I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[074] Mermaid Temple.
Returning to Coral Reef Island with my companions, I explained the plan to them.
The method to bypass the prison barrier is simple.
We simply need to make the Mermaids dismantle the barrier themselves.
“So… that’s all you could come up with?”
“That’s right.”
“Quite the reckless scheme. Let’s do it at once!”
Malton extended his arm with a grin, offering it to be bound with rope.
After all, hadn’t I just acquired the ability to transform into a Mermaid during our last battle?
If I disguised myself as a Mermaid and pretended to bring Malton in as a prisoner, they’d likely fall for it.
Just then, Snake Gang shouted.
“We’ve cast underwater breathing magic on both of you! We’ve also applied protective magic so you can withstand the high water pressure. You should be able to manage for a while!”
“Good work.”
“B-but perhaps we should reconsider this… no matter how I think about it, this is suicide…!”
“Return to the ship and wait.”
I waited until the Pirate Gang disappeared from sight, then recited the incantation that came to mind.
“Waters of the deep abyss, embrace me in your boundless bosom and bestow upon me the blessing of the waves!”
｢You have disguised yourself as a Mermaid Warrior!｣
｢The Mermaid Warrior you defeated was killed by a treacherous human after attacking a caravan!｣
｢Due to your racial traits, you gain proficiency in underwater breathing and swimming, but your movement speed on land is greatly reduced and you emit a fishy odor!｣
‘Without legs, this feels incredibly awkward.’
Still, I appreciated that the seawater didn’t feel cold at all.
“Hmm… truly a flawless disguise. No one would suspect you’re human.”
“But are you sure just the two of you will be alright? Perhaps I should come along as well….”
“It’s fine. I plan to avoid combat as much as possible. In situations like this, moving in smaller numbers is better.”
I could manage to carry Malton and swim away if things went wrong along the way.
Radi’s crossbow would be useless underwater, and Karen’s fire magic was fundamentally incompatible with this environment.
“…Then take this. I’ve bottled some ink that should temporarily obscure your enemies’ vision if you need it in an emergency.”
“Thanks.”
I tied the bottle Radi handed me to my waist with a cord, then dove underwater with Malton.
Splash! As I plunged into the water, I merely flicked my fins slightly, yet the speed was extraordinary.
‘Even without being accustomed to swimming yet, this is incredible speed….’
I’d have to abandon any thoughts of confronting Mermaids underwater.
“We’ll arrive soon. See that glowing structure over there? If you run out of breath at any point, just pull my hair.”
When Malton gave an underwater signal indicating he was fine, I accelerated further and infiltrated the temple.
Ding—!
｢You have infiltrated the Mermaid Temple alongside your companion Malton!｣
｢If you’re caught bringing a human around without proper justification, suspicion will be raised! Be careful!｣
Malton gazed around in wonder as the water reached his waist.
“So this is the Mermaid Temple… I’ve only heard rumors until now, but it truly is a mystical place. It’s peculiar that it’s not entirely submerged—only half is sealed by the barrier.”
“Mermaids have human upper bodies, so they’d prefer some air. Just in case, don’t let your guard down.”
“Don’t worry. I’m confident in my acting.”
I checked the rope binding Malton’s arms one more time, then shoved his upper body forward like I was escorting a prisoner, heading deeper into the Tower.
Passing through the empty Circular Hall and descending the Ramp that stretched below, I arrived at the Prison entrance I’d seen before.
The two Mermaid Guards stationed at the entrance immediately leveled their spears at us and shouted.
“Halt! Who are you?!”
“What business do you have at the Prison?”
I answered brazenly, gripping and shaking Malton by the scruff of his neck.
“As you can see, I’m here to lock up this human! An absolutely heinous criminal. Though it seems he’s an Elf noble, so he should be useful as a hostage when negotiating with humans.”
“He looks perfectly fine, but you say he’s a criminal? What’s his crime?”
“Apparently he’s been drilling holes in ship hulls wherever he goes.”
“That’s… truly a horrific crime. You may pass.”
Since the Mermaids also used ships for transporting supplies, the guard shuddered and let us through.
Just as I was about to head deeper into the Prison with relief, the guard called me back.
“Wait a moment.”
“…What is it?”
“Where did you sell the spear anyway? It doesn’t make sense for our Mermaids to be walking around without weapons.”
