Chapter 273

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Chapter 273: What Is Up With This Friendly Fish?

"It’s a merman! Saying mermaid sounds so strange!"

The girl put her hands on her hips, her blue eyes sparkling as she lifted her skirt and twirled around in front of them.

Then she happily asked, "So, do I look just like a human now?"

With that, she was completely sure of the mermaid’s identity.

Of course, this place is the mermaids’ territory, so it is strange to see humans here.

Rin asked that question mainly because those mermaids did not change into human legs and were only being polite to the humans, not even trying to greet them.

But this girl right in front of him was very familiar, and her way of speaking and even her style of dressing was just like that of a human girl.

So, he asked one more question to make sure.

"Hey, don’t you often do business with humans? Why do you need to ask someone else?"

"That’s them! I am not an adult yet, and I am not allowed to leave the Cloud Sea! It’s so unfair!"

Rin’s words surprisingly brought up the girl’s sad memories, and she placed her hands on her hips, pouting angrily.

"Oh."

Rin replied softly and turned his head, starting to doze off again, leaning against the swaying waste hero.

"Hey, where are you from, Baibao Continent or The Mangekyou Continent?"

The girl asked curiously. Seeing Rin still tilting his head, she simply turned to face him; "Is this blue-haired lady your friend? Her hair color is so nice! But does she look sick? She doesn’t seem lively at all."

"Oh right, my name is Yiran, I’m a visitor from another world. What is your name?"

"And what is this lady’s name? Don’t all humans look as good as you?"

Alright, to correct myself, this person is not only very friendly but also quite talkative.

Rin thought the silly elk was already chatty enough, but after talking with the silly elk, his head was filled with endless chatter.

He did not expect there was someone who could out-talk the elk, asking a million questions to a stranger they just met for two or three minutes straight.

Indeed, there are always others beyond the ones you know.

At that moment, Rin felt a wave of annoyance and turned his head the other way.

"Anyway, don’t your people often go to other continents? You can just ask them."

"No way! What they talk about is just business, or how greedy and tricky humans are, or how silly some of them are. It’s not helpful at all! I’d rather hear from real humans!"

She put her hands behind her back and eagerly leaned to the other side, revealing her cute, slightly chubby face once again within Rin’s view.

"Tell me about it, come on, tell me!"

The more she talked, the closer her face got, and her voice was very sweet.

Without thinking, Rin blocked her face with his hand, looking very displeased, "Don’t come so close! Didn’t your family tell you to avoid talking to strangers? I’m the greedy and tricky human you mentioned!"

"It’s not me saying it, it’s what they said! You’re so stingy!"

Yiran pouted, took a step back, and with a little flick of her eyes, pulled out a colorful pearl.

"How about this, is this okay?"

Rin took a glance at the colorful pearl in her hand. He had never seen such a pearl before, but its shine was definitely special, not worse than a Blue Gemini, and his eyes brightened instantly.

"Since you said that, according to the principle of equivalent exchange, of course, I can accept it. I guess I’ll take it, even if I’m not too keen."

Saying this, Rin extended his hand with a proud look, ready to grab the colorful pearl.

Before he could touch it, Yiran suddenly held his hand with both of hers and curiously squeezed it.

"Wow, it’s a human hand! So warm! Much warmer than ours!"

Rin was taken aback by the sudden action and noticed that the mermaid’s palm was much cooler than his.

At that moment, Emilia suddenly opened her eyes and swiftly pushed the girl’s hand away.

"No touching, it’s not allowed."

Her possessive look stunned Yiran, but she wasn’t angry at all. Instead, she scratched her head and said with a smile, "You two must be the legendary… lovers, right? It has to be!"

This girl talks a lot, moves around, and has no sense of caution or personal space. Rin is starting to wonder how this person was raised.

Is it really just because she’s too young and not a personality issue that she can’t leave here?

Rin thought this in his mind, but on the outside, he rubbed his hands in annoyance.

"Anyway, don’t ask strangers too many questions, and definitely don’t touch them."

"Why not!? Isn’t that a way to show friendliness?"

"It’s just not allowed; it would seem rude!"

