The Anti-Intellectualism Demon King’s World Invasion - Chapter 67



Only Noblemtl

Episode 67

“How can you make me trust you?”

The female mermaid looked at me with eyes full of suspicion.

“I will catch all the mosquitoes in this floating seaweed field. If I were sent by the Ark Church, would I bother to do such a difficult job?”

“Can you really catch all the mosquitoes?”

The female mermaid asked, scratching her back, which she could not reach.

“I’ll catch it first. Then think about it after you see it.”

I took my gear out of my backpack.

I was planning to exterminate the mosquitoes anyway.

The livestock that were to be raised in the future looked unhealthy as they had their blood sucked too much by mosquitoes.

The broken egg I saw on my way here also seemed to be a work of art by a mosquito.

Pests should be caught early, otherwise dealing with them later will cost twice as much.

I set up poles like soccer goals and spread out a net.

And it hurt my arm like I was catching mosquitoes in the water.

Then the mosquitoes rushed at me like dogs smelling meat.

Because I was behind the goal, the mosquitoes were caught in the net and couldn’t suck my blood.

Soon the goal net was full to the brim.

I instructed Bomi and Jinman to tie the net.

“What do you think? Can you believe it now?”

“Wow! It was so easy to catch.”

I approached the mermaid, whose expression was almost astonished, and applied mosquito repellent to her.

Just in case, I told Nurse Jang to bring it.

I tried it on Jude and Mary who were bitten by mosquitoes and it was quite effective.

“What is this? Is it a potion? It doesn’t tickle anymore.”

“It’s not a potion, it’s mosquito repellent.”

“I used to think that everything made by humans was a poison that was eating away at life and a pollutant that was destroying the ocean, but there are also things that are helpful.”

She seemed to have a distrust of humans.

I couldn’t make excuses for her distrust, not only because I had seen it in environmental documentaries, but also because I had witnessed plastic and plastic bags in the stomachs of fish while fishing.

Instead, I applied mosquito repellent to the children as well.

I thought the mermaid’s distrust of humans would decrease even a little, but it seemed like her trust in me only increased.

Her eyes turned into heart-pounding like Mary and Jude.

The children’s rash subsided and they stopped scratching.

I looked back at the mermaid and asked.

“Now, can you tell me how you ended up here with the kids?”

“Of course. If the King wishes, I must do it.”

King? You called me king?

From the look on the mermaid’s face, it seemed as though she didn’t realize that she was the king.

Did I hear wrong? Or did she misspeak?

I couldn’t ask if he was called king because the story had just begun.

“I ran here to save the mermaid children. Ah! Before I tell you the story, I should tell you my name first. My name is Hyang.”

Fragrance! It’s a completely different name from Jude and Mary.

Come to think of it, Hyang-i looked like a different species from Jude and Mary, who looked sick and deformed, despite being mermaids themselves, as she looked healthy and balanced.

It was said that Hyang-i was originally the nanny of the nursery.

When the eggs laid by the queen hatched, the role was to provide milk to the babies that emerged from the eggs and raise them.

But at some point, the amount of eggs coming to the hatchery began to decrease.

It was simply thought that the queen’s egg production had decreased because she was getting older.

So I thought the queen would abdicate soon.

“The power of the queen was determined by how many mermaids she could produce.”

“Could it be possible for Hyang-i to become a queen too?”

“Of course. Only princesses who are candidates for queen can be wet nurses.”

Hyang-i answered Bomi’s question with strength in her shoulders.

“Wow! Then Ms. Hyang is the mermaid princess.”

“Yes, my eggs are very healthy.”

Hyang-i answered while patting her lower abdomen.

Judging from the look on her face, Hyang-i seemed to be expecting the queen.

The production of mermaids was not simply a matter of laying many eggs, but of hatching many of them into mermaids.

In reality, less than half of the eggs hatched properly.

“They say that in the old days, almost all eggs would hatch, but then the king cursed them and the hatching rate dropped significantly.”

“A king? Is there a king of mermaids?”

In response to my question, Hyang shook her head and answered.

“The King of Mermaids no longer exists. They say there used to be one a long time ago, but they disappeared at some point. The water mermaids have completely disappeared.”

Could it be that the character of the King of Mermaids fell into the bottomless pit of the Dragon Palace and died?

In the process, he left behind a ring engraved with a trident.

When the mermaid king disappeared, the queen began to reproduce parthenogenetically, giving birth to children without fertilization by a male.

So maybe the mermaids have disappeared?

So what are these guys?

I tilted my head and asked.

