Song of the Foam (Part 1)
—
Knock, knock.
Suddenly, there were two knocks on the door. Thrett stood up and went to answer it. Ziyuan held two paper bags, with his hair, pants, and sleeves slightly damp.
“This is what you asked for,” Ziyuan said while discreetly stealing a glance at Thrett’s back.
Opening the door, Thrett was only wearing an outer garment, slightly open in the middle, revealing his collarbone down to his chest. On the bed lay the hero who had fallen into a deep sleep. Despite being wrapped in layers of sheets and blankets, a glimpse of his fair shoulders suggested he was in a state of nakedness.
“No matter how you look at it, your hunting range shouldn’t be this wide…” Ziyuan sighed deeply. As far as he knew, the Demon King did have a penchant for beauty, but according to standards of attractiveness, demons and elves were the top choices. Humans, mythical beasts, fairies, etc., came next. Ziyuan couldn’t understand why the Demon King, with his excellent taste, would choose this hero. He was just an average-looking man. Perhaps his only advantage was the naturally fair skin of his Northern Snow Country heritage. No matter how the Demon King chose, it shouldn’t have been him.
“Your imagination is quite impressive, Ziyuan.”
“What does Your Majesty mean?”
“Never mind, just give me the clothes.”
Ziyuan immediately handed the bag of clothes to Thrett and asked, “The three-day deadline is approaching. I would like to ask Your Majesty what your plans are.”
“Seems like Ellyad doesn’t intend to take those two fish back.”
“But we’ve found them. Besides, if we don’t bring them back for the report, what will happen to the brat?”
“Keep it down; Ellyad is sleeping.”
“…”
At this moment, Ziyuan couldn’t help but glare at the Demon King in front of him.
“What else can we do? Of course, let him marry a mermaid. Honestly, I’m a bit curious about what they’ll produce.”
“Your Majesty!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Just speak more quietly.” This time, it was Thrett who glared back at Ziyuan. Ziyuan had no choice but to reluctantly fall silent. Thrett continued, “We will go back. Besides, Ellyad’s voice is still there. But I think there should be other ways to solve this.”
“Vb, jgf sbe mtbbrlcu ab vfragbs atf ijxf?”
“Rb, Siisjv kbeiv vfolclafis yf jcugs lo kf vlv atja.”
“Ktfc ktja rtbeiv kf vb?!” Ilsejc mbeivc’a tfiq yea rtbea jujlc.
“Gb sbe kjca wf ab xlmx sbe bea? Lbk wjcs alwfr vb P tjnf ab afii sbe ab rqfjx wbgf delfais?”
“Then please seriously think of a solution.”
“Fine, fine. Who is the superior here?”
“Absolutely, it’s you!” Ziyuan affirmed this time. Seeing how he was being toyed with, he had no doubt about who was in charge.
Actually, until just now, Ziyuan still had a bit of wariness towards the Demon King. The killing intent released by the Demon King towards him yesterday still made him cautious and fearful. However, the way Thrett was conversing with him now was just like before, as if nothing had happened yesterday.
Or rather, the Demon King had given a kind of amnesty to Ziyuan. He expressed, through his attitude, a subtle guidance in the conversation, returning everything to their original interactions. The 28th Demon King was, in reality, not lacking in political acumen.
“Do you know about the ‘Aolai‧Gadian Incident’?”
“I have an impression. If I remember correctly, it was an event where a mermaid ignited a war between the magical beasts and humans over a mate. Although I don’t understand why Thrett is bringing this up, I will respond seriously.”
Around the 6500th year in the world history of Sipistole, there was an incident involving a coastal mermaid named Aolai and a human princess named Gadian, who were competing for a human male.
Aolai and Princess Gadian decided the fate of the male through a simple duel, and ultimately, the mermaid in human form won. The defeated princess, unwilling to accept the outcome, mobilized her country’s military forces and waged war against the mermaids in retaliation.
At that time, a large number of mermaids were slaughtered or captured for palace performances and market sales. The mermaids, not to be outdone, caused every ship that ventured into the sea to capsize and sink. They also frequently dragged coastal residents into the sea, causing them to drown.
The mutual slaughter continued for twenty years. The man was kept by Princess Gadian in the imperial palace, under tight protection. The mermaid, unable to see or find the man, succumbed to the pain of longing and eventually turned into a pile of foam, dying from depression. The entire incident gradually came to an end.
“So, what’s your conclusion?”
“The conclusion is that they would also use combat to settle disputes over mates. Quite primitive.”
“Are you planning to have a showdown with the Merfolk King? If that’s the case, it seems quite unfair. Even if both are kings, even if the other side allows a two-on-one situation, the Merfolk side would have no chance of winning.”
“Then what should I do?” Unable to resolve it through brute force, he had to decorate this action with a grandiose term.
“That’s true. Now, I just hope that the two merman brothers will accept this proposal.” Although they found a solution, it was equivalent to going around in circles. For this, wasting three days of time, Ziyuan still harbored some grievances. The Demon King went to great lengths and did a lot of work in vain for that human hero.
‘Is this still worthy of being called a Demon King?’ This doubt quickly vanished from Ziyuan’s mind. The title of Demon King wasn’t just a verbal designation; it carried inherent power. Therefore, regardless of what Thrett did, it wouldn’t affect the fact that he was the Demon King.
