“Uuuuu!”
The mermaid sensed her fate of being turned into sashimi and twisted her body in resistance, but unfortunately, her struggles were no match for Shia’s tremendous strength. Without budging an inch, Shia brought the mermaid straight to her lodging.
Of course, when Shia joked about mermaid sashimi, it was just a mischievous joke.
I mean, she looked human enough, right? The thought of being sliced up and eaten was quite terrifying, don’t you think?
So, don’t worry, dear mermaid. Shia would never!
She would never consider tossing such a pretty and cute girl into a giant pot and throwing in red pepper powder, radishes, scallions, and watercress, letting it simmer perfectly. Once it started boiling, she wouldn’t dream of adding zucchini, green chili peppers, red chili peppers, and onions. If it didn’t taste right, she certainly wouldn’t think of dumping in chicken stock or a teabag of broth, then mixing in red pepper paste and soybean paste in the proper proportions!
Shia would absolutely! Not even if the sky split in two! Under no circumstances!
She wouldn’t look forward to the moment when the fresh mermaid soup started bubbling, adjusting the seasoning with soy sauce, minced garlic, ginger powder, and fish sauce, only to taste it and feel that refreshing explosion in her stomach.
Of course, that was all just in her mind.
Imagining isn’t a crime, right?
Slurp…
“Hi…!? Uuuuu..!”
However, the mermaid felt an unknown fear as she caught a glimpse of Shia’s hungry gaze and began to panic.
With a face full of despair, she tried to escape Shia’s arms, pushing against her chest with all her might, but Shia’s sturdy body shrugged off the mermaid’s weak attempts like they were nothing.
As Shia brought the wriggling mermaid into her lodging, all eyes turned toward them.
“So where did you pick that up?”
“From the sea, mom!”
“…..”
Well, of course, she brought it back from the sea, being a mermaid and all. It was amusing that Shia had come back with a massive mermaid in her arms as if she had brought home a puppy from a stroll.
Yoonjeong sighed at Shia’s words. She thought her son, who had turned into her daughter, seemed to have become quite brazen, having gone through so much in the previous world.
“So why did you bring it? To have sashimi or something?”
“Yes!”
“Uuuuu!!!!”
Come on, it’s a joke.
The mermaid, feeling her life was in danger, flailed around desperately, but her beautiful fins, which allowed her to swim freely in the ocean, were utterly useless here on land.
“Hey, crazy girl! How can I eat her raw?!”
But Yoonjeong, who was still more accustomed to the common sense of the 2024 world, couldn’t appreciate Shia’s spicy joke and whacked her back hard.
“Gaaah! It’s a joke!”
While Shia was getting whacked by Yoonjeong, Menelapie and Yeonhwa also stared curiously at the seated mermaid.
“Uuuu….”
“Oh, it’s my first time seeing a proper mermaid.”
“Did mermaids go extinct in Menelapie’s world?”
“Not exactly, but when the Evil One drove the world to the brink of destruction, it was the mermaids who first mutated into monsters.”
In Menelapie and Shia’s previous world, mermaids were seen as a subspecies of humanity, but by the time Shia joined the war, they had already been corrupted by the Evil One’s malice and had become grotesque. This time, seeing the mermaid’s beautiful and cute original form was a first.
“Our world’s ocean was the first target of the Evil One’s attacks. To sever trading links between human nations, the first malice was released to pollute the sea, causing the mermaids to be the first to become infected and change. Records describe mermaids as having a human female’s upper body and a fish’s lower half, but when I ascended the throne, most mermaids did not resemble this lovely sight, but rather twisted fish-human abominations.”
The twisted mermaids had jagged scales that were sharp as thorns, piercing their own flesh, while the current mermaid exuded a faint floral scent. The monstrous mermaids that Menelapie and Shia had seen were surrounded by the stench of rotting fish.
Clearly, one could say that the beautiful mermaid in Shia’s arms was a dream from a fairy tale, as they couldn’t even imagine having such a lovely appearance in the previous world.
“Fortunately, many mermaids have returned to their original forms after Shia defeated the Evil One.”
“That’s a relief. To be honest, it’s my first time seeing a mermaid as well.”
“What were mermaids like on Earth?”
“You can ask what they are, but the only thing I know is what I read in books while training at the Hunter Academy. They’re said to be a bit less intelligent, unable to communicate with humans, and classified as harmless like F-rank monsters?”
“Hmm…..”
Harmless, huh?
And less intelligent, you say?
