CH.275 Underwater Search
<span style="font-weight:400">The next morning, after breakfast of course, we got to thekeshore. Theke was already filled with boats of different sizes, everything from small row boats, to small fishing galleys. Some of the boats had even already returned to shore, with broken fishings, and snapped fishing poles.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright. Lua, take to the skies. You can either use your Gradius, or I’ll let you borrow a B.E.S. I want you to use their sensors to try and locate whatever it is that is causing this issue. Keep in contact with us, the best you can.
<span style="font-weight:400">Agunan, Ria. You two head out on Yomi Ship. Use the fishing rod, and the other monsters I gave Ria to hopefully bait that monster into getting close to you.
<span style="font-weight:400">Alice and I will head into the depths with our Amphibious Bugroth.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll take Crystal Core, if that is fine.” Lua requested.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sure. Here you go.” I passed her the card.
<span style="font-weight:400">My n might not be perfect. Well, let’s be honest, it is mediocre at best. And I’m not even using my resources optimally. If I was, Lua would being into the sea with me and Alice would be in the sky. But Alice got the mission, and it is her first, so I want to help her aplish it, so she should be in the water, right? … wait. This is actually her second, because she had one to help me with 27_001. Well still, she is the one with the mission, so she ising with me. I wonder if Alice will get a longer term mission, like the three I have, or the one Lua has?
<span style="font-weight:400">As for our summoned monster lineup, as I already said, I’m sending Lua to the skies with B.E.S. Crystal Core. My space ships do have quite the sensory array, so having one invisible in the sky won’t be a bad thing. And it has to be Lua, because I want to be able to keep in contact with her. I need to develop some magical radiomunication next.
<span style="font-weight:400">Ria and Agunan were heading out on Yomi Ship. It is a small boat from my summoned monster arsenal, and it will likely look like just a slightly strange fishing ship,pared to something like Skull Mariner, which is a pirate ship. They also had a few fishing poles, as well as water monsters like Boneheimer. This was to hopefully bait out whatever attacks fishing lines ands.
<span style="font-weight:400">And of course Alice and I were heading into the water with me in the Ground Attacker Bugroth and Alice in the Amphibious Bugroth MK-3. Too bad I don’t have the fusion Bugroth, but maybe I’ll get it eventually.
Spoiler
<table style="border-copse:copse;width:100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width:33.3333%"></td>
<td style="width:33.3333%"></td>
<td style="width:33.3333%"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:33.3333%"></td>
<td style="width:33.3333%"></td>
<td style="width:33.3333%"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
[copse]
<hr>
<span style="font-weight:400">(I’m ready to go, and so are Ria and Agunan.) We got the message from Lua, who had gotten into Crystal Core. (You two should head into the water.)
<span style="font-weight:400">(Alright. Alice, let’sunch.)
<span style="font-weight:400">(Yes.)
<span style="font-weight:400">The two of us had moved a bit away from the town, getting a lift there from the invisible Crystal Core. Honestly speaking, Crystal Core is even more difficult to spot from the ground than Big Core, just because its structure is so different, and the main reactor is closer to the structure of the ship.
<span style="font-weight:400">As for the reason I decided to get some distance from the town, well, we were in walking submarine things, so I’m not so sure getting in at the town’s port is the best idea. One person sees us and they’ll think we are the cause for all of the broken fishings and missed catches.
<span style="font-weight:400">With everything ready to go, Alice and Iunched our Bugroths into theke.
<hr>
<span style="font-weight:400">(We can’t really see much, can we?)
<span style="font-weight:400">(Well, the water is quite muddy. But we do have sonar, so we can use that.)
<span style="font-weight:400">As Alice said, and as I spotted yesterday, the water of thiske was anything but clear. Our vision was ten, maybe fifteen meters at most, but because I wanted to avoid using the flood lights on the Bugroths, so we wouldn’t be spotted, we had to just deal with it. But they dide with sonar, so we were able to navigate with that.
<span style="font-weight:400">As we approached the area where the fishermen were more focused on, we had to dive deeper into theke, to avoid theirs. I originally thought thiske wouldn’t be this deep, because I think I’ve heard that deepkes usually have clearer water than shallow ones, but I might just be wrong. Or maybe it was the reverse. I don’t know.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Lua, you seeing anything? Any signs from the fishing team?) I asked our air support.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Nothing. The water is not clear enough where I can see far into it from here. And the sensors only work to the water’s surface.) Lua responded. (I do have eyes on the fishermen, and there does seem to be one disgruntled one rowing to the shore, so that could be it. Mia will send you the location.)
<span style="font-weight:400">(Thanks. We’ll head that way.)
<span style="font-weight:400">(There are two other boats close to where he was, so they might be the next targets.) Lua added.