Rin glanced at the waste hero; she had just woken up but quickly closed her eyes to doze off again.

"You’re lucky to meet someone as generous as me. My name is Rin Fenix. Have you heard of the Gualarrap Kingdom in the Mangekyou Continent? That’s where I’m from."

Yiran’s eyes instantly became bright, "The legendary super-rich kingdom where even ordinary people live well! Wow, you must be very happy with lots of fun things to do and delicious food!"

After hearing this, Rin didn’t know how to respond.

To be fair, the people of Gualarrap Kingdom are few in number, but their economy is strong, and the living standards of the people are indeed much better than those in the large empires.

Just hearing the name of this kingdom, people from other countries first think of wealth.

This has become a common perception, so it’s no wonder that the little mermaid would say that.

However, Rin found it hard to connect with her personality, so he replied indifferently, "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

"Oh, there are so many!"

Yiran drew a big circle in front of her, resting her chin on her hand, her blue eyes sparkling, and then a series of questions burst out like cannonballs.

In just one short speech, she asked more than ten questions, and by the end, Rin had already forgotten what her first question was.

"Huh? Little Ran, what are you doing here?"

A familiar voice came from behind, and Rin turned around to see that it was Angela.

She looked very happy at that moment, her mood much better than before.

Yiran’s face changed, and she quickly acted like a little lady, lifting her skirt and bowing to Angela.

"Aunt Angela, hello."

"Pfft."

Rin couldn’t help but laugh out loud, shaking his shoulders and muttering, "Aunt Angela."

Angela gave him a fierce glare, signaling him to be quiet, and then kindly nodded at Yiran.

"Little Ran, you are a mermaid; you don’t need to learn human nobility’s etiquette."

"I just think it’s quite interesting, Aunt Angela. Why did you bring them here?"

"Ah? A request from an acquaintance, a small matter."

Angela did not say anything to Leviathan and instead said, "Alright, let’s hurry back. You probably have a pile of homework to finish. If Queen Yilan doesn’t see you later, she will scold you."

Yiran pouted, "Mom, come on! I am not a little kid anymore, stuck in the palace every day. It’s so boring!"

But she still looked a bit afraid of her mother and didn’t say much. She just took out a little notebook and handed it to Rin along with some colorful beads.

"Remember our promise. My questions are all in here. You must give it back to me when you’re done."

"？？？"

Wow, this fish is so boring! Did it really prepare a little notebook with questions? What is it even thinking?

Then she thought, well, fish don’t really have the sharpest minds.

"Remember! Those who break promises can be bitten to death by ten thousand sea snakes!"

After saying that, she waved goodbye to Angela again, "I will go back now, Aunt Angela, goodbye."

The girl came quickly and left just as fast, as if she were a gust of wind.

Rin looked at the notebook in his hand, smiled slightly, and tossed it into his bag.

"This girl really gives me a headache, as if she has endless things to say and energy to spare."

Angela held her forehead, "Don’t you think she is a bit too familiar? She’ll get used to it, after all, she can’t leave the Cloud Sea Secret Realm and hasn’t seen outsiders in a hundred years."

Rin shrugged, "It is indeed a little strange, like a flock of sparrows chirping and then flying away. But we probably won’t have much in common."

"No common ground? Then what about the promise she mentioned?"

Rin explained what happened earlier, and Angela fell silent for a moment, then sighed, "Well, in that case, it’s understandable. After all, that girl is quite pitiful; she will never be able to leave here."

"Huh? Can’t one leave the Cloud Sea Secret Realm after becoming an adult?"

"Only she cannot. The specific reason is a secret of the merman tribe that I cannot tell you, and you should not mention it to her either."

Angela crossed her arms and pushed aside a cloud with her hand, feeling a bit irritated. "Let’s go. We have quite a long way to travel. This time, we will take a boat. We can talk about the trial along the way."

"Uh, a boat? Are there even boats here?"

Rin wondered to himself. Everything in this sea of clouds, whether it be a giant fish or a sea snake or merfolk, did not look like something that would need a boat to leave.

"Less chatter, follow me."

