The wind picked up around Sweet Scylla, and with it the tides began to cover the shore.

"You got everything?" Salil asked, handing Alviss a box over the boat's edge.

"Ya folks are givin' us too much, we're ready." The brown-haired dwarf nodded his head in gratitude then turned to find a place for the newest box.

Behind him, Lawkey took a sip out of his gourd, having refilled it with water this time. In his other hand, he carried the still sleeping body of Frido, the Hyking creature.

"I haven' thanked ya for savin' ma life back there." Alviss glanced over while putting the box down in a corner. "I'll be sure to return the favor, friend."

"?"

"Ma name is Alviss, and as you can see, I'm a dwarf from the Soarsa clan."

"You're a dwarf?!" Lawkey blurted out, holding his arms at a distance vertically. "Is that why you're so short?!"

"I knew it!" The dwarf snapped and flapped his arms. "Ya didn' realize that at all! I'll have ya know, I'm considered a giant compared to other dwarves!"

"Relax, shorty." The swordsman put his hands up in resignation. "At least you're not calling me giant, right?"

"What?!"

"Nothing, just a bad joke." Lawkey chuckled, remembering the failed joke he tried on Sana and the same one that had failed on him as a child. "Anyway, it's all good. Just buy me some booze and pancakes and we'll call it even."

He hadn't saved the dwarf for any rewards, if anything, he had realized it would cause him more trouble. Almost everyone would criticize that kind of choice on Tartarus.

And yet…

"I can't accept that, friend!" The dwarf raised an eyebrow and glared with the other eye. "Ya saved ma life!"

"..."

Seeing how serious his new friend was, Lawkey held his chin to consider it more seriously. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Alviss' weapons neatly tucked away.

A battle ax and a forging hammer, both ordained with golden and blue-ish colors. A thought popped into his mind.

"I heard that you can forge weapons." He began, looking back toward the dwarf. "I like to use two swords, one in each hand. Maybe you can forge a top-tier sword for me?"

"Oh! A wonderful idea! I'll forge a sword for ya like no other!" Alviss plucked his fist close to his heart, knocking on the light armor covering his chest. "I give ya ma word!"

"I look forward to it." The corners of Lawkey's lips curled up, then he raised his head to look at the gathering crowd one last time. "Shall we head out then?"

"Aye."

As Alviss nodded to Salil, the leader of the tritons signaled to his mermen to push the small boat in the direction of the wind.

"Come back anytime!"

"Safe travels!"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Thank you!"

"Farewell!"

Similar cheers resounded across the shore as the Undine Clan bid farewell to the boat.

"..."

After a moment of deliberation, Lawkey raised his arm and waved back to them in silence, a faint smile appearing on his lips. Alviss joined him after lowering the sail.

Not a moment later the wind picked up, and the boat disappeared into the thick fog in the distance.

Soon, it reached south of the island, not far from where the emerald bubble had exploded, and around where…

"!"

Lawkey looked around, noticing the debris of rocks and houses peeking out or floating around the sea, right between the island's high cliff and the edge of Tartarus in the distance.

"Somethin' happened here 'bout six years ago. It killed most of their tribe." Alviss explained with closed eyes. He opened them briefly, rowing the boat ever so slowly. "That's why there aren't many of 'em left."

"Six years ago…?" The cursed human muttered, seeing his own reflection on rippling waters. "I see."

The cause of that chaos was now clear to him. They similarly confirmed the rumors that the beast he had been after had crossed through this part six years ago before heading into the waters that separated Tartarus. As for Sweet Scylla, there were no other clues for him here.

At the very least, he was glad he finally found a trace that he could follow now. Helping the merfolk of the Undine Clan hadn't been entirely without merit, not that he had taken action with any merit in mind.

"I'm sure they'll work together from now on!" He grinned, turning back towards the dwarf.

"Hahah, without a doubt!"

**👑**

Cravey Charybdis was a small island not far north of Sweet Scylla. For a longtime, it was uninhabited as it was surrounded by strong whirlpools, and vicious sea creatures such as the Cetus.

And yet, for the past few months, the tritons had made that island their home. Even though they barely remember that time due to Frido's mind control, they had all left their clan abruptly.

They had stolen what gold the clan had stored and accumulated. They even continuously threatened to sell a few sirens so they could pay for more weapons.

Although their actions were berated and labeled despicable, even when they had to get into altercations with their own kind, in the back of their minds, they were convinced it was all for the future of the Undine Clan.

Sell a few sirens who were being threatened to be sold by the Golden Garden Guild anyway, except, they would do it, so the tritons can arm themselves and fight back against their oppressors.

In the end, they didn't manage to capture a single siren, but the fear and trouble they had caused left their mark deep into the sirens' hearts.

All the tritons were devastated upon regaining full control of their consciousness, upon realizing what they had been doing all this time. Instead of helping their fellow clanswoman, they were putting far more pressure on them.

"..."

Salil, the leader of the tritons, watched the boat disappear in the distance as he pondered it all again in his head. He wasn't the only one, as for the past few hours, many of the tritons had come to him for advice.

The conflict stirring in his mind had prevented him from coming up with any good solution even after Sweet Scylla regained her freedom.

I'm their leader, they look up to me for help… He thought, watching the tides hit the shore. How am I to fix this after everything…?

Around him, he could feel the other tritons looking his way. Behind them, the sirens were murmuring to each other back and forth.

"Do you think they will come back?"

"They really helped us, I hope they do!"

"That dwarf was really manly, I hope he visits again soon!"

"True, the human just kept pestering about some pancakes!"

The crowd of sirens continued to giggle and murmur, occasionally glancing over to the tritons standing stiffly on the shore. Among them, Lamia, the current leader of the Undine Clan, stood silently with her arms crossed, watching the distant waves crash.

Beads of sweat began to trickle down Salil's face, feeling all the pressure around him. Then he remembered the words the human had said.

"Relax. You should try to make up soon even if it is difficult to forget what happened. When you mess up, you take responsibility. That's just how it should be."

Remembering those words made Salil clench his fist and turn to his fellow tritons. He simply narrowed his eyes and nodded his head.

"?!"

Then, as if practiced, all the tritons dropped to their knees in front of the sirens, alerting Lamia standing in the front.

"Even though we were controlled…" Salil began, his voice hoarse. "We still feel responsible for everything we did."

"..." Lamia narrowed her eyes slightly as she listened.

"We know it's not going to be easy to forgive us so soon." The leader of the tritons gritted his teeth and dug his hands into the sand. "But if you are willing… to give us a chance…" He raised his head slowly, his purple eyes beginning to glisten. "We will do our best to make it up to all of you! In the end, we all want the same thing, to live together in peace, to protect our clan!"

Both the tritons and the sirens listened in silence, each pondering their own words. Words they could not utter.

And yet, for some reason, some words came crawling back into Lamia's mind.

"Why ya so scared?! Ya can beat 'em if y'all unite together! Take yer fate by the hand!"

Alviss had shouted those words in hopes of getting the two sides to work together, and although it had failed back then…

"!"

Slowly, Lamia took a step forward, then reached down and embraced Salil in a hug.

"Let's save our race together." She muttered, tears beginning to form despite the smile on her lips.

She too had a responsibility as the leader of the Undine Clan now. She had taken the first step towards rebuilding trust, towards restoring Sweet Scylla's former peace under Nimue's watchful gaze.

"Yes…" Salil uttered, his voice breaking as tears flowing down his cheeks. "Thank you."

Around them, for a brief moment, the sea grew calm, as if the waves themselves experienced peace under the bright new moonlight.

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