Just as Lawkey was considering how to approach his suspicions about the invisible figure he sensed, the crowd erupted in unison.
“Who the hell are you?!”
“Stay out of this!”
While Salil and Lamia’s voices overtook the rest, the two groups continued to shout similar demands.
All Lawkey could do was sheath his blade, stick fingers in his ears and hope the raging crowd would tire of screaming soon.
“...?” Alviss looked at him with a puzzled expression. Although he couldn’t say for sure due to his numb senses, the dwarf could slightly sense the level of strength the man contained. Did he save me? Why would such a fellow intervene to help me?
Alviss hadn’t been in Tartarus for long, but even as an outsider, he was quickly able to learn the differences between this hidden continent and the outside world. While many things still remained the same, the folks on Tartarus were far harsher and crueler, making everything seem much more glim and hopeless. This meant that on this dark continent, almost no one would bother sticking their noses to help or save someone else.
This was why the crowd was shouting, what Alviss was questioning, and what Lawkey never bothered to figure out.
From his perspective, he stopped them from killing each other, and yet they were all shouting at him together like he is the source of all their trouble. Being on the receiving end of that, he got ticked off.
“Sure, sure. Go ahead and fight if you want to, but at least don’t involve others in your problems.” He waved his hand and tilted his head with a frown, not hiding his dissatisfaction.
“This man made his choice!” Lamia gestured to the short dwarf sitting on the ground as Lawkey sauntered over to him. “He’s our enemy!”
“...” Lawkey scratched the back of his head, then quickly unsheathed his blade and cut the rope on Alviss’ hands, freeing him. “Don’t you think killing him for simply doing his job is going a little too far?”
As his question brought Lamia back to her senses, she realized how much the crowd had affected her. Wasn’t she trying to give the dwarf a way out just before the tritons showed up? She couldn’t help but reprimand herself, I’m still a long way from being a true leader of this clan…
“You alright, shorty?” Lawkey asked the short man he had saved, passing over next to him.
“‘Course.” Alviss answered with a grunt, but he eyed his savior from the corners of his narrow eyes. Shorty? Did this fellow just call me Shorty of all things?
“!!”
Just as Lawkey stepped forward, still ignoring all the jeering and glares, he finally sensed the presence he was searching for. This time, it was hovering not far behind his head.
SNATCH!
With a quick swing of his arm, he grabbed a handful of something no one was able to see. A moment later, reality distorted beneath his grip, revealing a small creature he was holding by the head.
DING-A-LING! DING-A-LING!
“!?”
The moment it came into view, it was accompanied by the sound of small bells, making sure to alert everyone to its presence.
No one present would have been able to accurately describe how the creature looked. It wasn’t big, Lawkey’s hand was already covering half of it. Its entire skin was clad in a color that seemed like a mix of gray and purple, with only its rat-like ears having a tinge of ember within them. The only thing it was wearing was a blue and pink cloth around its neck that had little golden bells at the end of it, the kind jesters wore.
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And yet, the most prevalent detail was its face that showed-
“!?”
Just then Lawkey noticed the gashing wound on the creature’s stomach, and before he could do anything, it had already closed its blacked pink eyes, passing out completely before it could utter a single word.
…Wait! Don’t die buddy! This isn’t my fault! Why did you get in front of my slash! If you’re the same one from the ship, couldn’t you see the future?! Where are your precautions! It’s not my fault, don’t curse me! Lawkey held his breath, forcing his face muscles to stay completely still as he lampooned inwardly. He nervously darted his pupils around, hoping no one had noticed.
“AGHH!!”
“!!”
Everyone turned around to see the tritons on the ground, groaning in agony as they held their heads. Their bodies shook and trembled as if freezing water was dumped over them.
“What… What were we just doing…?” Salil shuddered while holding his head, his pupils that regained their purple hue instead of the previously unfamiliar crimson color, were now constricted into tiny marbles. “H-how did this happen to me…?”
Just like Salil, the other tritons couldn’t help but ask themselves the same type of question as they tried to figure out everything that had happened to them while they were blacked out. They simply couldn’t believe the memories that were rushing into their heads.
“...”
“Did’ya notice it too, friend?”
