chapter 69

「Nooooo, don’t look at me!」

Even though she tried her hardest, she wasn’t able to stop the overflowing liquid. Thanks to her, the floor is now wet. After she calmed down a bit, Kuena moved into action and cleaned up in a blink of an eye.

「I bet it’s unpleasant to stay in these clothes. Ferris, sorry but can you lend her some underwear and clothes? 」

「There are still some clothes that I bought and didn’t use……but, are you not going to cut her down? 」

「Yeah, please lend her some」

I dragged the woman with wet nethers to the place with the teleportation barrier. The woman revealed her anger at me trying to drag her away.

「Be sure to remember! I won’t forgive you! 」

「For what? You brought it upon yourself. Because you didn’t answer, you became a woman who wets herself in public at the age of 15」

「………」

The woman returned to the mansion together with us as she tried to withhold the tears in her eyes.

「I’m going to put you in a bath, are you all right with heat?」

「…….」

「I will treat your silence as affirmation」

I immediately heated a bath and Ferris dragged her into the bath without any questions. Ferris-kun, it’s not appropriate to drag people by their hair, your father will be frightened.

「Stop! I ask you, please stop it! 」

「Noisy! Be obedient! Ei! Don! Don!……Dobon!!」

「Giya! Kya! Kya! It hurts, it hurts!! 」

「Stop struggling! I can’t wash you like that! Uryaa! Uryaa! 」

「Gya! Save me, save me! I’m sorry!!」

Tremendous screams reverberated around the mansion for some time. Let’s leave the rest to Ferris. Even if something happens, Ferris won’t be easily defeated. There is a danger coming from Ferris, though……After a while, the crying woman in different clothes appeared together with Ferris in the dining room.

「……I will listen to you, please, don’t put me through this anymore. I’m truly sorry…….It hurts」

Ferris pushed the woman, who apologized with her head lowered, until her head hit the table. Ferris-kun, she might die if you do any more than this, treat her with some kindness.

「When I was dragging this woman to the bath, her clothes were torn apart, what should we do about them? Since it’s just a garbage, should I throw them away? 」

「I permit. But first, please release her」

The woman was made to forcefully sit on a chair. Before she left, Ferris muttered something to the woman. The woman trembled and became even more frightened. Ferris, what did you even say to her?

「All right then, I will continue with the questions. For what purpose did you arrive on this land? 」

「Uuu that, I mean, in a ma-ma-ma-mansion, meet, meet, meet, ueeeeee」

She started to cry for some reason. Rico loudly hit the table. The woman twitched and looked towards Rico while trembling. Rico signaled with her chin to Ferris. Ferris leisurely approached the woman. The two were expressionless and incredibly eerie and scary.

「No, no, noooooo……..」

「All right, Ferris, that’s enough. You can return to your sit」

Ferris bowed to me and returned to her seat. Even when returning to her seat, she didn’t look away from the two. As I said, stop. It’s really scary, please stop.

I looked into the past of the trembling crying woman. [1]

「……What? 217th? How many children does Poseidon have? Are there any more? ……Oh, is you mother a human?…….Mm, because you’re 217th, you’ve met him only once. You had dinner together. Hou, you are properly educated. Un? Dancing and singing?…..So you are a shrine maiden who dances and sings for the god of the sea. Ho…..idiot, weren’t you against it? Did you want to see your mother’s homeland?…..Did you run away from your home? Didn’t the god of the sea become angry because of you? Did you dupe him by manipulating esaraharu? And?….Together with the succubus?…..Ou, erotic. Hm, hm. You failed to control a big number of them and they rampaged. What have you done? Put yourself together. The succubus said that she didn’t know anything about the cause of the rampage? And?…….The sea and the fishing village will be occupied by esaraharu and the land will be occupied by you? This plan had too many holes. Absolutely unrealistic. Did you just sleep and eat all the time?!」

The woman’s pupils gradually grew bigger as she listened to my words. Then, she froze as she was.

「By the way, don’t you need to return to the sea?」

「I-It’s all right. If I submerge myself in water once a day…..」

「What are you going to do from now on? You can’t manipulate esaraharu anymore, right? How are you going to return? 」

「This is….But I don’t want to return to the sea castle. There would be no place for me even if I return」

「No, you are a shrine maiden, right? Do you work properly」

「With dances…….I’m fine, but singing……..you can say that I dislike it, I mean…….」

「What kind of song is it? Try singing it」

「No! Absolutely no! Everyone says that my songs are headache inducing! I don’t want to sing! 」

Slam, Rico struck the table again. The woman started singing while being on the verge of mental breakdown.

