Mermaid Hunting

The conclusion came out on the side of hunting mermaids. There was also a method of capturing them, but since deaths could occur while doing such a thing, they had no choice but to reach the conclusion that killing them was better than forcibly capturing them.

‘It cannot be helped. In a situation where mermaids are hostile to people, leaving them alone will only increase the damage.’

“Let us recruit mermaid hunters who will specialize in hunting them.”

“Understood. I will quickly put out a notice, recruit personnel, and carry it out.”

“Ah, come to think of it, how far has the research on mermaids progressed?”

When Ian said that while recalling the mermaid they had already captured before and confined in the Marine Research Institute, Viscount Rubingston shook his head and spoke.

“Nothing has been reported yet. I will contact them immediately and have them report.”

“Tell them to send over only the research materials they have at once. Should we not know something before the hunting begins?”

At Ian’s words, Viscount Rubingston said that he would do so, and with that, the conversation between the two of them came to an end. Before long, it was pointing to 7 p.m. At this, Ian began leaving the office as if today’s work was finished with this.

The place he headed to like that was none other than the queen’s palace residence where his daughter Karina was. As always, he moved his steps there, and the moment he arrived, he was able to receive his daughter’s welcome. Now that she was two years old, he could see his daughter running straight toward him and being embraced by him.

“Papa~”

“Yes, my daughter. Did you play well during the day?”

“Mm-hmm!”

“You are a little late today.”

“I am sorry. There was important news delivered urgently, so I ended up being late.”

Originally, they would have eaten together, but today, he had no choice but to have them eat first separately. He had tried to keep mealtime with his family, but this matter was so important that he had no choice but to let it pass. Queen Adrina smiled as if she understood and spoke.

“It seems something happened. Then what will you do about dinner?”

“I will eat here.”

“Then I will have it prepared right away.”

The queen immediately gave a hand signal to the maid waiting nearby. Amid that sight, he could see the maids moving in perfect order. And not long after, he could see them bringing in a cart with food prepared on it.

“Was it already prepared?”

“I thought you would eat here even if you were late. So I told the head chef to prepare it.”

“Haha, you are thoroughly prepared.”

The food was laid out on the table like that, and the moment the metal covers were opened, the dishes preserved by magical power appeared, steaming warmly. As he brought a spoon to the food, he saw his daughter Karina looking up beside him with curious eyes. At that, he paused and asked.

“Do you want to eat?”

“Mm!”

“Do you want to try this?”

He used an unused spoon to give her some boiled soft crab meat that was tender and not spicy. At this, she opened her mouth and ate it. He could only smile as if he did not know how she could be so cute. Watching her chew with the few teeth she had, he naturally felt the urge to press her plump cheeks.

“It’s tasty!”

“Is it tasty? Do you want more?”

“Your Majesty, do not give her too much. She already ate dinner.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“More more~”

Seeing his daughter stomping her feet beside him as if asking for more, he had no choice but to give her crab meat again. This time as well, she ate it well, and she kept chewing as if it was delicious. At that sight, the queen approached her daughter and spoke as if soothing her.

“Now, now. If you eat more, your tummy will hurt. Let us stop eating now.”

“No, wanna eat more!”

“No.”

From the way she spoke firmly, he could feel a mother’s stubbornness. At that sight, Ian also thought that he should not give her any more, and he quietly put down the spoon he had been giving to Karina and began eating the remaining food.

In a way, it was a sight very different from the royal family of the past, which had been full of formality and standards. After all, the king had come to the queen’s palace and was sitting alone at such a small table with food placed on it, eating. It probably meant that the royal family was not that old-fashioned.

Thus, Ian was able to finish his meal, and from then on, he spent time entirely with his family. Playing with his daughter was also something that required quite a lot of stamina. At this, he used telekinesis on his daughter’s body to make her so light that he could barely feel her weight, and he made her happy by lifting, tossing, and spinning her.

Before long, the queen’s palace was filled with the sound of the child’s laughter. Amid that sight, today too was passing safely.

The next day, during morning work hours.

“There is nothing special about mermaids?”

A report related to mermaids was placed on the table. Some of it contained several scales shining in rainbow colors. They had examined everything, including flesh and blood, but it said there was nothing particularly special. The only unusual thing was that the fish scales of the lower body were quite beautiful.

