Otohime could not understand.
The Fish-Men's situation was already far, far better than it had been back when they lived on Fish-Man Island ten thousand meters beneath the sea.
When she had governed before, it was not as though she had never considered arranging more respectable, intellectual work for those Fish-Men.
But in reality, they simply could not do it.
And in the end, it had been the Fish-Men she had helped who voluntarily gave up those opportunities and went back to manual labor.
Yet only a few short years had passed.
How had things developed into such an irreconcilable state?
Otohime's heart was filled with confusion and unease.
After a long silence, she suddenly remembered something. Raising her head, she looked at Shirahoshi and asked softly,
"Shirahoshi, how are Aruma and Zodick doing now?"
They were two Fish-Men Otohime had once helped.
Back then, she had put considerable effort into nurturing them as bridges of communication between Fish-Men and Mermaids.
At her words, a strange expression flashed across Shirahoshi's face. She then spread her hands and said casually,
"Them? They've already reincarnated."
"They should be two-year-old human children now. And before reincarnating, they even requested that they not retain the memories of their past lives. They didn't want to be Fish-Men in their next lives."
"W-What?"
Otohime shuddered violently, her entire body going still.
"Reincarnated? They died?" Her voice began to tremble. "How could that be... Weren't they doing well? What exactly happened?"
"They died in two separate conflicts between Fish-Men and Mermaids." Shirahoshi narrated calmly, as though she were discussing something that had nothing to do with her. "More specifically, they were killed by the Fish-Men."
"Killed by Fish-Men?" Otohime could not believe it.
Aruma and Zodick were both Fish-Men.
"Yes." Shirahoshi nodded. "The Fish-Men believed that the