9. Wolf and Mermaid (2)

The small girl looked up at me.

She was positioned in a way that only showed the upper-half of her body. Her long blonde hair, with the bangs parted in the middle, seemed to glow underneath the fluorescent lights.

And her forehead.

“...Usavich.”

Her forehead was very large, I must say

“Usavich, that is my name.”

It adds to her charm, that large forehead of hers. I could imagine myself playing tic-tac-toe on it.

“Usavich…!!”

“Sorry, what?”

I snapped out of my trance, breaking my eye contact from the girl’s forehead.

“Hmph.”

The small girl crossed her arms with an annoyed expression on her face.

“Tch. This is why I don’t like smelly humans.”

“Smelly?”

“Yeah! You smell!”

She pinched her nose and stuck out her tongue, shaking her head side to side like a wet dog.

“I… I dont smell.”

“Nuh uh!”

“It’s true, I really don’t… and, anyways. There’s no need for this pointless chatter.”

[Warning!]

Every sense in my body was screaming at me to run away. To run out the door and not look back.

The girl looked at me.

What was her name?

Usa… Usabitch? Usavich?

I’ve never been good at names.

[You have encountered a bounty hunter!]

I felt my face reflexively twisting into a smile.

“Soooo… my name is Usavich, and I’m here to. Um. I’m here to…”

Her eyes began to swirl around, and if it could, I imagine steam would be rising from her head in the process of generating a conclusion to a thought.

“I’m here to, ahh, why am I here again?”

“...Take your time.”

“Oh! Thanks for reminding me!”

The girl’s eyes immediately brightened, and she stuck up an index finger with a big grin.

“That's right! I’m here to kill the Princess of the Wolf Clan!”

After completing her sentence, she spun around and plunged her hand into the bathtub. And from the depths of the water, she pulled out a piece of parchment paper.

“That’s right...”

She muttered underneath her breath while squinting her eyes. It seemed she had bad vision.

“The Princess should be… here!!”

“Princess? What princess. I’m the only one who lives here.”

“Hm…!”

Usavich suddenly tossed the piece of paper back into the water, raising her hands into the air with a defeated expression.

“Well, if that’s the case, there’s nothing for Usavich to do here!!”

“Mhm.”

“Usavich… came here all the way for nothing.”

“Well, maybe it was about the experiences you made along the way.”

“What?”

“Nevermind.”

The small girl let out a sigh and flopped backwards into the bathtub, putting her hands behind her head in a relaxed position.

“Sigh…”

“...”

“Sigh…”

"..."

“Haahh! Sigh…!!”

“...”

“Human!!”

“Yeah?”

“Ask me why I’m sighing!!!”

The girl leaped forward and slammed her palms against the porcelain tub, causing a large sound.

“...Why are you sighing.”

“Hehehe.”

“...”

“Hohohoho!!”

The girl spun around in the water like a ballerina, before stopping and pointing a small index finger at me. The lights overhead dimmed, and it felt as if they had become fixated on me.

“...I saw through your lies, human!!”

“Is that so.”

“But first, human!! Ask me who I am?”

“Why? I don’t really care.”

“Well… it’s just something you have to do!! Okay!?”

Gray eyes. She had gray eyes. This is the first time I’ve ever seen them.

If it isn’t an incredibly diluted shade of blue, it’s difficult for pupils to be that kind of silver. Therefore, the base color has to be blue.

Ah.

For some reason my thoughts kept wandering.

The girl started to laugh.

“Kyahahaha!! Kyahahahaha!!!”

Without a word, I waited for the laughter to stop. While the transparent plasticity flowed by, the smell of seawater invaded my nose.

A somewhat nostalgic smell.

Eventually, the laughter stopped, but the scent that felt as if it had become agitated by the noise did not go anywhere.

“Meeeee? You wanna know?”

“...”

“Are you talking about me? Are you curious⎯?”

You asked me to ask you. Why are you doing this.

I felt wronged.

On the other hand, her voice carried more spirit. The sound of laughter reverberated once more.

“Okay. I’ll teach yoouu—.”

The small girl spun around, her blonde hair spreading outwards like a curtain in the wind.

“Now then. I. Am.”

