Arhof's Desperate Stand
After receiving the Savior of the Mermaid Village quest, it took just five days to reach the island housing the destination village for the 32nd-floor quest.
"Is that the village?"
Captain Kang Inho nodded at Namgung Seojun's question. "Latitude and longitude check out—that's definitely the island."
They had arrived, but there was no joy in it. The village's condition was far from normal.
"Doesn't look like it'll be easy getting in."
A red flag flew over the village's harbor, signaling absolutely no entry allowed. The captain consulted his information booklet and elaborated. "This seems to be a mermaid village. They don't get along with humans at all—supposedly pretty savage, too. And..." He pointed to the shell craters and battle scars dotting the mermaid village. "No wonder they're hostile to outsiders."
They'd confirmed right away that something was seriously wrong in the mermaid village. Despite all the red flags, they had to enter to complete the quest.
"Captain, raise the white flag for now."
The white flag signified surrender, but it also meant a ship in distress requesting aid. Even hostile ports or factions would typically allow a white-flagged vessel to buy minimal food and water as basic maritime courtesy.
Kang Inho gave the order to his crew, and soon a white flag rose atop the mast.
"Let's head in."
"Party leader, even with the white flag, we might take fire."
Despite the captain's warning, Seojun insisted on going. In the end, the captain relented and issued the command.
"Into the harbor!"
The ship carrying the party sailed into the harbor and, following directions from a male mermaid, docked at the pier. Dozens of mermaid warriors stood ready on the wharf, weapons in hand.
Namgung Seojun stepped off first, and the village chief—a mermaid elder—shouted, "What do you want? If you're short on supplies, we'll give you some food and water—just take it and leave at once!"
To the wary chief, Seojun replied, "I've come here on a mission from this village's god."
The chief's eyes wavered, and the mermaids erupted in cheers.
"Oh... finally!"
"Our god! He hasn't abandoned us!"
"A true savior!"
In an instant, the mermaids' attitude toward the group flipped from hostility to warm welcome.
The chief's house was a unique structure—half water, half land. He invited only Namgung Seojun, the captain, and the core party members inside, as space was tight.
"Welcome to our village."
"Thank you for having us."
The chief's wife brought out tea made from mermaid fare, but most of the group couldn't stomach it—the salty seawater tang was too strong. Seojun, however, kept a straight face and drank, chatting with the chief as they sipped.
"I heard the god issued a quest to save our village."
"That's right."
The chief's response mixed joy with anxiety. "But our enemies are humans. Is that still okay with you?"
This mermaid village had been repeatedly invaded and plundered by humans. Fleets using a nearby human town as a base treated them like easy prey. The raiders periodically seized mermaid fishing boats, looted the village, captured mermaids as slaves, and sold them for profit.
"We're different from humans, but we never imagined they'd torment us like this. We don't want to fight them—we just want to live in peace!"
"It's been over five years of human ships attacking our vessels and village. We started as a village of over a thousand, but now only seven hundred remain."
"We've protested to the city where that fleet bases itself, but they just pretend not to know."
The small town turned a blind eye to the pirate-like raids. It was under the goddess who ruled humans, and its immoral leadership—devout followers of her—enabled it.
Namgung Seojun glanced at his comrades—all humans, yet ready to follow his lead. Even Pharos just smiled.
"I'm still a candidate, but as an apostle of the Lord God, I believe helping a peaceful mermaid village is only right."
Pinara and Pharos, devotees of the Lord God, nodded. The non-religious party members agreed, as did Li Zhangwei, apostle of the Nameless God.
With unanimous support, Namgung Seojun gave his firm answer. "I'll handle it."
The mermaid chief could only stammer his thanks repeatedly.
Leaving the chief's house, the group headed to a small inn in the mermaid village.
"Welcome!"
A mermaid with a raspy voice greeted them—he'd already heard from the chief and had everything ready. "I've cleared out the whole inn. Use it freely. For meals, since you can't eat our food, just provide ingredients and cook yourselves."
With no other guests anyway, the owner handed over the keys and left, leaving the party alone.
Seojun assigned rooms. "Top floor for the core party members. Second floor for the slaves, first for the crew."
