I met a girl in strange clothes in a fishing village.
“You’re not holding the murder weapon? You’re lying! Where did you hide it!”
The fisherman grabbed the girl’s wrist and shook her roughly.
“Please wait. And are you saying she gathered those escaped fish all by herself? This net doesn’t look like it could be broken that easily either.”
When I retorted, the man reluctantly let go of my hand.
“Outsider, you don’t know who this is. It’s a merman. They always get in the way, they really make me angry. If I find any evidence, you’d better be prepared. I’ll sell it to a sideshow tent.”
The men said that and left. It seemed they let us go for the time being because there was no evidence. They might have been abusive, but they seemed to have some sense. I helped the fallen girl up.
“Um, thank you.”
She brushed her wrist and gave a small bow. The man before had said she was a merman, but she looked like a normal human from head to toe. There wasn’t a single scale on her.
“Um, are you a merman? You don’t look like one, but for the time being, I think you should go home quickly.”
The girl seemed a little confused by my words. I suddenly looked behind me and saw Sharin staring this way with a surprised expression.
“Oh, sorry. I butted in without permission. Getting involved in trouble was probably a bad idea.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just, you’re different from your usual self. Were you always this straightforward…?”
Now that she mentioned it, it was true. In the past, I would have first thought about what to do, whether I should report it to everyone, and that trouble was bad, and only then acted. I would never have willingly spoken up to a large group of people. I wonder why? This time, I didn’t feel particularly nervous, and the words just came out smoothly.
“Um, um, as a thank you for helping me, please tell me if there’s anything I can do. I don’t have any money, though.”
The girl started speaking with a lack of confidence.
“No thanks needed. Where is your home? Is it perhaps underwater?”
“Yes, that’s right. My home is underwater. You two feel different from the people in this village.”
I had said it half as a joke, but was she really a merman? Perhaps she lived on the water, like the Melusine creatures.
“We are travelers. We have other companions, but right now, the two of us were out shopping. We’re looking for a ship that everyone can ride on later.”
“A ship…? Um, about how many people are there in your group? Could you introduce them?”
It seemed she had some idea about a ship. Her true identity was completely unknown, but I decided to invite her to our camp.
