## Chapter 966 – The Sea

Two days later, the interrogation records were compiled.

“He didn’t seem to be lying… but he didn’t know much.”

The officer handed me the document containing the interrogation records.

This suddenly reminds me of Saintess. She used to review reports like this from me to grasp the situation.

I took the document and read through it.

The merman’s name was Kurtak, and he was a low-ranking soldier. His mission was to kill or kidnap humans appearing in small boats along the coast. As expected, the reason was that I was the one who had captured the Sea God.

The Sea God was called Triton, and this bastard Kurtak seemed to think of him as just a huge monster. A monster whose existence he wasn’t even sure of. He didn’t know why it suddenly appeared, and the other merfolk were also trying to analyze the situation.

But a question arises.

Knowing that I directly killed that terrifying Triton, why did they send those guys to be annihilated? Merfolk… yeah. They must have been strong in the water. It’s just that I was too strong and killed them instantly.

Anyway, it’s not helpful.

Since they live in the sea, they would know how strong that monster was, and only a goldfish brain would think that a mere sixteen merfolk could do anything to a human who killed such a monster.

Why on earth?

Of course, the reason was written down.
They were just following orders.

“That’s fucking hilarious.”

Not even a merman warrior, but just a regular merman soldier taking on a suicide mission just because they received an order? Is the chain of command that strict?

Let’s say that’s the case.

Then that means they deliberately had sixteen merfolk slaughtered. What’s the reason for that? It’s hard to understand logically. Especially in this special situation where this monster called Triton appeared.

“I guess I have to go back.”

So, I visited the interrogation room again.

“Hey, merman. I’m back.”
“…”

Our merman friend, whom I met again, had almost all the scales on his lower body gone. More than that, he was quite emaciated, and his eyes were dead. He seemed to have been subjected to quite harsh torture.

His spirit seems broken, which will definitely make things easier.

I immediately took him out of the water tank and asked.

“I have something to ask you. So, your boss. That Siren guy ordered you to send you guys, right?”

According to the explanation, Sirens are the ruling class of the merfolk. For now, they are said to be prophets and priestesses of the sea faith. Since that’s the ruling class, that Siren guy is the culprit who sent the merfolk.

Would such a guy be stupid?

“…Yes.”

Kurtak nodded with difficulty.

“Listen carefully. You saw how I fought against you guys, right? I just wiped you all out in an instant.”
“…!”

Fear flashed in his eyes.

“It was the same when I killed that Triton. But I’m that strong, so could mere guys like you catch me? No matter how much you fight in the sea, there’s a limit. Does that make sense? Does it?”
“That… that’s…”
“Why do you think they did that?”

Why did they attack someone who was obviously a badass?

It’s like sending sixteen ordinary soldiers against a knight who killed an ogre. There’s no picture other than sending them to their deaths.

“I, I mean… I, I don’t know… why I received this order… It’s the Siren’s will, but… I don’t know anything… just to kill humans…”

He answered incoherently.

“Did you even think it would work?”
“I don’t know…”

Did they just come excitedly because they were told to kill humans?
As expected of a pirate support race.

“No, it won’t work. Of course, you’d think so. You can only think that it’s impossible. You came knowing that you would be miserably annihilated.”
“I don’t think so…”

He shook his head, looking confused.

“That’s right, you bastard. The Siren sent you to me as food. They asked me to catch and kill you. From what I see, you guys were purged.”
“P, purged…?”
“Think about it logically. Did you do something wrong?”
“I mean… that’s… we didn’t do anything wrong…”

Why was it necessary to kill the merfolk?

Is it something like that? Are they thinking of using it for propaganda? To spread the word that humans are killing not only Triton but also all the merfolk in the vicinity?

That makes sense.

Then they can say, “Let’s unite the power of the merfolk.” It will also make the hostility towards humans boil over.

“You guys were abandoned. You were just sacrificed, told to throw away your lives.”
“That can’t be!!! The Siren would never do that to us…!”

Kurtak screamed in horror.
He seems to trust the Siren quite a bit, and there’s only one reason for that.

“There’s no way, my ass. Then why did you guys come?”
“…!”

I went closer and grabbed his webbed ear.

“Tell me what you know.”
“…”

Having his spirit broken by torture and hearing these words would be confusing and painful. He’s almost ruined.

I tried to guide him, and it worked out very well.

“It’s a loss to hide anything when you’ve been abandoned. I guarantee your survival in my name. Tell me what you know. Anything suspicious. Rumors you’ve heard. Tell me everything.”
“…”

A moment of silence passed.

“That’s…”

He opened his mouth.

“There’s a saying… Haa…”

Listening mode activated.

“Other merfolk… have often seen humans, whom they call pirates, being persuaded to… worship our god… When I asked, they said the Siren ordered it…”

The ruler of the merfolk supports pirates.

“They proudly said that by seducing humans in that way, we would one day make even the land ours… That’s what they said…”

Those fish bastards have big dreams.

If Saint Peter, the legendary fisherman and first Pope of the Catholic Church, saw this scene, he would immediately burst into anger and throw a murderous net to massacre the merfolk.

