CHAPTER 14
The Woes of a Mermaid
I thank Ishtar and begin to leave the Chamber of Eternal Stasis when…
“Ristarte, take this with you.”
I suddenly hear a voice in my head.
“This data from the past may help you.”
I recognize that it’s the voice of the Goddess of Time, Chronoa, the moment a sheet of paper softly flutters down from above.
“Chronoa…?”
I mutter her name after picking up the paper, but there is no response. Nevertheless, when I lower my gaze to see what’s written, I’m stunned.
DEMON LORD ULTIMAEUS |
||||
LV: 99 (MAX) | ||||
HP: 1,092,174 |
MP: 354,788 | |||
ATK: 817,772 |
DEF: 806,584 |
SPD: 789,834 |
MAG: 265,473 |
GRW: 999 (MAX) |
“I-it’s Demon Lord Ultimaeus’s status!!”
Ishtar nods back at me after I scream.
“The Goddess of Time prepared that just for you.”
“But is this even okay?! Should I even be looking at the last boss’s status?!”
“I believe that data is from one year ago when Ultimaeus defeated Seiya’s party and received the Dark God’s Blessing. She must have thought that showing you past data wouldn’t be an issue.”
I run my eyes over the data once more. The Demon Lord’s special abilities and skills aren’t listed, but his stats are extraordinary. I’m at a loss for words, having never seen attributes as terrifying as these. Ishtar is staring at me seriously as well.
“While the battle against the Demon Lord is still a long way off, I have a hard time believing a human Hero can defeat an enemy with attributes like this. Saving Ixphoria is going to be harder than I imagined.”
Noticing the tension in my expression, Ishtar grins from ear to ear just like she always does.
“A dangerous force is approaching, yes? Please tell Seiya Ryuuguuin to return to the spirit world at once after taking care of it. I wish to make another proposal to the deities of the heart of the spirit world…”
After saying good-bye to Ishtar, I put together some rice balls and simple snacks in a lunch box and head for the hut in the secluded celestial mountains. But when I open the door, I almost drop the lunch I made…because standing before me is none other than Bunogeos! While I’m sure it’s nothing more than shape-shifting, the overpowering, frightening aura from his body sends a shiver down my spine.
“Um…Seiya? That’s you…isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
H-his voice sounds just like Bunogeos’s, too! I can’t tell them apart! That’s when I finally realize: Seiya’s planning on disguising himself as Bunogeos! No wonder he spied on Bunogeos for three days in a row, despite being confident that he could beat him! That explains why he was oinking, too! He wasn’t going mad. He was practicing!
There’s a radiant light, and Bunogeos transforms back into Seiya.
“Seiya?! You mastered shape-shifting already?!”
“Yeah. It looks like I finished earlier than expected.”
“Wait… Where’s Rasti?”
“She’s sitting over there.”
Rasti, who isn’t a big person to begin with, is curled up in a ball in the corner of the room.
“R-Rasti?!”
“…Leave me alone.”
I don’t even need to ask what happened. Her confidence must have taken a hit after Seiya learned the shape-shifting technique so quickly. I’d rather not have her take her anger out on me, so I ignore her.
“Oh yeah! Seiya! I can use my healing magic again! Ishtar asked the deities in the heart of the spirit world to lighten our sentence!”
“Hmph.”
Seiya grunts as if he couldn’t care less.
Y-yeah, yeah! You can stop pretending because I know you’re ecstatic deep down inside!
I decide to bring out Appraise for the first time in a while.
|
|
-Your love rating with Seiya: |
5 points |
-Seiya thinks you’re: |
a walking healing herb. |
-A tidbit of advice: |
He views you as a walking healing herb; that’s only slightly better than nothing! |
RISTA’S LOVE APPRAISAL…Yes!! I’ve been promoted from parasitic weed to walking healing herb! He thinks I’m better than nothing, and our love rating has gone up four whole points! Yaaay…
I limply fall to my knees at Rasti’s side.
“…What’s up with you?”
“I’m just…extremely depressed… That’s all…”
But I can’t let myself mope around all day. I have something I need to give to Seiya.
“Hey, Seiya! The Goddess of Time, Chronoa, gave this to me! It’s past data on Demon Lord Ultimaeus!”
“Information on the Demon Lord? Is it reliable?”
“Of course! She’s a goddess from the heart of the spirit world!”
Seiya swipes the paper out of my hands and lowers his gaze. After a few moments pass, he mutters with a straight face:
“His attack and defense are higher than the Demon Lord of Gaeabrande’s.”
Ahhh! He’s even stronger than Gaeabrande’s final boss—the Demon Lord Seiya had to risk his life and use Valkyrie’s ultimate attack, Gate of Valhalla, twice against in order to defeat!
It’s not like I’m surprised, but actually putting it into words is devastating. Do we really even stand a chance in the face of such a powerful foe?
Rasti, who had been just as depressed, suddenly stands back up and takes a peek at the paper as well. She shudders.
“U-unbelievable… That thing’s even more powerful than your run-of-the-mill deity. Are you two going to be okay?”
