The towering figure of water did not attack.
Instead, it simply turned.
A vast arm of swirling ocean extended and pointed toward the horizon.
"Follow."
Lucien raised an eyebrow inside the submarine.
Outside, the airships hesitated.
Their commanders exchanged uncertain glances, clearly torn between suspicion and faith.
Then the water goddess spoke again.
"Stand down."
That single sentence erased all hesitation.
The fleets withdrew imdiately.
Engines roared as the airships climbed away from the sea, leaving the strange submarine alone beneath the goddess’s gaze.
Lucien leaned back in his seat and chuckled softly.
That kind of scene feels familiar to him.
The imnse water figure glided forward across the ocean’s surface, and the submarine followed beneath the waves.
For several minutes, neither of them spoke.
Yet Lucien could feel her attention.
Every so often the glowing eyes of the colossal water figure drifted downward, studying him through layers of sea and steel.
Eventually, a small island appeared ahead.
It was nothing more than a lonely stretch of land surrounded by the endless ocean.
The water goddess finally stopped above the island.
Then she spoke again.
"Go that way. There is a mansion."
A long finger of water pointed toward the building.
Before Lucien could reply, the goddess dissolved.
Her massive form collapsed into cascading currents that fell back into the sea as if nothing had ever existed.
Lucien stared at the empty water.
For a mont he wondered if this was so kind of trap.
So he scanned the island carefully.
But... there was nothing wrong ahead.
Only sothing... strange.
He stepped out of the submarine and stored the vessel into his inventory.
Then he walked toward the island.
The place was beautiful.
The sand was white and clean. Palm-like trees swayed gently under the firmant sky. Waves rolled peacefully along the shore.
But there was sothing unusual.
Bubbles.
Dozens of floating bubbles hovered around the island like drifting lanterns. Inside each one, water swirled slowly.
Lucien stopped.
Every bubble subtly followed his movent.
He realized what they’re for.
A surveillance system made entirely from water.
Lucien shook his head with quiet admiration.
"Creative."
He continued walking.
The mansion ca into full view.
Water surrounded it in every direction, forming narrow channels that made the structure look like an island resting within another island.
Lucien did not bother with the path.
He simply lifted into the air and flew toward the entrance.
The bubbles watched him the entire ti.
None moved to stop him.
When he reached the mansion doors, they opened easily.
Inside was a large hall.
But no one stood inside.
Instead, a thin stream of water slid across the floor.
The water rose into the air and shaped itself into an arrow pointing down a hallway.
Lucien followed.
The guiding water moved ahead of him like a silent attendant.
Eventually it stopped before a door.
Lucien could finally sense life inside.
He reached for the handle and opened it.
The mont the door swung inward—
A figure rushed forward.
Lucien’s instincts reacted instantly.
His body shifted into a combat stance.
But—
The attack never ca.
Instead, a girl threw herself at him.
She wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"My prince charming!" she exclaid happily. "You finally ca! Hehehe!"
Lucien froze.
His mind stalled for several seconds.
Slowly, he grabbed the girl by the shoulders and gently pulled her away.
Then he finally saw her clearly.
She was the Water Goddess.
But she looked nothing like the majestic ocean titan from earlier.
The towering divine figure had been elegant and overwhelming.
This girl was... not.
She looked young.
Pretty, yes.
But also pale.
Her hair was ssy as if she had not brushed it properly in days. Her oversized sweater hung loosely around her shoulders. Her expression carried the sleepy awkwardness of soone who had spent far too long indoors.
Lucien stared.
One word surfaced in his mind imdiately.
’...NEET.’
The girl noticed his gaze and smiled sheepishly.
Lucien blinked twice.
"Do you... know ?"
Her smile widened.
But instead of answering imdiately, she motioned toward a nearby table.
"Sit first."
Her movents were strangely smooth, like soone performing a routine she had practiced many tis alone.
They sat across from each other.
The girl inhaled deeply.
Then exhaled slowly.
"I knew soone would co," she said softly. "I’m just glad he’s handso."
After saying that, she lted. Literally.
Her body suddenly dissolved into water.
Lucien blinked again.
"...What?"
The puddle on the chair bubbled slightly.
Then it reford into the girl again.
Lucien scratched his head.
He had t countless strange people in this world.
But this one was... unique.
He coughed lightly.
"How exactly did you know I would co?"
The girl tilted her head.
She smiled.
"A certain sli surnad Tempest told ."
Lucien smacked his forehead.
’Of course.’
There was only one sli capable of that level of manipulation.
And it definitely did not have the surna Tempest.
Lucien leaned back.
"Let guess. It appeared to you mysteriously and spoke about destiny?"
The girl nodded enthusiastically.
Then she explained.
After her powers reached a certain level, she had explored the deep ocean with her control over water.
That was when she discovered the ruins beneath the sea.
Ancient structures older than the current civilization.
When she studied them, she learned sothing shocking.
Her world was only a small world.
