Chapter 248: The Loathsome Life of Lua (6)

It was a relief that Ann also assented to my plan. The mermaids stopped their resistance and decided to accept Lua's sacrifice. Lua boarded the ship with a gloomy face. Eve and Cellu each sat down on the deck and waited for the ship to depart. The fisherman started the ignition with a displeased face, constantly reading our expressions. Come to think of it, that fisherman was someone who had lost his family in this incident.

"Fisherman. Are you okay?"

"I cannot understand this. I will go and tell the lord everything about this case. That the high priest colluded with those dirty fish bastards and betrayed us. All the territory residents believed in the high priest, so how could you do this?"

"Hoo..."

It couldn't be helped. I caught my breath while stretching to loosen up my fingers. Cellu stopped Eve from drawing her curved sword. The fisherman screamed upon seeing our atmosphere rapidly change.

"W-What are you trying to do? Stop it! Please don't do this! To kill a human to protect a mermaid, how could an Archdeity Church high priest..."

"I'm not going to kill you."

I grabbed the fisherman's head and prepared to give him a forehead flick. I wondered how much power I used when I delivered the memory-wiping forehead flick back then. I put strength into my finger and placed it against the fisherman's forehead. The fisherman began to struggle and scream as a strong arm wrapped around his neck.

"P-Please don't do this! Aaaagh! Aaaagh! Stop! I said stop! Aaaagh! I won't say anything...!"

An intense sound rang out, strong enough to make Ann flinch as she watched from afar. The moment my finger struck the fisherman's forehead, he curled his body up and suffered a seizure like a fly struck by an electric fly swatter.

Gaaargh!

Leaving the fisherman collapsed on the floor, Lua asked in startle.

"I-Is he dead? Are you really a high priest? What kind of person just goes around killing people?"

"He's not dead. Just wait."

A moment later, the fisherman got up while rubbing his head. He opened his eyes blearily and looked around his surroundings. Seeing an unfamiliar mermaid and priest aboard his boat, he shouted in startle.

"W-Who are you people!"

It took quite some time again to explain the situation. The fisherman said he had a son and a beautiful wife, and that today was his son's tenth birthday. He trembled, asking why he was here when things had been so chaotic lately due to the mermaid attacks. I explained that the true nature of this attack incident was the tyranny of an evil member of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's army, who had manipulated the mermaids at will, and that the Lua sitting right here was that very member of the Four Heavenly Kings.

"You trashy bitch!"

The fisherman spat and started throwing punches at Lua. I restrained his actions and pushed him into the cockpit. The fisherman rubbed his reddened forehead and started the ignition for the mana engine inside the cockpit. He muttered that he didn't know why his forehead was throbbing so much. Lua spoke up once the fisherman went into the cockpit.

"To think you would go this far for the mermaids."

"If the mermaids die, my woman will be sad. I can't have that. And fuck, if you think about it, you really are the one who incited the peaceful mermaids and completely fucked up the western region. You bitch. Do you have a complaint about this treatment? Should I just chop your neck off and bring only that?"

"...No. It's not a complaint, but..."

Lua had tried to subtly provoke me but shrank back at my harsh rebuke. Eve and Cellu both glanced at Lua before shutting their mouths. For some reason, neither Cellu nor Eve seemed to want to have a proper conversation with Lua. They seemed to pity her, while at the same time appearing to want something from me. The fisherman, on the other hand, was burning with the desire to beat Lua to death.

Ocean foam splashed against the hull of the boat as it boasted its maximum speed. The salty bubbles clung to my cheek, so I roughly wiped them away with my hand. The deck was covered in the metallic stench of fish-man blood and strange, caked-on marks. Feeling uncomfortable, I stared at the dirt staining my priest's robe as I waited for our arrival at the western coast.

The journey back wasn't as rough as the trip there. It was because the fish-men were swimming all around us, pulling the boat we were on. Roughly dozens of fish-men swam in a formation surrounding the vessel. Both Eve and Cellu kept stealing downward glances, clearly bothered by the fish-men, but Lua kept her mouth tightly shut as if she had no intention of easing their worries.

When we were about halfway there, Lua asked me again in a low voice.

"What am I supposed to do when we get back to the western region?"

"I will put you on the execution stand, and you will confess your crimes in front of the territory residents before being executed. You know what to confess, right?"

I also whispered in a low voice, mindful of the fisherman.

"I was using the mermaids as slaves. Actually, the mermaids had rebelled against the Demon King, but I brainwashed them using the power bestowed upon me by the Demon King. Then I'll demonstrate that the fish-men follow my commands, and after that, what am I supposed to do?"

"Act out how resentful you are, claiming that you had hoped the mermaids and humans would face mutual destruction."

"...I never thought I would end up in this predicament."

Lua grumbled, sticking her tongue out slightly as if my demands were absurd. Eve spoke up.

"Then are you really going to kill her?"

"Huh? Uh... Yeah?"

The reason my response was so hesitant was because of the look in Eve's eyes. She was staring at Lua with a pitiful gaze. Cellu kept her mouth shut, but the thought of executing Lua seemed to weigh heavily on her as well. Cellu was staring at the fish-men swimming through the water current. However, neither Eve nor Cellu could bring themselves to voice their demands out loud.

