Chapter 258. Inside the mermaid kingdom (2)
“Yes, if it is Asrahan-nim’s request, I will be happy.”
So simple.
It seems to be quite natural.
The mermaid guard leader smiled and nodded.
It was such a simple reaction that Lloyd, who was watching, pointed out the back goal.
‘…That’s it!’
It was really all.
Xaviel’s request too.
Even the permission of the mermaid guard chief.
Really that was it.
I didn’t even attach complicated rhetoric to the request.
Saying that you are asking for some reason.
It is also an earnest explanation that there are circumstances on this side.
So even the complicated cases and promises that I will do something if you do me a favor.
There was none.
Even the mermaid guard’s reaction was as simple as it was natural.
Since our situation is like this, we accept the request.
So we want them to pay us so and so, and so forth.
There was not even such a minimal negotiation process.
‘shit. No matter how hard I try, I can’t chase after a handsome guy….’
Lloyd lamented in a sense of self-doubt.
What if it was your usual way?
It would have required a lot of calculations and preparations.
After such a difficult brain fight, he must have obtained permission to visit the mermaids’ kingdom.
But is Xaviel stepping out?
No such process was necessary.
‘what’s this. what the hell is this please. Yes, it’s Asrahan’s request, so I’ll listen. Curry. That’s it.’
I felt somewhat embarrassed.
The root of the soul has become complicated.
Even when I jumped into the sea water following Xaviel.
When you receive a shell necklace for visitors to the Mermaid Kingdom from the mermaid guard captain.
Even when receiving underwater breathing and conversation magic and water pressure protection, anti-scuba prevention, and body temperature protection magic through the necklace.
Thanks to that, even when guided into the deep sea without difficulty.
Lloyd had to shed even more salty tears into the salty sea water.
‘But anyway, I got what I wanted.’
Although the process was a bit more difficult than expected.
Although I had to realize through my skin that I had thoroughly respected even the corners of Xaviel’s pores.
Nonetheless, it achieved precisely the goal it had originally set for.
‘Finally, I’m in the position of the mermaid kingdom.’
Lloyd clenched his fists.
And I looked around.
She is diving alongside Xaviel.
A group of dozens of muscular mermaids surrounded them as if escorting them and swimming together.
And from the receding upper surface to the North Sea sunlight pouring down like a curtain.
It was a fantastic sight, like a dream.
‘under. Is this why he said he wanted to be reincarnated as a whale?’
Suddenly, the ghost of Prontera came to mind.
Was the guy like that?
If it’s a reincarnation, I want to be born as a whale.
He wants to swim and live freely in the vast sea.
I felt like I knew a little bit about that feeling.
In the meantime, the depth of the water inexorably deepened.
I thought it was going to get dark, but the sun completely disappeared.
It became dark all around.
Just then, Xaviel next to him moved his hand.
tsusss…!
The aura that bloomed from his fingertips illuminated the surroundings like a lantern.
Thanks to that, even in the darkness of the abyss, I was able to dive alongside him like a single ray of candlelight.
How deep did he dive?
2,000 meters of water?
Or 3,000 meters?
Maybe even deeper than that.
There was a mermaid kingdom there.
‘octopus?’
The first thing I saw was a huge octopus.
It just wasn’t huge.
The body size alone seemed to be several kilometers.
I couldn’t even guess how big and long the legs spread out in all directions.
Even the gigantic creatures he had seen so far, such as Giga Titan and the Bone Dragon, would feel like sparrows if placed next to that octopus.
But the octopus was holding something like a bunch of grapes.
‘that…Could it be an egg house?’
At first, I thought it was an octopus egg house that I had seen several times in documentaries.
But when I looked closely, I didn’t.
‘It’s a city.’
The octopus egg shell was completely empty.
No, it was filled with numerous buildings.
‘Are each egg a residential area?’
So, the kingdom of mermaids was in the shape of a cluster of grapes, with thousands of eggs tens of meters long held by a giant octopus.
Did you notice this admiration?
The head of the mermaid guard approached.
“are you okay. Don’t ask that octopus. Because she is the cutie of our kingdom.”
“….”
Where the hell do you see me as a cutie?
Lloyd had many things he wanted to refute(?), but he couldn’t bear to put them in his mouth, so he kept silent.
In the meantime, everyone passed by the body of the octopus.
It passed the surveillance of an eyeball the size of a football field.
