Chapter 234: Western Region Coast Chronicles (2)

"Does this make any sense?"

Eve's voice was full of dissatisfaction. Cellu was next to Eve. I was sitting in the carriage with Cellu in my arms. Cellu was humming in my embrace, glancing over at Eve.

"Why. Do you want to switch seats?"

"I'm good, thanks? No, more than that, I'm at least wearing shoes to hide my feet, but what are you thinking, mom? What are you going to do if you get hurt by the people of the western coast?"

"Snicker, Eve worrying about her mom. She's a filial daughter, as expected."

Cellu tried to laugh off Eve's words. But Eve didn't let it slide so easily. She brought up a realistic reason.

"Don't change the subject. What are you going to do? Huh? You're going to get seriously hurt, mom. You don't like getting sworn at by other humans either, do you? The humans won't like you wandering around the western coast like this either. Why are you trying to do something that neither side will like?"

"Why not? One way or another, it's a fact that I'll be the most helpful right now. All the mermaids there used to follow me."

"That's in the past. You sent them all to the western coast saying you were going to commit murders with me."

Cellu smiled at those words and said.

"Snicker. I certainly did. I thought you were going to die there at that time."

"What do you mean by that?"

Eve reacted a bit sharply to Cellu's words. Cellu let Eve's anger flow over her like water and said.

"It's literally what I said. You die, and I die. I had that dream a lot back then. One day, a girl who infiltrated as a crew member tears off all my fins. When I opened my eyes, you had already been caught by people and were undergoing brutal torture, and then it was my turn. And then we just die. That was the future I envisioned for us until I met Lucius."

Eve shut her mouth and stared at Cellu at those words. I didn't have the skill to interrupt this conversation between mother and daughter. I could understand a little why Cellu, who was the leader of the mermaids and didn't seem to hold a deep grudge against humans, was following Eve around committing murder and rape.

"What fucking bullshit are you spouting. Saying it like that makes it sound like you were trying to die with me."

Eve felt uneasy about Cellu's words and shook her head as she spoke. Cellu spoke calmly without changing her expression.

"Is that wrong? It's the natural instinct of a creature for a mother to live for her daughter. The means and the purpose don't matter. Honestly, I enjoyed it a bit from the middle onwards. I thought it wouldn't be bad to die like that. Because I was the one who raised you. I bear responsibility for your death, too."

"I was never raised by you, mom. My childhood was spent with my biological mother who was sliced up for raw meat in the slave market, wasn't it?"

"Snicker, you still hate humans. Don't you?"

It was clear from Eve's expression that she didn't want to continue this conversation. She looked at me and gave an eye signal as if telling me to shut Cellu up. But I just shrugged my shoulders and didn't interrupt the conversation. Eve clicked her tongue and said to Cellu.

"A little. Let's just say I hate them a little. Honestly, considering how much mermaids have suffered at the hands of humans, I don't know why we have to hold it in. It's fucking annoying how they're trying to handle things this way now just because we're counterattacking. Groom. You know it too. A grudge is like a scar. It comes to mind every time you look in the mirror, driving you crazy."

"Right."

I gave a short affirmation. Eve pressed her one-eyed socket and continued speaking.

"Fuck, I don't even have a clue on how to persuade them once we get there. I used to live getting revenge the same way the mermaids are doing now, so do I even have the qualification? And mom. You were the same, mom. Do you have the qualification to persuade the mermaids living on the western coast?"

I hugged Cellu tightly. Cellu was squished like a doll in my arms. She stroked my cheek and said.

"Persuasion requires a relatable 'something' more than a qualification. Humans are malicious, and they are always killing us. It's just the opposite this time. This time, the humans have met a typhoon. How should we persuade the mermaids who have realized they can kill humans once and for all? We have to give them something plausible for the mermaids to stop the slaughter, don't we?

Those children aren't homicidal maniacs. They're just scared. Because they're afraid of the humans who have always killed them like a massive storm. They just started killing first. Thinking they wouldn't come if they scared them."

From those words, I was able to get a hint to resolve the dispute with the mermaids. What Cellu was subtly demanding was a peace treaty between mermaids and humans. A peace treaty that banned the mermaid trade and mermaid hunting at least in the western coastal region. She was saying we should use this as bait to persuade the mermaids. I asked.

"Can we stop the fighting if we just have a peace treaty?"

"I don't know. To be honest, those kids weren't this violent, so I feel like there was an opportunity that changed them, but I can't guess what it is."

Cellu frowned as she spoke. Eve scowled and looked at the scenery outside the window. I continued down the road, comparing the scenery outside the window with the map. The carriage we were riding in was scheduled to stop by a dungeon before reaching the western coast city. It was because my opinion was that it would be better to enhance our strength in the dungeon before going, since we didn't know what would happen. Like that, the carriage carrying us moved forward, leaving our complicated thoughts behind.

