Although Otohime was a little naïve, she still knew better than to tell someone to their face that their good days would not last. For a moment, she hesitated, unable to speak.
Fortunately, Mousse could guess what she was thinking, so the conversation did not come to a halt. Still, he could not help sighing inwardly, recalling Lu Xun's words: "Mourn their misfortune, rage at their failure to strive."
"Fish-Men had been discriminated against for at least eight hundred years, while merfolk often ended up as playthings and collectibles for the nobility. They had no choice but to huddle together for warmth in the deep sea ten thousand meters below. But after suffering this much, they still couldn't make up their minds to take risks and fight for change. Wasn't their current situation therefore only natural?"
Mousse sighed inwardly. His understanding of the Fish-Man Island royal family's cowardice deepened, and he presented a new proposal.
"If you can't bring yourselves to relocate the entire nation, then let the poor Fish-Men who are struggling to support their families immigrate first! Once these Fish-Men experience equality among all races in Totto Land, their hostility toward humans will naturally fade. As their proportion grows, the overall atmosphere of the Fish-Man race will change with it."
"Don't think you can achieve the final goal all at once by persuading the Celestial Dragons. How could something this major be accomplished in a single stroke? Don't such things have to be done step by step, gradually, before the goal can finally be reached?"
Otohime was persuaded by Mousse. But when she eagerly returned to the palace and brought it up to her husband, King Neptune, who had always doted on her, wore a strange expression, as if he were looking at a fool.
Still, they were