Mermaid food was very similar to the stuff I’d eaten in the Hermon Palace. I suppose those guys were really trying to make us feel at home there. Best way to keep prisoners was to keep them happy so they didn’t want to leave. I could have probably lived a good life there, free of any labor. At least under normal circumstances. My life wasn’t very normal though.

After a light breakfast, I went out and just walked around the mansion unguided. No mermaid guards inside the mansion. Just a servant or two here and there. They didn’t seem to mind me.

After a while of just roaming around the fourth floor, I went down a floor and found the fishman arguing loudly with the chef.

“This has to be burnt!”

“If that’s burnt, then this is ash!” The chef yelled back.

“What happened?”

“Look Soler, he burned my steak and keeps insisting it’s well done!”

What steak? Weren’t they all vegetarian?

Apparently, they were talking about a mushroom steak. Actually, looked like steak.

“This buffoon doesn’t understand that a steak needs to be well-done!” The chef said.

“Well, you do need to cook mushrooms thoroughly,” I said. “This is well-done like he said. A bit on the charred side though,” I remarked. “So you’re both at fault.”

They turned to me and started directing their yells at me so I promptly just left. Not my problem. Maybe I should have said they were both ‘right’ instead?

Anyway, I had to find the mermaid. I couldn’t keep running around awkwardly in someone else’s house without-

“You there,” I got called. “My lord would like a word,” said the tunafaced butler.

This is you get for calling people names, you fucking idiot... no, wait, no, no, no more name callings, even if it’s you!

Feeling kind of unnerved, I followed the butler to the second floor where he led me down to the hall. We stood before a golden door. No particular pattern.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Enter,” came the voice. No one had knocked. He just knew we were here. Psychic?

The door opened and I went in. Rather well furnished. From top to bottom. Decorated with luxuries, I'd never seen before. Or at least I think they were luxuries because I really had no idea what the hell they even were.

“Sit,” the man said. Or rather, the man with the head of a blowfish said.

I sat down and he stared at me with crude eyes.

“Did you need something, sir?”

“Do I need to need something from my guests to see them?”

Man had a point, that was for sure. “Not really. I was just curious if you called because you had a need of me.”

He seemed to be considering something. But motioned for the butler who quickly brought a tray full of sweets and tea?

Green tea, looked like matcha. Tasted like sweet seaweed, a little salty.

“Who are you?” he said.

“Soler A. Barack. First son of the Barack family. I’m on a journey to find my foster parents,” I said.

“Who are-”

“Lindel Arnius and Denkar Borges. They were last seen boarding a passenger ship from Moon port to Sun port which crashed near the cursed islands and the forbidden continent.”

So far, I hadn’t lied. How he was going to interpret all that, was entirely up to him, however.

“Then they are dead.”

“Most likely,” I said. “But there’s a slim possibility they are still alive.”

“A fool’s errand. However,” he paused. “I don’t have any right to ridicule you for it.”

“Appreciated.”

“What is your relationship with my ugly sister?”

He's not calling her an ugly face, at least.

“We’re friends, I think.”

“And you’ve saved her life?”

“In theory. But I was mostly focused on saving my own skin first.”

Which again was the truth. I was more worried about myself and how to get out of Hermon territory, than I was worried about Roksha’s life.

"Understandable. However, we are grateful.”

“And I’m glad you feel that way.”

We silently ate the biscuits and finished the tea before long. “By the way,” he said. “During the audience, when she asks you for a reward, decline.”

Audience? With the mermaid queen? Oh yeah, the Fishman, had said something about meeting the mermaid queen today. How the hell do you keep forgetting important shit?

But wait, what reward?

“I don’t really have any need for a reward in the first place. As long as you can show me to the cursed islands or-”

“Trust me,” he said. “I would not wrong my ugly sister’s savior. When she asks, just decline and don’t say anything else.”

I had no idea what he was talking about but I honestly I didn’t want to think about politics right now. “Okay.” I cleared my throat. "But why do you keep calling her ugly?''

"Because it's the truth?''

"Well, I know it's the truth but that doesn't mean you have to actually call her ugly!"

"Perhaps, but it is what it is. And it is a family matter."

''I see.'' Again, my man had a point. “I’ll stay out of it then.”

“Thank you for understanding. You’re quite mature for your age.”

“I get that a lot,” I said.

And with that, our conversation was over. I felt like we'd gotten nowhere but oh well.