## Chapter 969 – The Sea

ㅡOoooh, oooooh… Oooooh, oooooh, oooooh…

The maddening chant continued for a while.

This could never be called singing.

I suppressed the urge to summon Sul Woon-do’s “Compass” to banish this devilish chorus. It was quite an ordeal, to the point where my lips bled.

“Keuheuheuk…!”

To have to watch these tone-deaf bastards act up with my eyes wide open…! It’s an impulse I can hardly bear! But I am a mature person. I know when to endure and when to persevere.

ㅡOoooh, oooooh… Oooooh, oooooh, oooooh…

Anyway, putting that anger aside for now, I analyzed the situation.

At first glance, this sound seems extremely ominous. However, it didn’t seem like the sailors’ vocal cords had transformed into something from the seabed.

As if a human who sold their soul to the devil was reborn as an evil being, I thought the bodies of the sailors, intoxicated by some pagan power, had been surrealistically twisted.

If that were the case, there would be no way to save them, but thankfully, this sound was coming from normal human vocal cords. At my level, I can tell without having to pull out their vocal cords to check.

“…”

However.

ㅡOoooh, oooooh… Oooooh, oooooh, oooooh…

The voices of those nuns on the platform… felt distinctly different from humans. It felt like their vocal cord structure was slightly different.

I focused on the sound.

ㅡ…

Soon, the sound stopped.

ㅡ…
ㅡ…
ㅡ…

As if on cue, the sailors also fell silent all at once.

“…The land’s waste to the land. The sea’s waste also to the land. We humans have been polluting the sea for the past hundreds of years.”
“Polluting the sea.”
“Polluting the sea.”
“Polluting the sea.”

For a moment, I thought there was an echo.
The sailors repeated the nun’s last words.

Is it sermon time now?

“It is a clear sin. We must atone for it. Forgetting the sea’s love and grace, we must atone for the act of impiously polluting it.”

Atonement for your singing, you should do.

“Mother Goddess is benevolent, so if we atone, we will surely be able to go to the Sea of Abundance.”

That seemed to resonate well, as the sailors each gripped their goddess statues tightly and mumbled something like a prayer.

“Are you aware that a sea monster recently landed on the shore?”
“We are aware!”
“We have heard!”

It’s such a famous event that these people are bound to know about it. Anyway, the nun is also aware of this situation.

Let’s hear what she has to say.

“That is the sea’s wrath. But there is still a chance. If Mother Goddess were truly enraged, no one would have been able to stop that monster.”

The sea’s wrath… is she just saying that?

“Therefore, we must work even harder to protect the sea from now on. Only then will we be able to catch more fish and avoid storms…”

The gathering continued in that vein.

By protecting the sea, they pray for their safety and a bountiful harvest. If it weren’t for that strange chant earlier, it could be considered a perfectly normal religion. Well, there was no talk of professionally polluting the land or killing humans.

Among the human pirates, there were even those who were completely absorbed in this religion, diligently killing other humans in order to go to the Sea of Abundance, a heaven after death.

This probably varies depending on the sect or the person teaching… but it seems like there’s nothing special today.

Still, those nuns are suspicious.

“…With that, I will conclude today’s gathering, my beloved followers.”

Finally, the gathering ended. The sailors, with satisfied expressions, began to leave in an orderly fashion. I lingered appropriately, etching the structure and scale of this basement into my mind.

Looking at it, it seems there are no other passages unless there’s a secret passage.

Should I go out for now?

I’ll wait near this building, and if they don’t come out, it means there’s a secret passage. If they do come out, I’ll just follow them.

I followed the sailors outside.

* * *

I went outside, climbed the wall of the tavern, and went up to the roof to monitor the surroundings. It was past midnight, early morning. There was very little light source other than the starlight and moonlight obscured by the clouds, so it was very dark.

It’s the perfect time to act secretly.

I was killing time, discreetly surveying the area around the tavern building, when…

“…”

Someone came out of the entrance leading to the basement. But judging by their physique, they weren’t women, but men who were excessively well-fed and well-rested.

I didn’t see them inside earlier?
Did they go down to the basement through a secret passage?

No, that’s not it.

If there was a secret passage, there would be no reason to honestly come out of that entrance again. They must have been hiding somewhere in that assembly hall earlier. I couldn’t survey every spot from my angle.

The hulking figures were wearing hooded cloaks, as ordinary people do. There were five of them, and they stood in front of the entrance, looking around as if guarding the area.

Are they the nuns’ bodyguards?

It wouldn’t be strange if they were people from the religious group.

As I was thinking that, three people who seemed to be the nuns from earlier also came out. They were also covering their bodies and faces with cloaks, but judging by their figures, it was definitely them.

“Let’s go.”

The hulking figure spoke, and with that, the eight people began to move very cautiously. I waited until they had moved a fair distance, then headed to the roof of the adjacent building, maintaining a safe distance and conducting surveillance.

ㅡ…

They were moving quite busily.

The level of vigilance of the hulking figures seemed considerable, but it was still not enough to detect me.

Are they hiding something?
It’s quite a fierce escort.

About forty minutes into the surveillance, we arrived at a pier overflowing with docked ships. There was almost no sign of people, as much as the darkness that had settled around us. They intentionally avoided paths where people would normally walk.

ㅡ…
ㅡ…

After the group got close to the pier, they briefly looked around.

ㅡSplash.

Very naturally.

As if it were the most natural thing to do.

They all went down between the gaps of the docked ships. They dove into the pitch-black seawater. Silently, without even making a sound.

All eight of them jumped into the water.

…What the fuck.

