Chapter 179
Chapter 179
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: In the Depths of the Southern Sea
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Deep in the Southern Sea. A castle made of coral and quartz. Swarms of glowing jellyfish swirled around it, making the water as bright and beautiful as if the sun had risen beneath the waves.
Unlike castles on land, the entrance was at the highest point, and the king's throne at the lowest.
A massive throne shaped like a giant clam shell, crafted from pearls, mother-of-pearl, and gold that never faded even underwater.
A colossal merman with pale blue skin and fin-like ears lounged upon it, looking bored.
"They still haven't come?"
"No way they handed Levinia over right away. And Levinia hasn't awakened her full power yet, so she couldn't have killed the kid either."
As a merman whose lower body turned into a tail in the water rather than legs, the responding man flicked his tail fin and spun once through the water.
"Did they run off together?"
A woman of the merfolk swam up, her dark green hair like seaweed rippling in the current, and spoke.
Her top armor was made of white shark skin, and a white cloth wrapped once around her waist made her hair color look even darker.
"No chance. More likely they ran into some massive monster out of nowhere."
"Who knows. Maybe he's taking pity on her now."
"That kid? Feeling sorry for Levinia? No way. If he was confident he could get as strong as his big brother, he'd have torn her apart like a jellyfish."
As the two exchanged words, the colossal merman on the giant clam throne stroked his chin.
"You go check it out. Use a Trait to report back on what happened."
The woman scowled at being pointed at by the massive man's finger.
"Do you know how tricky it is to infuse a voice into a fish and send it? And I have to prepare several in case they get eaten midway. It's twice the work."
"Do it. Nibiz."
At his commanding tone, the merwoman called Nibiz swept her dark green hair upward with the back of her hand.
"This is so annoying! I'm gonna demand a ton of jewels later, so get ready."
"If you do the job right."
"Can't I just go check myself and take the jewels?"
The other merman, who had been turning flips in the water, raised a hand slightly as he spoke, but Nibiz slapped the water hard with her tail fin, pushing him away with a laugh.
"What are you saying? It's mine, dummy."
Then she swam upward quickly, as if afraid someone might follow, while the pushed merman floated lightly over to the colossal man.
"They should be coming soon, right?"
"Yeah. Any day now."
"It's a bit tight on time. How do you plan to get him out of that squishy larval form? Normally, you'd need an enormous amount of mana stones, plus the king's blood. Or time for the blood inside him to awaken fully."
"That's for a proper coming-of-age ritual. If it's just the outer form, we can do it in a day."
"...You're not thinking of using *that*, are you? Well, it comes with insane pain, but it's convenient from our side."
It would seal away his power permanently, making it impossible for him to ever take the merman form again—the strongest form for our kind—and forcing him to live forever in human shape.
"He'd never become king that way either."
The merman chuckled, and the colossal man let out a laugh as well.
* * *
"Baths are the best... Feels like I'm near an undersea volcano...."
I let out a small sigh of admiration, watching Levi sprawled on the plush sofa like a baked rice cake, her body somehow sleeker and softer after whatever she'd applied.
'How could anyone *not* touch that?'
It's a temptation no creature with a sense of touch could resist.
Smooth and moist-looking, glossy and squishy.
"And the food's delicious too! The food is so good!"
"Our Zero knows his eats."
If he had nothing better to do, he could run a restaurant instead of being the Doppelganger King and live comfortably.
I'd fully back him if he ever announced an opening.
I sidled up next to Levi, showed her my hand, then slowly placed it on her head and stroked gently.
Her body was like soft, moist rice cake clinging to my hand—plush, tender, warm.
And Levi took it further, wiggling her short, chubby fingers as if begging for scratches there.
I scratched every corner of her back, which her hands couldn't easily reach, and spoke.
"Better than the cave, right?"
"...Yeah."
"Then wanna come with me?"
Levi, who had been looking drowsy with relaxed eyes, gave hers a bit of focus, lifted her head, and replied with what she probably thought was dignified.
"I shall have to consider it."
But that lasted only a moment. As I scratched her back again, she melted like rice cake on a hot pan.
"There's something else I want to ask, anyway."
"Mmm, that feels good. What?"
I shifted my gaze outside the cabin and whispered softly.
"That guy Cain—the one who saved you earlier."
"You saved me."
"It was Cain. Anyway, he's a bit hurt. Could you take a look at him later?"
As I spoke, Levi flipped over like dough, slapping her belly with her front paw as if asking for scratches there, so I started rubbing it.
"I sensed it earlier. That kid's insanely strong, but..."
Her round eyes blinked.
"The power inside him is so violent and wild, pretending to be stable while being ridiculously unstable. You know?"
She said that being near him made her feel like her own mana was getting sucked in along with his endless absorption. I tilted my head.
