The Main Character is the Villain

The monster swung its sword around and stared at us. The bastard looked truly bizarre. The hand not holding a weapon looked exactly like a human's, and its face with bulging eyes was covered in human skin. The sagging skin on its face was filled with water, splashing and leaking out every time the monster moved.

"What were you expecting?"

Eve asked me. I kept my mouth shut and pointed at the monster as I spoke.

"Let's just kill this bastard first!"

Name: Ra-bacho

Race: Fish-man of Cocytus

Level: 45

Strength: 84 (+28)

Agility: 48 (+12)

Luck: 33 (+11)

Traits

Bloodlust

Those from hell suffer from bloodlust.

Combat power increases upon encountering humans due to excitement.

(all stats + 50%)

Low Intelligence

Due to severe low intelligence, it cannot follow its master's control.

(all commander effects influencing 'subordinates' are nullified)

Summoned Being

It is not an entity of this world. Takes double damage from opponents.

It said it was not an entity of this world. Just as they say form follows function, it was a demon bastard befitting its terrible appearance. I raised my mace and aimed at the fish-man's head. A few more fish-men were climbing up one after another. Eve drew her sword and said.

"Did you bring that holy sword or whatever it was?"

"That's useless against demons."

"What the fuck is that about."

I was also confused. When Cellu tried to take off her clothes, I stopped her.

"Just stay seated for now. It'll only make things complicated to explain later."

Eve drew her sword first and charged at the fish-men. The fish-men sniffed at Eve and tilted their heads. Then, they swung their arms around while sharing something akin to a conversation among themselves.

"Keheuheu! Keheuk!"

"Keheuk keheuk! Keheuheuk!"

"Drop dead!"

Eve's curved sword plunged into the back of the head of the fish-man mid-conversation. The passive trait about taking double damage wasn't a lie, as the fish-man was sliced apart like tofu the moment it touched Eve's blade. It was cut down so effortlessly that Eve was practically flustered by it. She almost fell over before barely regaining her balance and shaking the blood off her sword.

The fish-men were bleeding sticky green blood.

"Ugh, fuck, this is disgusting."

Eve shook her sword clean and looked around. The fish-men were making a fuss, staring at Eve with highly confused expressions. A few others drew their swords and rushed at me. I swung my mace at the fish-man charging at the very front.

Whack!

The fish-man's face was crushed like soft tofu stew. The attached human skin spat out water and rolled across the ground. I frowned and pulled my mace out. These bastards seemingly had no sense of fear, as they continued to charge forward even after I pulverized one of them. When I tripped another one by sweeping its legs, Cellu picked up a brick from the ground and smashed its head in.

"Keheuk! Keheuk! Keheuheuk!"

Her dress was splattered with green blood. Even though the fish-man looked fully capable of a counterattack, it didn't attack Cellu. Meanwhile, I grabbed another one and turned it into fish porridge. The floor was drenched in green blood. I subtly distanced myself from the texture, which resembled jelly or waste oil more than blood. Cellu expressed her lingering unease and said.

"This is why clothes are uncomfortable."

Looking back, Eve was sitting on the ground wiping her sword. The fish-men around Eve had been dismantled with skilled precision. I clicked my tongue at the neatness of it, which looked like viewing an anatomical cross-section in a science lab.

"Impressive."

"There's no thrill in slicing these guys, you know? They're super mushy."

"Still, be careful. Their strength seems pretty high."

"They didn't even attack me at all, though?"

"Fuck, they rushed at me like they wanted to kill me."

Were these fish-man bastards being sexist? I grumbled and shook my mace. The blood was so sticky that no matter how much I shook it, it wouldn't wipe off properly. Eve wiped her sword and spoke as if puzzled.

"Right. Judging by how this place is wrecked, it's not like they lack aggression, so why didn't they rush at me?"

Cellu silently looked around before glancing at Eve. Then, she pushed the wheels of her wheelchair and approached us. There were still many people who hadn't left the scene of the catastrophe. The servant, who had quickly fled to a corner as soon as the fish-men charged, walked back over.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. However, these bastards are a bit too strong to be just ordinary monsters."

I could tell they were summoned monsters through the status window, but I didn't know their specific identity. The servant scratched his head as if he didn't know what was going on either.

"They are extremely ferocious bastards. Even the territory's knight order struggles with them, yet you are truly strong."

"Slicing up bastards who can't even speak like this won't solve the problem. The ones we need to meet are those 'mermaids' first, but they didn't appear this time."

I looked around my surroundings. It seemed the few fish-men here were the end of it. Everywhere was quiet, and people poked their heads out to look around to see if the catastrophe was over. I spoke.

"Seeing as they didn't show any hostility toward Eve or Cellu, it seems there's some sort of condition..."