I held my breath and continued to monitor the area. Could it be… are they trying to sneak onto a ship? Or maybe they’re moving offshore for a moment to shake off any possible pursuers?

That can’t be it.

Even for me, swimming is restricted when it’s this dark. Unless they’re creatures who treat the water like their own home, there’s no reason to dive into a place like that.

ㅡ…

I waited and waited, but they never reappeared. As if they had sunk forever. As if they had disappeared into the sea. They were gone.

“I fucking missed them.”

I went down to the ground.

“…”

Were these bastards perhaps mermaids who transformed into humans? I don’t know if mermaids can transform into humans, but if it’s possible, it makes sense. If they released their transformation as soon as they entered the water and went to their base, it would be a plausible explanation.

If they’re mermaids, they could definitely do it.

The Little Mermaid yearned for the prince’s love and sold her voice to the witch to gain human legs.

Could those guys transform into humans at will without such restrictions? If that’s true, it means that transformed mermaids are freely roaming this land.

Maybe… could this port city already be taken over by mermaids?

Just as demons are digging into the hearts of humans, hiding in the back alleys, and growing their power, could mermaids be secretly expanding their forces to take revenge on the land dwellers?

This was a radical conspiracy theory.

A conspiracy theory of the kind that the beings of the seabed will dominate the land. It’s clearly a far-fetched story that no one would believe if you just said it. But I have now seen the truth… I saw those crazy nuns diving in this darkness!

This is dangerous!

The Triton and fishmen have landed…! If properly prepared mermaids use fanatics who are deeply devoted to the sea faith to carry out riots and military operations on land at the same time, and constantly land marine monsters using the endless sea, they will lose the coastal cities!!!

I clearly saw the power of the Triton! If they act properly, they will be able to destroy the land and turn it into the sea. In that way, the land of humans will disappear, and the territory of mermaids will be expanded.

Maybe that Triton is a weapon-like thing used by mermaids!

“Tee…! Teeheeheeheehee!!! Teeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!!!!”

When I had such terrible imaginations, I couldn’t bear it without tearing my hair out.

The prophecy of the sea!

This kind of thing was happening right under my nose…! Humans have been living too complacently! Even if the paladins are active, they can’t crack down on everything! Maybe similar things are happening in other coastal cities!!!

ㅡThe mermaids’ conspiracy!

They were very diligently preparing for a war of revenge!!! The invaders from other worlds are not only in other worlds! Right in front of us! There was also our enemy in that sea…!

The most terrifying thing is that the mermaids’ base is deep in that sea. That’s why we can’t destroy their kingdom no matter what we do. Isn’t this really another world?

We can’t even dream of going to conquer them, but they attack us at will. Ah! The future of humanity is bleak!!!

Moreover, it is clear that even the truth will not be properly known.

But fortunately, I found out this truth. More than anything, I have also summoned the paladin. We won’t be able to wipe them out, but at least we’ll be able to eliminate the sea faith that is rampant in this port city.

But… eliminating it is not a panacea. Because such faith has already taken root in the hearts of the sailors…

“It’s such an inhuman thing, jaaaaaaaat!!!”

I screamed and ran and ran and ran back to the lodging.

* * *

“So, the mermaids transformed into humans and were spreading that sea faith?”
“That’s exactly it…!”
“Hmm… well, it would be a serious matter if it’s a serious matter.”

Karin stroked her chin with her finger and narrowed her eyes.

“It sounds very serious just by listening to it.”
“The mermaids were plotting such a conspiracy…!!”

Liz also had a similar reaction to Karin, and Hilde was furious.

“What on earth should we do about this!!!”
“Uh-huh… I wonder? What should we do?”

Claudie, who was in my arms, was just rubbing her face against my neck, as if she didn’t care about mermaids or sea gods.

“Claudie! This is serious!”
“Yeah. It’s serious. So I’m worried.”

I told her it was serious, but Claudie still didn’t seem to take it seriously, just smiling and touching my face.

“But, Blackie, is it really a serious matter? Blackie always overinterprets and gets furious even if it’s nothing.”
“That’s true.”
“That’s right.”

Wienia’s words made the two sisters nod.
No, what do you take me for…!

“The mermaids can’t be doing that for good purposes…! What should we do about this situation!”
“But Father, I don’t think this is a problem that you need to put all your energy into.”

At that time, Aria said in a calm voice.

“Hmm? Aria?”
“The mermaids’ base is somewhere in that sea, right? You can’t catch them. And if this is the case, other places will probably be in a similar situation. It’s not something that can be done just here.”
“…That’s true.”
“It would be better to just report it to the church and leave it to them. If it’s the Saintess, she has ties to the royal family, so it seems like the only way is to have them crack down on the coastal lords through that side… Of course, it won’t work well. The belief that has already entered people’s hearts will not disappear at once. So this is not something that Father can solve by working hard. If you want to solve it, you have to leave it to a group.”

That’s right.

Why is she so good at talking?

“Why is our Aria so smart?”
“I was always smart. How could you not know…”

For a moment, Aria lowered her head as if she was feeling depressed.

“No! Of course I knew! I was just surprised that you were saying such correct things!”
“Is that so? Then it’s okay.”

Aria nodded.

“…Realistically speaking, Aria is right. How can we prevent and defend against all of this? We have learned a very important fact, but it seems like there is nothing we can do right now.”

Lisha also said that.

“Even if you catch those chicks, it doesn’t mean the problem will be solved.”

Damn it.

“It’s an unavoidable thing.”

As they said, this was not a problem that could be solved by me worrying about it. Then I should delegate this matter to a group that can solve it.

Let’s rest a bit today.