“Then aren’t these kids mermaids?”

“That’s right, mermaids. Mermaids started being born when that woman came.”

“Is that woman Jiyeon, or rather, your older sister?”

“Oh. Right. How did you know?”

“I heard it from the mermaid I met on my way here.”

When Jiyeon started hatching eggs in the hatchery, the hatching rate increased dramatically.

Despite the decline in egg production, the number of mermaid babies born has more than doubled.

Then wouldn’t that be a good thing?

But I felt hostility towards Hyang-i’s words about Ji-yeon.

“After she hatched the eggs, water mermaids started to be born, although only occasionally. It was the first time I had ever seen a water mermaid, so the birth of a water mermaid was a huge event. But the queen told me to kill all the water mermaids, not leave any behind. The woman didn’t care if the water mermaids she hatched died. But I couldn’t do that.”

“So you ran away here with the kids?”

“Yes. But there are other reasons besides that.”

“What is it?”

“That woman found out that my sister was stealing eggs.”

“So that’s why you were chased by the Ark Church.”

“That’s right. How did you know?”

Hyang-i looked at me as if she was surprised.

I shrugged and answered.

“As a former detective, this is the level of deduction.”

Jiyeon probably used her powers to turn the stolen mermaid egg into a pearl for transformation.

After eating the mermaid’s eggs, Chief Choi and Elder Kim were transformed and became mermaids.

Well then, we need to stop mermaid egg production.

The Ark Church will suffer a huge blow.

“Sir. I see you’re laughing to yourself. I guess you’ve come up with some plans. Tell me what it is. Is it something to eat? Or is it something to do with the apartment? Or is it a bangjoo-gyo?”

“The plan isn’t finalized yet, so I’ll let you know later.”

You damn Bomi, but I won’t tell you about my plans.

“nurse!”

At that moment, someone was heard calling Hyang-i.

A mermaid emerged from the pool I dug.

Hey! Is that the little mermaid that jumped into the water just now?

After realizing that there were no mosquitoes in the water, Hyang-i put the children in the water to heal their chapped skin.

“Water is fun.”

Although he spoke in a childish tone, the mermaid had grown up like a young man.

With a body like a model, clear-cut eyes, nose, and mouth, and the fact that she was male, she looked like a healthy mermaid seen in fairy tale illustrations.

Her skin was also smooth and sparkling in the sunlight, making the chapped skin from just a moment ago pale in comparison.

Bomi stared at the mermaid with her mouth wide open, drooling.

I poked Bomi in the side with my elbow and looked at Hyang-i.

“Mermaids grow very quickly when they meet water. It seems like the growth period that had been suppressed while the children were above water exploded all at once. It’s all thanks to you that the children were able to grow like this. I’m grateful. I don’t know how I can repay this favor.”

Hyang-i looked at me with eyes that looked like she would give me her body if I wanted it.

“Oh, I see. Then, could you give me a fork? No, a trident as a reward?”

“This trident is said to belong to the king. Well, it doesn’t matter since there is no king. Take it.”

Hyang-i coolly handed me a fork.

I took it and looked at it.

The fork handle was engraved with a muscular, bearded Poseidon making waves, but other than that, it looked like any other fork.

I touched it here and there just in case, but nothing changed.

Bomi teased him when she saw that.

“Do you know how to expand and contract like the Ruyi Jingu Bang? If so, your mouth would burst open while you’re eating. Haha.”

“Bomi, you’re such a good kid. You have such a humble imagination. Even though this looks like a fork, if the mermaid calls it a trident, then there must be something to it.”

“What is that?”

“I guess I’ll have to look into that a little more.”

“Haha. My imagination has become a delusion.”

Bomi laughed, but I felt the ring reacting to the trident.

There was definitely something about this fork, or rather trident.

【 Battle 】

As the moon rose, we crossed the garbage wall.

And then I headed towards the leaning cathedral I had seen during the day.

The leaning cathedral was the meeting place with the anti-Archangel forces that Hyunwoo had mentioned.

“I wonder if there’s anyone there? No matter how I look, it seems like there’s no one.”

Bomi asked, seeming suspicious.

At that time, Jinman said.

“I can see the light inside.”

“Oh. That’s true.”

Bomi and Jinman looked relieved, but I was worried that I should give up on the contact and go back.

If that’s a trap for the Ark Church, then it’s better.

If that light was lit by the anti-Ark forces, I wondered if I should join them in their careless actions.

But since we’ve come this far, we should check to see who’s inside the tilted cathedral.

We approached the cathedral cautiously.