[Chapter 9] I am a Mermaid - Serial Novel: 'Karen, Returning to the Sea - A Mermaid Story That Loved Hodaka -'

The air in the room froze at Karen's words.

Karen: "I... I am a being that shouldn't be with you all."

Silence.

Karen continued, keeping her head down.

Karen: "I remembered... I am a mermaid."

Dai: "And so?"

Karen: "Therefore, I am... not a human..."

Dai: "So what about it?"

Karen: "If I stay, I will only cause trouble for you."

Dai: "Specifically how? ...For example, if a clan of mermaids appeared demanding you back, and I refused, would I be dragged into the sea and killed?"

Rumi: "There it is, your biased imagination!"

Karen: "Isn't it unpleasant to be with a creature that is different from humans?"

Dai: "Huh? Is that supposed to be a problem?"

Rumi: "I personally don't see any problem with it at all."

Dai: "That's exactly what it means! Even if you told Saya-san, I think she'd only reply with something like, 'Oh? Is that so? Isn't that mysterious and wonderful? You won't disappear right away, will you?'"

Karen: "Oh, is that so?"

Dai: "It's only been about a month and a half since we met, but aren't we already friends?"

Rumi: "Yeah, I heard about the story of when you met from the manager, and we had already talked about how it might not be a normal situation, so I wouldn't be surprised even if you were a mermaid now."

Karen: "Then I..."

Dai: "Yeah, if you don't have any reason to rush back to your hometown, you should just take it easy and stay in this world for a while longer."

Karen: "I honestly thought I would be rejected."

Tome: "It's impossible that we would reject a good girl like Karen-chan for a reason like that."

Dai: "Well, no one here is going to be fazed by a story like that, so don't worry. But just in case, it's probably better not to tell Akira and Misato yet."

Tome: "Why not Misato?"

Dai: "She's finally starting to find her direction for her future, isn't she? She couldn't go to school properly right after enrollment due to COVID, but now the drama department classes have finally started in earnest, and she's been working hard on personal dance lessons during summer break, right? It's better not to give her any unnecessary information right now."

Karen: "Yes, I will be careful not to talk to Misato-san about it. By the way, why shouldn't I tell Akira-san?"

Dai: "Yeah, if I tell him, it'll end up reaching Misato's ears sooner or later. Even if I tell him, 'Don't tell anyone, absolutely!', he'll try to keep it, but he has an equally strong desire to share information that no one else knows with someone. Let's think about it after he's a little stronger mentally."

The moment her memories returned, Karen had been prepared to be rejected.

She might be thought of as creepy.
She might be kicked out.
At the very least, she might not be treated the same way as before.

Since that's what she had been thinking, her expression now changed to one of relief.

Dai: "I've been bothered by those scale-like things from back then for a long time, and hearing what they really are makes me strangely convinced. Actually, I was thinking, what if you were an alien or something, and what if I got eaten because your instincts came back and you got hungry? I wouldn't be able to achieve that guy's (the predecessor's) dream, would I? But well, I guess it'd be fine if I were eaten by Karen-chan. That's actually what I was thinking."

Karen: "Oh my, to eat the manager!"

Dai: "If that ever happens, make sure you take my life in one blow, quickly, before I even have time to think about it, okay? Just don't do anything in such bad taste as eating me while I'm still alive!"

Karen: "Eek! What terrifying things are you saying!"

Dai: "Hahaha, what a useless imagination."

Karen: "Yes..."

Dai: "By the way, the moment your memories returned, didn't you want to go back to the sea?"

Karen could not answer.

She wanted to go back.

It wasn't that she didn't think so.

But...

Karen: "I don't know."

Dai: "What don't you know?"

Karen: "How to get back."

Ryu: "How to get back?"

Karen: "Actually, that day, I was being chased by a great white shark."

Dai: "I see. That explains that situation. But can a great white shark really enter the shallow waters of Wakasa Bay? How far were you chased? If it entered, it must have come from Hayase into Lake Kugushi, right?"

Karen: "Can you tell the route I took?"

Dai: "Well, the tunnel from Lake Hiruga to Lake Suigetsu is blocked, and if Karen had escaped into Lake Hiruga, there's a high chance you wouldn't be alive. The fish in the pens would have been a mess, too. That means if you came from Hayase, it gets shallow all at once, so a large great white shark wouldn't be able to enter and would have had to give up."

Karen: "That's exactly right. However, because it was a heavy rainstorm and a high tide that day, there was a possibility it could have come in."

