Aurora frowned. Only at this moment did she realize how difficult the situation was, and a look of worry appeared on her face.
Was the first major hurdle of this journey really so troublesome?
Unlike the girl's worried expression, the boy looked at ease, as if what the princess said wasn't a problem at all.
Rhine knew very well that the claim that "mermaids are quite terrifying and cause disasters to ships passing through this sea area" was only recorded in the Rose Kingdom's literature.
The Rose Kingdom is not near the sea. These records involving the Mermaid Country were actually third or fourth-hand information spread through hearsay, mostly from the exaggerated descriptions of sailors who fell into the water from other countries and various unrealistic fantasies!
After carefully studying the documents regarding the Mermaid Country, Rhine discovered that the evidence for the so-called "mermaids causing disasters and attacking passing ships" was actually like this:
When certain ships passed through this sea area, sailors would occasionally see several mermaids floating on the water at dusk, holding hands and singing melodious songs.
—The singing was more beautiful than any human singer's. But the content of the song was incredibly terrifying and eerie, seemingly praising the depth and beauty of the seabed.
The song also seemed to be sung for the sailors, implicitly telling them not to be afraid of sinking into the sea and inviting them to embrace the beautiful seabed.
However, for the sailors on the ship, there was nothing more terrifying than the seabed.
If it were just some terrifying ballads, that would be one thing. What was even more frightening was that all ships that heard the mermaids' singing, as if cursed, almost without exception, would immediately encounter trouble.
Even if the sea surface was originally as calm as a lake, it would rage the next second. The sky suddenly turned cloudy, dark clouds covered the sky, a furious storm roared, stirring up giant waves tens of meters high, engulfing the ships. Almost all the sailors sank to the bottom of the sea—just as the mermaids' song had sung.
A very small number of crew members survived the shipwreck and recounted the terrifying story, calling it "the mermaids' curse."
However, in Rhine's opinion, the so-called "mermaids' curse" was most likely a misunderstanding!
According to the description in the little mermaid, whenever a storm was about to come, the sisters of the Sea King's Palace liked to float to the surface of the sea hand in hand and sing beautiful songs in front of passing ships, saying how lovely it was under the water, praising the beauty of the seabed and the Sea King's Palace. Obviously, other mermaids should also have similar habits.
Clearly, the mermaids did not realize how terrifying the sea they lived in was to humans.
You sing about the beauty of the seabed in front of sailors who fear shipwrecks the most, and then disaster truly strikes. No wonder humans fear you and treat you as monsters who bring disaster… Rhine muttered silently.
The next second, Aurora's question pulled the boy from his thoughts:
"So, shouldn't we find a guide who is familiar with the underwater world? The world is so big, maybe there are mages who understand or have even reached the Mermaid Country?"
"Indeed, there is such a guide who understands the Mermaid Country," Rhine said.
"Who?" Aurora pricked up her ears curiously.
"The sage beyond the world, the prophet who knows the future, the wizard of miracles and wishes. The former court magician of the kingdom, the mentor of the kingdom's future queen," Rhine answered with a smile.
Are you talking about yourself? Aurora rolled her eyes, already used to her teacher's strange sense of humor.
"Then, esteemed guide. First is the first question, how do we get into the sea?" Aurora asked.
Rhine flipped his small hand.
The tinderbox, which had been on Aurora, miraculously appeared in his palm.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
He struck the tinderbox three times.
With a whoosh, a dog with eyes as big as the top of a round tower—that is, the largest dog—appeared on the beach.
Rhine gently stroked the dog's fur and chanted a few spells. The dog's form rapidly changed, transforming into a strange large fish.
The large fish resembled a anglerfish that the boy had seen in his previous life.
The large fish opened its mouth, and Rhine, taking Aurora with him, walked into the fish's belly; the large fish leaped, taking them to dive into the sea.
The fish's belly was transparent, so they could see things in the water; the fish's head had a chandelier-like object that glowed in the water, illuminating the dark seabed.
Aurora then raised the second difficulty:
"But, my guide, this ocean is boundless. How do we find the Mermaid Country?"
Rhine smiled again and commanded the large fish:
"Go, swim to the Mermaid Country."
Rhine did not know the exact location of the Mermaid Country in the sea, but this did not matter.
The large fish was essentially a transformed dog from the tinderbox, and it had its own magical properties!
As early as when he obtained the tinderbox, Rhine had conducted dozens of experiments, sending the three dogs to find various different things.
No matter how strange the target to be found was, as long as it was within a certain distance, the dogs could always find them. From antiques buried in the ground to a specific person, the dogs' noses could always sniff out the target's location.
No wonder they could find money for the Soldier—who knows which rich man's treasury they stole from; no wonder they could discover that "the kingdom's princess" was not in the palace! Rhine thought.
In fairy tales, epics, and folk stories, many magical supernatural powers are absolute. Rhine estimated that the dogs summoned by this tinderbox had the characteristic of "being able to find the target within a certain distance."
The large fish, transformed from the dog, received the command, sensed something, and headed in a certain direction.
Soon, the large fish dived down to the seabed covered with white sand.