Chapter 7

In the underwater prison, the mermaid and the boy gazed at each other.

"Hehe, thank you for your compliment~"

Hearing the boy's praise, the mermaid smiled happily; her multicolored underwater tail swayed gently, and she blinked at him, her voice growing even sweeter.

"Come closer, let me take a good look at you~"

She called out in a syrupy tone, her face flushed with shy redness, her gentle expression resembling that of a naive girl gazing at her beloved in the throes of first love.

Yet, deep within her eyes, there was not a trace of anything resembling affection.

Her deep blue eyes were cold and profound, like a calm sea concealing violent undercurrents.

Foolish and greedy mortal.

Come closer.

I will make you understand what price you pay for despising the sea…

Watching the boy actually move closer, her eyes grew more mocking, yet her voice remained tender: "And then? What do you plan to do to me?"

Just as she was about to reveal her monstrous true nature, for some reason, a flicker of hesitation stirred in her heart.

He might be innocent.

She did not know where this pity came from, but she did not wish to kill him so easily.

That would be… too much of a waste.

As she wrestled with her thoughts, she heard the boy's reply.

He said:

"What 'and then'? I'm not going to do anything. I don't have a fish tank that big."

"Oh, you're going to… hmm?" The mermaid Young Lady froze completely. "Fish tank?"

"What's wrong with that? You can't live without water, can you?"

Mermaid: "... Hm?"

Boy: "Hm?"

Mermaid: "Uh…"

She had imagined Herbert might give countless replies—lewd, mad, greedy—but she had never imagined one so rational.

What the hell is a fish tank!

She had never expected such an answer.

Who in their right mind would think a legendary sea monster lacks water!?

Are you insane… hmm?

No.

Wait a minute!

She suddenly realized something, staring curiously at Herbert's clear eyes: "You weren't charmed by my voice?"

"Your voice is nice too," Herbert tilted his head, speaking as if it were obvious. "But it's a bit too squeaky. You could just speak normally."

No kidding.

That sweet voice? Put a costume on it and make her a virtual streamer singing, she'd make fans shower her with gold coins.

But Herbert didn't like that kind of squeaky voice—like "little windmill, whoosh!"—it only gave him physical discomfort, nothing else.

After hearing it, the only thing that got hard was his fist.

Based on the mermaid Young Lady's performance just now, he could only give her seven out of ten.

Average. (zips up pants)

"No, you…"

The mermaid narrowed her eyes, studying the boy's gaze closely—she saw no sign of enchantment whatsoever.

Really not affected?

But that didn't make sense.

"Then what about the things you just said…"

"They were all sincere."

Herbert didn't think his words were odd at all.

This sea demon lady, no matter how you looked at her, perfectly matched human aesthetics.

Though you could spot some non-human traits—the slightly pointed fingertips and teeth, the thin layer of fluid covering her skin when she emerged from water…

But overall, she looked exactly like the mythical creature from human legends: the mermaid.

Pretty. Liked looking at her.

Of course, Herbert actually knew the prisoner's true identity.

This wasn't some sweet-voiced little girl.

【Final Singer】、【Death's Howl】、【Sorrowful Binghe】—Fu Leimei.

A terrifying sea monster who, three hundred years ago, forced hundreds of sailors and fishermen to drown themselves, turning several fishing ports into ghost towns.

From Fu Leimei's expression now, he guessed she'd had no good intentions—she'd likely planned to lure him close and kill him.

You're all so cruel.

I'm just a brand-new, ultra-newbie Holy Knight. Do you really have to do this?

"So, what were you planning to do to me?"

At that moment, Herbert gazed at Fu Leimei with a hint of wounded resentment.

After a moment of silence, the mermaid Young Lady averted her gaze, embarrassed: "Cough… n-nothing!"

"I never planned to drown you or anything!"

Beneath the Mist Monastery, at the Sealed Sanctum.

"Your Eminence the Archbishop, what brings you here? It shouldn't be time for the rotation yet, should it?"

The red-robed ascetic monk, pierced through and through with several hundred rusted rivets, slowly opened his eyes and looked toward the coarse hemp-robed elder who had appeared beside him at some unknown moment; as his brow furrowed slightly, two rivets knocked together, producing a strange, faint trembling sound.

"Has anything unusual happened during this period?"

The elder did not explain; his calm eyes, unreadable as to joy or anger, remained fixed on the stone statue at the center of the sealing array.

That statue, which appeared to depict a kneeling girl, was only half a person's height; its features seemed to have been eroded by wind and sand over the long ages, and one could only faintly make out the posture of a lowered head in devout prayer.

The Saint's Sealed Object — the Blasphemous Prayer Statue.

"... It has awakened twice."

"When?"

"The first time was a month ago at dawn, lasting two minutes; the second time was the day before yesterday at noon, lasting thirty seconds."

"I understand."

The conversation between the two was calm to the point of eeriness, with not the slightest fluctuation in tone, treating the awakening of the sealed object as nothing at all.

"Go rest. Keep watch for any bewitched cultivators. I'll take over the vigil during this period."

"... Yes."

Swapping out the guard before the appointed time was not in accordance with the rules, but the Rust-Rivet Bishop did not inquire.

If the Archbishop did so, he naturally had his reasons.

This one was a Saint who walked among the mortal world, a legendary existence whom even the gods would deign to show a smiling face to.

Moreover, even the Mist Monastery itself had been personally founded by the Archbishop back in the day; his word was the supreme rule.

After the Rust-Rivet Bishop departed, the Archbishop sat down cross-legged, stared at the stone statue, and slowly spoke: "I know you have not fallen into slumber."

"What have you noticed?"

"What do you wish to do?"

The Archbishop questioned in silence for a long while, and from beginning to end, the sanctum remained still, with only his lone voice echoing back.

The stone statue never gave him any response.

Ancient and silent.

In the end, the Archbishop seemed to close his eyes with a touch of helplessness, and calmly made his final declaration.

"No matter what you wish to do, so long as I remain here, your plot shall never come to fruition."

The Archbishop's voice was flat, sounding utterly without intimidation, yet at this moment, it seemed to cause some invisible, subtle change throughout the entire space.

He said:

"I will not let you harm anyone."

Midnight hour.

In a dim room lit by only a single candle, a youth silently wrote a passage in his open notebook.

"Pen spirit, pen spirit! You are my past life, I am your present life. If you would continue our bond with me, please draw a circle on the paper."

The next second, his left hand slowly moved, drawing a perfect arc upon it...

Swish.

【?】

Ahem, I definitely won't say I forgot to set the timer...

Begging for monthly tickets! Double monthly tickets, please please! New book, please please subscribe and read on!

Thanks to the tip from Ye Wan's Sword Dance~ Love you!

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(End of this chapter)