Chapter 79
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 79
Despite having been kidnapped, Cha Yi-sol didn’t have a single worry in the world.
It wasn’t for nothing that he and Gio got along so well.
"Eun-ha, your eyes are so cool."
"They’re so sparkly."
"Sigh…"
"Like a dragon!"
"They’re just reptiles, in the end."
"No, they’re way cooler than that!"
"Dragons are also a type of reptile."
"Gasp, really…?"
Cha Yi-sol asked with a serious expression.
"Then, Eun-ha, do you hibernate when it gets cold, too?"
"I don’t. Technically, I’m a fish."
"But you don’t look like a fish."
"What’s that supposed to mean…?"
"You’re not a fish."
"Ah…"
Iser realized the boy meant it was hard to find any ‘mermaid’ characteristics in his appearance.
"…Do my eyes look human, then?"
"Aren’t mermaids supposed to have, like… fish legs…?"
"……"
"But you don’t have them."
"…But I do…"
Human children certainly had a lot of questions.
"I can explain that part."
"Ah, Sister."
"Having trouble babysitting?"
"I can’t say it’s easy."
The Iser before him now was not the ‘Eun-ha’ Cha Yi-sol remembered. Even though Iser was now in his distinct adult form—a far cry from the one Cha Yi-sol knew—the boy was completely unfazed, chattering away with casual familiarity.
Even if they were treating him gently, he was still in a kidnapping situation, which made his bravery remarkable. As Iser stepped back, his sister, Aria, approached.
"Hello, young gentleman."
"You’re pretty!"
"Thank you for the compliment."
Aria, wearing a polite smile, greeted him with an elegance that would have fit right into high society.
"In Earth’s fairy tales, mermaids may have fins for legs, but not all of us are like that. On our home world, every mermaid had different characteristics."
"…Those are big words!"
"It means some mermaids have tails, and some don’t. In Eun-ha’s case, he was born without one."
Having said that, Aria called to her brother, as if asking him to provide an example.
"Iser."
"……"
A hint of weariness touching his signature smile, Iser brushed aside the hair covering his ear.
"Now, can you see Eun-ha’s ear?"
"Oh… it’s different."
"Unlike a human ear, he has a mermaid’s unique ear fin."
She continued, her tone like that of a teacher.
"Besides that, there are webbed membranes between his fingers when he spreads them, and he has scales all over his body. And though he’s hiding it now, he has a tail that he can manifest to swim more skillfully."
"What about you, Big Sister?"
"I have the kind of mermaid tail you’re familiar with. However, a fin makes it difficult to move around in places like this, without water, so I’ve split my tail in two to create legs that allow me to walk."
"Whoa…"
"It’s an ability any mermaid from my planet can use. Contrary to what humans think, mermaids have evolved to be able to live on land as well."
"That’s amazing…!"
Cha Yi-sol was simply thrilled. It wasn’t that he wasn’t nervous in this unfamiliar environment, but it was clear Eun-ha had no intention of hurting him.
He wasn’t ignorant of the fact that this was a kidnapping, but he had absolute faith that his brother and sister would come to rescue him. Rather than being scared, Cha Yi-sol was as excited as if he were visiting an amusement park.
"But…"
Cha Yi-sol’s behavior certainly struck Aria as unusual.
"You don’t seem to be afraid of mermaids, young gentleman."
"…Huh? Am I supposed to be?"
"I’ve heard that the humans of Earth tremble in fear when they meet a mermaid in person."
Since the event known on Earth as the ‘Great Catastrophe,’ mermaids had been sighted dozens, if not hundreds, of times. As they were monsters, they had naturally attacked humans, so most Earthlings feared them.
"And you’ve even been kidnapped by us."
"Uh… I know."
"And yet, may I ask why you can still smile like this?"
"You didn’t hit me."
"Oh."
Aria tilted her head.
"We could, you know."
"…Are you going to? Then I’ll run away."
"Oh, you poor thing. It might be a bit difficult to run away from here."
"You’re really not going to hit me, right?"
"There is nothing more foolish than abusing a precious hostage. But even if we promise not to cause you pain or suffering, how can you trust us?"
"If you say you won’t, then you won’t, right…?"
"……"
Speechless for a moment, Aria turned to her brother.
"He’s a tough one."
