I was actually a little surprised that I found our culprit so easily that I forgot he actually spoke to me first.
I feel that there’s a need to mention that he was topless so his toned body was on full display, though his bottom half was that of a fish tail anyway so it’s not like he’s completely naked.
He noticed that I was silent and smacked his head, “Ah, of course she can’t hear me underwater. What the hell was I thinking?”
The Merman swam towards me until he was only just a few feet away.
He then muttered something before a bubble appeared around his head with an air tunnel that connected it to my own air bubble.
“Hello, hello~ Can you hear me now?”
Curious about what he was trying to do, I nodded my head.𝐎𝑽𝓵xt.𝑐𝗈𝓶
“Ahaha~ A shy one eh? So what’s a beautiful girl like you doing around here? There are better places to take a night swim you know? Oh! Don’t tell me… You’re an elusive thief here to steal some riches from the Floating Pussy?”
Ugh… Why did he have to say the name?
For some reason it just makes me want to punch him when he’s the one saying it…
Hmm?
Hold on…
He doesn’t know who I am? But didn’t he try to control me and even successfully controlled Lisa to try and attack me just a few hours ago? Is he just acting dumb or is he not the culprit behind it? I never did hear him sing after all…
I cleared my throat, “I’m actually just out here for a night swim. I do this to clear my head.”
He seemed to buy my lie as he gestured to himself, “Oh I can totally understand that! Being embraced by the waves in a time where there’s nothing but darkness around you certainly is soothing! But I suggest that you don’t swim here, otherwise you might get in some trouble.”
That caught my attention, “What kind of trouble?”
“Ahahaha~ Trouble in falling in love with me of course! I have to warn you, I don’t do committed relationships! I don’t mind if you’re looking for a quick fuck though~”
…
Can I smack him? I want to smack him.
I decided to turn the attention on him instead, “I’m more curious about you… What’s a Merman like yourself doing here? We’re really far from the Sitnalta Union.”
“Oh I’m merely just a passenger of the ship~ I’m just hanging out down here for the moment before I’ll go back on board again.”
“Really? A Merman is a passenger on board a ship? Are you telling a joke?”
“Ahahaha! You might think that way but telling a Merfolk to swim from Sitnalta Union to here is like telling you to run there, or in the case of a Meslatar like yourself, to fly there! I doubt you would be able to do the entire journey on your own, can you?”
I nodded to show that I understood his point but I still knew that he was lying since the ship was still on lockdown where no one was allowed to leave or get on board.
Even if he had snuck off the ship by jumping overboard, I don’t think he would be able to climb back on board without getting caught by the guards. So if he really was a passenger, I doubt he would have done something like this.
I decided I could try pressing a little, “So you’re just out here on a nightly swim too? What a coincidence.”
“Ahaha~ Life is indeed full of coincidences, pretty lady. Actually, if you don’t mind, would you like a quick romp? I know a spot on the shore that has a beautiful view of the sea, it would be a nice sight while I fuck you in the sand.”
Even though I knew that whatever he was suggesting was not weird amongst the people in this World, I couldn’t help but shiver uncomfortably at his suggestion.
He seemed to have noticed my discomfort and instead of backing away, he swam just a little closer and even intentionally lifted his arms to put his upper body on full display.
“I fear you might not have heard me, my lady… But I am offering to give you the best pleasure of your life right now. You just need to follow me up to this little beach where I will show you how I can make you moan with my hard cock~”
…
Where in the world is he even getting this level of confidence from?
“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to decline,” I told him, trying my best to maintain my straight face.
He seemed quite surprised that I actually rejected him, “What? Wait a minute… How is this possible? I’m properly using the spell…”
Ah… I get it now…
This whole time he was trying to make use of his Siren Voice Magic Skill to control me. I guess you don’t actually need to sing for the magic to take effect but it’s just that I’m so used to Delmare singing it out that I didn’t think there was another way to use it.
Oh well… At this point, I think it’s quite safe to assume that he’s the culprit we are looking for. Maybe I should just ask to make sure…
“Ahem… Could I ask if you’re the one that has been harassing Emilia all this while?”
Hearing my question, his face turned sour as he glared at me, “You… You’re one of her people aren’t you? Damn it, how is it that my magic is not working on you?! You have some kind of artefact on you, don’t you?”
“I’ll take that as a confirmation then. But didn’t you already try to control me earlier? I’m surprised you don’t recognise me.”
“Tch, I don’t need to tell you anything. But well… How nice of you to show up like this… Tell you what, how about you go back and bring little miss Emilia off the ship and I don’t make everyone on the ship start killing each other?”
I raised an eyebrow at him, “What makes you think I even care about the lives of everyone else on that ship? You think I wouldn’t sacrifice everyone else just for Emilia?”
He was obviously not expecting that kind of response from me and just stared at me for a moment.
That moment was all I needed to propel myself forward to get within striking range of him.
He realised my bluff and tried to move away from me. Unfortunately for him, his reaction was just a little too slow as I managed to place my palm on his abdomen.
[Static Shock]
His entire body tensed up as the spell paralysed him, giving me the time I needed to grab him by the throat to pull him in for an elbow strike towards his jaw.
Unexpectedly, something glowed on his finger and the Merman suddenly tilted his head back, avoiding my blow completely before I felt a force explode against my chest, sending me hurtling back.
He reached towards his back and pulled out what looked like a fishing spear before swimming towards me, the pointed end of the spear aiming at my chest.
Even though his Dexterity stat was lower than mine, I’m still at a disadvantage here because of the environment we’re in right now.
Not to say that I can’t match his speed so I still managed to avoid his spear thrust by propelling myself to the side before he skewered me.
He tried to spin around to attempt to spear me again but a quick cast of [Darkness Paranoia] robbed him of his vision.
“How?!! How are you still able to cast magic while already casting [Air Pocket]?! There’s… There’s more of you aren’t there?! Aghhhh! Get away!!” He screamed, failing his arms around.
Heh heh, too bad for you but I don’t need to chant to use that spell~ And it looks like he succumbed to the fear aspect of the spell quite seriously.
I went under him and grabbed him by his tail, casting another [Static Shock] on him to stop his flailing momentarily to let me land another blow to the back of his head.
This time I managed to knock him out without problems and he crumpled to float around in the water, allowing me to tie him up.
Just in case, I used a piece of cloth to tie around his mouth as well to keep him from using that Siren Voice magic of his too.
For the record, doing all that underwater was not fun.
I’m still wondering how he was using that magic to affect the people on the ship since it was quite clear he wasn’t actually singing or even speaking when I found him just now. Could there be someone else aside from him?
I decided that there wasn’t any harm in checking first so I went ahead to heft the unconscious Merman on my shoulder before swimming along the bottom of the ship.
Surprisingly, there was indeed no one else which confirmed he was the one responsible so I went ahead to bring him back to Emilia’s room.
All in a night’s work I would say.