Chapter 258 : The Inside Story of the Mermaid Kingdom (2)

“Yes, if it’s Asrahan-nim’s request, I’d be happy to.”

Just like that.

As if it were truly the most natural thing in the world.

The mermaid guard squad leader nodded with a smile.

It was such a simple reaction that Lloyd, who was watching, felt like grabbing the back of his neck.

‘…That’s it?!’

That really was all.

Javier’s request.

The mermaid guard squad leader’s permission.

That was truly the end of it.

He didn’t lace his request with any complicated rhetoric.

He didn’t speak of asking a favor because of some complex reason.

He didn’t earnestly explain that they had this circumstance or that circumstance.

He didn’t even make some elaborate promise of compensation in return for granting the request.

There was none of that.

Even the mermaid guard squad leader’s reaction was simple, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

There wasn’t even the bare minimum of negotiation like, our circumstances are such-and-such, so we’ll grant that request; therefore, in return, we expect such-and-such a price.

‘Damn it. No matter how hard I try, I can’t beat the handsome guy….’

Lloyd lamented as his sense of inferiority bloomed.

If it were his usual way?

He would’ve needed countless calculations and preparations.

After going through such a brutal battle of wits, he would’ve finally secured permission to visit the mermaids’ kingdom.

But when Javier stepped forward?

That entire process wasn’t even necessary.

‘What is this. What on earth is this? Please. Yes, since it’s Asrahan-nim’s request, I’ll allow it. Teehee. And that’s it, right?’

For some reason, it felt unfair.

He felt complicated all the way down to the core of his soul.

Even when he jumped into the seawater after Javier.

Even when he received the visitor’s shell necklace for the Mermaid Kingdom from the mermaid guard squad leader.

Even when he received magic through that necklace for breathing and speaking underwater, protection from water pressure, prevention of decompression sickness, and protection from the cold.

Even when, thanks to that, he was guided without difficulty deep into the sea.

Lloyd still had to shed even saltier tears, one drop at a time, into the already salty seawater.

‘Still, I got what I wanted in the end.’

The process had been a little more grueling than expected.

Even though he had to once again feel Javier’s overwhelming ‘handsome power’ down to the pores of his skin.

Even so, he had achieved exactly the goal he originally wanted.

‘At last, entry into the Mermaid Kingdom.’

Lloyd clenched his fist.

Then he looked around.

Himself, diving side by side with Javier.

Dozens of muscular mermaids swimming around them as if escorting them.

And above them, the distant surface, with the Arctic sunlight pouring down like a curtain.

It was a fantastical sight, like something out of a dream.

‘Ha. So this is why that guy wanted to reincarnate as a whale.’

The wraith of the madman Lloyd Frontera suddenly came to mind.

Didn’t that guy say this once?

That if he was going to be reincarnated anyway, he wanted to be born as a whale.

That he wanted to live swimming freely through the vast ocean.

Lloyd felt like he could understand that sentiment a little.

Meanwhile, they kept descending deeper and deeper.

Just when it seemed the surroundings were beginning to darken, the sunlight vanished completely.

Everything became pitch-black.

Right then, Javier, swimming beside him, moved his hand.

Fwoosh…!

The Aura blooming from his fingertips lit up the surroundings like a lantern.

Thanks to that, even in the darkness of the abyss, they could keep diving side by side as though led by a single candle flame.

Just how far had they descended?

Two thousand meters?

Or three thousand?

Maybe even deeper than that.

The Mermaid Kingdom was there.

‘An octopus?’

The first thing he saw was a giant octopus.

Not just giant.

Its body alone looked to be several kilometers across.

As for the size and length of the legs spread in every direction, it was impossible to estimate.

Compared to giant beings he had seen so far, like the Giga Titan, Bibeong, or even the Bone Dragon, they would all seem like sparrows next to that octopus.

But that octopus was holding something that looked like a cluster of grapes.

‘That… could it be an egg cluster?’

At first, he thought it was an octopus egg cluster, like the kind he’d seen a few times in documentaries.

But on closer inspection, it wasn’t.

‘It’s a city.’

The inside of that octopus egg cluster had been completely hollowed out.

No, rather, it was packed full of buildings.

‘Each egg is a residential district, isn’t it?’

So this was the form of the mermaids’ kingdom—

a grape-like cluster of thousands of eggs, each tens of meters in size, held by a giant octopus.

Perhaps sensing Lloyd’s admiration, the mermaid guard squad leader approached.

“It’s alright. That octopus doesn’t bite. It’s our kingdom’s cutie.”

“…”

How on earth did that look like a cutie?

Lloyd had plenty he wanted to retort(?), but couldn’t bring himself to say any of it, so he stayed silent.