I couldn't sense mana properly, so I hadn't noticed.
Well, thinking about the original story's latter half, he'd have to cram an inhuman amount of mana into his body.
Normally, he'd overcome near-death crises repeatedly, endure persecution, fight off pursuers from assassin squads and the Evil God Cult, bounty hunters, and such—draining his mana to rock bottom over and over, then rebuilding it.
But things were different now.
That always led to disaster somehow. Like it not being pure enough or whatever.
'And with his body already in bad shape, hoarding too much mana would only make it worse, right?'
"What do you think we should do?"
When I pulled grapes from my subspace and offered them, she tried to bite the whole bunch, so I snatched them back and fed her one by one as I asked.
"Delish! First off, the mana pathways in that human Cain's body are a bit shattered, so fix those and purify all the attribute mana he's blindly absorbing. That'd be best."
As expected of our healer. She'd read tons of slates on healing before fleeing to the island, so she knew her stuff.
I patted her plump head proudly and asked again.
"Can you do it?"
"I can, but... I'm pre-coming-of-age, so my mana is low...."
Her big eyes suddenly grew misty. I opened my mouth with feigned exasperation.
"Will mana stones cover it?"
"That kid's too strong. To break through his flows and heal him, you'd need a massive amount. I know you're a human noble, but mess up and you'll be broke."
Levi finished the grapes, poked her full belly, and continued.
"So better to let him recover gradually on his own, controlling it. Might take three years, but a human that strong won't even notice mana circuit damage against average foes."
Three years?
No way.
"How much do you need?"
I spun Krueger's ring once and smirked.
Money was one thing I was more confident in than anyone on this continent. Skimp on it and waste three years?
Not happening.
I waved my hand in the air, inverting my subspace to pour mana stones onto the floor.
"Huh? Huh? Huh?"
From tiny nail-sized ones to massive fist-beaters.
Levi sprang up like a coiled spring at the pile accumulating by the sofa's feet.
"What, are you a prince or something? Even princes don't carry this much around!"
"Enough for you?"
She was so shocked she tumbled off the sofa onto the floor, grabbing stones with her plump hands and staring in awe. Adorable.
"This much is plenty!"
Levi scooped up just a portion, glanced at me slyly, and wiggled her fingers.
"If I follow you, can I have some of these?"
Who could say no to those sparkling eyes?
It felt a bit like taking my kid niece to the pharmacy and her picking the pricey "kid-president" vitamins that were just 100% vitamin C.
"Even if you decide not to come with me in the end, I'll give you as much as you need."
If Levi went solo without us, she'd need more than just healing skills—stuff to awaken other powers too, and I'd gladly supply it.
She'd have to see blood if she came with me anyway.
At first, I'd only pictured her as the elegant noblewoman.
Under that green-tinted benevolent smile lurked a thirst for revenge and freedom. I'd thought traveling with us would be safer and happier, so I'd come to fetch her.
'Maybe my real job ended at just getting her out before the forced wedding.'
I picked up Levi, who was handing back the stones saying she didn't need them now, and set her on the sofa again.
"I'll help you do whatever you want."
"...I don't get why you're so nice to me."
I perched on the table in front of the sofa and grinned.
"Told you. I have foresight."
"What's future me like?"
Her sea-colored eyes lit up as she asked.
In the original story, you were always serene, sometimes singing, healing party members to exhaustion even in the desert when they got hurt, and occasionally turning into a kid yelling "I hate humans!"—that noblewoman.
"She said humans are fun after all, munching on apples and smiling."
I teased, and a question mark practically popped up over Levi's head.
I dropped a joke only I in this world would get and burst out laughing.
"So, when should we call Cain?"
How long to fix him? As I asked, Levi's round head tilted.
"I only peeked at his flows earlier, so I'd need a proper look, but way less than three years!"
Of course.
"Then let's have Cain come by a bit later."
As she nodded, someone knocked and entered.
"Lady Adelian."
"What's up, Zero?"
He'd apparently circled the nearby island; Zero held trimmed coconuts, and a scent like baked sweet potatoes wafted faintly.
"Roasted coconuts. Sweeter than just drinking them raw, and easier to eat the flesh."
He cut reeds into straws, stuck one in each, and handed them to me and Levi with a smile.
"And, per Elis, the skies say heavy rain and strong winds for a few days. Even dumping mana stones into shields, crossing the whirlpool zone in that weather is too risky."
"We have to wait a few days?"
I sipped the sweet water through the reed straw and said. Zero nodded.
"Bad omen. Getting tripped up like this is straight out of clichés where enemies show up. Since the one who came for Levi hasn't reported back, they'll at least send scouts."
I stroked Levi, who was happily drinking the coconut water, and chuckled.
"Tell Cain to go to that island and lie in wait."
Whoever comes will come, so snag 'em before they report back.