‘Look forward to it!’, it felt as if her body was uttering that as she spread her shoulders. The sight of the edge of her clothes rising up and going down entered my vision once before disappearing.

“The Treasure of the Seven Seas, the deepest explorer!!”

She kept spinning around like crazy.

It was like watching one of those small dogs run around the dog park with infinite stamina.

“Although it would be good to refer to me as ‘The Gate of the Fifth Sea’, I am the one everyone refers to as ‘The Greatest Sailor!!”

She had taken the pose of pressing her hand against her forehead that was practically shouting ‘How discourteous!’.

“The Pirate King of the Sea of Death!! I am, yes, a Mermaid!! A legendary creature only seen in legends⎯!!”

She slammed her small hands onto the tub, yet again.

CLANG!!

“And the reason why I’m here, that’s because! I! Teleported here with a bang—!! Since, my specialty is teleporting!”

Her small hands moved away for a moment before with another CLANG! it quickly drew near again, accompanied by the small shaking of the floor underneath.

“How’s that? Has your curiosity been sated? Kyahahahaha!!”

She sprung upwards like a coil, and underneath the shining light, I saw a mass that was twisting. In place of where her legs should be, with countless shining scales the colour of gold.

I realized that it was a mermaid’s tail.

[You have encountered a new monster!]

[Usavich Yuset, Treasure of the Seven Seas]

[A pirate with a mysterious lineage untold.]

[Current Favorability: Normal.]

[Hint: She likes sweet things.]

Yeah, I understand well that you’re a lunatic.

...

Don’t mess with me! Getting angry like that would be easy, yeah?

What do you think you’re doing!? Shouting that out is simple as well.

However, what would change if one were to do so? I’m the one that is currently at the disadvantage. I’m a weak human and she’s a monster girl, as observed by the system. The fact that one should avoid behaving rashly until they are able to discover what the other party’s intentions are, this is something quite obvious.

Thus, I spoke in a voice that wouldn’t invoke irritation.

“I’m Mirai. As you can see, I’m a human.”

No matter how ridiculous the other party’s words may have been, you must respond appropriately.

You have to introduce yourself. If you wish to implant the fact that you possess a ‘life that you have lived up till now’ and that you are a ‘human being’ into the other party, then this is one of the best methods of doing so. If you were to fail in making the other party be aware of these facts, then they will not consider you as an equal human being and they will do severe things to you without possessing even the slightest bit of a guilty conscience.

But, can such standards even be applied to monsters…?

“Ehh? Why are you telling me that? I’m going to kill you, anyways.”

Sigh.

What did I expect.

“So, Miss Usavich, you're here to kill me and the princess who’s supposedly here?”

The mermaid blinked her eyes. Quickly after, her smile returned.

“Kyahaha. Mm. Aren’t you incredibly caaalm?”

“Is that surprising?”

“Nooope!! Well, it’s within expectations. Within it.”

She spoke after chuckling once.

“Something like trying to use your head to think up petty tricks.”

“That’s rude. I’m not turning my head to think up petty tricks.”

“Then are you turning your head to make white hair?”

“I don’t have any.”

Since the situation is like this, it feels like some might actually come out.

In any case, she’s wrong.

I’m really not trying to conjure up ‘petty tricks’. I’m merely using all of my human capabilities to utilize my entire head.

“Anyway, why are you still talking to me instead of killing me? There should be a reason.”

Do you not require a reason since you’re a madman? That’s doubtful. The fact that she’s still talking to me meant that this crazy girl was interested in something about me.

Though, No matter how much I think about it, I can’t figure out a reason.

If it’s like this, then should I confirm it with her?

Go along with her pace.

“Is it because I’m handsome?”

“Pbbt!?”

I wanted to retort that a child shouldn’t make such a crude sound.

“Eub. Ehem. Mm. Was that a joke? Or legit? Either way, bzzt! Nope. While it might be true, wrong answer!”

I succeeded in receiving a response. Then all I can do is continue asking.

“Then what is it? Do I have to get married to you?”

“Pfft? Pbbbt. That’s not it! Ah hah hah hah ha. You really are interesting.”

Hm.

“Does it have to do about something with the smell?”