Chapter 87

“I am imitating like this.”

Aria continued speaking with the clear, immature voice peculiar to a child.

“Why do you not even imitate?”

“Am I not Jio just because I have black hair?”

“Well….”

Aria looked at the person before her.

A person wearing a black cape, not the golden priestly robes that symbolized the sun, nor the white cape that represented the priest of light.

A man with pitch-black hair, unlike the form she remembered, and a gloomy face without a hint of a smile.

A ghastly presence that could not be called human.

“……”

And yet, she couldn't say he was not ‘Giovanni’.

“…I still don't quite understand.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Is this what they call reincarnation?”

It was a strange thing.

“It's not that I've never seen such cases, but this seems to be of a different kind. It doesn't seem to be just a matter of deification by gaining divinity from the Sun God.”

How should one explain the Jio before her eyes right now?

“The people of Earth say so, they call you the ‘Black Cape,’ don't they?”

“I have received such a name.”

“Can that be said to be your current identity?”

“It is merely one of my names.”

“Yes, Giovanni.”

The young mermaid moved her bare feet and approached him.

“Were you originally… a portrait?”

“I am human.”

“……”

Only after a long while did Aria reply.

“…That might be so.”

Even the knowledgeable Aria couldn't properly define the Black Cape before her.

He just looked like a painting, felt like a god, or perhaps seemed to be truly human.

“How did you come to this village?”

“I came to dig for clams.”

“Well, yes, I understand since you always liked to eat.”

“I also remember that Aria liked my cooking.”

“Then will you invite me to your banquet?”

“If you help me dig for clams.”

“…You really are a frivolous human….”

Aria dragged a large white gown that didn't fit her frame and wandered around the mudflat.

The magically treated gown did not get dirty easily.

“I'll help you.”

“Thank you.”

They had often spent time like this in the past.

“It reminds me of the old days.”

“What thoughts?”

“Just, this and that… trivial things.”

Giovanni used to bring the mermaids, who were curious about humans, to places like this.

Or to beaches crowded with fishermen, marketplaces bustling with people wanting to buy things and even places like banks where one could deposit money.

As she stirred with her bare feet, the white mudflat, unlike the ones on Earth, slowly turned over.

“What are you planning to make?”

“I am planning to make grilled clams and Edlen stew.”

“You're making something delicious. Are you thinking of putting clams in the stew too?”

“That would be fine too. I have meat, so I can put that in as well.”

“Hmm….”

Jio's cooking skills were excellent.

“Come to think of it, you were a nobleman, why did you enjoy cooking so much?”

“You didn’t even ask when you were young, has there been some change of heart?”

“Back then, I thought that was the wise thing to do. Human lives are too short and complicated, I thought if I carelessly poked and asked, blood might come out.”

“And now?”

“I know now that you are not someone who would bleed from being poked.”

“That is so.”

Jio with pitch-black eyes came over and folded Aria's sleeves.

The gown, tailored for an adult male's physique, had to be folded several times over for her hands to be visible.

They were the hands of a small, delicate child.

“The reason I, a nobleman, enjoyed cooking was simply because I wanted to eat delicious food.”

“As expected, not a grand reason. But you can eat delicious food anytime by ordering others to make it.”

“I wanted to see for myself what ingredients went in and how to produce what dish.”

When I lightly tossed Honey, who was on my shoulder, Honey flew up just below the cavern ceiling and brightly lit the underground space.

The mudflat, which was already white, looked so much clearer that it was dazzling.

“I wanted to improve myself.”

“A very you-like answer.”

“Where is Iseur?”

“Hiding in the temple.”

“Why did he not come with you?”

“Someone needs to guard the house.”

“Who would rob that ominous house….”

“The Black Cape, for instance.”

“……”

I felt a little wronged.

Raising one eyebrow, I asked.

“Am I scary, Aria?”

“Wouldn't you be?”

“Why is that?”

