Chapter 20

He never thought he would meet anyone other than himself here.

He had thought only he had fallen in, but for someone else to suddenly appear?

Perhaps Korea itself had been sucked into this place?

Director, Leandros, and Arndt all had bewildered expressions.

"Duke, no, Young Master. Young Master. Do you know that person? It's someone you've never met before. Please calm down."

"No, it's the Director. I know that person!"

When his voice raised in a half-panicked state, Arndt grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

The Director was in this world.

Other people might be here too.

How could he calm down when thinking like this!

"Director, you know me! I'm Yesung, Yu Yesung! Don't you remember? I constantly received counseling from you at the orphanage!"

"Young Master!"

"One moment."

When the Director raised his hand, Arndt paused briefly.

"Wait a moment, please."

Amidst everyone's awkward bewilderment, the Director slowly walked towards him.

"I don't know who the young man remembers, but I have never been in charge of an organization throughout my entire life."

"But, truly, Director!"

"Merperson scholar isn't a very promising profession. Even at the Academy, no students chose this field. My name is Erich."

"...Erich?"

Only then did he slowly examine him.

Everything resembled the orphanage director.

But upon closer inspection, there were parts that weren't the same.

Such as his features being strangely well-aligned.

Or his gentle voice without the weight of weariness.

Or the reddish-brown hair showing through the white...

Similar yet somehow dissimilar.

Like seeing the Director's Western twin.

He was a well-crafted character.

Only then did his face grow hot with fever rising.

"..."

"Look again. Am I the person you knew?"

"...No, you're not. I seem to have made a mistake. I'm sorry. You look so similar that I was momentarily confused."

"It's something anyone could do. It's alright. At least you're not my enemy, right? You didn't hit me right away."

The man named Erich laughed heartily.

Looking at him this way, he really was a different person.

Since it was a novel written by his brother, there could be a character modeled after the Director.

Ah, this is so embarrassing.

"I'm sorry."

"You should say that to those friends too. They tried to stop you."

Arndt jumped at those words.

"No, how could I. No. Absolutely not."

"Don't you want an apology?"

"Of course not! Du... Young Master, you must not apologize to me. Absolutely not. It would undermine discipline."

What kind of discipline is that.

Next, when he looked at Leandros, he also shook his head similarly.

"I'm glad if you're alright."

This is mortifying.

As he pressed down his hood deeply, Erich placed his hand on his shoulder without hesitation and guided him inside.

"Come, young people. All of you, come in. You wouldn't come all the way here without a significant reason, it must be quite important."

* * *

Merperson scholar Erich. No surname.

A scholar from a commoner background, he said he received a scholarship at the Academy, which was virtually exclusive to nobles.

At the age of 58, he was quite elderly.

He said he originally resided in the outskirts of the capital.

He had come down to his hometown in the south for a brief vacation when the mysterious mass deaths occurred.

He seemed to be conducting his own research to determine the cause.

"At first, it was small in scale. Just a few fish floating up."

"Did no one notice then?"

"Such occurrences were common. With the sea all around, no one cared about a few fish dying."

Cups of hot tea were placed in front of each of them.

Arndt smelled it and politely declined, but he and Leandros took a sip.

"Then did they suddenly start dying in large numbers?"

"Yes. Suddenly one day."

There were no warning signs.

The village fishermen would launch their boats at dawn, but they spotted fish as they were lowering their boats, he said.

At first, they suspected someone had dumped something strange on the beach.

Afterward, they thought the fish had collectively died from the heat.

But when merperson corpses washed up on the beach, the sea pollution hypothesis and the heat hypothesis disappeared.

"Normally, merpeople don't live in shallow waters. They're not particularly sensitive to water temperature either."

"Then... could it be that someone polluted the sea? And that's why the merpeople and fish that came up died?"

"Well, let's say someone dumped contaminated water into the sea. But would that kill a merperson living in deep water? Unless an entire merchant ship carrying poison sank."

"But merpeople are still being washed ashore and dying repeatedly? As if they're seeking a place to die."

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

Mr. Erich rubbed his forehead.

"Moreover, merpeople are a type of demonic beast. They have rarely encountered humans, but they definitely belong to the demonic beast category. It's uncommon for demonic beasts to die instantly from drinking diluted poison."

There were various methods to kill demonic beasts.

But that didn't mean demonic beasts died easily.

If merpeople were classified as demonic beasts, it was definitely an abnormal phenomenon.

The small table fell silent for a moment.

"...So, you said you also saw this phenomenon?"

"We came down along the coast from above. From a few days ago."

"Did you see merpeople there too?"

"Only in the first city."

After that, even when observing the beach, they saw nothing but schools of fish.

Arndt carefully opened his mouth.

"I think it might be better to research the fish instead. Don't the merpeople seem to be simply caught up in this?"

"Because their numbers are few?"

"That's right, Young Master. Because their numbers are few. It seems like the only explanation is that merpeople happened to enter the area where fish were dying... don't you think?"

Oh? That was a reasonable observation.

But Mr. Erich shook his head.

"In this village alone, merpeople have been found three times."

"Three times? But what we saw..."

"You probably didn't hear about or see any except the first one. But the villages you visited might have hidden it."

"What? Why would they do that?"

Arndt's eyes rounded.

"It didn't seem like it..."

"Merpeople aren't particularly welcomed in the south. Various legends are passed down. That they lure and eat people, or control fish to escape from nets."

"Is that really true?"

"The truth is not clear, but what's important is this: In the minds of southern people, merpeople are ominous beings."

When merpeople appear, bad things happen.

Is hiding the appearance of merpeople a custom in the south?

"So it's natural not to tell foreigners about the existence of merpeople."

"That's right. If this weren't my hometown, I wouldn't have known either. In the first city, they either hadn't cleaned up in time, or perhaps a merperson washed ashore for a brief moment."

