episode_0051

051 – Cactus Fruit and Two Tickets # 2

“So what happened in the end?”

At Krauser’s question, I lightly recalled.

What became of the ticket to the surface?

“Who would be demoted was put on hold for now. Still, they’ll have to decide soon. It will probably be decided who the ticket owner will be within four days.”

There was only one ticket to the surface.

And only one person could grasp it.

It absolutely had to be me.

Soon, Krauser put a bright red spicy rice cake into his mouth and exclaimed in admiration.

“To think such a thing happened just because of this one spicy rice cake… This Soul Society is truly wondrous.”

What spicy rice cake?

Is it possible this fellow Krauser thinks the Safety Management Team’s ‘accounting fraud’ refers to ‘flour-based foods’ like spicy rice cakes, blood sausages, and seaweed rolls?

I truly felt a ‘wall’ between us.

This was a level of incompetence that couldn’t be imitated even if one tried.

“Young lady, could I get some more fish cake broth here!”

Krauser, who had his hand raised high.

He had only ordered one serving of fish cakes, and this was already his fourteenth broth refill.

This fellow truly had such a unique way of doing things that my mind began to fade into the distance.

“Hehehe, broth refills are unlimited here, so it’s perfect for filling your stomach when you have no money. The young lady working part-time seems a bit simple-minded.”

Krauser’s eyes, as he spoke, glanced at the employee of this shabby “Happy Snack Shop.”

She was a woman who had tied her pink hair beautifully like a rose.

Was she around twenty years old?

Seeing that her ears were slightly pointed, she was a nymph.

“There are such nymphs. Exceptionally innocent and kind nymphs. My former lover Euriol was also like that originally. But now she has become an evil girl who only chases money and fame… *Cough*…”

It was Krauser, who had started to snivel.

He had only ordered one serving of fish cakes but had ordered and consumed a lot of alcohol with it, so it seemed he was drunk.

“A nymph, huh…”

Considering the Peranoi and Melinoi incident that happened recently as well.

Since getting entangled with nymphs, truly nothing good had happened.

If I hadn’t written a thesis about nymphs, I might have been rejected at the Happy World job interview.

Therefore, it was fair to say that nymphs were the root cause of my current troubles.

*Slide—.*

At that moment, the nymph employee approached us.

Was she going to scold us for ordering over ten broth refills?

So I became unnecessarily embarrassed, but the woman held out something to me.

It was a round fruit that looked like an orange.

There was also a memo.

“It’s a Hell Cactus Fruit. It’s good for hangovers. Because your companion seems to have drunk a lot.”

“I didn’t order this?”

At my words, the woman smiled gently.

Was it complimentary?

Cactus fruit was a difficult item to obtain, even for me, who grew a lot of cacti.

They rarely bore fruit.

Because it looked like an orange, its taste was actually said to be like an orange.

Because there were no oranges in this “Soul Society,” this Hell Cactus Fruit, which could produce a similar taste, was extremely valuable.

To give such a valuable thing as a complimentary item.

Soon, a skeleton old woman, who seemed to be the shop owner, fiercely scolded the nymph young lady.

“Did you give complimentary items to customers on your own whim again? Ugh, this child always!”

“……”

The nymph employee young lady kept bowing her head.

As if she was protesting something, she moved her hands this way and that, and it probably looked like sign language.

*Swish—* Soon, the bony old woman raised her fist.

“Come here! Let me hit you once!”

“……!”

Was she going to give her a light tap on the head?

The nymph getting a light tap on the head.

To me, who disliked nymphs, it would have been a very satisfying sight, but for some reason, I ended up stepping between them.

“Boss, I’ll pay the bill. The employee service here is really good. This is a tip for the shop. And this is a tip separately for the young lady, so don’t needlessly take it away.”

*Clink-clink-clink-clink—.*

“Go-gold coins!?”

“Why? Is the amount insufficient?”

“No! No! It’s too much! Please come again next time! You’re Assistant Manager Joy of the Head Office Audit Team, right? Oh, you’re much more handsome than I saw in the newspaper! Next time, I’ll guide you to a better seat!”

I took the groaning, drunken Krauser and left the shop.

Soon, the shop employee young lady waved her hand vigorously towards me.

Even if I didn’t know sign language, I could at least tell that she was saying, “Please come again next time.”

Of course, I had no desire to come again next time.

Because after eating a few spicy rice cakes and fish cakes, I had suddenly been robbed of several gold coins.

Wasn’t that an outrageous rip-off?

I should have gotten at least a hundred more broth refills.

‘As expected, nothing good ever happens when I get entangled with nymphs.’

# # #

Assistant Manager Narcissus’s house was located between the old and secluded “Happy World” and the new city “Elysium.”

A house that had a small yard.

‘How many years did it take to move here, starting from the worst row house in Happy World, all the way to a place with a view of the new city Elysium.’

Like any other deceased soul, Narcissus dreamed of entering the new city Elysium.

But he was marked by “Nemesis, the Executive Goddess of Vengeance.”

His career life was not easy either.

After desperately striving, he caught Director Apate’s eye and even became an Assistant Manager at the head office.

The Director Apate he had trusted was removed from his position, and Narcissus himself was in danger of demotion.

“In the end, I couldn’t go to Elysium after all.”

The lights of the new city, visible in the distance, pricked Narcissus’s eyes.

Tears welled up for no reason.

As if even his second life had been a failure.

But Narcissus quickly wiped away his tears.

