Maurice brought out a chair and tied Merrick to it, pushing him all the way to the edge of the water wall until Merrick's hands and tail were sticking out from the water to end up on our side.

"Do you need me here, Em?" Maurice asked after finishing setting things up.

Emilia smirked at him, "If you want to see this guy getting what he deserves, sure~"

Maurice seemed to consider it for a moment before shrugging and swimming off to the side of the room to watch.

Emilia then went up to the tied up Merrick who was still unconscious with a wicked smirk on her face.

I'm actually surprised that he hasn't woken up after so long, is it a side effect of the Revive Band? Maybe after being revived, you also get really weak and sluggish or something?

All of us watched as Emilia unsheathed her sword before stabbing it into Merrick's hand, presumably to wake him up with pain.

Sure enough, that seemed to work as the Merman let out a scream of pain and was immediately awake.

"Hehe~ Welcome back, little Merrick~ Isn't it ironic how the tables turn so quickly? So how does it feel to be the one tied up now?"

He looked like he was about to say something but when his eyes met mine, which seemed to trigger him as he started to struggle against his restraints while his eyes went wide with fear.

Despite Emilia's sword still lodged in his hand, he was trying his best to back away from us and causing Emilia's sword to tear up his hand even more.

Even so, that did not stop him and his eyes remained locked on me, clearly the source of his panicked state.

I didn't need to be a genius to know why he was acting like that, did my rage form traumatise him that much? What did I even do to him?

I mean… I know I beat him up and practically killed him with my bare hands, but that's too big of a reaction, don't you think?

Emilia turned to raise an eyebrow at me, as though asking me why I had to go and traumatise him. Look, girl, I don't even remember what I did, ok? Don't judge me.

She turned back to him and made sure to use her own body to block me from his sight, which seemed to help as he calmed down quickly after that.

"What a rude man," Odeta commented beside me.

I really wanted to point out that I almost caused both her and Emilia to drown as well but decided against it.

I also took out the face scarf that Ephyra had sewn for me, wrapping it around the bottom half of my face just to try and mitigate his trauma in case he looks at me again.

"Let's start this again, shall we? How do you like it now, Merrick? Was betraying me worth it after all?" Emilia asked, maintaining her position of blocking me from his view.

His breathing gradually slowed down before he gulped, "I… What… What do you want from me, Emilia?"

She leaned on her sword, causing the blade to sink even deeper into Merrick's flesh and making him cry out in pain.

"I don't believe we're close enough for you to call me by my name anymore, trash," Emilia sneered at him.

He groaned but managed to look up at her, "You… Do you think you're still as big as the past, Emilia? Over here, I'm the boss, not you--"

Emilia slapped him hard across the face, which was quite a feat considering she had to slap him through the water and yet she seemed to be fast enough to be able to do that.

"In case you haven't realised, mister boss, whether you live or die today is entirely up to me. So I suggest a little change in your attitude might be in order if you do not wish for the latter."

Merrick groaned, "Ha… Haha… I know you need me, Emilia. Who else will help you smuggle all those things you need? Are you going to take another Merfolk off the slums and then ingratiate them to you so you can control them?"

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Emilia pulled out the blade from his hand ignoring the screams that accompanied it, "Do you really think I won't? I have no need for people who would stab me in the back like you did. I would much rather, as you so aptly put, find some other Merfolk to ingratiate them to me for this."

He didn't seem to expect such an answer as his eyes widened in surprise, "Wh… What? But… But you don't… You don't have the time to do that… Right?"

"Why? Is it because I have my ship to take care of? Well guess who doesn't have a ship now and has the time to go and find a replacement for a traitorous shit like you?"

Err… I dunno, Emilia… But I actually would like to get back to everyone else as soon as we can… I'm quite worried about how the others are handling my disappearance…

I'm just going to assume that she doesn't actually mean to stay here for several weeks just to get a replacement for Merrick and those words were just a way to intimidate him…

Apparently, that worked as he started to panic, "Wa… Wait a minute… Em… Emilia… You know me, right? I… I didn't mean to--"

Emilia turned back to me, "Lady Aster, would you be so kind as to use [Air Pocket] on him?"

Eh? Oh right, he can't breathe outside of water.

