The instant she emerged from the water, the mermaid's waterless hair scattered in the wind, revealing crystal-like scales along her cheeks.
It should have been a breathtakingly beautiful sight, but when Kid caught a sharp glimpse of it, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. Instinctively, he sensed something was wrong.
The next instant, his gaze lowered and landed abruptly on the mermaid's long, slender tail.
Kid: "..."
Kid: "..."
Kid: "!!!"
Before his brain could react, his hand was already raised, firmly pressing down on the mermaid's shoulder.
The mermaid froze, somewhat surprised. This human was really enthusiastic—he had put an arm around her shoulder the moment they met. After dealing with Jiang Xia for so long, she had thought her current appearance did not suit teenagers' tastes.
She was just beginning to feel secretly pleased, thinking this phantom thief had quite an eye for beauty.
The next second, driven by his survival instinct, Kid burst out with enormous strength. With his eyes squeezed tightly shut, he shoved the mermaid who had just surfaced straight back into the river.
There was a huge splash.
Jiang Xia looked at the mermaid, who had been slapped flat against the water and lost all elegance, and at the spray that surged up. "..."
After throwing the fish, Kid abruptly withdrew his hand and shook the water from it, still badly shaken.
Then he noticed Mist Tengu silently watching from nearby, and suddenly remembered: he seemed to have thrown the helper Mist Tengu had invited.
He immediately felt a little awkward. "Well, I didn't do it on purpose. It was just, just..."
Jiang Xia: "..." I don't really mind. After all, I wasn't the one who got thrown so disgracefully.
But...
A parabola suddenly flashed before his eyes.
—With a splash, the Memory Egg