The place the carriage arrived at was a ridge of a massive mountain range that met the sea. I found a hideous-looking old tree on that ridge. Behind the old tree was an old forest, and the map indicated that there was a cave somewhere in that forest. Eve hugged Cellu, and I picked up my mace. Cellu said.

"I can crawl."

"It's fine. If a suspicious bastard pops out, I'm going to use you as a weapon, mom."

"Heueuk."

At Eve's joking remark, Cellu turned pale and reached her hand out to me. I pretended not to notice and slightly distanced myself from her. Eve giggled at the sight, and Cellu said.

"That's mean. You're both bad. Unfilial children."

"I thought you said you didn't want to hear me call you mother-in-law."

As I muttered, Cellu shook her head and said.

"That and this are different."

I walked forward a little and checked my rear. The coachman had hidden the carriage well in the forest and gave a thumbs up. There didn't seem to be any signs of people in the surroundings, so it didn't seem like there would be a big problem if we went for a bit. I started walking forward along the map again.

"Groom. But where is that cave?"

Eve was slashing here and there with her scimitar to help find the cave I was looking for. But at most, she only cut off the heads of snakes or giant wasps, with no notable gains. I was also moving forward, tearing away vines with my mace, but finding the cave was not an easy task.

"Ah, why is it so hard to find. The description is too vague. I think this spot is correct, though?"

"Where, where."

Eve looked at the map with me. There was a cave icon on top of the forest mark on the map, and a description that read, 'A cave located in the deep forest entered with the old tree as a waypoint.' Eve looked back and forth between me and the map, then got annoyed.

"They drew the fucking map so shittily. Did that dragon draw this?"

"Even so, you shouldn't insult my mom."

"Bullshit, since when was a dragon your mom."

"If she gives breast milk, she's a mom."

"....Sometimes I just don't understand your thoughts, groom. Is that a good thing?"

"You still love me, right?"

"......Yeah. Seeing as I still love you like this, I must be crazy too."

"Snicker."

Additionally, Erina did produce breast milk, but since she lacked maternal power to be a mom, she was just a milk cow. We stopped our chatter and started looking for the cave again. How long did we walk in the vast forest? The path we passed through was devastated, as if a giant wild boar had plowed through. It was thanks to us cutting down all the trees and vines because they obstructed our field of vision. Eve looked back at the path we had traversed and said anew.

"Groom. Your heart isn't aching or anything from cutting down the trees, right?"

"I'm fine. More importantly, what about the cave?"

"Isn't it this one right here?"

There was a cave in front of us. It was a cave we found after cutting through trees for about 1km. I looked around my surroundings and carefully used divine power to emit light and illuminate the inside of the cave. Eve and Cellu frowned upon seeing the cave's interior. There was nothing inside the cave except for a lake. Inside the massive cave, there was only a lake and walls.

A deep hole could be seen beyond the water surface illuminated by the light, but it was impossible to confirm how deep it was with the naked eye. Eve said.

"Can you try throwing that light?"

"Let's see......"

I threw the mass of light into the water. The white light blinked and quickly permeated down the cave. At the same time, I created another light to brightly illuminate the surroundings of the cave.

"Oh, I see it."

Thanks to the light falling downward, we could check the inside of the cave in more detail. The cave was shaped like a giant jar. The part we were standing on was the entrance of that jar, and when we bowed our heads to look inside, the artificially rounded interior was full of water.

"It's fucking huge."

Just like Eve muttered, the scale was so massive that it made us feel like very small existences. Even though the sphere was illuminating the water with a very bright light, there were parts where the light faintly didn't reach, and the part we could see was only a fraction due to the presence of the entrance.

And the moment the light touched the bottom. Darkness suddenly descended.

"What the fuck."

Startled, I lit another light and threw it into the water. The light slowly descended again, illuminating the inside of the cave. There was nothing left in the spot where the light had been just a moment ago. I, Eve, and Cellu bowed our heads even further and brought our bodies closer to confirm what on earth had extinguished the light. At the same time, I maximized the brightness of the light.

When I poured in so much divine power that the light, which had looked the size of a pinky fingernail due to the cave being so high, appeared the size of my fist, the scenery inside the cave clearly came into view.

And we saw it.

"Fuck!"

"Ah, what the fuck!"

"Heueuk!!"

We couldn't help but pull our bodies away from the entrance in fright. At the same time, a giant tentacle shot up. Something pitch-black soared toward the cave entrance, then soon hid its figure.

"Did you see that?"

I looked back at Eve, not wanting to believe what I saw. Eve also nodded her head with a pale face. Cellu also nodded her head with a haggard expression.

The moment the light illuminated it, we met eyes with a massive pupil. A pupil as huge as Ahildern's Castle. That giant eye was staring clearly at us.

"......Should we clear it later?"

Eve nodded her head without a word.