169 Ch. 169 'Creating A Doubt'

What was even more strange was when he realized that none of his soldiers had grabbed the petite girl. Who is this girl? Why didn't the soldiers intimidate this girl?

Usually, his soldiers would intimidate and scare all targets from his command without exception. It doesn't matter whether it is a child or an adult, male or female, young or old, they will treat the criminal target equally harshly.

Then why did his soldiers treat Niken differently?

"Young ones, what are your names, and where do you come from? Why do you want to disturb the peace of our country?"

Peace? Is the suffering of the mermaids under the basement and the evil mermaids roaming the lake the kind of peace he talked about? What a worthless dumb lord!

Kazuto and Lionel didn't understand how someone like this old man could be chosen to be the lord of this place.

"Greetings, my lord. We are just wanderers who happen to love beauty. And we heard that this country has a beautiful mermaid lake and various types of plants that we will not be able to find in other continents. That's why we have come here to prove that the news we are with is what it is."

Lionel and Kazuto remained silent, but their heart gave a thumbs up to Niken, who was able to spit out a delightful talk to hear.

"Oh?" the lord raised an eyebrow. "So, what do you think after seeing our country."

"Far beyond what we expected. This place isn't even half what we heard. The way people greet us in a friendly manner, the beautiful plants that fill the country, and the mermaid show that really attracts explorers. You really are a ruler who is talented in managing this country."

The lord smiled broadly at Niken's praise. Who doesn't love to hear compliments? No one.

"But my Lord, there is also a rumor that a mermaid show is just an illusion of creation while a real mermaid has become an evil spirit. There are also rumors that this country's lord deliberately detained several mermaids to skin its scales to death. It's how the restaurants could sell the mermaid scale soup."

The broad smile that had initially graced the lord's face now turned sour. Meanwhile, his soldiers on standby along the mansion hall corridors looked at each other in confusion.

Lionel and Kazuto took a single glance at the Elementalists without making any movement that drew attention. It seemed that the soldiers knew nothing about the mermaids being held in the basement. However, it was evident that the lord knows this very well.

The most critical point was the lord was lying about the mermaid show. All mermaid had turned into evil ones, hence their appearance impossible as enchanting as the mermaids singing in the show.

These performances were simply the result of an artificial illusion created by artificial illumination by the wind and water Elementalists.

Therefore, the elite soldiers and the citizens didn't know about the evil mermaid's true form.

"Hm. What interesting rumors. It seems like someone is jealous of my success and is spreading this bad rumor."

"I hope that's true. That's why I came here to prove the rumors wrong."

"Oh? Did it go well?"

"Unfortunately, I haven't found any evidence that can erase these rumors. If indeed the barrier was built to withstand the evil spirits, then how could there still be mermaids in that lake? The evil mermaids would eat the surviving mermaids. It would make more sense if the show everyone saw were just an artificial illusion. Isn't that why the barrier was created? So that no one would jump on the lake, and the evil mermaids remain inside the barrier?"

"You misunderstood. The barrier was made not to protect humans from mermaids, but to protect mermaids from humans. You know, humans can catch mermaids out of selfishness. Mermaid tears can make a person appear younger. The scale on the tail can make a woman's skin smooth and clean. That's why the barrier is created so that humans don't hunt mermaids carelessly."

Niken bit the inside of her cheek at this absurd explanation. If he insisted that all the mermaids had become evil spirits, that would be to expose her plan to restore the evil mermaids' condition. The lord of this country was very good at twisting facts and playing with someone's mind.

If Niken, Kazuto, and Lionel didn't know anything about mermaids, they could have trusted the lord's explanation and just let it be. But now they know the truth. They knew the lord's reason was wholly absurd and wanted to trick them.

However, they couldn't act rashly because they didn't want the lord to monitor their movements while living in this country. They also don't want to be arrested and put in jail.

Well, even if they were imprisoned, Kazuto and Lionel could destroy the detention room quickly to escape. But if they did, there was no doubt a battle would break out.

They didn't want to make a fuss or pointless battles. If a war breaks out in the country of calm and peace, this news will spread throughout the world and undoubtedly reach the white knights' ears.

Niken's time spacial was not ready to use, and Niken has not mastered the elemental spirit when she is in her time zone. They were still not prepared to face the white knight's advance in collaboration with Muyun, the mo spirit of Princess Xiao Hua.

That was why they did not wish to incite war against this country's lord as much as possible.

Niken managed to keep her ego at bay.

"Ah, I see. Now I understand why. Thanks for the explanation. But I'd like to confirm something. What happened to the mermaid who was scaled? Mermaid scale soup can't appear without skinning a mermaid, right?"

Simultaneously the soldiers looked curiously at their master. They also want to know what happens to mermaids who have been skinned to become the ladies' favorite food.

Could it be, their lord skinned the mermaid alive? Could it be that the rumors that this black-haired girl heard were true? Was their lord so viciously restraining mermaids to torture them and selling their tail scales?

This was what Niken wanted to gain. Doubts from the soldiers.