"You still haven't found the cause, right?"

"I'm doing my best, but there are too few clues. Too few indeed."

Mr. Erich had a deeply troubled expression.

He couldn't openly go to observe the taboo merpeople, but observing from afar had its limitations.

They, too, were in a position where they needed to resolve their matters quickly.

They didn't know when Yurik would notice.

Before that happened, theyabsolutely had to board a ship bound for a foreign country.

Even if the fish were removed, ships wouldn't come in right away, but perhaps they could find an outgoing ship?

He subtly suggested to Mr. Erich.

"If it's alright with you, we'd like to help."

"You would?"

"Yes. We have our own circumstances. Wouldn't it be fine if it's a mutual interest?"

"Well. I'd be happy if young people would enthusiastically help. But what circumstances would make you offer help so readily?"

Mr. Erich looked pleased but puzzled.

He just smiled and evaded the question vaguely.

"We urgently need to board a ship. But now that the way is blocked... We were looking for a solution when we heard about you, Mr. Erich. It would be good if we could solve this problem together."

"Ah. You want to sail. You must be quite troubled as well."

"So, what can we do to help you? Do you have any thoughts?"

Mr. Erich was lost in thought, crossing his arms.

Even that remarkably resembled the orphanage director.

"There is one thing."

"You should tell us what it is."

"We might find clues if we meet merpeople and ask them."

"Meet merpeople? Directly?"

What is he saying?

Leandros and Arndt exchanged glances.

He too didn't understand and looked at Mr. Erich.

"How do we meet them? By diving under the sea?"

"Usually, yes! Merperson scholars all know how to dive."

"What? Why?"

"Because merpeople live in the sea! But don't worry. You don't know how to dive, right? There's a way for everything here."

Mr. Erich's face was flushed with excitement, and after earnestly asking themto wait a moment, he hurriedly ran towards a small room.

Seeing this, Arndt whispered quietly to him.

"The circumstances of his departure from the Academy are suspicious."

"Don't be mean."

"Your Grace, the idea of meeting a demonic beast doesn't come from a normal person."

"Are you saying he's crazy?"

Even after conversing with him, there were no special signs.

Without even a particle of madness, he was truly a rarely healthy human.

But Arndt was looking at the small room with suspicious eyes.

"That's the truth, isn't it?"

"...No, surely not. By that logic, we're a bit strange too for hunting Vormi."

"We were backed into a corner. And you ordered it, Your Grace."

"Do you always listen to my orders?"

"Of course. That goes without saying."

Well then.

Seeing Arndt puffing up proudly, Leandros quietly turned his head away.

In the meantime, Mr. Erich came out carrying various books and scrolls.

"Here, here. Look at this. It's a record from a hundred years ago, but occasionally there are merpeople who desire to communicate with humans."

"That's from a hundred years ago."

"It's important evidence that merpeople can be curious about humans. To think that a demonic beast would feel curiosity rather than the desire to slaughter towards humans! Isn't that splendid?"

"I find it a bit creepy..."

"And, looking at this, there were actually merpeople who interacted with humans."

Despite Arndt's indifferent reaction, Mr. Erich pointed to a record that was difficult to read.

"Right here. There's a diary of someone who witnessed a human child and a merperson conversing. Isn't the merperson benevolent towards the child? The protective instinct towards young offspring is a common trait among all animals."

"It's not an animal, but a demonic beast."

"Even a fierce cat cuddles and licks its kittens. I've hypothesized that merpeople might feel a sense of kinship with humans, whose appearance is similar."

"It's not a person, but a demonic beast!"

"Are you going to keep contradicting me?"

While Arndt and Mr. Erich were bickering, he looked at the illustrations and the old paper that Erich had pointed to.

The text was hard to read, and there were gnawed marks here and there, making it difficult to fully grasp the context.

But as he had said, the illustration of a merperson smiling was clearly visible.

"This was my dream... to communicate with merpeople. If that's possible, I could collect much more diverse information than now! It's been my lifelong wish."

"To that extent?"

"There's no end to the pursuit of knowledge! After seeing what's happening now, I've realized. Now is the opportunity!"

He thought Arndt might have been right.

Erich's eyes were gleaming.

In his mind, 'Erich the merperson scholar' was changing to 'Erich the merperson otaku.'

"So, what's your plan, sir?"

"I've been a bit older, so it has been difficult for me to implement until now. But I'm convinced that you could do it sufficiently."

The sparkling gray eyes were directed at him.

Hmm, how old was Arenheit again...

Since he had just come of age, he probably wasn't that old.

"While I appreciate you seeing me as young, I'm still an adult."

"You look much younger, so it's fine. I think there won't be a problem."

"...That's not an insult, is it?"

He looked at the illustration again.

It was a smiling merperson, but somehow it felt strange.

Could there be such a benevolent demonic beast?

Was it hard to adapt to hearing such fairytales like "The Little Mermaid and the Prince" in this world setting?

But Erich was definitely trustworthy.

At least, much more trustworthy than himself.

"Alright. Let's try. As long as it's safe."

Somehow, he felt like things were getting complicated.

Late that night.

They climbed up to a coastline full of rising reefs with the moon at their backs.

His hands were full of sparkling valuables.

Arndt and Leandros were holding lights to illuminate the dark path, and Erich, unable to calm down, was taking deep breaths.

With Arndt's help, heclimbed onto a reef where waves were splashing just below and looked down.

Mr. Erich spoke carefully.

"Now, your role is..."

"Should I give this to the merperson?"

"That's secondary."

"Then what?"

"You will seduce the merperson with that face of yours."

Arndt and Leandros lost words and glared at Erich.

He was the same.

"Me?"

He had to entice a merperson?