“That’s…”
In an instant, I exchanged a sharp glance with Malton and pointed at him accusingly.
“…This bastard destroyed it! He resisted so violently, you see.”
“In that case, there’s a Supply Storage below, so go get a new one from there.”
“Thank you.”
As the guard deactivated the barrier, I stepped inside.
Once we reached a point where the guards could no longer see us, Malton and I exhaled in relief.
“I can’t believe this plan actually worked… Honestly, I thought they’d interrogate us more thoroughly.”
“Right.”
We moved forward cautiously.
Passing through the empty Prison and venturing deeper, we encountered a massive door.
Before the firmly sealed door stood a row of enormous shells.
‘Based on the Building’s structure, the Storage Vault should be right beyond this…’
It appeared the opposite door would open only if we touched the shells in the correct sequence.
For Mermaids who knew the answer, it would be child’s play, but…
“Be careful. Touch the wrong shell and you’ll be swallowed whole.”
“Damn it… Now it’s a puzzle.”
My past self had never infiltrated this far, so I couldn’t possibly know the answer.
The only clue I had was that each shell bore a different pattern carved into it.
“Wait, could this be…?”
I swam quickly and examined the patterns drawn on the shells: pearls, tridents, moons, trees, birds, shipwrecks…
When I selected only the patterns related to the Sea and touched them in order, all the shells opened their mouths in unison, singing as the door began to open.
“Excellent insight. Well done.”
“This is nothing.”
From this point on, the excuse of escorting a prisoner wouldn’t hold water, so I untied the rope binding Malton and headed beyond the door.
The space I arrived at was aptly named the ‘Storage Vault’—a place where all manner of supplies were stacked in mountainous heaps.
Rather than a repository for treasures or sacred relics, it had the atmosphere of a military supply warehouse.
“Are you telling me a sacred relic is actually in a place like this?”
“Yes, search through the boxes carefully. Considering the Mermaids’ nature, there’s a good chance they hid it among ordinary supplies.”
Malton and I used a discarded window frame as a makeshift crowbar, prying open the tightly sealed wooden boxes one by one.
“…There doesn’t seem to be anything on this side. How about over there?”
“Same here. …Wait, there’s something here.”
Malton discovered a large wooden box.
On the surface, it appeared no different from the others, but the lock was far more robust, and in the corner was embossed the symbol of Neptune.
Malton and I exchanged a brief glance before moving the box to a more convenient position for opening.
Crack! As I tore away the lock entirely and opened the lid, a blinding radiance burst forth.
｢You have witnessed the spearhead of Neptune’s sacred relic, the ‘Trident that Cleaves the Great Ocean’!!!｣
｢It is the ultimate decisive weapon, forged from deep-sea minerals by the blacksmith god Vulcanus, with the ferocity and destructive power of the Great Ocean condensed and shaped by Neptune himself!｣
｢Should it be combined with the other half preserved in Neptune’s Temple, it would unleash tremendous power!｣
｢Your remarkable discovery has permanently increased your Insight by 3!｣
A crystalline embodiment of pure force, as if the pressure of thousands of years in the deep sea had been condensed into it.
Around the spearhead shimmering with azure light, space warped faintly, and seawater danced in strange undulations.
“So this is half of the sacred spear… it’s terrifying.”
“Just looking at it makes my soul tremble. Truly, a legendary artifact.”
Even I was seeing this in physical form for the first time, and an intense thrill coursed through my entire body.
I felt certain that with this weapon, I could repel even Leviathan.
I wrapped the spear in cloth and cradled it against my chest.
Now all that remained was to quietly escape this place.
But at that moment, I heard movement beyond the door.
Malton and I, startled, quickly hid behind the boxes—
“Hmm…? I smell something strange.”
The Mermaid Soldier, tilting his head as he approached, gasped in alarm when our eyes met through the gap in the boxes.
“W-what?! An elf here…! Intruders! We have intruders!!”
As the Mermaid swam toward the alarm conch shell set in the corner of the wall, I rushed out desperately.
“Stop!”
I quickly swung the sacred spear like a club, knocking the Mermaid unconscious, but I was a moment too late.
Boooooooo!!
“Damn it! Let’s escape quickly!”
I pulled Malton along and swiftly swam back the way we came.
The moment I reached the prison entrance, two Guards thrust their spears at me, but I thrashed my fins to create a surge of water and struck them down with the spear blade.