Dai: "So you went through the Urami River and into Lake Suigetsu? You got injured at that time, right?"

Karen: "Yes."

Dai: "The riverbed there is full of stones. But the problem is after that. With that heavy rain and wind, how were you able to swim through Lake Suigetsu?"

Karen: "Yes, by the time I realized it, it was too late. It was the first time in my life I had ever panicked from such difficulty breathing."

Dai: "The lake surface is usually calm, but during typhoons or heavy rain, waves form. When that happens, the hydrogen sulfide stored below a depth of 5 meters rises to the surface and mixes in. That's why they say creatures disappear from that lake on days with heavy rain and strong winds."

Karen: "Manager, have you ever swum there?"

Dai: "It's not like that, but it's a hidden piece of common knowledge about the Mikata Five Lakes. So, the moment you escaped to Lake Mikata with your life, the osmotic pressure of your scales changed due to the freshwater, and you fell into a panic... Am I wrong?"

Karen: "Amazing! That's exactly it. You're like Detective Conan!"

Dai: "Is that Saya's influence? Why don't you say, 'You're like Sherlock Holmes!'?"}, {

Ryu: "Karen-chan is studying by watching tons of anime on Netflix and Amazon Prime at our place."

Karen: "That's right. By the way, it's not that I can't handle freshwater, but it does require getting used to, so if I enter suddenly, damage to my scales is unavoidable. That's how I ended up desperate to land and transform into a human."

Dai: "That solves the first mystery! Still, you can't let your guard down in the Sea of Japan lately. Dolphins appear, and even great white sharks are migrating. Things have been strange ever since giant squid started being spotted frequently."

Karen: "I'm also not good with those big squids. I was always helped by whales and basking sharks when I was out in the open sea. Even on that day with the heavy rain, I thought it was a basking shark, but its movements were different from usual. I thought it had gone away and was swimming along when, after a while, I saw a shadow rising rapidly from the seabed, and I was certain it was a great white shark."

Dai: "Th-that's terrifying! Just imagining it gives me the creeps. But I'm glad. I'm glad you didn't become prey for an air shark, Karen-chan."

Karen: "Thanks to that, I now have a phobia of great white sharks."

Dai: "Everyone is afraid of great white sharks. They say their personalities differ depending on the sea area, and I often hear that the ones in South Africa and Australia are particularly ferocious. Though it's also said that the rate of them attacking humans isn't that high, I wonder if they mistake mermaids for sea lions or seals."

Karen: "Actually, you might know this, Manager... but mermaid meat is considered a miraculous elixir for eternal youth and immortality."

Dai: "Is that really what's said? But basically, it's highly toxic, right? I've heard a legend that, although I don't know the conditions, only those with resistance can become immortal."

Karen: "Yes, that seems to be true, but there are many people in every era who yearn for immortality, so my friends and I can't just swim around chasing fish carelessly. There's the risk of getting caught in nets, and we get attacked by sharks, large carnivorous fish, and giant squids."

Tome: "That must be hard, living your life trying not to be seen."

Karen: "To borrow Akira-san's words, it means my shoulders are narrow."

Dai: "Ah, you mean 'narrow-shouldered' (living in fear/modestly). I feel like I could write an academic paper not on the discovery of mermaids itself, but on the fact that mermaids have a sense of humor." (Laughs)

Karen: "Also, regarding sharks, it seems that once a shark has eaten a mermaid, it starts targeting them, so if we meet one in the sea, we get chased relentlessly."

Dai: "What is that, a habit like a grizzly bear? Is it a stalker or something?"

Tome: "So, Karen-chan, are you sure you don't need to go back to the sea?"

Karen: "Actually, it seems there are necessary conditions to return to being a mermaid, but I can't remember those conditions."

Dai: "In that case, why don't you enjoy life on land for a while, and we'll trace the threads of your memory so you can remember how to go back!"

Karen: "Thank you. Since this is my first time taking human form, that's also a careless point of mine."

Dai: "First time taking human form... By the way, Karen-chan, have you remembered how old you actually are?"

Karen: "Um... please don't be surprised, okay?"

Dai: "I won't be surprised by anything anymore! Don't worry about it."

Karen: "According to the human solar calendar, I am 465 years old this year."

Ryu: "Wait, whaaaat?"

Dai: "How many years is a mermaid's lifespan?"

Karen: "I believe it's probably around two to three thousand years."

Dai: "I see. So, in mermaid years, there's no doubt you're still just a young lady."

Karen: "I'm sorry. Even though I've lived for a long time, I'm quite inefficient, and I truly apologize for that."