<hr>
<span style="font-weight:400">(They just pulled up a broken. Did you see what did it?) Lua informed us.
<span style="font-weight:400">(No. We lost it when the adventurers jumped in. But we did learn something good.) I responded to Lua.
<span style="font-weight:400">This was the third boat we had predicted the monster would hit, and we had gotten some good info. Mainly, its sonar signature is norger than that of a human, so we aren’t dealing with some huge beast. Or it has some sort of sonar camouge, which honestly could be the case.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Alright. It is heading towards the next boat. A small one, with just fishing poles, nos.) Lua told us. (And I think it might hit Ria and Agunan after that.)
<span style="font-weight:400">(Brian, do you think it is time to call for backup?) Alice asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Probably. There is a decent chance we will never see this thing without some help, and the fishing rods I gave to Ria and Agunan are special, so that might be our best shot.)
<span style="font-weight:400">I had thought some amount about how we were going to get this monster, and while I could goplete overkill and drain the entireke with Daedalus or Neo-Daedalus and then refill it by installing Umi, I’d rather not do that for obvious reasons. I might just turn thiske into a sea. Aka. salt water.
<span style="font-weight:400">Instead, let’s go with something a bit more local. In preparation for this, I had already swapped my active race from Dragon Hearted to Spiritual Human.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Summon Water Spirit.” I used my secret weapon. We are searching for something in water, so why not call on a water expert?
<span style="font-weight:400">A human-sized being made of water appeared outside my Ground Assault Bugroth. It might have been a bit difficult to see, because seeing a being of water in water is not easy. But I’m currently a Spiritual Human, so I can see spirits better, and I can even see some sort of pseudo-spirit things.
<span style="font-weight:400">…
<span style="font-weight:400">…
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, this is awkward. I didn’t think about this part. The spirits can’t actuallymunicate me through my mind, unless they synchro with me, and I can’t, wait? How are youing in?
<span style="font-weight:400">The greater spirit beganing straight through the ss canopy of my Bugroth. It wasn’t quite like it wasn’t there, but more like she was slowly phasing through the ss.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hero, did you need my help?” The greater spirit asked, after she hade through the ss.
<span style="font-weight:400">“... how did you do that?” I asked. “You just went through the ss.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Of course I didn’t. I simply made a small amount of water on this side, and then slowly transferred myself to that, while increasing its size so I would fit.” The spirit answered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh? Yeah. That makes a lot more sense. I need your help. I’m trying to locate some monster that is tearing up fishings and fishing lines, but this water is… well, not easy to see in. Could you help?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Quite simple. We should synchro for that. It will be the easiest way.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sure. Let’s do that then.” I agreed with the spirit.
<span style="font-weight:400">Her watery body then formed ayer around me, and I felt the mana of the spirit rushing into me. It felt quite a lot nicer than it didst time, perhaps because of the change in race.
<span style="font-weight:400">(I’m d you became spiritual, Hero. It is so rare that you humans evolve that way.) The spirit said in my head.
<span style="font-weight:400">(... I actually didn’t. I can just change my race whenever I want.) I admitted to the spirit.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Oh? That is … well, I still like the current you, so please be like this whenever you call me or my children.)
<span style="font-weight:400">(I’ll try to remember.) I said, before focusing on the task at hand. (Can you make the water clearer for me? Or so that it is easier for me to see?)
<span style="font-weight:400">(Yes, I’ll help you with that.)
<span style="font-weight:400">After the spirit said so, the water around me became more clear. Or more like I could see through it easier. It was still quite dirty and I saw all of the impurities, but I could still see further than I could previously.
<hr>
<span style="font-weight:400">(That’s it. I think I see it. It is a mermaid.) I said, as I spotted what I think is our target.
<span style="font-weight:400">(A merfolk, actually.) Laura specified for everyone.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Really? But there shouldn’t be any living here. I’ve heard they hate the dirty waters of this ce.) Lua informed us. (And why would a merfolk be cutting fishing lines?)
<span style="font-weight:400">(No clue, but we can ask after we catch him.) I told everyone.
<span style="font-weight:400">I could just see the humanoid being with a fishtail cutting the four fishing linesing from a boat on the surface. I tried to approach for a better look, but as soon as he heard and/or saw my Bugroth, he ran away into the depths and I lost sight of him.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Brian, our sonar is losing him!) Alice called. (I’m going after him.)
<span style="font-weight:400">(Right behind you.) I agreed with Alice, as I set my Bugroth to dive at max speed.
