Ice didn’t think it made sense to mince their words.

The old man was busy. Fishing was a quiet past-time, and he didn’t think that someone out here wanted to be bothered by people. It was better to be open about their situation and see what he’d do, although he did twist things a bit. After all, they weren’t here because Woodcutter had told them about this person.

The old man turned his head back to the ocean, thinking. Finally, he opened up his mouth.¹Man that was a tight throw

“He asked me if I knew about the merfolk living in this corner, if I knew about the Mermaid’s Tears, and where its parts are.”

Ithiel - who was supposed to be further away - suddenly popped up next to Ice, notebook in hand. It was impossible to keep him away from any information he hadn’t heard yet.

It was unclear whether the old man noticed the elf’s appearance, but a ghost of a smile appeared on his face.

“Could you tell us what you told him?”

“The merfolk living here are called Gannon. It’s an old bloodline, although their numbers have dwindled terribly. Originally they lived further south, but they fled here.”

“What happened to them?”

Ithiel’s bright voice was impossible to be mad at. The old man didn’t mind the interruption, even kindly answering.

“They were hunted by the Leviathan. Many, many lives were lost, and now… It seems the situation isn’t good again.” The old man sighed wistfully. “Your acquaintance had a part of the Mermaid’s Tears. It’s a necklace that’s been blessed by the waters, but it’s not complete. There are three more parts needed to show its full power. Having it is the easiest way to kill the Leviathan.”

“My god.” Ithiel gasped in shock. “So that beast really does hunt the merfolk… How terrible! We have to kill it!”

“What does the full necklace do? How does it help?” Dead Rabbit appeared next to Ithiel, likewise curiously asking.

“It allows you to use the power of the Moray.”

“So it’s a buff…” Bloody thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “That means our best bet is getting our hands on the necklace. I don’t see us fighting underwater against some sea behemoth otherwise, even with suitable equipment.”

The old man tilted his head, lips pursing. “Sea behemoth?”

“The Leviathan, I mean.”

“Behemoth?”

“Oh, it’s like… a huge ancient animal.”

“That is not my problem, young one.” The old man chided Bloody like a little child. “I am confused why you are calling the Leviathan a behemoth?”

“Isn’t it? I heard it’s a huuuuuge beast.” Bloody frowned slightly, trying to remember, but this was the information they had.

“No, no.” The old man placed his fishing rod to the side, a bit agitated. “The Leviathan is neither big, nor an animal. It’s the siren queen’s title.”

“The what now?” Bloody squeaked, getting a bad feeling.

“Leviathan is a title. It’s given to the current Queen of the sirens”, the old man repeated.

“...Then, what about a huge beast that was fighting?”

“The only huge beast I could think of would be the Moray. It guards the Gannon merfolk from the sirens.” Oddly angry, the old man stood up to full height. He was like a giant, easily two meters in height. Huntsman tensed, hands on his weapon.

Ithiel clapped his hands in delight, absolutely missing the tense atmosphere. “I think we are missing information!”

Huntsman put a hand on Ithiel's shoulder and tugged him back a whole step. The librarian was too quick to run after anything interesting, disregarding his safety.

“I can tell”, the old man sarcastically agreed. “That acquaintance of yours had told me that a mermaid asked him for help, as the Leviathan attacked. Why would you think it’s a huge beast?”

“That was the description that she gave him. She said her people were attacked by it and described it.” Ice rubbed his forehead. As it stood, the girl was…

“A liar.” The old man seemed to read his thoughts. “She lied. What did she look like?”

Bloody wrecked his brains trying to remember her, then gave a rough description. Three words in, the old man frowned.

“She is no Gannon mermaid, that much is easy to say. Gannon merfolk is easy to recognize.” He pointed at the ocean. “The Gannon bloodline is the one that lives in the deepest areas compared to all other merfolk groups. The lack of light has left them all white, and their eyes red and sensitive to light.”

It was albinism, rather than a common deepsea development, Ice noted silently. Either way, if all of the Gannon merfolk were albinos, it would surely be impossible for that mermaid to be part of them.

“I don’t like asking this question, but the sirens look exactly like merfolk, don’t they?”

The old man nodded at Bloody’s words. “There is hardly a visual difference. Sadly, sirens enjoy eating merfolk the most, to the point of merfolk meat being something like a delicacy to them. If it wasn’t for the Moray…”

“Cool. Woodcutter’s trying to get a whole merfolk group killed and eaten.”

“Sounds like him”, Huntsman mumbled from the back, the first thing he had said in a while.

The old man sat down again, appearing exhausted. “It is not my position to interfere. If you can, I’d like to ask you to stop your acquaintance from killing the Moray, but I will not repay you even if you do.”

He picked up his fishing rod again. It had not moved at all the whole time.

Ice felt sad looking at him. He seemed so weary and tired. “But is there anything we can do for you? Please don’t hesitate to tell us. Us Foreigners take on a lot of odd quests.”

“But why?” The old man merely turned towards them. “Why do you?”

A hard question to answer. Ice silently shook his head, smiling a bit. “Isn’t it good to help people? Even without a reward.”

“You’ll only face scorn if you stick your nose into others’ business unasked”, the man advised Ice.

“Still, I’d rather face scorn that realize afterwards that I could have helped.”

This time, the old man laughed. His voice was dry and raspy. He pushed up his sleeve, displaying more scars. “See these? I got them, trying to help, but was set up and called a traitor. My closest friend betrayed me, not listening to my explanations. All because I wanted to help.”

“But did your help change something? Do you regret it?”

The old man didn’t want to reply. He pursed his lips, whole body unmoving.

“I’m not good at counselling sessions, but… I’m personally thankful that you stuck your nose into our business and corrected our wrong information. That way, we have a chance of somehow saving the situation. A whole group of merfolk is on the line, and they might be saved thanks to this.”

Bloody’s soft words made the old man relax a bit.

Sitting on his stone, he sighed. “You Foreigners are an odd group.”

“We get that often.”

“How do you intend to fight against the sirens when you can’t move underwater?”

“That”, Ithiel cheerfully interjected with the sentence he had picked up from players in the past weeks, “is something we will worry about later.”

“Lord above.” The man shook his head. “I wonder if you’ll truly be able to stop the Leviathan.”

“Don’t underestimate the sheer stubbornness of Foreigners.” Bloody laughed.

“Anyway, there’s no way for you to help me. The biggest help you can give me is helping the ones down there.” The old man paused and sighed. “One of the necklace’s parts is probably with the elves. That’s all I can say - it’s been too long since it was broken.”

【Story quest - Mermaid’s Tears (The helpless mermaid)

The Mermaid’s Tears is a necklace created by the Gannon merfolk. It was broken into four parts, unable to show its true power.

Ownership: 0/4

First part - In merfolk hands (You do not own this part)

Second part - In elven hands (You do not own this part)

Third part - ???

Fourth part - ???】

Everyone quietly accepted the quest. Ithiel couldn’t see it, but Bloody whispered the information to him so he could write it down. While the others had their own thoughts, Ice couldn’t help continue to stare at the man.

He was suspicious. How did he even know so much?

“Thank you very much for your help”, Ice started. “Although it’s late, allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Ice.”

The old man wasn’t stupid enough to miss that Ice was trying to get more information. He shrugged nonchalantly. “My name’s Kinsley.”

Ithiel fidgeted, eyes widening. “I didn’t know merfolk could have legs!”

Everyone raised their eyebrows, including the visibly surprised old man.

“I don’t have the slightest idea what’s going on in your head to reach that conclusion from him introducing himself”, Bloody said dryly.