“You have a dark, gloomy atmosphere and are even intimidating.”

“I have never been intimidating.”

“I think you are now.”

“I still feel it is unfair.”

“Well, in addition to that….”

Looking up with her small body, Aria said.

“…I wasn't sure what kind of face to see you with, so I couldn't come to meet you easily.”

“Indeed, as soon as we met, we started with a fight.”

There was no time to feel the emotion of reunion or anything of the sort.

“To put it from my perspective, it felt similar to finding out that my nephews, whom I raised like my own children when they were young, had not only committed mass murder in the country while they were traveling abroad for a few years but had even kidnapped a child.”

“If you put it that way, from my perspective, it's similar to my beloved teacher, whom I thought was dead, being reincarnated as a pitch-black monster that isn't even human. On top of that, he even possessed the divinity of that irritating Sun God, making me wonder if someone was trying to piss us off.”

At those words, I nodded my head.

“It seems my shock was indeed greater.”

“I was at the point of missing that shamelessness.”

The mermaid chuckled.

“Aren't you angry?”

“Do I need to be angry?”

“At the very least, what we have done so far was not to your liking, Giovanni.”

“I see no need for me, who is already dead, to take responsibility and be angry for the changes in the children I raised.”

“This is quite heartless….”

“I let out all my share of anger at the banquet back then.”

With pitch-black hair and impassive eyes, I continued.

“For the rest, Giovanni, who died a long time ago, has neither the duty nor the authority to question.”

“……”

Soon after, the mermaid said.

“Then that’s fine.”

Aria was no longer curious either.

“You said we have a lot of time.”

“That is precisely it.”

Above all, I was not one to ponder things deeply.

I was not a Jio who would be frightened just because his cherished mermaid disciples had grown up to be mad mermaids.

“It is not a good habit to use one's head with food right in front of you.”

“Isn't that just you being strange, Jio? Why do you like food so much?”

“Why do you not like food so much?”

“One cannot live on eating alone.”

“But one cannot live without eating either.”

“…Alright, as long as you are happy, that’s all that matters.”

“You give up more easily than I thought.”

It was unexpected.

“You used to try to win at all costs before.”

“Because I am an adult now.”

“For an adult, I believe you cried at the dinner table.”

“…You do remember who made me cry, right?”

“You do remember who made me angry, right?”

“…Oh….”

“I have won again this time.”

“…You have a truly shameless side….”

“It is my charm.”

I looked at the mermaid who had become so small that I had to bend down for a long time to meet her eyes.

“Can you dig for clams with that body?”

“I often came to dig even when my body was this small, what do you mean by that now?”

“The question was whether you feel any awkwardness with your body having become younger.”

“That level of mimicry is easy now.”

“Hmm.”

A moment later, he asked.

“That gown is mine, I suppose?”

“……”

The mermaid soon replied.

“This doctor's gown?”

“Yes.”

“That’s right, it’s mine now.”

“It is fine, as I intended to pass it down to you anyway.”

“……”

After quite a long time, the mermaid asked, feigning nonchalance.

“You did?”

“Did you think you took it?”

“……”

“Seeing as there is no answer, you did.”

It was true. Aria could not deny my words.

“I never thought you would intend to pass it down to me.”

“I intended to pass the doctor's gown to you, Aria, and my priestly robes to Iseur.”

“Unfortunately, your priestly robes were torn. By the hands of the Solar Cult.”

“I thought as much. Fortunately, the doctor's gown has gone to its owner.”

“Truly unexpected.”

Aria was still smiling.

“Because we mermaids ruined the life of you, who were human.”

“All the tragedies of that time were closer to what humans brought upon themselves.”

Giovanni could have chosen not to help the mermaids at all.

The humans could have engaged in a major emotional battle with the mermaids that had no right answer.

This world could have once been a place where humans and mermaids lived together.

“Aria, you have never taken anything of mine.”