Malton knocked the remaining one unconscious with a club he’d grabbed from the armory, striking him squarely on the head.
“We need to hurry more!”
As time passed, reinforcements would multiply exponentially.
But as I emerged atop the broad tower, Mermaids were already swarming the space.
“You are surrounded by enraged Mermaids!”
“They will never let an intruder escape so easily!”
“That’s… Neptune’s Holy Spear? So you betrayed your own kind and tried to grovel before humans?”
“We show no mercy! Seize them at once and interrogate them—we’ll flay the fins from their bodies if we must!!”
Spear blades came rushing at us from all directions.
Malton and I fought desperately with our backs to each other, but battling a swarm of Mermaids in the heart of their domain was overwhelmingly disadvantageous.
They moved with the fluidity of fish, striking from blind spots, and we found ourselves pushed relentlessly into a defensive position.
“Fill it with water!”
As if that weren’t enough, part of the barrier opened, and seawater came cascading down like a waterfall.
The intense pressure of the water surged upward, filling the chamber to the ceiling in moments and severely restricting our movement.
I gripped Malton with one hand and resisted with all my strength, but they pressed forward relentlessly like a school of piranhas.
‘I have to find a way to use [Chaos]…!’
Cornered, I attempted a desperate gambit—dropping my disguise to sow confusion—but they only hesitated for a moment.
“Don’t be fooled! It’s still a target that must be eliminated!”
“So you finally reveal your true form! Just as I suspected—a human wearing the guise of our own kind!”
“Damn it!!”
Even Malton couldn’t withstand underwater combat; his wounds multiplied as the battle wore on.
In the end, we were overwhelmed by their sheer numbers and captured.
Stripped of the Holy Spear and bound, forced to kneel, the Mermaid warrior Marius I had seen at Coral Reef Island looked down at us with cold, lifeless eyes.
“That elf from before… so you were indeed approaching with foul intentions. Before we throw you in prison, I’ll ask: what is your purpose in stealing the Holy Spear?”
I glared at the Mermaid with burning eyes.
Having come this far, there was no point in hiding anymore.
“…To defeat Leviathan. Only that sacred relic can stop Leviathan.”
“….”
“The Mermaids are in turmoil! Agility temporarily increases by 1!”
The Mermaid warriors stirred at my answer.
Before I could even gauge their reaction, Marius drove his spear down, silencing the crowd.
“Quiet. …How does a human like you know of such things?”
“That’s irrelevant. What matters is that Leviathan will soon awaken and lay waste to every coastline in this world.”
“Then your purpose in infiltrating this place is….”
“As I said—to complete the sacred relic and defeat Leviathan!”
“….”
Marius fell silent at my answer.
Even in that moment, I was desperately calculating a way to escape.
‘If I drop the disguise to momentarily break free from the bonds, scatter the ink Radi gave me, and flee…!’
The odds were less than one percent, but there might be a chance to survive.
But then, the Mermaids withdrew the spear blades they had held to my throat.
I stared in bewilderment, and Marius spoke quietly.
“…We share the same purpose, human.”
“What are you saying? Wasn’t your purpose to cooperate with Leviathan? You stole the Holy Spear to strip humanity of any means to resist….”
“And what benefit would that bring us?”
“If Leviathan emerges and floods the coastlines, our territory would expand accordingly.”
“That’s absurd. Why would we covet such a pittance in this vast ocean?”
Marius exhaled deeply and continued.
“Overwhelming power destroys balance. If the seal binding Leviathan is completely broken, other sea monsters will awaken one after another, and the entire ocean will fall to ruin.”
“Then the reason the Mermaids attacked Liberta all this time was….”
“To confront Leviathan using Neptune’s sacred relics. We initially tried to resolve this through dialogue, but those foolish seal-like priests refused to believe us. So we decided to take it by force.”
Now all the pieces fell into place.
Why the typically rational and gentle Mermaids had invaded Liberta.
And that sense of desperate urgency I had felt from them.
Our purpose was the same as theirs.
And if our purposes aligned, I could join hands with anyone.
Having grasped the situation, I looked at Marius and proposed a single bargain.
“Then allow me to lead the assault on humanity’s Temple. You need the remaining half of the Spear anyway, don’t you?”
The Mermaids stirred with great commotion.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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