45th chapter : apology .

More like a nightmare than a dream again, the name of a woman who has never yet to appear disturbed the peace that the red mermaid members were having. In that aspect, especially on the side of power levels, it has been looking like things will only lead to depression and sadness.

“Sigh, this is really making me feel annoyed now, and who are you in the first place!! Why do you know my name?!” Arthur said as he was standing far from Selicia who appeared out of nowhere in front of him.

In order to test him she only spoke his name and started attacking him out of nowhere. Xavier was providing backup based on his serment as he saw that she wasn’t going serious and something was up with her smile towards Arthur.

Selicia on the other side made it clear that she won’t harm them.

“If you let me give you a kiss on the cheek, I’ll tell you my name!!” She acted her usual naughty self.

Arthur made an annoyed face then sighed after that “like hell I would let you do it!!” he roared before trying to kick her with lightning.

Selicia dodged easily and was about to hug him but a sudden chain hanged her up to the roof as Marco appeared out of nowhere.

“You really aren’t a person that gets to be left alone Selicia neechan” Marco spoke looking at Arthur who was watching Selicia trying to break free.

“How did you find me so quickly? I made sure not to leave traces!! and let me go. I wanna only give him a small kiss!! Gahaaa!!” Selicia responded then with no intention in letting her do that, Marco sat her free to fall onto the ground on her own.

After some explanation and holding Selicia so she won’t try anything funny, Arthur and Xavier understood the whole situation.

“Marco nii!! Where are you!?” Sophie came rushing on her own as she didn’t see that there was a monster behind her.

“Sophie!!” Arthur and Marco were about to go after that monster therefore they were shocked to see that the giant monster gave Sophie the hat that fell from her head,

“Thank you Mister monster!! I’ll make sure not to lose it again!!” Sophie thanked the monster with a smile while looking at Marco and Arthur who came and stood between them,

In the middle of the confusion Selicia spoke,

“Ah right, no need to truly kill the monsters around here, if you don’t show any hostility towards Sophie then they won’t attack”.

Her words looked like she was joking but it wasn’t a joke and so Marco confirmed it too somehow,

“What do you mean, Selicia san?” Xavier asked as he was looking at the monster really trying to play with Sophie.

“This dungeon is made by the mother of these three” she calmly said as Marco and Arthur were the most surprised.

Just in time, Yuna and the other three arrived just at time to listen to what Selicia said.

“oh, you figured it too, that’s Selicia for you!” Yuna smiled too, while patting Sophie’s head, she flicked Marco’s head as a punishment for him.

“What do you mean our mother built this?” Arthur asked.

“Hmm, I was going to explain once we reach the others and the real boss room too” Yuna said as she patted his head then hugged him “I’m really loving this experience!! finally able to hug my grandchild!!”.

Yuna’s words made Arthur a little surprised but he didn’t really want to ruin the moment as he let Yuna hug him for a good moment although he had to do the same for Selicia after that. It took them only thirty minutes to reach the others and two minutes to finish up what Selicia didn’t do to Xavier’s serment as Marco slipped his serment into the process too, she got scolded after that.

“Uhm, I know that I’m not really understanding what you meant by our mother building this, is it really a truth?” Marco addressed Cedric while they were walking in the middle of the boss room.

“Woah!! This is the room where I used to play!!” Sophie said out of the blue as she ran to where the boss was standing.

The others such as Alex were about to go stop Sophie but she was surprised that the boss itself held Sophie up in the air playing with her.

“Surprised right, well, I wasn’t expecting that Sophie’s birthplace would be here” Cedric tapped the land beneath them as a sudden hidden room appeared on the wall behind.

After entering the room, Sophie, who was enjoying herself, rushed to the bed where she was sleeping when she was a baby. At the second that Marco and Arthur entered the room with the others a euro circle got activated.

“Hmm, something strange?”.

Emilis spoke his concerns, looking around, in that moment Marco looked behind him as they all saw the same thing, an old man figure appearing behind them.

“Grandpa!!” Arthur yelled in joy as he rushed to hug him but went through him because the figure was a hologram made by the euro circle.

“It’s a message. It’s quite often our tradition to leave messages like that” Yuna explained.

