To reach Nordland, it’s necessary to pass through the territory of mermaids. However, there dwells a Kraken that preys on mermaids close to giving birth.
The mermaids formed a territory for childbirth. The Kraken appeared, obstructing us as we crossed their path. A mermaid nearing childbirth… My harem plans are ruined.
The captain seemed hesitant to fight the Kraken, but we had to reach Nordland. Of course, if the mermaids welcomed me as their king, I wouldn’t mind settling here. Suppressing my hidden ambitions, I informed the White Lily Corps of our confrontation with the Kraken.
Then, I began to fish. The matter was settled with surprising ease, and now it was time for night fishing. I had bound Alma, of course. It was baffling how a prisoner could wander freely.
The captain reluctantly steered the ship, which moved slowly. We were expected to reach the territory by noon tomorrow. Until then, I had to enjoy myself. Life is meant for joy and love.
I cast my lure and gazed at the night sky. The stars seen from the sea seemed to illuminate the ocean’s surface, making everything appear as twinkling constellations. If I had a woman by my side at a moment like this, even cheesy lines would be acceptable.
While lost in the stars, my rod bent sharply. For such a thick rod to curve this much, a truly large catch must have taken the bait. Normally, one would reel it in, but the fishing method here transitions to hand-pulling afterward.
It was like fishing for tuna in Oma. Wearing gloves on my hands, I carefully avoided cutting my fingers as I enjoyed my otherworldly fishing experience.
After struggling with the otherworldly fish for thirty minutes, I was exhausted. I felt like cutting the line and ending it. But my opponent was just as tired. Gathering my remaining strength, I decided to fight for another fifteen minutes and returned to the “battlefield.”
With less than two minutes left, I prepared my knife. Tomorrow, I had to fight the Kraken, yet I was more concerned about the muscle soreness I would experience.
As I gripped the knife to cut the line, I suddenly felt a lighter tug. I thought the line had snapped, but the sensation of a catch still reached my numb hands.
Victory! My heart soared as I contemplated how to prepare the fish. Sashimi… Do they eat raw fish in this world? Perhaps simmered would be a safe bet. Or deep-frying it would be a hearty, man-of-the-sea dish.
I pulled it closer to the ship’s edge, searching for a net, but hadn’t prepared one. If I hauled in such a large catch, wouldn’t the line snap? But having come this far, I was determined to land it. I timed it with the waves and pulled it aboard the ship in one go.
What is this?
It looked like a tuna. A large one, like I’d seen at the Tsukiji Market. It would be delicious whether eaten raw or cooked.
The only difference from a tuna was the presence of limbs. On either side of its gills were delicate, translucent arms. Beneath its belly were alluring legs.
The fish itself looked appetizing. Looking at its slender arms and legs, it looked appetizing in a different way. Could this possibly be a mermaid?!
The fusion of human arms and legs with a fish indeed fit the stories. But the fusion method is all wrong! Mermaids are a fusion of the upper and lower body!
I cut the threads that bound the struggling mermaid and gently released it back into the sea with a catch-and-release approach. Don’t get caught again. You’ll ruin my dreams…
I was having a bad dream. What I thought was a mermaid was more like a merman. It couldn’t speak to fish, and the only hint of beauty was in its limbs.
Beautiful, though it couldn’t compare to Christine, who slept beside me. Even generously, it was only as beautiful as Sophia’s limbs. …Has Sophia gained a little weight?
I pushed through the forest of female bodies and got up. I had slept alone, but Alana and Rufina were also there. I worried if my blood had been drained.
The muscle soreness wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. If it showed up in three days, it would be a sign of aging. I was still young. My lower body was young too.
My companion seemed energetic in the morning, but the image of the mermaid was too strong for me to do anything. I regret it… I wish it had been a dugong, at least. I got dressed to soothe my companion and left the room to tend to Orietta, who was still under study.
As I stepped into the hallway, I heard shouts from outside: “It’s a mermaid!” Frankly, I was no longer interested. I’d caught and seen a mermaid, and that was enough. Fishermen apparently treasure mermaids because they attract fish, but… wasn’t the one I caught problematic?
What if it was considered a natural treasure? I apologize for thinking of eating it. Releasing it should absolve me, right? Feeling a sense of responsibility, I went up to the deck.
There was a commotion at the bow of the ship. Was the mermaid talk over? If so, I just needed to leave as if nothing had happened. Or perhaps this was fate that drew me here.
“There she is…”
This must be fate. When my eyes met the woman standing on the bow, our gazes locked into each other, and the world turned pink.
“Who the hell are you?”
The world of the three of us turned the color of deep red blood. Who will die first! Wait and see!
…No, it’s absurd to fight strangers on our first meeting. Even Priscilla wouldn’t swing her halberd just by making eye contact.
However, there was a problem. The woman standing at the ship’s bow… she was probably the mermaid. The crew members made way, talking about “a mermaid.”
She walked directly towards me, with the grace of a supermodel. Her beauty was only slightly less than Christine’s and superior to Priscilla’s. Is that why she’s angry? Perhaps she’s jealous of me?
Her overall beauty was apparent. Except for the wounds on her body, which seemed to be recent. In this intensely sunny southern land, her skin, as white as if it were melting, was covered in countless burn-like wounds.