Remembering that mermaids could be terrifying when angry, Menelapie squinted at the evaluation from Korea, filled with doubt.
Not to mention their strength, there was no way they could be uncommunicative… And calling them monsters?
“Since they live in the sea, their numbers aren’t great. The commonly spread information suggests that their intelligence is similar to dolphins, so in Earth’s terms, mermaids would be seen as monsters rather than humans. If Shia, Unnie really wanted to eat that mermaid, it wouldn’t be too strange.”
“No, Yeonhwa. No matter how much I love food, eating a mermaid is a bit… ”
“I saw you drooling earlier.”
“……..”
Well, that’s true…
In the meantime, the mermaid was attempting to escape while everyone’s eyes turned away from her.
I’m going to get eaten!
I’m going to be sashimi!
I’ll be dipped in red chili paste!
I need to run away!
Shaking in fear, the mermaid flailed, wanting to return to the sea, but since it was the first time she was on land, she couldn’t move her body freely.
“Kiieek?”
“Uuu…?”
Just then, the mermaid saw a strange creature suddenly appear before her.
The girl who had been lying around in the corner just moments ago, Yane, reacted to the new arrival.
What’s this?
“Uuu…?” (Who are you?)
“Kiie?” (Who are you?)
Yane and the mermaid exchanged glances as if to ask ‘Who are you?’
Yane found it interesting to see a fish girl floundering right in front of her, and for the mermaid, Yane looked like a bug with a human shell over it.
“Uuuuu…!” (You’re ugly!)
“Kiieee…!” (You’re ugly!)
“Uuuuu!” (What are you, you Shimota Exigua wannabe!)
“Kiieeeeeek!” (What are you, a fried mermaid or something!)
In the end, unable to accept each other’s existence, the mermaid and Yane stared at each other with eyes full of wariness, like cats puffing up their tails.
But it seemed Yane was much stronger, as the mermaid flailed helplessly, ensnared by Yane’s tail.
It wasn’t the ocean, and there was no way a mere mermaid could win against Yane, who had inherited Shia’s powers and was a bug maiden on land.
However, Yane didn’t seem inclined to kill the mermaid Shia had brought. She just looked down at her while binding her with her centipede tail.
What should I do?
“Kiie…..”
By the way, why did the master bring her?
Yane’s mind began spinning at light speed.
The master doesn’t eat humans.
Yane didn’t know the definition of a human well, but at least she wouldn’t eat those resembling her, Shia, or people like Menelapie and Yoonjeong.
And this creature called a mermaid had an upper body similar to Yane and her master but floundered like a fish on the bottom.
“Uuuu….”
Taking all this in, Yane came to a conclusion.
Excited by her own clever thought of recalling such a difficult word as “junior,” Yane beamed with joy.
A junior!
Yes, this is my junior.
Yoonjeong said so; it was good to attend the Korean Language Academy!
Yes, this is my junior.
Since I’m here and the master brought the mermaid, this is my junior.
And with a long tongue, Yane touched the mermaid’s cheek.
“Chubeeett…”
“Hi… Uu!? ”
Having thought of gaining a comrade, sister, partner, and junior, Yane climbed atop the mermaid and began to lick her cheek.
She wouldn’t dare do that to her master, but since she now had a junior and fellow, it seemed it was fine to lick her however she wanted.
“U, ugh…!”
With Yane’s long tongue wriggling all over her like a centipede, the mermaid squirmed and tried to dodge it.
But Yane thought this was something she should do for her junior and partner, while the mermaid trembled, thinking that this fearsome bug girl was going to eat her.
Slurp, slurp, lick…
“U, uu… uuuuuuu…!!”
Starting from her cheek, Yane’s tongue traveled down her neck, continuing lower.
Yane felt a bit of saltiness, but still thought it was only right to lick her new junior wholeheartedly.
To the mermaid, the chilling and slimy sensation made her giggle while she felt her face getting hot, turning rosy.
“Hi, hi… uuu! U…!”
Slurp, smack, smooch, smooch!
And soon, the mermaid surprisingly adapted quite comfortably to these humans.
She could have been eaten long ago but was treated gently, as Yane clung and licked her for quite a while, easing the mermaid’s tension. Shia was also feeding her leftovers from dinner, just like a person feeding a stray cat.
“Nom…”
“Hehe, you’re eating well.”
“Mermaids eat meat too?”
“Well, she’s likely carnivorous, at least fundamentally.”
