Chapter 19: Murloc Village Ruins

The river surface flowed slowly.

Two slender fishing boats moved toward the opposite bank under the rowing of the fishermen.

For a single fishing boat, squeezing five people in at once, plus the fisherman and a merman, was proving to be quite difficult.

Not to mention that four of them were clad in armor.

Even split between two boats, it still felt a bit cramped.

"Your Highness, why... why can you communicate with these mermen?" Alirese asked, sitting beside Kana.

The blue-spotted merman sat by the edge of the boat, paddling the water with his short arms, muttering something under his breath; he seemed to find the experience of riding in a boat quite novel.

"It’s not exactly communication. In truth, the language within merman society is very rudimentary. They rely more on tone, pitch, and various body movements to express themselves.

So generally speaking, it is easy for them to understand the meaning of other racial beings, but it is actually quite difficult for other races to understand merman expression.

Even among themselves, this is how they communicate, especially between different merman tribes."

Kana provided this bit of exposition from the side.

Both Alirese and Blake wore expressions of having learned something new.

"Prince, your knowledge is even more profound than I imagined," Blake said, somewhat admiringly.

He felt that such knowledge could be considered quite obscure.

He truly couldn't imagine how bored a person would have to be to study such things.

And Kana not only knew them but could actually apply them.

If Kana had heard this, he would have had to tell Blake: that is just how a "player" is.

However, Blake frowned and asked with a hint of seriousness, "Does your Highness have a specific purpose for going to the other side of the river? I must tell you, although these mermen have no conflict with us, they are not exactly a civilized species. This could very likely lead to unexpected conflicts."

He was worried Kana might do something to provoke the mermen; after all, Kana was essentially a prince of a nation, a noble existence.

And mermen... were perhaps only slightly better than wild beasts.

At least, that was how it was in Blake's heart.

Kana smiled, giving him a reassuring look. "Since I understand the customs and habits of these mermen, I naturally know how to interact with them normally. So, rest easy."

Blake nodded; a warning was the limit of his duty.

With the river breeze blowing, the fishing boats fell silent.

Kana watched the merman.

The reason he cared about the blue-spotted merman was that at the start of the plot, there was a merman tribe on the coast near the starting village, and they were a neutral unit where one could accept certain quests.

Mermen could be said to be spread across everywhere with water in this world; they weren't highly aggressive and would even clear away some debris from the riverbanks.

Due to certain systemic reasons within their society, they rarely formed large, massive tribes.

A merman tribe of a thousand people was almost the absolute limit, which meant the areas they occupied along the coast were not vast.

To ensure their own safety, they often built their tribes in reef areas or beneath cliffs.

This also meant that most intelligent races rarely went out of their way to wipe out merman tribes without reason.

In the game, there were many quests related to mermen issued by them.

That style of communicating through hand gestures and dancing was something every player mastered by the mid-to-late game.

The reason players were so enthusiastic was that merman quests often yielded equipment with unique appearances.

One had to admit that by the late game, players loved quirky things.

The way to distinguish mermen was by the spots on their bodies; different densities of color and different stripe patterns indicated different tribes.

And "Blue-Spotted" could basically be confirmed as the tribe near the coast of the starting village.

The most important point was this

The first quest to feature the "Genesis Stone" began with this very merman tribe.

In the early to mid-game, this thing was always just a background element. Once a player obtained it, it functioned as a very important quest item that could not be used on its own.

But once every Genesis Stone was collected, it could trigger quests with extremely generous rewards.

Thus, in the early and mid-game, Genesis Stone = top-tier rewards.

Amidst his thoughts, Old Peter's voice drifted into his ears.

"My lords, we have reached the shore."

Kana snapped back to reality, and the group disembarked.

He ordered the two fishermen to wait on the shore for their return, and Blake casually tossed them a few copper coins.

Amidst a chorus of thanks, they followed the constantly chattering merman toward the distance.

They hadn't walked far before two mermen came running from afar, carrying spears made of stone.

After casting a wary glance at Kana and the others, they began communicating with the merman in front of them through frantic gestures.

"They actually... really do communicate like that," Alirese remarked, finding it quite novel.

After a period of communication, the merman who had led them performed a series of gestures toward Kana.

Kana merely nodded.

Turning around, he said, "He wants us to follow him."

The group followed, taking a short detour before spotting the merman tribe by a shallow beach.

There were crude shacks built of branches and leaves.

There were also bones and various bits of debris.

This place could already be considered a small village.

Mermen were everywhere.

They varied in size, some fat and some thin.

"Look at that one. Is that even a merman?" Kecha, one of the accompanying knights, asked while pointing into the distance.

It was a merman about one and a half meters tall; compared to the surrounding mermen who were less than a meter, it stood out like a crane among chickens.

Furthermore, its physique was much more robust, and it held a massive bone club in its hand, with an unidentified fish skull mounted on the end.

Seeing this merman, Kana was almost certain: this merman tribe was definitely the one from the starting village coast.

"Strong Fish" was the name of that merman.

A Level 3 Merman Warrior.

At least, that was how it was labeled above his head when playing the game.

"To be honest, even though I've lived on the opposite bank for so long, this is my first time coming here to see a merman village with my own eyes," Blake remarked with some emotion.

"So, what is your first impression?" Kana asked with a smile.

"Much better than I expected. I thought they would just dig holes in the sand or something. I didn't expect them to build houses, even if these houses are... crude," Blake said.

While the group was chatting, an old merman, clearly much older than the average merman, walked out from the village.

Unlike the other mermen, this old merman wore decorative clothing made of strung shells.

His appearance was also different; while the heads of other mermen were pointed like fish with eyes set on the sides of their heads, this merman's head extended outward in a triangular shape, with eyes set diagonally on the sides.

He held a massive coral staff, with bells made of shells hanging from the tip.

They jingled with every step he took.

And "Strong Fish" followed closely beside him for protection.

Seeing this old merman, Kana smiled slightly and bowed his head a little, keeping his hands behind his back.

"Greetings, Frog-Head Prophet."

The old merman was visibly surprised. Seeing that Kana even performed a merman internal etiquette, his favorability toward him surged instantly.

"Greetings, friendly human."

The four people standing behind Kana widened their eyes because the merman had spoken.

And he was speaking the Common Tongue.

"I did not expect to meet a human who understands mermen. I have heard from Little Shell that you saved him. I thank you for your kindness."

The merman prophet's tone was somewhat strange, but his words were still clearly understandable.

"I am interested, so I know a little.

Prophet, I heard you have a semi-circular relic slab here, and I am very interested in it.

What must I do to have you give it to me?"

Kana's words were abrupt and blunt.

The four who had followed him were completely bewildered.

But the merman prophet seemed to respond well to this; they did not like any roundabout ways.

If you came for something, say it directly. If you were roundabout, the mermen would take those roundabout words literally.

"Are you talking about this, human?"

The old merman took a half-circle stone slab from a small cloth bag carried by the merman warrior beside him.

He handed it directly to Kana.

Upon taking it and looking, Kana could basically confirm that although the past in his mind was somewhat blurred, this slab should be the one.

"Yes, this is it."

"Human, this slab was originally a whole piece, but it became half a piece some time ago."

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