……Isn’t it a ballad? Well, it might be hard to accomplish for the girls of her age. The dance was just about waving her hands. True, it is important for a ballad. However, she lacks training. She is just singing, there is no feeling of a ballad. [2]

「It’s bad. I’m not that great myself, but that’s how it should be 」

I cleared my throat and sang track 18 from my father’s karaoke.

「Nami no~tanima ni~inochi no~o hana ga~futatsu~narande~saite iruuu~」3

「What was that? What kind of horrible song is this? 」

Peris and Mei entered the dining room together. Rico and Ferris are frozen solid. Gon is also spacing out. The woman was silently staring at me, but then suddenly came close to me and prostrated.

「Please let me call you my teacher! This is a song I strive to achieve! Please teach me! 」

No, I’m just mimicking my father. Are you sure? Is my father that amazing at this?

「The road of a singer is full of thorns. It’s will be too late to regret later」

「Yes! I will follow you into death! 」

…….I ended up accepting a disciple. Well, for now, I shall let my incompetent disciple, Luara, to stay here for a while. Let’s have her assuming the post of a shrine maiden again as our goal.

We used the teleportation barrier to return to the Kurumfar territory once again. I’m worried about the fishing villages. The farming is almost nonexistent in the Kurumfar territory. The fishing industry is the only lifeline of this territory. Apparently, the fishing industry recently received a great damage. I can’t overlook it. Gon, Ferris, Luara and me headed towards the fishing village about 20 kilometers of us. Since Luara can’t fly, she is being carried by Ferris. I heard her scream on multiple occasions but pretended not to hear.

That was a small town surrounded by a stone wall. We asked the gatekeeper to lead us to the person of the highest authority in this city. The gatekeeper looked rather irritated, it seems that the authorities aren’t that popular around here.

I immediately discovered the mayor’s mansion. It could be easily spotted after you pass through the gates. This is the biggest building around. The town is quiet and listless. The people are living here, but there is almost no pedestrian traffic. We arrived at the mayor’s mansion soon enough. The mayor was shaped like a human, but his skin had some scales on it, a fish-like man. When I asked, I came to know that he was a member of the sea people.

「I’m Marcel of the sea tribe. Did the lord change again? It must be hard for you」

「Yes, it is indeed. There is a mountain of problems with this territory. I need to solve them one by one」

「That would be nice」

「For now, can you tell me about this town?」

「The situation won’t change even if I talk about it」

「Still, please do」

「We, the sea tribe, are people who dive into the sea to fish. However, since a few months ago we weren’t able to enter the sea anymore. The reason is the fish called esaraharu. The appeared in large numbers and attacked the boats with their sharp teeth. In reality, a few of them were sunk. We can eat esaraharu, but since it rots in no time we have to use it immediately. This helped us to avoid dying from hunger. However, continuing like this will be challenging」

「Will exterminating them all do?」

「The are large in numbers. This would be difficult. Besides, this isn’t the only problem」

「You mean?」

「The farmlands are desolate and the farmers are starving. Even if we offer our fish to them, it will already be rotten once it arrives. That’s why the farmers turn into bandits and attack the towns of our tribe. Recently, our town was attacked too. To be honest, we don’t trust humans too much」

「Understood. I don’t blame you for that. However, the bandits have been exterminated. Most of the farmers should be dead already. Ah, that’s just me talking to myself」

「Have the bandits been exterminated? There should have been over 100 of them…….」

「Yeah, they are all dead」

「…….」

「I know about the farmlands in this territory. That’s why if the fishing industry crumbles, this territory is finished. I need to stop it at all costs」

「……But the shore is full of esaraharu……」

「First, let me see the situation myself」

We followed to the sea under the lead of the mayor.

「Uwa, this is horrible」

The sea was black. That’s how many esaraharu there were.

「With this much of them, all other fish at the bottom of the sea should be dead already」

「The bottom of the sea is rocky here, so there weren’t much fish in the first place. You can get a rich haul in the open sea, but we can’t even leave this place」

「Can you show me esaraharu?」

The mayor pulled out a thread and threw it into the sea. Immediately after, he pulled out a big esaraharu. It had sharp teeth indeed.

「Can I eat this fish?」

The mayor borrowed a knife from the nearby fisherman’s house and splendidly made it into sashimi. When I tried it, it was definitely delicious. I have a memory of this taste.

「Marcel, was it? The problem of esaraharu might be solved」

「Do not joke. If this is possible, our whole tribe will swear allegiance to you」

「This is possible. I have a plan」

I was aware of it. Aware of my own villainous face when I talked about it.