Chapter 247: The Loathsome Life of Lua (5)

"It's been a really long time since we've been to Mermaid Island."

"Yeah."

Early morning. Eve checked that Lucius was not next to her and looked toward the cave. Cellu was silently rolling around and lounging on the sandy beach. The fisherman, who had crouched on the deck all night trying to sleep, rubbed his temples and looked at his surroundings as soon as morning came. A disturbing murmuring atmosphere was rising among the mermaids.

"Boss!"

"Captain!"

Cellu was staring at the horizon, paying no mind to the sight of those mermaids. Seeing her counting the sunlight reflecting on the shore with an indifferent expression, Eve was suddenly engulfed in anxiety that Cellu might leave. It was because Cellu was a mermaid. Fundamentally, she was a mermaid who suited the sea much better than a swimming pool. Didn't Cellu want to stay on this island right now?

For her, a mermaid, being trapped in a swimming pool was a very stifling and unhappy misfortune. Eve knew well that she had no justification to tell Cellu not to go if she decided to leave. The mermaids were gathering around the cave. Eve was curious about what Lucius had done in the cave, but she decided not to bother checking. Since he said he would resolve it with 'conversation', he would have resolved it with conversation. Eve spoke to Cellu.

"Mom. What are you thinking about right now?"

"The thought that, maybe, I was drawing a line."

Cellu's voice was subdued again today. Cellu, who used to always smile like a fool with a bright voice, frequently spoke in a lowered voice lately. Having serious worries often was not a good thing. Eve showed a sign of anxiety at Cellu's words.

"Drawing a line? What are you talking about?"

"I thought I shouldn't be at the mansion. Because I'm a mermaid. I thought a mermaid should live with mermaids, and you should live at the mansion."

"Was the mansion that uncomfortable? I guess the swimming pool is too small, right?"

Eve said that while reading Cellu's expression. As if Eve's words sounded funny to her, Cellu smiled and said.

"The swimming pool was stifling, but I also thought I shouldn't live at the mansion. It was because I felt like I was becoming an obstacle. I thought it had to be that way for people to acknowledge you as a human."

"...So you were planning to leave?"

Eve hardened her face and asked Cellu. Cellu nodded her head.

"I was thinking that since before we went to Mermaid Island. It was my responsibility to soothe the angry children, and it was also my fault for leaving them like this until now. It was no different from abandoning the other children under the pretext of taking care of you. I thought I had to stay and look after them."

"I'm your only daughter."

"That doesn't mean the other mermaids become nothing. Eve. You know. I can say you're more precious to me, but if I had to choose between the two, I'd have no choice but to agonize over it."

"Sometimes, when I look at you, Mom, you're affectionate yet cold-hearted. Why didn't you tell me? Were you really just going to leave without saying a word?"

"I was going to."

Eve stared at Cellu. Cellu held onto her fin and gazed blankly at Eve. Eve frowned her facial expression and said.

"Then what am I supposed to do? Huh? What do I do if you just leave like that? Who am I supposed to whine to? If you just leave, thinking I have a husband and other kids so I'll be fine, what does that make me?"

Cellu was looking at the mermaids. Some mermaids were swimming frantically around the strait with pale faces, and other mermaids were shedding tears and patting the fallen fish-men. The fish-men with holes in their glabellas were drooping lifelessly, their empty gazes directed at the sky. Cellu said.

"But that wasn't the case. I thought mermaids only accepted mermaids, but I was wrong. I thought humans had something called tolerance unlike mermaids, which was why they accepted you, Eve, while mermaids were a bit closed off and couldn't accept outsiders. But I was thinking about it the wrong way. Eve, the reason I'm telling you I planned to leave is to tell you that I won't leave you."

At the words that she wouldn't leave, Eve's sorrow rapidly subsided. Wiping her face where tears had gathered, Eve looked back at the beach. She felt like an idiot for getting angry. Eve asked.

"So what's the conclusion you came to, Mom?"

"We weren't rejecting outsiders, we just hated the humans who harmed us. The kids here accepted a lamia. They're acting like they can't live without that lamia, in fact. It's because she protects them. It's like that. Both mermaids and humans want an existence that embraces them. The mermaids here do, I do. And you do too."

Cellu looked at Ann. Ann, whose face had turned entirely pale, was trembling and reading Cellu and Eve's expressions. Pointing at her, who was hesitating to approach them from afar, Cellu said.

"I was arrogant. The moment I left Mermaid Island, I had no qualification to assert anything to those children, but I thought I would take care of them when I came back. That's too haughty. And..."

Cellu lunged at Eve. Surprised by the sudden shock, Eve rolled on the ground. Hugging Eve tightly, Cellu said.

"If I left you behind, who would a mermaid with a bad personality and fierce temper like you complain to?"

"...You're really not leaving, right?"

