An Ending for the Mermaid Princess
Ji-oh beheld the mermaid princess who had grown into a strong and beautiful form.
“…….”
Her hair, in that strange hue like the deep sea itself, her eyes that shone like pearls out of legend, even the dress that moved like the waves—everything about her spoke of the ocean… and yet the oversized white doctor’s coat she wore over it all stood out with jarring clarity.
Back then, they had often played that sort of silly game. It had been nothing more than a harmless prank.
“…….”
“…Yes. I am human too.”
And so Giovanni could be certain.
“Let us talk.”
In the end, this meeting could only end in humanity’s victory.
Give an Ending to the Mermaid Princess (0/1)
Of that, he was certain.
Aria did not resent Giovanni.
He was the only human she truly considered human. Among that countless throng, he was the most genuine, and at the same time as good and gentle as if he had stepped out of a fairytale. Something so rare deserved to be loved.
“I respect you, Giovanni.”
But far too much time had passed.
“There have been too many things for such a flimsy word as ‘respect’ to cover them all, haven’t there?”
“From my perspective, I simply came to my senses and found the young merfolk running around causing trouble.”
“We are no longer young, unfortunately.”
Aria loved Giovanni, yet she hated humans. She loathed them. She despised them.
“I learned so much from you. Human emotions, human life, human judgment…”
“I also taught you the structure of the human body.”
“That was a great help. Even after you died, in fact.”
“Do you resent me?”
“It is closer to love and obsession than resentment. Those are a little different from resentment.”
“Merfolk are that sort of creature.”
“A foolish race that lives its entire life on the memories of a single moment, wouldn’t you say?”
To such merfolk, the existence known as Giovanni had been far too cruel.
“After your death I faced countless humans. Some were self-sacrificing, some selfish. Some cast even their own children into the abyss, while others gave their lives for strangers whose faces they did not know.”
“That very variety is what reveals the potential of humanity.”
“I agree. That is why I could not abandon this life. Believing that someday an end would come, I analyzed, researched, and studied countless humans.”
“It must have been a very long time.”
“I waited a long time for this day to arrive. Continuing meaningless outbursts of anger, sinking the suns of so many dimensions…”
“I understand.”
“And now, at last, it feels as though an ending has come for me.”
It was an ending that bore the name Giovanni.
“In the fairytale of the mermaid princess from Earth, the mermaid ultimately turns to foam and vanishes. Is the ending you envision the same, Giovanni?”
“How one imagines it is every child’s freedom. Even if the mermaid in the fairytale becomes foam and is forgotten by all, somewhere in some child’s mind she is surely living a happy everyday life with her prince.”
“I’m sorry, but there are no children here anymore. The only ones left in this place are a princess whose hands are stained red with blood so that she might witness the limits of humanity, and the loyal subordinate who follows her.”
“Then what ending does the mermaid princess desire?”
“The suffering of humans. The despair of humans. The extermination of humans, of course. I never expected to meet you on this Earth while trying to sink even one more sun… but for now.”
“Have you eaten humans, Princess?”
“The seas of every dimension have already devoured countless humans. Even in this very moment the ocean is snatching away the lives of greedy humans, and innocent ones as well.”
Giovanni’s noble face was visible. It was the face of the saint once called the savior of mankind and the son of the one true god.
“Is the sea not a cruel existence to humans, just as you once said?”
“Yet it is beautiful. Just as I, who cannot even swim, built a house by the shore and lived half my life there.”
“Do you still believe the sea and merfolk are the same existence?”
“Are you hoping to hear that you are beautiful?”
“I cannot say I am not. I wanted to show you how I have grown, my teacher.”
But this is not the form you hoped for.
“How do you feel, seeing the merfolk you raised with your own hands grow into this?”
“…….”
Mourning filled those blue eyes.
“…It is sad.”
“Yes.”
“I am glad to see you again, and I am sorry.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you are a mermaid.”
For whom was that mourning meant?
“And I am human.”
“…Giovanni, you always spoke of the differences and limits between humans and merfolk.”
With a smile that seemed forever ready to sing only fairytales, Giovanni had always spoken of the wretchedness of reality.
“This is where the real discussion begins.”
Aria looked at the white-haired hunter sitting tensely in his seat, then back at Giovanni, who still wore that quiet smile.