Angela turned and walked away, leaving Rin looking at her back. Rin took the waste hero’s hand and dragged her along.

They wandered around the front gate of the merman palace for a long time, heading towards the back.

At this moment, Rin looked at the garden behind the palace, filled with all kinds of strange underwater flowers and plants, and he couldn’t help but be amazed.

"By the way, the queen is named Yilan, and that girl is called Yiran. It seems she is indeed the princess of the Mermaid Kingdom."

"Hmm."

"The Mermaid Kingdom is so small, it seems like there are no more than a hundred mermaids living here, and I haven’t seen any males."

Angela paused, opened her mouth to explain something, but then thought it was too much trouble and waved her hand, "The merfolk here are just a part of it. I don’t want to talk about their backstories and history. If you really want to know, you can borrow a book from Suyu. She should have detailed information."

Rin immediately felt bored and tried to push his curiosity aside, not thinking about it anymore.

After leaving the small Mermaid Kingdom for quite a while, Angela took out a colorful seashell from her pocket and blew into it.

The sound was very different from a regular seashell, it was high and long, more like… like the call of a Stone Kun Fish.

Soon, a similar sound came from afar, echoing back with a cheerful tone.

After resting for a moment, Angela grabbed the seashell and blew into it again, and the creature in the distance called out once more.

This alternating sound, like a guide, attracted a Stone Kun Fish the size of a truck, its body covered in moss but looking like dark stone.

Long before Rin thought about the sound of the conch, he already had a guess in his heart, but seeing this place now, he couldn’t help but feel it was truly interesting.

However, the Stone Kun Fish in front of him was much smaller than the one he saw the first time.

Rin couldn’t help but ask, "Is this Stone Kun Fish still a baby?"

"Yes, it’s a young one. It likes to play and can easily be attracted by similar sounds, but don’t underestimate it. Its intelligence is about the same as a five or six-year-old child."

"So, is this our boat?"

Angela did not answer directly but made some gestures towards the small Stone Kun Fish.

To Rin’s surprise, the small Stone Kun Fish understood and nodded its big head.

Rin carefully observed and realized that this Stone Kun Fish looked like a giant version of a catfish, with its head being larger than its body, but unlike catfish, it had a flat body and its surface was covered with sharp stone-like bumps.

The second sentence appears to be a mix of characters and may not correspond to meaningful words.

The eyes are small and pitiful compared to the body; they look silly from the front, creating a striking contrast with the overwhelming body.

"Let’s go up first; there are stones in that area that the Stone Kun Fish loves to eat. It will be happy to take us there."

As they spoke, the Stone Kun Fish landed on the ground, making a dull sound that shook the earth, splashing mud everywhere in the low clouds.

When the muddy view cleared, Rin noticed that its flat body and the protruding stone spikes formed a perfect platform to stand on.

After Angela got on, he woke up Waste Hero and stepped onto a few stone spikes with a sloped surface until he reached its back.

Probably because it often rolls on the ground, the patch of moss in the center of its back was less than in other places, and the seaweed that grew on its back was also much less and in disarray.

The back had grooves with short, uneven stone spikes that helped prevent anyone from falling off.

Rin quickly found a clean, moss-free, and seaweed-free dip and sat down, using a blanket to lean against the thick stone spikes.

Miss Hero could finally get some good rest, curling up and sleeping soundly in Rin’s arms.

With a long call, the body underneath, as hard as stone, shook violently. Then Rin felt a moment of weightlessness, as if he were on a plane, and the Stone Kun Fish began to float upwards.

Until the Stone Kun Fish floated above the sea of clouds, the soft, colorful light once again filled his view. Rin gazed at the enormous, yet beautiful planet that looked like a scene from a sci-fi movie, squinting his eyes in satisfaction.

With nothing to do, Angela sat beside him, took out a delicate wine flask, and happily began to drink.

"Now I can tell you what the so-called Leviathan Trial is all about."

Rin quickly sat up straight and lightly patted the waste hero’s face, but he couldn’t wake her up.

Angela clicked her tongue and said, "Let her sleep well. She listens to you anyway, so just talking to you directly would be the same."