PBGS 19

chapter 19

The first option was to break the necklace.

If she did, the reverse scale would resonate, and Ananta would immediately know her location. But she couldn’t be sure if Ananta could come straight here—or if he even could at all. And even if he could, that was another problem.

If the captain couldn’t open the sealed door, then both of them would be trapped.

It would probably be fine, but if by some chance something urgent happened outside that required the captain, what then?

She wasn’t sure she could just recklessly break it.

The second method was to use seawater.

It wasn’t exactly an appealing choice, but… if she poured this much water down her throat, she would be able to use the ancient words.

Of course, there was a problem with this as well.

So far, the words had never failed her. But this was a pirate island. There was no guarantee they would work here.

Then I’ll just call the captain if that happens.

Rinka stopped hesitating and unscrewed the bottle cap.

She just needed to get out before someone caught her. If she couldn’t escape…

If they kidnapped me out of everyone there, then it must mean they already knew I was a mermaid from the beginning.

So this was the fastest way forward.

The seawater, chilled cold, smelled of salt. Without further hesitation, Rinka poured it down her throat.

As the water trickled down, she felt glittering scale patterns shimmer into view across her neck.

She immediately rushed to the door, laid her hand on the knob, and began to murmur.

“Open slowly. The door can disappear, that’s fine. Just enough so I can get out.”

She felt a cooling energy spreading from her throat to the tips of her fingers.

Still so unfamiliar, Rinka squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again.

A blue aura began to creep along the door, wrapping itself around the whole surface.

And then—

Clang!

“What the hell—”

She had expected the door to silently dissolve away as usual. But instead, the entire door—no, the entire wall—rumbled and shook with noise.

Is this thing about to collapse?!

It was too late to stop. Things had already escalated too far; if she quit now, she’d only get caught. She had to push it through to the end.

“Just break it. You can break it, you can break it…”

The blue aura flickered between faint and vivid, over and over.

Between its waves, white foam-like patterns flickered in and out of sight.

Is that the magic barrier here?

Rinka instinctively moved to shatter it. She sprang up, raising her hand. The dark blue aura, now even denser than before, wrapped around the white foam, pressing down as if to crush it.

Crack.

It didn’t take long. With a muffled tearing sound, the white was obliterated entirely.

At the same time, the blue aura that seemed about to smash down the wall came rushing back into Rinka. She felt as though she’d been drenched in surging waves. She gripped the doorknob again.

Slowly, she turned it.

Click.

And the door opened.

On the opposite side of the refined, elegant hallway, a voice addressed her. An unfamiliar voice.

“You’re awake? Not lying down anymore.”

She whipped her head around instinctively. And standing there was—

Another damn pretty boy?!

A man with deep blue hair, as dark as the depths of the ocean.

And his eyes—

“…Gold?”

They were the same color as the “not-human” who had presumably kidnapped her earlier.

“You look well enough. Care for some tea?”

The kidnapper didn’t seem to think Rinka would refuse. He calmly reentered the room, placed a teacup on the table, and sat down across from the sofa where she had woken. Crossing his long legs and leaning back, he looked utterly at ease, like the owner of the house.

Golden eyes.

Emotionless pupils, clearly unlike those of any human.

“Our eye color… it’s too similar.”

Rinka murmured as she stared, captivated by his gaze.

Even in Cather, where many seafolk lived, and even among pirates, no one had golden eyes.

There were light browns, deep yellows, but never a brilliant gold like hers.

“Your hair, you got from me. But your eyes, you got from your father, Rinka. When you meet that man someday, you’ll know immediately.”

Her mother’s words flashed across her mind.

No. Surely not.

Could it really be possible that here, of all places—in the middle of a pirate island—she had run into her mermaid father?

Yes, this island was near the western seas where merfolk were said to live, but still!

This was too sudden. She had thought she would never see him for the rest of her life.

“How long are you going to stand there? Do you not like this tea? I have all the kinds Soina used to enjoy.”

…She couldn’t deny it anymore.

Rinka Marybell, age twenty-five.

Reuniting—out of nowhere—with the mermaid father who had returned to the sea when she was three years old.

A few minutes later, even after piecing together the rough situation, Rinka couldn’t bring herself to run down the hall. Instead, she returned to the parlor and perched on the sofa again.

That name he had spoken—Soina. There was so much she wanted to ask him.

The clinking of teacups was the only sound in the room.

When she looked away, those golden eyes identical to hers followed her. He clearly wanted to speak, so obviously that she couldn’t ignore it. Finally, she had no choice but to set down her teacup.

“Um.”

“Oh, yes.”

Why did he answer like he’d been waiting for this?

Still, she had to ask. She had so much to say.

It had been so long since she’d even imagined such a scene, since childhood. The suddenness made her fingers tremble slightly as she opened her mouth.

“I’ll just ask directly. Are you… my father?”

Oops. Maybe that was too blunt?

She glanced at him, and saw his eyes widen a fraction.

“You don’t remember?”

“Of course not. You went back to the sea when I was three!”

“Merfolk usually…”

“I’m half human. I grew up with my human mother. And she died when I was fifteen.”

Ah.

The words came out sharper than she meant. Rinka clamped her mouth shut again. She hadn’t intended to say it like that. But seeing this man—no, this mermaid—her father, made her think of her mother inevitably.

Her mother hadn’t always been so frail.

In the stories she sometimes told, she had been bold, fearless, even reckless enough to attempt things others said were impossible.

It must have been bearing and birthing something non-human that had left her body so weak.

If not for him, her mother would have…

A sudden wave of emotion tightened her throat. Rinka picked her teacup back up. She wanted to gulp it down in one shot, but it was still far too hot.

“I already knew. And in fact, thanks to carrying a mermaid, she lived longer than expected.”

“…What?”

“Mm?”

Lived longer?

Rinka must have looked utterly confused, because the man seemed faintly surprised.

“…You didn’t know?”

“You mean my mother lived longer?”

“Of course. Soina had been ill even before she met me. The reason she approached me was because of a rumor—that merfolk knew how to create a panacea.”

“…What…?”

What was he saying?

She had never once heard this before. At a loss for words, she stared at the man.

He continued calmly.

“It was the first time in decades I had come onto land, so I was careless, and she discovered me quickly. She grabbed me by the collar in the dead of night and demanded the panacea.”

The man—who introduced himself as Eden—summarized it like this: He had become intrigued by her mother, learned of her condition, and despite her terminal illness and short life expectancy, had bonded with her.

Even though one of them would eventually have to return to the sea, and the other would soon face death.

As he said this, Eden’s expression softened with a trace of guilt.

“Of course, Soina and I both prepared jewels and gold to leave behind for you, so you wouldn’t be alone.”

“…What?!”