Chapter 241 – West Coast Chronicles (9)
Early morning with no raids yet. At low tide, the harbor smells like seaweed, with barnacles and moss intact. After receiving the transmission from the lord, we headed to the port and chose a boat the size of a fishing boat and prepared to leave. Sellu immediately jumped into the sea and looked around, and Eve changed into comfortable clothes on the boat. The lord who came to transmit from the pier said.
“Are the three of you okay? Giving a few knights…”
“It’s convenient for us to go alone.”
Last night we talked a lot with each other. Among them was a story about a whale reef. Sellu explained that Whale Reef is a difficult place to visit by boat as the current is rough and there are many hidden reefs around. In a place like this, it was right to take the minimum number of elite personnel and break through.
“All right. Then, please stay healthy.”
At my firm answer, the lord nodded his head. He had a clear look of uneasiness. As far as I can see, our party was a good composition to stimulate anxiety. A sailor who has been near Whale Reef. One priest. And two mermaids. In particular, the sailor was already trembling at the sound of jumping into the middle of the mermaids. I said, encouraging the sailors.
“You can go back if you are afraid. Fisherman.”
“Oh, no. My son was killed by them. That cruel mermaid…”
“Lamia.”
“Yes?”
“It’s not a mermaid, it’s Lamia. Do you understand?”
“Ah yes…”
I had to correct the language in advance from now on. I tried to turn the fisherman’s hatred towards Lamia. Yeongju was watching us leave from a little distance away. The fisherman started the boat powered by the mana stone. Since the territory itself is so wealthy, it was said that all the slightly expensive ships use mana stones as a power source. Eve murmured.
“We should also use a magic stone instead of rolling the sailors. Then you wouldn’t have to use them so much.”
“I know.”
In the water, Selu stuck her head out and affirmed Eve’s words to her. The ship was moving slowly forward. The lord shouted.
“Take care of yourself!”
I waved at the lord and said to Selu, who was swimming with us at the same speed.
“Wouldn’t it be better to go in a little later? It must be hard.”
“A mermaid is more comfortable in the water. You also need to know where the fishmen are coming from.”
Saying that, Selou disappeared into the water. After that, Eve changed into clothes that were comfortable for getting into the water and jumped into the sea. The sailor held the steering wheel and shivered. Is it the excitement of getting revenge or the fear of meeting mermaids that makes him tremble? I said.
“It’s okay?”
“Yes. It’s okay. Rather, it makes me happy. It’s great that I can take revenge on them myself.”
The fisherman said that and smiled. Her teeth stood out thanks to her tanned skin from long hours of boating. I smiled at the fisherman and looked outside. It was quite a distance to Mermaid Island. The fisherman pointed to a small object that looked like a dot in the distance.
“That’s Whale Reef.”
“It’s surprisingly close.”
“The weather is clear, so you can see well. To actually go, you have to take a boat for several hours.”
“Okay.”
In fact, the ship was making rapid progress, but the reef did not intend to get close. It was to the point where I had the illusion that I was riding on a giant treadmill endlessly. The fisherman silently maneuvered the boat to increase its speed, shaking the rudder little by little to establish its direction her.
I took my mace and looked around. It was because I didn’t know when and where the fishmen would come running. I could feel Eve and Sellu spinning around the boat I was on. They were swimming in line with the fast-moving boat. It reminded me of the saying that I shouldn’t deal with mermaids in the sea.
Bang!
As soon as Selu suddenly disappeared, there was a roar. Her water surface exploded like a torpedo, and spray rose. The fisherman was started and sat down on the floor. I also picked up my mace and looked in the direction of the explosion.
Along with the white foam, the fishman’s bulging eyes came to mind. In turn, her legs her, the viscera of her arms her evenly disintegrated and floated up. I was disgusted and cursed.
“Chew… ! Sellu! It’s ok?”
“Hehe.”
Sellu jumped out and waved her hand her. I turned to Selu and shook her hand and looked around again. I couldn’t catch the fishmen with my sight.
Bang!
There was another roar from the other direction. This time, one of the fishman’s arms flew towards me. Fragments of the fishman’s body floated high in the spray and then disappeared. Said the fisherman.
“There is no sense of reality. Really…”
“Go forward. Being afraid doesn’t help my wives.”
The fisherman touched her magic stone and pulled the steering wheel forward. The boat, which had been gliding on the water, began to move more and more strongly and violently. The sea breeze turned fierce as it bounced over the waves. Water splashed from the surface where it hit the boat. I could feel something running towards the ship from all sides. Webbeds, suspicious weapons, and fishmen.
Bang!
