Why did the mermaid save me and instantly grow attached? Maybe, I was just that charming. I didn’t think that. More than likely, it could detect that I was a Dungeon Master competing for control of the dungeon. For whatever reason, it didn’t like the current Dungeon Master. Well, considering that Dungeon Master had been shrinking the dungeon as it slowly withered away in a never-ending cycle, it might have been abandoning ship and hoping that I’d offer it a way to survive the end of the dungeon.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t give it that promise. I wasn’t even sure I’d survive the end of this dungeon, so how could I think about bringing out another monster for my dungeon. It wasn’t like I could store her away like certain pocket monsters until I needed her. Although, now that I thought about it, I wondered if such a magical concoction could exist. If I could store items in alternate worlds, and even food, then there had to be a way of storing animals.
Either way, the dungeon boss was surprisingly attached to me, clinging on to my leg even as I tried to pull myself onshore. I eventually had to pat her head and make several promises to her before she was finally willing to let go. Watching her smile and leap back into the water, I had to wonder if she was so terrifying as the bandits made her seem.
Supposedly, she had dragged several animals down into the depths as they had stopped to get a drink of water. Anything that had the strength to kill a giant was rather terrifying. It was a shame that all of that strength was completely useless to me. She was bound to this lake, seemingly forgotten by everything but the occasional monster wandering nearby that she could snatch. I watch the mermaid swim away, feeling entire day had been a waste of time.
“Amazing. I have never seen the mermaid act so timid before.” A woman’s voice next to me caused me to jump.
The bandits around me all let out cries, drawing their swords. I raised my hand, ordering them to stop. They wouldn’t be able to stop her. Heck, I wouldn’t be able to stop her.
“You know of the mermaid?” I demanded.
“She is based on the princess, you know. I mean, the real princess, the one whom your paladin friend is pretending to be.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Carmine got her Karma off an undead.”
“The undead girl was the representation of the story; the mermaid is a representation of her soul. Dungeons are abstract things, sometimes difficult to understand.”
If that beautiful woman was once the princess of the human realm, I could understand the Demon Prince falling in love with her at first sight. I wondered if one of the Karma’s I had picked up contributed to her loyalty. If she had an attachment to the commander or one of the other demons, then it might also explain why she acted in the manner she did. However, like the siren, she didn’t speak words so much, so asking her was out of the question.
“So, I guess the question is, are you planning on kidnapping me now too?” I asked.