‘If we made handicrafts with the scales and sold them, they would be popular.’

As they reflected the light of the lamps and sparkled, he thought that crafts women would quite like could come out of them. That did not mean these scales would become big money. What stood out the most was probably the composition of the blood.

‘Blood components quite similar to humans. If handled well, it might be good to use for blood donations. Of course, we would have to experiment to see whether it properly matches humans.’

Of course, since there were many humans who could be used as substitutes, he did not think it was particularly necessary. If it had been something like goblins, which had special components in their blood and bones, he would have had the intention to capture them alive indiscriminately. However, as expected, the report contained that this was not the case. Ah, as a note, the reports that kept coming in said that mermaids were being seen all over the world.

‘The number of mermaids may increase exponentially.’

The fact that they were being seen all over the world meant that mermaids were properly establishing themselves beneath the sea to the point of spreading throughout the entire ocean. From the start, there were also places that moved before them, and it was said that the Magnia Empire was treating mermaids unfavorably and hunting them.

‘They said the number of dead mermaids is already at least over a hundred, and yet they continue to appear even in that situation.’

It seemed they too had begun treating mermaids as monsters harmful to humans.

A few more days passed like that. Amid this situation, when they announced through a large-scale notice that they would recruit hunting teams to hunt mermaids, quite a large number gathered. At least more than 1,000 people gathered, and it could be said that quite a few of them were people who had once belonged to ruin exploration teams and then quit.

In truth, since no ruins had been discovered at all recently, those leading the exploration teams had become tired, and among those who had invested, many gave up investing because they were only taking losses and gaining no profit. For that reason, quite a large number had quit the exploration teams, and manpower was left over.

Since they were somewhat used to the sea and were strong as well, they could be seen as just right for joining the hunting teams. It would have been good to hire all 1,000 of them, but even among those people, they selected only 100 after choosing and choosing.

They made exactly five teams of twenty people each. In truth, even if they caught mermaids, it was not something that made money, so since it was entirely being paid for by the national budget, they had no choice but to hire only a small number. Since they even obtained and supplied ships, the reality was that the budget had no choice but to increase even more.

The hunting teams created that way began moving in earnest to hunt mermaids while scattering in all directions around the mainland.

The northern sea route of the Polia Kingdom.

So many cargo ships and transport ships came and went that one could say every ship heading north of the Old Continent passed through this place. Through this place, the hunting ship currently carrying Hunting Team Three was leisurely moving.

The ship they rode on was roughly 3,000 tons, and everyone aboard this ship was armed with rifles under special permission from the government. All of them were comfortably maintaining their firearms on top of the swaying ship.

“I’m just curious, but what would it feel like to do it with a mermaid?”

“Can you even do it?”

“If you try, could you not? There has to be somewhere to put it. Hehehe.”

“You crazy bastard, you would really do that?”

“Would I? I just said it because I was curious. Still, aren’t you curious?”

“They say only the upper body resembles a human woman. The lower half is a fish, so that’s a bit…”

“If she’s pretty, isn’t that good enough?”

At this conversation, the people nearby also felt curious. If one had relations with a mermaid, would it feel the same as a human woman? It was a somehow vulgar thought, but since men’s thoughts were the same, it could not be helped that curiosity arose.

“Hey, what are you going to do if the mermaid gets pregnant?”

“Would she get pregnant?”

“What will you do if she does?”

“I’d make her my wife, have her give birth to the kid, and live like that. What else could I do? Kekeke.”

“You really are insane. You seem like you would actually do that, so it feels serious.”

Amid this conversation, they were exchanging all sorts of words about mermaids. Was it then? Someone was blowing a whistle from a high place. Piiik-! Piiik-! At that sound, everyone hurriedly began rising from their seats. That whistle sound itself was the sound they had agreed to make when mermaids were discovered.

“Did they find mermaids? Where?”

“Everyone, get your earplugs!”

“If you hear it properly, your head will burst, so block them well!”

They began picking up the earplugs prepared in advance. They were a kind of magic tool. They had prepared them because even if they blocked their ears, they could still be struck by mermaids firing sound waves. After they finished preparing with earplugs and rifles, the harpoon guns installed on the ship’s deck were also being prepared.

