The Little Merman Demands Legs from the Sea Witch - Chapter 5
“What are you doing? I said bring the witch!”
“She’s standing right in front of you.”
Iko glared at the merman, who continued looking for the witch, oblivious to her presence. When he finally took a proper look at her, his eyes widened in disbelief, and he shook his head as if to deny what he was seeing.
“Don’t try to fool me. I’ve met the sea witch before. She was much older than you.”
As expected, he was looking for Dalibaya. Realizing that she wasn’t the one he had come for, Iko felt a pang of disappointment. However, a wise witch knows how to turn such moments into an opportunity for a deal.
“She’s…”
Dalibaya was dead. Iko was now the sea witch. But just as she was about to reveal this, she hesitated. Telling him the truth might be dangerous.
The only reason the merfolk tolerated the witch’s presence in the sea, despite their disdain, was because Dalibaya was too powerful and dangerous to be dealt with lightly.
But if it became known that Dalibaya had died and the only one left was a young, newly independent witch? The merfolk might try to drive Iko out of the sea.
“The witch you’re looking for is my master. She’s currently away.”
For her own safety, Iko lied to the merman without batting an eye.
“When will she return?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you really the witch’s apprentice? Not some thief robbing an empty house?”
Iko shot a cold glare at the merman, who shrugged in response to her sharp look.
“If you really were her apprentice, wouldn’t you know when she’ll be back?”
“Being an apprentice doesn’t mean you know everything about your master. Likewise, the master doesn’t know everything about her apprentice.”
Iko deftly deflected his questions with plausible answers, and the merman, though still looking at her with suspicion, seemed to let his doubts fade. He recalled a black fish that had once guided him, mentioning that Dalibaya had a young and “adorable” apprentice.
He wasn’t sure about the “adorable” part, but at least the young woman fit the description.
“If it’s urgent, I could help you. After all, I am a fully-fledged witch.”
The merman let out an amused scoff as he watched Iko, struggling to stay afloat and clutching onto the overturned boat. The fact that she was trying to act like a capable witch while in such a ridiculous state was laughable to him.
“Well done, witch. That was pretty funny.”
His condescending attitude grated on Iko, and despite only meeting him minutes ago, she was already thoroughly fed up with him. Of course, he was a merman, steeped in racial superiority, likely thinking that all other creatures were beneath them.
While Iko knew that merfolk were typically like this, her lack of experience as a witch made it harder for her to simply brush it off.
“And who are you to be praising me?”
In her frustration, Iko forgot that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and responded with a sharp tone. The merman’s black eyes widened, as dark as his hair.
“I am the mer-king’s…”
He began to introduce himself, but suddenly stopped.
“Do you really not know who I am?”
The merman raised his tail out of the water to show her. But when Iko only glanced at it without reacting, his eyes grew even wider.
“You’re telling me you don’t recognize me just by looking at this tail?”
His assumption that she should know him simply from his tail left Iko dumbfounded. They had only just met today—how was she supposed to know who he was just by looking at a tail? Even if Bolo showed her his tail, she wouldn’t be able to distinguish it from any other bass.
‘He’s mentioning the mer-king, so he must be one of the king’s close associates, or maybe even his son.’
The thought made Iko slightly nervous. It was already overwhelming enough to have a mermaid as her first customer, and now it turned out he was someone important.
But she couldn’t let her fear show. Determined to look confident and avoid being underestimated, she composed herself.
“I do not.”
Her blunt response left the merman stunned into silence. Sensing his speechlessness, Iko felt a strange satisfaction and decided to push further.
“I don’t know how famous you are among the merfolk, but that doesn’t matter to a witch. A witch does not answer to the mer-king.”
The merman’s eyes, which had widened in surprise, now narrowed, and his gaze sharpened. Iko regretted pushing him too far, but she quickly lifted her chin. It was better to appear confident than to hesitate.
“Still, if you want to strike a deal with a witch, you should introduce yourself properly.”
After all, he had come all the way here because he needed the witch’s power. He was the one in a desperate position, so he should be able to endure this much. But inwardly, Iko worried that he might just leave.
“Kashmir.”
Luckily, the mermaid begrudgingly revealed his name, but to Iko, it only brought more misfortune.
T/N: Special thanks to Zephryn for the kofi~!
