HTWBB Chapter 34

Rietta? It was the name he'd been looking for. Abel searched his surroundings for the source of the voice. Those who'd passed by were right nearby.

What he'd thought was cloth was, surprisingly, a long tail fin. The beautifully colored tail that had far outpaced him moved softly and leisurely, parting the water.

"If you search and don't find her, she's definitely there."

"Again? I don't understand what there is to see that makes her so obsessed."

"I'm worried. She'll have to protect not just the south but the entire ocean from now on, and at this rate......"

"Be quiet! What if someone hears!"

"There's no one here?"

A legendary species now extinct, once considered sacred but currently called monsters. Definitely "mermaids."

Abel followed the two mermaids conversing in a language he'd never heard before. Fortunately the meaning read naturally, but he still didn't like having to follow as the magic caster intended.

"Still, aren't the corals in front of that gloomy cave pretty?"

"Well, for something growing in the deep sea, the colors are pretty."

"They were similar to Lady Rietta's hair color...... Look! You can see from here too."

One mermaid pointed somewhere. Abel slid his gaze following the finger.

In a deep place requiring descent much farther from where he was, there was a coral colony. The range wasn't wide, but as they said, it was beautiful with vivid colors.

The cave opened its mouth as if hiding among that colony. The destination was set. Abel left the departing mermaids behind and flexibly twisted his body toward that place.

The cave was farther than he'd estimated. Abel could only set foot in the coral colony after swimming for quite some time.

Bending at the waist, he lightly touched a particularly eye-catching coral. It was certainly almost identical to Rietta's original hair color.

As he straightened up, he suddenly recalled his own breath he'd connected with Rietta when entering the shipwreck. To think this situation would occur from using the least troublesome method despite its fatal side effects.

Abel clicked his tongue and stepped into the cave. Since only his astral body had been transferred here, in reality he would still be breathing, so there was no chance her breathing would cease. Provided it didn't take a long time.

"...thing."

The murmuring voice grew gradually louder as he went deeper inside. Two voices with different pitches. To assume Rietta was there, these were voices he was hearing for the first time.

Judging from the mermaids' conversation, this place was like Rietta's hideout, so there shouldn't be others. Abel set aside his puzzlement and proceeded without hurrying.

"Should I give it to you?"

"No. I'm fine."

It didn't take very long to reach the end of the cave. Inside the small cave lit with a subtle glow, two mermaids were conversing as expected.

The cozy space was completely different from its exterior appearance. Sea plants resembling land flowers decorated the interior, making it quite splendid. On the floor, all sorts of miscellaneous items sat arranged with their own rules.

"How can they be so different?"

"Because we live in different places."

She with coral-colored hair sat in the middle of the cave. Her tail the same deep blue as her eyes swayed gently left and right, seemingly pleased.

It was Rietta. Abel, who'd unconsciously turned his gaze to her face, flinched momentarily.

"Look at this. Humans record the knowledge they know in this way."

An enchantingly beautiful voice struck his ears. Long, smooth fingers gently stroked the surface of an old book.

Eyes resembling the deep sea sparkled brilliantly, filled with curiosity, and thick red lips bore a faint smile.

Her face, flushed with intellectual curiosity, drew his gaze, leaving him unable to look anywhere else.

Everything was different from the Rietta he'd seen from the first emperor's tomb to the shipwreck. This wasn't the woman who'd been like a withered leaf.

The fact that she was actually a mermaid rather than human as he'd mistaken didn't matter at all. Abel pressed down on his somehow stirring heart.

"So how long will you keep going to land, Sister?"

"Hm?"

"I heard you saved another human recently."

"Ah, right. I thought they were trying to die, but they asked to be saved."

It was still a youthful voice. Abel finally turned his head to the mermaid conversing with Rietta. Curly hair in a slightly deeper color than hers caught his eye first.

Still young apparently, as the overall build seemed similar to Melian who always followed beside her.

"I wish you'd stop meeting them now, Sister."

"...Why?"

Blue eyes identical to Rietta's turned warmly toward her. Worry, concern, and affection tangled together, the look of someone scolding a younger sister.

The boy removed the book Rietta was holding from her hands and neatly placed it aside.

"They can't be trusted. Their greed is as great as their lifespans are short."

