The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 149

Chapter 18: Merman: The Suffering Scoundrel

The meeting with the Sage went well.

Now, I just need to visit the locations marked on the map and find the places from my memories.

However, an unexpected situation arose.

Duke Orneo decided to accompany us.

“Why are you following us?”

“Hehehe! The entrance to the underwater city, which only existed in records, has appeared. How could I possibly resist this?”

Indeed, he’s a knowledge fanatic.

He can’t stand not satisfying his curiosity.

“Besides, there’s another reason why I absolutely must go. It’s because of the ‘Orb of the Merman King’.”

The Orb of the Merman King.

According to Orneo’s explanation, the underwater city is inhabited by merfolk, and the entire race has been guarding this treasure for generations.

It possesses incalculable value and contains tremendous power.

“You know that I am a water elementalist, right? You’ve experienced it firsthand.”

“Of course.”

“The Orb of the Merman King is a precious artifact made from primordial water. If I could receive even a fraction of the power contained within the orb, I can’t even imagine what kind of development I could achieve.”

Orneo’s voice was excited as he thought about the treasure.

It was a story that had nothing to do with me.

My goal is the Golden Branch anyway.

The Sage and I had different desires.

“Will you accept me as part of your group? I may be old, but I’m good at cooking and carrying luggage.”

There was no reason to refuse.

Having a Seven Star [a title denoting a powerful and influential mage] is reassuring in itself.

And Orneo was a knowledgeable old man.

He never stopped talking the entire time; it felt like listening to the radio.

“Campbell, was it? Hehe! You have a sturdy build. What? You like alcohol? There’s no alcohol I haven’t tasted. So much so that I’ve collected local specialties and even created a cellar. I’ll invite you over later. Come and have a drink.”

“Shion, you say? A remarkable woman. Such martial prowess at a young age. And even as a maid. This is a secret, but the Calon Empire has the world’s best female martial artist. Your hair color is similar too.”

He quickly blended in with us.

Campbell liked the old man very much, and Shion didn’t seem to care as long as he wasn’t a threat to me.

There were a total of 12 places marked on the map.

We checked seven of them.

Unfortunately, they were all dead ends.

Now it was time to explore the eighth place.

Shion and Campbell took a nap after training.

Having recovered my fatigue with my passive skill, I volunteered to stand guard.

As I picked up a branch and stirred the bonfire, Old Man Orneo quietly sat next to me.

“Can’t you sleep?”

“Old people tend to lose sleep.”

Both of us were silent.

The sound of burning firewood chased away the suffocating silence.

“I’ve been watching you throughout the journey, and you hardly sleep. Do you have a related stamina recovery skill?”

“Yes, I do.”

“It must be a Druid-type skill.”

“Yes.”

I readily admitted it since there was no point in hiding it. However, I couldn’t remain calm at the following question.

“Are you Henon Lloyd?”

For a brief moment, the tip of the branch stirring the bonfire stopped. That alone was enough of an answer for the Sage.

“The demon slayer who was reported missing was here.”

“How did you know?”

“The camouflage cream was suspicious from the start. Tom used to use that a lot. Also, there aren’t many super-skilled people like you at such a young age. After eliminating the options, the answer came quickly.”

Orneo’s eyes were very deep.

I gave up trying to play dumb.

He wasn’t someone who would be fooled by such a petty trick.

“That’s right. I am Henon Lloyd.”

I told him the whole story.

The conspiracy of the Twilight Church and the efforts to stop it.

The fact that I was traveling to find the Golden Branch to become stronger.

Orneo, after listening to everything, seemed deeply impressed by me.

“Hmph… I’m ashamed.”

“What do you mean?”

“A young man who has just come of age is running around trying to save the continent, while an old man called a Sage is indulging in his thirst for knowledge, acting like a frog in a well [a person with limited experience or perspective].”

“There’s no need to blame yourself.”

“No. The Seven Stars are respected by everyone. We have that much responsibility. We must not forget that.”

The Sage held my hand tightly.

“If you need my help after this journey, come to the tower anytime. I will always make time for you.”

“Thank you.”

His hand was wrinkled but warm.

It was a warm hand.

* * *

Searching the eighth location.

After investigating so many similar places, I was dizzy just looking at the horizon.

But I had to do it.

I walked slowly on the beach under the scorching sun.

