Mermaid and Shipwreck Legends

Aurora frowned, realizing the difficulty of the situation at hand, her face filled with worry.

Was the first major hurdle of this journey so troublesome?

Unlike the young woman's gloomy expression, the young man seemed completely at ease, as if the princess's concerns were nothing at all.

Rhine knew very well that the idea of "merfolk being terrifying and causing disasters to ships passing through these waters" came solely from the Rose Kingdom's records.

The Rose Kingdom wasn't even located by the sea. These records about the Mermaid Kingdom were actually third- or fourth-hand information passed down with exaggerations, mostly from embellished descriptions by shipwrecked sailors from other countries and various unrealistic fantasies!

After carefully studying the literature about the Mermaid Kingdom, Rhine discovered that the evidence for the so-called "merfolk causing disasters and attacking passing ships" was actually this: when certain ships passed through this sea area, sailors would occasionally see several merfolk floating on the water in the twilight, holding hands and singing melodious songs.

—Their singing was more beautiful than any human singer's. But the content of the songs was incredibly terrifying and eerie, seemingly praising the depths and beauty of the seabed.

The songs also seemed to be sung to the sailors, telling them not to be afraid of sinking into the sea and inviting them to embrace the beautiful seabed.

However, for the sailors on the ship, there was nothing more terrifying than the seabed.

If it were just some terrifying songs, that would be one thing. What was even more frightening was that all the ships that heard the merfolk's songs, as if cursed, would almost invariably run into trouble immediately.

Even if the sea surface was originally as calm as a lake, it would suddenly become violent the next second. The sky would suddenly turn gloomy, dark clouds would cover the sky, and a manic storm would roar, stirring up giant waves dozens of meters high, engulfing the ships. Almost all the sailors sank to the bottom of the sea—just as the merfolk's songs had sung.

A very small number of crew members survived the shipwreck and told the terrifying story, calling it the "curse of the merfolk."

However, in Rhine's view, the so-called "curse of the merfolk" was likely just a misunderstanding! According to The Little Mermaid, whenever a storm was about to come, the Sea King's sisters liked to float to the surface hand in hand and sing beautiful songs in front of passing ships, saying how lovely it was underwater and praising the beauty of the seabed and the Sea King's Palace. Obviously, other merfolk should have similar habits.

Clearly, the merfolk didn't know how terrifying the sea they lived in was to humans.

You sing about the beauty of the seabed in front of sailors who are most afraid of shipwrecks, and then disaster really strikes. No wonder humans fear you and treat you as monsters that bring disaster... Rhine silently complained.

The next second, Aurora's question pulled the young man out of his thoughts: "So, should we find a guide who is familiar with the underwater world? The world is so big, maybe there are magicians who know about or have even reached the Mermaid Kingdom?"

"Indeed, there is a guide who knows about the Mermaid Kingdom," Rhine said.

"Who?" Aurora asked, curiously perking up her ears.

"The Sage from beyond the world, the Prophet who knows the future, the Wizard of Miracles and Wishes. The kingdom's former Court Magician, the mentor of the kingdom's future queen," Rhine replied with a smile.

You're talking about yourself? Aurora rolled her eyes, already used to her mentor's strange sense of humor.

"Then, esteemed guide. First question, how do we get into the sea?" Aurora asked.

Rhine flipped his small hand.

The Tinderbox, which was originally on Aurora, miraculously appeared in his palm.

Rub, rub, rub.

He rubbed the Tinderbox three times in a row.

With a whoosh, a dog with eyes as big as the top of a round tower—that is, the largest of the Three Dogs—appeared on the beach.

Rhine gently stroked the dog's fur and recited a few spells. The dog's figure rapidly changed, turning into a strange, large fish.

The fish's appearance was similar to the Lantern Fish that the young man had seen in his previous life.

The fish opened its mouth, and Rhine led Aurora into the fish's belly; the fish leaped into the water, taking them into the sea.

The fish's belly was transparent, so they could see things in the water; the top of the fish's head had a chandelier-like object that glowed in the water, illuminating the dark seabed.

Aurora raised a second difficulty:

"But, my guide, this sea is so vast and boundless, how are we going to find the Mermaid Kingdom?"

Rhine smiled again and ordered the big fish:

"Go, swim to the Mermaid Kingdom."

Rhine didn't know the specific location of the Mermaid Kingdom in the sea, but that didn't matter.

The big fish was essentially transformed from the Tinderbox's dog, so it naturally had its magical qualities!

As early as after obtaining the Tinderbox, Rhine had conducted dozens of experiments, asking the Three Dogs to find various things.

No matter how strange the target was, as long as it was within a certain distance, the dogs could always find them. From antiques buried in the ground to a specific person, the dogs' noses could always sniff out the target's location.

No wonder they could find money for the soldiers—I wonder which rich man's vault they stole it from; no wonder they could discover that the "kingdom's princess" was not in the palace! Rhine thought.

In fairy tales, epics, and folk stories, many magical supernatural powers are absolute. Rhine estimated that the dogs summoned by this Tinderbox had the characteristic of "being able to find the target within a certain distance."

The fish transformed from a dog accepted the command, sensed something, and searched in a certain direction.

Before long, the large fish dived to the seabed covered with white sand.