"Yeah. I'm not going anywhere, leaving my Eve behind."

"You're really, really not leaving, right?"

"Chuckle, this reminds me of when our Eve was young."

"Forget about that. You were young back then too, Mom."

While hugging Eve tightly, Cellu recalled the past. Eve, who arrived at Mermaid Island in Eastern Esta, was a target of vigilance for the mermaids. It was because even for the mermaids, a mixed-blood of a human and a mermaid was a sight they were seeing for the first time. It was to the point where there was even talk of chasing Eve out of Mermaid Island. The one who defended and took care of such an Eve was Cellu.

"It's the same everywhere here too. Everyone looks at me with fucking judgmental eyes."

"Even so, don't go. If you leave here now, you'll really die, you know? I'll take care of you. Yeah? How to swim like a mermaid, how mermaids play together. If you learn, you can master anything."

"...Don't talk like a mom. It's fucking annoying."

"Will you call me Mom?"

"Fucking bitch."

"Chuckle."

"Don't laugh like an idiot! It makes me feel like shit, fuck."

Thinking of that time brought out a strange smile. Cellu was like that since they first met. Even while laughing like a fool, her head was always filled with complex thoughts. Eve muttered while caressing Cellu's head.

"Mom, don't go anywhere. Yeah?"

"I won't. I'll live with my daughter for the rest of my life. When Eve becomes a grandmother, I'll tease you by calling you a mermaid grandmother."

Ann came closer to the two of them. Eve stopped caressing Cellu's head and raised her head. Perhaps because she was caught in an embarrassing scene, she reacted sharply.

"What is it?"

"U-Umm... Where is... L-Lucius...?"

"He went to talk with your captain, you know? Why don't you ask the captain?"

Eve spoke bluntly. Ann trembled with a deathly pale face, then spoke while crying.

"L-Lies... He said he would just leave... H-How could he do this? Huh? What does he expect us to do?"

A commotion arose from the cave's direction. The mermaids' atmosphere could be felt freezing over. The presence felt from the direction of the cave was something Eve knew all too well. Eve and Cellu raised their bodies. Ann also turned her head toward the cave. Seeing the two people who emerged from the cave, Ann screamed.

"Kyaaaaaaah!"

Simultaneously, the mermaids began to fall into a panic. It was because Lua was being dragged out by Lucius's hand. She had her head deeply bowed, covering her face with her purple hair. Lucius stroked the area around Lua's buttocks and said.

"Now, say your farewells while looking at the mermaids."

Lua waved her hand at the mermaids. The mermaids laid flat or screamed as if they were going to lunge at Lucius. But when Lua made a gesture, the fish-men who had been staying on the beach swarmed over and separated the mermaids and Lucius. Ann spoke while crying.

"Lady Lua! Why? W-Why? Why did you come out? We were going to protect you. Right?"

"...I'm sorry. I guess this is as far as I go. You guys know it too, don't you? The fact that we can't beat humans. Honestly, I knew it for a long time. That there was no such thing as hope... He promised that if I followed him, he wouldn't touch you. Instead, he said he would help you live more safely than you do now."

"I don't want that!"

Ann shouted as she burst into tears. Shouting in a resolute tone, she tried to break through the fish-men and lunge forward. The fish-men couldn't attack Ann, a mermaid, and were only pushed backward. Despite crying, Lua turned her head away. Ann said.

"You were the only one, Lady Lua! The one who said they wanted to protect us, and the one who actually protected us! But you're telling us to let you go like this? That you'll sacrifice yourself? Do you think we would like something like that?"

The other mermaids also began to push the fish-men. The fish-men couldn't attack the mermaids. Lua looked at the mermaids with a pitiful expression. The mermaids flocking from all directions surged in like a tsunami. Lua shouted. Her voice was full of tears.

"Idiots... I'm telling you, you're all going to die if you do that! You'll all die! You'll all end up being swept away and killed. Are you really fools? It all ends if I just die! You guys can all live happily too, just, isn't that enough... If you have an alternative, then say it, can you guys beat the humans?"

An answer did not return. The mermaids also understood very well that they could not beat humans. There were no mermaids offering a counterargument to Lua's shout. The solution was terrible, but there was no alternative. In the face of a destined tragedy, the mermaids only shuddered.

"You just, live like that... You guys said it yourselves. Fighting back against humans is like trying to beat a storm, you guys just, just met a storm. Just like always, a storm swept by... I was just swept away with it."

The mermaids who had been trying to push away the fish-men stopped. They were all crying in unison. Ann, who had stretched out her hand at the forefront, lowered her hand and sobbed. She looked at Lucius. She said.

"You are... the worst. Really, how could you really do this... that..."

"Let's talk for a moment. Ann."

Lucius took his hand off Lua and reached out to Ann.