The Mermaid noticed Jiang Xia's gaze. Thinking of the Energy Core Kid had contributed, she snorted and reluctantly decided to let tonight's events slide.
Bracing herself against the side of the boat, she splashed back into the water. Compared to staying on the boat, she actually preferred drifting in the river.
This was where the Mermaid's tail came in handy. She swam much faster than anyone could row, pushing the little boat through the waves until it quickly reached the shore.
When they arrived, Jiang Xia looked up and spotted an anxious-looking old man on the bank.
Jii Konosuke received them and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he suddenly froze as he looked at the soaking-wet Kid. "Young master, how did you get so drenched?"
...Earlier, he had been anxiously scanning the sky with Binoculars. He had vaguely seen a person and a monster land safely on the boat, and only then had he hurried to the shore to meet them.
Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, Kid would turn into a pitiful drowned rat, while the monster beside him remained completely dry?
For an instant, thoughts such as "wash thoroughly before slicing and air-drying" flashed through Jii Konosuke's mind, making his hair stand on end.
Kid: "..."
He really did not want to bring up something so humiliating.
Remembering what had happened in the water, he sneezed and silently edged over to the other side of Mist Tengu, farther from the riverbank. He was afraid that if Grandpa Jii mentioned it, the Mermaid would get angry again and suddenly reach out to drag him back into the water... The Mermaid was beautiful, but that tail of hers was truly terrifying.
The more he thought about it, the more Kid could not help