Chapter 122: Searching for Mermaids (2)
“Don’t look... please...”
The mermaid, who had been trapped in the net, was now desperately trying to cover her lower body with her hands, but could hands really hide legs?
On top of that, her tail fin was not only much thicker than human legs but also incredibly long. If she were human, it would be like having impossibly long legs.
“No... you can’t see... humans shouldn’t see...”
She seemed as shocked to see me as I was to see her. Panic-stricken, she tried to escape, but her lower body wasn’t designed for moving on land. She had no choice but to crawl on the sand with her arms.
Unfortunately for her, the beach sand was so soft that all she did was dig deeper into it without making much progress. Ultimately, I had no choice but to lift her up and carry her back to the water.
Seeing her struggling and crawling pitifully, I gently picked her up in my arms and headed toward the shoreline to release her.
“No... the human might eat me...”
Well, lucky for her, I’m not particularly fond of seafood.
Though rumors claimed mermaid flesh enhanced stamina, I wasn’t so desperate for a boost that I’d go hunting for exotic meals.
“Next time, try not to get caught in a net.”
Releasing her in shallow water would just leave her flailing helplessly again, so I walked deeper until the water reached my waist and let her go.
The moment I lowered her upper body into the water, she let out a shriek and clung tightly to my neck, jumping up in pain.
“Huh? What’s going on...?”
Only then did I notice the wounds all over her body, left by the net.
Though the cuts were shallow, her skin was scratched and bleeding slightly in multiple places. Immersing those wounds in saltwater must have felt like pouring salt directly into them—a kind of torture.
She whimpered, clinging to me desperately. Seeing her in such pain, I couldn’t just leave her in the sea.
“...Let’s treat your wounds first.”
‘Is this freshwater?’
In the villa, there was a large oak barrel filled with water, apparently distilled from seawater to create fresh drinking water.
Washing her with seawater would only make things worse, so I brought the barrel of freshwater to the bathtub where the mermaid was waiting.
She was lying there, her body covered in sand and salt from the beach, visibly uncomfortable. Taking a small bucket, I carefully scooped the water and began washing her.
Perhaps out of embarrassment, she stayed lying on her stomach as I poured water over her back, cleaning the wounds there. Sand was stuck in the cuts, and simply rinsing wasn’t enough. I had to use my hands to gently rub the sand out of her wounds.
Her lower body, being covered in scales, didn’t show any visible scratches from the net.
While some scales seemed to have been scraped off, there were no bleeding wounds. For now, I focused on her upper body, which had the soft, delicate skin of a human.
“Your back is done. Turn over.”
“No, I don’t want to...”
“I need you to turn over so I can clean and treat your wounds.”
“I still don’t want to...”
It seemed she didn’t trust humans and remained curled up, showing me only her back. However, I had seen earlier that her arms and torso had more severe wounds, and her stomach, which had dragged across the sand, was likely in worse condition. I couldn’t just leave it.
So, I applied a little force and turned her over against her will.
‘What’s the big deal? She’s covering herself anyway.’
It seemed mermaids had some sense of modesty because she was wearing a kind of top made of starfish-like shells that covered her chest.
The "top" moved slightly. At first, I thought I imagined it or that it was just her chest shifting as she moved. But looking closer, the starfish-shaped covering was subtly moving its tentacles.
Which meant the thing covering her chest wasn’t clothing—it was a living starfish.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t stare so much. It’s embarrassing...”
Realizing that staring at a woman’s chest was rude, I quickly averted my eyes. Instead, I focused on pouring water over her collarbone and shoulders, washing away the sand stuck to her wounds.
To avoid causing her too much pain, I poured the water slowly, letting it gently flow over her skin. For the remaining sand stuck in her wounds, I used my fingers to carefully clean it out.
‘Her upper body really isn’t any different from a human’s.’
The upper body of the mermaid felt completely human, unlike lamias, whose upper halves also had hard exoskeletons, with only relatively soft abdominal skin. The mermaid’s upper body, on the other hand, had the same texture as human skin—soft and smooth.
Moreover, lamias were oviparous and lacked navels, but the mermaid did have a navel. While cleaning the wounds on her stomach, my fingers brushed over her navel, and if one only looked at her upper body, she appeared no different from a human girl.
