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Chapter 163: A City by the Sea (2)

Aquaz spoke calmly.

“Then, could you tell us the situation?”

“Oh. Yes.”

The lord hastily collected his thoughts and expressed his gratitude.

“First of all, thank you once again. Thank you for coming all this way to help us. I will surely reward you in the future.”

After all, they had come all this way to help him.

They were good people.

The lord wiped his sweat and got to the point.

“There was a city of mermaids near the sea by our city. We had maintained contact with them for generations.”

“Was there any problem?”

“Of course not. Who would be foolish enough to antagonize mermaids in a seaside city? Anyone that stupid couldn’t survive by the sea.”

“Hm?”

Ketal raised an eyebrow.

It was a peculiar tone, as if implying that they shouldn’t upset the mermaids.

Ketal, curious, asked,

“It seems you have a good relationship with the mermaids. You don’t make them slaves or anything, right?”

Everyone present made an aghast expression at his words.

“…What?”

“What are you talking about?”

The lord spoke with a face that said this made no sense.

“Who in their right mind would do such a thing?”

“Is that so? I heard there are cases of elves being taken as slaves, so I thought it might be the same with mermaids. But it seems not.”

“That, that could never be the case. Mermaids are different from elves.”

Elves lived on land like humans.

Since their activity areas overlapped, they had many points of contact.

And the land was practically dominated by humans.

Elves, with their beautiful appearance and unchanging youth, were extremely attractive to humans, so humans had been capturing elves and enslaving them for a long time.

Even when elves tried to retaliate, humans lived in groups protected by city walls, making attacks difficult.

And even if they somehow managed to attack, they would face double the retaliation.

Moreover, elves were a forest-dwelling race.

If the entire forest was burned down, there was nothing the elves could do.

In the relationship between humans and elves, elves were at a disadvantage.

This wasn’t just the case for elves.

Any race that lived on land, like elves or dwarves, would suffer losses to humans.

Ketal whistled after hearing the explanation.

“What a terrible race.”

“Well… I can’t deny it from their perspective.”

Aquaz gave a bitter smile.

Although it was now forbidden to enslave other races, it was more like turning a blind eye.

There were still many humans who secretly enslaved elves.

Elves and dwarves had every reason to resent humans.

But it was different for mermaids.

Though they were as beautiful as elves, their fish tails made them less attractive.

They lived deep in the sea, making them hard to capture.

Above all, mermaids were a sea-dwelling race, not land-dwellers.

Humans had conquered the land, but they couldn’t do anything about the sea.

If mermaids decided to hold a grudge and started attacking ships, humans would be helpless.

In fact, in the past, there was a superhuman who became infatuated with mermaids.

He captured mermaids and kept them in a small Aquarium as decorations.

At first, the mermaids endured, but when he eventually captured the mermaid princess, the mermaids began to antagonize humanity as a whole.

From that point on, humans couldn’t sail their ships.

The moment they ventured into the sea, they were all attacked and sunk by mermaids.

The sea had always been an important trade route.

When it was blocked, humans panicked and tried to fight back.

But since mermaids lived deep in the sea, retaliation was difficult.

In the end, the situation was resolved only by sacrificing the superhuman to the mermaids.

“Oh.”

Ketal’s eyes sparkled.

A superhuman was a rare and special existence in the kingdom.

The fact that they had to be sacrificed showed that there was no other way to deal with the situation.

“After that, we made an agreement with them. We’ve been living without major issues ever since.”

Humans received help from mermaids for fishing, and mermaids received goods from humans that were hard to make in the water.

Their relationship was equal, but humans tended to yield a bit more.

“I see.”

Ketal laughed cheerfully.

He had broken another fantasy stereotype.

‘I should write this down in my notebook.’

The lord, who had been watching Ketal with a puzzled expression, regained his composure.

“Anyway… we haven’t had any major issues until now. But about a month ago, a problem arose.”

All contact with the mermaids was completely cut off.

And none of the ships going out to sea returned.

At first, they didn’t know what the problem was.

They even mistook it for the mermaids starting to antagonize them.

They lost many ships trying to figure out the situation before they finally realized.

A primate living in the deep sea was dominating the waters in front of their sea.

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure. The sole survivor said so. Though he lost his mind and became a wreck afterward.”

The lord spoke bitterly.

“Moreover, when we checked the map, the location of that Forbidden Land wasn’t far from here.”

The lord himself realized this late.

Because the existence of the Forbidden Land didn’t come out into the open, there was no need to worry about it.

But now, those beings had begun to show themselves towards the continent.

For the lord, it was like a bolt from the blue.

Baker, who had been silent, opened his mouth.

“…Have they never come?”