I did as she requested and casted [Air Pocket] on him, causing the Deepsea Merfolk to choke as he was suddenly deprived of the ability to breathe normally.

Emilia crossed her arms and watched her former friend suffocate right in front of her, staring right at him with dispassionate eyes as he sputtered and choked while desperately trying to breathe.

"Em… Emilia… Ple… Please… Ack… Hack… Don't… Don't do this…" He begged.

She responded by bringing up her hand to inspect her nails, "Oh? Weren't you trying to do the same to me just earlier? You locked me in that room and wanted to watch me drown didn't you? I'm simply paying it back~"

"Ple… Please…"

"Please what?"

"Ple… Please… Boss…"

Emilia waved her hand at me and I got the message to remove the pocket of air from him, allowing Merrick's head to submerge back in the water.

He sucked in deep lungfuls of air as he fought to regain her breath.

While Emilia waited for him to get his breath back, I was wondering if this was her method of torturing him?

"So, you think you're some big shit now, are you?" Emilia asked in a mocking tone.

"Ye… I mean… No… I deeply apologise, Boss…"

"So what do you do to your subordinates who have chosen to betray you?"

"My people are very close, Boss… They don't betray me… Most of the time…" He whispered the last part almost inaudibly.

I had a feeling the last part of his sentence was added on just so that he could avoid angering Emilia again.

Emilia smirked at him. "Then do you know what I do to people who betray me?"

"N… No, boss…"

"Oh, you don't? Do you want to take a guess?"

"Umm… You… You lecture them?"

Emilia rolled her eyes, "Please, like hell I would do something so troublesome. I would just cut them up into pieces and throw them overboard my ship. Since I don't have a ship now, I'll just have to settle for only the cutting up part. So, are you ready?"

"Wait! Wait! Wait! I… I know! You're after my Grey Powder right?! You couldn't find it in my mansion so you--"

"Lady, Aster, please?"

I got the cue and used [Air Pocket] on him, cutting the Merman mid sentence.

He sputtered and choked as he was once again unable to breathe.

Emilia reached forward and gave his cheek a few slaps through the air bubble, "I'm sorry, I must have misheard you… But I think you said something about the Grey Powder being yours? Because there's no way that's true, right?"

"Ack… Wai… Wait… I… I meant… I meant your Grey Powder… Boss… Ack…"

Emilia waved at me and I released the spell.

She even turned to smirk at me, "Feel free to cut him off whenever you want if something he says pisses you off as well Lady Aster~"

I mean… I'd rather he not get me angry again since I don't want a repeat of me tearing him apart… I don't think he's wearing any more Revive Bands, is he?

Emilia turned back to glare at him, "So where's my Grey Powder you backstabbing bastard?"

"Be… Before I tell you… I want a guarantee that I can go free after this…"

Emilia raised her hand but I already anticipated it so the [Air Pocket] was cast at almost the same time.

It was now that I realised we were basically waterboarding him except using air.

So err… 'Airboarding'?

Emilia let him suffocate for a good minute before she waved at me to release him.

Emilia leaned closer to sneer at him, "You seem to have forgotten, you ungrateful bastard, so let me refresh your tiny little brain a little. Do you remember how close to dying you were when I found you? How everyone else left you for dead as they swam past you? Yet I came along and saved you didn't I? Even when I didn't need to? And I didn't even ask for much, just a little gratitude in return was fine. Yet you went ahead to stab me in the back because you don't need me anymore, is that it?"

Merrick kept his head down, unable to look at Emilia's face.

She leaned even closer, "Since you are so ready to abandon someone you don't need, you should not have any qualms about being abandoned in turn right? Wouldn't it be ironic if I were to drop you off at the same place as a corpse this time? I think that would be fitting, don't you think?"

Merrick sucked in a breath, "I… I will lead you to where your Grey Powder is… Ple… Please forgive me…"

"Oh, whether I forgive you or not is up to me, little traitor. You don't think just because you return what you stole from me is enough to also make me forget that you attempted to kill me, yes?"

He looked up at her in fear, "What… What do you want?"

She straightened herself and grinned menacingly at him, "Everything."

…

Well, that's pretty vague but does your 'everything' include the sweets he owes me by any chance?

What? Did you think I'll let that go? Hell no!

I still want my sweets!