“I…”
It was the smile she had spent a lifetime trying to create and never could. The smile her younger brother had imitated only to remain stuck at imitation. The smile she had tried once more to claim yet never even managed to attempt making…
And so, in the end, it was the smile she had given up on.
“…For thousands of years I studied humans endlessly, seeking to discover their limits. Yet I must confess my own inadequacy: I could never define it as a clear goal. I was simply wandering, not knowing what I ought to do.”
Giovanni spoke.
“And it is a teacher’s role to show the path one must take.”
“Giovanni, I am standing at a crossroads. You must help me.”
Which will you choose?
“This foolish, stubborn mermaid can spend the rest of her undying life simply hating, despising, and loathing humans… or else… yes, like the fairytale of this Earth, she can turn to foam and disappear.”
The death of humans, or the death of a mermaid.
“Well then, Teacher.”
“…….”
“What should I do?”
Aria respected the human named Giovanni. She loved his name.
She felt wonder that he was human, and she worshipped his boundless wisdom and the kindness that sprang from him like a well. If there was a human who could draw sunlight down into the sea, it was Giovanni.
“You wanted the land and the sea to become one.”
Aria had placed the sea in the sky and swallowed the sun.
“Even if our choices had been the same, the results would surely have been different. Isn’t that so?”
Giovanni would have created not this cold, fishy reality, but a warm fairytale that smelled of sunlight.
Yet that Giovanni had been betrayed by humans and eaten by a mermaid. Aria looked upon that kind face that still held warmth.
“…….”
“Give me an ending now.”
You became the sun for that very purpose, after all.
Watching the situation unfold, Yu Seong-un held his breath as best he could.
…This is taking a rather strange turn.
When Cha I-sol had first been kidnapped and they had entered the Abyssal Kingdom with this lineup, he had expected a major battle. After all, when hunters entered a dungeon, combat was only natural.
But this mermaid named Aria truly seemed to want a conversation. This entire gathering had been arranged solely for a war of words.
And she’s forcing a binary choice on Ji-oh—human or mermaid.
He could feel her sincerity.
If Ji-oh chooses humanity, what does she plan to do…? Is she going to torment humans out of spite? Or does she really mean to die?
Depending on which “path” Ji-oh showed her, Aria would either spend the rest of her life tormenting humans or die right here and now.
Monsters are all like that, but…
Aria’s hatred for humanity looked absolute.
It sounds like she’s finished with the life of researching and studying humans. Thousands of years have passed, so I suppose it’s about time for a conclusion… but handing that choice over to Ji-oh of all people? We’re talking about deciding the fate of humans and merfolk.
What kind of selfish heart was this?
“…….”
Yu Seong-un looked at Ji-oh.
“…….”
“…….”
He was still smiling as he gazed at the mermaid Aria.
…Now even I’m curious what he’ll choose.
It was true that the existence known as “Portrait of Ji-oh” was extremely favorable toward humans.
But just as he had worried when they first came to the Abyssal Temple, Giovanni—who shared deep ties with these merfolk—might choose them instead.
And right now he isn’t even strictly human. If he chooses the merfolk who became monsters rather than humans, one could even define monsters as being on the same side… so I have no idea what Ji-oh will decide.
Moreover, that choice was more rational. Objectively speaking, the losses were far smaller.
If he chooses humans, Aria—the mermaid he was close to—dies immediately. But even if he chooses the merfolk, he can’t suddenly kill the humans of every dimension. If Ji-oh picks the merfolk right now, he can stay by their side, mildly defend humanity, and spend time with them. Objectively, that’s the better deal.
True, Aria had acted as though she would devour even Ji-oh if displeased, declaring “you are human in the end”… but with Ji-oh’s rank, she would not take him down so easily.
By that logic, the handful of humans in this dungeon might die, but the majority of humanity and the merfolk he cherished would live. Knowing that Giovanni had a shameless side beneath the goodness made Seong-un worry all the more.
“…….”
Still, this was not a place where he could speak up, so Yu Seong-un kept his mouth shut.
…In the end, it’s Ji-oh’s choice to make.
He waited, giving it time.
“Huu…”
Ji-oh laughed.
“To be honest, I found it a little amusing.”
“…What?”
