The Sea Hag's Requested Reward

The Sea Hag sat in front of her house, feeding a toad and a fat Water Snake—just like a human feeding canaries.

She was different from the Merfolk, lacking a beautiful fishtail. Her limbs were more human-like, resembling a wrinkled old woman, but with messy, seaweed-like green hair and sickly sea-blue skin.

Seeing the Lantern Fish containing Rhine and Aurora, the Sea Hag raised her head: "Oh, two humans inside a big fish with a transparent belly, and still alive! That's quite a rare sight!"

If it were any other time, the Sea Hag would have been thrilled to see Ariel, the Sixth Princess of the Merfolk, who was most favored by Old Grandmother!

But today, the scene was so peculiar that the Sea Hag even ignored the Mermaid Princess Ariel's presence!

"Greetings, Witch of the Sea," Rhine said. "I've come here to ask a question. And as the sea's knowledgeable sage, you must know the answer."

"Nothing in this world is free. Human, if you've heard of my rules, you should understand that even answering a question requires payment!" the Sea Hag said.

"State your question, and I'll decide the price based on its value!"

Rhine smiled knowingly: "I've heard that you and Black Witch Maleficent belong to the same coven, and you occasionally communicate remotely using magic.

"Do you know where Maleficent is now? Please tell me.

"And what else do you know about Black Witch Maleficent or your coven?

"For example, what weaknesses does the Dragon that Maleficent transforms into have, and how can it be defeated? How many members are in your coven, who are they, and where are they located? I want to know all of the above information! You can name your price for each piece of information."

What? The Sea Hag was startled by Rhine's questions, her cloudy eyes widening, causing her pet Toad to fall off her lap.

"Madman! You're a madman!"

The Sea Hag waved her hand dismissively:

"Leave, human, I can't tell you! If I revealed Black Witch Maleficent's secrets, or the secrets of our coven, Maleficent and the others would kill me!

"Those guys are practically legendary magic masters who have lived for centuries. Destroying a powerful kingdom is as easy as breathing and drinking water for them.

"Are you crazy, human? Trying to uncover their secrets."

Those guys… What a strange description. Aren't you one of them? You lack self-identification with this group, just a marginal figure? Rhine vaguely guessed something.

The Sea Hag's blunt refusal made Rhine feel slightly troubled.

His initial plan was for the Sea Hag to demand an incredibly high price for the information, and then for Aurora, with her extraordinary charm, to forcefully bargain it down.

But he didn't expect the Sea Hag to reject the deal outright! It seems that Maleficent's coven is indeed extraordinary. It has the feel of a transcontinental dark villain organization, Rhine thought.

Ariel was equally shocked.

She had heard too many terrifying stories of little Merfolk seeking the Sea Witch to fulfill their wishes. No matter how bizarre the wish, the Sea Hag could grant it—at least in the literal sense. However, those who had their wishes fulfilled always paid a terrible price.

She had thought that the two humans were just asking a question, which wasn't a particularly big wish, and the price the Sea Hag demanded would be relatively bearable.

But to her surprise, the Sea Hag was so frightened by the questions that she didn't even quote a price and refused the deal outright.

This was probably the first time in the history of the Sea Kingdom! "Destroying a powerful kingdom is as easy as breathing and drinking water! What a terrifying group!"

Ariel listened with increasing trepidation.

"Did these two human friends come here for such a dangerous purpose?"

Thinking of this, the Mermaid Princess became even more curious about the origins of her two human friends—what kind of identities did they have in the human world? "Dear Sea Witch," Rhine urged, "I heard about your rules before I came. No matter what kind of wish, you can always find a way to fulfill it—at least partially.

"In those legends, you only ever demand high prices, but you never refuse a deal itself."

If he couldn't get the Sea Hag's answer, the clues about Black Witch Maleficent and the coven behind her would be cut off! The Sea Hag fell silent, pondering.

Rhine took the opportunity to gently kick Aurora on her left side with his right foot, as children often do.

Aurora immediately understood and began to negotiate with the Sea Hag.

The young woman with extraordinary charm was skilled at leading armies, bargaining, and persuading others! Her voice was literally magical.

She first lavishly praised the Sea Hag's great powers, and then expressed her disappointment at the Sea Hag's uncharacteristic timidity.

It was only at this point that the Mermaid Princess noticed that the blonde girl, who had been mostly silent and only occasionally spoke a few words, had such a beautiful voice, each word as beautiful as a song from paradise.

Ariel had always believed that the Merfolk's beautiful singing was beyond the reach of any human—even the most ordinary little Mermaid in the Sea Kingdom.

Now she blamed herself for how arrogant her past assumptions had been.

"The humans on land are truly full of hidden talents! Two human children, one a knowledgeable scholar, and the other with such a beautiful voice."

Ariel thought, feeling an infinite desire to protect these two beautiful and delicate children.

Finally, the Sea Hag was persuaded:

"Alright. I agree. I can't break my own rules!

"Here's what we'll do. Your requests are essentially two separate ones, so I'll need two payments! You give me the first payment, and I'll tell you everything I know about Maleficent, including her location in the ancient castle, the powers she possesses, and her possible weaknesses.

"If you can provide the second payment, I'll tell you about other matters concerning our Coven of Witches."

Rhine was overjoyed and laughed:

"Please, tell us. What kind of payment do you require?"

Rhine believed that Aurora had already used her natural charm to bargain effectively, and the Sea Hag would offer a price that was barely fair.

"First, the initial payment. The answer is a valuable gift, based on the principle of equivalent exchange. Since you're asking me questions, I should ask you questions in return," the Sea Hag said.

"I'll ask you three questions, and if you can provide satisfactory answers, that will count as the first payment! I'll tell you everything, all the information about Maleficent!"

"Questions in exchange for questions? That certainly sounds like a common challenge in fairy tales," Rhine thought.

From The King and the Little Shepherd Boy to The Clever Farmer Girl, being able to answer difficult questions was a standard trait of the wise!

"Answering questions, that's great!"

Ariel was delighted and confidently introduced Rhine to the Sea Hag: "This silver-haired human boy is a knowledgeable human scholar. I doubt there's any question that can stump him."

It's a relief she's not asking the two children to fight a sea monster or gouge out their eyes... the Mermaid Princess thought.

The Sea Hag laughed dismissively:

"I've met many knowledgeable human scholars, and they're almost always white-haired old men and stubborn pedants.

"I've asked hundreds of scholars who claimed to know everything the very riddles I'm about to ask you.

"No one could answer my riddles, no one could provide the answers I wanted! They all failed at the first question."

"It seems the first question will be difficult," Rhine said seriously.

The Sea Hag cleared her throat, stroking her fat Water Snake.

"First, the first question. It's a riddle.

"If you can't even answer the initial question, the subsequent questions are meaningless, because they all build upon it."

The Sea Hag asked the first question: "In the human world, there is such a precious treasure:

"No one can see it, yet countless poems and articles praise it; "No one can touch it, yet it can be polluted and cleansed;

"It's lighter than the wind, yet more precious than gold; "It's softer than mist, yet it endures through the ages, never fading;

"Humans on land possess it, while Merfolk and other intelligent sea creatures do not; "About this precious treasure, the most bizarre, the strangest thing of all is this—this treasure is more important to the dead than to the living! "Now, my wise friends, please tell me, what exactly is this treasure?"

The Sea Hag recited the riddle as if chanting a poem.

Then she laughed.

She didn't expect these two humans to provide an answer.

To answer the riddle, wisdom alone was far from enough; one had to know some prerequisite knowledge. And this knowledge was only known to a few wise individuals in the Sea Country; how could humans from the upper world possibly know it?