"Indeed."
"No wonder Gio likes him."
"I think he just dotes on him because he’s a child."
"Perhaps. He was always one to embrace the young and weak."
Aria raised her head.
"They should be arriving soon."
The sound of churning water echoed from the sea.
"……"
"To think they’d react this quickly… Even if Gio dotes on the child, this is remarkably fast."
"…It means they were prepared on their end as well."
"Since we weren’t the only ones preparing, I won’t complain, no matter how this turns out."
"It means we weren’t the only ones paying attention."
Iser suddenly realized it had been a very long time since he had heard Aria speak of her feelings like that. Watching his sister with a smile, Iser extended a hand to Cha Yi-sol.
He was not a mermaid who feared reaching out to humans. Having served Giovanni as his master, he could have easily become the ideal priest.
"Shall we go, Priest Cha Yi-sol?"
"I told you, we’re not priests yet…"
"But I am."
He simply despised it.
"Are my hands too cold?"
"They’re freezing. Can I put a heat pack on them?"
"…No. It will dry out my skin."
"Then don’t your hands and feet get cold?"
"Mermaids naturally have lower body temperatures than humans, so we don’t suffer from such things."
It took a bit of time, but they were finally ready to welcome Gio.
And they had no intention of fighting.
"……"
"Are you having a nightmare again?"
"I’m not."
I hope so.
* * *
Gio was Gio, even if he died and came back to life.
"Are my mermaid friends, blessed by the sea, here to greet me?"
"My goodness, look who it is."
Aria laughed elegantly as she walked down the steps of the temple entrance. Her gorgeous mermaid dress billowed down the stairs like waves.
"If it isn’t the new Sun God, Mr. Black Cloak, trespassing without the owner’s permission."
"Black Cloak? I am Seo Gio now. Try not to get it wrong later."
"Very well, Gio."
"Actually, it’s Giovanni."
"…I suppose it could be."
Replying with a smile, Aria looked back at the bewildered humans.
"It seems you’ve all come swarming here to save one little human child."
"…Are you Eun-ha’s family, Miss Mermaid?"
"Indeed. I am Aria, Iser’s older sister and the true owner of this dungeon."
"Oh…"
Yoo Seong-un glanced at Gio.
"I think I’ll have to recommend raising this dungeon to S-Rank when we get back."
"Why? I thought it was already quite high…"
"There are two dungeon owners. That’s a rare case."
Exhaling a sigh while maintaining his smile, Yoo Seong-un looked back at Aria.
"Since the dungeon’s true owner has come to greet us so cordially, I assume you have no intention of fighting. Is that a fair assessment?"
"I’m glad you’re quick on the uptake."
Aria’s eyes curved into crescents. She was a monster who knew how to play coy.
"I apologize for taking your brother without permission, Hunter Cha Ah-ra."
"Uh…"
"He was merely a means to draw you here. We haven’t laid a single scratch on him, so please, go and see your brother."
"U-Uh… uh…"
"It seems our fragile Hunter is too scared to go alone. Why don’t the other two of you go with her? Wouldn’t that be the gentlemanly thing to do for a lady?"
Yoo Seong-un shrugged.
"Well, I’m no gentleman."
His job was to care for the Existence of the Origin and supervise the works in the gallery. Yoo Seong-un turned to Kang Seo-dam and Cha Ah-ra.
"I’ll stay here with Gio, so the Priest and Hunter Cha Ah-ra should secure Cha Yi-sol first. Since the mermaid Iser isn’t here, they’re likely together."
"The probability of combat seems low."
"Cha Yi-sol was probably just bait to draw Gio in. Since the atmosphere isn’t hostile, the claim that he’s safe is likely true. Let’s move before we upset the mermaids."
"Indeed, that would be best."
Kang Seo-dam led the thoroughly terrified Cha Ah-ra into the temple. Aria kindly guided them from behind.
"He should be in the last room down the hallway with my brother."
"…Thank you for letting us know."
Once the two Hunters were out of sight, Aria fixed her gaze on Gio.
"……"
Her blood-red lips parted heavily.
"You look so much like him."
"Does it not occur to you that I might be him?"
"What do you think, Mr. Seo Gio?"
"Then again, I might not be."
"Hearing you say that makes me even more certain you’re the Gio I know."
