Stardew Valley’s Farming Master

Chapter 158: Don’t Understand, But Respect

As the dark shadow drew closer to the surface, Leon couldn’t help but extend the length of his Galaxy Watermelon Blade. The pier was about three meters above the sea, giving him a buffer zone. If this shadow turned out to be hostile and lunged at him, the two-meter blade in his hand would be ready for a decapitation strike.

He had already experienced the Galaxy Watermelon Blade’s sharpness and had full confidence in its strength. Aside from its slightly unusual shape, the more he used it, the more comfortable it felt in his hands.

Leon waited quietly for the shadow to surface, surprisingly calm.

Perhaps it was because he had seen too much in Stardew Valley. These mysterious and bizarre sights no longer rattled him. If this had been in the past, he would’ve been the first to bolt.

He didn’t have to wait long. The shadow broke the surface—but it didn’t leap out to bite him as he expected. Instead, it revealed a large, round head with a pair of floppy ears. Leon immediately noticed a fishhook dangling from one of them—his fishhook.

“@#@￥@%！%！#！#！”

The strange creature let out a string of incomprehensible sounds, its tone carrying obvious anger.

“Speak human. I can’t understand you.” Seeing no signs of aggression, Leon crouched and called out to the strange creature in the water.

“@￥￥！%！#！@#！？”

But the reply was just more unintelligible noises. Feeling helpless, Leon started gesturing.Unfortunately, his gestures were rather abstract. He knew nothing about sign language, so he just made a vague motion for it to remove the hook from its ear, pressing his palms together to express that it wasn’t intentional.

He forgot, however, to put away the Galaxy Watermelon Blade while making these gestures. The creature’s attention locked onto the gleaming weapon in his hands, and it instantly darted several meters back, increasing the distance between them.

“Great, now it’s spooked.”

Leon sighed in frustration, unsure of what to do next.

Luckily, Wizard Rasmodius appeared just in time—teleporting in with his usual flair, suddenly standing beside Leon.

Upon arrival, Rasmodius immediately remarked, “Why is it you always end up meeting non-human intelligent creatures?”

“I don’t know, man.” Leon shrugged. “I was just fishing at night, minding my own business, and then this happened. Not my fault.”

The wizard’s gaze moved to Leon’s left hand holding a fishing rod and his right hand gripping the Galaxy Blade. “Put the weapon away first. It won’t harm you, but right now, you’re just scaring it.”

Leon obediently stowed the Galaxy Watermelon Blade.

Rasmodius reached out, and with a flick of his hand, removed the fishhook from the creature’s ear. He healed the small wound left behind, then spoke a series of unfamiliar words in the same strange language.

Leon noticed the creature’s expression brightening. It swam closer again.

“What’s going on?” Leon asked curiously.

“It knows you didn’t mean any harm. I also told it you’d give it some compensation. Now it’s waiting for your gift,” Rasmodius explained.

“Huh?” Leon was stunned for a moment. “What kind of gift?”

“A river fish will do. Ocean creatures like this rarely see river fish—they’re considered quite a delicacy,” Rasmodius replied.

“Oh.” Leon pulled a Smallmouth Bass from his bag and, under the creature’s round-eyed gaze, tossed it into the sea.

The mysterious creature leapt up eagerly, snatching the fish and swallowing it whole. In that moment, Leon finally saw its full appearance.

It was a strange-looking being, green all over like seaweed. Its head was rounded like a fathead fish, but its body resembled a human’s, with webbed hands and feet and small fins at the elbows.

“A Sea Merman,” Rasmodius said, giving Leon a quick lesson. “One of the intelligent races of the ocean, and a subordinate species to merfolk.”

“Oh, I thought this was a mermaid.” Leon felt relieved. If mermaids looked like this, then he’d suspect Willy’s stories about mermaids were just a ploy to shatter his fantasies.

“Merfolk are humanlike. Sea Mermen are fishlike. Different species. And mermaids aren’t rare—they interact with humans. In fact, the Winter Night Market here in Stardew Valley has a mermaid-run show. If you’re interested, you can come watch it at the pier.”

Leon nodded, then looked at the Sea Merman bobbing in the water. “So, we’re good now?”

“Yes, and you’ve earned its friendship—though that’s not of much importance,” Rasmodius confirmed.

“Then why isn’t it leaving?” Leon frowned slightly, not pleased with the sight. He was, after all, a sucker for appearances.

“Because I have questions for it. Sea Mermen rarely appear near the shore. If it’s here, something must have happened in the ocean.” Rasmodius began conversing with it in that strange language again.

Leon listened in, but it was all gibberish to him. After more than two minutes, the Sea Merman dove back into the sea and disappeared.

“Find out anything?” Leon perked up as soon as their talk ended.

“Yes. Nothing too serious—it’s looking for the Neptune Greatsword, a weapon belonging to the merfolk,” Rasmodius explained. “It’s a traditional weapon forged from ocean crystal ore. While valuable, it’s not rare among merfolk. Probably just an unlucky one who lost it, so they sent a Sea Merman to find it.”

“Why send a Sea Merman? Why not have the mermaid who lost it look for it herself?” Leon asked.

“Because Sea Mermen are the merfolk’s vassals—slaves, really. If you have slaves, why do the work yourself?” Rasmodius replied matter-of-factly.

“Tsk, so even intelligent ocean species have slavery. That’s feudalism for you.” Leon clicked his tongue.

“If not for the merfolk’s protection, the Sea Mermen would’ve been eaten by other sea creatures long ago. The merfolk give them safety, and in return, they serve the merfolk. Isn’t that fair?”

Rasmodius gave Leon a pointed look. “Humans had slavery too. Only with the rise of modern culture and liberated thought did we arrive at today’s balanced society. Most non-human races have kept their systems unchanged. You can’t define other cultures by human standards.”

“Don’t understand, but I respect it,” Leon said with a nod.