A/N; Hello there dear readers,
Long story short... I'm back!!!
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Luka had just gotten back from one of the many missions he was given when he found that that the young master had made a Promise towards the mermaid tribe while he was gone.
He didn't know the exact details of it, but, he for sure know that the deal the young master had made with the mermaids weren't simple. Especially with how those mermaids are basically worshipping him like he was their lord and savior.
. . .
"How's the situation?"
The lieutenant of that mermaid platoon immediately went down to the gates when she got a report stating that a Human had arrived there unarmed with the Princess next to him.
She couldn't believe her ears when she first heard about the situation from one of her men, but she knew them better to not joke about the Royalty if they want to keep their necks intact.
"What happened?" The lieutenant asked the merman soldier next to her as they both races towards the gate of the base, "Tell it briefly"
She didn't have the time to assess the situation leisurely.
The soldier nodded his head,
"This Human had appeared here around Vespers (more less 6pm) with the Princess, we had let them into the base and they are currently staying in different rooms. But per the Princesses orders, we did not dare to do anything reckless to the human and left him. The stationed captain immediately told me to inform you, lieutenant, ma'am!"
The lieutenant's gills flared in alert, "The Princess... what is she doing in the outskirts?"
The princess they were talking about could only be that troublesome youngest Princess, as she was the only living princess of the mermaid tribe left, there couldn't be any other!
Dealing with the intruder swiftly should have been the standard procedure, but with the Princess presences there as the variable, the lieutenant couldn't do anything recklessly and accidentally offend the beloved youngest Princess of the Mermaid tribe, or worse, ended up getting the Princess killed under her watch.
"Are you sure the Human is unarmed? Not even those things the humans called swords is on him?"
"We are positive, Ma'am!"
"Good, lead me to the Princess first, her safety is priority!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" The soldier took a sharp left, and the lieutenant followed him from behind.
It didn't take them too long before a grand door made of coral presented it self in front of them.
The soldier bowed and let the lieutenant swam forward and knock on the door,
"Excuse me, Princess? This is Gretta"
"Gretta?" a small voice sounded from behind the door,
"Yes, Princess Kaia, can I enter?"
"Of course!"
Gretta opened the door slowly and entered the room, leaving the soldier outside of the room, then closed it.
The room itself was specifically built for guesses like her highness or some other nobles that decide to pay the outer border a visit. But of course, as the name suggests, the border is located at the outer most part of the mermaid territory, and might as well be the first line of defence if there is a war that broke out.
Most would prefer not being here if possible, so the room was made just for courtesy of the main palace's rule.
"Wes þu hāl, Princess" Gretta bowed her head down, "I apologize for my impudence princess, but I must ask you, what are you doing here?" The lieutenant asked the small princess while keeping her head bowed down,
"I..." The princess hesitated,
"I?" Gretta fixed her position and straightened her back, the pearls that acted as her medallions moved and created small clicking sounds as she swam closer to the princess who was sitting on the giant Clam. "Please tell me Princess, what was so important that you had to come here personally, not to mention, with that human?"
Kaia eyed the scarred arms of the lieutenant that had trapped her in her position. Then he eyes trailed back to the others worried eyes. "I wanted to see you..." she mumbled guiltily,
Gretta's eyes widened,
Then blink profusely,
Kaia kept her gaze steady, even when she saw Gretta moving backwards slightly with a red tint all over her fins.
"Is... that so?" Gretta cleared her throat, trying to hide her flustered state with a cough. "That's.. nice"
"Yup!"
It only took the lieutenant few seconds before she could compose herself back, and through all that seconds, she could feel the Princess's stare following her every movement.
"Then, what about that human?"
"Human? Oh right! Him!"
Kaia jump out of her seat and held Gretta's hands into hers,
"Did you know, that human protected me from the Leviathan offspring that was after me, after the guards failed to intercept it!"
The little Princess had probably been too caught up with her own story as she began describing how cool and powerful the human that had protected her was. That she had completely missed the look of terrified and paling face of her beloved Lieutenant as she continued with her story.
And when the princess mentioned how there was also another individual who saved her, but she couldn't see it, Gretta face drops.
A Leviathan was equivalent to a Dragon, the only different to them was the fact that one lives on land and the other lives under water in the depths. And the Princess said that the human managed to slay the Leviathan within several blows, and was even unharmed?
"Gretta?" A hand was waved in front of Gretta's face, "Are you listening to me?"
"Ah—yes, where were we?"
"As I was saying!...
The Princesses rambles went into deaf ears, because as much as Gretta would love to hear her little Princess talk about her adventure with such vigor, the growing anxiety and fear of the unknown individual that she had let into the borders and is currently staying inside the same roof where the Princess is, weights her mind more.
. . .
The original plan that Cale had at that time, was to simply go to the Southern Sea to search for the Leviathan that's said to be similar to Dragons, and then take its heart to be given to the Half-blood so he could strengthen himself.
Yet while doing the first step, he had somehow ended up saving a mermaid Princess.
Cale soundlessly laughed at the situation behind his hand and leaned back to the sofa made of coral shell. He wouldn't complain, he had already planned to meet the Mermaid tribe regardless of this encounter, but if he were to also make a deal earlier than planned, it still wouldn't change anything.
"Are we destroying them now, Human?" The tiny blob asked Cale for the umpteenth time, its head was rested on top of Cale's lap and its mouth was blown up to a pout, "Can we???"
Cale petted its head to calm the little blob down, "Not now," Cale stroked its black scale "they still have their uses. We can't do that yet"
"I don't like them..."
Raon had already told him parts of the previous world that he had forgotten, So Cale could understand a bit of where the hatred comes from. But as he had said earlier, he still needs the mermaid tribe to play their part. Or else, everything he had been building up in the shadows will collapse. And he can't have that happening just yet.
"Alright Human...-- !!!"
Cale saw how the little blob immediately turned invisible and flew away as the sound of knocking echoed throughout the room.
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"Wes þu hāl, I am Gretta, the head of this base's platoon. May I enter now dear guess? There are some things we must discuss"