“Really? But does that have anything to do with this incident?”
“That’s…”

The story seems to have gone off track a bit.

“They say there are several of those people in human villages too…”
“What!!! What the fuck are you talking about!!!”

Holy shit!!!

“Hiiiik!!”
“What are you talking about!!”

Surprised, I immediately screamed and grabbed his shoulder, pressing him.

“I, I mean…! In, in human lands… the followers of our goddess are said to be spreading… I heard that!!!”
“Heok!!”

Rumors that the faith of the merfolk is spreading in human lands!

“Is this true!!!”

Without us knowing, the vermin in the sea were plotting a conspiracy beyond imagination…! They were secretly spreading their faith on this land!!!!

“Maybe the appearance of Triton is also the reason… I, I don’t know anymore… Huk, huuuk…!”

Kurtak sobbed as he spat out that information.

Yeah, it’s not a believable story yet, but it’s worth considering. Why, when Triton was destroying the village, the humans didn’t go crazy. They also uttered ominous sea prophecies.

If it’s related to that, it’s a jackpot.

I will behead the pagans and please Kadia.

“Good. You’ve been a great help, friend.”
“Huuuk…”

I stroked his head.

“Then tell me about that faith now.”

* * *

The sea goddess Shamaelreina.

She is said to be one of the gods that the merfolk believe in.

The sea is vast, so there are many gods, but the most major god that the merfolk believe in now is this sea goddess.

This goddess Shamaelreina is also called the first mother, and it seems that the merfolk have deified their ancestor. That means she is the creator god.

A god who can’t help but be the most authoritative.

Kurtak is not a theologian, so he doesn’t know the doctrine well, but if I try to summarize it roughly, like any other religion, the followers who believe in this goddess will go to a paradise called the Sea of Abundance after death.

There are several complicated ways to get there, but if I were to pick one of the most representative, it would be this.

Protect this beautiful and vast sea.
Then you may go to the Sea of Abundance.

ㅡProtect the sea.

Good words.
Good words both realistically and religiously.

We must protect this beautiful sea for the sake of the environment and to protect our descendants from pollution. Everyone thinks so.

But as is usually the case, the doctrines of religion are not intuitive and are written ambiguously, and this is also the case. It is not clear exactly what actions protect the sea.

What exactly is protection, and what is destruction?

Eating fish that live in the sea doesn’t seem to be destruction. And as always, the problem arises from this ambiguous doctrine.

First of all, the Sirens, who are the rulers of the merfolk, also serve as priestesses or priests of that religion. What that means is simple. They have the right, authority, and power to interpret this doctrine.

Ambiguous words.

They can interpret it however the fuck they want.

Therefore, the Sirens support human pirates and order the merfolk to help harm other humans. It is an order that the Sirens interpret the concept of protecting the sea very arbitrarily.

「Killing the beings on land that pollute the sea is protecting the sea. Support human pirates to go to the Sea of Abundance.」

From a human perspective, there is no such shitty religion.
The merfolk believe in this and fight against humans.

If I were to judge this as a paladin of the Brass Celestial Host, this is undoubtedly an evil god and pagans to be subjugated.

But in fact, from my perspective as a modern person, it’s not a big mistake. Humans and merfolk are enemies. Such religious doctrines are essential to create warriors who are not afraid to kill enemies. It’s fucked up, but I understand where this fucked up doctrine came from.

It’s similar to how the Radiant Cross Society and the Brass Celestial Host encourage killing demons. From the merfolk’s point of view, humans are demons.

Anyway.

There are rumors that the sea faith is secretly spreading on land. The source is Kurtak. I judged that this was worth investigating, so I found a port village a bit far from the beach.

“Fuck.”

As soon as I left the dreamy tourist attractions and resorts, what came out was a city of reality stained with labor.

The docks, packed with illegal ships of criminals, smelled fishy, and what was visible in between was dirty seawater.

To put it bluntly, the air was pretty fucked up. It’s better than Reitas, but this is a gloomy neighborhood enough.

From unloading fish to trading.

The porters carrying buckets full of fish are moving non-stop, and merchants and thugs are shouting busily. The sailors who caught the fish would have to sell it, and the distributors who brought the goods from somewhere would have to unload them quickly.

As much as there was a lot of logistics, there were also a lot of people.

But all the faces I saw looked like serial killers or parricidal torturers, and frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if those sailors naturally switched their business to murder and robbery the moment they got off the ship.

Even the purest children who believe that the world is beautiful would piss their pants and beg for their lives the moment they see those uncles.

Aren’t these guys really disguised pirates?

“…”

Anyway, besides the human pirates, it seems that there are quite a few sailors who worship the sea goddess without knowing it. But they seem to have a somewhat distorted belief.

They said they believe in that god to pray for safety at sea.

Whatever the case, if a human believes in the sea goddess, they can gain the favor of the merfolk, and if they have gained the favor of the merfolk, safety is guaranteed to some extent. But that ultimately means that they are likely to become sea spies seduced by the merfolk.

It seems clear that the merfolk are plotting something, so let’s do some investigation.