The Little Merman Demands Legs from the Sea Witch - Chapter 41
“But that black fish, Blob or whatever. He comes to visit you from time to time.”
“Bolo is a friend of the witch, so it’s fine.”
“Then I guess it’s fine for me too since I’m your friend, right?”
Kashmir’s face brightened as he found an excuse to visit again. However, his expression darkened when he met Iko’s cold gaze.
“I won’t be friends with you anymore.”
Iko took a deep breath. It wasn’t difficult for her to say harsh words. Not difficult at all.
“I’m sick of watching you whine over not being able to handle a little spice. Playtime is over.”
“What are you talking about? Hey, do you think you’re so good at eating spicy food? Let’s see how well you handle it.”
Kashmir retorted, frowning in anger. Iko ignored his suggestion to return to the spicy skewer stall and turned her head away.
“So from now on, don’t come to the witch’s house. If you do, I’ll put a curse on you.”
With that, Iko gave a final warning and walked toward the market entrance until she was out of sight. Kashmir was left standing alone, staring blankly as his face gradually hardened.
Was he really just dumped because he couldn’t eat something spicy? So what if he couldn’t handle it? What kind of unreasonable, overly sensitive, and incomprehensible witch is she?
Kashmir was flabbergasted. He had been the one who befriended this deceitful witch, and now she was ending their friendship? The ingratitude was astonishing.
He had even gone to that mysterious-looking woman to learn how to braid hair, thinking it would look beautiful on Iko, who usually just brushed her messy hair in the morning and left it at that.
“She doesn’t even appreciate it when someone does something thoughtful for her. What a nasty temper.”
Kashmir grumbled as he walked in the opposite direction of where Iko had disappeared. There was no issue with him wandering around the village alone now that he could walk perfectly well as a human.
He made his way to the sandwich stall he had been eyeing earlier and bought a sandwich. The first bite was much tastier than anything Iko had ever made, and he was quite satisfied.
But after the second bite, the sandwich didn’t taste as good, and by the third bite, it hardly seemed enjoyable at all.
“Have I finally gotten tired of sandwiches because that witch kept feeding them to me all the time?”
Kashmir found it odd as he forced the rest of the sandwich into his mouth. He had plenty of time and was still hungry, so he decided to try something else.
However, neither the freshly grilled crabs and clams nor the strange dish with melon and ham tasted good to him. It wasn’t just the food that was off—even when a man breathed fire or a snake danced before him, he felt no excitement.
“I used to find even bacon entertaining, but have I already gotten bored?”
Even as dusk fell and the village lit a large bonfire to start the festival, Kashmir clicked his tongue, thinking the village was dull. The humans gathering around the fire reminded him of sardines, making him uncomfortable.
He realized that he had always disliked the sight of sardines swimming together in swarms. Whenever he encountered them in the sea, he would chase them away so they wouldn’t clutter his view.
Kashmir glared at the humans who seemed to be having fun all around him. He hadn’t always disliked noisy places, but perhaps the quiet time spent at the witch’s house had changed him. The noise now made him feel nauseous.
As he walked with a frown, someone called out to him.
“Hey, how’s your tongue doing now?”
It was the man who had sold him the spicy meat skewers earlier. He had a small tray of skewers strapped to his shoulder and was selling them to the people gathering for the festival.
“Where’s the young lady you were with earlier?”
When the man asked about Iko, Kashmir’s face hardened. He still felt wronged over how things had ended because of that spicy skewer.
“Did she run away because she thought you were a wuss?”
The skewer seller joked with a laugh. Kashmir glared at him as if he could kill him, clenching his teeth. The man quickly stopped laughing and offered him another skewer.
“If you manage to eat this, maybe she’ll come back to you.”
Kashmir scoffed, thinking it was ridiculous. Eating a skewer wouldn’t bring Iko back from the depths of the sea.
“You’ve got nothing to lose. Spicy food is like alcohol. The more you have, the better you get at handling it.”
The waved skewers in both hands to tempt him.
A little later, Kashmir sat alone on a deserted beach, staring out at the sea. In his hands were the spicy skewers he had bought. He began to eat the skewers. Even after taking a couple of bites, they were still unbearably spicy.
Despite the heat, he continued to eat the skewers with a determined look on his face.
As he finished the first skewer, someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was the man with the gold tooth who had bumped into him earlier.
“What do you want?”
Kashmir asked, frowning as his lips tingled with the spiciness.
“Where’s the girl you were with earlier?”
Both the man selling meat skewers and this guy… Why are there so many people looking for Iko? It was really getting on Kashmir’s nerves.