“Well when this message is being shown then it means that Marco or Arthur had arrived here. It was supposed to be your mother who speaks but well, things are bad you know. I can’t say the details around but this place is actually something I built with the help of your mother and father. Things happened and I had to take both of you somewhere else and your mother had to stay here. I don’t see a lot of time in my hand so I’ll make it quick, your mother gave birth here for your little sister…. ren…is…bzzzt….at….well.…don’t…get..vvbaczzz…shut!!”.

The message wasn’t long as it wasn’t short either, it was an official confirmation that Sophie is really a Deca.

While watching the message Arthur could really hold the tears and went to hug Sophie with everything he got as the others were waiting for Marco to do the same but for some reason he only patted their heads then went outside after heaving a sigh at what he saw.

“Does this mean that Marco’s origin is from the toss realm?” Alice asked as Cedric had to respond.

“Nah, the toss realm is like a sub realm to our family, there’s no dungeons around and this one was designed to keep Sophie unharmed until one from the family comes get her, it seems that Marco’s arrival here that time because of his re awakening is more like the trigger for the monsters to open this backdoor for her. At some point, Sophie was here on her own from the moment she was born and their parents ran off somewhere else I guess”.

As he answered her question they all found Marco’s reaction logical.

“I won’t really give any comment on this since if it became like this it means that Sophie is also” Selicia spoke then calmly stopped going after Marco.

“Anyway!! looks like this place will be the special training place for the red mermaid members for now!!” Cedric smiled at them.

“It’s the only place that would make us get a physical body in a proper way, more or less. It’s also related to Marco’s presence here so if he goes out means that we will go back where we came from. For now, the remodeling will have side effects so you guys head back to the restaurant and explain things to Alba san too! Come back tomorrow through this gate that I’ll establish specially for you guys, you go and take a rest too until tomorrow morning. The training will be with us from now on!!” Yuna continued after him as she pushed them out to the gate as Selicia did the same for Marco.

“Ugh, the situation has become more confusing again!!” Alice yelled as she saw that they were all calm, not really getting a surprised reaction anymore.

“I’ll go get the old man Alba, so you guys need to take a rest. I don’t know what side effects Cedric san talked about but for now take it easy. It was a huge day of events” Emilis smiled at them then went on his way since the only way for Alba to witness what’s happening around the dungeon is by Emilis’.

“What did they mean by side effects?” Alex asked as she was looking at her glasses.

“I don’t know but I guess the best way to know is to release our serments” Marco said then fainted straight to fall on the ground.

“Marco!!!” they were surprised but he soon got himself up as he realized what was the side effect.

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“What happened to you?” Zack asked.

“Hmm, I guess it’s related to the euro receivers, it doesn’t recognize the holders. Based on what just happened, the side effects I guess are only exhaustion of euro particles, things can be pretty hard”

Marco responded then stood sealing back his serment.

“If it is exhaustion then act like you’re exhausted!! man!! What did you do!?!” Xavier was also looking at his serment.

“I exhausted what I was giving to my body only, my euro reserves are with no boundaries so it was kinda like the serment ate only the bowl that I gave him so it can recognize my euro” replied Marco.

Marco’s reply was logical but it pissed them off as they started hitting him.

After realizing what the side effect is, all of the red mermaid members didn’t want to ruin their mood as they put down their serments aside while waiting for Alba and Emilis to return.

Most likely they opened up the restaurant and started working there for the rest of the day. They found it a good opportunity to strengthen the bonds with the neighbors around so they would feel more comfortable within the next few days. With Marco’s help, it went smoothly with Alice, Carla and Alex getting more popular because they were girls.

“I didn’t really think I’d feel that sad because they got that popular”,

Xavier complained as the boys were taking a bath at the public bath.

“Don’t be that sad!! The people here can see how bright we are!!” Alice responded from the woman’s side.

“It’s most likely because you have big breasts” Marco responded as he made the others laugh at his joke, ultimately he knew they thought it was a joke but he was meaning his words bluntly.

“You wanna die!! bastard!!” Alice was embarrassed by that.

While everyone was laughing and minding their own business, Alex noticed that Carla quickly got out of the tub and went back home. Alex wasn’t the only one to notice as Marco also sensed her going back home.

