While Outo was technically the southern capital of Fusou, it mostly served as a connection point between Sunsea Harbor, Tendake, Shin, and Chinju. As such, a large road ran straight through the heart of the city, extending north and south. Another road stretched off to the east, which was used to carry supplies to Tendake. In contrast, rather than roads, there were channels and canals built to the west, connecting Outo to the sea. This led to the skyfolk occupying the eastern part of the city, the merfolk occupying the west, and the humans taking the space between them.
Although we just finished dinner, it was already well into the night, with a beautiful moon gracing the dark sky above us. Old Gon brought me to a mansion on the western side of the city...or more accurately, a dojo. I had wondered if he had connections to one, being as strong as he was. He was a bit old to be the head of the school, so he had probably been either the previous head or the one before that. I was a little surprised someone like that would be casually drinking around town.
“You don’t seem all that surprised. That’s no fun.”
I nodded to Gon’s bored look. I mean, I had spent a long time living at a dojo myself. Being led to one like this certainly brought out some nostalgic feelings, but it wouldn’t shock me.
A sign out front proudly declared the name “Rasen Spearmanship.” While that piqued my interest as well, I was first interested in meeting this merfolk. Seeing my impatience, Old Gon made a big show of guiding me inside. What he guided me to was not the dojo itself, but a large pond in the inner courtyard.
Sitting on a rock protruding from the water was a woman, staring up at the moon. Where one would expect legs, her lower body was fused into a single piece, covered in scales. She was a merfolk, clear as day. Young, beautiful, and incredibly captivating. Old Gon had said that she would know a lot about the past, but she didn’t give the impression of an old-timer at all.
“The pond here is connected to the waterways through the bottom, so merfolk can swim right in. Hey, Mizuyo, I’m home!”
In sharp contrast to Old Gon’s bright and cheerful demeanor, the woman called Mizuyo turned around with a distinctly displeased expression. It felt a little unfair how beautiful she was even while making that face. I knew plenty of elves and high elves with beautiful faces, so seeing people like that wasn’t especially moving. But the alluring, sensual beauty of this merfolk woman was something else entirely.
Without so much as a splash, she slipped into the water, swimming over to sit on the edge of the pond beside us. She moved through the water as effortlessly as if it were air. “You’re late, Gonzou. Your duty as host is to take care of your guests. How could you go out drinking on your own while I’m here?”
Even her voice was enchanting. All of the merfolk I had seen pulling boats in Sunsea Harbor were men, but thinking back on it, they had been pretty good-looking too. However, the fact that none of them had left a lasting impression on me meant that Mizuyo was probably special, even among merfolk.
“Hey, I’m not the master of this dojo anymore. That logic won’t work on me. Besides, you wouldn’t go drinking with me if I asked, and you wouldn’t let me have any if you did. That’s why I had to hang out with this pointy-eared guy instead.” Old Gon didn’t show even a hint of remorse.
That rough introduction was a bit of a problem, though. After giving her a short bow, I pointed her back to Old Gon. If he was hoping I’d bail him out, he was out of luck. I was more than happy to wait out their little spat.
Mizuyo caught my meaning immediately, turning back to scold Old Gon. After a while, he finally started to realize he was fighting a losing battle, and so turned to me.
“Oh, you’re staying the night, aren’t you? I’ll go get a room ready for you, so please keep Mizuyo company for me for a bit.” With that quick excuse, he left us behind.
His departure was so abrupt that, despite having just met, Mizuyo and I could only share a look and laugh. The way he fled was just like an old man being chastised by his kids.
✦ ✦ ✦
“That Gonzou is really hopeless. Let me introduce myself again. I’m sure you figured it out by now, but my name is Mizuyo. But you...you’re not just any forestfolk, are you? The water seems excited just to be near you.”
I had heard that merfolk could manipulate the flow of water, but her statement still surprised me. It seemed she could also tell how the water was feeling, or rather, how the spirits that inhabited it felt. But being a merfolk, she likely couldn’t see the spirits, so she could only interpret it as the feelings of the water itself.
That small difference in perception was quite interesting to me. If I told her about the spirits and how to communicate with them, would her ability to control water improve? Or were her abilities to manipulate water entirely unrelated to the spirits, so it would have no effect at all? That result would give me all sorts of room to speculate on the nature of her abilities. I almost wanted to start experimenting.
“I suppose you’re right. My name’s Acer. I’m often called a forestfolk, or an elf where I live, but actually I’m a high elf. There’s not much difference between how we live, but we’re closer to the spirits.”
Mizuyo nodded at my introduction, not the least bit surprised. This was how I met Mizuyo, the woman who would teach me the history of Fusou.