I Am the Weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings but the Demons Are Obsessed With Me

50 – Cold Scales and Tail Fin

The man walking on land on two feet carried him on his back and brought him to a flat brown cave.

It was placed on a warm, soft rock and covered with thin leather.

He would ask various questions, or just nod his head and think about something. He asked in a soft voice, then he dozed off and began to doze off.

Are all people on land like this?

I don’t know. Old memories didn’t come to mind. Have you ever met a person on land? I think so.

On the rock… As I lay in bed, memories began to come to me little by little.

I’ve been lying down like this before. There was a time when I spent time on the rougher straw, counting the stains on the cabin ceiling with my hands.

When I close my eyes, the world becomes dark.

Submerged into deep water where sunlight cannot reach, before you know it, you are pulled back toward the surface by the warm light.

If you repeat once you sink and once you rise, morning will come.

People of the land… The person Noisy Sword called Rain was still dozing off in his chair. Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable to sleep like that?

Thinking about that, I looked at the man blankly.

I don’t know how long passed, but the man who raised his eyelids smiled warmly and spoke to me.

“Good morning. Aren’t you hungry?”

I shook my head.

I have not yet felt like I need to eat something. Although I was a little thirsty, it wasn’t lacking as there was a basin of water prepared by the man overnight.

The man left me in the room and went outside.

Then he came back and asked me something again, then went outside again and came back with something again. He wrote things down in a notebook and made things out of wood and metal.

“Would you like to try this? It’s a wheelchair, but you can move around even if you can’t walk, so it’ll be a little better than just lying in bed.”

When I nodded, the man lifted me up and placed me on the wheelchair. He seemed like he could climb up on his own, but… Somehow it felt good and I didn’t push it away.

The man explained to me how to move the wheelchair and even pushed the wheelchair from behind.

He hung the handle of the wheelchair on his shoulder and said that this way, he could carry it like a burden when going up the stairs. What is lose?

“First of all, the surrounding road has been roughly paved, but don’t go too far, okay?”

And again, the man walked around breathlessly from place to place.

Another day passes.

The man taught me ‘sign language’.

“Like this, you move your hands to express what you want to say. That way, you can talk to each other even if you can’t use your voice. Would you like to try it?”

The man taught me sign language and also gave me a notebook in which he organized the sign language.

I couldn’t read the writing, so I called a man.

“Oh, I guess you don’t know the letters well?”

I answered in sign language.

[Yes.]

“Then let’s learn letters together. Since it’s a phonetic alphabet, it won’t be that difficult.”

The man walked around outside during the day, and spent the evening teaching himself new things.

He dozed off in his chair at night, and greeted himself with a bright smile in the morning.

“You’re learning it really quickly. Today… Why don’t you go outside?”

[Outside?]

“Yes. There was something you were looking for on land, right? I don’t even know what it is… Wouldn’t it come to mind if I walk around and look at this and that?”

[Yes. Great.]

Since that day.

The man walked around outside with me, pushing my wheelchair. It was only then that I realized what the man was doing while I was resting at home.

If you are riding in a wheelchair led by a man with a long skirt covering your lower back and a veil blocking the sunlight.

Sometimes there were people who came up and smiled and talked to me.

“Ah, Heitz! Thank you. Thanks to your help, my child was able to be safe.”

“What did I do? It was all with the help of the bishop.”

“But… Thank you so much. And, I’m sorry. My kids… And I…”

“hehehe, it’s okay. It’s all in the past, right? I guess my appearance can be a little… Scary on the outside.”

“Thank you so much… By the way, is the person in the wheelchair Mr. Heitz’s wife?”

“No, it’s just… Because he’s someone I owe a lot to. I wanted to help him as much as possible, so I was helping him take a walk like this.”

“As expected, Heitz is amazing.”

“Hey, what…”

People called the man Heitz.

That noisy ‘Geom’ called the man Rain.

I was curious about that, so I asked the man.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

[Name.]

“Your name? Ah. Are they calling me Heitz?”

The man thought for a moment.

He smiled mischievously, raised his index finger to his lips, and made a hissing sound.

“Please keep the name Lane a secret, okay?”

[Yes.]

“Thank you. Ah, Mr. Mermaid, until you remember your original name… How about choosing a new name?”