I went into an egg house that serves as the entrance to the city.
It was from then.
Under the guidance of the head of the guard, they passed through dozens of egg houses.
It was only at the end that he was able to enter the largest egg nest in the center.
“This is where our queen stays. It is our rule that any outsider who visits the kingdom must greet the Queen and reveal their business. And Lord Asrahan?”
“yes.”
“I hope you have a good time.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“I am grateful. then.”
The head of the guard, who was always stiff when dealing with this side, greeted Xaviel warmly and left.
Seeing this, Lloyd let out a snort.
‘Sheesh. Dirty appearance supremacy!’
Even if this kind of treatment is dirty, I have to finish my business quickly and leave here in the mermaid kingdom.
Thinking so, Lloyd hurried his steps.
I strode into the mermaid queen’s throne room.
The enormously muscular mermaid queen we finally face.
I gave an example before that.
“With infinite gratitude for allowing us to visit you today, Lloyd Frontera, the human, salutes the Mermaid Queen. In addition, I would like to inform the Queen that I have come all the way here in search of the whereabouts of the jewel of truth that is said to be passed down in the mermaid kingdom.”
He quickly revealed his purpose.
And waited for the Queen’s reply.
I prepared for the reaction of the returning queen.
‘According to the Dragon King, even here, the jewel of truth must be a great treasure. I wouldn’t give it away easily or allow it to be used. Wouldn’t it be something grandiose? or to help the kingdom. or have to pay a huge price. Would he react that way?’
Perhaps.
Negotiations will obviously be needed.
‘So now is important. You have to figure out what the mermaid queen wants and what she misses.’
That’s where the negotiations begin.
Understanding the needs of the other party.
To poke an unfortunate corner.
That’s how this side gets what it wants at the lowest price possible.
I hope I can do it this time too.
So let’s get our minds together.
Lloyd made up his mind and kept his eyes on the queen’s reaction.
but the next moment.
The mermaid queen reacted completely unexpectedly.
“what? A gem of truth? Are there any naive people in the world who believe that?”
“…yes?”
unexpected laughter.
Lloyd raised his head involuntarily.
My eyes met the mermaid queen.
In that moment he felt
The smile that the Queen has on her face.
The atmosphere of that laugh was so strange.
‘What is that reaction?’
I felt a sudden rush.
It was a very different reaction than expected.
So that’s….
‘It just seems like that. A foreign reporter arrived at Incheon Airport. However, this is how you explain the purpose of your visit to Korea. oh! Ungnyeo, who was said to have become a human by eating garlic and mugwort in the Dangun era! I came all the way here to interview him! I mean. The mermaid queen’s eyes are like that now. It’s like a Korean looking at a foreign reporter who says that.’
At first I thought it wouldn’t be.
I hoped it would.
But it was real.
Looking at the atmosphere, that kind of look was really right.
‘no way…Isn’t the Jewel of Truth a truly legendary item?’
A strange feeling of uneasiness crept up.
A legendary item or treasure.
in any world
any country or region.
There is just one thing that is said to be legendary.
Cheonbu Samin (天符三印), three divine objects in the Dangun myth.
Ganjang (干將) and Makya (莫耶), the twin swords of the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period.
The Dragon King Sword Gurigara of Buddhist Fudo Myungwang.
Excalibur from the King Arthur story.
The Christian dragon-killing sword, Ascalon.
Gungnir, the spear of Odin in Norse mythology.
Brahmastra, a nuclear-powered arrow from Indian mythology.
Even if you open the bag in Korea, you can’t see the contents, even nitrogen snacks.
Usually such legendary objects had one thing in common.
It exists only in an imaginary story, so there is no reality.
Even if it actually existed, it existed a long time ago.
…It was that it was an object that could not be found at present for reasons such as.
Lloyd asked with a sigh.
“Hmm, may I dare to ask the great Queen of Mermaids just one thing?”
“Ask me.”
“That’s what the Queen just said to me. Are there any naive people in the world who believe in the jewel of truth? …Do you mean that the Jewel of Truth is something that exists only in legends?”
“Why not?”
I asked this with a trembling heart.
The mermaid queen gave an easy answer as if it was natural.
she chuckled.
It seems a bit out of the ordinary.
Or, on the other hand, it seems sad.
I looked down at this with those eyes.
