Chapter 21

While everyone was questioning their ears, the gold ornament that had slipped from his hand jingled.

Arndt was glaring at Erich.

If there were no watching eyes here, his expression suggested he would like to roast Erich over fire while shouting "How dare you!!"

"Doesn't seduction have a different meaning?"

"Oh."

He looked at Leandros and Arndt, then startled, quickly denied it.

"I meant something different. I told you earlier, didn't I? Merpeople can be benevolent towards young children."

"So?"

"Think about it. Who is the youngest person here?"

"That would be me."

"Exactly!"

Erich pointed at him.

It could have seemed quite rude, but Erich was already so excited that he seemed unable to distinguish right from wrong.

"I think you doing it is the best way to gain the merperson's favor. And though I didn't mention it before, to be honest, that face!"

"What?"

"When I first saw you, I thought some noble young master who hadn't even graduated from the Academy had come to play. Age isn't important! What's important is the face! It's not like you're going to tell the merperson your age! Then all that matters is what they see! Appearance is everything!"

...In all his life, he had never heard such a lookist statement.

Arndt and Leandros, who had been in a menacing mood just moments before, were somewhat deflated by Erich's remarks.

Sometimes, when people make statements too far outside common sense, this happens.

Erich was on the verge of foaming at the mouth.

"Young! I'm saying you're young! I couldn't do this even when I was 10 years younger! I was born with an aged face, so even at the Academy, I was treated as a late starter during my freshman year! Such youth is a blessing! A lifetime of good fortune!"

"Okay, I understand, so please calm down! You'll scare away any approaching merpeople!"

If Erich was left like this, his blood pressure would rise and he would collapse. One hundred percent.

He looked down at the ornaments filling his hands and sighed.

Fine, this face. It's not even mine, so why not try using it.

Surely nothing serious would happen.

"So what do I do now? When will the merpeople come?"

"Wait and see. They might not come today. But they will certainly appear. First, let's put out the lights. They've adapted to the sea, so they're sensitive to even small lights."

After being told that the moonlight would be bright enough, they extinguished the torches.

Only the faint smell of burning remained, and everywhere instantly darkened.

But as time passed, the contours of the world revealed themselves.

The moonlight, the gently moving waves beneath it, and a few dead silver fish pushed up onto the rocks by those waves.

The whole world was in black and white. It was an eerie and romantic sight.

Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, they couldn't speak.

How much time had passed like that?

Among the waves, an alien noise intervened.

From behind, a firm, hot hand suddenly grabbed his forearm.

"It's here. Can you hear this sound? Are you hearing it now?"

"Yes. I can hear it."

The sound Erich was referring to was singing.

To be more precise, it was a sound where one type of note was repeatedly continued.

How should he describe it?

Like do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do, a specific type of sound that couldn't be precisely defined was cleanly continuing.

A tone without excess. A voice that neither stopped for breathing nor panted from movement.

His ears had already become accustomed to the sound that continued as long as eternity.

It was a sound that, if not noticed, could be passed by forever without realizing it.

The strength slowly drained from the hand clutching his arm.

"We will step back. Go forward little by little. The merperson will see you first."

Really?

A wave splashed at his feet.

He carefully crossed over the reef and advanced to the edge of the rim.

It was when he thought he couldn't go any further.

At a distance visible even to his eyes, something emerged above the water surface and then disappeared.

Glistening scales, a small tail resembling a whale's.

That was the merperson.

That creature smoothly and quietly followed the waves.

It seemed as if the water parted before its presence, making way.

In the blink of an eye, the merperson approached near the reef where he was standing.

Seeing the scales shimmering beneath the shallow water surface, he carefully knelt on one knee.

At that moment, he felt like his eyes met with something down there.

"Ah."

The merperson was surprisingly similar to a human.

Except for the scales adhering to its cheeks and forehead, and the gills on its neck, it could almost be considered a person.

Moreover, it was astonishingly beautiful.

Luxurious eyelashes and deep, large black eyes.

Its delicate features were aesthetically more harmonious than any person he had seen before.

The hair clinging to its nape and shoulders was decorated with seaweed.

Drops of water rolled down its pale skin, which seemed to be coated with a moist, sticky liquid.

There was no sense of rejection towards its appearance, which was ambiguously androgynous.

He felt his wariness crumbling without even realizing it.

"H-Hello."

Though it had no ears, the merperson seemed to understand perfectly.

With softened eyes creating a gentler impression, the merperson placed its arms on the reef and leaned forward.

The smell of the sea wafted over.

[Hello.]

"...?"

What had he just heard?

But the merperson in front of him was only smiling brightly.

Just as he thought he might have been mistaken, confused by the waves, the voice was heard once more.

[Gift?]

"Did you... speak to me?"

[Is it a gift?]

