The Main Character is the Villain

"This is the information we have compiled based on the attacks so far."

Unlike us, the Alu Territory owned all the major cities on the western coast. X marks were drawn all over the giant map like my test papers back when I was a student. I clicked my tongue at the countless marks. Eve and Cellu were also astonished by the x marks drawn on the map. Most of the coastal area had been devastated, and places like beaches or fishing spots had been closed for a long time.

"Most of the merchants who used to do business on the coast have already gone bankrupt, and most traders have moved their bases. There are still quite a few places that haven't been attacked yet, but they have also reached their limit because the sea routes have been cut off."

"What method do you use to deal with the attacks?"

"We are using beacon fires. When a beacon goes up, a lookout confirms it and rings a bell to summon the knights. Then, the knights operating in two shifts are immediately dispatched to the corresponding village."

"Do the bastards attack at night as well?"

"Perhaps their night vision is poor, but they have never attacked at night. It is always during the day that monsters and mermaids attack the coastal areas to kill humans, and drag them away. The mermaids then crawl right up into the mountains."

"Going to the mountains, I don't understand that."

"Me neither."

"Is there a pattern to the attacks?"

"This is the result of our investigation into the attack cycle so far. An attack where a few fish-men appear like the ones you, my lord, encountered earlier is extremely unusual, and normally, during high tide, they pick one of the coasts they haven't attacked yet and invade with a unit consisting of about 20 monsters and five mermaids."

It wasn't like the territory residents here had just been sitting around doing nothing. They had already figured out the attack cycle and patterns of the fish-men and mermaids. The lord then continued to explain the mermaids' strategy.

"It's mainly a structure where they make the monsters charge to draw the humans' attention while the mermaids give commands from behind. Then, when the knights arrive and push back the monsters, the mermaids start to flee."

"To the mountains, you mean."

"Yes. Their speed is extremely fast, and because the monsters' resistance is very fierce, we have never caught a fleeing mermaid."

The more I listened, the more suspicious it was. What kind of bastards were these? Were they even mermaids? A mermaid fleeing to the mountains instead of underwater was incredibly suspicious. Furthermore, according to what I heard, their fleeing speed was also extremely fast. Should these really be considered mermaids?

"I want to see it for myself."

Cellu said. I also nodded my head. Just as she said, it seemed I would have to see it in person to make a judgment. Just how exactly does a mermaid flee into the mountains?

"Then..."

It was the moment the lord was about to bring up another topic.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"It's an attack! We're under attack!"

The bell rang. The lookout's piercing voice echoed. We all stood up from our seats without anyone having to say it first. Even as he got up, the lord tossed a coat for Cellu to wear. Eve started running after putting the clothes on Cellu. The knights were already leading their horses and preparing to head out. The lord gestured to his coachman and shouted.

"Coachman! Prepare the carriage at once! We will go with the knights as well! Knights, do not wait for us and depart first! And, what will you do?"

The lord looked at me while urgently issuing commands to the knights. I looked back at Eve and Cellu. Eve said.

"We just have to catch those mermaids, right?"

"I will join the side fighting off the monsters, and my wives will catch the mermaids."

"Understood."

The lord nodded and looked at the knights again. The knights, who had already finished preparing for departure, were stamping their feet in place as they looked at us. The lord said.

"Do not think about trying to catch the mermaids, and focus on eliminating the fish-men! Here! This mermaid is not a target. Do not attack her!"

The lord made sure they checked Cellu's face once before making the knights depart. Following that, the coachman hastily climbed onto the carriage and drove the horses. The horses, which had been itching to depart, picked up speed and started racing down the country road. Cellu's face was pale. She tightly held onto my hand and asked.

"What are you going to do if the culprits really are mermaids?"

"Trust me."

I said so while stroking Cellu's hand. Cellu grinned, as if those words were a comfort.

Heh.

The place the carriage arrived at was a coastal city located on the outskirts of the territory. The white-painted city had been battered and stained with red bloodstains. The inside of the city was already filled with screams and the sound of clashing weapons.

When we stopped the carriage on the outskirts of the city, refugees were losing their minds and fleeing. We grabbed our weapons and ran forward. Upon entering the city, knights clad in heavy armor were already beating down the fish-men using their shields and swords. The fish-men, whose bodies had frail durability, were reacting heavily to every single hit struck by the knights. Eve, Cellu, and I immediately got off the carriage and ran to our respective positions.

I supported the knights who were being pushed back by the fish-men's physical offensive. A fish-man that was trying to smash a knight's head open while swinging a large cleaver was turned into pulp after being struck by the mace I swung. The knight sprawled on the ground saw me and urgently expressed his gratitude. Since these bastards had outstanding attack power even if their bodies were weak, even a knight would meet his death with a single slip-up.

"Stop right there, you fucking bitches!"

Eve's shout was heard from afar.

Kyaaaaah! Kyaaaaah! Kyaaaaah!