Of course, mermaids wouldn’t have grilled pork belly dipped in sauce in the ocean.
“Maybe this mermaid… frequently approached tourists in this fashion? Looks like she’s well-used to human contact.”
“Surprisingly, even though mermaids are classified as F-rank monsters, they usually fall under monster restrictions—civilian contact is prohibited…”
“Just because it’s prohibited doesn’t mean people always follow those rules. The government can’t constantly monitor everyone. It wouldn’t be strange if she received food from tourists and nearby residents, gradually losing her wariness of humans.”
“Uuu, yum!”
The mermaid swished her fins imploringly, looking incredibly cute, but Yoonjeong let out a deep sigh internally, trying to bring Shia back to reality.
“Ha, so Shia, what are you going to do about her?”
Upon Yoonjeong’s words, Shia flinched.
She looked as if she were a little elementary student bringing home a chick from the park without permission.
“If we raise her….”
“Do you really think that’s feasible?”
“But Yane….”
“Yane is your child!”
“……..”
Yeonhwa seemed to align with Yoonjeong this time, adding a word.
“Sis, mermaids are monsters with low intelligence. While they may seem human-like, they share fundamental traits with goblins and orcs, meaning they mostly die. Raising one would require complicated paperwork. Even if all the papers were approved, while it may work in a hotel close to the sea, she ultimately needs water to survive, and you can’t just set up an aquarium big enough for a human-sized mermaid in your house, can you?”
“…….”
That was just plain logic.
Shia quickly became sullen.
While Yane was capable of taking care of herself, Shia had been half-ignoring Yane until now, as Yoonjeong treated her like a precious granddaughter. Thinking about it, Shia’s negligence of Yane let her lean heavily on Yoonjeong’s care.
Of course, this was partly due to Yoonjeong mistakenly believing that Yane was her biological child.
But Yoonjeong couldn’t imagine Shia would properly care for a mermaid when she was already neglecting Yane.
“Shia, I’m not sure what exactly a Seongnyeo is, but… if you take something in or become responsible for something, you must be accountable to the very end.”
“….. Yes, mom.”
“Good, you got that.”
Realizing Yoonjeong’s words weren’t wrong, Shia took some time for reflection.
Maybe she had been too carefree or negligent about living a responsible life, continuously forgetting basic human ethics.
Guided by her mom’s words, let’s not neglect her basic lifestyle principles, including responsibility.
“Heh, slurp!”
“Uuuuu!!”
Amidst all this, the mermaid frowned as she saw Yane try to snatch away the meat she was holding in her mouth. Frustrated, the mermaid swatted at Yane with her fin.
Yane, of course, effortlessly munched on the stolen piece of meat, playfully relishing it right in front of the mermaid’s eyes.
○○○○
We live in the sea.
We are free.
We dance and play joyfully every day.
We’ve always lived with friends… with sisters in this blue sea.
We’ve always been happy.
We’ve always been grateful.
We should have always been happy.
Yet why are we like this now?
What did we do wrong?
Is this what we were meant to endure?
If we don’t listen, it hurts.
If you don’t bring flowers, they hurt us.
Flowers are beautiful and nice.
But now, I can’t stand flowers anymore.
Flowers hurt my sisters.
Flowers hurt me too.
My hands are sore from touching them so much.
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1Y1JoUjh1dXpQd0Y5cmtwZkU4c0NSYVllcTVlK20xVUlCUU0xYUg2TnlqeA
The scales peeling off, blood flowing; it hurts so much.
Do they hate us?
As we are happy, are they not happy too?
Did we wrong them somehow?
Today, my sisters were taken away.
More were taken than yesterday.
The captured sisters never returned.
But the scent of my sisters clings to them.
What happened to my sisters?
Will they ever return to this sea?
Ah.
Why is this happening?
What did we do wrong?
Are we bad?
Are we bad children?
Shouldn’t we be happy?
…Ah, yes.
Is that so?
I understand.
We will not be happy.
We will not be kind; we will live badly.
If that’s what you desire.
If that’s what you want, then we’ll die unhappy and in a bad way.
I’ll bleed to pick flowers, and I’ll sprinkle the dead sisters over them.
I’ll dull my pain. Forgetting when those who vanished will return.
And I’ll make you the same.
That’s what you wished for, right?
Come to our sea.
To the endless depths, where all the bad things and evils gather.
Then I’ll give you flowers.
You wanted flowers from us.
So,
I’ll make you all
Covered in flowers.