I turned to look behind me. …She’s gone. I thought our eyes had met, but considering her injuries, I assumed she’d sought Sophia’s help. But behind me, only the blue sky and cumulus clouds were visible. Summer must be ending…
Turning back to the mermaid, I found her standing extremely close to me. I have to endure this. Don’t lower your gaze! Her wounds were visible, so she seemed to be of the “nudist” tribe. Perhaps she thinks I’m one of them too.
“Take responsibility…”
Godspeed, Mode Six!
I narrowly dodged the halberd, which carved into the deck, damaging the ship. Before she could cause more trouble, I tackled Priscilla, knocking her down.
“It’s a misunderstanding!”
When a wounded, naked woman demands responsibility, it’s easy to imagine what will happen, especially for someone who’s been in the White Lily Corps for a long time. The only thing that didn’t happen was Christine being informed…
“Let go!”
“No!”
My heart aches. My arms, which I use almost entirely for my own heart massage with Godspeed, are at their limit due to muscle pain.
Creating distance, I climbed onto the ship’s cabin, with nowhere else to escape, intending to assert my innocence honorably.
“I…”
A Platinum Laser sliced through the cumulus clouds in the blue sky. It pierced through me standing in its path. I feel like I’ve recently gained the composure to find such a scene beautiful.
“L-let’s talk…”
The mermaid seems to have lost her composure. The man she spoke to was suddenly attacked with a halberd and shot through with platinum light… My heart aches too.
I wanted to talk too. About mermaid biology, their diet, childbirth, and love lives… We can probably talk later. Don’t worry. Because I’m a con artist…
Guillotine Collar reborn. And I am reborn. Even if I die… no, even if I die, I revive. Did I do something bad in my past life? In my previous life, I fought the Demon Lord to a standstill. In the life before that, I died in Japan. I must have done something in Japan before I lost my memories.
“You’re awake, scum!”
Stop kicking. I’m a defenseless, pitiable con artist. But even as a con artist, I’ve never lied! I might have told a few lies, but I don’t think they were lies worth losing my life over.
“Good morning. It’s a morning that feels like my jaw’s going to shatter.”
When hanging here with the Guillotine Collar, I’m at the perfect height for Priscilla’s high kick. I won’t try to block it with my hands. They’d just break my wrists.
“I heard, you! You’re confirmed as dolphin food.”
Those ferocious, piranha-like dolphins of another world. I don’t want to be hung among that school. I haven’t done anything bad enough to be dolphin food. All the crew members are men, and I have no memory of having any relationships like that with men.
“Everyone, I think it’s a severe misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding… Do you still say that after seeing this!”
The person brought here was the mermaid. She looked like a beautiful woman, but her body was covered in countless scars. It was as if she’d been attacked by a jellyfish. Could the “Kraken” be a jellyfish?
“You’re the one who did this. Anyone who scars a woman’s body is fish food.”
“I don’t know! I don’t know! That’s right. We’re meeting for the first time, aren’t we!”
The mermaid hid behind Priscilla, intimidated by my desperate words. I can now understand how someone falsely accused of indecent assault feels. Please, hear the men’s side of the story too.
“Yesterday… I was tied up with a rope…”
Her voice, faint as if it might disappear, swayed the jury’s hearts and mine. Judge, please allow me one last word.
“I-I-i-didn’t do… su-su-such thin-things…”
“Let’s take a vote. Guilty or death penalty, raise your hands.”
Isn’t it the same thing? The jury members, except for one, raised their hands for guilty and death penalty.
“Could it be~ Did the captain not catch a mermaid~?”
Help came from Orietta. Unexpected words from an unexpected person brought a moment of relief and sent me towards eternal sleep. Only Christine wasn’t relaxing.
“I-I-i… caught! I caught a fish-human with limbs, unlike this one!”
I mustered my last remaining strength. I wanted to live a little longer, just a little more!
“What do you mean, Orietta?”
“I think this person was caught by the captain last night~. I saw the captain fishing~. I believe the marks on her body are from the fishing line~.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes, she’s been saying so repeatedly…”
Perhaps the mermaid is simply not good with words? Or was she overwhelmed by Priscilla’s forcefulness? Regardless, it seems the misunderstanding is clearing up. It’s good I didn’t die before my heart stopped. …Priscilla will receive capital punishment by being impaled from behind with the Guillotine Collar.
“Oh… I see… My apologies for not listening.”
That’s not something to say to the mermaid. Say it to me! A “Please forgive me, Mikael-sama. I will live as your servant for life!” is what you should offer!
“Now that the misunderstanding is cleared… Priscilla! Remove this collar! Christine! Stop playing dead from a heart attack! Sophia! Stop glowing! Alana! Don’t draw your Zantou, it’s too cramped! Rufina, don’t deploy Rossa either! Orietta! Thank you. Why is Alma here too?”
I said what I wanted to say and felt refreshed. Maybe I should build a karaoke box for stress relief. I want to sing some rousing anime songs for the first time in a while.
For now, let’s have a proper conversation with the mermaid, including myself. You all probably aren’t listening properly… …Her measurements are just for me.