Aria’s eyes curved.
"He always left possibilities open."
"Did he?"
"Even his own death."
"I have no excuse."
"……"
Aria, who had been looking down at Gio and Yoo Seong-un from the stairs, turned around.
"Come in, gentlemen."
"……"
"Please, enjoy the mermaid’s invitation to your heart’s content."
Yoo Seong-un muttered quietly.
"…If I weren’t here with you, Gio, I’d have mistaken that for a declaration of war."
That was how bizarre and eerie Aria’s voice was. For even though she smiled gently, her hatred and contempt for humans were all too clear.
* * *
Aria led Gio and Yoo Seong-un to the banquet hall.
"Wow, a seafood feast."
Yoo Seong-un was dumbfounded.
"Is it really okay for a mermaid to be serving this?"
"Humans are so narrow-minded. Do humans refrain from eating land creatures just because they live on land?"
"Try to see it from a human’s perspective. Being served a seafood feast by a mermaid in the deep sea? It’s terrifying. A table completely devoid of land-based meat makes one wonder what kind of message you’re trying to send."
"It’s not as if I served you human flesh, so what’s the problem?"
"That’s actually terrifying…"
At some point, Aria’s tone had shifted to a casual one.
Is it because this is technically her home, or…
Yoo Seong-un glanced at Gio.
…is she just comfortable sharing a meal with this guy?
It could be both.
Unconcerned with their bickering, Gio found his seat, looking quite accustomed to the situation. Yoo Seong-un looked around the banquet hall, which felt excessively luxurious and grand for a temple.
"There’s quite a lot of stuff here for a temple."
"That’s because the Sun Cult here did not value frugality as a virtue."
"Uh… what?"
Yoo Seong-un looked at Gio again.
"You know about this place, too?"
"Of course. This is where I was trained."
"Trained, as in…?"
"I learned many things here as a priest. You can think of it as a training school for young priests."
"Ah."
It seemed the way priests were raised was similar in any world.
Noticing Aria staring intently at Gio during his explanation, Yoo Seong-un swallowed a sigh and sat next to him. Aria naturally sat opposite Gio, rather than at the head of the table.
"…Huh? You’re the owner of this place, so why aren’t you sitting at the head of the table?"
"The owner of that seat wasn’t me. It was the Pope."
Aria’s eyes curved gently.
"I ate him."
Gio looked at Aria in surprise.
"Did you get an upset stomach?"
"No… wait, Gio, is that what’s important right now?"
"With how much saturated fat was packed in that man’s belly…"
"I’m asking if that’s what’s important right now!"
Was this really all he had to say when a monster admitted to eating a human? Aria seemed to have a similar thought.
"You don’t seem very sorry for him."
"After all the suffering that man put me through, why would I speak kindly of him?"
"To speak so scathingly with such a noble face."
Her blue hair fluttered as she smirked.
"You really are my teacher."
"I might be, or I might not be."
"If you can’t define it yourself, shall I?"
Aria smiled.
"Teacher."
"……"
"The human teacher of the mermaids. Priest Giovanni, the incarnation of the Saint. The savior and betrayer of humanity."
"I’ve acquired some rather grand titles without realizing it."
Gio smiled back.
Yoo Seong-un suddenly realized that the smiles of Giovanni, Aria, and Iser were remarkably similar. Even when they smiled, there was a sense of heaviness that overshadowed any joy.
Meanwhile, Gio continued.
"What are you going to call me now, Aria?"
"Anything is fine."
Snap!
As the mermaid snapped her fingers, the temple filled with seawater.
"……"
They could still breathe.
"Welcome back to your sea."
Her deep-sea blue hair scattered like coral. Her dress moved like fins, creating gentle waves. Her pearlescent eyes sparkled with a cold light, and the tiara on her head began to glow mysteriously.
The seafood dishes on the banquet table, now completely submerged, raised their dead heads. Their mouths puckered, as if welcoming both guests and intruders.
"…Right, of course…"
A manifestation of the sea stood right there.
"……"
"Gio."
Eyes that could never belong to a human reflected the most human saint in the world.
"Let us talk."
"I would love to."
"If I don’t like what I hear, I will devour every last human."
For thousands of years, the Mermaid Princess had harbored a wrath directed solely at humans.
"And you, as well."