Chapter 12.
"Aren't we supposed to be on the same side now?" I asked, though I already knew why she'd done that.
"Yes, we are working together for the moment, but some things are better left unsaid, even amongst temporary comrades," Artria replied, giving me an annoying, sharp look that told me I was overstepping.
"And here I thought you were finally warming up to me when you invited me to come a bit closer just a second ago," I said, shaking my head slowly while feigning a look of deep, wounded hurt.
"W-Why you!" She glared at me, her eyes twitching with pure irritation as her face flushed a shade of red again. She looked like she wanted to lunged at me, but she managed to restrain herself.
Would it kill this girl to maybe smile more often? I wondered, because that attitude of hers was really putting that beauty of hers to waste. Made me wonder if she was even popular amongst the guys of her village, but seeing how Gerin was with her, I highly doubted it.
"That being said," I continued, shifting the conversation before she actually snapped.
I recalled the method I had seen them using to try and catch the school of fish when I first arrived.
Their tactics had been remarkably similar to dolphins; they would swim in circles around the tuna, trying to corral the fish into a tight, panicked enclosure so they could pick them off one at a time.
'Safe to say, such a tactic is far too time-consuming for the amount of fish up there,' I thought, sparing the school of fish a brief glance.
' If we're going to deal with all of them, we need to do it with the shortest time needed.' I said to myself, and that was when it hit me.
' Maybe that could actually work!' I thought to myself before turning towards the mermaid duo.
"I have a much better idea as to how we can end things quickly and get you both home with a full harvest," I told them confidently.
"And what exactly do you have in mind?" Gerin asked, his curiosity finally outweighing his caution.
"It's something that might take some work to prepare, but it will be worth it," I said, my eyes coincidentally glancing at a thick patch of long, sturdy seaweed growing some distance away on a rocky ledge.
Without another word, I turned and swam toward the seaweed. The duo glanced at each other, clearly confused by my sudden movement, but they followed after me nonetheless.
It was good that they did, because it meant they at least trusted me enough to follow me without question now. Which was a win, the more trust they had in me, the better my chances of using them to gain my freedom.
I reached the patch and grabbed a long, flexible blade of the greenery.
"We'll be using this to catch them all in one full swoop," I said, holding the strand up like a prize.
"Huh?" Both of them stared at me with completely clueless expressions. My smile only grew wider; it was nice to be the one holding all the cards for once.
It took quite some time to get the materials ready, but thankfully, I still had a knack for making things with my hands.
It seemed that besides my new, powerful tail, my other body parts had become incredibly quick and precise.
My hands moved with a dexterity I never had as a human, weaving the long, tough strands of seaweed together in an intricate pattern.
I worked tirelessly, lashing the blades of seaweed into a massive, makeshift net.
"There, all done," I announced, stepping back, or rather, floating back, to admire my handiwork.
' Whoever said men weren't good with there hands, clearly didn't know what the hell they were thinking.' I thought to myself, feeling all smug.
The net was huge, strong, and perfectly spaced to trap the tuna.
"Umm... what exactly is that suppose to be?" Artria asked, her voice skeptical as she poked at the mesh. She was still quite oblivious to the concept.
"Huh?" I raised a brow in genuine confusion.
"You've both never seen a fishing net before?" I blinked my eyes, truly surprised that two sea-dwelling creatures were so uninformed.
"What is a 'fishing net'?" Gerin asked, echoing his friend's confusion.
"Wait... you really, honestly don't know what a fishing net is?"
"Stop trying to act all mysterious and just tell us already!" Artria yelled, her short fuse finally blowing.
She looked every bit as annoyed as she had when I first approached them.
'Gosh, this girl really needs to work on her temper,'
' At this rate, she'll never get married.' I said to myself, though I kept the thought far from my lips.
Whether she got married or not was none of my business, although I truly felt sorry for whatever unfortunate soul would dare to court someone like her.
"It's something humans use to hunt for fish in large quantities," I explained. I then walked them through the plan.
How the three of us would take the corners, dive under the school, and sweep upward to trap the entire bait ball at once.
After listening to the logic of the trap, both of them looked quite impressed, their skepticism finally being replaced by awe.
'Hehehe, that's right. I'm amazing, aren't I?' I thought, basking in the rare moment of respect they were giving me.
'But that being said...'
"You both really haven't seen a human before?" I raised a brow, because this was becoming quite jarring for me.
How could they live in the ocean and not know about the creatures that sailed on top of it?
"No. Not really. The both of us rarely leave the village or surface the sea," Gerin admitted, looking a bit sheepish.
"How is that even possible? Don't you guys hunt humans?" I asked, but I was immediately met with a heavy silence.
Both of them gave me strange, unsettled looks, as if they were staring at a completely crazy person, or worse, a monster.