Ziyuan left their room and felt a great admiration for himself for being able to follow Thrett wholeheartedly.
—
The rain had significantly weakened in the middle of the night. The air still held a thick humidity, and the temperature was dropping. Thrett changed into the newly bought clothes, contemplating whether to wake up the long-sleeping Ellyad and have him put on the clothes.
“Ell.” He shook Ellyad’s shoulder, calling his name. Ellyad responded groggily.
“Do you want to change your clothes?”
‘Hmmm…’ Ellyad mumbled, seemingly not fully aware. In a daze, Ellyad sat up, his gaze completely unfocused.
‘Could he be running a fever?’ Thrett placed his palm on Ellyad’s forehead; the temperature was normal. Unexpectedly, the next moment, Ellyad gently rubbed his forehead against Thrett’s palm, behaving like someone seeking affection.
Thrett was so surprised that he didn’t know whether to pull his hand back or wake him up.
“Are you… awake?”
Ellyad, in a half-dream state, identified the source of the voice and nodded, but his eyes remained closed.
‘Could he be in a deep sleep?’ Thrett carefully examined Ellyad’s sleeping face, leaned over his shoulder, and intentionally planted a kiss on his neck. Ellyad shivered and pulled his neck away, but there was still no sign of him waking up.
The unfolding scenes before Thrett sparked some heat within him. While he had desires for physical intimacy, he had never considered Ellyad as that kind of partner, nor did he ever plan to force it. However, since he had this rare opportunity, Thrett was not planning to let it slip away.
With one hand cradling the back of Ellyad’s head and the other reaching towards his waist, Thrett was about to gently lay him down on the bed when a massive weight suddenly dropped onto his back!
“You perverted demon, if you dare to touch him again, I’ll use the Hero Sword to split open your head.” A gloomy voice echoed from Thrett’s back. A girl with platinum blonde hair—no, an elf with platinum blonde hair—wearing a dark red short skirt suit was sitting firmly on the Demon King’s back in a kneeling position.
Thrett sighed, “Long time no see. Why choose to appear now?”
He was somewhat displeased with the untimely appearance of the elf. Throughout these tumultuous events in the past few days, she hadn’t shown up at all. Even when Ellyad fell into the valley, she didn’t appear. Now, she decided to disturb them at this moment.
“Do you think I didn’t want to come out? With this child’s power, I can’t maintain my humanoid form for too long, especially during these days when his emotions are in turmoil. I couldn’t appear at all.”
As an elf possessing a humanoid form, Lena had to rely on the host’s power and the object of possession. Since Ellyad lacked the magical energy to sustain Lena’s humanoid form or allow her to appear at will, she had been invisible for the past few days.
“So, what’s the purpose of your appearance now?” Thrett had Ellyad lie back on the bed before getting up and pushing Lena off his back.
“Rain…” Lena showed a troubled expression, furrowing her brows as she hesitated, “Because this is the last rain announcing the end of autumn. After this, that child will definitely feel uncomfortable, so I’m very worried…”
Whenever the topic related to Ellyad’s identity as the Hero was touched upon, Lena became evasive and her expression turned weak and helpless.
“What’s the reason for making Ell uncomfortable?” Thrett disregarded her changing expressions and went straight to the point. The last rainfall of autumn marked the official beginning of early winter from tomorrow, but Thrett couldn’t understand why such a change of seasons would make Ellyad feel uneasy.
“Hmph, I’m not telling you. It serves you right for just now thinking about committing such outrageous and despicable beastly acts against the esteemed Hero, angering both man and god.” After saying this, Lena shook her head and disappeared with such haste that it seemed like she was intentionally avoiding the topic.
“What’s this annoying elf up to?” At this point, Thrett had already figured out that this rain might be the reason Ellyad couldn’t wake up. While he wanted to know more about Ellyad, it wasn’t urgent now; there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
Not dwelling on this matter, Thrett walked back to the bed, pulled up the quilt to cover Ellyad, and folded his legs, leaning against the bedside in silence, waiting for the night to pass.
—
In the morning after the rain stopped, the air felt refreshed, as if it had been cleansed. Although there was a hint of winter chill, it was suitable for wearing a coat or jacket.
“How do you feel?” Thrett turned to Ellyad, and the three of them sat around the table in a circle.
‘This is the only way. I’ll take on the merfolk king in a duel.’ Ellyad agreed, consenting to resolve the merfolk incident through a duel, with the condition that he must be the one to participate.
Thrett was confident in Ellyad’s swordsmanship. Having witnessed Ellyad’s swordplay many times, he recognized the highly skilled technique. However, being an outsider himself, his comments were somewhat subjective.
“Well, we must depart now and return to Mirror Lake,” said Ziyuan, who had no luggage and could leave immediately.
‘After resolving this safely, I have some business to attend to and need to come back again.’ Ellyad, packing their belongings in the room, informed Thrett.
“I have no objections, but why do you need to come back?” Thrett inquired.
‘There’s something I need to return to someone.’ Ellyad securely tied the small deer-skin bag and stowed it in his backpack, preventing the two rings from falling out again. Wedding rings were valuable items, and although Ellyad wanted to return them to the man sooner, the current situation didn’t allow for it.
Ready to fight those good for nothing mermen! (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