Once again, one of the fishmen was smashed. As fast as the fish swimming towards the ship, Eve stopped the charge by raising a spray of water. In the explosions that occurred one after another, the fishmen floated with their limbs disintegrated. The blank eyes and gaping mouth his suggested that he had died without knowing what was happening. In the spot where Eve had passed, a thick green liquid floated up and then disappeared. Eve stuck his head out of the water, looked at me and waved his hand her. I gave Eve a thumbs up.
From the opposite direction, the fishmen were rushing again. Selu was busy removing the fishmen, but this time there were too many of them. At the same time, more than 7 fishmen were rushing towards the boat.
Bang! Bang!
The fishmen exploded like fireworks. But even so, the pace did not stop. Two succeeded in avoiding Sellu and crashing into the boat. Rather than water, they stopped against the wall of the boat and rammed us hard. The entire ship rocked as if hit by a torpedo. Tung! The fisherman grabbed the steering wheel and flinched at the heavy impact. I also lowered my stance for balance. As if the magic power was damaged, the ship’s speed dropped significantly. I could see webbing holding the deck. Then came a stupid looking face. They climbed onto the deck and screamed.
“Kehheuk!”
“Aaaaagh!”
The fisherman screamed at the fishermen. I swung my mace without delay.
“Quack!”
With a grotesque scream, the fishman died. I said while shaking off my mace.
“Keep moving forward.”
I glanced at Mermaid Island. It seemed a little closer than before. Sellu circled around, and Eve jumped on top of the boat. She grumbled, wringing the water out of her hair.
“There are so many of these bastards. I think I caught about 40 of them.”
There were about 10 sprays, but it seemed that there were many more who died in the water. Eve pointed to the submerged Selu and said.
“Even now, my mother must be ripping off some of them. I have to go back in too. Fuck. I brought the song for no reason. It’s fucking annoying.”
Eve said so, threw off her curved sword from her waist to her, and plunged back into the water. As soon as Eve jumped into the water, a small bubble formed in her, and another fish-man’s arm floated to the surface. I sat on the deck and waited for the fishmen to come up. There were few fishmen who collided with their bodies like a moment ago. The fishmen, who had no arms or were on the verge of death from being beaten to death, were desperately clinging to the deck.
The fisherman, who had screamed once or twice, didn’t even pay attention to this side anymore. It was said that sailors are excellent at adapting, but that seemed right. I looked at the reef as I turned the fishmen who came up on the deck into porridge. The whale reef was getting closer. Mermaids were sitting on the reef. They looked at our ship and were talking to each other, looking a little flustered. A few of these jumped into the water and we saw them coming towards us. Said the bewildered fisherman.
“Uh, what do you do? Over there, those guys…”
“Keep going.”
Eve and Sellu are in the sea. I encouraged the fisherman and squeezed my mace. A few mermaids swam into the water, but scattered and disappeared before they met us. The closer we got to the whale reef, the stronger the stream was harassing us. Eve and Sellu climbed onto the boat to avoid the current. Said Selu.
“It’s annoying when you get swept away. I want to rest on the boat.”
“Thank you for your effort.”
I said that while hugging Selu tightly. Eve lunged at her, wringing water from her clothes.
“Hug me too.”
“Okay. Okay. You suffered too Are there any more fishmen?”
“I don’t think there is. I went around with my mom a little while ago, but it doesn’t seem to be there anymore.”
I looked at the current, like a giant serpent meandering. Can’t fishermen withstand this current? The fisherman would activate the mana stone and drive the boat as if this current was nothing. It was advancing towards the Whale Reef, narrowly dodging between the reefs.
Whale Reef was as huge as its name. It looked more like a rocky island than a reef, and it looked like a huge whale was harboring that rocky island. All over the reef, mermaids were clinging to rocks, watching us. There were no mermaids attacking hostilely first.
I let go of the hand holding the mace for a moment and asked the fisherman.
“Have you ever been to Whale Reef?”
“There is not. Because it has been such a terrible place since before, no one comes near it. I’m new too… Profit, don’t tell me.”
The fisherman was holding the steering wheel and struggling. I asked Eve.
“Are you quieter than you think?”
“We had a little conversation earlier. He recognized me and my mother.”
Mermaids were all beautiful. Strong chest and well-proportioned belly. And the pretty shape of the belly as if it were a charming point.
“By the way, mermaids are born from eggs, so why do they have navels?”
“Well? Mom. Why do we have navels?”
Eve asked Sellu. Sellu shook her head as if she didn’t know. The fisherman was pulling his boat close to the reef while we chatted. We jumped out of the boat and stood on the reef in the gap where we managed to keep our distance without scratching the rocks. The rocks, wet with moss and coral, were slippery.
“Hi-.”
Eve waved her hand leisurely and said hello. The mermaids’ faces were full of wariness.