No matter what happened above the sea, if it was underwater, bullets quickly lost power, so they had prepared harpoon guns that could inflict damage even inside the water. Was it at the moment when those preparations were complete? Before long, something located on the sea began to appear in the hunting team’s view.

They were mermaids. There were not just one or two, but at least five, and at that sight, everyone became nervous in their own way. In words, they seemed easy to catch, but once they actually saw mermaids and thought that they had to catch them, tension naturally had no choice but to rise.

Before long, once they were almost close, the mermaids seemed to take interest in the hunting ship. At that sight, everyone swallowed without realizing it. Although they had received information about mermaids in advance, now that they were right before their eyes, they felt, how do we catch those?

More than anything, seeing the upper bodies that resembled beautiful human women, strength naturally began to leave their hands. Amid this, the mermaids opened their mouths toward the ship as they were and began firing sound waves. The transmitted sound waves swept across the deck as they were, but no one was harmed.

With the earplugs working properly, everyone had no choice but to look at each other while aiming their gun muzzles. Not one person stepped forward first and pulled the trigger toward the mermaids. Among them, one person bit his lips and muttered.

“I have to earn money. If I want to earn it, what else can I do? I have to kill them.”

Together with words spoken like self-hypnosis, he began putting strength into the finger placed on the trigger while aiming the gun muzzle as it was. Seeing the mermaid opening her mouth wide and firing sound waves, he thought that it seemed somewhat possible to kill her.

Bang!

With a gunshot, he could see the bullet that shot out from the muzzle hit the head exactly. Blood splashed over the sea, and he could see her collapse as she was. At that sight, the others also came to their senses and began pulling the triggers.

Bang! Bang bang bang! Bang bang! Bang!

With the gunshots that burst out in succession, the bullets that flew out aimed for the bodies of the mermaids, and amid that sight, they could see the mermaids collapse as blood splashed. Only three mermaids were hit and killed, while the remaining two escaped into the water as they were. Following that sight, with a boom! sound, harpoons were being fired.

The harpoons fired as if piercing the surface of the sea entered the water, but they only cut through the innocent water currents and could not kill them. At this, they retrieved the harpoons attached to the lines and loaded them again, and everyone likewise began reloading the bullets they had consumed.

Amid this sight, at the highest point of the ship, a man was continuously scanning the sea with binoculars. On the surface of the deep blue sea, there was still no movement. While he was examining it and thinking, where are they?, he saw bubbles popping on the surface of the water in one place.

“There!”

Piiik-! Piiik-!

As he continuously blew the whistle and pointed with his finger to indicate the location, only then did everyone turn their gazes toward the direction he indicated. Then, at that moment, they saw something moving at high speed while cutting through the surface of the water. At that sight, everyone aimed the muzzles of the rifles they had finished loading. In that instant, they discovered something leaping out of the water.

“A mermaid?”

“It’s a male!”

They could see a muscular bulky figure with a completely unbeautiful appearance digging its nails into the surface of the ship and trying to climb up. At that sight, everyone began shooting. Bang! Bang bang! Bang bang! The bullets flying continuously were hitting the male’s body.

Tututuk! Tuk tuk! Though they could not pierce the skin, they delivered quite a blow and made him fall back into the water as he was. At the sight of the first male to appear, everyone had no choice but to wear expressions showing they had not expected such a thing.

In another place as well, a mermaid that appeared to be male could be seen approaching. At this, someone aimed a loaded harpoon gun and fired it as it was.

Boom!

The gunpowder exploded, and the metal harpoon that shot out flew through the air and lodged itself in the shoulder of the approaching male. Puk! While lodged in place, he screamed in pain, and since a line was connected to the end of this harpoon, he had no choice but to be dragged in as he was.

“He’s being dragged in. Finish him off quickly!”

Together with this shout, they kept turning the handle attached to the harpoon gun, making the line pull him in. He resisted quite strongly, but since he was firmly connected by metal, the harpoon device itself did not come loose. In that state, the remaining members continuously fired their guns and aimed at the male mermaid being dragged in.

He was hit by many bullets like that, and when one of them hit his head, he died as he was and hung limply. Amid this situation, the harpoon guns were being fired continuously. In less than ten minutes, the male mermaids that had appeared were annihilated.