I'll Try Going Tonight

One of the common stories encountered in mythology is about treasures used by gods.

Staves that could ignite flames strong enough to dry up rivers with a single swing, armor that could protect against even gods' harm, water bottles that endlessly produced life elixirs that could revive the dead...

These magical devices of the Prea god-folk, alternatively called 'holy relics', numbered only about several dozen across the entire world.

Though not every item was tremendously powerful, some were treasures that even the heads of great houses protected like their lives and tried to pass down through generations.

Yet here was a mere merfolk captured by pirates claiming to have such a thing?

"How impressive. If a prince has that much, I wonder what amazing treasures the Mer-King must have?"

Sensing the sarcastic tone in Turan's words, the merfolk's characteristic blue skin turned purple.

It was probably similar to how humans' faces turn red from anger or embarrassment.

The self-proclaimed prince, Arma, shouted.

"It's not a lie! I really found where one of your gods died fighting in a cave! I originally planned to tell Father and retrieve it, but I got caught by you people after being tricked..."

"You found where a god died fighting? Explain in more detail."

When Turan asked while staring intensely with a serious face, Arma seemed frightened and stammered.

"H-he was a man with blue hair, dead with his body pierced by a great sea serpent's fang. He had also pierced the enemy's head with his hand. Everything else had deteriorated with time, but only the round metal piece at his waist remained perfectly intact without a single spot of rust, so it must surely be a treasure among treasures."

"Why didn't you retrieve the item right away?"

"I couldn't touch it. When I tried to get close, some unknown force pushed my body away..."

"Why are you certain it was a god?"

"Because among you people, only gods could fight the great sea serpents to mutual death!"

The great sea serpents were a species once worshipped as gods by merfolk, literally giant snakes exceeding dozens of meters in body length.

Of course, they had long since disappeared into history.

Anyway, maintaining their form unchanged underwater, frozen in the state of fighting what was even worshipped as a god?

Whether it was really a god's remains or not, if those words were true, there was certainly something extraordinary there.

Realizing he was getting excited, Turan took a deep breath to calm himself, then calmly reconsidered his previous thoughts.

Whether he might have been enchanted by the merfolk's voice, and if he would make the same judgment with a cool head.

Organizing his thoughts this way, a question suddenly occurred to him.

"Come to think of it, you said you were caught after being tricked? Exactly how were you caught?"

Hearing this question, Arma suddenly shut his mouth tight and lowered his head.

Though they were different species, their facial features weren't too different, so Turan could read the faint shame in the other's expression.

"W-well, you land people have a method to lure those who live in water using deception. Attaching rope to iron hooks."

"You mean fishing?"

"Yes, that. Usually, such things are easy to spot, but when transformed, instincts tend to take over..."

In other words, this mer-prince was caught by pirates while transformed into a fish.

It was an utterly ridiculous story, but hearing it made some sense.

The pirates probably caught him and locked him up after being surprised to see their caught fish suddenly transform into a merfolk.

Even ignorant fellows would have heard as sailors that mer-royalty was worth a fortune.

Whether it was true or an excuse, this was the only reason they would keep a male merfolk who couldn't even demonstrate transformation into a fish.

"Did you tell the pirates about this too?"

"I did, but they all pretended not to hear. They just said not to tell ridiculous stories about dead gods."

This was the normal response.

While Turan could feel the existence of the Prea god-folk through meeting the librarian at Orem, to ordinary people, gods were literally just mythical beings that appeared in scriptures.

Even now, when there was doubt whether what this merfolk was saying was just anything to save his life or truth, why would they risk danger when safe profit was available?

"What about the sailors who just found you?"

"I didn't- no, I couldn't. They just saw me and ran out saying there was merfolk."

That meant only he and Captain Pires knew this information.

When he glanced at the captain who had been listening with a blank expression, Pires, feeling Turan's gaze, spoke with a stiff face.

"I didn't hear anything."

He seemed to think Turan might kill him in case he spread rumors around the neighborhood.

Of course, he had no such intention.

Rather than trusting Pires's character, he trusted in his own power.

While there were quite a few nobles stronger than Turan on land, on this sea, he was one of the absolute powers.

Unless he suddenly encountered House Kamain or a powerful noble of similar bloodline, that is.

"You don't need to be so tense. First, I'd like to keep this one alive a bit longer, what do you think?"

"I don't think it will be a problem. If it were, the pirates wouldn't have been able to keep this merfolk captive."

Pires expressed his opinion while still wearing a serious expression.

As he said, seeing how mere ordinary human pirates had captured him, this merboy surely had no combat ability to speak of.

"Come to think of it, those fellows were funny too. They could have become rich just by selling this merfolk, yet they insisted on piracy until losing their lives."

"Greed is what drives such fellows. Besides, they probably didn't think there would be not just a knight but a noble on a ship of this size."

Turan tilted his head briefly at Pires's words before asking back.

"Was I too excessive?"

"Yes. The others might not know since they've barely seen knights fight properly, but I know. It's difficult to remain unscathed against those numbers normally."

Why suddenly reveal that he had noticed Turan's identity?