The sound of the waves cooled my eardrums.

Occasionally, seagulls soared across the blue sky.

As I trudged through the sand that sank deep to my knees, Campbell grumbled.

“We have terrible luck. Eight out of twelve places, that’s more than half already, and it’s another dead end!”

“Stop complaining. The Young Master is more frustrated than anyone else. Anyway, you’re happy as long as the dinner menu is delicious, right?”

“The maid is being prickly again. If the little dragon hadn’t grown so big, I would have taught you a lesson with my sword.”

“Even without Coco, you can’t beat me.”

“Do you want to try right now?”

“Gladly.”

Shion and Campbell were about to fight again.

Orneo, who was listening from the side, interjected.

“I have a question. You’ve been mentioning Coco since before, is there another member in your group besides me?”

They both became silent.

They seemed troubled, so I took Coco out of my subspace pocket.

“Kyuu!!”

“Young Master, are you alright?”

“Yes. I’ve told Orneo-nim everything.”

The Sage was shocked to see the dragon.

I was worried for a moment that something might happen since he was already old.

Fortunately, Orneo regained his senses and carefully reached out to touch Coco.

Coco was born with an intuition to discern good and evil.

Feeling the good energy emanating from Orneo, she instead put her head against his hand and enjoyed the touch.

“Surprising things keep happening when I’m with you.”

“Everyone says that. I have some good news. I think we can stop wandering around now.”

“Could it be…”

“Yes. This is the place we were looking for.”

A long stretch of sandy beach. Sparsely grown palm trees. Waves containing grains of sand.

Even though it had been a thousand years since Merlin’s memory, it was still the same without change.

[Wind Control]

[Haste]

I cast a group movement speed buff [a spell or ability that increases movement speed].

Orneo was amazed as the wind wrapped around his ankles.

We crossed the beach at a rapid pace.

As a result, we were able to find the teardrop-shaped rock in half a day.

“This is it!!”

“It’s a stone I’ve never seen before.”

“Vice-Captain, will a path open under the sea?”

“We’ll know if we try.”

There was no time to delay.

I immediately injected blue mana into the rock.

The blue energy pulsed and gathered in the center of the rock.

I wonder how much I injected.

The ground shook with a rumbling sound.

“It’s starting! Keep pouring in energy!”

The cracked ground sucked up the blue mana like it was absorbing sweet water.

The good thing was that I had quite a bit of blue mana left.

This was because my awakening had greatly increased after gaining enlightenment in the battle with the Lust Demon last time.

The teardrop rock absorbed the blue mana to its heart’s content and then stopped eating at a certain point.

“You were right…”

I raised my head.

A large whirlpool drawn on the surface of the water was slowly rotating.

The actual appearance was completely different from what I saw in my memory.

The fierce whirlpool with no bottom in sight was fear itself.

“We have to go in there?”

Campbell’s voice was pale.

His face was ashen.

Even Shion couldn’t argue with him.

“Vice-Captain, maybe you’re wrong? Let’s think again. There must have been some mistake… Old Man!!”

“I’ll go first. Hehehehe!!!”

Orneo, unable to contain his excitement at the new discovery, threw himself into the whirlpool.

He was sucked to the bottom and disappeared.

“Damn it! Let’s go together, Old Man!”

Campbell also threw himself in.

“Young Master, I’ll go first.”

Shion also threw herself in.

Now it’s my turn.

“Why is nothing ever normal?”

I was swept into the whirlpool.

The last thing I remembered was the white spray of water crashing over me.

* * *

Flash.

I opened my eyes.

Where is this?

It was a bizarre vegetation I had never seen before.

The floor was covered with damp soil.

I took a bit with my fingertip and tasted it.

“Ptooey!”

Did they salt the soil?

It was insanely salty.

The fact that plants grow in this salty land is amazing in itself.

Perhaps only plants and animals that can filter out salt can survive here.

I wandered around the area and searched.

Shion and Orneo were lying unconscious nearby.

I went over and shook them awake.

“Shion, wake up.”

“Sage-nim, wake up.”

They both quickly regained consciousness.

Orneo scanned the surroundings like me, his eyes shining.

Shion noticed the most important fact.

“Where did Campbell go?”

Coco was with me in the subspace pocket.

Orneo and Shion were nearby.

Campbell was nowhere to be found no matter how much I looked.