"I know. I'm more curious about this civilization they've created than about humans themselves."

"Yes. But I'm afraid you'll be hurt by those wretches."

"Don't worry, Nerites. I'm a guardian."

So the thing you're all worried about won't happen. Rietta smiled brightly as she added that. Though there was no sun, it was dazzling.

He couldn't stand it anymore and closed his eyes tightly before opening them. The scenery had changed again, with the moon floating overhead.

He heard the sound of slowly parting water. Rietta was right next to him. With only her eyes above the surface, she watched someone while gradually moving toward the shore.

Following her gaze, he saw a woman with loosely tied wavy black hair of pale color. The woman sitting carelessly on a rock was vacantly gazing only at the sky when she sensed a presence and straightened her head.

Ash-colored eyes receiving moonlight curved as if pleased to find Rietta.

"You're a bit late."

"I can't come every day."

"I meant I was waiting."

Unlike the words tossed out bluntly, the tail beneath the surface swayed slowly left and right. Scales reflecting moonlight glittered like ripples on water.

Abel watched this with an indecipherable expression before quickly raising his face at Rietta's following answer.

"I was waiting too."

The woman laughed aloud and rummaged in her pocket.

"You mean this, right?"

Rietta, who'd been stopped at an appropriate distance, swam a bit closer. Colorful hair stretched long as if leaving a trail.

Abel, who'd moved along with her, glanced at the woman's hand. It was a pocket watch with worn but elegant engraved patterns.

Blue eyes shone brightly. Rietta reached her hand out of the water and received the watch, murmuring as if to herself.

"You were waiting too. I like you because you seem like a good human."

The woman who'd been smiling stiffened slightly. Meanwhile, Rietta threw out another question.

"How's your body? The impact from falling must have been considerable."

"...I'm fine now. I'm a warrior, you know. Thank you for worrying."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Abel realized who this woman was. She was definitely the protagonist of the conversation with the young mermaid named Nerites in the previous memory.

After a brief silence, the woman hesitated before speaking.

"Rietta. I'm actually not from here."

"What do you mean?"

"Land is very vast, you see. I came from the farthest north of this continent."

"North? What kind of place is that?"

"It snows a great deal in winter. There's no ocean and many high mountains."

Rietta's half-submerged face came completely above water. She was slightly flushed with the new information.

Saying she'd seen it in books, she questioned what mountains were and chatted with the woman for a long while about the north. Then she suddenly brought up an unexpected statement.

"But why don't you go back?"

The woman closed her mouth as if caught off guard. For an instant her face twisted miserably before she barely managed to produce an answer, feigning composure.

"It doesn't exist anymore."

Rietta tilted her head as if unable to understand but didn't ask further.

After fully savoring the silence that returned, the woman carefully opened her mouth. She seemed more hesitant than before.

"Are you more curious about land?"

"I'm curious. You're really different from us."

"Then... How about coming up for a while?"

"For a while? Why?"

The woman, who'd been moving her lips, closed her eyes tightly and continued speaking. It was the attitude of someone who couldn't bear to meet eyes.

"There's someone who can show you more than this."

"More?"

"Yes. Because they're an important person."

"...I'll think about it."

With those words, Rietta returned underwater without lingering. The fluttering tail fin struck the surface lightly and disappeared.

Abel closed his eyes at the dizzingly distorting view. The last thing he saw was the woman vacantly gazing at the night sky just as when she'd first sat on the rock.

"I'm sorry, Rietta. I'm sorry"—such apologies continued endlessly.

When he opened his eyes again, it was midday with the sun beating down.

"El Nas."

A voice so rough it was agonizing scraped and flowed from her deeply submerged throat. When she called the name in a daze, the other party burst into bright laughter.

"Yes, Rietta. My dear one. Come sit here."

"Is it really El?"

"Have I ever been fake? What are you doing? I said come here."

Rietta didn't resist and sat across from El Nas. Her mind seemed completely frozen, unable to think properly.

All her senses were too vivid for it to be an illusion. But El Nas's existence felt out of place to consider it reality.

Nearly 500 years had passed since she'd last seen her. Even then she'd been quite old, so there was no way she could be alive until now.

"...Am I dead?"