The Sea Hag said impatiently, "That is precisely how magic works. It has its own strange laws and restrictions. If every detail could be explained, understood, and described, then it would no longer be magic. It would be no different from the precisely functioning devices of you humans, with their mechanisms and gears."
Ariel looked at the Sea Hag, who was clearly growing angry.
"It's all right. I accept the risk of death. I was prepared for it the moment I came to find you. Please give me the potion. I'm not afraid!"
Though she said that, her face was pale as snow.
The pain of walking as though on knives, and the risk of death if the task failed—were those the prices she had to pay?
Ariel was willing to endure the former.
As for the latter, if she could win the prince's love and gain an immortal soul, then there would be nothing to worry about, would there? Ariel knew that she possessed the most beautiful singing voice in all the sea and on all the land.
No mermaid could hear her singing without being moved, much less a human. She could enchant the prince with that beautiful voice and make him pour all his love and soul into her! "But don't forget, you still have to pay me," the Sea Hag said. "In exchange for this precious potion, you must give me a handsome reward."
"What should I give you?" Ariel asked fearfully.
Only then did she remember that the first two prices were, first, the potion's own side effects, and second, the curse imposed by the world after she took on human form—though those alone were already terrifying enough.
She still had to pay the Sea Hag.
And it certainly would not be anything insignificant!
"Your voice," the Sea Hag said. "Even among all the merfolk of Sea Country, your singing is the most beautiful. Only such payment is worthy of my help! Princess, I will cut out your tongue and use magic to take away your voice. From then on, you will be unable to speak."
Ariel's face turned even paler.
Before she could reply, Aurora protested indignantly from beside her.
"This is unfair. Ariel's beautiful voice is how she intended to attract the one she loves.
"If she becomes mute, how is Ariel supposed to gain the prince's love?
"You clearly know that if she fails, she will turn into sea foam. Yet you are demanding the very gift she needs to succeed as payment! How is that any different from pushing her into the grave?"
Aurora looked toward Rhine, who had been silent for some reason since earlier.
"Say something, Teacher.
"It's like taking away one duelist's weapon as the price of admission before a duel where failure means death.
"This deal isn't fair at all!"
Rhine, who had been pondering something all this time, finally spoke.
"I think the price the Sea Hag has offered is perfectly reasonable."
Aurora froze, momentarily speechless. "Why?"
Rhine turned toward Ariel and the Sea Hag, seeming to stand entirely on the latter's side. "Honored Sea Witch, I disagree with my friend.
"I believe it is entirely reasonable for you to demand such a high price—we knew from the beginning that coming to you to fulfill a wish would require a heavy price, didn't we? If Ariel cannot accept your price, she can simply refuse the deal and find another merchant with lower rates—if she can find one. Isn't that right?"
"What kind of thing is that to say?" Aurora was stunned.
"But if she doesn't get a potion from the Sea Hag to turn her fish tail into human legs, where else could she get one?" Just as she was about to ask Rhine that, she abruptly stopped.
Aurora instantly understood what her teacher was going to say next.
The Sea Hag clearly did not know what Rhine was thinking. All she saw was this:
The two humans had started arguing among themselves. The Silver-haired Boy was opposing the blonde girl for once and speaking up for her with all his might.
The Sea Witch burst into laughter and praised Rhine. "I never expected you to be such a sensible child. Nothing like your friend.
"Your friend keeps going on and on, always trying to blame me and push the fault onto me. As though Ariel ought to receive my help for free.
"Merfolk are just like humans—always so greedy. They want their wishes fulfilled, but they refuse to pay the price!
"And where in this world is there such a good deal? When would a powerful mage or Witch fulfill someone's wish for free without demanding payment? As you said, the Mermaid Princess came to me of her own accord for this transaction. If she doesn't want it, that suits me just fine. She can go find someone else."
For a moment, Rhine and the Sea Hag had actually reached a consensus.
The sight left Ariel, the Mermaid Princess, somewhat bewildered.
Then Rhine looked at Ariel again.
"Just as I said. Wasn't all of this your own choice? If you want help, then naturally you must pay the price. If you don't, go find someone willing to give you the same potion for free!"
Ariel nodded softly, her little face pale.
Although she was saddened at the thought of losing her beautiful voice and becoming mute, she admitted deep down that her human friend was not wrong.
She could not possibly expect someone to help turn her into a human for free, could she? "Then let's do it. I accept this deal!" Ariel gathered her courage and said to the Sea Hag.
"Stick out your tongue."
The Sea Hag then took out a sharp knife.
She would use that knife to cut off the Mermaid Princess's tongue and take away the most beautiful singing voice in all the sea and on all the land.
"You should have made up your mind long ago, my princess.
"As your human friend said, if you only want your wish granted without paying the price, then you might as well close your eyes and pray for someone to give you, for free, a potion that can make you grow human legs—one as effective as the potion I brew."
"Yes," Rhine agreed with the Sea Hag from behind her, his tone exceedingly firm. "For example, I can give her a potion for free. Ariel can come to me."
"Exactly..." the Sea Hag said, just about to agree with Rhine before sensing that something was wrong.