Did he fall somewhere else?

“One less mouth to feed. That’s a good thing.”

“Don’t be like that. Let’s look for him more.”

We searched the entire forest.

In the meantime, Orneo collected some fruits and mushrooms.

According to him, even if the vegetation is unique, the edible plants are all determined.

After a few hours, Orneo said he had a stomachache and went to have diarrhea.

Anyway, I brought ten years’ worth of food in my subspace pocket, so there’s no need to worry about food.

I just need to find Campbell…

Clang! Clang!

The sound of weapons clashing could be heard in the distance.

A familiar shout was also heard.

“Young Master.”

“Yeah.”

I ran towards there.

When I arrived, I saw Campbell.

He was surrounded by merfolk of unfamiliar appearance.

“■■■■■!”

“■■■■■■■■!!”

“■■■■■■■.”

“What are you saying? Speak so I can understand!”

The merfolk spoke a unique language.

I couldn’t understand it, but judging from their angry gestures, they were definitely not friendly.

Orneo said from the side.

“They say they’re going to kill Campbell and eat his meat.”

“Do you understand what they’re saying?”

“It seems to be a mix of ancient language and coastal dialect… I can roughly understand the meaning.”

Anyway, I have to save Campbell.

I squeezed through the encirclement.

[Wood Control]

[Bind]

[Wood Rain]

Wooden icicles poured down.

The merfolk warriors, who were caught off guard by the sudden attack, were covered in blood and fainted.

Some warriors hurriedly raised their shields to the sky.

As a result, their weaknesses were exposed.

The tree roots that sprang up from the ground took advantage of this gap and bound the opponent’s entire body.

“Perfect.”

It’s a ready-made meal.

Orneo’s water cannon swept them away.

The merfolk warriors who flew far away crashed into a tree and fainted.

The remaining warriors were Shion’s share.

Those who were hit in the back of the neck by the water lizard’s steps and spider leg combo collapsed powerlessly.

“Vice-Captain! You came to save me!”

There was no time for joy.

Far away, even more warriors were running towards us.

There seemed to be hundreds of them.

“What should we do?”

“Shall we kill them all?”

Killing them isn’t difficult.

But should I commit a massacre as soon as I enter a strange land?

Anyway, we must be intruders in their eyes.

“Let’s get out of here first.”

[Wind Control]

[Haste]

[Life Control]

[Sight Sharing]

I wrapped the wind around my ankles.

I also added sight sharing.

The surrounding terrain became clear.

It felt like I was watching the second test of the Golden Branch again.

At that time, I entered Merlin’s body and evaded the pursuit of the elves.

Now, I have developed much more as a druid and as a swordsman than I was then, so escape was much easier.

I stirred up the encirclement here and there.

If there was no other choice, I would knock them out and move on.

The enemies were also quite persistent.

They were trying to catch us for sure by putting in more people.

“What grudge do they have against us to be like this?”

“I don’t know.”

“They seem to be crazy about human meat.”

After moving quite a bit, we encountered a cliff.

It was a steep slope.

Coincidentally, the opposite side was also a cliff.

An old bridge connected the two cliffs.

A problem arose here.

There were also a lot of merfolk across the bridge.

We were surrounded from the front and back.

Campbell raised his bastard sword.

“Damn it! Let’s kill them all since it’s come to this.”

“No. Look closely.”

I stopped the excited Campbell.

“The merfolk chasing us and the merfolk across the bridge are wearing different clothes. Those two are different tribes.”

Orneo chimed in from the side.

“Henon is right. Let’s cross the bridge first. If the enemy still attacks, then let’s unleash our full power.”

We crossed the bridge as if flying.

I showed the feat of stepping on the handle part instead of the bottom part of the wooden bridge and jumping.

The merfolk who were pushing in like a tide hesitated based on the bridge as expected.

I landed lightly on the other side.

Me, Campbell, Orneo, and Shion arrived safely.

The merfolk on the opposite side rushed towards us.

I raised my sword thinking they were attacking.

But they just passed us by.

“???”

The newly encountered merfolk turned their spears at the violent merfolk warriors who were chasing us. The two tribes faced off fiercely with the bridge in between.

Someone approached us, who were bewildered. Surprisingly, it was not a merfolk but a human.

“Are you alright? You’ve suffered a lot.”