Unification of the South

by Hyougetsu

  “Hey, Parker.”

  “Yes?”

  I thought back to all the books I’d read back when I was training under Master.

  “Are there any sea monsters powerful enough to prey on both mermaids and human ships?”

  “Hmm... I’m not sure. We know giant monsters exist on land though, so it would not be surprising to see they exist in the sea as well.” Parker shrugged his shoulders, then added, “Though, when I was originally searching for the mermaids, there was a time where I wandered into a deep fog.”

  “A deep fog?”

  Apparently on his first journey to find the mermaids Parker had become lost in a fog for a few days.

  “The wind and waves died away, and the fog trapped me in its darkness. Sensing something was off, I hid my tiny craft using the illusion magic I’d learned.”

  However, nothing had happened and eventually the fog had lifted. After that, he’d had little trouble finding the mermaids.

  “That does sound strange, but, how do I put this...”

  Parker was a skeleton. Even if monsters spotted him, they’d have no reason to try and eat him. Chances were, they’d just leave him be. Either way, it was probably best to keep Parker’s story in mind.

  “Alright, now that I’ve got an idea of where you guys stand, I need to go back and discuss this with the humans. If possible, I’d prefer it if some of you would be willing to tag along.”

  The mermaids exchanged uneasy glances. They looked visibly afraid. I guess it’s too much for them.

  “Oh yeah, who’s your guys’ chief, anyway?”

  “We don’t have one. Since we don’t fight among each other, we don’t know who’s the strongest...”

  You could just talk it over and elect one too, you know. Despite being a peaceful race, they still had an oddly demonic mindset. Either way, it looked like I needed to go back and speak with Garsh. Considering how things were shaping up, it might be best to send a message back to Ryunheit as well.

  After returning to Beluza I sent off two of my werewolves back to Ryunheit.

  “I want you to transform and run back to Ryunheit at full speed. Deliver this letter to Airia, and if the Demon Lord is there as well, make sure you give her my report, too.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Leave it to us!”

  If there was something strange happening at sea, it was entirely possible it was more than I could handle alone. I needed help just to investigate this. I made Parker my liaison, tasking him with relaying events to the mermaids.

  “Am I imagining things, or are you trying to get rid of me?”

  “You’re imagining things. Now hurry up and get going.”

  “Very well... but only after telling you this amazing joke I came up with.”

  “Get out of here already!”

  There was a slim possibility the mermaids actually were up to something, so I needed someone to keep an eye on them. Though, personally, I doubted they were behind this. Unfortunately, my position demanded that I be more distrustful than I would like. Naturally, this meant I had someone keep an eye on the humans as well. This, too, was more a precaution than anything. However, I still tasked Monza’s squad with monitoring Garsh.

  “Keep watch and make sure he doesn’t do anything strange.”

  “Yeah, yeah. You got it, boss. If he does do anything strange, can I kill him?”

  “No.”

  “Awww.”

  Pout all you want, I’m not changing my mind. That being said, when did she learn to act so cute? Right as that thought crossed my mind, Lacy brought her face to Monza’s ear and whispered, “That’s not how you do it, Monza. You have to emphasize how hard you’re working for his sake.”

  “Ahhh, I see now.”

  Oh boy.

  “Lacy, I’m glad that you’re getting along with my werewolves, but please stop teaching them how to murder with a cute face.”

  “I-I’m sorry. I just wanted to be useful to you, Sir Veight...”

  Lacy pulled a cute pouting face. Are you really trying to pull that on me right after you told Monza to do the same thing? Do you really think that’ll work?

  “That’s not gonna work on me. As punishment, you have to learn how to swim while you’re here.”

  “What!?”

  There was a reason I’d picked this punishment. Teaching Lacy how to swim might come in handy later. I forced her to change into a swimsuit and start practicing swimming.

  “S-Sir Veight, I’m a northerner. I can’t swim!”

  “That’s why I’m teaching you. I thought you wanted to be useful to me?”

  “NOOOOOOOOOO!”

