✠
Ash asked curiously.
“Why is it an old man?”
“There is such a thing.”
Ash and I cheered on Thesilid.
“Fighting, Terry.”
“Cheer up, brother.”
The gondola moved swiftly through the current, propelled by a three-meter giant Marlin, as the battle between man and nature continued.
Then it happened. Suddenly, the rain stopped and my vision blurred.
[<System> You have entered the ‘Fog of Delusion’ area.]
“Ah, it’s coming out now.”
“Coming out, what is it?”
A creepy cold mist enveloped the surroundings as if it were the breath of a ghost.
The Blue Marlin was quite perceptive even if he was but a fish. As if realizing that it had stumbled into unpleasant territory, it slammed the brakes.
Thanks to this, the gondola stopped in the middle of the foggy sea at night.
<Ellet.>
The moment Agnes called me instead of issuing a warning, I said.
“Now, boys, it’s time to plug your ears. Blessings of Protection.”
Right at the moment when Thesilid and Ash’s ears were protected with divine power.
Ahhh-! Aaaaa-!
The vocalists of the sea began to play music with a humming ringing.
It was a seductive song, both beautiful and deceptive.
If a man had heard it, he would have thrown himself into the sea in a fit of madness. Of course, as a woman, that didn’t apply to me.
I made Ash crouch on the floor and put the tent over him.
Thesilid had no choice but to stay in place because he was in the midst of a lifetime match with the Blue Marlin.
Shhh! Shhh!
The seawater around the boat churned wild in circles.
A number of long fin tails were glimpsed through the cracks in the splashing water, and soon the upper body of human women rose to the surface.
<Hello, beasts of the land.>
<Hello, hello?>
Of course, they weren’t real women.
Fluttering fins protruded from where the ears should have been, their iris was large enough to occupy the entire white of the eyes, and fish scales glistened everywhere on the skin.
It was these disparate features that separated them from humans.
Spirits of the sea, they were Mermaids.
Even though this was a demonized place, they were not corrupted yet.
The boss who occupied this place was quite docile unless you touch him, and since his intelligence was low, coexistence was possible in this open sea.
However, it was too soon to be relieved just because the opponent was uncorrupted.
As the numerous fairy tales, folklore, and myths surrounding the Mermaids attest, these spirits of the sea did not take kindly to humans.
Especially of men.
A total of twelve mermaids circled around the gondola.
When the sonic attack didn’t work, they must have taken matters into their own hands.
The mermaids giggled and chattered amongst themselves as they closed in on the siege.
<How long has it been since we’ve seen a land creature?>
<I don’t even remember, Third sister. It’s been a while since I saw a male. We’re lucky.>
<Huh? I think there’s another male inside?>
Ash must have been caught peeking outside through a crack in the tent.
When I was about to pull the tent back over his head, fortunately, the mermaids stated their own beliefs.
<The hidden child looks young. We agreed not to touch undergrown beasts.>
<And that silver-haired male is handsome, so let’s just touch him.>
<Let’s do that. By the way, our 8th and 9th eyes are already wide open, you know?>
<I’ve never seen such a handsome land male……sigh……>
<Big sisters, since it’s my birthday today, can I play with it first?>
<Fifth, what kind of fake birthday are you talking about?>
<That’s right! Don’t be cheap let’s set this with a fair match of high-pitch singing.>
Wow, are all these sisters tankers?
This might be the first time I’ve ever felt aggro in my life.
And their taunts didn’t end with words alone, the mermaids climbed onto the gondola and stretched out their rake-like hands at Thesilid.
They leaned in seductively, trying to lift his chin with their fingers or grabbing his arms trying to pull him underwater.
<Hey, come here.>
<Let’s have fun with these older sisters.>
<I’ll pet you until your skin swells in the seawater!>
Currently, Thesilid is defenseless as he is holding a fishing rod so their rake-like hands were gently ripping apart his uniform.
Alas, I can’t take it any longer.
“Divine punishment!”
Pakjijijk!
In response to my call, lightning broke through the dark clouds and descended.
A divine lightning bolt struck the sea, not the land. Riding the electrolytes, it spread evenly across the waters of the region.
The power was reduced, but the range was wide and as long as you are submerged in water, defense is impossible.
<Kyaaaaaagh!>
<Quaaaaaagh!>
The mermaids screamed in turmoil.
Since stimulation went to the brain, they must have come to their senses.
However, I felt a little sorry for Thesilid.
The Blue Marlin that had been killed in the attack just now floated to the surface.
Thesilid, who was aloof even when the mermaids fumbled his body, sighed deeply this time.
He must have been really serious about fishing.
“Uh, sorry, Terry.”
Thesilid shook his head as if he had read the shape of my lips. Then he pulled the Marlin and hung it over the side of the boat.