With nothing to literally do about it, Alex looked aside as she calmly yelled “Do something about it!!” she looked like she was talking about something else however Marco went outside, responding to her as if he was whispering with a yes.

Marco went back home as he was walking and suddenly a few kids stopped him.

“Marco niichan!! Play with us like you used to do!!” a small girl said with a smile on her face.

Marco didn’t know how to respond because of the feeling of rushing back to the restaurant as he said,

“Uhm, why don’t you guys play together for now, big brother Marco has something to do!!” he smiled at them, only to get a blunt embarrassing reply from the kids.

“Leave him Thu!! Big brother Marco is going to meet his girlfriend now, so he can give her a sweet smooch!!” a little boy spoke with a smug face at Marco who looked at him with a poker face responding,

“I really should talk to your parents about this language, Pacc, and you better not teach Sophie about this when you guys play!! I have business, not a girlfriend!!”.

Marco patted their heads one by one then went on his way to catch up with Carla.

“Tch, that kid has a sharp tongue, and why are you sitting here on your own now?” Marco spoke, clicking his tongue first as he went to the roof.

“Ah, you’re here. I thought I sneaked outside without getting any attention from the others!” Carla smiled at him as she patted the seat next to hers.

Marco was surprised as he saw that she already prepared some hot chocolate for herself and some extra in case anyone came.

“You started to like this place?” Marco asked,

“Huh? not really but I started liking the scenery actually, and I can do this on my own now!!”. Carla smiled at Marco then did the same euro flow trick as when he showed her.

Based on her own nature, the color of the scenery changed to purple lights showing a wonderful scene that kept Marco silent for a while. Carla was happy that he was captured by the scene and said with a giggle trying to tease him,

“What aren’t you going to say the flaws in this or at least praise me for it?” she chuckled at his weird expressions.

Her words made Marco look at her as he got closer and even held her cheeks. “Wh-wha-wh!! What are you doing now!?” Carla blushed.

Marco smiled at her,

“I’m happy that you guys grew in such a short time, you weren't able to do anything properly a few days ago but here you are using a trick that I wasn’t able to learn for the past eight months, you’ve done well”,

Marco patted her head and looked aside to drink his chocolate. Carla giggled a little with a smile on her face then responded at his words.

“You really don’t know how to praise someone, but looking at how you always act, I guess that’s the best you can do for now”.

After listening to her words, Marco tried to act flustered to play with the mood.

“Pfft!! And you suck at blushing too!!” she laughed at him again.

“Well, you got a point and I don’t really think that was one good thing I thought about today” he responded after letting out a sigh.

The two stayed silent again as the mood was calm, Carla stood after a few minutes then addressed him,

“Well , you know, thank you!! Thanks for everything you did for me till now, thank you for trusting me and thank you for being my partner” Carla smiled at him.

Marco didn’t understand what she meant then jumped to his own conclusion after seeing her walking away, he answered her thanks saying,

“Hey! Don’t tell me you’re stepping out from the festivals?! Tell me that I’m wrong!” he was startled as he knew that something like this would happen.

The instant that Marco was about to catch Carla, a sudden attack from an unknown serment blew him away, the hit even destroyed a few houses.

After balancing himself again, Marco noticed that there was a man with blonde hair and long black coat as well as goggles on his head standing next to Carla.

“Gehehehe!! Didn’t you hear the lady!! You’re done here!! Oh right!! She didn’t say anything!! Gahahaha!!” The blonde guy screamed.

The guy was laughing out loud as Marco got pissed off by that and leaped straight back to them.

“Carla!! Why the hell are you standing with him?!” Marco roared as he saw that she wasn’t in a much of state to respond, keeping her calm composed face the blonde guy sent some blows at Marco therefore it didn’t land as Marco was able to dodge.

The second that Marco was about to get his hand on Carla another unknown holder appeared out of nowhere, stabbing Marco to the guts. The next second that Marco was about to turn to the holder who stabbed him another holder blew him down to the restaurants’ floors.

“You don’t need to search about me, I’m no longer in need of you and I don’t need your help at least!! I’m no longer one of the red mermaid guild, goodbye Marco Deca” Carla said, standing with the other three holders.