She turned toward Rhine in shock and asked, word by word, "What did you say, human?"
Rhine smiled at Ariel. "Since we've become friends, I can brew you a potion for free—one with the same effect as the Sea Hag's. Well, not entirely the same. Its side effects will be milder."
"That doesn't sound funny." The Sea Hag stared at Rhine. "What are you talking about? I invented the potion that makes mermaids grow legs. In all the sea and on land, only I can brew it!"
I believe that's true, but what I copied was precisely your potion-brewing skill... Rhine thought.
The Sea Hag flew into a rage.
"Stop making such foolish jokes, human. The potion I brew contains powerful magic. Only someone who knows magic can make it!"
"Yes." The Silver-haired Boy returned a gentle smile. "Didn't I mention it before? I'm a magician."
Ariel looked at her two human friends in surprise.
"That's right." Aurora proudly introduced Rhine. "He's an especially powerful and exceptionally versatile magician! He's the finest magician in the kingdom we come from."
"Wait!" Ariel was utterly astonished, staring at the silver-haired boy with disbelief written all over her face.
So this good friend who had accompanied her for some time was actually a magician? As far as the Mermaid Princess knew, magic was an unfathomably profound and mysterious field of knowledge. In Sea Country, there was only one wise being who understood magic: the Sea Hag.
No wonder they, despite being humans, could ride that strange giant fish to Sea Country! "I always thought you were a highly learned human scholar," Ariel said.
"Those aren't contradictory," Rhine said with a smile. "Almost every magician is a scholar with extensive knowledge."
The Sea Hag interrupted them.
"All right. With that strange giant fish with the transparent belly, I believe you truly are a magician.
"But what use is that? The potion that can split a mermaid's tail and turn it into human legs is my invention! I have never told anyone its secret recipe.
"Other than me, no human or creature of the sea can brew a potion with the same effect!"
With a smile on his lips, the boy said to Ariel.
"In that case, let's try it. Give me some time. I'll brew the potion and give it to you for free."
"For free?" Ariel could hardly believe it.
"Yes. It's a gift from a friend." Rhine crouched down inside the giant fish's belly.
Clouds of mist emerged from his hands, conjuring a medicine pot, herbs, a mortar, a pestle, and the other tools needed to brew potions out of thin air.
Ariel watched the magical sight in astonishment. "Is this magic? You made so many things appear all at once."
Many of those herbs and tools were things Rhine had touched while treating commoners' illnesses when he had first crossed into this world.
As long as Rhine had touched an item once, he could summon it from afar to his side.
—This was the magic he had learned after fulfilling the soldier's wish to "retrieve The Tinderbox"!
The young magician began brewing the potion. His movements were practiced and smooth, and every so often he added something to the pot.
From time to time, strange-shaped steam drifted out of it.
The Sea Hag, however, watched in a daze.
"This potion recipe, this method of brewing—how are they so much like mine?"
It was practically as if she herself were brewing the potion!
No, there were still many differences.
The sea snakes that were supposed to go into the potion had been replaced with snakes from the land. The silver seaweed that was only useful when picked under moonlight had been replaced with some land herb the Sea Hag did not recognize.
Clearly, Rhine had slightly altered the formula, replacing many sea ingredients with land-based materials that had similar medicinal properties.
There were herbs from forests, grasslands, mountains, and even deserts. There were far more things on land than in the vast deep sea! Some ingredients, Rhine had simply discarded and not added at all.
Because divination told him that those ingredients not only lacked any useful properties, but would instead cause severe toxicity—the original formula was flawed as well.
When the Sea Hag saw the strange steam rising from the pot, she knew that the potion was almost finished.
And its color and quality were undoubtedly better than even the finest potion she could brew!
The Sea Hag could not accept this fact at all.
She questioned the little magician before her again.
"Don't think I don't understand the principles behind it. To infuse this potion with magic, you still need to pour in a large bottle of magical blood.
"Are you really so kind that you would willingly offer your own blood? With a body as small as yours, if you let out that much blood, you'll probably collapse before the potion is finished!"
"Isn't it just magical blood?" Rhine smiled. Inside the giant fish's belly, he found a soft patch of flesh and slit it open with a dagger, letting the fish's blood flow into the medicine pot.
The Sea Hag needed her own blood to brew magical potions, but he did not.
This giant fish had been transformed from the dog summoned by The Tinderbox, so its blood naturally came from Big Dog and contained innate magic.
Big Dog had far more blood than he did! Before long, the potion came to a boil, and a wonderful sound emerged from it—not the cry of a crocodile from the original tale, but the melodious song of a lark.
Just like that, the potion was finished.
This pot of magical potion was colorless and transparent, looking like clear water.
"Oh heavens! How could this happen? This is impossible!"
The Sea Hag cried out.
She did not even need to watch the Mermaid Princess try drinking it. Just by hearing the sound it made when the potion was finished, she knew Rhine's potion had to be better than hers.
"Please take this potion to the shore and drink it before the sun rises," Rhine said. "This magical potion of mine has an effect similar to the Sea Hag's. It will also make you grow human legs, but its side effects will be far milder!"
Before you continue