-Vol 5: A New Life-

-Mermaids(4)-

Since their life wouldn’t be in any harm, the gathered hunters just randomly chose a hunter to play the role of the bait. Although he was unwilling, the enticement of having a monopoly over 20% of the total drop was too much for him to ignore. After brief coercion from others, he agreed ‘reluctantly.’ Under the old captain’s supervision, they tied a rope around the young hunter and threw him into the water. At the same time, 4 hunters, manipulated the net hanger and let it silently fall to the waters. The young hunter who was the bait was supposed to be standing right on the edge of the net so that when the mermaid enters it, it would directly trap it.

“Okay! Everyone stay in your respective position. We would only get this chance here, don’t try to mess it up. Although these mermaids are no different than fishes, they still had higher intelligence than fishes, they won't fall for the same trick twice.” The old captain shouted as he stood at the edge of the boat, overlooking the mission below. This was his own idea in the first place, so he needs to see it to the end. His intercom buzzed as a person’s voice floated, followed by 4 other.

[Alpha on position…ohhh…I always wanted to say that.]*buzzzat*

[No.2 on position. No.1 who told you to change your code name?]*buzzzat*

[Charlie on position.]*buzzzat*

[WHO THE HELL IS CHARLIE? YOU BRATS STICK TO ONE TYPE OF NAME…DON’T CHANGE AT YOUR CONVENIENCE!!!!]*buzzzat*

Unable to take it anymore, the old man shouted in rage at these hunters who repeatedly change their names, making it confusing for him to identify who is who.

[Ahem! Okay, repeat again. No.1 on position. I am on the right.]

[No.2 on position. I am to the right of No.1]

[No.3 om position. I am directly in the front of No.1]

[No.4 on position. I am to the left of No.3]

[Okay. Now we must wait. Remember your roles, right? The moment mermaid enters the net’s effective zone, you four must yank the rope on your hands with all your might. If anyone of you fails, it will flee. Bait, remember your job. You must make sure that the mermaid didn’t suspect anything.]

[Eh! How would I do that?] the young man who was the bait asked with a worried tone. The pressure was too much on him, on the one hand, he was worried about his life.

On the other hand, he didn’t want to give up on 20% of drops.

[Don’t do anything. Just look at the mermaid’s eye. Don’t worry, I will make sure your life isn’t harmed.] after that the old man switched off his intercom and sent an eye signal to Kenshin who was standing near him, overlooking the situation. His eyes were focussed on the mermaid that was closer to the bait, he also opened his map to keep a closer eye on the situation, lest some other creature sneaks attack them.

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Although the deal was for only protecting the bait, Kenshin couldn’t overlook the other four. Although he wouldn’t go out of his way to be a Samaritan, he would still not stay silent if someone was dying in front of him. To the corner, he also kept an eye on Isabella’s marker. Though she was yet to move from that spot for some reason, its already 1 hour. Taking a deep breath, he continued to observe both targets. Now that everything was ready, they were just waiting for the target to enter the trap. It’s just a period of silence.

XXX

Many years ago...

It was a cold night, so very cold and chilling. The skies were filled with snow and chilly wind. At such an atmosphere, where everyone should stay at their home, a tiny figure wearing rags stumbled across the snow-covered way of the streets. The tiny figure would frequently stop near every trash can near them and rummage through it. Every now and then they would find something wrapped in paper and would put the contents on their mouth, then repeat the same thing again and again.

As the figure searched around, due to their face covered in a tattered cloak, they couldn’t see what’s in front and crashed into someone. The little figure fell down ass first from the impact. Then immediately a very rude voice came from the one the figure crashed into.

“Who the fuck are you? Ahh! A little punk! Haha! You got some courage I see!” the rude voice was extremely loud, making the small figure wince and burrow into their cloak even more. The actions of the little figure infuriated the man for some reason.

“Ho! You seem to disregard this Tanaka, the king of 4 lanes! Huh! Show me that face who was courageous enough to disregard me.” Saying so, the man named Tanaka extended his right hand towards the hood of the little figure. Seeing this, the figure grabbed tightly to the hood’s cover, but how can they be a match for an adult. Very soon the hood was completely yanked from the figure, revealing the figure beneath.

A very cute and white girl with long black hair and purest of black eyes revealed to the world. She was currently staring the older man in a panic. Her teary eyes were trembling as she stared into the widened eyes of Tanaka, who seemed to be in a world of his own.

Tanaka regained his bearing after being like that for a few seconds. Throwing his head back, he laughed loudly before looking at the little girl who didn’t seem any older than a 12 years old girl and said “I never thought I would strike gold like this in this chilling night!! Hahaha! My luck must be good this year….hahaha!” Tanaka then looked at the cowering girl on amusement, before extending his right hand towards her face “Come here girly, I will give you something to eat…haha!” the little girl just stared in fear as the hand came close to her face. In fear, she could only do one thing, and that was to close her eyes and wait for…something to happen.

Current Time...

A black emotionless eye snapped open in the dark and dim light as it scanned the surrounding. Seeing the four metallic walls around it, it calmed down somewhat as they closed again. A few seconds later it opened again, but there was no hint of that coldness it just showed a few seconds ago. It moved again towards the circular hard glass on its left, vast sea that was shrouded in darkness greeted it.

A pale finger came and wiped a line of tear that flowed out of the left eye. The finger then went past the eye and swiped the fallen hair out of its line of sight and tugged it behind an equally pale but small ear. The figure then sat up from their laying position and looked through the small glass at the calm ocean. Just as they were enjoying the visual, a commotion attracted their attention. Looking at left through the glass, they found a group of people pulling a big…something… in a net to the deck of the boat.

Getting curious, the figure decided to go out of the room and see what this commotion was all about. At least it would distract them from all those distracting thoughts in their head.