Round 365

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The little mermaid complained that the taste was strange, yet eagerly ate my carrot.  

Now that I looked closely, it was indeed skin and bones. Its ribs were completely visible.  

‘If even young children are starving like this, the adults must be in an even worse situation, right?’  

Wait a minute.  

There was something I had overlooked.  

“Ara, you said the Leviathan resembles a dragon, right?”  

“Yes!”  

“Then, does that mean this mermaid has no connection to the Leviathan?”  

“This is also my first time seeing one.”  

Ara tilted her head and then promptly turned to the mermaid to ask.  

“Do you know Levi?”  

-Uuuung?  

“It’s a dragon about this big. A dragon that swims well.”  

-Uwaa!  

I had no idea how their conversation was working.  

Still, Ara seemed to be handling it well, so I decided to wait and see.  

-Uuuung, uuu.  

“Levi is here! We’ve found it!”  

“Ohh! You found it?”  

Fortunately, it seemed to know the Leviathan we were looking for.  

In that case, maybe we could suggest moving not just to the Leviathan but to these mermaids as well?  

‘The relocation site… the sea!’  

Our Devourer Dungeon also had a sea.  

A much cleaner one, with plenty of food and a vast ocean!  

“Could you ask if it can guide us there?”  

“Okay!”  

As soon as Ara asked the little mermaid, it happily wagged its tail in response.  

So pure.  

What if it got caught by a bad person?  

“We should let Kyler know too.”  

“I will bring Kyler. I’ll use tracking skills on you.”  

“Thank you.”  

Hassan placed a tracking ability on me and left to fetch Kyler.  

Then, we followed the little mermaid.  

“How long will it take?”  

“A short swim away.”  

What exactly did ‘a short swim’ mean by a mermaid’s standards?  

One thing was clear: the mermaid was swimming incredibly fast.  

I wasn’t swimming at all, just holding onto a rope while the others pulled me along.  

It was a very comfortable ride.  

After about an hour.  

Just as I was starting to get concerned about the time, something finally came into view.  

“Ohhh.”  

A fortress seemingly made of coral.  

But all the coral was dead.  

As we approached the stark white fortress, there was a reaction from inside.  

Shuuuk.

Unlike the little mermaid that had guided us, the adult mermaids appeared, showing clear signs of wariness.  

-Uwaaah!  

The little mermaid waved its arms and attempted to talk to them.  

The adult mermaids stopped and listened.  

“Hello, I am Ara. Is Levi inside? I am Levi’s friend.”  

Ara tried to interject into the conversation.  

The adult mermaids immediately became even more wary.  

‘Ugh. Scary.’  

Unlike the little mermaid, they weren’t so innocent.  

Well, there was a way to handle situations like this.  

Before Hassan left to find Kyler, he had given me a subspace item.  

I opened it and took out eggplants, cucumbers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, and apples.  

“This is a gift. Aren’t you hungry?”  

Noticing my intention, Ara quickly attempted to negotiate.  

The mermaids showed interest.  

The little mermaid beside us also chimed in, and they cautiously approached.  

Bubble, bubble.

Then, the previously silent mermaids finally spoke.  

-Who are you?  

“Huh? We can communicate?”  

How was this conversation working?  

It wasn’t in my language, but the meaning was somehow conveyed.  

It felt strangely fascinating.  

It was different from how the Seven Deadly Sins or Frey communicated.  

“We came to meet the Leviathan. These are Leviathan’s friends.”  

-I am Mammon of Greed.  

-I am Ras, the unrivaled being of heaven and earth.  

-Ashu is Ashu!  

They introduced themselves one by one.  

Then, the mermaids turned and stared intently at me.  

-And you?  

“Huh? Me? I’m Lee Kyu-seong. A human who came from another place, and the guardian of these kids.”  

Guardian…?  

Well, that was kind of true, right?  

Even if it felt like the roles were reversed, I didn’t feel guilty about saying it.  

-We will gratefully accept these items.  

“You can eat them right away.”  

-…Hmm.  

A slight hesitation.  

Well, if I were them, I’d also be wary of food from strangers.  

But the reason was something entirely different from what I expected.  

-The smell is unusual.  

-Is this really food?  

“It is food.”  

Wait, how dare they talk about my crops like that?  

This hurt my pride.  

When I narrowed my eyes and insisted, the mermaids reluctantly picked something to try based on their preferences.  

Crunch, crunch.  

Munch, munch.  

-Hmm, the taste is strange.  

-But it’s edible. We should still be grateful.  

A shocking reaction.  

Did they have defective taste buds?  

How could they say such nonsense after eating my delicious vegetables?  

-We hadn’t eaten in three days, so this helped fill us up a bit. We are grateful.  

“……”  

Three days without food, and all they could say about my crops was that they “helped fill them up a bit”…?  

Damn.  

I had to ask.  

“What do you usually eat?”  

-Seafood. Everything that comes from the sea.  

Hmm, well, seafood and vegetables did taste completely different.  

That made sense.  

In that case…  

I pulled out my trump card—oysters.  

I had brought them along for underwater breathing, but I had plenty, and thanks to my diving suit, I didn’t need them all.  

“What about these?”  

-This smell…!  

-Uwaaa!  

The little mermaid eagerly approached, stopping in front of me like a puppy waiting for a treat.  

Their reactions made it clear that they truly loved seafood.  

“Here.”  

I handed out oysters to everyone.  

The mermaids immediately devoured them.  