It looked up at him and stretched out its hand. It seemed to be talking about the ornaments he was holding.

He was dumbfounded.

Was the vocal structure of merpeople similar to humans? But the merperson scholar was Erich, not him.

In a half-dazed state of mind, he roughly poured out what he was holding in his hands.

Some of them fell into the sea, but most went into the merperson's hands.

[Happy.]

"G-Glad to hear that."

[Did you come to meet me?]

"I came to meet a merperson."

The merperson, who had been looking with interest at the sparkling imitation jewels, raised almost its entire upper body onto the reef.

Since he had lowered his posture, the gap between them had almost disappeared.

It was a moment that half-proved Erich's hypothesis about his face being effective.

[Why?]

"Because the fish are dying. They say ships can't sail. Your friends, or other merpeople, all died on the shores."

[Yes. They took the fish and died. I saw it.]

Huh?

The merperson spoke so nonchalantly that he was rather taken aback.

The merperson said they took the fish and died. What did that mean?

"You died with the fish? Why?"

[We were banished. Banished from the bottom of the sea, and it was lonely to die alone.]

"Who banished the merpeople from the sea floor?"

[We did.]

Its tail slapped the water surface with a splash.

It seemed merpeople also formed communities. But why would they banish their own?

Let's translate merpeople into humans.

There was only one reason a village would unite to expel a resident.

Either they didn't follow the rules, or they caused great harm to other residents, or they violated a taboo.

But there was no way he could know the laws of merpeople in this place.

"Why were they banished?"

[They said they didn't want to die. So they were punished.]

"Punishment? You all have to die?"

What was he saying?

The completely off-topic answer made the conversation drift in an increasingly strange direction.

But the merperson answered in a nonchalant tone.

[Yes. It's been that way since ancient times.]

"Why? Since how long ago? Who decided it?"

[A being in the deep.]

In the sea?

Questions only continued to pile up.

The merperson was talking about something he didn't know.

"Could you tell me more about that? I'm curious."

[You brought a gift. But it was only one.]

"Gift?"

[Shiny things.]

The merperson was hoping for more compensation.

Meeting him and having this conversation so far was in return for receiving the ornaments.

But from now on, it was advanced learning, so additional payment was required.

He unconsciously searched his pockets and then sighed.

His role was almost over, so it seemed like Erich would be needed for a more in-depth conversation.

"My friend has more. May I call him?"

Erich would probably give up his liver and gallbladder if necessary.

He turned around. He waved at the blurry shadow visible in the distance.

The merperson swished its tail, splashing seawater.

[Not that, something else.]

"Something else? What do you want? Don't you like shiny things?"

[No. I like something else. Give me something else.]

"...Is there anything specific you want?"

The merperson's round eyes rolled. It seemed to be pondering.

Then, as if it had a good idea, it grabbed his wrist and pulled.

[I'll take this.]

"Me? I can't go into the sea because I can't breathe."

[But I like this.]

The merperson throwing a tantrum appeared fully grown, but it was childish nonetheless.

Its way of speaking and stubbornness resembled that of a young child.

Moreover, with its beautiful appearance, even its unpleasant actions didn't seem offensive.

"I'm heavy."

[I can take you.]

"I can't swim, so I'll sink. I can't go far."

[I can do it. Want to come together?]

"How will you do it?"

If it were daytime, he might have just splashed around if he fell into the water.

When he spoke jokingly, the merperson's face brightened.

[I'll show you.]

"Now...?"

There was a loud sound of water splashing.

The next moment, he was lying on the reef.

The merperson, who had leaped directly from the water onto the reef, was looking down at him.

Seawater dripped down, wetting his clothes and the rock.

But more than that, he couldn't take his eyes off the merperson above him.

The merperson opened its mouth.

The opened mouth tore wider and wider, making an ominous cracking sound from its jaw joint.

A jaw that extended down to its chest. Teeth densely packed inside.

Dozens of protrusions fluttered inside its twitching gills.

Two tongues writhed inside its mouth, desperately craving the prey before it.

[I'll take you.]

A sound was heard from that oral structure, which seemed impossible for vocalization.

From the moment his head entered that mouth, he could feel nothing.

The last thing he heard was Arndt and Leandros's shouting.

The fact that merpeople are a type of demonic beast doesn't change.

In the end, only its outer skin was beautiful.

* * *

Arndt and Leandros ran as soon as they witnessed it.

But by the time they arrived, the merperson had already jumped back into the sea.

The reef was soaked with seawater and blood,

And the half-body remaining on it had long since lost its vitality.

Even Arndt, who would normally have rushed to stop the bleeding, couldn't make a sound now.

It was the same when he staggered towards Arenheit.

Because everything was only half remaining.

It was horrific.

Something that had already ended, beyond retrieving.

Someone's heart-rending scream filled the night sea.