They couldn't speak up easily because they also understood my position. I was strictly a member of the hero's party destined to defeat the Demon King, and Lua was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's army. If we strictly followed the mission, killing Lua with my own hands was the right thing to do.

"I can't."

That was why I firmly cut them off first. I had to make it perfectly clear that I couldn't spare Lua's life. Otherwise, there was no telling what kind of nonsense the fisherman steering the boat right next to me might blabber. Cellu grumbled.

"I know there's no alternative, but I still want to be stubborn."

"But you know it's not possible, Cellu. I'm a member of the hero's party. I have to uphold justice in this world."

"I know."

We didn't share any deeper conversation than that. It was because the fisherman was listening. The fisherman had his face pressed against the glass, anxiously waiting to see when the western coast would appear. He rubbed his face against the window so hard I wondered if he was trying to snort the horizon through his nose, and he couldn't hide his excitement when the tip of the coastline finally came into view.

"High priest! We have arrived!"

"He says we've arrived. Both of you get ready."

It seemed the watchtower had already spread the news of our arrival. The lord was waiting at the port, leading a large contingent of the knight order. He had a venomous expression on his face as he shouted something at the knights. The knights gripped their weapons with faces full of murderous intent, and the soldiers' expressions were contorted like evil spirits.

Hatred completely dominated the port. Both Eve and Cellu shrank back from the crowd's murderous intent, wondering if it was aimed at them. The moment the fisherman disembarked, he immediately bowed to the lord before turning around to spew his own hatred toward Lua. Lua merely gave a slight twitch of her eyebrow, not displaying a single shred of emotion in the face of their hatred. She obediently stepped off the boat and whispered to me.

"You'll keep your promise, right? Please take care of my lamias."

I nodded my head and shoved her off the deck. The moment she set foot on the pier, someone threw a rock at her. The lord used his knights to calm the crowd down and asked me a question.

"High priest! Is that wicked snake bastard the ringleader behind this incident? Please tell me it's true!"

The lord's eyes were practically glowing with the desire to tear Lua apart right this second. The furious crowd glared at Lua, already brandishing clubs and farm tools. Since a bloodthirsty momentum hung in the air, I made Eve and Cellu—who had been about to disembark—step back up onto the deck.

"That is correct. This lamia is the culprit who abused the mermaids and summoned the fish-men to completely devastate the western region."

"So it is! Men! Bring out that device we procured from Esta right now!"

"From Esta? No way..."

Parting the line of knights, a small cart was dragged forward with a loud rattle.

"Heuk..."

"Fuck..."

Cellu went completely pale and flattened herself against the deck, while Eve tilted her head in confusion as to why Cellu was reacting this way. Lua also tilted her head, seemingly clueless as to why I was reacting the way I was.

Both Cellu and I knew all too well what that contraption was—a transparent glass box filled with countless hoses, a massive pump, and a hardener injection to complete the set. It was Esta's specialty mermaid taxidermy set. I waved my hand dismissively and stepped in front of Lua.

"Hold on a moment. I captured this lamia, so the right to punish her falls under my authority. I will personally strike her down with my sword to avenge the western coast's..."

The lord shouted.

"High priest! Please allow us to avenge this grudge ourselves! The device you see before me is a mermaid preservation device brought directly from Esta! By subjecting that wicked mermaid to preservation while alive! Please let us elevate the honor of our territory and soothe the grudge of those who died!"

"I cannot permit settling a grudge through such a cruel method. I know exactly what that device is. To use such a horrific machine on a criminal who has shown reflection and turned herself in—as the high priest of the Archdeity Church, I absolutely cannot allow this."

"Does the high priest of the Archdeity Church not have any parents? The sorrow of a child who lost their parents! The sorrow of parents who lost their child! What on earth do you intend to replace that with! Just how are we supposed to soothe this grudge!"

I gave Lua an eye signal. When Lua reached her hand out into the air, dozens of fish-men who had been swimming underwater crawled up onto dry land. Seeing the fish-men suddenly line up on the pier, the crowd was thrown into a panic and began to flee while screaming in terror.

"Aaaagh! Aaaagh!"

"It's monsters! They're monsters!"

I stepped forward to deter the knights, who were hurriedly pushing the lord back and preparing for battle to fight off the threat. Upon seeing the fish-men standing perfectly still like mannequins without taking a battle stance, and watching me actively try to stop the fight, the knights struggled to grasp the situation. I spoke.

"I will hand over these fish-men, who are one of the main culprits behind this situation. If you subject these fish-men to preservation while alive, burn them to a crisp, and let the crowd tear them apart, I'm sure it will soothe the grudge of the western coast to some extent."

The lord stared at the fish-men. In reality, the true ringleaders who had caused the most destruction to the western coast were these very fish-men. Since these bastards were genuine demons that had crawled straight out of hell, slaughtering them all right here was the right thing to do. The lord stroked his jaw as he pondered, then spoke.

"...I understand for now. When exactly do you plan on killing that fucking snake bastard?"

"I have a good place in mind."

Lua and I locked eyes with one another.