Chapter Ninety-Three: The Clever Mermaid

“Mr. Ruby, are you alright?”
During Ruby’s self-study class, Sime called out several times before pulling the absent-minded teacher back to reality. This had already happened three times; Ruby had never been so distracted in his own class before.

“No, it’s nothing. I’m just feeling a little unwell. You all can study on your own today.”
Ruby had no mind for teaching now. Although the Mage Sister had promised to turn the entire empire upside down to help him, she couldn’t just lift the city and shake it a few times. Searching for someone without a plan would only lead to chaos, so Ruby had spent the last few days drafting a plan to find her.

“Oh, take care of yourself then,” Sime nodded, offering a comforting word. The other students had no objections and went about their business.

“Hey, have you heard? There’s talk of a sea demon appearing in our academy’s lake.”
Sime still sat in the first row, but this time beside him was Eliane, the girl who had become his girlfriend a few days ago. Since it was a self-study period, chatting with his girlfriend wasn’t out of place.

“Are you still half asleep? Sea demons only exist in the Endless Sea, don’t they?”
Eliane, a new student in the healing magic department, refused to believe such an outlandish story and gently checked Sime’s forehead for any signs of illness.

“I’m serious! Several students have fallen victim. They say that while meeting secretly at night, they saw a creature with a human body and fish tail moving in the lake, illuminated by glowworms! It was terrifying!”

“They probably mistook fish for their own shadows,” Eliane replied, unsettled by the fear glittering in Sime’s eyes, drawing closer to him.

“There’s something even scarier. Have you heard the legend that sea demons use their songs to lure humans into the sea, where they become prey?”

“I think I have.”

“It’s already happened—students who heard the song lost their most precious… snacks.”

“Ah, so scary… snacks?”
Eliane was halfway through a scream, but the sound abruptly stopped, and she repeated his words in confusion.

“Yes, the victims all reported losing treasured snacks, and the worst even lost a packet of limited-edition tribute spicy strips.”

“Are you serious?”

“Funny enough, that’s what the teachers asked when they received the reports. Maybe it’s just a rumor spread by those single folks to scare couples who frequent the lakeside at night.”

Sime shrugged in response to his girlfriend’s incredulous look. What started as a terrifying tale quickly turned into a joke once the rumors circulated.

…

Ruby heard every word. Moyouna happened to be seated in the second row, and when their eyes met, both realized they were thinking the same thing. Without hesitation, they rushed out of the classroom together.

“Aquaria?”

Ruby sprinted to the lakeshore, gasping for breath, and called tentatively across the water. This lake was larger than Aquaria’s usual home and well-tended, with edible fruit trees lining the shore—a place where living would not be impossible.

Splash.

As if responding to Ruby’s voice, bubbles rose on the lake’s surface. A dark shadow leapt up, landing on Ruby and knocking him to the ground.

“Ruby! Ruby, you finally came!”
The mermaid girl pressed herself against him, happily nuzzling him. She had waited so long in this lake, her eyes straining for his arrival.

“Aquaria, is it really you?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“But how did you end up here?”
With confirmation, Ruby didn’t know where to put his hands. The idea that a mermaid could come here seemed utterly incredible to him.

“I missed you so much that I came myself.”

“No, no, it’s not that simple. You can’t just come here because you want to—are you a god or something?”
Moyouna interjected, speechless at how reality had matched their suspicions, yet still unable to accept it.

“Let me think how to explain.”
Aquaria pondered for a long while before recounting her journey. It began with loneliness, unable to see Ruby, and so the mermaid embarked on a bold adventure, leaping from her lake and venturing into the unknown world.

“I traveled with these water spheres.”
As a skilled water mage, Aquaria easily manipulated water, forming liquid around herself and controlling it to roll forward. Though, after prolonged use, she would feel dizzy.

“It still doesn’t make sense. How did you manage to come here without being noticed?”
Even if she could move on land, such a conspicuous water sphere should have been seen by anyone, and if discovered, she would have been caught and dissected long ago.

“You’re underestimating me. Besides water, we merfolk have another innate talent. Before humans discovered our kind, they called us sea demons.”
Aquaria’s face was full of pride as she spoke, humming and grinning in a way that made Moyouna want to hit her.

“Song?”

“Exactly. I usually sleep during the day, then sneak into town at night to gather information. Using my song, I could control humans and make them tell me where Rhine Magic Academy was. It took me ages to find it—those days were exhausting.”

“That’s a crime.”

“In the end, I controlled the gatekeeper to get in, but since I didn’t know where you were, I could only wait here.”

“If you could control students to feed you, did it never occur to you to have them look for me?”

After hearing Aquaria’s story, Ruby asked. For a mermaid to come up with such a plan was impressive, yet at the critical moment, she reverted to her usual foolishness.

“Eh? Is that possible? I never even thought of that!”
Aquaria’s astonished expression made it hard to believe she’d concocted her previous plan. Moyouna wondered if someone had secretly advised her.

“But it doesn’t matter—now I’ve found you, I can see you every day.”

“I’m sorry.”
Ruby suddenly pulled Aquaria into his arms. Now, he realized it might be too late. Though called a mermaid, her upper body was as warm as a human’s, and surely her heart was the same.

“Eh, are you planning to mate with me? But I left my egg in the little cabin over there.”
The mermaid girl, unfazed by the embrace, grinned foolishly and asked Ruby.

“What happened to your tail?”
After a while, Ruby released Aquaria and let her sit on a rock by the shore. He’d caught a glimpse of her tail—it was missing a piece, marring its beauty. With aching heart, he took out some medicine to treat her.

“My song doesn’t work on lower animals. I got chased down the street by a dog.”
Aquaria helplessly flicked her tail. That was one vicious dog; she’d begged for mercy, but still got bitten.

“What will you do now?”
After some time, with the mermaid girl asleep on Ruby’s lap, Moyouna finally spoke.

“This is undoubtedly my fault. I failed to consider her feelings, leading her to take such a dangerous risk. I still don’t fully grasp the nuances of human relationships.”
Ruby sighed. He’d thought their bond wasn’t strong enough to make separation unbearable, but he had underestimated Aquaria’s affection. The journey she undertook was surely far more perilous than she let on; if discovered by a high-level mage, the consequences would have been dire.

“Now that she’s here, I can only take good care of her.”
Though Ruby’s tone remained calm, Moyouna sensed how much more attentive he had become toward Aquaria. For such a silly mermaid, she couldn’t bring herself to be jealous. Perhaps, as the saying goes, fortune favors the foolish.

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