This Man Is Hiding Something from Us

When the mermaid girls returned, Miming was reading the newspaper and making idle conversation with King Cobra, seemingly unsurprised by any of this. Excited yet exhausted, the mermaid girls clustered around Queen Otohime and escorted her away to rest. Only Shyarly kept looking back, studying Miming's expression with suspicious eyes.

"This man is hiding something from us." Shyarly sensed it sharply.

As she was about to enter the lake, she suddenly saw several people returning from the woods. Cairns had his nose plugged and came back from outside with several subordinates carrying shovels. Their boots were caked with mud, which they wiped on the doormat at the entrance.

Shyarly hid in the water. Her movements were unbelievably nimble; not only did she make no sound, but she was so fast that even Cairns failed to notice her.

Cairns pressed a finger against his nose and blew out the paper plugs stuffed in his nostrils. Annoyed, he said, "Even after walking that far, I can still smell the stench of burnt Fish-Men."

"It's probably the oil stuck on my hands, right?" another subordinate said unhappily. "They brushed them with oil and sprinkled salt on them while roasting them. It's disgusting."

"The previous head of the Bird Family liked doing this too. To make Fisher Tiger submit, he would roast those little Fish-Men right in front of him." Cairns pinched his nose. "I have to say, it's revolting." For his dog-like nose, it had been a truly miserable assignment.

"Don't think about it. Just treat it like ordinary grilled fish."

The group spoke as they walked away.

Shyarly covered her mouth, frozen stiff with terror. The tip of her tail trembled ceaselessly in the water. This was where Fisher Tiger had once been captured and enslaved?

Shyarly carefully climbed ashore and followed