Chapter 130: The Secret of the Merman Island (1)
"Just as Father said, all humans are perverts..."
Mary, trembling with tears welling up in her eyes, glared at me. Feeling guilty, I zipped up without making any excuses.
"I'll find my way back, so feel free to leave first."
"Isn't that obvious...?"
Ugh. Her voice dropped to a chilling tone, as cold as the seawater at night. I had the feeling I'd be swimming back stark naked.
"I'll share the information once I return."
"..."
Leaving Mary behind, who was still glaring at me with suspicion, I swam as quietly as possible toward the back of the island.
'There's a light.'
There had been no light near the harbor of the Baran Duchy, but on the back side of the island... over there, sailors were working with brightly lit torches.
"Ugh, damn it... How much more of this slimy crap do we have to dig up?"
"Thoroughly. You know what'll happen if even one of these things gets left behind, right?"
Holding torches in their hands, they were combing through the seaweed on the shore, collecting something.
Hiding among the low bushes growing on the island, I stayed in a low crawl, infusing mana into my eyes to observe the scene more clearly.
'Mermaid eggs?'
Though they hadn't been salted yet and were still fresh and plump, the black, large, round shapes were unmistakably mermaid eggs.
If they were salted and fermented, they would undoubtedly become the "mermaid eggs" sold in the market.
"Why do we have to keep this a secret? Couldn't we just gather a bunch of people and finish this all at once?"
"I don't know. Something about some interspecies protection law or whatever. Damn fish-head mermen can't even speak or think like real people. They're basically just fish, so why are they classified as an intelligent species?"
"Those landlubbers probably lumped mermaids and mermen together as the same thing since they don't know jack about mermaid legends. They've probably never even seen a real mermaid, let alone protected one. So, mermen get thrown under the same umbrella as mermaids. Typical."
'Mermen... Are those mermen eggs?'
The difference between mermaids and mermen was clear.
Mermaids had human upper bodies and fish tails for lower bodies, while mermen had fish heads and human-like lower bodies.
Like in the fairy tale of the Little Mermaid, it was said that mermaids could gain human legs through a deal with a sea witch. But in reality, mermen and mermaids seemed to be entirely different species.
"Hey, hey. They're coming again."
"Ah, damn it... How many of these things show up in a single day?"
The sailors grumbled as they drew their weapons. At that moment, a few large fish flopped onto the shore, then suddenly lifted their heads toward the sky and began charging forward.
How the hell were fish running? Even Mary, a mermaid with a fish tail, struggled to crawl on land without my help. Her human-like upper body might resemble ours, but her heavy fish tail made moving on land almost impossible.
In contrast, these creatures had fish bodies for their upper halves, with only small pectoral fins attached. Their lower halves, however, looked vaguely human, allowing them to charge forward.
"Kill them! Don't let those bastards get away!!"
"Argh! This bastard's spraying semen everywhere!!"
It was utter chaos.
No, chaos would have been an understatement.
The mermen that emerged from the sea were scattering eggs everywhere and spraying semen over them to fertilize them. The sailors were desperately trying to fight them off by smashing their fish heads with hammers. However, their heads were so damn tough that it took three or four sailors to kill just one.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
One merman charged toward me. Cautiously, I drew my knife, which had been treated to avoid reflecting light. The moment it tried to step on my back to leap forward, I ambushed it, stabbing my knife into its spine.
'So that's how it is. Since the Baran Duchy is subject to the kingdom's laws, they can't indiscriminately kill mermen, even if they cause harm. That's why they secretly hire local sailors to handle the mermen during their breeding season, while exporting the eggs as a byproduct.'
This explained why the mermaid eggs were distributed through smaller trading guilds rather than a central one. If the Baran Duchy's rulers—the Duke and the Elder Council—were officially removing the eggs as part of a national policy, it made sense that the distribution network would be fragmented among smaller guilds.
'If mermen were truly intelligent beings, this would count as illegal slaughter. But if they're not... then it's not exactly wrong either.'
Crack!
'They're not human.'
I had deliberately stabbed near its lower body, yet the sensation of piercing flesh was entirely different. Instead of feeling like I was cutting into a spine or nerves, it felt more like stabbing a thick fishbone—a texture closer to cartilage than bone.
'And their legs aren't human either.'
At first glance, their lower halves appeared human-like, similar to mermaids. But upon closer inspection, their toes were absurdly long, almost like fingers, with webbing stretched between them. No matter how you looked at it, those weren't human legs.
Just to be sure, I sliced into its thigh. Instead of the red muscle typical of land animals, I found the pale, flaky flesh characteristic of fish. Its skin might resemble human skin, but underneath, it was nothing more than a fish's tail split into two.
Rattle!
Even as it was dying, the merman began releasing eggs from its lower body. But instead of a proper reproductive organ like those of intelligent humanoid species, the eggs just dribbled out of a hole in its fish-like abdomen.
'I feel like throwing up.'
I couldn't believe I had eaten that.
On top of that, mermaid eggs were technically merman eggs. These half-human, half-fish creatures were nothing more than walking fish with vaguely human-shaped lower bodies.
Gulp. Gulp.
Their intelligence didn't seem high either. Even as their comrades were having their heads smashed in with hammers or their bones shattered by scimitars, they continued charging forward, releasing eggs and semen.
"Damn it! Their numbers keep increasing!"