But she did not really care.
Then she reached the final chamber of the ruins.
There she found a mirror of water.
The reflection changed.
And the water turned into a sli.
She ignored it.
Until the sli casually introduced itself.
"My surna is Tempest."
That was when she took the conversation seriously.
The sli explained the truth about worlds.
It even told her of a way to leave this world and enter the Big World.
Lucien sighed deeply.
The Primordial Sli really knew how to manipulate people. It knew the girl was an otaku, and it knew exactly how to make her take the conversation seriously.
But still...
Even after discovering that a path to the Big World existed, she simply did not care. She had grown used to the safety of her comfort zone, and nothing had ever been enough to drag her out of it.
But instead of forcing her, the sli surnad Tempest suggested sothing else.
It told her that her prince charming would eventually co to take her away.
And the girl...
Having read countless novels and manga in her previous life...
Believed it.
So she waited.
Years passed.
Lucien listened quietly.
Then he rubbed his temples.
"...That sli is a nace."
Lucien was truly amazed by how far into the future the Primordial Sli had seen.
The girl laughed happily.
"It was not lying! You ca!"
Lucien could only shake his head.
Still, her power was undeniable.
In a universe made entirely of water...
She was practically invincible.
Lucien leaned forward.
"So what happened to the monsters?"
The girl puffed her cheeks slightly.
"They kept showing up."
She explained calmly.
Every ti sothing entered the ocean, she hoped it was the promised prince charming.
But it was always monsters.
So she killed them.
Quickly.
Without rcy.
Everyti.
Over ti, the people of the world began witnessing impossible ocean phenona.
Waves rising like giants.
Storms crushing invaders.
Water forming divine shapes.
Eventually they gave her a na.
The Water Goddess.
In truth, none of them had ever seen her real face.
She preferred it that way.
People sent offerings to her.
She accepted them.
But she never t them.
Lucien asked why.
She answered honestly.
"People are scary. Also... it’s a pain."
Then she admitted sothing quietly.
After regaining her mories of her previous life, she understood human nature too well.
So she stayed here.
Alone.
A shut-in goddess.
Lucien nodded slowly.
Everyone carried their own scars.
The atmosphere grew quiet.
Then the girl suddenly leaned forward.
Her eyes literally turned into heart shapes made of water.
"But now that you’re here, I’m not scared anymore!"
Lucien instinctively raised his hand.
Tap.
He lightly chopped her head.
"Stop using your powers for weird things."
She held her head.
Then burst into laughter.
Bright, unrestrained laughter that echoed through the mansion.
It sounded like soone laughing for the first ti in years.
Lucien smiled.
This strange girl had been guarding an entire world alone.
Now...
It was ti to give her a reason to step outside again.
And perhaps...
Bring her back with him.
•••
Lucien did not waste much ti.
He had already seen enough.
So Lucien told her plainly.
"Would you consider coming with ?" he asked. "I want to show you the Big World, help you grow stronger, and..." He paused for a mont. "Perhaps even bring this entire small world with us."
The girl froze.
Her eyes widened.
Her body went still in that specific way people did when the mind stopped knowing which thought to chase first.
She didn’t speak for a long ti.
Lucien saw the hesitation.
Then, for reasons even he did not fully respect, he made a decision.
He adjusted his posture just a little.
Not enough to look theatrical.
Just enough.
Then he activated a skill he copied from Edric.
Flex.
The effect was imdiate.
The lines of his body sharpened beneath his clothes. His stance deepened. The ordinary shape of him beca... offensively well put together.
Lucien hated that it worked.
Then he extended his hand.
He cleared his throat, lowered his voice, and borrowed every domineering executive line he had ever seen from his first life.
"No," he said, in the deepest tone he could manage. "Co with . Stay with from now on."
Silence.
The girl’s eyes glowed.
Literally.
They brightened with watery sparkles so intense that Lucien almost took the hand back out of secondhand embarrassnt.
For one terrifying mont, he thought she would lt on the spot again.
She did not.
Barely.
Instead, she stared at his hand like it was a holy relic, then placed her fingers in his with the kind of trembling seriousness people reserved for vows and highly questionable romance scenes.
"U-um," she said.
That tiny sound was all the confirmation Lucien got.
Because in the next instant, she lted anyway.
Her whole body collapsed into a ribbon of water and fled deeper into the room.
Lucien stood there in silence.
Then he slowly lowered his hand.
He felt ridiculous.
Utterly ridiculous.
Never in either of his lives had he expected to seduce anyone.
Much less by imitating a domineering CEO.
Much less successfully.
And certainly not a weird shut-in water goddess.
He rubbed his face.
"This is cursed."
Then he noticed movent.
A sliver of water peeked from behind the far wall. Two nervous eyes ford in it.
Then the girl’s real face leaned out beside them.
"Please co with ," she said softly.
Lucien’s smile returned despite himself.
And so he followed.
User Comments
0 comments from readers