.

“Are you cold?”

“I can’t say it’s not cold.”

“Then try on my clothes if you don’t mind.”

Alfred stretched out his hand over Arcel’s body.

“Ah-“

Then, surprisingly, the wet clothes disappeared and were replaced by Alfred’s usual white shirt and black pants.

But there was no coat.

Anyway, it seems that he prepared a separate coat.

“How did you do this? Is it magic?”

Alfred was holding Arcel’s original clothes in his hand.

“It’s not magic, my clothes regenerate when I regenerate my body. So, should I say it’s the ability of my body…”

“Do you have this ability?”

“The size is tailored to you, so it should be comfortable. In a way, the clothes are also a part of me.”

“Is that a part of you…”

I was a little nervous about being part of Alfred, but I decided to keep wearing it for now.

‘These clothes are part of Alfred…’

If I kept wearing wet clothes, I felt like I would get hypothermia.

Cold always bothered me when I was young or when I went on a journey.

“…Alfred.”

“Huh? Why this time?”

“That… If possible, I would like the original clothes to be dried.”

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But after a while, Arcel lowered her head and said with a reddened face.

Of course, it doesn’t seem like it’s really like that, but thinking that a part of Alfred was covering her body was also because she was quite ashamed.