He was clearly trying to convey that he knew how powerful Turan was, and therefore had no intention of pursuing foolish ventures like chasing legendary treasures before him.

When Turan slightly nodded to show he understood the implication, Pires's shoulders visibly relaxed.

Having adequately resolved the potential conflict, Turan turned his attention back to the merboy.

"By any chance, could you tell where those divine remains are in the North Sea? If I showed you a map?"

Even as he spoke, Turan thought this merfolk wouldn't understand what the North Sea meant.

Surely they had never seen human maps.

But contrary to expectations, Arma tilted his head and readily revealed what he knew.

"It's not very far. About five hundred kilometers south from here?"

"Five hundred kilometers south?"

Turan's eyes widened in surprise at the response.

First, how did someone trapped in a ship's hold know their location, and second... how could he use human directions and distance units just like that?

When he voiced these questions, the answer was somewhat disappointing.

"I'm not sure. We just naturally used them. Were these made by you land people?"

"Probably. Did you know about this, Captain?"

"This is my first time hearing it. We don't usually ask merfolk such things. Those high-ranking people who keep merfolk might know."

As far as Turan knew, the calendar system and units used by humans all had their origins in the old empire.

Perhaps these things were legacies from even before the imperial era, from when humans were slaves to other races.

Almost no history remained from that era, with nothing to be found even in Orem's library.

Maybe their use of the same language as humans was related to this too.

"Anyway, five hundred kilometers south..."

"That's not far from Miguel Island. Even considering error, it shouldn't be more than a hundred kilometers."

Miguel Island was one of the largest islands in the North Sea archipelago, where the Blue Marlin was planning to resupply and sell this pirate ship.

In other words, it was within visiting distance if they took some time.

"Let's keep him confined for now and think about it. I'll manage him directly since he might spread strange rumors."

After much contemplation, Turan decided to postpone his decision.

He knew too little about this merfolk to decide right now.

==

In truth, Turan didn't fully believe the words of that merboy, Arma.

After all, their kind was one of the heteromorphic races that, like the dark elves, had enslaved and eaten humans in the distant ancient past.

What he did believe in was the other's desperation.

A being with intelligence no different from humans would offer anything before their own life.

"Here's today's meal."

"Thank you, kind demon."

It was the second day since capturing Arma.

After learning that Turan was a wizard, and moreover a noble, Arma called him demon.

Come to think of it, hadn't those dark elf necromancers he met before called Asiz and Turan that too?

When asked what it meant, a strange answer came back.

"Because your ancestors were demons who came from outside and destroyed our perfect world."

Despite saying such things, Arma gulped down the meals Turan brought without much resistance.

He had worried about having to catch fish since he was a merfolk, but fortunately, he ate human food well too.

"If you eat these well, why specifically eat humans?"

"I'm not sure. I've never eaten humans... Maybe the lower-ranking members of our kind do it because they lack food? I'll ask Father when I return."

Though no promise of release had been made, Arma spoke as if believing he could naturally return to the merfolk kingdom.

Whenever he heard such responses, Turan felt complicated feelings.

The boy's manner of speaking and behavior was too human-like to simply dismiss him as another man-eating heteromorphic race.

Unlike those dark elves who had tried to kill Turan without hesitation.

Afterward, Turan continued various conversations with Arma.

From differences between book-written merfolk customs and social systems versus reality, to the existence of the legendary mirror connecting the North and South Sea merfolk kingdoms, to stories about ancient merfolk myths...

"Ah, by the way, how far are we now? From that place."

"About sixty-five kilometers west?"

Over the past few days of conversation, he had learned how Arma knew locations – merfolk could instinctively sense direction and position above the sea.

So they could always find places they had remembered once.

In the middle of being absorbed in such conversation, there came a knock-knock sound of someone tapping wooden boards from above.

"I'll be back."

"Have a good trip!"

Just looking at him waving goodbye, no one would think he was the one keeping that merfolk confined in this ship's hold.

When he came up from the ship's bottom, First Mate Osban, who had come over to take charge of the pirate ship, welcomed him.

"Sir Knight, we've arrived at Miguel Island!"

"Already? I should go up and see."

"Yes!"

After securely sealing the entrance to the hold where Arma was confined with iron chains, Turan went up to the deck.

Beyond the dark night sea, he could see a large island and several sailing ships docked at the pier in front of it.

==

After the two ships docked at the pier, Turan made a few light jumps toward the Blue Marlin.

Captain Pires, whom he hadn't met for two days while staying on different ships, gave a light greeting before getting to business.

"Well, have you reached a conclusion?"

"Yes."

What he was asking was simple.

Whether to believe the merfolk's words and look for the unidentified treasure, or just sell him to some powerful figure here.

Instead of answering, Turan asked a question in return.

"How long will you be staying on this island?"

"Without special circumstances, probably one to two days."

Letting crew members rest after nine days of sailing was also important business.

Though the possibility was nil now with Turan present, it was very common for captains to die in shipboard rebellions after overworking their subordinates too much, with the survivors turning to piracy.

"Perfect. Could you get me a small boat? Just enough for two people."

"Surely not?"

"Fortunately, it doesn't seem too far from here, so I'll try going tonight."