Everyone unpacked and scattered, then the core members gathered in the lobby.
"This quest from the god... I didn't expect it'd put us on the mermaids' side against humans."
Pharos spoke with uncharacteristic gravity, his usual laugh gone. "To think something like this... The Lord God surely wants harmony for all, what a shame."
The others shared his sentiment.
"Species differences or not, plundering is wrong."
"Even after all this, these villagers still crave peace."
"Humans are clearly in the wrong here."
All agreed humans were at fault—and that they should help the mermaids.
"Seojun? So how do we fix this?"
Gisohee asked for the plan, and Namgung Seojun stated the first step. "First off..."
"First off...?"
"Let's take out the raiding pirates."
In his judgment, priority one was eliminating the pirates hitting the mermaid village.
After the meeting, Seojun had a private word with Captain Kang Inho.
"What? A naval battle? Our ship isn't built for combat."
"I know. But we've got sturdy shields, powerful cannons, and top-notch fighters."
Even as Seojun reassured him, the captain fretted. The Prokho boasted cutting-edge magitech defenses and guns, but against dedicated warships, they were outnumbered—and short on boarders for close quarters.
Reading his mind, Seojun countered. "They've got numbers, but with maneuvers, we can win."
"Party leader, no ship is fast enough to—"
"Sylph."
He summoned the spirit for demonstration. "This'll make us faster, right?"
"Ha... but one mana cannon won't—"
"Lee Guho's an inviter with supreme magic traits. He can provide heavy fire support."
"And boarding? We're outnumbered."
"My party can handle a whole ship easily."
The captain's concerns were logical, but Seojun was confident. Victory was certain.
"The first battle will likely be us counterattacking from land. Watch that, then decide."
"If you're this sure, party leader, I'll see the first fight through."
The captain agreed to judge after witnessing Seojun's party in action against the pirates.
The Gordon Fleet operated on the 32nd floor, ferrying merchants and adventurers for income. But their operations shifted—toward richer pickings.
"A mermaid village?"
A crew tip-off revealed the mermaid village—not mindless monster mermaids, but intelligent beings with faith. To them, though, it screamed profit. And intel from nearby human city Romuji sweetened the deal.
"Romuji worships a goddess hostile to other races. The bishop and mayor hate non-humans."
Armed with this, the Gordon Fleet struck mermaid fishing boats near the village. They seized three vessels, killed seven mermaids, and captured nine.
Hauling the boats, prisoners, and corpses to Romuji paid off big.
"Seven mermaids down! Our temple gives extra bounties for them—seven gold."
Treated as mere monsters despite their sentience.
"Nine mermaid slaves—145 gold."
Prisoners sold instantly at the slave market.
"Three fishing boats—decent shape, 150 gold."
Nearly 300 gold from one easy raid, loot included.
"Jackpot! And it's not even illegal here?!"
Thus, the Gordon Fleet pivoted to pirating the mermaid village.
Third Captain Si Haolin of the Gordon Pirates patrolled the beach near Arhof again today.
"No fishing boats? None?! You lazy bastards—find some!!"
His haranguing yielded nothing; the mermaids had abandoned deep-sea fishing after cumulative losses. Rare ventures stayed close to shore. Most stuck to rod-fishing or spear-hunting by swimming. Spotting boats had grown impossible.
"Captain, looks like no boats today."
"Fine. Night raid it is. Tell everyone to prep."
They'd land on the island's edge and hit the village outskirts—a routine grab of stragglers for slaves at 15 gold a head.
As night fell and the moon rose, four ships from the Gordon Fleet's third squadron beached. They advanced to strike the mermaid village perimeter.
Mermaid sentries patrolled, but Si Haolin—knowing from experience they were pushovers—charged confidently.
"Charge! Loot and capture!"
"Yes, sir!"
Over a hundred Gordon pirates roared forward.
But the response was unlike before.
"Magic Missile!"
"Multi Shot!"
"Javelin Throw!"
"Sword Wind!"
Rare-grade skills and magic poured in—nothing like their prior encounters. Pirates dropped before closing in.
"Argh!"
"Ugh..."
As scores fell, Si Haolin sensed disaster in the unfolding scene—nothing like expected.