"Burp... so full... so satisfied..."
The fully-fed Melody lay in the fish tank, her face filled with bliss.
"Isn't it satisfying to have your belly swollen by Master Mentor?"
Anna leaned close to Melody's ear and said.
"Mhm mhm!"
Melody directly agreed with Anna's words, even though she had just been fished up by Anna not long ago, now they were already playing together.
"Please don't say things that could be misunderstood..."
By now, Mirrorheart had finished cleaning up the dishes and stored them all back in Scarlett's Life Thief space.
"The Angler will be here soon. You've eaten so much—can you still fight?"
Melody struggled to prop herself up, finding it difficult even to flip out of the fish tank.
"Forget it, I'll just go myself."
Loren hadn't really been counting on her anyway, but there was one thing he was curious about;
"I remember you being quite cautious—how come you've given up thinking entirely now?"
"Because I trust you. Fate guided me to find you, and being by your side gives me an inexplicable sense of peace, so that's how it turned out."
Melody showed off the Inverted Cross Pendant hanging on her chest; it was through this that she had received Fate's guidance.
"What exactly is this thing?"
"This? It's a protective charm left by the Dawn Princess, imbued with the power of the Perpetual Observer, which can grant us Fate's guidance.
"Only the Merfolk Princess can wear this charm, and wearing it also means bearing responsibility—to find a way to save the merfolk race through Fate's guidance."
At this point, Melody suddenly grew a bit emotional:
"Normally, we can only live at the bottom of the sea, where we can't do anything, and it's even hard to get cooked meat.
"The merfolk yearn for human life, but none of us can walk on land...
"I also want to let other merfolk taste barbecue, but that's ultimately just a wishful thought...
"Still, after so many years, the merfolk have long gotten used to it. Because we've never lived a good life, we've become content with the status quo.
"Once a merfolk comes to the surface once, she'll come to the surface countless times. Even if they live deep in the sea, they will still long for sunlight."
Hearing Melody say this, Loren finally realized just how badly the merfolk had it. They were still human after all, not fish.
"Melody, come out for a moment."
"Oh."
At Loren's request, Melody didn't ask why and tried to climb out of the fish tank, but she still failed.
In the end, Loren lifted her out of the tank.
"Let me examine your body."
Loren laid Melody flat on the deck. When Anna heard this, she became extremely excited:
"Mirrorheart, look, isn't this just like the plot in those comics of yours..."
Hearing Anna's whispers, Loren's fists clenched a little, but he had things to do and couldn't hit Anna right now.
Loren cupped Melody's head, brushed aside her hair, and began to inspect.
At this moment, Loren was like a professional doctor, examining Melody's eyes and mouth.
Just as Loren touched Melody's teeth, she finally couldn't hold back and asked:
"What are you doing?"
"I'm checking the differences between you and humans. If there aren't any major ones, I can directly find a way to break the curse and let you return to land."
Hearing this, a light sparkled in Melody's eyes:
"Really? Then do you need to do a more thorough examination?"
As she spoke, Melody had already grabbed her own clothes. Before she could take them off, Loren managed to stop her hand.
"Forget it, it's not necessary. I've finished checking; those parts don't need examining..."
Actually, Loren was quite curious about how merfolk reproduced, but he still felt too embarrassed to ask.
"So what's the result?"
Melody flipped over, lying on her stomach in front of Loren, waiting excitedly for the answer.
"You really have no difference from humans. You still breathe with lungs, haven't grown gills, and there's nothing extra in your eyes. Your ability to breathe and see clearly underwater comes from magic, not biological evolution.
"The only difference from humans is that your teeth are a bit sharper, for tearing raw meat more easily, but that's not a problem either."
As he spoke, Loren picked Melody up and placed her back in the fish tank.
"So can we really turn back into humans?"
"Yes. As long as I break the curse, you can turn back into humans. But since this is a curse left by the Dawn Princess, it will be very difficult to crack."
Loren had already experienced this. Forget the curse—he couldn't even break through the Protective Wards left by the Dawn Princess. She truly deserved the title of the strongest human.
"Moreover, this curse is also protecting you. If you leave the Endless Ocean, you will inevitably be hunted down by the Church.
"So there's no rush about this. We'll only crack it after the gods have been dealt with."
"Okay!"
Even after hearing this news, Melody wasn't too discouraged.
After all, when you're at rock bottom, every direction is upward.
It was still better to know that one day you'd return to land than to never be able to return at all.
"Oh, right, Melody, I need to tell you something."
At this, Loren suddenly remembered someone: the merfolk who had used her songs to lure children to their deaths on the coast of the Kingdom of Anselm.
Melody might not even know her, but she was still one of Melody's subjects, so Loren figured he should tell her.
After hearing about it, Melody's smile suddenly froze:
"I remember her. After losing her child, she was in great pain. The other merfolk were also comforting her. At the time, I thought she might seek revenge, but I didn't stop her..."
As she said this, Melody felt a pang of guilt:
"Actually, among the merfolk, we encourage revenge. We repay kindness with kindness and resentment with resentment.
"This is what the Dawn Princess taught us, and it's what the Observer taught her.
"I just didn't expect she would take it out on other innocent children... This violates our rules. Merfolk are not allowed to harm the innocent...
"You can fight back when attacked, but you cannot take the initiative to hurt others.
"If she came back now, she would be judged by us..."
Melody said a lot, but she didn't try to shirk any responsibility:
"I had a lot of contact with her back then. Not noticing her true intentions was my fault. I need to take responsibility...
"Master Mentor, could I trouble you with something? I have some jewelry, and I hope you can help me give it to those parents who lost their children. I'm sorry to them..."
Melody's sincere attitude made Loren's wariness toward the merfolk fade quite a bit. As expected of the Dawn Princess's subjects—their average moral standards were higher than humans'.
"Alright, I agree."
"Thank you!"
Melody tried to rush over and hug Loren, but she was still in the tank and couldn't reach him.
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