Chapter 13.
"Of course not... What gave you that ridiculous impression?" Artria flashed me a look of pure, unadulterated disgust that made me feel like I'd just suggested eating a pile of sea sludge.
"Those people don't look that much different from us, so how could we ever bear to eat them? The very thought is sickening."
"Artria, don't be rude," Gerin spoke up, though his tone was more cautious than scolding as he turned his gaze back to me. "Perhaps it's a common occurrence within the shark tribe.
We shouldn't judge what we don't understand, even if it is... different."
"Hmph! Whatever it is, it's no doubt disgusting. Those guys would eat anything as long as it bleeds, wouldn't they?" Artria added, clearly unwilling to take back her words as she lashed her tail through the water in a fit of irritation.
'Wait a minute... This doesn't make any sense at all,' I thought.
'If they don't eat humans, then how come I remember reading about it in the Webnovel? Or did I?' I felt a wave of worry wash over me as I realized my memory of the story might be spottier than I thought.
'Perhaps it was only a rumor used by the author to keep humans away from the sea? It's possible that the land-dwellers just invented stories to explain why people who fell overboard never came back.'
I could certainly understand the merfolk not wanting to have anything to do with the people of the land, but that still didn't explain the reality of my current situation.
'If they didn't eat humans, then why did that sea witch kidnap me?'
' if they really don't eat people, then why did I see all those skeletons in that woman's cave? And why were so many of them covered with fresh, sticky blood?'
The contradiction made my head spin. 'No, no, no, that's not even the biggest problem here. That witch said we were out in the middle of the ocean and it was extremely rare to find a human all the way out here, so why did most of those skeletons look like they were freshly coated? Where is she getting a steady supply of people if we're in the middle of nowhere?'
No matter how much I turned it over in my head, the math just didn't add up. That darn witch was becoming more and more confusing with every passing moment.
' And I thought women were just hard to understand, that woman's a completely different creature all together...'
'You know what, let's just forget about that for now,' I decided, shaking my head to clear the intrusive thoughts.
I needed to focus on the task at hand rather than dwelling on a mystery that would likely only end in my own demise if I solved it.
Best to live my life danger free, no point in poking my nose were it didn't belong, now right?
"Alright, listen up. Gerin, you and I will each hold one end of the net respectively, while Artria, you'll be the one to herd the fishes into it from the opposite side," I said, laying out the final instructions.
If we wanted this plan to work, we each had to play our part perfectly.
Gerin nodded his head seriously, gripping the seaweed mesh with his webbed fingers.
"And why can't I hold the net as well?" Artria asked, her voice tight with unhappiness. "Why do I have to do all the heavy swimming while you two just sit there?"
"Do you really think you'd be strong enough to keep your grip on the net once it's filled with that many fish?" I asked, giving her a flat, unimpressed look. "The moment they start struggling, they'll pull you through the water without you being able to resist..."
"T-That..." She opened her mouth to argue, but my words were too sound for even her to ignore.
In the end, she begrudgingly kept her mouth shut, her eyes simmering with a mix of resentment and reluctance.
It was good to see that, despite her ego, she understood she was clearly the weakest link in our trio.
"Alright, let's do it," I gave the command, and Gerin and I began swimming in opposite directions, slowly stretching out the seaweed net until it reached its full, impressive size.
"Alright, Artria, it's your turn now. Go get 'em!" I gave her a thumbs-up, but the prickly brat merely scoffed at me, flicking her blue tail and darting off to do her job without a word.
At least she was actually following the plan, even if she hated every second of it.
It didn't take long for her to start herding the massive school of tuna in our direction.
Seeing the silver cloud of fish moving toward the trap made my hopes soar, but that very hope crashed back down to the ocean floor when the school of tuna sensed the obstacle at the last possible second.
With a coordinated, fluid motion, they swam and avoided the net entirely, swimming right over the top.
'You've gotta be kidding me...' My eyes twitched as I watched the silver feast disappear into the blue distance.
"What's going on? Why aren't they getting in like you said they would?" Artria demanded, swimming back to us and stopping right in front of the empty net with an accusing look.
"I think these fish are far smarter than we gave them credit for," I replied with a crooked, frustrated smile.
'Or maybe it's because this makeshift seaweed net is way more visible than a real steel one.'
' Plus, with only one person herding them, it's far too easy for them to find a gap and escape,' I thought.
Of course, things had to get harder the moment I believed I had a handle on them.
'Why does this shitty world always want to push me right to the very edge?' I wondered to myself, staring at the empty net and feeling my frustration simmering.
Just once, just once, couldn't I get one simple win?
Was it too much to ask that I won for once!