On the other side, a mermaid was lying flat on the ground, thrashing about. Cellu, who had mounted on top of her, was gouging out the mermaid's belly and shouting.

"What are you? What are you? Why are you pretending to be a mermaid? Huh? If you were a mermaid, there's no way you wouldn't know me, right? Your appearance is a bit different, and you even glued these fins on? What are you? Huh? Answer me. Aren't you going to answer?"

Gasp... sob... kkeuheuk... gurgle...

Cellu's hand completely pierced the mermaid's belly and rummaged through her innards. After writhing in agony for quite some time, the mermaid bit down on bloody foam and perished instantly. I felt a slight chill as I watched that sight. Shaking off her blood-stained hand, Cellu looked around her surroundings again and dropped flat on her stomach. Cellu's hand was dyed in red color.

"Fuck, they're not really mermaids, are they?"

I muttered as I killed another fish-man. With me joining the fray, the fish-men started dying off in an instant. When the knights holding shields on both sides drove the fish-men into a corner, the fish-men with nowhere to go would panic before being stabbed by the long spears thrust by the knights, dying as they turned into hedgehogs.

The bastards who occasionally tried to flee by stepping on the shields were turned into hedgehogs by the crossbowmen waiting in the rear. There were 4 bastards that were beaten to a pulp by my mace. The ones the knights took down numbered over 20. The neat scenery of the city was completely covered in green filth. Even though it was a clear victory, the city was filled with an aura of defeat. It was because people's corpses were already scattered across the coast. A young child trampled to death while fleeing. A half-chewed elderly person. People sitting collapsed on the ground, grabbing their wounds and screaming.

The lord didn't have a joyful complexion either.

"There were many sacrifices leading up to us learning this much. Even if they invade, we can now avoid having the coastal area completely occupied. The problem is that there is no method to prevent their attacks in advance. As long as we do not eliminate the cause, civilian casualties are bound to be inevitable."

We had to find the cause. Whatever the cause was, we had to find it and eliminate it. If we failed to do so, this terrible tragedy would continue to ensue. I shook my mace off and looked toward where Eve was. Eve and Cellu were dragging one mermaid each that they had caught. The people had fearful complexions at the appearance of the mermaid mother and daughter, but they quieted down at the lord's thunderous command.

"Do not be afraid! They are allies! Make way!"

Eve was a little surprised by the lord's reaction and ended up stepping back slightly. Cellu was wearing an unpleasant expression with her mouth tightly shut. The two were dragging a mermaid—no, something resembling a mermaid—in one hand each.

"Husband. These bastards aren't mermaids, you know?"

Eve threw one down in front of us. Cellu threw hers at the same time, but what Cellu tossed was a corpse with all its innards gouged out. Cellu slumped to the ground in that state, keeping her mouth firmly shut with a serious expression on her face.

The mermaid Eve threw had her body limply drooping as she spoke like this.

"P-Please... spare me... spare..."

"You don't need to tie her up?"

"I severed her nerves so she can't move."

At those words, I looked at the mermaid's back and saw a knife mark. I thoroughly scanned her, who looked like a mermaid, once again. Looking at her up close, she was definitely different. The fins were sloppily attached fakes, and her torso was also longer. If Cellu was just slightly longer than her own upper body, these ones were about twice that length. Could it be described as the difference between an eel and a mackerel?

Moreover, these bastards possessed a lower abdomen area on their lower body that lacked needles. This was not a mermaid. It was something resembling a reptile. Fortunately, a cunt was attached. After observing up to that point, I opened the status window.

Name: Alita

Race: Lamia

Level: 23

Stats

Strength: 0

Agility: 0

Intelligence: 58

Luck: 13

Traits

Full-body Paralysis

Spine has been shattered.

Cannot move. (Strength and agility fixed at 0)

Charm

Can [Charm] humans with a lower intelligence stat than oneself.

Ambush

Deals 1.8 times damage when attacking a target who does not recognize oneself or is [Charmed].

"Lamia?"

These bastards. They weren't mermaids. Lamias had come here and were masquerading as mermaids. At the word lamia, the lore from the game that I had forgotten came to mind. The Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings. The Echoing Cutlass who was a doppelganger, the Flowing Falkios who was a slime, the Clinging Lubian who was a 'virgin' succubus. And the Slothful Lua, who was the queen of the lamia race.

Cutlass was currently running the Church of Love under the name Mayhem. The slime Falkios and the 'virgin' succubus Lubian had died at the hands of AA. And the Slothful Lua hadn't died to the mermaids. She was masquerading as a mermaid herself.

"What is a lamia? Is it a race? Were the ones we encountered in the sea also these bastards called lamias instead of mermaids?"

"That is..."

However, that alone left an unsolved question. Lamias couldn't swim. Yet there were humans being attacked by mermaids in the sea. In other words, this meant that mermaids and lamias were operating together. I asked the lord.

"A lamia is a single race similar to a mermaid. Have you ever heard of them?"

"I have not. I have never heard of any other species besides mermaids or beastfolk."

This issue seemed complicated.

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