novelraw Chapter 129: Merfolk
Chapter 129: Merfolk
Mara stood on the deck, one merfolk pinned under her foot. The merfolk looked no older than a teenager, her face written with terror, her body trembling constantly, not even fully comprehending what had happened.
A harpoon had pierced her chest;
this was how Mara had captured her.
When Loren arrived on the deck, Mara’s blade was already pressed against the merfolk’s face. If Loren had been a second later, Mara probably would have invited him to join in eating sashimi.
“Mara, let’s make a deal. Give me this merfolk, and I’ll answer one of your questions—any question. I think you know how much that promise is worth.”
If one wanted to stand against the gods, merfolk made an excellent ally. Because merfolk understood the true history, their hatred for the Orthodox Gods matched Loren’s.
Besides, they carried the Dawn Princess’s legacy;
their combat power was not weak.
This was an opportunity to ally with the merfolk.
“Deal!”
Mara showed a smile, though she didn’t have the face for smiling.
She agreed without hesitation—this trade was far too valuable. Mara was not a short-sighted person;
she wanted revenge on all merfolk, not just this one. Loren said nothing further. He scooped up the merfolk and rushed into the cabin;
the others on board had not yet reacted.
“Anna, staunch her bleeding.”
“Oh, okay.”
Anna’s Arcane Ability controlled blood—useful not only for killing enemies but also for stopping bleeding.
In principle, arcane abilities should not be used so casually, but Loren had spoken, so Anna naturally deployed hers;
there were no outsiders here anyway.
“Child, drink this.”
Loren produced several bottles of healing potions and poured them into the merfolk’s mouth.
So many things had happened so suddenly that the merfolk’s brain could not respond quickly, but she could feel a reassuring aura emanating from Loren, so she chose to trust him.
“Mirrorheart, help me pull the harpoon out.”
The harpoon had barbs and could not be pulled straight out. Mirrorheart steadied the harpoon from behind the merfolk while Loren used Requiem to cut off the front section of the harpoon, allowing it to be removed from the rear.
“Ugh…”
Requiem was sharp enough, but Mara’s harpoon gun was no ordinary piece;
it was something she used to hunt sea monsters.
So when Loren cut through the harpoon, it still affected the merfolk somewhat. Fortunately, with Anna controlling the blood flow, she did not lose too much blood.
“Keep drinking.”
Loren poured several bottles of potion into the merfolk’s mouth while also invoking the Abundance Sequence’s healing magic. Working together, the wound in the merfolk’s chest began to close at a speed visible to the naked eye.
A few minutes later, her wound had fully healed;
if not for the newly grown flesh still being a bit tender, one would not have seen any trace of injury.
The merfolk’s hand unconsciously clutched at Loren’s clothing hem and did not let go even after her injury was healed.
“What happened?”
Loren stroked the merfolk’s hair, trying to calm her down.
“I… I didn’t listen to my mother. I snuck up to the surface after dark to see the scenery above. I wanted to see the moon… then I felt a sharp pain, something pierced me…”
When she said this, the merfolk suddenly began to cry.
“I… I won’t run off again…”
The human brain has protective mechanisms;
merfolk are similar, so her memory was fuzzy—only the general outline remained.
“Master Mentor…”
At that moment, Mara walked in. Seeing Mara’s twisted face, the merfolk went into a panic and hugged Loren, crying.
She remembered nothing else, only that Mara wanted to eat her, and that Loren had come with a group of beautiful sisters to save her.
“We’ll talk about everything else later.”
“I trust your reputation.”
Seeing the scene before her, Mara silently backed out of the room. Whatever Loren intended to do had nothing to do with her, as long as Loren’s promise still held.
“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
Loren gently patted the merfolk’s back. The sight stirred something in Luna;
she had once been like this.
As long as one stood beside Loren, an endless sense of safety rose up, as if nothing needed to be worried about.
“What is your name?”
“I… my name is Korali…”
After a long pause, Korali answered Loren. Merfolk might never leave their territory in their lives, so it was normal to be timid;
after all, the outside world exceeded their understanding.
“All right, Korali. With me here, you’re safe.”
Loren continued to boost Korali’s goodwill. Actually, Loren did not know much about merfolk, because their territory lay too deep, in seas players could not easily reach.
But from what Loren understood, merfolk still had room to be won over. They had not done anything truly heinous.
Although they hated humans, in daily life they mostly preyed on pirates and rarely attacked ordinary merchant ships.
They were united and closely connected. Even if Korali was an ordinary merfolk, meeting the merfolk queen would not be difficult;
if Korali could vouch for Loren later, it would greatly help Loren’s subsequent plans.
The merfolk’s only dark mark was what had been done to Mara, but that matter was suspicious. Loren’s knowledge came only from Mara’s side of the story, and Mara herself did not fully understand her own origins.
For example, Loren considered a possibility: her parents might not have loved her;
she could be a product of sin, and her memories might be idealized.
Like some turtle-shelled creature who, abandoned by its mother, still fantasizes that its mother loved it.
Perhaps Mara was similar. Her life had been utterly hopeless;
the only being that loved her—the sea witch—had been killed, so she had to imagine that the parents she never met loved her.
Yes, she had actually never seen her mother alive.
“My name is Loren. Remember it. If you’re ever captured by humans again, it might help to speak my name.”
Only Loren in the entire world could say that;
not even the Pope of the church could. The churches in this world were at each other’s throats, and the beloved Pope of the Bountiful Church was the person the Plague Church most wanted dead.
Besides, there were pirates;
most of them did not believe in the Orthodox Gods and did not much care about the gods’ churches.
“Lo… ren…”
Korali mouthed Loren’s name, wanting to commit it to memory.
Loren’s help for Korali was not purely to recruit merfolk strength. Helping the weak was one reason;
another was that Korali was genuinely quite cute.
Korali had long, pale-blue hair and lively, blinking big eyes. Only her clothes had been torn during the rescue.
Merfolk were generally attractive;
though they could not compare to witches, they were far more beautiful than humans.