yemalu

ARRRGHH!! I never got any sweets from clearing out that smuggler den!! It\'s only now did I realise this!! When I get him… I\'m going to make him pay me double the agreed amount!! You don\'t just trick me out of sweets like that!

"So, where is he?" Emilia asked, bringing my attention back to their conversation.

Maurice sighed, "What good would telling you do, Em? He lives deep in the ocean and even if you were to challenge him, he\'s not going to come up and fight you either. He\'d just drag you down to his level."

Emilia frowned, "Then what do you suggest that I do? Just forget about it and move on?! When have you ever known me to not settle a grudge?!"

I also joined her side, "Yeah! That bastard still owes me my promised sweets! Tell us where he is so that I can beat him up for it!!"

The Merman blinked at me, "Sweets?"

"Yeah! I was promised three crates of it if I were to wipe out those smugglers, yet I don\'t see any sweets for me!!"

He looked at Emilia who simply sighed, "She really likes sweets…"

Maurice turned back to me, "I don\'t suppose you can breathe underwater, young lady? Otherwise, how are you planning on getting to him?"

"Hmph! I\'ll just hold my breath, swim down, beat him up, then swim back up again!"

"Yeah!!" Odeta cheered from behind me.

See? She supports me! Now where is that stupid little fish?!

Maurice sighed, "Trust me, he lives in an area that you can\'t normally get to just by holding your breath. Take my advice, all of you are just better off leaving here and not looking back."

Emilia huffed, "Do you think he would let us go like that Maurice?"

He tilted his head slightly, "Didn\'t you say he left you stranded on your island? Isn\'t that his way of letting you go?"

"Ha! Seems like you don\'t know him as well as I do, that bastard isn\'t someone who would leave things half finished like that. I\'m willing to bet half my fortune that he was totally not expecting me to return and was completely surprised to see me there, so he said that to make me drop my guard."

"Drop your guard? For what?"

"So that he can go and find some people to finish me off of course. It\'s not like he can just find people who are able to match me in a fight just like that."

The Merman stared at her silently for a moment, as though waiting for her to say that she was joking.

When that was not forthcoming he leaned on the counter and sighed, "I\'m guessing if he found that you actually got away, he would hunt you down and make sure to always harass you while you\'re out at sea?"

She nodded, "Yes. He knows I would never forgive him and he\'ll be scared that one day I would find a way to get to him and gut him in his sleep. Because as thorough as he is, I am twice as much as he is."

Maurice raised an eyebrow, "Be that as it may, this still does not change the fact that you are unable to go to where he is so what is the point anyway? It\'s not like there\'s pockets of air for you to breathe down there and you\'d be fighting him in his home territory even if you can breathe down there."

Pockets of air… Wait a minute… Could my Aeromancy possibly create a pocket of air to breathe?

And just as that thought came to mind, the spell [Air Pocket] appeared in my mind.

Oh… That\'s convenient… I guess I never received this magic before because I never needed such a spell.

I cleared my throat to get their attention, "Ahem… If I were to tell you that I am an Aeromance… Would that help?"

Maurice raised an eyebrow at me, "I don\'t suppose you\'re an Atmosphere Tier Aeromancer, are you?"

That\'s tier four of Aeromancy…

I shook my head, "No, I\'m only at Breeze Tier at the moment."

"Then that means the best spell you have is [Air Pocket], which you would need to chant continuously to maintain that pocket of air under your control. I\'d think you would sooner exhaust yourself chanting while swimming to even be able to fight that guy underwater."

Ah… If that\'s the case… Then we can actually do it since I don\'t need to chant, but I suppose I shouldn\'t say out loud here.

Emilia turned back to him, "Just tell me where to find him for now, I\'ll figure out a way later! Even if I can\'t get him today, I\'ll get him next time!"

Maurice made a face at her, "And do you really think he would still stay at the same place after knowing you are after him? Oh whatever… It\'s actually not somewhere that secret, he\'s basically the smuggler boss under there anyway. Just look for the building that is literally adorned with gold, it\'s the only one in the Undertown here."

"Undertown?" I asked.

The Merman nodded, "That\'s the name of the town under this place. At least, the name we call it anyway."

Emilia pushed herself away from the counter, "Perfect! I guess I\'ll see you later, Maurice!"

"Seriously Em… I think you should jus--"

"Ah, ah, I don\'t want to hear it Maurice. Just let me deal with this," She shushed him before walking out of the Guild with Odeta and I following after her.

Emilia looked so calm and confident that I thought she actually had a plan until she started stomping her foot outside the building the moment the door closed shut.

"Cursed that stupid fish, nyaa!! How are we supposed to get to him?!"

Odeta huffed, "Maybe we can ask those Siren girls for help?"

"Kuh… You heard what Cherith said, she doesn\'t want her sisters involved in this and I respect her decision. I won\'t go and drag them back into this especially when it\'s not their problem."

"How does one get to the Undertown from here?" I asked.

She looked at me, "Pretty simple actually, just dive down from the sea and you\'ll reach it. The place is basically built into the bottom of this island you see… It\'s not that far of a swim but there are no pockets of air since the Merfolk do not need to breathe at all… Not to mention the fact that it\'s completely dark down there since Deepsea Merfolk are able to see relatively well in the dark."

Odeta cracked her neck, "So what do we do? Are we still going after them?"

Emilia sighed, "How? It\'s not like any of us can breathe underwater right? The only one who can is Lady Aster with your Aeromancy but if you even stop chanting the spell for a moment, your air bubble will dissipate and you can\'t chant to cast another one since you\'ll be underwater then."

I looked around the streets around us, finding it empty aside from just the three of us so I decided this would be a good chance to tell her. Or at least, just a plausible version of it.

I leaned in and gestured for Odeta and Emilia to come closer, "What if I told you… I can cast the magic without chanting?"

Odeta immediately gave me an impressed stare, "Wooooah~ Sister Aster is so cool~"

Emilia, however, was a little bit more sceptical about my claim.

"Do you have some sort of artefact that allows you to do it?"

"Yes," I lied. "I found a ring in one of my dungeon trips and it allows me to cast that spell without chanting."

"Even on three people at once?"

I nodded, still maintaining my ruse.

"Could I see it?"

I coughed, "Ahem… I\'d rather not… Don\'t worry, I tried it before and it works. Trust me."

Emilia then looked around before pointing at one of the canals off to the side of the street, "Let\'s test it out over there. You don\'t mind, do you, Lady Aster?"

"Not at all," I assured her, putting down my Pack of Folding to dig through its contents. I eventually pulled out a normal wristband that I slipped onto my wrist, pretending that it was the artefact that I told her about.

Emilia then went towards the canal with the two of us following closely behind her. She lowered herself on her knees with her head poised over the water, waiting for me to give her the signal.

I casted [Air Pocket] to create the bubble of air around her head and nodded at her, prompting the Nekomata to submerge her head into the water slowly.

Though I did not need to chant, I still needed to focus on maintaining the spell consciously or it would also break. Thankfully, I had practised with such a skill so it was no problem to me.

Emilia then emerged from the water while looking at me acting all excited, "It works, Lady Aster! It works! We can use this to get to that bastard!"

Hell yeah!! Let\'s go and get my sweets!!