‘Am I starting to think of her as human because of how she looks...?’
As I gently ran my hand over her smooth abdomen to clean the wounds, I started feeling a bit... something. I had purely brought her here to treat her, yet the situation now made it seem like I had ulterior motives.
“I’d like you to stop touching me now...”
Her timid voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Only then did I realize that I had unconsciously been caressing her skin. However, jerking my hand away abruptly might make it seem like I had been deliberately feeling her up, so instead, I poured more water over her wounds and pretended to continue the treatment as naturally as possible while withdrawing my hand.
My hand naturally slid lower, toward the area that would correspond to the genital region on a human. It was covered in scales, like the rest of her lower body, but I noticed a softer, finer patch of scales that felt distinctly different.
Given its location and structure, I quickly deduced that this area was meant to open if the soft scales were pulled apart. The realization made my heart race, and my throat went dry.
We both swallowed nervously at the same time.
Realizing that continuing any longer would be inappropriate, I immediately withdrew my hand.
“That’s it. There are no wounds on your lower body, so there’s no need to clean it.”
She let out a sigh of relief as soon as my hand moved away. Now reassured that her private area was safe, the mermaid relaxed her tense body. I poured the rest of the water from the oak barrel into the tub, giving her enough to fully immerse herself.
To prevent her wounds from getting worse, I added a small amount of a healing potion to the water. The healing potions made in temples were only effective on humans, but alchemical healing potions worked on other species as well, so it should be fine.
She peeked her face out of the water to express her gratitude. I simply gave her a reassuring gesture and left the bathroom to give her space to rest without feeling wary.
I had touched and handled her body for quite a while, yet strangely, my hands didn’t smell fishy at all.
‘Do mermaids not have a fishy smell?’
Given that her upper body was identical to a human’s, that might be the reason. But even when I carried her while climbing the cliff earlier, my clothes hadn’t absorbed any fishy odor.
‘Come to think of it, none of the mermaid legends mention a fishy smell either. Maybe mermaids just don’t smell like fish.’
Or perhaps it was simply because she was “fresh.”
“I was just trying to pass the time by fishing, but I ended up reeling in an unexpected catch, huh?”
Of course, I didn’t bring her here with any specific purpose in mind. I had simply rescued her from the discarded net, and my plan was to release her back into the sea once her wounds healed enough for her to swim.
After all, Seyra’s mission was to uncover the truth behind the “mermaid eggs” sold in the Baran Duchy, not to obtain the eggs themselves.
“For now, I’ll investigate the trade groups involved in producing the mermaid eggs around here. If necessary, I’ll sneak in at night to confirm their origin.”
That was why I had deliberately chosen a villa perched on a high cliff—it provided a clear vantage point to observe the structure of the harbor.
‘If the hatchery is near the water, searching the nearby coastline should reveal its location...’
I had been so absorbed in planning my next steps that I almost missed the mermaid calling out to me. Her soft voice was hard to notice, especially since she had a habit of trailing off.
‘Mermaid legends claim they have enchanting voices that can captivate humans... but you’d need to hear it clearly for that to happen.’
When I opened the bathroom door, I saw the mermaid flustered, her hands covering her chest while she fidgeted in the tub.
“Um... could I borrow some clothes?”
The pair of starfish that had previously covered her chest were now floating lifelessly in the water. It seemed the freshwater or the healing potion hadn’t agreed with them.
“My underwear... it’s gone...”
Of course, I didn’t have women’s clothing with me. I wasn’t a pervert who carried such things around. Even if I were, the kind of pervert who carried women’s underwear would probably be the type to wear it themselves rather than offer it to someone else.
“Should I buy some for you?”
“Human clothes... aren’t suitable for swimming...”
She had a point. Even humans avoided wearing too much clothing while swimming because it created drag. For mermaids, who swam much faster, it would be even more problematic.
“What should I dooo...? Without them... I can’t go home...”
That was a question I wanted to ask her as well. Should I just catch another pair of starfish for her?
“I’ll find new ones for you.”
Since I’d already helped her this far, I figured I might as well finish the job. Fortunately, climbing down the cliff again to find some starfish wouldn’t take too long.
The starfish I brought back had longer tentacles than the ones she’d been using before, but...
‘These should work, right?’