Cellu opened her mouth.

"Mermaid."

"What's wrong, Mom. Are you imitating Elsi?"

"They didn't attack because we are mermaids."

Eve dropped her jokes at Cellu's words. Thinking about it that way, I could understand the fish-men's reaction. They smelled like mermaids, but because their appearances were different, they were clearly confused about what to do. That was also why it didn't put up any resistance even when Cellu was beating its head in. Unlike the servant who nodded in admiration, Cellu's expression was nothing but gloomy.

"Mom..."

"To think they'd actually join hands with monsters. Just who is it? Who is acting as the leader?"

Muttering with a serious expression, Cellu bit her fingernails and expressed her anxiety. I rummaged through the corpses of the dead fish-men, checking to see if any traces were left behind. Some of the dead fish-men were wearing human skin, and some were not. I focused my inspection on the bastards wearing human skin.

"A ring and... a strange leather belt. That's all there is on this guy. Servant. Can you find the owner of this ring?"

The servant checked the ring and nodded his head.

"It is likely a missing person's ring. There have already been a few cases in history where goods captured from the fish-men were handed over to the bereaved families."

"To the bereaved families? Are you referring to the missing people?"

"Yes, that is correct. These monsters appear wearing skin presumed to belong to the missing people. Therefore, rumors often circulate among the public that these monsters are the transformed states of the missing people, but as a result of dissecting one we caught previously, we found these bastards are not human. No, they are not entities of this world in the first place. The territory mage also stated they are creatures from a completely different realm."

Not an entity of this world. Not a transformed human either. Yet they walked around with human skin attached in places. I frowned. I felt like I knew what was going on, but I couldn't quite grasp it.

"Is there no possibility of a summon through human sacrifice?"

"We are also considering that angle for now, but whether mermaids possess such a sorcery system... I mean, isn't there a common belief that mermaids are not proficient in magic?"

The servant spoke while gauging Eve and Cellu's reactions. Eve spoke in an indifferent tone of voice.

"We don't know magic. Right?"

"Right. Mermaids don't use magic. We don't even handle anything akin to mana."

"Then that means someone is cooperating with the mermaids and helping them with the human sacrifices."

I felt the people's gazes. They began whispering as they looked at the tail visible between the skirt of Cellu in her wheelchair and Eve's scale-covered calves. We had to leave before public opinion worsened. I urged the servant to move our location back to the estate.

"I apologize for earlier."

The lord, now sobered up, greeted us with a clean face. Eve was tightly hugging Cellu. Cellu had already taken off her clothes. I spoke as I pushed the wheelchair.

"This seems really nice, could I get one custom-made? So my wife can move around comfortably."

"If you can just resolve this attack issue, I will even have it plated in gold for you."

The sobered lord was burning with a strong will to resolve the case. However, Cellu and Eve showed a lukewarm reaction upon realizing that mermaids were the main perpetrators of the incident. Now that the circumstances pointing to mermaids sacrificing humans had been grasped, it was clear they couldn't easily step forward.

"Have you found out anything?"

"Everything is still in the realm of speculation for now. There are circumstances suggesting someone enticed the mermaids and is attempting evil sorcery."

"Enticed the mermaids, you say... the mermaids I know were not such stupid beings..."

"If you knew they were so smart, why didn't you stop the mermaid hunting? Were you curious what kind of sounds a smart fish makes when it dies? I guess you didn't think retaliation would come?"

Eve responded sarcastically to the lord's words. The lord didn't bother offering a counterargument to Eve and simply cleared his throat. I also felt the need to speak clearly on this matter.

"I will actively cooperate in resolving the case, but I haven't found out anything yet. We can't even know for sure if mermaids are truly the culprits of the incident. There is a possibility that the mermaids are being used as well. We'll have to dig a bit deeper into the case for now."

"What do you plan to do if it is revealed that the mermaids used evil sorcery?"

Eve and Cellu looked at me at the same time at that question. Cellu's eyes were trembling. The lord was also staring at me with a steadfast gaze. I had no choice but to hesitate on what kind of answer to give here.

"There are hundreds of orphans who lost their mothers, and hundreds of widows who lost their husbands down by that pier. I cannot console them by saying, 'Since mermaid hunters killed mermaids, consider the deaths of your families as the exact same.' Public sentiment requires blood."

If we continued talking on this topic, I would lose the upper hand. There was no room for a counterargument to his words about considering the dead families. I changed the subject.

"...It's not like anything is confirmed yet. We need more concrete evidence that the mermaids used evil sorcery."

"What will you do if there is evidence, then?"

"That's something to think about when the time comes."

The lord kept his silence. I also met the lord's eyes. After a peculiar exchange of glances, the lord unfurled a map.

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