Ch. 134 The Legendary Water Monkey? (First Update)

“I don’t know if you’ve seen it on the notice board, but there are strange noises at the port at night…” The fishmonger explained laboriously to the several people in front of him.

“Yes.” Artoria nodded.

“It’s actually a water ghost causing trouble!” The fishmonger suddenly became animated and startled.

“A water ghost?” Kay frowned.

“Yes, yes. Every night, water ghosts break into the Fish Market’s warehouse. They cause such a mess that the merchants can’t sell anything.”

“A water ghost… Could you be more specific? Are you sure it’s not a thief?”

“Absolutely not a thief.” The fishmonger waved his hands incessantly. “No matter what, a thief is still human; they wouldn’t break into a warehouse full of salted fish ingredients and gorge themselves… I can’t explain it clearly here, you should come with me to the port and see for yourself!”

“Uh…”

To say they would go with him, they really couldn’t get away right now.

Isdis and the others were still waiting in the carriage.

Kay folded his arms, questioning, “Why didn’t you post a request on the notice board?”

“Well, because the officials won’t allow it!” Speaking of this, the fishmonger seemed to have been poked in a sore spot, his expression becoming conflicted.

“The Archon doesn’t believe my story at all; he hasn’t even visited the scene! He won’t let me post a notice on the board. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be asking you for help…”

He blinked his eyes and looked at Kay.

Artoria was about to agree, but Kay interrupted her.

“Wait a moment, Artoria.”

As a knight of noble birth,

He tended to trust the Archon’s perspective more.

After all, cases of rumors being passed off as truth were not uncommon.

Hearing Kay stop Artoria from taking the request, the fishmonger immediately grew anxious.

“I’ve prepared a reward! I certainly won’t let you come for nothing. I only ask that you solve our troubles; the reward will definitely be sufficient!”

“Brother Kay…” Artoria looked back at Kay behind her.

In her emerald-like eyes, there was a pleading look.

Completely falling for Artoria’s—whether intentional or unintentional—coaxing, Kay spread his hands helplessly. “Fine, fine, we’ll help.”

Then, looking at the overjoyed fishmonger, Kay held up a hand. “But not right now. We’ve only just arrived in this city.”

He pointed to the two carriages not far away. “We have to get settled before we have time to help you.”

The fishmonger replied happily, “No problem, no problem. Whenever you’re free, you can come find me at the entrance of the Fish Market. I’ll be waiting for you there.”

After the three of them said goodbye to him, the fishmonger even waved at their retreating backs. “You can come anytime!”

Mia looked back; the fishmonger was still watching them until they climbed into the carriage.

Shortly after, the two carriages arrived at their destination.

“I’m going to the market to sell my goods, you guys wait here for a bit.” Isdis didn’t stay long. After explaining, he drove the carriage toward the market alone.

“Heigh-ho—”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a city,” the completely unserious fellow said lazily as he stood in front of the inn, stretching.

“Then I’ll be heading off for a while.”

Merlin said, looking at the street with great satisfaction.

“What are you going to do?” Kay replied crossly.

With the help of the inn’s waiter, the group moved the carriage into the garage together.

After working up a sweat, seeing this guy—who couldn’t be said to be entirely useless, but was pretty close—standing there refreshed, no one would have a good attitude.

“Well, I say,” Merlin scratched his messy hair.

“Actually, I’m not that important, right?”

“What do you mean?” Kay asked with a frown.

Though in a sense, Merlin was right.

Since traveling with Mia’s group, this guy’s existence—aside from wasting food in various ways—had no other purpose…

If you were talking about combat utility?

Both Mia and Wilden could outmatch several Merlins.

And as for the ability to teach Artoria?

After the battle with the Anglo-Saxons, everyone could see clearly how deep Mia’s influence on Artoria was.

Compared to relying on a heartless fellow like Merlin to make Artoria an outstanding King,

Kay trusted Mia, who would comfort Artoria like family, much more…

Going a step further,

Kay could even find qualities he himself lacked in Mia, this girl who seemed to be about the same age as Artoria.

Though, a point unknown to anyone except Mia was that Kay was actually the same age as Mia in terms of real years.

But Mia had grown up in the information explosion and electronic technology era after the second millennium, so Kay naturally couldn’t compare.

Coming back to it, when Kay thought of Mia now and then looked at Merlin…

Heh!

It was impossible to tell that he was the eldest among Artoria, Kay, and himself! It even once gave Kay the illusion of, ‘Could it be that I’m the parent?’

Hmm…

Kay pondered in his heart.

Given Merlin’s usual irresponsible childishness…

Could it be?

The situation now was that this guy was throwing a tantrum at them?

No way? No way, right?

Kay showed a subtle expression. “Um, Merlin, look on the bright side, you’re not actually that much of a loser…”

“That’s for sure!” Merlin tilted his head up proudly. “I am the Great Magus Merlin, after all~”

Then, he put his hands on his hips and looked at Kay with a strange smile on his face.

“Hey, I say, do you want to come along?”

“…Come along for what?”

Kay felt a slight sense of foreboding.

This guy didn’t seem to be throwing a tantrum because his role had been replaced.

“To find women!” Merlin waved his hand grandly, pointing toward the street like a general.

When it came to such matters, Merlin immediately became high-spirited.

“…” A cross vein appeared on Kay’s forehead.

“Hey, let’s go together?” Merlin leaned in with a grin. “You’ve been holding it in for a long time too, right? Don’t worry, trust my eye, I’ll definitely find a girl that suits your taste!”

“Give me back my sympathy, you idiot!”

“What happened now!”

The Magus’s wail echoed through the sky.

In truth, as a half-blood of Phantasmal Species and human, Merlin didn’t quite understand human emotions.

“Hmm?”

Not far away, Mia, who was packing her luggage in the guest room, looked out through the window.

She wondered what those two rivals were up to again.

“Miss Mia!”

Artoria pushed open the door with a bang.

Mia was startled.

“Uh… sorry.” Artoria bowed apologetically.

Then she stated her purpose: “When are we going to the Fish Market?”

“Ah…” Mia looked out the window.

Merlin had already left.

Then she looked back at Artoria. “It’s the request you took, you should make the decision.”