After gently trying to wake his three girls by softly slapping their cheeks and shaking their bodies, Shel, Marle, and Lilin finally began to open their eyes. Of course, all three were immediately shocked, and their eyes went wide because they had been in their room before, and now they woke up in an underground dungeon. They immediately looked around and then noticed they were wearing their combat gear, just like they wore every day. After that, they turned to look at Dash in front of them.
"Huh... why are we here? What are these chains?" Shel asked, holding up the handcuffs and chains, which were already loose.
"After dinner... my head felt heavy, and I was sleepy... what exactly happened? Why am I wearing my normal gear? I thought we were wearing nightgowns," Marle asked, looking at her clothes.
"Yeah, I also felt incredibly sleepy after eating. I thought I was just too full and ate too much," Lilin added, looking around.
"It looks like we were brought here to fight. There's an arena just up ahead, but relax, she and I already took care of it," Dash said, pointing to the large aquarium behind him.
"She?" Shel, Marle, and Lilin asked simultaneously, confused.
Dash nodded. Then Shel, Marle, and Lilin looked behind Dash. They saw a huge aquarium with two girls inside, hugging each other. The three stood up, then walked toward the aquarium, passing Dash until he turned around to watch them. Shel, Marle, and Lilin saw Arvia sleeping inside the aquarium while hugging her little sister, who was also still asleep.
"Ng,"
Arvia slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes immediately widened as she saw Shel, Marle, and Lilin staring at her from outside the aquarium. "Splash," she instantly woke up, flapped her legs, and jumped out, landing behind the aquarium, grabbing the hilt of her sword.
"Hey... easy, Arvia, they're friends," Dash said, holding up his hands to stop Arvia.
"S-sorry," Arvia replied, releasing the sword hilt at her waist again.
Shel, Marle, and Lilin froze, staring at Arvia, who was walking on two legs, even though her legs looked like a fish's, covered in blue scales.
"You... a mermaid? No, you're different. Mom said mermen should have a fish tail for half their body," Shel said, confused.
"This is the first time I've seen a merman who can walk on two legs... are you half-merman or what?" Marle asked.
"I've never seen a merman at all and I just realized mermen exist... probably because I forgot everything," Lilin added.
"Oh... I just realized you're standing on two legs too, Arvia. I didn't notice at all in the arena," Dash added, putting his hand to his chin and observing Arvia's legs.
"Uuuh... don't look at me like that," Arvia said, ready to jump back into the aquarium.
"Splash," Arvia jumped back into the aquarium, then poked her head out of the water, resting both arms on the side of the tank. Arvia began examining Shel, Marle, and Lilin from top to bottom, then back up, realizing the girls in front of her also looked strange and unusual.
"You... a half-orc? And you're a white wolf beastkin? And you... hmm... what are you?" Arvia asked, pointing at Shel, Marle, and Lilin one by one.
Finally, they all fell silent, and the atmosphere went quiet. Shel and Marle seemed to be studying Arvia, except for Lilin, who seemed nonchalant but was looking at Arvia's little sister who was still asleep. Arvia, on the other hand, appeared to be studying the three of them. Dash, seeing the four of them stunned, stepped forward, walking between them.
"Hey, we need to get out of here. Do you know how we get back upstairs, Arvia?" Dash asked.
"I don't know, but I know there's a bar specifically for the underworld, just past the door where I came out," Arvia answered.
"Okay, we'll go there and ask. Let's bring your sister's aquarium," Dash said.
"Um... could I ask you to take off my little sister's collar?" Arvia asked, turning to look at the iron choker on her little sister's neck.
"Sure thing," Dash replied.
Dash reached his hand into the water, then quickly squeezed the choker and pulled it out of the aquarium. "Boom," the choker exploded right inside Dash's closed fist. "Clang," Dash then dropped the remains of the choker to the floor.
"Huh... a slave collar?" Marle asked.
"Yeah, you guys were wearing them too, and I took them off already," Dash replied, patting his hands clean.
"So, we were just turned into slaves?" Shel asked.
