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Chapter : 07
Sharkrof spoke as if his pride had been hurt.
“I admit that I enjoyed the food on land more than I expected, but I still think the cooking of sea people is far superior. If people on land tried it even once, they’d think the same. Of course, Miss Marina would too.”
“Really? I’m curious what the food of sea people tastes like.”
“The only problem is that most sea people’s dishes require ingredients that can’t be found on land. Things like marine snow, the songs sung by starfish warmed by sunlight, or deep-sea coral that can only be grown in the magical gardens of sea people.”
“How do you put a song into cooking?”
“…You can’t?”
Sharkrof replied as if I had asked the most obvious question in the world. His tone made me lose the will to question him any further.
When I fell silent, Sharkrof smoothly changed the subject.
“Anyway, even if the shop doesn’t urgently need extra hands, I think I’ll have to come by often.”
“Why?”
“Because it seems those strange currents are still disturbing the land. I thought it might help if I warned you about unusual waves every time. Don’t you think?”
Sharkrof spoke in a tone so transparent that his intentions were obvious.
Anyone could see that he was delighted to have found an excuse to visit the café often.
His completely honest gaze made me burst out laughing.
“Alright. I’d appreciate it if you keep helping us from now on, Sharkrof.”
I said with a smile in my voice.
At that moment, something suddenly came to mind when he mentioned the waves.
This morning, while walking through the city to open the shop, I had seen the streets.
I wasn’t the only one suffering because the sea had suddenly become strange.
People living in the low-lying streets were also struggling with the water and debris the sea had left behind.
Just like I had been the day I first met Sharkrof.
Then a good idea occurred to me.
“Sharkrof, it seems I’m not the only one having trouble because of the strange sea lately. Places along the beach all seem to have suffered damage. Have you seen it?”
I said.
“I haven’t seen it, but I’m sure that’s the case.”
“So I was wondering if I could ask for your help one more time. Could you go around the seaside of the town and warn people in advance if you notice signs that waves might hit again? You could do it before the shop opens.”
“I don’t particularly feel like helping people on land.”
“Still…”
“But since I’ve decided to learn what people on land like and find appealing from now on, scouting the town for that purpose wouldn’t be bad. Reconnaissance is important. I’m a shark who values carefully planned operations. Alright. While observing land people, I’ll do that too.”
Sharkrof stood up readily. It meant he agreed.
I was just getting up to follow him.
At that moment, Phineas shouted urgently.
“Miss Marina! You’re going alone with that suspicious fish guy? That’s dangerous!”
“I’m not suspicious. Being suspicious means your identity and intentions are unclear. My identity and intentions are already perfectly clear—I’m a shark who came to repay Miss Marina’s kindness.”
Sharkrof replied dryly.
“You sure talk well. That doesn’t matter—you’re still extremely suspicious.”
“So you’re coming along too?”
Sharkrof asked with displeasure.
“Of course I am. Miss Marina, I’m coming too.”
“Why do you dislike me so much and interfere every time? Following me around and bothering me over trivial things—you’re exactly like a shrimp.”
“What? A shrimp?”
“The only hostile things I’ve done to you are two. First, when we met, I tried to bite you right away. Second, I said you were the land person I disliked the most and threatened to bite you. I don’t understand why you dislike me so much.”
“You just listed the exact reasons I dislike you! If you know, why ask?”
Phineas shook his head in disbelief.
“In shark territorial disputes, that level of behavior is nothing serious. The fact that you react so dramatically just proves you’re a narrow-minded shrimp. Anyway, if Miss Marina hadn’t told me to get along with you…”
Sharkrof seemed to have more to say, but in the end he didn’t stop Phineas from following.
We began walking toward the city.
The street lined with stalls had the atmosphere of a typical resort marketplace.
Ice-cold coconut drinks, palm-tree candies for souvenirs, ice cream stands.
Souvenir shops hoping to take tourists’ money displayed shell decorations and shark-tooth necklaces everywhere.
Sharkrof said he was only following us for surveillance, but he was not a good liar.
Anyone could clearly see that Sharkrof was just as excited as the other tourists.
Even a shark-man couldn’t resist being swept up in the mood of a vacation spot.
Sharkrof looking around curiously at the objects of land people with shining eyes—it was like seeing a boy excited with curiosity…
“They’re fake.”
Sharkrof suddenly muttered, his excitement completely gone.
I followed his gaze.
In front of a sign proudly reading “Shark Tooth Necklace!”, necklaces were piled up like a small mountain.
Well, to Sharkrof those would be the teeth of his own kind. He could probably tell real from fake instantly.
“So what were you expecting? That’s how souvenir shops are. Tourists in unfamiliar places are famous for paying easily without carefully checking whether things like shark-tooth necklaces are real.”
Phineas said casually.
“Land people are deceptive.”
Sharkrof shook his head after hearing Phineas’s reply.
The weather was clear, but the sea breeze was surprisingly strong.
Because of that, Sharkrof—already disappointed by the fake shark teeth—kept having trouble.
The culprit was the stiff black collar of the sailor uniform he was wearing.
Sharkrof was wrestling with the collar every ten seconds as it flapped wildly in the wind.
It kept flipping over and covering his face.
With the collar over his head, Sharkrof muttered irritably.
“Even though I don’t understand the aesthetics of land people, I thought this collar was nice because it looks like a large fin fluttering in the waves. But now I’m changing my mind. It’s extremely annoying. I’m starting to regret wearing this.”
“Come to think of it, I was too busy yesterday to ask, but I’ve been wondering—why a sailor uniform?”
I asked.
“Yeah. You didn’t attack some poor sailor and steal his clothes, did you?”
Phineas looked Sharkrof up and down suspiciously.
“I didn’t steal it. Before attempting my first transformation in life, I simply copied the appearance of the land people I saw.”
At Sharkrof’s answer, both Phineas and I sighed in relief.
According to Sharkrof, when sea people first transform into human form as adults, they usually imitate the clothing of nearby land people.
It was mainly to avoid standing out.
Sharkrof had followed that custom as well.
The problem was that instead of observing an ordinary town, he had learned land fashion by watching the naval base in the neighboring area.
“They were all gathered wearing clothes like this. I even thought all land people wore this outfit. I was glad I wouldn’t have to worry much about choosing natural clothing. So I didn’t think twice and transformed into the clothes those people were wearing.”
Sharkrof said.
“But once I came onto land, I realized there weren’t actually that many people dressed like me. I was devastated. I had been confident that I could cleverly and skillfully hide my identity. But I had made a foolish mistake from the very beginning. Just a few days after starting my exploration of land, my confidence keeps shattering.”
“Don’t be too discouraged. Not everyone wears sailor uniforms, but it wasn’t a bad choice. At least around here it’s not such an unusual outfit.”
I tried to comfort him.
“Really?”
“Of course. There’s a naval base nearby, so we often see sailors around here. People will probably just assume you came from there. Actually, your clothes aren’t the real problem…”
The real issue was, of course, Sharkrof’s strange way of speaking and acting.
His unusual metaphors using fish and the sea, and his strange lack of knowledge about ordinary life on land were far more noticeable than his clothes.
Speaking of strange behavior, something caught my eye.
Sharkrof was acting even stranger than usual.
It was as if he sensed some invisible danger.
The deeper we went into the market street, the more anxious Sharkrof seemed to become.
I stared at him, wondering why.
Then I remembered something he had said yesterday.
Sea people would die if their gills dried out.
So I finally asked:
“Sharkrof, you seem a little strange. Are your gills drying out or something?