"Retreat! Fall back!!"
"Goddamn bastards!"
The sailors, who had initially been handling the mermen well, began to struggle as more and more of them appeared. It was as if the entire sea was filled with mermen. They swarmed the island, scattering eggs and semen everywhere. I managed to take out the ones near me by severing their spines with my dagger, but their numbers kept growing. There was a limit to how much I could handle on my own.
'I need to get out of here now that I know what's going on...'
But there were too many of them.
The sailors were already in a frantic struggle to board their boat, but more and more mermen were swarming them. The creatures grabbed at the sailors trying to climb aboard and tried to tear into them with their sharp, fish-like teeth. Only the sailors' thick clothing and leather armor saved them—otherwise, there would already be casualties in this life-or-death situation.
"Ahhh!!"
'Damn it.'
Even so, as a knight, I couldn't just stand by and watch. I stood up, determined to reduce the number of mermen attacking the sailors so they could escape safely.
Clang, clang!
I struck my dagger against the pebbles scattered on the island, creating weak sparks and noise to draw some of the mermen toward me.
'Just from the looks of it, this entire island is filled with mermen. If I fight them head-on, there's no way I'll come out of this intact.'
I tried to cut the thighs of the mermen blocking my path, aiming to slow them down. But unlike human legs, their legs were just split tail fins. Even if I slashed at them, it didn't have much effect—they kept moving as if nothing had happened.
'And their eyes... they're terrifying!'
It was unsettling enough looking at fish eyes on a dinner table. But seeing massive, fist-sized, hollow eyes staring directly at me was downright horrifying.
"Alright! Pull up the ladder!"
The sailors, fending off the mermen with their oars, climbed into the boat and began leaving the island.
Watching them depart, I let out a sigh of relief and prepared to escape myself...
Splash!
"Ahhh!!"
Suddenly, countless mermen burst out of the sea, leaping onto the sailors' boat and launching an attack.
Even the waters around this area were teeming with mermen!
"Knock them off!"
"Quick, escape! Signal the other boats to retreat and prepare defenses on the shoreline!"
Fortunately, the sailors on the boat were holding their ground, striking down the mermen with their harpoons and hammers. But the problem was me—standing at the very edge of the island.
'What about me?'
There was nothing.
If I had a boat, I could focus on fending off the mermen leaping onto it. But the real issue was that I had to face hundreds, perhaps thousands, of mermen while treading water.
If I had a mana saber, I could cut down several of these mindless creatures in one swing and hold my ground. But all I had was a single special-issue knife treated to avoid reflecting light.
'If I go into the water, I'll be attacked by the mermen before I can defend myself. If I stay on land, I'll have to fight off an endless assault alone, with no way to escape.'
Even with a knight's armor, being surrounded and outnumbered like this was a hopeless situation. Without a clear escape route, no amount of skill could overcome these numbers.
If I could at least secure a way out and retreat, I could handle dozens or even hundreds one by one. But now...
"Damn it. The sun's coming up."
I had only one thing to rely on.
As sunlight began to reflect on the surface of the water, creating a beautiful shimmer, I reached out and grabbed the nearest merman's gills.
"Glrk!!"
Plunging my arm deep into its gills up to my elbow, I shredded its internal organs. Then, as another merman approached, I drove my knife into its abdomen and slashed downward.
Squelch!!
This one must have been male because semen spilled from its lower body. Disgusted by the sight, I kicked it away and drove my knife deep into the eye of the last merman that approached me.
Squish!!
The merman's eyeball burst, releasing sticky, revolting fluid. Abandoning the knife now coated in the creature's bodily fluids, I spread my arms and dove into the sea.
Though I gave up my weapon for a brief opening, it was a calculated risk...
Because I saw something.
Splash!!
As I entered the water, I saw countless mermen heading toward the island or scattering eggs and semen among the nearby seaweed. The water was turning white, as if the entire sea was being consumed by their frenzy.
And then...
[Grab on, quickly!]
I felt a hand reach out toward me. Seizing it, I found myself being pulled along at breakneck speed, enough to make my shoulder feel like it might dislocate. She swam with all her might.
Splash!!
Mary zigzagged through the water, avoiding the charging mermen as she swam toward deeper waters. But despite their appearance of having legs, the mermen's lower halves were actually just tail fins. Using their split fins, they chased after Mary, who was dragging me—a heavy burden—slowing her down.
As the nearest merman closed in, I kicked at its open mouth.
Thwack!!
I guarded Mary's rear, making sure no one could reach her. Holding my breath, I felt my consciousness fading as the seconds ticked by.
Mary frantically checked my breathing while trying to swim upward. But the surface was already swarming with mermen.
'I think it's been over two minutes...'
I had held my breath as much as I could before diving in and minimized my movements to conserve oxygen. But I was at my limit.
My strength was draining from my body. My head was spinning, and it was becoming harder and harder to stay conscious.
'At least... it's better to leave behind a corpse. Thanks to Mary...'
[No, please... Wake up... Don't die on me, please!]
I could hear Mary's desperate voice calling out to me, but I couldn't respond.
I only had enough air left to say a single word. As I looked at Mary's tearful face, clearly distressed even underwater, I managed to utter one last thing.
'Earlier...'
"Bub... ble..."
The last bit of air left in my lungs escaped as I blacked out.