Record Holder for Royal Complaints

The King of Merfolk taps his fingers on the arm of his throne as he waits for his servants to carry in all the quests available. Piles and piles and piles keep coming in. It keeps coming.

Long Fei clears his throat.

"Your Majesty. How many quests are you planning to have Ling Yue complete?"

"These are all the complaints I've received regarding Ling Yue. You might find a few hidden quests buried in there."

Oh, if only my fins were long enough to cover my shame.

My master's eyes widen, staring at the mountains of complaints, and he gives me a disappointed look.

"I didn't leave you here for long. What did you do?"

I just want to bury myself under the sand now. I can't believe every move I made was documented.

"Elder, I'm so glad that you offered to help. Resolving all these complaints would take a huge burden off my chest. She made history for having the most complaints against her name."

I laugh nervously. "Yay?"

My master shakes his head at me and goes through the pile, skimming through. Each time he skims through a page, he looks at me and shakes his head. He's been shaking his head for quite a while now. I'm surprised it hasn't fallen off.

"Most of these complaints are actually from the Queen."

"I know! That's why it would help if you could pacify her."

My master runs his hand down his face, takes a deep breath, then summons the air to reshuffle all the pages. He glances at each one briefly and swipes his fingers, quickly sorting out the paperwork. Eventually, there is one towering pile and the rest of the straggling paper. With one hand, he moves the large pile, wraps a big bubble around the pile and lets it float on its own by the doorway.

With the other small piles of paper, he floats them over to my face so that I can read them. These are actual quests. Just a handful. I read through all of them. My mind reels as I strategize. Five quests. They seem manageable.

Long Fei turns to the King.

"Your Majesty, I apologize for the trouble Ling Yue has caused. I shall go and speak to the Queen. It's probably quicker to go straight to the source and see what I can do about the situation. You may use Ling Yue at your disposal. She should be able to handle it."

Then he turns on his heel and leaves the room, with the bubble of complaints trailing behind him.

The King lets out a heavy sigh.

"Elder is going to have his hands full for a while..."

My poor master. I found the Queen quite a challenge to deal with when she was in a good mood. I hate to imagine what she's like in a bad mood.

"Your Majesty, what happened? I remember the last time we left you, she seemed quite happy."

"She was happy to see you leave, but hasn't forgiven you for spitting at her. And then going into rabid beast mode. You gave her quite a fright."

"Is it a royalty thing for being offended by getting spit on?"

"Did you seriously try to spit on the Elder? How did he react?"

"He was not happy. He flung it back. I crashed. The wall cracked. My pride shattered."

The King winces and shakes his head.

"I did warn you to keep it a secret from him. I can't believe you tried it on him and lived. He is one terrifying immortal. It's just offensive to everyone. Even more to royalty. It is a direct insult to their honor. It is very disrespectful."

"But I worked so hard to perfect it. That's why I was showing it to him."

"It doesn't matter anymore. Don't use it on anybody anymore."

"Don't worry, I learned."

"So, have you chosen a quest you want to do tomorrow?"

"I'm thinking about it. I'll do them all tomorrow, not just one."

"Really? You think it's possible?"

"Of course. Anything's possible if I put my mind to it. Look at how much trouble I caused when I wasn't even trying. Imagine what I can do if I put my mind to it."

I gather all the loose paper with my mouth, bow to His Majesty, and take my leave. I go to my chamber, pondering on how to complete the five quests. This is the first time I'm going on a quest alone and want to make a splash.

***

The aroma of air-cooked krill tickles my nose, stirring me from my slumber. My master must have prepared this for me to avoid my hangry wrath in the palace again. I gobble it all up. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Okay, so there are five quests. What's the most efficient way to get through it? The point is to increase my strategy, agility, and speed. The rest will increase on its own.The King looks like he doesn't think I can do it. But I'll never know unless I give it a go.

In the past, I've almost died every time I go into an ancient ruin by myself. But I pulled through and evolved from it. These shouldn't be life-threatening. These seem somewhat mundane.

Let's see...

I need to find a missing Royal Envoy. Well, he mustn't be a great Envoy if he got lost. Or maybe he was eaten by a shark, but I'll keep that in mind. I'll keep my eyes peeled for a lost-looking Envoy.

I also need to restore a flow from an Enchanted Reef. That sounds easy enough.

Another one is to feed the Kraken. I might as well visit my gigantic friend.

Oh, this one looks interesting. To get rid of bandits lurking around the borders.

And, lucky last, find a gift for the Queen.

I'm going to search for the bandits first. I am in the mood for some pummeling. I head straight for the border. If they're bandits, they have to have a different smell. I sniff the air. Nah, it just smells salty. As I travel to the border, I pass a school of fish.

"Excuse me, would you happen to know if bandits are lurking around here?"

They slowly swim away. Maybe they're showing me where to go. Or they're just scared that I might eat them. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Let's just see where they go. Following the school of fish, the scene changes from colorful corals to dark colorless ones. The fish halts, then shape themselves as an arrow pointing northwest.

"Thank you. Enjoy your day."

They nod and swim back in the direction we came from.

I swim further northwest and start sniffing the air. Something smells funky around here. Then, a chorus of cackles echoes across the ocean. That's my cue! Let's creep up and see what's going on. I'm going to surprise them in stealth mode.

I glide behind the boulders and crags to eavesdrop on these troublemakers. There's a couple of stingrays and sharks in this motley crew. When I mean sharks, I mean merfolk with the heads of sharks, muscle arms, and opal-colored tails, unlike the pretty-faced, delicate ones back in the kingdom.

They're circling a merman that's tied up in ropes. That merman is gagged, bruised and battered. His hair is all tangled up, and he has a black eye.

I wonder if he is the envoy?