It was because it was so large that it could not be lifted above the ship.
Around that time, the mermaids regained consciousness while shaking their heads.
I grabbed the arm of one of the mermaids closest to the boat and pulled her up on the gondola.
<Kyaaaagh!>
<No, the youngest!>
<What are you doing! Give the youngest back!>
I tied the youngest mermaid tightly with the Spirit King’s Harp Strings while in the meantime, the rest of the mermaids tried to overturn the gondola, but the boat did not budge because of the non–capsizing buff.
“It’s of no use, mermaid sisters. Come on, why don’t we talk?”
<What kind of conversation do you want to have while holding on to our youngest?>
<If you’re going to take revenge for male humans who lost their virginity, you chose the wrong one.>
<That’s right! The youngest is innocent, let her go!>
The three mermaids, who seemed to be the oldest, growled in turn and the corners of the gondola shattered to pieces by the tail fins they nervously snapped around.
It was like a round kick.
“Calm down. As long as you don’t touch the silver-haired paladin here, I have no intention of harassing the youngest.”
To prove it, I cast a heal to the youngest mermaid. Her scales scorched by the lightning were restored cleanly.
Seeing this, the rest of the mermaids’ expressions softened a bit.
“What I really want is conversation.”
I emphasized it again for the disbelieving mermaids.
<……Really?>
“Yes.”
<Okay. We won’t touch your male.>
“……Could you please stop calling it weirdly?”
[‘The Scales that Judges the Soul’ is saddened by your plight of having to deny the relationship for now because you can’t afford the genre change rights.]
I hope the next update will come with a feature to block divine messages.
<Humans aren’t very honest.>
“……Think whatever you want.”
The desire to talk was gradually disappearing from my side. To be honest, I can make do with every one of them with one fist, I should just knock them down with force……
“So, what do you want to talk about with us?”
At least they have good timing.
“Mermaid sisters, aren’t you in trouble because of the Boss who occupied this place?”
As if asking how I knew, the mermaids nodded violently.
<Yes, it is difficult.>
<He blocked the entrance to the house.>
<It’s already been over a hundred years, right?>
Troubled sighs were heard. Now was the time to propose.
“We’ll catch the Boss and open the entrance. Instead, I want you to give me mermaid tears at regular intervals.”
And the mermaids’ reaction to this was.
<What? Are you really going to deal with the Boss? That ugly octopus head?>
“Yes.”
<Well, we should be grateful, but at what cost? A mermaid’s eye? And for regular intervals at that?
“No, not the eyes, but the tears.”
<Tears? What is it?>
The mermaids looked back at each other and tilted their heads.
It wasn’t the look of pretending or slyness.
They have only lived in the vast wilderness of the sea. Since they had little interaction with humans, there was nothing to learn about delicate emotions like sadness, and therefore they shed no tears.
On top of that, they were always immersed in the ocean, so it was easy to mistake the salty water seeping out of their eyes as just seawater draining away.
“Do you wonder what tears are?”
Generally, humans use violent methods to collect mermaid tears. They don’t care whether the mermaid dies early or not, people choose to abandon humanity because they are blinded by money.
Of course, I didn’t want to, and I didn’t have to.
<Yes. I’m curious.>
<What are tears?>
As soon as the mermaids answered with a twinkle in their big eyes, I plunged my hand into my inventory.
What I soon found was a music box that looked like it had been painstakingly crafted by a master craftsman.
It was an item obtained last time by killing Eliniro in the ‘Mysterious Forest of Unisus’ dungeon.
[<Item> ‘Unisus Carousel Music Box’
An item created by Eliniro to control the emotions of his wives who became hypnotic dolls.
It plays a beautiful fairy tale melody that stimulates emotions.
It consists of 4 tracks.
Track 1. Happy Cookie House
Track 2. Cinderella Gets Her Revenge
Track 3. Heartbroken Snow Queen
Track 4. Temptation of the Naked King]
I wound the mainspring and set the position of the scale board to Track 3. The song started playing.
Deliriing……
The melody expressed the loneliness and sadness of the Snow Queen, who was left alone in the ice castle for a thousand years. It touched the heart and thanks to this, the mermaids were able to quickly learn the emotion of sadness.
<Ah……>
Drip.
As expected of a spirit, it was weak to being touched by emotions. Tears flowed incessantly from their large eyes.
<Huh……oh……?>
I carefully brought my hand to the cheek of the youngest mermaid I held hostage.
The youngest mermaid winced at my touch as I brushed away her tears.
<Th-thank you. You are a sweet female human……>
“This is a down payment.”
I poured the mermaid’s tears from my fingertips into a reagent bottle.
Then, I put the spout of the reagent bottle under the chin of the other mermaids to collect tears.
Good. This is half a carton of milk.
✠
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