  I only gave Lacy a light shove on the back, but she screamed and jumped off the pier. Her actions reminded me of a certain comedian I used to watch back in Japan.

  Of course I didn’t want Lacy to drown, so I’d assigned her some personal lifeguards. I turned to the Garney Brothers—who were currently splashing about in the ocean—and shouted, “Oi, you two! Stop messing around! You better look after Lacy properly, you hear!?”

  The younger Garney brother shouted back, “We’re not that great swimmers either, you know! We just swam a little in the river when we were kids!”

  “I taught you the breaststroke before, didn’t I? You can teach her that at least!”

  When I was still young, I’d taught all the kids I played with how to do the frontstroke and breaststroke. Which was why most werewolves of my generation knew how to swim decently well. The Garney Brothers had been pretty poor swimmers back then, and I’d actually been pretty happy at discovering one of their weaknesses. That being said, werewolves had far more stamina than a regular human, so even if they weren’t very good, they could still swim well enough in a calm bay like this. Just in case, though, I decided to stick around and keep watch. If things got hairy, I could always use my magic to help out.

  I sat down at the edge of the pier and started reading through a magic grimoire. I wanted to brush up on all the spells I might need. In this world, it took more than just chanting a few words and waving your hands around to cast a spell. You needed to understand the underlying principles behind the magic you were casting. On top of that, you needed a lot of concentration to manipulate mana. With the exception of the most basic ones, spells required time and preparation to cast.

  If you wanted a spell to be ready to cast anytime in case of an emergency, you needed to practice it enough that you could store the formula somewhere in your subconscious. Then, by completing the incantation and cantrips needed to cast a spell ahead of time, you could hold it in reserve, ready to cast whenever. It was similar to how in MMOs you could put your most-cast spells on your hotbar. A mage’s combat potential was determined by how many of those hotbar slots they had. In a fight, it didn’t matter how many complex and powerful spells you knew if you couldn’t fire them off instantly.

  Personally, I could hold about five or six spells to use at once. For an experienced mage, that was the average number. Though Lacy could use extremely complex illusion spells, she too could only hold around that many for instant use. The fact that she was clumsy probably didn’t help. Parker and Melaine had spent more time studying magic, so I assumed they could use more. Meanwhile, Master could probably instant cast more spells than I could count. She was on a completely different level than all of us.

  At any rate, that was why I was currently trying to decide what spells I would need at sea, and what spells on my hotbar I should swap out for them.

  “I can’t get rid of my muscle strengthening, reflex strengthening, and recovery strengthening magic, so that just leaves...”

  “Sir Veight! Please at least let me go somewhere my feet touch the ground! I need to learn the basics before I—”

  Lacy flailed around in the water while the Garney Brothers watched apprehensively.

  “Don’t worry, it’s not that deep! Hmm— I don’t really want to take out my defense-boosting magic either, but... should I add the spell that lets m
e walk on water? Wait, I should add a proper healing spell in, too.”

  There were a number of new spells that Master had taught me that I was itching to try out. In the time I spent agonizing over my spell slots, Lacy had learned to swim. When I looked up, I saw her gracefully swimming through the sea.

  “Whoa! I-I think I’m doing it! Look, Sir Veight!”

  “Oh, uhh, nice job! Uh— I guess the spells that don’t need to be cast instantly I can take out...”

  I shouted some half-hearted encouragement to Lacy and got back to work. Since I was a support type caster, I had to take the duration of my spells into account as well. Buffs that lasted half a day or more I could cast ahead of any potential fight, but those that were only active for a few seconds I’d want ready to snapcast. Man, picking spells is hard... Lacy seemed to have mastered the breaststroke and was now swimming around excitedly.

  “I did it, Sir Veight! I really did it! I can swim now!”

  “Yeah, you picked up on that faster than I thought. Good job, Lacy. I’m impressed.”

  “Ehehe.”

  Now it was time for part two of her training.

  “Next, learn how to dive. I want to see you pass underneath those boats over there.”

  “What?”

  “Keep your eyes open while you’re swimming too. I want to know what the undersides of those ships look like. Once you get used to swimming underneath those smaller boats, try some larger ones.”