“I—I don’t know…”
Seiya then further adds fuel to the flames of despair.
“You said this was past data, correct? It’s highly likely that the Demon Lord has become even more powerful by now.”
“But, Seiya…! The Demon Lord’s already at max level. How could he—?”
“I’m already at the maximum level, too, and I’m still trying to find a way to surpass those limits. In other words, the enemy is probably thinking the same thing.”
“N-now that you mention it, Great Goddess Ishtar said she couldn’t sense the Demon Lord’s presence! Do you think that means…?!”
“It’s reasonable to assume he’s accumulating power to break the level cap barrier.”
I can see only darkness in our future. I feel listless. The room is dead silent. As if to change the mood, Seiya speaks up in a loud voice.
“At any rate, we need to focus on getting past Grandleon’s inspection for now. I’d prefer to go alone under normal circumstances, but as saving Ixphoria is also part of your punishment, I have no choice but to bring you with me. Therefore…”
Seiya turns his penetrating gaze on me.
“You’re going to need to turn into a monster.”
“M-me?! But I can’t even shape-shift!”
“You don’t have to worry about that. He even mastered my ultimate move: Transform Target. With that, he can turn whoever he wants into whatever he wants.”
“I’m turning you into a mermaid.”
…Huh? A m-mermaid…? Seriously?! I’m a little fired up now! B-but I feel like just turning me into a mermaid isn’t going to be enough…
The bright light enveloping my body eventually fades. I quickly examine myself in the full-length mirror Rasti brought over…and my jaw drops.
…A head like a tuna.
…Rugged scales covering my body.
…A putrid, fishy smell flowing from every pore.
I was turned into a bipedal, upright fish-person.
“…?! What the hell?! This isn’t a mermaid! I’m supposed to be human on top and fish on the bottom!”
“The fish-type beastkin I saw in Ixphoria looked like this, so we have no other choice.”
“What’s the point of even making me a fish-person in the first place?!”
“According to my research, fish-type beastkin have lower IQs than other beastkin and essentially only flap their lips, since they can’t talk. You’re less likely to have your cover blown when you can’t say anything stupid. That’s what makes the fish perfect for you.”
“Seiyaaaaaa! Turn me back right now!”
“This isn’t a game. You need to take your role seriously.”
“No! I am a goddess! I’d rather die than—”
“…Rista.”
Seiya heaves a sigh as I throw a tantrum in my fish body.
“Could you make yourself useful just this once?”
“…?!”
It’s not like Seiya to ask for favors. He must be getting frustrated with me.
“F-fine… I’ll do it…”
“Great. Then let’s start training.”
Seiya then begins lecturing me on how to act more fish-person-like. Despite my completely resembling one thanks to his shape-shifting ability, the enemy might get suspicious if I behave strangely.
“Listen carefully. I don’t want you speaking in human tongue in Ixphoria unless I give you permission. Whenever you talk, just flap your lips and make fish noises like uwoh uwoh.
“Now I’m going to tell you how we’re going to communicate. You’re going to flap your lips twice for ‘yes’ and three times for ‘no.’ Now, if the enemy starts catching on, I want you to flap your gills instead.
“No. You need to bob more like a fish-person.
“Do not even get near other fish-type beastkin. If any of them happens to talk to you, do not say a word.
“You still don’t pass for a fish-type beastkin. Throw away the old you. You’re a fish.”
I pour my heart and soul into the role as Seiya guides me along. Rasti rolls on the floor, roaring in laughter as I bob around the hut like a fish-person. She even says “it smells like fish in here” to make fun of me. Regardless, I keep my chin up and dedicate myself to practicing.
Meanwhile, Seiya seems to be making use of his downtime by raising the ground outside the hut and refining his earth magic. When I ask him about it, he replies:
“I’m preparing for the remote chance that Grandleon sees through our disguises. If I had more time, I would have liked to talk to the earth deity to train, but there’s no time for that now. It will just have to wait until next time.”
After my conversation with Seiya, I go back inside the hut and return to practicing walking like a fish-person. I make sure not to forget to smack my lips like a fish and say uwoh uwoh, either.
Around an hour has gone by. Halfway through practice, Rasti’s laughter turned into genuine praise.
“Wow, Rista! No one will be able to tell you apart from a real fish-person now! There isn’t even a hint of goddess in you left!”
“Uwoh, uwoh, uwoh!”
“…?! Rista?! What’s wrong?!”
“Oh…sorry. I forgot how to speak for a second there.”
That’s when Seiya comes walking back into the hut.
“Hmm… It looks like you’ve gotten the hang of it. All right, it’s about time we head back.”
Still disguised as a fish-type beastkin, I create a gate to Ixphoria. Seiya shape-shifts back into Bunogeos as well.
“Our objective is to convince Grandleon that Bunogeos defeated the Hero. However…”
The orc Hero’s gaze sharpens.
“If the opportunity arises, I will kill Grandleon and take his form. Be prepared.”
“O-okay!”
Before walking through the gate, I ask Seiya:
“Seiya… Are you perfectly prepared?”
“That all depends on you.”
…Fair enough.