Chapter 305

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on April 8, 2025

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305th Chapter: Strength of Monsters 5

“Master Hassan, we really should release this mermaid back to the ocean soon…!”

Paranoi was trembling.

She then suggested that returning the mermaid nymph she had captured to the sea would be the best course of action.

Paranoi, who usually boasts to anyone with arrogance, only lowers her tail like this when she feels her defeat is certain.

And I am well aware of that.

“I-I’m Eariol, the concubine of the Strength of Monsters, Triton! If you mess with me, Lord Triton will send a massive wave towards Delphi!”

I suspect Paranoi’s fear stems from this mention of Triton.

Who is Triton?

A Strength of Monsters?

I’ve noticed before that people in this world enjoy giving themselves catchy nicknames. Could this be a severe case of self-conscious overconfidence? A middle-ear disease, perhaps?

Thinking about it this way makes me feel that my own title, Samaritan, is rather simple and appealing. If my title had been something like Dark Prince Hassan because of my black hair, it would have made me quite embarrassed in many ways.

“Master Hassan, we must return this mermaid to the sea quickly…! If we don’t, we might incur Triton’s wrath…!”

While I was lost in thought, Paranoi’s scream pulled me back to reality.

“What’s this Triton guy?”

“Do you know who the ruler of the sea is?”

“Neptune, right?”

I recalled something I had read in an encyclopedia long ago. In this world, the god Neptune governs water and the sea.

His power is so immense that he is considered one of the three supreme deities alongside Jupiter and Pluto.

Now, with the faith in Pluto completely suppressed, Neptune is truly one of the two ruling absolute gods who divide the world.

Though I rarely encountered him while living in Sodomora, his status in seaside cities like Delphi is said to even surpass that of Jupiter, King of the Gods.

“So what about Neptune?”

“Triton is Neptune’s only son…! A notorious and merciless young hoodlum famous in these parts…!”

“If Triton’s Neptune’s son, does that mean he’s a Demigod?”

I reflected on the countless demigods I’ve seen with numbers tattooed on their wrists. Just yesterday, for instance, I faced Caesar, the son of a mountain god, and Yabes, the son of a river deity. By now, encountering a god’s child doesn’t surprise me much. Humans, after all, are adaptable creatures.

But Paranoi foamed at the mouth as though she had a firm grip on the situation.

“Not a demigod! He’s a young god himself…! Though young, he is reputed to be a true monster among gods…!”

So, if he’s not a demigod, both his parents must be gods. I marveled at the existence of another being like Luna in this world.

Upon reflection, I realized it wasn’t so surprising. It’s common for gods to marry and bear children, isn’t it?

Summarizing Paranoi’s words, Triton is the only son of Neptune, the absolute ruler of the sea. This Eariol the mermaid claims to be his concubine.

Both Paranoi and I dragged this mermaid out of the water and were about to put her in a bucket.

Upon reconsideration, we had probably messed up big time.

“Let’s return her to the sea, Paranoi.”

“Indeed, that’s a wise decision…!”

“Hey! Stop touching me! Leave my body alone!”

“Then how am I supposed to send you back to the sea?”

“You figure that out! Idiot! Don’t even think about touching me with a finger! Lord Triton won’t let you get away with it! He’s the strongest in these waters!”

It reminded me of a fox riding on a lion’s back.

Paranoi often bullied others by using me as a front, but maybe this is a natural instinct among nymphs to cling to someone they consider stronger and oppress those weaker than themselves.

And it works surprisingly well.

So now, Paranoi and I had to figure out how to return this noisy, insignificant mermaid to the sea without so much as touching her with a finger.

But no solution came to mind. No matter what we did, we couldn’t avoid physical contact.

“d*mn, shall we just chuck her in there?”

I ended up lifting the mermaid up with that idea in mind.

“KYAAAK! Where, where are you touching me? Stop touching me!”

The mermaid flapped her small fins around, resisting my grasp, but this fragile creature had no strength to overpower me.

I used to go fishing in rivers and seas with my father; I know how to handle live fish.

Flap, Flap.

“Hey, just stay still a moment.”

“I-I can’t believe this! Back off! Brute!”

I walked steadily towards the beach. And just then, something unexpectedly erupted from the calm sea.

Plop, Plop.

It was multicolored hair—more accurately, wet hair. And among the strands, I saw ear-like fins, indicating that they were likely other mermaids.

Big trouble.

Could they have come searching for Eariol?

Just as I began to panic a little,

“Eariol! I sent you on an errand, and yet here you are fooling around again!”

“You were supposed to play with us, and now you’ve delayed our tasks! We had to do all your errands as well because of you!”

“You don’t deserve to be in Lord Triton’s treasure box!”

“Don’t dare say you know Lord Triton either! Your presence lowers his status!”

Screech screech, splashes splashes.

The mermaids shouted loudly and hurled water sprays in our direction.

“What the heck, did we just upset nature itself?”

Caught by surprise with the water elemental attacks, I became completely soaked, which left me utterly perplexed.

The issue was that the water wasn’t just soaking our clothes—it actually hurt like hell.

It was literally spear-like waves.

“KYAAAK!”

Eariol, the mermaid I was holding, suffered the same fate. She couldn’t withstand the powerful water jets and ended up screaming.

Even I, who have some tolerance for pain, found it quite painful. For a mermaid with delicate skin, it must’ve been excruciating.

If this Eariol gets hurt, won’t that guy Triton lash out? That’s why I covered her well with the beast’s skin that I had draped over my head.

Screech screech, splashes splashes.