  “Huh? Wait.”

  Sorry, Lacy. But I’ve got a good reason for making you do this. Good luck, fake priestess.

  ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

  —Head Honcho Garsh’s Ramblings—

  Where’d that kid run off to? Oh, he’s at the harbor? Make sure to keep a close eye on him. Don’t let him out of your sight for even a moment. He probably knows we’re watching him, so don’t get too close. Keep an eye on him, but keep yer distance too. And don’t do anything suspicious. That kid’s no fool, he’s probably keeping an eye on us as well. God, it’s giving me the creeps. I know he’s watching us, but I can’t tell where any of his scouts are.

  Anyway, that kid’s a real piece of work. What? You don’t know what I’m talking about? You seriously think he’s just some gloomy-looking kid? You fucking morons. Guys that act tough and pretend they’re hot shit are never as important as they try to sound. After all, if you’ve gotta always talk about how strong you are, you’re not that strong. Do sharks howl at their prey? Of course not, because you can tell they’re strong just by looking. But those shitty Senate bastards aren’t like that. They’re all bark no bite. Just a bunch of yappin’ pups.

  If the demon army had sent someone like that to negotiate, then I wouldn’t even have given ‘em the time of day. But that guy you just called a gloomy-looking kid never once tried to threaten me or shove his weight around. I heard the rumors that he’s a monster who slaughtered 400 of Thuvan’s soldiers in a single battle. Oh come on, you don’t really believe it’s 4000, do ya? That’s an exaggeration I’m telling you. Besides, Thuvan doesn’t even have 4000 soldiers. But that kid doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d kill for fun.

  He’s definitely a bonafide monster with the skills to match, though. You know what that brat Aram told me? When they were meeting for the first time, that Veight kid was able to tell how many guards Aram was hiding, and where they were. I believe those rumors that say he killed the Hero. So you louts better not try to take him out. Don’t touch his men, either.

  Anyway, you see my point now? That kid’s done some amazing things, but he never once talked about any of them. That means he thinks racking up achievements like that’s so normal it’s not even worth mentioning. After meeting him, I realized. That kid’s a shark, not a pup. Like all sharks, he doesn’t look flashy, he just sneaks up on you and before you know it, you’re trapped in his jaws. And once he’s done eating you, he goes back to looking like nothing happened. He probably doesn’t even remember how many people he’s killed. That’s just the kinda guy he is. If we piss him off, he’ll probably wipe Beluza off the map. I’d bet my ship on it.

  But ya know what’s really scary about that kid? How good a negotiator he is. Did you see how he ate our raw fish!? No hesitation at all! And either he’s one hell of an actor, or he actually liked it! Even the chef said he’d never seen anyone eat his dishes with that kind of gusto. That kid’s a demon, but he sure knows how to make his hosts happy.

  He’d never had raw fish before, but he didn’t even hesitate to wolf it all down. All his other men looked scared, so he’s probably the only one who’s like that even.

  Not only that, but he even brought out some seasoning we’d never heard of and used it on our cooking. I thought he was crazy, but that sauce tasted great. It’s perfect to use with fish. You guys gotta try it next time, seriously. I’m telling you, that sauce is gonna revolutionize cooking in Beluza.

  Man, this sauce is gonna make us a killing in the city. But yeah, there’s no doubt he brought that sauce out to make negotiations go his way. He pretended like it wasn’t planned, but it totally was. He doesn’t use threats, but he dangles all these incentives in front of us. All while pretending like none of it’s planned.

  That kind of natural smoothness isn’t easy to master. I still can’t do it. Hell, I end up messin’ up and getting too forceful all the time. That’s why I started using this tough guy persona in front of others. Anyway, that guy’s a master of the cultural arts and a great merchant to boot. After seeing him I finally realized that Beluza’s falling behind in military and cultural and diplomatic power.

