Leo released a sigh, he was unable to suppress the pride entirely, but he could at least think rationally.

Myu on his lap seemed to be busy playing with Tifa’s fins while Delphy still circled them with the same vigor. He couldn’t help but pat Myu’s head. Sometimes, she was just adorable.

“Papa~”

He smiled and touched her fins with his other hand. Her ears were similar to Remia, soft, and slippery to touch.

“Unn, Papa. It tickles!”

It seemed like her ears were also sensitive, like her mother. He stopped patting her head and began playing with both of her fins.

“Papaa! Shtap, it feelss weirdd~” Myu squirmed on his lap, struggling to free her ears.

Leo chuckled and resumed stroking her hair. Myu also giggled adorably and entrusted her back to him.

All the while, Tifa watched their interactions with a smile as if admiring the bond between father and daughter.

“Then, might as well tell the story of the divine beast,” Leo said with a smile.

Tifa coughed twice and assumed a smiling face. “Long ago, more than a thousand years ago, our race used to be friends of humans living in the small city established near the shore. Our ruler at that time was Divine Beast-sama, he used to sometimes act like a tyrant, but he was a great ruler who always looked out for his subjects.” She looked at Myu with a smile. “Many of our race married humans and gave birth to a male who was a miracle considering our all-female race. The new males mated with other humans and created an entirely new race known as Dagon.”

Leo nodded his head while Myu’s fins flapped in anticipation. It must be fascinating to hear the origin of her own race.

‘Don’t add the parts unsuited for children.’ He transmitted with telepathy.

‘I understand,’ she replied with telepathy.

‘Does every merfolk have Telepathy skill?’

She nodded her head. ‘Yes, our race is born with it. It allows us to communicate in water.’

A pinch on his thigh forced him to end the talk. He stared at Myu pouting. He patted her head and signaled Tifa to continue.

The story lasted for half an hour.

The short version was that the small village was located somewhere near today’s Erisen. Since humans also used to worship the Sea God, they got along really well with Merfolks.

But one day, a typical greedy king came to know about the existence of Merfolks, the race with the natural talent of artifact creation, melodious voice capable of charming others, and, most importantly, their beauty, which never faded with time. They always stayed young, in their prime till death.

What transpired next was an imperial verdict to capture all Merfolks as slaves. However, they didn't know about the presence of ‘Sea God’ who slumbered in the deep ocean.

And when the army arrived, they faced the wrath of Sea God who quite literally drowned them to death.

This news was then passed to the ‘Pope’ of the Holy Church.

Another war occurred. This time, Apostles participated. The Divine Beast, the Sea dragon, lost in the face of overwhelming numbers. But he brought enough time for Merfolk to retreat in the deep ocean.

As for the human village, Leo could imagine their fate. Most of them must be executed for this, as he saw before in Miledi’s past.

Oh shit! I forgot to meet Miledi… I'll go to her first thing in the morning...

Her angry face was still deeply rooted in his bones, but he was grateful to her. How could he not when she trained him without asking anything in return.

Today, he had more plans for his adorable daughter, which included Remia. Just the thought of pregnant Remia brought a smile to his face. He shook his head and took Myu outside of the Palace.

Tifa also wanted to introduce them to the culture of Merfolks. She gave the basic idea of Meropis.

The north was occupied solely by the Sea God Palace and residential quarters of the Elders council and Tifa. West and south were reserved for residents and east the direction they were currently going with Tifa.

He arrived at an area where lines of stalls could be seen on both sides of the street. Girls of all ages strolled busily there and expectedly; there was no old aged person among them.

“What type of currency do you use here?” He was a bit curious about how their economy worked.

“Currently, we only use magic crystals and such. We do not have any stable economy, nor do our tribe require one because of our low population.” Her face reddened as she averted her gaze. “But as there are only females here, we do craft certain types of ‘Toys’ to keep us… entertained.”

A woman would only refer to one particular type of toy with that kind of face. The idea of uniting Tifa’s tribe with other races flashed in his mind.

I'll talk to her about this…

But this brought him to another question. “Where do you even get these magic crystals?”

Tifa released a somewhat dejected sigh before saying, “Although quite rare, there are some monsters even this deep in the sea. We can hunt them with a bit of effort.”

“Papa! Charge~!”

He nodded and heeded the urgings of princess Myu walking on his side while holding his right hand.

Then, they began to explore the stalls one by one. The jewelry here was fairly incredible compared to human artisans. In the end, Leo ended up buying one for every girl, even the woman spending her time to accompany him. As for Myu, well, she bought everything that garnered her attention.

After the brief session of shopping, Tifa brought them to another stall where he ate something familiar from Earth.

Ice cream.

“Where did you get the milk?”

Tifa replied with a deep blush when he asked the question. It only took a second for him to realize the answer.

A female tribe at the bottom of the ocean had only one way to get milk...

He sighed and put another scoop in his mouth.

No wonder the flavor is different from normal sugar...

Myu, on the other hand, had a loose expression as she put the spoon in her mouth. It was just too cute; even Tifa felt the same. She picked up and placed Myu on her lap before bringing the spoon of ice cream near Myu’s face.

And strangely, Myu didn't resist and began eating right away.

Was it the effect of ice cream or the fact that Tifa could be considered Myu’s ancestor?

He shook his head and glanced at the stall owner, a woman in her late twenties, and right now, she was blushing to the extreme for some reason.

Leo adopted a poker face and gave her two mana crystals, a price more than she hoped. She bowed and accepted them.

They needed these crystals during the ritual, or they won't be able to bear any children. Also, Merfolk had a habit of creating random magic items in their free time, and even this required a mana crystal.

This day, he discovered and befriended another absurd race...

IdleLucifer

Edited by NB