“Is that really so?”

“That is merely something that I have wholly passed down to you.”

“Still so kind.”

“Did you wish for me not to be?”

“Perhaps I did.”

“But unfortunately….”

In the end, Jio was Jio.

“I find that I do not change so easily.”

It could be because I was not one to think deeply.

“In that spirit, shall we dig for clams again?”

“You have a talent for breaking the mood.”

“I need to prepare dinner before it gets too late….”

“Hah.”

The mermaid grumbled as she readjusted the gown that kept slipping down even though I had folded the sleeves for her.

“I thought you came to talk to me, but you were just a glutton.”

“It is good to kill two birds with one stone.”

“You really just live as life flows, as expected of Giovanni.”

“It seems you still do not know that life is most enjoyable when lived without a plan.”

“……”

After a little while, the mermaid asked.

“…Are you happy now?”

The answer was not difficult.

“I always was.”

“…How so?”

“Because I always did my best.”

“……”

“So, now the clams….”

“Oh, come on.”

Although she expressed a slight annoyance, Aria diligently participated in the clam expedition.

***

“We have arrived.”

“Kkuu….”

The teddy bear saw the four living creatures who had come, each holding a basket full of clams.

“Kku?”

“Yes, I have also caught Aria and Iseur….”

“Kku.”

“Brought them with me.”

Since he hadn't heard from her for a while as she was digging for clams, Iseur had also come to Edlen village wondering what was going on.

And there, he discovered his sister in a dress, squatting and digging for clams.

It was the first time I knew that an already pale face could turn so white.

Thus, Iseur was also forced to participate in the clam excavation team.

Iseur looked at the Sun God in the guise of a teddy bear with a peculiar expression.

“……”

“Kkuu.”

“…You have become much cuter since I last saw you….”

“Kkukku.”

“Is it laughing?”

Seriously?

‘What am I looking at?’

Iseur, holding a basket of clams, was already mentally dazed.

The sight of none other than Aria digging for clams with her hands covered in mud was confusing, and his own situation of being naturally dragged along to dig for clams with her and then being brought to the cabin was also confusing.

“Why is the Sun God here…? I did feel the sun’s presence disappear, but this is.”

“He is a grandfather, so don't be like that. It is not right to show discomfort to an elder who is resting quietly.”

“No, no, ah.”

Iseur was at a loss for words, but the situation was not much different for his sister, Aria.

“A teddy bear?”

“Kku.”

“Are you serious?”

“Kkukukku….”

“Is it laughing?”

Amidst that calm chaos, Honey pattered across the floor and approached the teddy bear.

Then, it spat out a clatter of clams of all sizes.

“Kkuk.”

“Kkuu.”

“Kkurururu!”

“Kkukku….”

The teddy bear laughed like an old man watching his grandchild's cute antics and clapped with its fluffy cotton paws.

As Honey proudly puffed out its chest, Dana, who was watching, stood next to it and struck the same pose.

The Sun God liked it very much.

“Precious things.”

I liked it too.

“……”

“……”

I called out to the speechless mermaids.

“Time to go clean the clams, kids.”

“…Are you our dad?”

“I am already the father of two. Any more is a bit much.”

“Then, uncle.”

“Alright, my niece, want some allowance?”

“Is this fun?”

“It is fun.”

“Oh….”

With that bland exclamation, Aria became a statue, and Iseur, unknowingly almost dropping his basket of clams, held it tight and turned his gaze to me.

“Teacher.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“Do you perhaps have any plans to destroy the Earth….”

“Why would you suddenly ask such a terrible question?”

“Well, the members of the group.”

“……?”

I looked around.

“……”

I could not understand.

“There is just one teddy bear, one bird, and one cat, what is the problem with this cute and harmless group?”

“Ah, so that is how you treat them… I understand.”

“I don't think you do.”

They were a boisterous family even before they had started preparing the clams.

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