Chapter 226 – Pilgrimage.
The mermaids couldn’t hide their confusion for a while and were busy talking to each other. Usher took advantage of that opportunity to talk to Krikaliev, who was just watching them.
“Are you really okay like this?”
“What do you mean?”
“The mermaids.”
Usher wondered if he could fix the girls’ behavior. The mermaids thought he would enjoy it while catching them without hesitation and forcing them to act.
“What I have already done is to teach as much as I can. If there is no change, what can I do?”
“…What is it. That.”
If so, isn’t teaching yourself also such a rough idea? Usher looked at Krikaliev with a frown on his face.
“Teaching is originally like that. If the person concerned doesn’t have the will, it’s meaningless.”
Accepting the other person’s thoughts requires a lot of willpower. No matter what I say in that state, anything I say will sound like an annoying sermon. After hearing him, Usher also felt that teaching mermaids was a waste of time.
“Then doesn’t that mean nothing?”
Krikaliev asked if it was meaningful enough to question whether there was a reason for the deal.
“Little boy. Why do you think the behavior of mermaids should be corrected?”
“Isn’t that wrong?”
“Then why were the mermaids’ actions wrong?”
“Because it harms others?”
“What if that was an advantage for the survival of mermaids?”
Usher was speechless at that. Survival would have meant that it was essential to them. Can you tell me it’s wrong?
“Then, on the contrary, are we right? Why are we right?”
“…I do not know.”
“That’s right. It’s not something like that.”
Above all, a deal is a deal, even if the mermaids don’t accept it. It doesn’t change that it takes us to Ragado fast, so there’s no reason to fix it unconditionally.
“Even if their thoughts are wrong, we have no reason or right to fix them or care.”
It was as he said. For Usher, the important thing is not to teach them, but to shorten the time he has to go to Belka.
“We just know a little more about the rational side than they do.”
Surely, the idea of correcting the behavior of mermaids is a fuss? But even so, I didn’t know what to say about the cramped feeling that didn’t go over as if it was stuck in my throat. As Usher kept his mouth shut, Krikaliev’s words came again.
“But there is one more important thing.”
“Yes?”
Usher was about to ask what he meant, but Krikaliev shouted faster than he did.
“You guys! How long are you going to talk about it!! Are you guys going to die of old age without ever holding a man’s hand?!”
As Krikaliev’s booming voice pierced the muffled voices of the mermaids and resounded, their blank eyes turned to them. For a moment, silence takes over the vacancy of sound.
“Hold your hand?”
“It’s not copulation…?”
“Mating is a piece of shit! If you keep acting like you are now, you won’t be able to hold hands with a man, let alone that!”
Hearing his words, the girls were even more confused and confused.
“Nonsense! I’ve never done that before!”
“Ugh, my turn is too far away?”
“I’ve never talked to a man before!”
“Well, then, shouldn’t we attack right now?”
Usher was stunned by his behavior, which, instead of calming them down, further instigated them. Wouldn’t it be strange if they were aiming at them now?
“Mister!? You weren’t teaching?!”
“Are you teaching now?”
“You’re not provoking me!?”
With the exception of a few mermaids, Krikaliev shouted again, feeling more threatened than before by the way he was staring at them.
“What did you hear me say! Do you think all of you would be satisfied even if they attacked us here and now!?”
“Eh, that’s it.”
“Eh, it seems like a small kid can’t even do it with a few people and will stretch out.”
“Even if we attack us now, most of you won’t be able to do it again, and you don’t know when someone will come this way, so will you wait all your life and die of old age!?”
Upon hearing his words, the venom drains from their eyes, and confusion takes over again. Then, among them, someone raised a hand.
“Wait a minute, so you’re saying there’s some way we can all mate?”
Hearing her question, the mermaids looked at Krikaliev as if it was really so. As their gazes gather, he responds only then.
“Not all, but at least you can do a lot more than you do now. Plus, for a long time.”
“Oh, for a long time?”
“Isn’t the day over?”
“How long?”
“If it’s the human way, I might be able to monopolize one person for the rest of my life.”
At his words, the mermaids started making a fuss again. However, this time, they seemed to notice each other, and each raised their hand and began to ask.
“Are you saying that’s love?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of like an intermediate step where we check each other to see if we’re going to be together for the rest of our lives.”
“Ummm, can’t that be with multiple people?”
“If you want to miss even one of them.”
Then the mermaids burst out screaming here and there.
“Eh, why?”
“Why are humans so obsessed with one person?”
“That’s right. If you do it with multiple people, you can spread more seeds.”
Voices were intertwined in various places, but Krikaliev seemed to have managed to understand.
“Then do you prefer the man you were with to go to another woman or stay together?”
“Is it okay if we stay together?”
“It’s the same with humans.”
“But my mother said that you need multiple seeds to reproduce a lot?”
As one mermaid said, frowning her nose in displeasure, Usher could see that they had been taught that way by their parents before. If he had been taught such things since he was a child, maybe that was why Luboshi kidnapped him?
“If you want to get along with humans, wouldn’t it be better to learn human ways?”
“It is, but.”
“Isn’t it because you acted that way and became isolated like now and think that humans are monsters?”
In the end, the dissatisfied mermaid also shut her mouth. As expected, being treated like a monster seemed to be quite a shock to them as well.
“And all that aside, pairing one person with one person gives each other a sense of stability in many ways.
“I see.”
“Does that mean I don’t have to give up the man I brought to the other kids?”
“Right!