[Name?]

“Yes. Because I need a name to call you in front of people.”

[Okay. Please make it.]

“Oh, me? Umm….”

The man covered his mouth with his hand and thought for a moment.

He looked toward the sea once, then looked at me again and asked.

“The name of this city is Emerald Marine… Marine? What do you think of Marine?”

[Good.]

“Okay, then I’ll call you Marine from now on.”

[One more time.]

“One more time?”

[Tell me your name.]

“Ah, Marine.”

[One more time.]

“Marine?”

Somehow I like hearing my name in his voice.

I repeatedly asked to be called by my name. The man… Lane called me by my new name several times without showing any signs of annoyance.

I saw Lane smiling and calling my name.

Just as bright as the clouds in the sky or the sunlight shining on the sea.

A person’s smile is also such a beautiful thing.

I suddenly felt it.

[It’s pretty.]

“It’s pretty?”

[The smile is pretty.]

“Ah, the way you smile… hehehe, thank you. Maybe it’s because it’s a sign language, but it’s kind of an awkward compliment. Marine’s smile is pretty too.”

[Did I just laugh?]

“Huh? Ah, yes. Marine… Seems like she’s always smiling? It’s a bright, clear smile that makes me feel good when I see it.”

[I don’t know.]

“It’s hard for you to know your own expression. Her face is reflected in a basin of calm water… Why don’t you take a look when you have time?”

[Good.]

That night she sat in front of the water basin and looked into her own face.

As I was quietly looking at it, it felt a little strange, so I touched various things with my hands, wondering if this was really my face.

Then I got sleepy and tried to lie down in bed again.

I woke up again after seeing Lane dozing off in a chair.

I leaned on the wheelchair and approached Lane. She stretched out her hand towards Lane’s face.

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Marine?”

Raine opened her eyes.

Her hand returned to its original position, unable to touch Lane’s cheek.

[The chair is uncomfortable. Lie down on the bed.]

“Ah. I’m fine. There’s only one bed in this house… I’m used to sleeping while sitting.”

[It’s inconvenient. Lie down.]

“…Well, if Marine says so, then yes.”

[Lay down first.]

Rain lay down inside the bed first.

I moved from the wheelchair to the bed and lay down on the outside. The bed was narrow so my arms were touching.

Rain could clearly hear even the sound of her breathing. And, the sound of my heart beating.

It feels like my cold blood is getting hot. It was my first time feeling like this. My body, which had always been lukewarm according to the surrounding temperature, became hot as if it were going to cook.

Is it because of Rain’s warmth touching her arm?

I became curious about that, so I grabbed Lane’s arm and pulled her into my arms, hugging her tightly. My heart pounded a little more. The blood flowing through my body became a little warmer.

“Uh, Marine?”

She couldn’t use sign language while lying down in Lane’s arms.

Instead, she spread Lane’s palm and wrote her words there with her index finger. Every time her fingers brushed against her, Lane’s body trembled.

“My hands are itchy…”

[Rain’s arms are warm.]

“Ah. Was it cold?”

[I want to become warmer.]

“Are mermaids cold-blooded animals…? If my arms are enough, then it’s okay.”

[I want to become warmer.]

“Ah, then at least heat magic…”

[I want to be warm with Rain.]

“Yes?”

Rain’s eyes met mine. Lane smiled awkwardly, perhaps a little uncomfortable.

And then she closed her eyes tightly for a moment.

She let out a deep sigh. Her breath hit the back of her neck and it tickled a little.

“Okay. Then. Would you like to be held in my arms?”

[Good.]

She twisted her body and got a little closer to Lane.

The scales of the lower body were directly in contact with Lane’s legs. She pushed her tail fin between Lane’s feet. It was warm.

Raine stretched out her arms and put one of her arms under him, covering her with one arm and hugging her back.

She felt frustrated, like she was caught in a net.

I felt a little relieved.

“Marine, your body feels cool….”

I also hug Lane’s back.

She wrote letters on her back with her fingers.

[Rain is warm.]

“I’m glad.”

So… A somewhat unfamiliar and frustrating night passed.

*

『You like fish after all, right?』

“I said no….”

After Marinee lay in the same bed as me, Sharp kept making noise, so she didn’t get much sleep.

You must be tired all day today….