Meanwhile, everyone passed by the octopus’s body.

They went beneath the scrutiny of an eyeball the size of a decent soccer stadium.

Then they entered one of the egg clusters that served as the city’s entrance.

That was when it began.

Following the guard squad leader’s guidance, they passed through dozens of egg clusters.

Only after reaching the very end did they finally enter the largest central egg cluster.

“This is where our Queen resides. It is our kingdom’s custom that any outsider visiting the kingdom must first pay respects to the Queen and state their purpose. And Sir Asrahan?”

“Yes.”

“I hope you enjoy your stay.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“I’m the one who should be thankful. Well then.”

The guard squad leader, who had been stiff and formal in dealing with Lloyd, gave Javier an exceedingly warm farewell and left.

Seeing that, Lloyd snorted through his nose.

‘Tch. Dirty lookism!’

All the more reason to finish his business quickly and leave the Mermaid Kingdom.

Thinking that, Lloyd quickened his pace.

He briskly entered the audience chamber of the Mermaid Queen.

Then, standing before the incredibly muscular Mermaid Queen,

he paid his respects.

“I offer my endless gratitude for allowing this visit today. I, the human Lloyd Frontera, pay my respects to the Mermaid Queen. Furthermore, I wish to inform Your Majesty that I have come here in search of the whereabouts of the Gem of Truth, said to be passed down in the Mermaid Kingdom.”

He quickly stated his purpose first.

Then he waited for the Queen’s answer.

He prepared himself for her response.

‘According to the Dragon King, the Gem of Truth is also an enormous treasure here. They won’t hand it over easily or allow us to use it without question. They’ll probably attach some grand condition, right? Like helping the kingdom first. Or paying some great price. They’ll probably react like that.’

Most likely.

There would certainly have to be negotiation.

‘What’s important now is figuring out what the Mermaid Queen wants and what she’s lacking.’

That was the starting point of negotiation.

Understanding the other party’s needs.

Prodding at their weak points.

And getting what you want at the lowest possible cost.

He could do that this time too.

So stay sharp.

Lloyd firmed his resolve inwardly and sharpened his senses for the Queen’s response.

But the very next moment.

The Mermaid Queen showed a completely unexpected reaction.

“What? The Gem of Truth? Are there still naïve people these days who believe in something like that?”

“…Huh?”

A laugh he had never expected.

Lloyd raised his head before he realized it.

His eyes met the Mermaid Queen’s.

And in that moment, he felt it.

The laugh on the Queen’s face.

The mood behind it was too strange.

‘What kind of reaction is that?’

A strange feeling washed over him instantly.

It was far too different from what he had expected.

So that was…

‘It’s exactly like this. A foreign journalist arrives at Incheon Airport. And then they say their reason for visiting Korea is: oh! I came here to interview Ungnyeo, the woman who became human after eating garlic and mugwort in Dangun’s era! That’s the look in the Mermaid Queen’s eyes right now. Like the look a Korean would give a foreign journalist saying that.’

At first, he thought, no way.

Surely not.

But it was true.

Judging by the atmosphere, that was exactly the look in her eyes.

‘Wait… don’t tell me the so-called Gem of Truth isn’t actually anything more than a complete legendary artifact?’

An ominous unease began creeping up on him.

Legendary artifacts, or treasures.

No matter the world.

No matter the country or region.

There’s always at least one thing called legendary.

The Three Heavenly Seals, the three divine treasures from the Dangun myth.

Ganjiang and Moye, the paired swords from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period.

The Dragon King Sword Kurikara of Acala in Buddhist legend.

Excalibur from Arthurian legend.

Ascalon, the dragon-slaying sword of Christianity.

Gungnir, Odin’s spear from Norse mythology.

Brahmastra, the near-nuclear arrow from Hindu mythology.

And even all the nitrogen-filled snack bags in Korea where you open the package and can’t see the contents.

Usually, such legendary items had one thing in common.

Either they existed only in imaginary stories and had no physical form.

Or even if they did exist, they existed way, way, way too long ago.

…In other words, they were things that could not be found in the present.

Clinging to that uneasy feeling, Lloyd asked,

“Um, may I dare ask one thing of the great Mermaid Queen?”

“Ask.”

“It’s about what Your Majesty just said to me. That remark, about whether there are still naïve people these days who believe in the Gem of Truth. That… surely doesn’t mean… that the Gem of Truth is merely an artifact that exists only in legend, does it?”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

Lloyd had asked with a trembling heart.

But the Mermaid Queen answered easily, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

She let out a soft chuckle.

With a look that seemed slightly absurd.

Or perhaps, in another sense, pitiful.

She looked down at him with that expression.