Even though he no longer spoke, the mermaids started talking among themselves. There were some mermaids who tilted their heads as if they were strange or looked suspicious, but there were also many mermaids who were talking with bright expressions as if their accumulated complaints were bursting out. Then Krikaliev clapped his hands. The voices of the mermaids who were busy talking to each other stopped at the ringing sound, and their eyes returned.
“Then let’s end here for today.”
“Eh! Already?”
“That’s right! The sun is still floating!”
As soon as he tried to finish the story without the reward of focusing again, rather dissatisfied voices were heard.
“Can’t we do it again tomorrow? And I’m busy teaching him too.”
As Krikaliev patted Usher on the head and talked, the girls began to talk as if they had no choice but to scatter or gather among themselves. Picking up the sounds I heard at first glance, it seemed that it was mainly about love that he taught. That way they could get out of the plaza without being disturbed by the mermaids.
“Do you think you’re ready to learn something?”
“…How did you do it?”
Usher couldn’t figure out how he made them understand, even though he was watching.
“I told you. You can’t teach anything without a will.”
Teaching and being taught are established when each other respects and trusts each other. Teaching is similar to persuading others.
“You need a foundation to plant your will. You need to know what kind of situation your opponent is in and what they need.”
If you don’t even try to understand each other and just inject knowledge unilaterally, it turns into a tedious sermon. If you have different experiences, different thoughts, and different knowledge, then that is bound to happen. Especially if you have to teach someone unfamiliar and unfamiliar things. Krikaliev continued his speech, leading Usher.
“But if you have the will, you can teach even with all that in mind.”
Having a will means that the other person trusts you, and if you are trusted by the person you teach, isn’t teaching something in return?
“Okay, take it.”
As Usher was brooding over his words, he immediately held out something. Looking up at the large object blocking their view, they were back in the cave Priyazen had guided them to.
“Shield?”
“To be precise, it’s a round shield. It would be better for you to use a buckler than this, but for now, this is the best.”
Listening to his words and listening carefully, it feels lighter than I thought even though it was the size that almost covered my upper body. I didn’t know it because of the black leather surrounding the outside, but when I looked inside the shield, I noticed a familiar pattern.
“Is this made of wood?”
“Yes, the larger the material of the shield, the lighter and more elastic it is better to use.”
If they follow him as he walks somewhere, they reach a sandy beach on an island slightly away from the village of mermaids.
“You’ll know how to lift a shield just by looking at it, so hold up the sword in that state.”
Usher listened to him and tried to draw his sword, but he suddenly realized that he had no sword.
“Huh? Now, wait!”
It was a time when I was perplexed that I had kept the sword on my waist, but no matter how much I searched for it, I couldn’t find it.
“Are you looking for this?”
Surprised by the voice behind him, he turned around to see Luboshi, a pink mermaid holding the sword he was looking for. Usher was uncomfortable approaching her, but he couldn’t help it. In Luboshi’s hand, he was holding not only the sword he was looking for, but also protective plates he didn’t even know he had taken off. But if there was a reason she was able to approach her, it was because she hesitated, unable to meet her eyes as if embarrassed.
In the end, Usher took the items from her hand, and Ruboshi hid in the water, startled as if he had been scalded by a finger that had lightly touched him. Even though she was obviously the one who had been caught by her, with a strange feeling she put her protective plate on her clothes and stood up.
“Are you ready now?”
“Yes.”
It was awkward to hold the shield and sword in one hand, so he was fidgeting with the grip on the back of the shield, when Krikaliev struck his shield with his wooden sword.
“Listen straight up. Do you want to fight the enemy as it is? You must put a large shield like a round shield in front of your body to withstand the impact and protect your body.”
Following his words, he puts his shield in front of him, so he strikes Usher’s hand.
“Don’t just put your shield in front, pick up your sword. With a long weapon like a rapier, you can keep your opponent in check just by putting it in front.”
“Is this a rapier?”
“Yes, rapiers have their center of gravity on the handle, similar to longswords, so if you are familiar with longswords, it will be easy to handle.”
Usher took a second look at the sword he had given him. Even though the sword was held in one hand, it was long enough to be compared to a long sword, and it was only now that I realized that it was not strange to handle it.
“The rapier’s blade is hard and narrow. It becomes thinner towards the end, so it can be stabbed quickly.”
Krikaliev stood before him, holding his shield like that. Seeing him holding a large shield and slightly bending one knee as if to stab him, I clumsily followed along, and I heard a voice.
“Pull your shield a little more, put your legs back a little more, and bend your front knee a little more. Okay, that’s it.”
“What’s wrong?!”
At the same time, Usher made a strange noise at the impact of the shaking of his hand holding the shield. At first glance, I could see that he had struck his own shield, as he drew back his wooden sword.
“When you block a strong attack, you block it like you do now. Then you can disperse the shock you have to bear and prevent your posture from collapsing.”
But his attacks didn’t end there.
“But you can’t stay still like that.”
“Ugh!?”
Soon, the wooden sword strikes the edge of the shield, and the shield flips over. He tried to get back into his stance, but his wooden sword was already tapping the inside of his arm.
“If there is a handle in the center like the shield you are using now, when you hit it like this, it will flip right over and reveal the gap.”
“So what?”
“What are the characteristics of a rapier?”
“Ah!”
Usher looked at the sword clutched in his opposite hand. Krikaliev had his rapier erected and clipped to his side. The rapier was long enough to pierce his waist.
“Accurately identify the characteristics of your weapon and get used to it. That’s the first thing you should do.”
Usher didn’t realize that while he was concentrating on training, there were eyes that could not leave and stayed on him.