“They say families resemble one another. I suppose we did too.”
Unlike the black-haired, blunt Ji-oh, the brightly colored Giovanni wore even that light, mischievous smile as if it belonged there naturally.
The mermaid Aria remained chillingly expressionless, yet she seemed captivated by that smile.
“…….”
As if she could not help but recall a time she had longed for…
Ji-oh curved his lips in a way that looked embarrassed, awkward, and yet somehow funny.
“I worried as well. There were ways to reach the Abyssal Kingdom without needing a submersible, but no matter how much I wandered this place and waited, I could not find even a single strand of Iser’s hair—or yours.”
It seemed this portrait had been visiting the Abyssal Kingdom all this time for the sake of meeting the merfolk.
“Did you perhaps avoid me?”
“I cannot deny it. I was terrified of receiving divine punishment from the new Sun God.”
“Sun God…”
“You could not have intended to hide it, not while carrying such scorching divinity.”
“I was saddled with it out of nowhere, and to be honest I still don’t really know what I ought to do.”
“Is it not for the purpose of killing me? How fascinating that even you have things you do not know.”
“I am human, after all.”
“…….”
“We always run into limits.”
Ji-oh wore his characteristic upright smile.
“So just as you kidnapped the Cha I-sol brothers to summon me, I too devised a method to gather our dear merfolk friends. I wanted us to talk without running away.”
“And what method did you devise?”
“Compared to what you prepared, it is a rather modest plan. ‘Slapdash’ might be the word. As a teacher, I am rather embarrassed I cannot show you anything grander, but…”
—KWAJIJIJIJIJIJIK…!!!
“Here.”
With a savage roar that clashed with the light so brilliant it hurt the eyes, spears of light were born.
He spread both hands.
“…….”
“Look.”
There were more than ten of them in total.
And the blades of those spears, which held the heat of the sun, were all pointed toward Ji-oh himself.
“This is how humans hold a conversation.”
“…….”
Before anyone noticed, the seawater of the temple had dried away, leaving only a terrible heat like that of a desert.
“…A human conversation? What is that supposed to mean?”
“The good are not always rewarded.”
“…I know that.”
“Then you should have known better.”
Ji-oh continued as if teaching a lesson.
“There is no guarantee that goodwill will be returned with goodwill, and a notorious villain will not always be punished in a way that soothes the pain of their victims. The world is not a fairytale, and reality creates its endings according to whatever moments overlap at the time.”
“…….”
“Because humans are always changing. They can grow and they can degenerate. Expecting every ending of this fickle creature that cannot stay still even for a moment to always remain the same is foolish. Someone as clever as you must know this well.”
The banquet hall was engulfed in heat so intense it stole the breath.
“And yet that is precisely why humans created so many rules. They learned how to face one another, how to converse.”
“…….”
“And they established that even a terrifying murderer who has killed more people than can be counted can still be held accountable for their crimes.”
“…You mean to hold me accountable now? Me, who am not even human, while citing human rules…”
“Aria.”
The face that resembled sunlight was warm.
“Humans are varied. They have no limits—and neither do you. I said that what makes a human is the inability to stay still even for a moment, the constant change.”
“…….”
“Was that not true of you? Have you not changed even a little? You merely grew and degenerated, creating the illusion that you are the same as you were thousands of years ago…”
“…I…”
“We can talk.”
His voice was firm.
“If you receive the punishment you deserve.”
Like a teacher instructing a young student.
“…What kind of punishment is this even supposed to be? I cannot understand.”
“We humans use rather underhanded methods when we want something. This time, let me ask the question.”
“I don’t understand. It makes no sense.”
“Just as I have no reason to stop your hatred toward humans, Aria.”
The teacher who had once guided his student asked,
“Is there any reason I should not take ‘Giovanni’ away from you?”
“…….”
Ji-oh had chosen humanity.
And according to his own words, since humans and merfolk were no different at all, he had neither given anything up nor truly chosen one over the other.
At the underhanded declaration of a greedy adult, the mermaid’s expression crumbled.
“Whether you choose the humans that include me and yourself,”
“…Ah…”
“or choose the rage of the merfolk—that is up to you.”
And what was revealed then was not the sea, but the face of a student who had not yet fully grown.
(To be continued)