Chapter 9

In the distance, I could see a thin plume of smoke rising into the sky.

It's not emergency smoke or anything like that, it's just smoke from the bonfires that the Magnoras people use for cooking.

It looks like their celebration is going to be quite lively, I wonder what they are cooking.

Chief Harald said, for a harvest celebration like this, they would cook a lot of things and feast into the night to show their gratitude to the Goddess of the harvest whose name I forgot.

I'm really bad at remembering names.

Anyway, I can't wait to eat their cooking, I'm sure Sarah must have prepared a special portion for me.

She would do that, right?

Just imagining it is enough to make me hungry. Plus, using my abilities also makes me hungry, so I'm really looking forward to the food.

Entering the village area, I could see a group of women cooking under an outdoor tent.

Looks like all the women are there.

Looking at another tent not far from the women's tent, I could see some men cutting meat and doing some fleshing.

The number of men here is too low, so the rest must still be accompanying Chief Harald to repair the ship.

I approached towards the women's camp, as I got closer and closer, I could see Sarah among the women chopping vegetables.

I could recognise her easily, as she tied her long blonde hair into a ponytail.

It made her look very eye-catching.

Sarah was so focused that she didn't notice me coming.

I planned to surprise her, but one of the girls next to her noticed my arrival.

She whispered into Sarah's ear.

"Sarah, Lord Abel is here."

Sarah immediately turned round and greeted me with a smile.

"Welcome back, Master. How was your hunt?"

"Just like usual."

I moved closer to her to see what she was cooking.

On the table behind her, I could see an assortment of meat and fish dishes, my favourites.

"Is that my share?"

"Yes, Master."

I tried to reach out to one of the dishes on the table, but Sarah slapped my hand away.

"Ouch... Why?"

"You can't, Master. All this food should be eaten together later."

"Come on, just a little bit."

I really wanted to try it, so I begged, but Sarah still refused me.

"No means no, Master."

After saying that, Sarah went back to her work.

"Blast."

Looks like I'll have to give up, Sarah doesn't seem like she's going to change her mind.

Hmm.... I just realised one thing.

"Sarah, where are Amy and Adela?"

I realised that the two girls were nowhere to be found.

Sarah looked like she had expected me to ask that, she answered without turning around.

"Amy is napping over there. And Adela..."

Sarah paused and then said in a quieter voice.

"She needs some time alone."

"Oh..."

I understood what she meant, this whole situation must have made her homesick.

Sometimes I forget that Adela is different from us.

Unlike us, Adela has a family waiting for her.

She just can't go back because of that fish monster.

Actually, I'm not sure if that's the only reason, she might have other reasons. I haven't asked her about it yet.

I asked Sarah.

"Do you know where Adela went?"

"On the cliffs near our house I think."

"I'll go get her."

"'Okay, Master. Please be careful."

I think it's about time I talked to her about this, after all she's gotten quite fluent talking in imperial language these past few days.

----

Walking along the cliff around my house, I saw Adela sitting on the edge of the cliff hugging her knees.

It looked like she was wearing her green dress today, the same one she wore when we first met.

Coupled with her blue hair, it made her look beautiful even though she had a sad expression.

I'm sure she had already noticed my presence, but she didn't turn around to say hello or anything.

So I decided to sit beside her quietly.

I just sat there while staring out at the ocean.

I don't know how many minutes passed, but I finally broke the silence because I thought Abela would never start a conversation.

"Adela, do you miss your home?"

I asked while looking at her.

"En."

Without looking at me, Adela responded by nodding her head.

I never brought this up because I was afraid it would remind her of her family, but I thought now was a good time to say it.

"Is the reason you didn't come back a long time ago because of that fish monster?"

Once again, Adela nodded her head.

I continued to ask.

"What exactly are they? Do you know anything about them?"

Adela was silent.

I didn't know what she was thinking, but she finally answered in a low voice and somewhat rough imperial language.

"I heard from my grandfather that they are the guardians of an ancient god's tomb located on this island. So since childhood, I and the other mermaid children were forbidden to play in the sea around this island. My mother even used them to scare me if I was being a bad girl."

I kinda wanna see her when she's being a bad girl actually. Okay, this is not the right time for your imagination, Abel.

"I see, did your grandfather say anything about how to defeat them?"

Adela shook her head.

"No, my grandfather just said that only a madman would face them."

Then I am a madman, huh. Well, that doesn't sound too bad. Madman sounds better than loser.

At least now, I know that there's some sort of ancient god's tomb on this island.

Maybe I can find a way to defeat that monster if I can find that tomb.

I can think about that later, I should focus on comforting Adela.

Because of my question earlier, she looks even more sad, this is why I don't want to talk about it.

"Adela, can I ask you something else?"

"Sure."

"What was your first impression of me when we first met?"

Adela raised her head from her knees and looked at me with an enquiring look, she was probably surprised why I was asking this now.

She looked away to think for a while, and looked back at me.

"I was scared, because you're a man. I thought I'd just walked into another tiger jaws. But... "

Adela paused, before continuing with a faint smile.

"After a while, I realised that you were just a weirdo."

"Hey, that's rude. I'm not weird, I'm completely normal. ....Well, maybe a bit, but not enough to call me a weirdo."

Her answer made my heart hurt a little, but at least her condition is getting better.

Adela then spoke again quietly.

"Yeah, but... You look happy, you know? You live on an empty island full of monsters, but every day, you live your life as if nothing happened. You even go out hunting them every day. We get so scared every time you go out, but you always come back smiling like it was normal."

I guess she's right, normal people should be scared if they live on an island like this.

There are monsters everywhere, and I never feel fazed by that fact.

Huh, so I really are weird? Dammit. I would rather be called a madman than a weirdo.

Seeing my sad expression, Adela laughed.

"Hehe, well, you're weird, Abel. But don't worry, because of your weird behaviour, we feel safe living here. And if it wasn't for you, we would never feel this comfortable in this place. So, thank you, Abel."

Adela patted my back to comfort me.

Damn, I have to admit, I am weird.

But don't blame me, I don't interact with people much, so I don't know what's weird and what's not!

And aren't we going off topic here? Shouldn't I be the one comforting Adela?

Why am I the one being comforted?

Oh well, Adela's mood has gotten a lot better, that's all that matters.

I think it's time for us to go back, I don't want to be nagged by Sarah again.

I stood up and extended my hand to Adela.

"Come on, we have to go. If we take too long, Sarah might nag us again."

"You mean nag you again?"

Seeing my outstretched hand, Adela grabbed it.

Without letting go of her hand, I looked directly into her eyes and said something to ease her mind.

"Oh yeah. Adela, before I forget saying this, I promise I'll bring you back."

"Hmm?"

"To your family, I promise I'll take you back to them. That will be the first thing I do after I beat up those damn Fishes."

She was probably confused as to why I would want to go that far, considering her whole family would try to kill me if i do that, but now was not the time to tell her why.

I let go of her hand and started walking ahead, leaving a confused Adela behind me.

"I'm not sure if you're weird or if you're just too kind, Abel."

"Did you say something?"

I heard her mumble something, but I didn't hear it clearly because the wind was too strong.

"It's nothing."

Adela shook her head, with a cheerful face, she started walking after me.

"By the way, Abel. Did you hear that yesterday Amy-"

With small talk, we walked side by side towards the village.