Just as Lawkey was coming to a conclusion, Alviss asked him directly from behind as he held his shoulder and tried to swing it around, testing his mobility.
“So, that’s how it is then.” That is all Lawkey could say while looking down at the little creature in his hands. He couldn’t help but think it resembled a stuffed toy from some kind of horror book. He was sure his friend from the Kage Clan who liked that sort of stuff, Mai, would have liked to keep it, at the very least. No, she wouldn’t just keep it, I’m sure she would dress it up and coddle it too…
He caught himself before he could imagine such a scene in his mind. For some reason, he thought Mai would probably curse him for that simple act. After all, It was rumored that she had little straw puppets made that resembled all her friends…
“What’s going on? What are you talking about?!” Lamia darted her head between the struggling tritons and the two who seemed to have figured something out. The sirens behind her were similarly perplexed at the sudden shift in the male’s demeanor.
“... Seeing as their minds have been freed as soon as this creature passed out, it’s safe to say that it was controlling all of them somehow.” Lawkey explained holding the little creature up for everyone to see.
“A scary ability, indeed, but-”
“Wait! Is that…?! N-no way…!”
“?!”
Before Alviss could finish his sentence, he was quickly cut off by Salil’s shout. Every siren and triton’s eyes had come to focus on one thing only.
“Is that thing a Hyking?!”
To them, or anyone who has heard of this race, nothing was scarier than to see what was clearly visible on the little creature’s forehead.
Not only did it have a long and wide mouth with pointy teeth that was luckily half closed, but just between its two big eyes, there was a combination of markings that matched with the thick pink eyelashes. The birthmark started with a wide third eye that had a star-shape in the middle of the pupil, and then just above that was the very thing that sent shivers across every single merfolk around. The birthmark of a Hyking, which this creature’s variation took form as a ‘XIII’ with small horn-like additions on the sides.
What did he just say?!”
“A H-hyking?!”
“You’re kidding, right?!”
Collectively, the entire crowd from both sides shuddered and gasped, not believing what they were witnessing.
“A Hyking… Is this really the end of our clan…?” Lamia covered her mouth and muttered to herself with shaking eyes.
“...” Lawkey watched their reactions in silence, then let out a long sigh. He could never understand the fear this word had on people. Back in the Kage Clan, just the word caused strife and death amongst the clan. Even though he wasn’t a Hyking, they continued to blame and accuse him, eventually leading to the formations of small factions and before long, to a revolution attempt that needed to be squashed with force.
He closed his eyes and made his decision. “Relax. You should try to make up soon even if it is difficult to forget what happened. When you mess up, you take responsibility. That’s just how it should be.”
“...”
“This little creature caused a lot of trouble, I’ll do you a favor and take this thing with me far away from here.” Lawkey added calmly, but this was also a way to take responsibility for him. Not only did he intervene, but he also injured the creature to the point of passing out, the least he could do is take it with him until it recovered. It did help me out back on the ship too…
“...You would do that for us? Why?” Salil, quickly recovering from his headache, asked with a puzzled look.
“Make up… after everything that happened… is it even possible?” Lamia on the other hand, was still hung up on Lawkey’s earlier words. For her, if there was a way to fix things, she would be willing to try it, but things weren’t that simple. Not every siren behind her would simply accept such an outcome.
“‘Course it’s possible! If ya’ll just band together fer the sake of yer tribe-”
“Of course I’ll do that for you! If you offer me some pancakes, that is!”
Before Alviss could finish his sentence, he was cut off yet again. This time, by Lawkey who jumped forward with starry eyes, rubbing his palms together for the chance of getting what he desired.
“I told you we don’t have that! Stop asking!” To his surprise, the mermaid who served him from the mermaid bar quickly intervened to shut him up.
“Fine… just give us some sake then…” Lawkey crossed his arms and closed his eyes, but on the inside, he was short of coming to tears. What the hell do I have to do to get some freaking pancakes around here?!
“...”
Alviss, and even Salil, looked at Lawkey from the side with deadpan eyes.
It was as if their entire image of this swordsman who came to save the day suddenly shattered.
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image [https://i.imgur.com/KQmIY8F.png]