“That was entertaining! Let’s go, sisters!”

“Eariol, you’ll regret it if you dare to come back here tonight! You won’t sleep a wink!”

With that, after creating a water spray, the mermaids giggled and disappeared back into the sea.

“What the heck was that? Retribution for tampering with nature or something?”

With seawater stinging my eyes, I carefully placed the sea nymph, Eariol, back into the water.

“Alright, just go back home.”

Splash, splash.

She playfully splashed around like a dolphin that’s been saved, seemingly overjoyed to return to the water. Then she hesitantly turned towards me.

“Y-You heard that, didn’t you?”

“What, the splashing sound?”

“No, nothing. Forget about it.”

“But, that Paranoi heard everything…! This mermaid was being bullied and excluded by others…! Yet she falsely claimed to be Triton’s concubine…!”

But Paranoi, as she always does, relentlessly attacked the weaknesses of others.

Paranoi is truly the hyena of the wilderness. The moment she senses an injury or bl**d, she doesn’t hesitate to pounce.

“She’ll definitely be bullied again by the other nymphs of the sea when she goes back…! An eye for an eye, indeed! That’s what she gets for showing off to me…!”

“H-H-H…”

Could it be because of Paranoi’s provocations? The expression on Eariol’s face darkened more than when she emerged from the sea.

“N-No, it’s not like that!”

And then, large tears began to stream down her bright blue eyes. Curious, her tears glimmered with a strange silvery light.

Paranoi gasped in surprise.

“Nymphs’ tears are known to be excellent spell ingredients…! And it’s true that tears of sea nymphs are especially renowned for their beauty…!”

“Hey, Paranoi, why can’t you get along better with her since she is also a nymph?”

“She lives in the sea…! She’s different from land nymphs like me…! Nymphs closer to fish are just very dull-witted…!”

For some reason, there seemed to be regional rivalries among the nymphs. I decided not to question it further.

*

Even after my efforts to safely return her to the sea, Eariol didn’t return to her hometown or wherever it might be. Instead, she slowly crawled back onto land and sat on the beach, pouring out her grievances.

“If I go back to the underwater village like this, the seniors will scold me! I need to bring some kind of achievement or result!”

Because of this, Paranoi and I spent half a day sitting on the beach listening to her chatter incessantly.

This Eariol was far from the braggart she claimed earlier—she was nothing special. Not Triton’s concubine, not even the owner of the prettiest scales.

Apparently, she worked various odd jobs and errands for a group called the Shell Box, a fan club or harem of sorts for Triton, the only son of Neptune. She occupied the lowest rank, being the 32nd out of the members.

She said she had only ever seen Triton in passing from afar.

Now, I could finally relax.

“Huh, so if I touched you, it doesn’t mean this terrifying Triton guy will come and retaliate against us, right?”

“Yeah… but he will someday! Someday! And I will climb the ranks, give birth to Triton’s child!”

A rather passionate and incongruous spirit burned in this cool mermaid. Sensing my curiosity, Paranoi explained, reading my thoughts.

“Triton is the heir to Neptune…! Becoming his wife and bearing his heir means becoming the Queen of the Sea…!”

Ah, so it’s like marrying the second generation of a wealthy family.

They say that becoming the wife of a doctor is enviable because it’s better than simply being a doctor. Isn’t the same true for the wife of the second generation of a wealthy family being more enviable than the heir himself?

So, marrying the heir to the title of “Lord of the Sea,” this somewhat obnoxious golden-spoon-type, would indeed be a way to improve one’s fate.

Of course, within the harem, there must be its own dramas and power struggles.

Although, from what I could tell, this Eariol didn’t seem to have too much of a chance. Hadn’t she been easily lured out of the water by Paranoi’s finger?

While I was thinking about this, Paranoi continued.

“Triton is known for instigating fights among his harem members, encouraging them to tear each other down! The survivors get the privilege of becoming his wife…!”

“What an unpleasant guy.”

“But, Master Hassan, you could learn a thing or two from that…! Wise and strong children are born from wise and strong women…! Instigating competition among harem members is a very wise move…!”

I didn’t understand why the conversation suddenly shifted to me, but Paranoi often rambled without context.

Therefore, while I halfheartedly nodded along to her story, the mermaid Eariol sitting nearby, who had been sighing as she stared out at the sea, suddenly spoke up.

“Although I may be the number 32, the youngest, my love for Lord Triton knows no bounds! I have a plan. A plan to turn the black sea, blue!”

“What? What kind of plan?”

I was startled, thinking I might have misheard her. She just said she would turn the black sea blue, didn’t she? Grabbing her shoulder, I looked her in the eye and asked again.

“Tell me more about that.”

“Will you really not mock my story? Will you not laugh at this absurd tale?”

“Of course, I won’t laugh. Tell me, what’s this business about the black sea?”

“You’re the first person who hasn’t mocked me when I spoke! You’re kinder than you look. And you even saved me during the water spray earlier!”

Upon hearing my question, Eariol burst into tears. Silver droplets rolled from her eyes, falling to the sand.

I discreetly slipped them into my pocket while Eariol wasn’t looking. Luna would probably like them, hehe.

To me, she said while sniffling,

“H-H-Hey, do you like me? I’m sorry, but I can’t reciprocate your feelings because of Lord Triton…!”

sh*t.

I didn’t even confess, but I was rejected. I began to understand why Paranoi called mermaids dumb. Haven’t I encountered something similar before?

Anyway, that wasn’t the most important matter at the moment.

“What exactly is this ‘black sea’ thing?”