“Pardon?”

Baker’s voice was so small that it was hard to hear.

Baker squeezed out his words.

“H-Have they never come?”

“Oh. They have not been seen in this territory. It seems they have settled around the mermaid city.”

“Hm… that’s strange. If the existence of the Forbidden Land had been released, they would be wandering the entire sea.”

But as it stood, they were staying around the mermaid city.

Since there were no reports of problems from other places, that guess was probably correct. Aquaz frowned.

“Though it’s fortunate, it’s also a dangerous situation.”

The fact that these foreign beings from the Forbidden Land weren’t spreading across the continent through the sea was indeed fortunate.

But it was also dangerous.

The fact that they stayed in a specific area meant they were not mindless beasts.

“We can’t know at this point.”

What these primates wanted.

Why were they staying in the mermaid city?

And whether the mermaids were still alive.

They couldn’t know any of these things.

Aquaz nodded.

“Alright. We will help you.”

“T-Thank you! Thank you!”

The lord was moved and bowed deeply.

Aquaz shook her head.

“It is only natural to help people in danger. You need not worry.”

“Oh….”

The lord started to tear up from the emotion.

Aquaz spoke.

“Then, can we secure a ship?”

Ultimately, they had to sail out to sea to confirm things.

Ketal showed interest.

“Oh. A ship. A ship.”

A voyage towards the wide sea.

Traveling the fantasy sea.

Ketal’s chest swelled with anticipation.

“Ah….”

But the lord had a hesitant expression.

He sweated profusely and spoke in an apologetic manner.

“Well… I’m sorry, but it’s difficult at the moment. We barely have any ships left.”

At first, they sent out many ships to check the situation without knowing anything, and none returned.

The territory wasn’t that large.

Ships were very expensive, and it took a long time to build them.

Building a single cargo ship could shake the territory’s finances.

All those ships had been destroyed.

“Then, how about a simple boat….”

“It takes at least a few days by boat to reach the mermaid city. Moreover, the sea is quite rough, so it’s only safe with a proper sailboat. While we do have a few ships left, if anything happens to them….”

They were nearing their limit.

If even one more ship was destroyed, the territory wouldn’t be able to cope.

“And it’s hard to find sailors.”

“Ah….”

Navigational skills were essential for going out to sea.

They needed to recruit sailors, including a helmsman and a navigator.

But it was practically a suicide mission, so finding willing participants wasn’t easy.

Even with a superhuman, if the ship sank, there was nothing they could do.

While Aquaz and Baker themselves might survive, the sailors would drown.

Recruiting sailors was a task in itself.

Aquaz groaned.

“It’s not easy.”

“W-We’ve requested support from the kingdom. We’re expecting to receive ships and supplies. Though… it might take some time.”

The fact that she had come here in the first place showed that the kingdom wasn’t providing much support.

It was uncertain how long it would take.

While Aquaz was pondering, Ketal spoke.

“It can’t be helped. We could forcibly request ships and sailors from them, but it would cause problems for their livelihood.”

“That’s… true.”

“At present, the existence of the Forbidden Land doesn’t seem to be spreading through the sea. While we don’t know what might happen, it means we have some leeway.”

Ketal spoke calmly.

“It would be best to stay in the territory for now and assess the situation. Or we could go out and recruit people ourselves. There’s no need to rush.”

‘I’d like to explore the city a bit too.’

They had come all the way to this seaside city.

He wanted to see how the people lived here and what kind of fantasy seafood there was.

Though these thoughts influenced his words, the reasoning itself was quite logical.

The lord’s eyes widened.

‘A barbarian is speaking logically?’

“You’re right.”

Aquaz agreed.

She made a decision.

“Then we’ll stay in the territory for a while, assess the situation, and gather information. Is that alright with you?”

“Of course! Stay as long as you like! I’ll have a room prepared for you in the castle!”

The lord’s expression brightened as the conversation seemed to wrap up smoothly.

He spoke in a much brighter tone than before.

As they were being led to their rooms by a maid, Ketal suddenly turned his head as if he had remembered something.

“Ah. There’s one more thing I’m curious about. Can I ask?”

“W-What is it?”

“The existence of the Forbidden Land has blocked the proper movement of goods. Correct?”

“Yes. It’s a very difficult situation.”

The lord nodded.

As a seaside city, most of their transactions were conducted via ship.

With the sea blocked, it was a very unsettling situation.

“And it’s been a month since it was blocked.”

“Yes. We pray every day for it to be resolved.”

“Hm. That’s strange.”

“P-Pardon?”

Ketal stared at the lord with a curious expression.

He seemed to be enjoying himself.

“Because despite that, the territory looks perfectly fine.”