Dai: "No, your work and communication skills are perfect, so that's fine. More importantly, can I ask you something?"

Karen: "...What is it?"

Dai: "Do you know the stories of Oda Nobunaga, Hashiba Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu?"

Karen: "Ah, about that, when the battle took place at Kanegasaki the other day, I was still a child, but I was in these waters, so I knew about it. The terrain has changed since then, so I suppose that's why those fragments of memory weren't triggered at that time."

Dai: "This... this is turning into an amazing story."

Ryu: "Manager, you look strangely happy, don't you?"

Dai: "Oh, uh, you're just imagining things. By the way, do you have any information about the true culprit behind the Honno-ji Incident?"

Karen: "Is that the incident where Lord Nobunaga passed away?"

Dai: "Yes! Have you heard anything?"

Karen: "We only heard it as gossip among humans. However, I did hear rumors that someone had betrayed him."

Dai: "It wasn't Akechi Mitsuhide, was it?"

Karen: "I don't think that name came up. It's certain that he was framed, but based on what I heard from soldiers on a ship I later took to the Korean Peninsula, there was talk that it was a very elaborate act, and there were also rumors that, in the end, Lord Hideyoshi might have been the one who betrayed him. That's as far as I heard."

Dai: "That's a shame. We were so close to approaching the mystery of the century! Didn't the names Araki Murashige or Kuroda Kanbei come up either?"

Karen: "I feel like I heard that even mentioning those names was taboo."

Dai: "What? That's intriguing."

Ryu: "Manager, let's go home for tonight!"

Dai: "Ah, you're right! Karen-chan, no, Karen-senpai! I look forward to working with you from now on!"

Karen: "Manager! Please stop calling me that! Can't you treat me the same way you always have?"

Karen's eyes were slightly moist with tears.

Dai: "Ah, I'm sorry! Of course I will! If your secret gets out to the other staff or customers, Karen-chan, we wouldn't be able to live together anymore. As for your age, we'll keep it as it's always been: born on July 7th, Tanabata, and just turned 20! I won't even tell Saya-san about that."

Ryu: "That's right. The information is so overwhelming that if we change how we treat you, it'll cause problems, so let's keep your age a secret between the three of us!"

Karen: "Both of you, thank you so, so much."

Dai: "Let's keep working hard and having fun together just like we always have."

On the way home, although it was a detour, I drove up the Omote-Rokko Driveway and took Karen to the Rokko Garden Terrace at the Country House, and then further to the Higashi-Rokko Observatory on the Ashiyu Driveway.

Karen: "Wow, it's so beautiful! The city looks like stars or jewels!"

Dai: "Normally, you can see fireworks displays from all over the Kansai region from this Higashi-Rokko Observatory, but thanks to the coronavirus, fireworks are canceled everywhere this year! Self-restraint! It's a storm of self-restraint!"

Karen: "Fireworks... I've seen them from the sea, too. They're beautiful, aren't they?"

Ryu: "Do you like things that sparkle, Karen-chan, like stars and fireworks?"

Karen: "When I live in the sea, the moments I think 'this is nice' are when I see the sunlight sparkling as it shines into the water, or when I look up at the starry sky at night; those are my happiest times."

Dai: "Did you like the night view from here?"

Karen: "Yes! It's very beautiful! But... why can't you see almost any stars here?"

Dai: "The city is too bright here, so the atmosphere gets hazy and you can't see the stars."

Karen: "I wish I could see both kinds of brilliance..."

Dai: "Oh! That's it! Karen-chan, I'm planning to climb the Northern Alps soon, would you like to come with me?"

Ryu: "Manager! Is it okay to invite her so suddenly? You're talking about Mt. Yari, right?"

Dai: "Yes, the Yari-Hodaka grand traverse route. I'm also thinking of looking for clues about my predecessor while I'm at it."

Karen: "Is that a mountain that even I can climb easily?"

Dai: "That's Yoshimi Tendo saying 'Don't underestimate it!' We have less than three weeks left, but I'll do my best to train just in case!"

Karen: "Is it really okay for me to join you?"

Dai: "It wouldn't be a story if you didn't join me! I want to show you the best starry sky in all of Japan!"

Karen: "The best starry sky in Japan? ...I would love to see that."

And so, a reckless plan was born to take Karen, who had just been revealed to be a marine creature, to the Northern Alps without a second thought.

What will happen in the end?

(Chapter 9 End)

(Continues to Chapter 10)

(Read again from Chapter 1)