While looking at Marco with a dead look Carla, ordered the holders to stab him to death since he was in a state of not being able to move unless he focuses on healing himself.

The three holders looked at her, surprised by what she ordered as they asked,

“Are you sure? He’ll die if we do that?”.

While not being able to move and only hear their words the last thing that Marco heard was Carla’s last word,

“He’s not a human, Even death can’t bind him, let’s go”.

As up in the middle of that Marco tried to talk as he slowly said

“why”.

Therefore no response came to him, leaving him to pass away. Marco lost consciousness laying there on his own then woke up being surrounded by the rest of the red mermaid and Alba.

“They killed him? Are you kidding me?!”,

“And was it really a good choice for master Emilis to go back to the human realm now?!!?”,

“Arthur is still locked up, right?”,

“after what happened I don’t think this would please him”.

They were talking with each other as Marco started to regain his consciousness back, responding to their words,

“Did something happen to Arthur?”.

The question left everyone speechless as Marco spoke with a faint voice. He then used the curse mode healing everything back in an instant.

They were surprised but not like Alba who stood as if medusa petrified him with her eyes.

“You can heal up like that?! What the heck?!!” Alba complained in a rush as Xavier responded to him,

“I’m sure you’ll get used to it, now can you tell us what happened?” Xavier asked Marco after that,

“Something happened to her, now she got mixed up with some thugs and bad guys”, Marco responded calmly as they all figured what he meant.

After listening calmly to what happened and Emilis returning back, Marco and the rest were discussing the things in the restored restaurant.

“And that’s how it is, anyway? Where’s Arthur and Sophie?” Marco asked.

Upon hearing his question the four of them kept silent as they looked at him.

“When I speak, don’t get outraged ok, It’s entirely our fault” Alex said with a worried look.

“Listen, Sophie got kidnapped and Arthur tried to get her back but ended up being smacked too” Zack responded.

“Huh?” Marco responded thinking it was some joke “Don’t joke in situations like these senpai,” he tried to smile at them.

“They’re not joking, I couldn’t stop them myself since I was with Arthur and Sophie, but Arthur got injured and so this brings that. When he healed like you do he raged, trying to go search for her so I asked master to lock him up in the room” Alex responded with a worried face.

Marco smiled at them then took a deep breath. The second that he exhaled his breaths a dark and dense euro pressure hit up the whole area as Marco was furious. Just for a few seconds the euro pressure stopped as Marco put on his glasses again then stood.

“Why didn't sensei do something?” Marco asked Alba directly as if he was pulling out a threat at him.

“I wasn’t in the scene and plus there’s regulations here and you know it” he looked back at Marco with a dead glare continuing his words, “the ones who are with power can’t do much of thing or else they’re kicked out of the district, if I’m out of the scene then the rest of the district is doomed to be hell like the rest of this place, you of all people inside this room know that”.

Alba’s response was far and foremost for the greater good and so Marco did understand that but looking at the situation he looked down then sighed again.

“I’ll be heading out to search for them, more or less, I’m the only one who can fight,” Marco said, then got Emilis standing in his way.

“I guess locking you up with Arthur is the best thing to do for now but I’ll leave the choice for you, want to fight me or want to sit down and talk about it” Emilis talked as Marco glared back at him.

The situation has been tense but for some reason Marco backed down from the meantime and went outside.

“Why did you let him go? I thought you didn't want him searching?!” Alice asked.

“He’s not, I guess he’ll get started, using the dungeon and so you guys should too, more or less” Alba answered instead.

The four of them looked at Alba then Xavier asked,

“It was Vanica san right ? ” he asked Emilis, who looked ahead.

“In a way or another, yeah. I don’t know how she did it but yeah” he responded while looking at the four of them feeling down, “For now!! direct order!! The training will start from this moment and inside the dungeon!! no rest unless they say so, they’ll understand what it means to mess up with red mermaid members, and mostly there’s two already giving their fullest in the training because of it!!”.

Emilis answered, hinting that both Marco and Arthur were already on their way to the dungeon. That gave the four of them determination to move at that sole moment.

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