-This deep, rich flavor!  

-I’ve never had such delicious shellfish before! What kind of shellfish is this? The meat is thick, and the taste and aroma are so strong!

-Huwaaa!!  

Hahaha! As expected, everyone bows before my harvest!  

If crops don’t work, I just have to win with seafood!  

…But wait, who am I even competing against?  

Ahem! Focus.  

“It looks like you’re short on food. Am I right?”  

-Hmm, I can’t deny that.  

-That’s right. Not just food, but also water pollution has caused respiratory illnesses. If this continues, we will all…  

-Hey, that’s enough.  

Hmm, so that’s how it is.  

“So, what’s your relationship with Leviathan?”  

-Lord Leviathan is our guardian dragon.  

“Guardian dragon?”  

Wait, so it really is a dragon?  

And a guardian dragon at that?  

This sounds like something straight out of a fantasy novel.  

“Can you guide us?”  

-You are our friend. You may enter.  

Becoming friends was that easy?  

It seemed like mermaids were inherently pure-hearted.  

With the gatekeeper mermaids leading the way, we entered the coral fortress, revealing a breathtaking sight.  

“Wow.”  

“It’s beautiful!”  

-You have a sense of aesthetics.  

Even though the corals were dead, the entire place was beautifully decorated.  

It looked like sculpted artwork, yet despite being outdoors, the intricate coral formations made the fortress feel like an indoor space.  

-Over there is our guardian dragon, Lord Leviathan.  

“Huh? Where?”  

The mermaid pointed to the highest part of the fortress.  

But I didn’t see anything.  

It was far, but if it was a dragon, shouldn’t it be visible from here?  

-It’s right there.  

“I’m asking where exactly.”  

As I squinted and tried to figure it out, Ara suddenly pointed excitedly.  

“There’s Levi!”  

-But I don’t see anything…  

-…I see it.  

-Ashu wants to meet Levi quickly!  

Ashu suddenly sped up.  

Since we were all tied together, we were dragged along.  

“Uwaah! Ashu!”  

-Oh! Sorry, sorry.  

Although Ashu apologized, we had already reached the highest part of the fortress.  

And there, at the very top, I finally saw a tiny silhouette.  

“…Wait, is that supposed to be the guardian dragon?”  

“It is the guardian dragon, Levi!”  

It was about the size of a slime.  

Yeah, a dragon the size of a slime.  

To be more precise, it was a sea dragon?  

I was at a loss for words at its overwhelming… majesty.  

I never expected it to be so small.  

“It’s… cute.”  

“It is cute!”  

Ara nodded in agreement.  

At that moment, Leviathan began to move.  

It wriggled and carefully slid down the spire of the fortress.  

It looked like it was descending cautiously to avoid getting hurt, which made it even cuter.  

‘Is it weak? No, that can’t be right.’  

Finally, we stood face to face with Leviathan.  

Its appearance was somewhere between a snake and a dragon, resembling an animated character or a mascot.  

As expected, it was about the same size as a slime.  

Shiiik.  

Leviathan looked up at us with its big, round eyes.  

“Levi! It’s been a long time! Have you been well?”  

Shiiik!  

Wait, can it not speak?  

I assumed it could since all the other Seven Deadly Sins could talk.  

-It’s been a while, Levi.  

-Do you remember me?  

-Ashu has gotten even better at cooking! I’ll make food for you too!  

Leviathan blinked for a moment as if recalling something.  

Then, suddenly, it started dancing.  

“Uwaaah! Levi is dancing! That means it’s happy!”  

Leviathan’s frantic movements.  

It was probably its way of expressing joy.  

-Ohh! That’s the dance only Lord Leviathan does when he’s happy!  

-They really are friends!  

Why does this look so silly and cute?  

Is this really the infamous Seven Deadly Sin?  

And when it’s happy, it does this wiggly little dance?  

Honestly, it didn’t even look like a dance to me.  

“It’s been a while, Levi! Have you been well?”  

Shiiik! Shik shik!  

Leviathan rubbed itself against Ara.  

Now it looked more like a puppy.  

Shiiik!  

“Gasp! You’ve been struggling?”  

Shik shik.  

“The water got polluted, and because of that, all the food disappeared, making things hard for you? That’s terrible!”  

Not just the mermaids, but even Leviathan had been struggling.  

Well, that made sense.  

At that moment, the fortress entrance opened, and someone walked out.  

It looked like a family of mermaids—parents, the little mermaid, and a younger sister.  

But judging by their clothes, something seemed different.  

Chung!  

Chung!  

Even the gatekeeper mermaids suddenly saluted them…  

‘Mermaid King?’  

That had to be it, right?  

Which meant the little mermaid we brought here was a mermaid prince?  

-Visitors are quite rare.  

The Mermaid King spoke.  

I subtly bowed in greeting.  

“We were searching for Leviathan and happened to visit by chance. My name is Lee Kyu-seong.”  

-I’ve heard the basics from my son. It seems he owes you a debt. Thank you.  

“It’s nothing. But if I may ask, are you the ruler of this place?”  

-That’s correct. I am the king of this merfolk kingdom, Red Scale.  

But… he didn’t have a single red scale?  

Well, I guess you could name yourself whatever you wanted.  

But there was something more important right now.  

“If it’s not too presumptuous, Red Scale, would you be open to a negotiation?”  

-Negotiation?  

“Yes. A discussion that could benefit both sides.”  

Alright, time to start gathering seafood from the dungeon!

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