As he entered the yard, pretending nothing was wrong, a pink-haired woman who was tending to the cacti in the flowerbed looked at Narcissus and brightened her face.

“……!”

She didn’t speak.

Instead, her hands moved busily.

Sign language.

Due to circumstances, she was unable to speak.

Narcissus smiled, as if trying not to show the worries he had until just now.

“Echo, if you came to visit, you should have waited inside the house. The yard is cold.”

The pink-haired nymph woman called Echo, instead of answering, took out a fruit she had carefully hidden in her arms.

It was a cactus fruit resembling an orange.

“That’s my favorite fruit. It must have been hard to get.”

Narcissus cut the fruit in half and shared it with Echo.

The fruit was as sweet and delicious as he had imagined.

*Wipe-wipe-wipe—.*

Echo, wiping the fruit juice from her mouth, performed sign language with her hands.

Narcissus immediately understood her words.

“You wish every day was like today?”

*Nod-nod—.*

Echo soon stood up from her seat and held up the piggy bank placed on the shelf.

*Clink-clink—.*

The sound of it being full of heavy gold coins was heard.

*Gesture-gesture-gesture-gesture—.*

Sign language continued once again.

Narcissus naturally understood its meaning this time too.

“You got tips today and collected a lot of money? If you collect a little more money, you’ll be able to lift the curse. That’s great, Echo. You’ll be able to speak soon.”

Nymph Echo.

The reason she couldn’t speak was because she had received a curse from a terrifying goddess.

To lift the curse, she worked diligently, even with clumsy work skills.

She wanted to purchase the “Curse Release Ticket” that came to be issued after “Work Innovation.”

However.

The reason she desired the “Curse Release Ticket” was not for herself.

So Echo shook her head and pointed at Narcissus with her hand.

Your curse.

It can be lifted. Soon.

“…Me?”

Narcissus was greatly surprised.

To think Echo was thinking of Narcissus, not of lifting her own curse.

Narcissus also carried a curse from a terrifying goddess.

When he was alive, thanks to acting thorny like a cactus even to people who showed him favor, he incurred a lot of resentment.

In the end, someone asked Nemesis, the Goddess of Vengeance, and requested that Narcissus be punished.

“—Understood. I will place a curse upon Narcissus.”

Because of Nemesis’s curse, Narcissus became a selfish human who only loved himself.

That was still the case even now, with the curse not lifted.

‘No, I was a selfish human even before I was cursed.’

On the other hand, Echo was not like that.

In this “Soul Society,” she acted like Narcissus’s older sister or mother.

No matter how prickly Narcissus acted, she would just smile brightly.

That was the problem.

Because Narcissus was destined to be demoted to the surface shortly after.

Because he had to part with Echo.

‘When will I be able to return to this “Soul Society”?’

A hundred years?

Two hundred years?

It was impossible to know.

However, it was unknown what Echo would be like when he returned.

Perhaps she might have become a ‘ghost’ who had lost all her memories.

Because it was said that those cursed by a god lost their memories and became ghosts faster than other souls.

Then, Echo would not remember Narcissus.

‘I did hear that someone from the affiliate “Charon Transport” overcame the ghostification associated with a family member… It must have cost an enormous amount of money.’

There was no way Narcissus, who couldn’t even enter the newly built apartments in Elysium, could collect enough money to overcome Echo’s ghostification.

Moreover, in a situation where he was even being demoted.

‘In the end, I’m a selfish person to Echo until the very end.’

Narcissus.

He cautiously spoke.

“Echo, I’ll probably go to the surface soon. I don’t know how long it will take to return.”

“……!”

Echo was greatly surprised.

Soon, tears welled up in her wide-open eyes.

*Gesture-gesture-gesture—.*

Me too. I want to follow.

“It’s impossible. Because I’m being demoted. Even if you want to follow, people wouldn’t allow it. There’s only one ticket.”

I. I collected money.

The ticket. I can buy it.

By breaking the piggy bank.

“Echo, are you an idiot? Do you know how much one ticket to the surface costs? You can’t buy it even if you collect money your whole life!”

“…….”

Narcissus became unnecessarily angry.

“From the start, you keep coming to my house on your own whim! It’s so annoying!”

So after shouting loudly, he came out to the yard.

Visible far away, the lights of the new city Elysium shimmered.

In the end, he couldn’t reach those lights.

To have to leave Echo behind.

Suddenly, he recalled that Assistant Manager Joy had tried to take the ticket for himself.

He was truly a man full of responsibility and ambition.

Also full of altruism.

In many ways, he was different from Narcissus himself.

‘If I told Joy my situation, he might truly take responsibility instead of me….’

For Narcissus, there were many reasons to stay in this “Soul Society.”

Next to Echo, who had fallen asleep with swollen eyes after crying, Narcissus continued to worry.

The morning he went to work, after worrying so much that he couldn’t sleep.

Assistant Manager Narcissus looked for Joy.

“Assistant Manager Joy, I have a favor to ask. Instead of me—”

“Shall I go to the surface instead?”

“—I want you to take good care of one person instead of me. Because it’s enough just to visit sometimes and talk to them. So that their ghostification isn’t accelerated by a lack of conversation….”

In Narcissus’s phone and wallet, there were many photos of himself.

As he was a symbol of self-love, it was a natural thing.

But deep inside his wallet, there was just one photo: a brightly smiling pink-haired nymph.

After seeing that photo, Junior Joy’s eyes wavered.

“…I refuse. Because I absolutely detest nymphs.”

The remaining time until the ticket owner was decided was three days.

Joy decided to devise a plan.