  If we mobilized all of our forces, maybe we’d be able to stop a single invasion by the demon army. But do any of ya have the courage to fight Veight, Hero Killer and the butcher of 400? I sure as hell don’t. Fighting him isn’t bravery anyway. Us sailors know real courage comes from caution. Right now, the smart move is to not make an enemy out of the demon army. I’d rather have those pansies from the north breathing down our necks than the demons.

  At least that kid promised us he’d leave our trade routes open. If we ask for any more concessions he’ll probably get pissed and kill us all, so I’m fine with taking that much. That kid’s seriously scary. I’m serious. I know I acted calm, but I was about to piss my pants back there. I was just as scared as you guys. I only managed to keep talking cause I knew it was my responsibility as viceroy.

  I bet that kid must have thought I was pathetic. A big guy like me, quaking in my boots. But he didn’t make fun of me even once. He kept treating me like an equal the whole time. Can you believe it? I guess that’s just the way the strong act.

  Actually... that kid probably doesn’t care at all about who’s stronger or who’s weaker. I can’t really explain it, but I feel like he’s different. Like he sees the world in a totally different way. Different how? Hell if I know. I was too busy trying not pissing my pants to figure that out.

  What’s that kid doing right now anyway? Playing around in the water? And that Lacy lass is in a swimsuit? What the heck, he’s just goofing off with girls then? What’s Veight doing there? Reading a book? Concentrating really hard? So he’s not even paying attention to the girls in swimsuits and he’s just reading a book at the pier? Okay, I have no clue what he’s doing then. But whatever it is, there’s probably a reason for it. Remember, don’t get in his way. Just watch him from afar. Oh, and chill some beer for me, will ya?

  ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

  After a few days, information started trickling in, and the picture of the situation grew clearer.

  “This is... from Bernheinen...”

  “Good work. Let’s see what they have to say.”

  I took the bundle of documents Seishess held out and broke the seal right away. Considering how slow Seishess spoke when he wasn’t talking about fighting, it’d be faster for me to read the report than have him explain it.

  This world was filled with numerous unknown monsters and unexplained phenomena. However, humans were about the onlyo
re, someone was bound to have recorded the details of that attack. And the ancient city of Bernheinen was said to have the largest collection of books on the continent. There were even tomes that dated back to when the residents of the south had first come to this area. And this was precisely why I’d asked Melaine to investigate the royal library for me.

  Back in Japan, I could have just googled “What monster lives in the sea and hides in the fog” and gotten an answer right away, but this world wasn’t nearly as convenient.

  “Perfect, looks like my hunch was right.”

  There was one record which detailed an incident similar to what Garsh was dealing with now. When the residents of the south had first crossed the ocean on their way here, they’d been attacked by a similar monster. Said monster had attacked both humans and mermaids indiscriminately. Furthermore, whenever it had appeared, the wind would stop, and a fog would descend. From what Parker had told me, the same exact thing had happened whenever the mermaids were attacked.

  “An Island Kraken, huh?”

  They were called Island Kraken because apparently each one was about the size of a small island. Though they had a slightly ridiculous name, they were no joke. Island Krakens were the most dangerous creatures at sea. There were a few other monsters that could be the cause of all these attacks, but none of the others fit the mermaids’ descriptions quite as well.

  The other possibilities were all flying monsters, and flying monsters would more likely attack humans than mermaids. There was a slight possibility a ghost ship manned by undead spirits was the cause, but if that were the case, Parker would have noticed them from miles away. Besides, undead who weren’t summoned by necromancers tended to attack only their own race. While the mermaids had been afraid of the human spirits haunting their reef, said spirits hadn’t actually attacked them for precisely this reason.

  Another possibility was pirates, but only the most vicious pirates sunk ships. In general, though, they knew it was a bad idea to destroy when their goal was plunder. Furthermore, Garsh’s ancestors had been pirates, and he’d told me all pirates operated under the Law of Half. The Law of Half was an agreement among pirates to not steal more than 50% of a trade ship’s cargo. The reason being, that way merchants would still be able to break even, and therefore attempt another venture. If pirates stole so much that trade routes dried up, they’d be out of business, too. Worse, it might convince merchants to invest into naval armadas and wipe all pirates out.