Why elves were able to evolve—the truth behind that chapter of history still awaited discovery. In any case, that earthshaking battle upon the sea had definitely changed the course of civilization across the entire world.
But regardless.
Liszt was no archaeologist. He merely wanted to develop the Flame Archipelago as quickly as possible, so he set many of his doubts aside for now.
"I will help His Majesty Liszt discipline these fish-uglies. Compared to my era, their intelligence has declined greatly, but the suppressive power inherent in their bloodline still works." With Gullveig's command, the fish-ugly race, numbering several million, officially became slaves.
Within the Mermaid Kingdom, the fish-ugly race had originally been a slave race.
Strip away the lovely outer garment of mermaid legends, and mermaids were in fact the dragon-raising families of the sea. Nagas belonged to the knightly class of the Mermaid Kingdom, while fish-uglies were the commoner class.
The rigidity of this class hierarchy was far more extreme than among humans.
However, to truly gain Gullveig's loyalty, Liszt needed to purify the power of the Curse Dragon, lest leaks from the seal pollute the sea once more. The sea was now Liszt's territory; by sentiment and by reason alike, he had to purify the Curse Dragon's power.
A Ke remained at the offshore laboratory to plan the purification.
With the fish-ugly race as laborers, not to mention an offshore laboratory, even an offshore city could be built with ease—the Fish-Ugly Temple, a typical Mermaid Kingdom structure, was the fish-uglies' handiwork. Of course, in the Mermaid Kingdom, the official name for such temples was Sea Sacrificial Halls.
Sea Sacrificial Halls were symbols of mermaid authority. At the Mermaid Kingdom's peak, they could be found throughout every corner of the sea.
Every one of them had been built