The Little Merman Demands Legs from the Sea Witch - Chapter 4
“Bolo!”
Iko shouted, telling him to stop banging on the door of the fishbowl. If it broke, the seawater would flood in, and the house would be submerged immediately. That would mean her bed, clothes, and—worst of all—the books Dalibaya had left behind would be soaked and ruined.
She couldn’t let that happen because of a forgetful fish. Iko pushed the small boat, which had been resting on the little beach, into the water before things got worse.
Thump, thump, thump.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!”
Thump-thump-thump-THUMP-THUMP!
The knocking softened, but it quickened, as if Bolo were urging her to hurry. Iko, rowing towards the fishbowl’s door, quickened her strokes as the banging on the door grew louder.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!!
“If you keep that up, I’ll turn you into grilled fish!”
The violent threat finally made the knocking stop. Taking advantage of the pause, Iko rowed hard toward the door on the fishbowl wall. There were two handles—one red, one blue—affixed to the wall.
Iko turned the red handle first, which opened the outer door of the double lock system.
“What kind of huge news is so important that you’re doing this?!”
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Iko was ready to confront Bolo. Just as she reached for the blue handle, she heard the sound of the inner door opening.
Startled, Iko stared at the blue handle she had been about to grab. She hadn’t even touched it. The inner door could be opened by the visitor manually turning the handle on their side of the door.
But Bolo couldn’t possibly do that. Naturally, fish have neither arms nor hands.
“It’s not Bolo.”
Iko instantly realized her mistake. At the very least, she should have checked the glass orb properly to confirm who it was. But irritated and annoyed, she’d just assumed it was Bolo when she glimpsed a dark shadow while putting down her sandwich. After all, no one but Bolo had visited the sea witch in years, so she had let her guard down.
“Bolo? Is that you, Bolo?”
Iko called out, peering closely at the blue water below. Her grip tightened on the oar. She had no idea who the visitor was or why they had come. But she had a bad feeling that it wasn’t for anything good.
“Come out immediately! How dare you come to the witch’s house without fear? I’ll curse you!”
Iko shouted, trying to conceal her trembling heart as she scolded whoever was hiding beneath the water. At that moment, something shot past her vision with a whoosh. It moved so fast that it was hard for her to follow with her eyes.
The calm surface of the fishbowl rippled from the movement of the large swimming figure. The black shadow swam in circles beneath the small boat.
“Wait…!”
As Iko fumbled, startled by the menacing swimming, the mysterious visitor suddenly shot out of the water. Its upper body was human, but its lower half was a black tail.
“Merfolk…!”
Without realizing it, Iko’s mouth hung open as she gazed up at the merperson that had leapt out of the water. Though she had lived her whole life in the sea, this was the first time she had seen a merperson up close and personal.
‘Why has a merperson come here?’
The merfolk didn’t like that witches lived in the sea, so they would always pretend the witches didn’t exist. It was exceedingly rare for one to come here.
What on earth had brought one of the merfolk here? Had they finally decided to drive the witch out of the sea?
As Iko contemplated this, she suddenly recalled a story Dalibaya had told her as a child.
There was once a mermaid who had come to the witch seeking human legs.
Could this merperson be here for the same reason?
The thought of receiving her first visitor as a witch, and a merperson no less, made Iko’s heart race. Striking a deal with the merfolk was something even Dalibaya hadn’t accomplished, so it would be a major achievement.
But before Iko could fully appreciate the moment, the merperson plunged back into the water with a splash. A large wave rose, and the small boat overturned.
Struggling in the water, Iko gasped for breath, coughing up seawater as she lifted her face above the surface. Since she couldn’t swim, she desperately clung to the overturned boat.
“Why were you so slow at opening a door?!”
A young man’s voice came from behind Iko. When she turned around, she saw the merman glaring at her with a displeased expression. His pale, smooth skin contrasted sharply with his jet-black hair.
“I have business with the witch. Bring her to me.”
Despite seeing that Iko had fallen into the water because of him, the merman didn’t show an ounce of concern. Instead, he arrogantly gestured for her to fetch the witch.
Initially eager to treat her first customer well, Iko changed her mind.
No matter what he wanted, she decided she would charge him an outrageous price for his rude behavior.
