"Mission complete. Reward: Mermaid's Heart."
As Shaliwara reminisced about the past, Liszt absentmindedly summoned the Smoke mission. With all the mermaids revived, the mission had naturally been completed.
"Mission: The mermaids have offered you the Mermaid's Heart and become your followers. However, there is a thorn in every mermaid's heart that has yet to be pulled out. Perhaps exploring the situation in the Devil Sea will help them regain their confidence in life. Reward: one Great Elf."
Exploring the Devil Sea was already part of the planned voyage; he could pull the thorn from the mermaids' hearts while he was at it.
Once he dismissed the Smoke, Shaliwara had already finished reminiscing. The group continued onward, following the continental slope toward the deep sea. Along the way, they gradually felt the ocean currents growing stronger. Chaotic whirlpools even ran wild through the waters. Sometimes, when they surfaced, they could see dark clouds blanketing the sky and torrential storms raging without pause.
"Before it was contaminated by the Curse Dragon, the Devil Sea was called the Storm Sea. A mermaid whose name ended in Orakir was once born there. She attempted to gather the power of the Mermaid's Heart to calm the Storm Sea's unceasing tempests, but unfortunately, she failed."
Etenia, ruler of the Great Western Kingdom, watched the storm and spoke to Liszt.
"I thought it was the Curse Dragon's contamination that turned the sea into this."
"The Curse Dragon only contaminated the ocean; it never contaminated the sky or the land. During the eras of the Moon Empire and the Sun Empire, those two great human nations communicated through Skyships. They were magnificent creations of the magicians. Unfortunately, by the era in which I lived, both empires had long since perished." Etenia explained to Liszt.
Among the seven mermaids,