“What you said is correct. The Gem of Truth you claim you want to find. I can’t say it never existed at all. But if you’re asking whether it can be found now, then I’d want to ask in return whether you were born in the wrong era by a very wide margin.”

“That means…”

“The Gem of Truth is an artifact that, even among us mermaids, exists only in legend or myth.”

“Gasp.”

Lloyd involuntarily swallowed dry air.

It seemed his ominous premonition had been right.

‘Damn it! So the Gem of Truth doesn’t exist in the present?’

Up until the moment he confidently stated his purpose before the Mermaid Queen, everything had been fine.

But from the Queen’s reaction onward…

it seemed the Gem of Truth was something from far, far too long ago.

“Then, may I ask one more thing, Your Majesty? About the Gem of Truth. Was it an artifact that truly existed?”

“Hmm, perhaps?”

“Perhaps?”

Lloyd asked.

The Queen shrugged her muscular shoulders.

“Perhaps it did exist. As I said earlier, at least during the Mythical Age.”

“The Mythical Age…”

“Pitiful, isn’t it? If you wanted to find that gem, you should’ve been born just a little earlier. Don’t you think?”

“…”

Lloyd was speechless.

From what he was hearing, it wasn’t just ‘old.’

It was the freaking Mythical Age.

So if he estimated that period using the eras mentioned a few times in this world’s Iron-Blooded Knight…

‘It’s at least over ten thousand years ago.’

He wanted to faint.

What would that be comparable to in Korea?

It would be from before Grandfather Dangun had even founded Gojoseon.

How was he supposed to find an artifact like that, a treasure that even these mermaids hadn’t seen since the Mythical Age, especially here at the bottom of the sea?

‘I’m not some archaeologist.’

A deep sigh escaped him.

His vision darkened.

Then the Mermaid Queen’s voice, tinged with pity, reached him.

“Anyway, I do feel sorry for you, having come here in all seriousness with such a fanciful purpose. But where did you hear of the Gem of Truth? That story is something races other than us mermaids would hardly know.”

“Ah, that was…”

Lloyd raised his head.

The being who had told him about the Gem of Truth.

As the flames of resentment toward that being rekindled, he answered,

“Dragon King Verkis-nim.”

“The Dragon King? Ha. He would certainly know the tale of the Gem of Truth. And also the truth that it’s an artifact existing only in myth. Come to think of it, you were played by him, weren’t you?”

“…It seems so.”

Lloyd forced a bitter smile.

It was true.

He had been properly tricked by the Dragon King.

‘That Dragon King bastard used a trick to shake me off because I was being annoying.’

Only now could he fully grasp the trick the Dragon King had pulled on him.

Because he was annoying.

Because he kept asking questions every day.

So the Dragon King had just tossed out any answer at all to get rid of him.

And because Lloyd had no way of judging whether it was true, he’d taken that insincere answer seriously and come all the way here.

‘Phew. What do I do now?’

Honestly, he wanted to immediately return to Frontera and grab the Dragon King by the collar, then shake him violently in a surround jjaljjaljjal rhythm.

But it felt like too much of a waste to leave after coming all this way.

‘Besides, even if the Gem of Truth is legendary, he didn’t say it was completely fictitious.’

Maybe.

Just maybe.

He thought there might still be traces of it left somewhere.

Because of lingering attachment?

Even if not, he wanted to stay a few days at least, search around, and then leave.

“Then, may I make one request of the great Queen of the mermaid race?”

“A request?”

“Yes. Might I remain in this great kingdom for a few days, however briefly, to search for the Gem of Truth?”

“Hmm.”

“I beg you.”

Lloyd’s gaze turned earnest.

A trace of annoyance flickered in the Queen’s eyes.

But soon, the Queen nodded.

“Very well. Allowing that much won’t cause any harm to our kingdom.”

“Thank you!”

“Besides, there is no chance of you actually finding it, but if by some miracle you did, the result would benefit our kingdom as well, wouldn’t it? Still, let me make one thing clear. We will not provide you with separate support for your search. In truth, our kingdom has a troublesome issue of its own, so we have no energy to spare for trivial matters.”

“Huh? A troublesome issue?”

Lloyd asked back.

The Mermaid Queen furrowed her brow.

“We do have one. To put it simply, it concerns the Hellgate, a sudden passage to hell that recently opened in the skies above the Arctic Ocean.”

“…”

Thump.

The back of Lloyd’s neck stiffened.

“By any chance, do you know why a Hellgate suddenly opened? Have you heard any rumors or hearsay in the human world related to phenomena like that?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep.”

It felt like the sound of someone poking at his conscience.

Suppressing that, Lloyd nodded at the speed of light.

Then, laying down a triple-embossed, sleek, brazen titanium steel plate, he spoke to the Queen.