<span style="font-weight:400">We quickly reached the bottom of theke, but we didn’t have any sign of the merfolk. We had lost him on sonar as well, so he might be hiding somewhere, where the sonar can’t pick him up.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Hero, there is a trench that way. You can’t see it, but you can feel more water there.) The spirit helped me in the right direction.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Here? But I can.. wait? I just went through? … an illusion?) I used the arms of my Bugroth to feel around, until one of them sank through what I thought was the bottom of theke. I then moved further into the … probably an illusion and went straight through it. (Alice, follow me this way.)
<span style="font-weight:400">(Yes. Coming.) Alice agreed.
<span style="font-weight:400">We entered a thin water filled trench, which was just aboutrge enough to fit our Bugroths. After going up about 40 more meters, the trench turned and kept going, before opening up to a cave of some sort. It was also an air pocket, so we could get out of our Bugroths. And at the center of the small cave, I saw a familiar looking pedestal with a small monster core on it.
<span style="font-weight:400">I was kidding when I said thiske would have a dungeon, alright? It was a joke.
<span style="font-weight:400">Next to the core pedestal, in the small stream that was running through the room, was the merfolk we had been searching for. On her arm, well at least I think she is a she now that I can better see her, is a dungeon terminal. Either founder’s or a master’s, I don’t know yet. Her clothes, if I could call the rags she was wearing clothes, were just barely covering her chest area. Her hair was medium long and dirty ck, likely from swimming in the muddyke water.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Brian?) Alice called me. (... what now? Do we just … kill her?)
<span style="font-weight:400">(Let’s not start with that. Maybe we can reason with her. Spirit, can you freeze the water, so she can’t exit?)
<span style="font-weight:400">(I shall, but if she knows water magic, she can just undo mine with a spell.) The spirit warned me, as she froze the path from which we arrived.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Even the dungeon can potentially do that, so it isn’t an issue. As long as it slows her down a bit, if she tries to run.) I responded. It won’t take me long to trap her with something like Spellbinding Circle, but it does take a couple seconds.
<span style="font-weight:400">I opened the canopy of my Bugroth, and jumped out. As I did, the mermaid, wait it was merfolk, well, she got her guard up, and took an aggressive stance with her shortsword. Yes, she was holding a shortsword, likely the same one she used to cut the fishing lines ands.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wait! I don’t want to fight!” I called the merfolk. There is no way I couldn’t take her on, but I still don’t want to do it.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Away! Leave!” I heard the merfolk yell back. “Leave! Leave! Leave!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I won’t leave yet. I just want to talk.” I answered.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Brian? Can you actually understand her?” Alice asked. She had also gotten out of her Bugroth.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah, just fine. Can’t you?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“No. It sounds … foreign to me. Not like draconic, but still … strange.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh. I guess I do also havenguageprehension (humanoid) so merfolknguage might be a part of that. … has she been understanding me?” I wondered, as I looked back at the merfolk, who was still holding her shortsword ready, and ordering us to leave. Or maybe begging. I’m not sure.
<span style="font-weight:400">(She should have understood you. You always instinctively use your Language Comprehension (humanoid) when talking, so that should trante your speech for her to hear.) Laura told me.
<span style="font-weight:400">(Oh. Alright.) I do know I consciously choose to use Language Comprehension (draconic), so it is interesting to learn that I basically always use the other one. Would I just speak English if I didn’t? And then no one would understand me?
<span style="font-weight:400">“Please calm down and talk to me.” I asked the merfolk. She had moved a bit, and was now hiding behind the core pedestal. “I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to know why you are attacking the fishermen?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Leave! Trapped as well! Leave!” She just yelled back.
<span style="font-weight:400">Trapped? What does she mean? Is she trapped in the dungeon? Or theke? But there were a few rivers running both up and downstream, so she should be able to leave.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alice, stay here. I’ll try to approach her. Use this if she tries to run.” I requested as I passed Alice a copy of Spellbinding Circle. I should just let her keep it. I should also give her a copy of Monster Reborn. I gave one to Lua, so why not give one to Alice.
<span style="font-weight:400">I then undid my synchro with the water spirit, and began approaching the merfolk girl. When she saw the water spirit, her eyes seemed to change a bit, almost like she was seeing something fantastical.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You. A water spirit? It was … one with you? Are you … blessed by the spirit?” The merfolk questioned me, as I slowly approached her.
<span style="font-weight:400">So she knows about a spirit’s blessings, huh. Interesting.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes. I have been blessed by a greater water spirit.” I answered the girl. “Would you be willing to talk with me?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“... do you … understand me?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, I do. I have Language Comprehension (humanoid).”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I … see.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Would you be willing to talk with me? I just want to know why you are attacking the fishermen?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“... I … because… trapped. To leave, I need.. the fish…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“You are trapped? And you need fish to leave?” I asked her. “How are you even here? I heard from mypanion that merfolk don’t live here.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I … I … I was … banished …” She just answered.