“You are right about what you asked. It’s the jewel of truth that you said you wanted to find. I can’t say it was something that didn’t exist. But if you ask if you can find it, well. You may want to ask yourself if you were born in the wrong era.”
“That word….”
“The jewel of truth, it is something that exists only in legends and myths among us mermaids.”
“Cheuk.”
Lloyd involuntarily inhaled the waste.
Again, it seemed that the ominous premonition was correct.
‘Damn it! Didn’t the jewel of truth exist in the present?’
It was good until I had an audience with the mermaid queen and confidently revealed my business.
But to see the Queen’s reaction from then on.
The jewel of truth seemed to be a very old thing.
“Umm, then, if I ask the Queen one thing, it is the jewel of truth. Is it something that actually existed?”
“Um maybe?”
“Maybe?”
Lloyd asked.
The Queen shrugged her muscular shoulders.
“Maybe he did exist. As I said before, at least in the Age of Mythology.”
“Mythological Age….”
“Isn’t it sad? So, if you want to find Jewel, you should be born a little earlier. Isn’t it?”
“….”
Lloyd was at a loss for words.
When I heard the story, it wasn’t just the old days.
It was a time of myth.
So, to estimate the time through the age of this world, which has been mentioned several times in the Iron Blooded Knights….
‘That’s at least ten thousand years ago.’
I wanted to pass out.
What about Korea?
It was the day before Dangun’s grandfather founded Gojoseon.
However, in what time period can such a thing be found at the bottom of the sea, a treasure that even the mermaids have never seen since the age of mythology?
‘I’m not some kind of archaeologist.’
A deep sigh came out.
It became dark before my eyes.
The mermaid queen’s sorrowful voice was heard.
“Anyway, it’s the same for me to feel sorry for you who came all the way here with such absurd business seriously. But where did you hear about the Jewel of Truth? Almost no race other than us mermaids knows about that story.”
“Oh that….”
Lloyd raised his head.
The existence that revealed the jewel of truth to himself.
He replied, rekindling the flames of resentment toward that existence.
“This is Dragon King Verkis.”
“Dragon King? under. If it were him, the story of the jewel of truth would be enough to know. Also the truth that jewels exist only in myths. Come to think of it, it seems that he has been tossed around by him. Am I right?”
“…I guess so.”
Lloyd let out a bitter laugh.
Really.
It was properly caught by the Dragon King.
‘I guess I used a trick to get rid of that dragon king because I’m bothering him.’
At last, he was able to properly realize the trick the dragon king had played.
because it’s annoying
Because you ask questions every day.
To get rid of it, he gave me no answer or sincerity.
However, having no way to find out the authenticity, he stopped thinking that sincere answer was real and came all the way here.
‘Whoa. What should I do now?’
To be honest, I wanted to go back to the Frontera estate right away, grab the Dragon King by the collar and shake him with the surround Jajinmori rhythm.
But for that, the effort I put in to get here was too wasteful.
‘Besides, it’s said to be a legendary jewel of truth, but I didn’t say it was a fiction at all.’
perhaps.
really maybe
I thought I might be able to find a trace of it.
Because of lingering?
Even if it’s not that, even if it’s just a few days, I just wanted to check it out and leave.
“Then may I make a request to the great mermaid queen?”
“supplication?”
“yes. If only for a few days, would I be able to stay in this great kingdom and explore the jewels of truth?”
“Hmm.”
“please.”
Lloyd’s eyes widened.
Annoyance flashed in the queen’s eyes.
Soon the queen nodded.
“What good. There won’t be any damage to our kingdom by allowing that much.”
“thank you!”
“There is no possibility of finding it anyway, but if we really do find the gem, wouldn’t the result also benefit our kingdom? But let me make one thing clear. I won’t provide any support for your search for the Jewel. In fact, our kingdom also has troublesome problems, so we don’t have the time to worry about trivial matters.”
“yes? A headache?”
Lloyd asked.
The mermaid queen frowned.
“There is such a thing. To put it simply, it’s because of the sudden opening of the Hell Gate over the Arctic Ocean recently.”
“….”
hot.
Lloyd’s back stiffened.
“Do you know why the Hell Gate suddenly opened? Have you ever heard rumors or rumors related to such a phenomenon in the human world?”
“I don’t know. No.”
“okay?”
“yep.”
The sound of a prickly conscience.
Suppressing that, Lloyd nodded at the speed of light.
I spread the shameless titanium iron plate like a triple embossing and said to the queen.