"Yep, fighting slaves. Come on, let's get out," Dash answered.
Dash immediately shoved the aquarium, with Arvia still in it, out of the cell. Shel, Marle, and Lilin grabbed their necks, then looked at the collar fragments on the floor. They immediately swallowed their saliva, realizing they were almost made slaves in the arena if it weren't for Dash. Then they turned and followed Dash and Arvia out. After passing through the empty corridor where no one was around, they emerged back into the arena. Shel, Marle, and Lilin were shocked half to death, seeing the arena floor covered in blood and human bodies. Marle saw several corpses nearby and squatted down to examine them.
"These are... Grandias Kingdom soldier uniforms... and Nilfaria Kingdom. They're soldiers from Grandias and Nilfaria," Marle said.
"Hmm... I didn't realize that. I only saw the Grandias Kingdom crest, and after that, I just knocked them all out without worrying about the crest anymore," Dash said casually.
"The Grandias Kingdom... they framed my father... they made the Kingdom of Thitia execute my father... it's all because of me... because I have legs," Arvia said, lowering her head and crying, her hands gripping the side of the aquarium trembling.
Dash, Shel, Marle, and Lilin, hearing Arvia's words and seeing her distress, immediately approached the side of the aquarium, then helped Dash push the aquarium without saying anything. When they reached the sturdy iron bars, Dash clenched his fist and told the others to step back. "Clang," he punched the gate, sending it flying entirely into the hallway behind them, where it destroyed a part of the stone gate's upper edge.
"Let's go," Dash urged.
They continued walking, pushing the aquarium through the corridor. After the building's corridor ended, they began traversing a cave tunnel that looked like an underground waterway.
"Hey... where does this tunnel lead?" Shel asked.
"Golddale City," Arvia answered.
"Huh? Really?" Marle asked, shocked.
"Yes, a week ago, after my father was executed and the kingdom sold my sister and me to that noble, I was brought to Golddale through the Nilfaria Kingdom and over a mountain pass. After that, I was sold to the underground syndicate that controls the slavery in this region and runs this dark arena for the entertainment of the nobles from the Grandias Kingdom and the Nilfaria Kingdom," Arvia said, looking down.
"I see. You mentioned earlier it was all because you have legs. What did you mean by that?" Dash asked, confused.
"All right, I'll tell you,"
Arvia began telling them what happened to her and her family. In the Merman Kingdom called Thitia, which is beneath the sea and closed off from the outside world, there is a taboo legend: mermen cannot use magic; instead, they can control water. However, once every 100 years, a merman will be born with legs, capable of living on both land and sea, able to use water-element magic, and also able to control the water around them.
But this unique trait is considered taboo because a merman like that is believed to be a descendant of an evil sea god who was imprisoned in the deep ocean, and they don't dare kill him for fear of bad luck brought by incurring the god's wrath.
When a merman baby like that was born in the kingdom, typically among the nobles, they had to report it, then banish it from the kingdom to live on land, ensuring it could never return to the kingdom. In Arvia's case, her father couldn't bring himself to drive her away and instead locked her up in the basement of his mansion, providing her with knowledge and care until she grew up.
But this was discovered by a noble who came from the Grandias Kingdom, who had entered the kingdom using a magic device to breathe underwater. The noble intended to purchase Arvia from her father, but naturally, her father refused.
Finally, using his political clout, he framed Arvia's father with the charge of plotting a rebellion, complete with strong evidence—though how he got it was anyone's guess. The kingdom arrested every member of Arvia's family, but when the kingdom found out that Arvia was a merman with legs and went wild when they grabbed her, the king ordered the execution of Arvia's entire family for "concealing Arvia and failing to report her."
Everyone was killed except for her younger sister, who was actually just adopted. After that, the noble from Grandias asked the kingdom to sell Arvia to him for a high price. The king, who wanted to get rid of Arvia anyway and didn't dare kill her for fear of incurring the god's wrath, finally sold Arvia to the noble. Dash, hearing Arvia's complete story, suddenly went silent, thinking,
"The Grandias Kingdom again. Another victim of that kingdom pops up."