Alyna sat cross-legged in the tent. She used her hand to support her head while watching Isaac who was throwing rocks into the lake. The rocks seemed to fly fast and bounced off the surface of the water several times.
Isaac had been doing it for hours. Meanwhile, Alyna was silent and watched him lazily. She asked Isaac what exactly he was doing, but the man wouldn't give a definite answer. She even had lost count on how many rocks had sunk into the lake.
And during that time, nothing special happened.
Alya snorted in annoyance. Her patience started to run out. The red-haired woman then got up with an irritated look on her face.
"Lord Isaac! How long are you going to do that stupid thing? If you're just playing around, I won't stand still."
Isaac stopped throwing the rocks, and he turned to the red-haired woman. His eyes narrowed slightly.
"If you want things to work out faster, then help me," Isaac said. His calm voice was brushed off by the wind.
For countless times, the duchess was annoyed with Isaac. Alyna quickly approached him. She then picked up the rocks. When she stood near the shore of the lake, without saying anything, her hand swung swiftly until the wind whistled.
The rock shot out at high speed, as if it was a bullet.
Pya! Pya! Pya!
That small object bounced off the surface of the lake dozens of times, far more than the rocks Isaac had thrown so far. Until finally, the rocks crossed the lake.
Bam!
The sound of the crash echoed throughout the air. A large pine tree fell, and at the same time, a monster scream was heard.
However, that was just the beginning.
Several other rocks shot up and shattered the trees across the lake.
Venting all her annoyance, Alyna continued to throw rocks into the lake over and over again.
Isaac just looked at her with a flat face. He didn't try to stop her or give any comment about it. He just kept his mouth shut up and opened his eyes wide.
After about 20 trees across the lake fell, then the women finally calmed down. She blew the hair on her forehead, and the strands of red hair on her forehead swayed slightly. Her gaze turned to the man next to her.
"Wasn't that enough? I can do it all day. And better."
She looked at Isaac with a sharp glare, but the baron's attention was elsewhere instead.
Of course, this irritated her even more.
She hissed in annoyance, and the impatient woman prepared to throw a fist into his face. However, she halted as soon as her shoulder was grabbed by him.
Isaac's eyes narrowed into mere slits. His gaze was completely glued on the surface of the lake. Not long after, his lips curled into a smirk.
Alyna became curious.
"Hey! What did you see?"
"Wow… you managed to summon her," Isaac replied quietly. He beamed from ear to ear as his smirk got wider.
Alyna was confused. She then turned her attention back to the lake, and her eyes narrowed.
In the middle of the lake, she could see a fish the size of a human being approaching them. The closer it was to the lakeshore, the more visible she could see that it wasn't just an ordinary fish. She could see black hair and human back several times.
Alyna quickly recognized the creature. She turned to Isaac.
"Oh, so that's what you were looking for?"
Isaac nodded. "Right. The mermaid."
Mermaids were pisces type monsters with B class. They were typical monsters that used to maintain the dungeons, such as treants and some fye type monsters. However, they were specialists in the underwater.
The half-fish-human monsters might look tame, but they were actually predators. Mermaids were divided into two types, carnivores and herbivores.
Herbivorous mermaids only ate seaweed and some aquatic plants. They tended to hide their existence and would only appear for certain things.
Meanwhile, carnivore mermaids were the opposite.
They tended to come to the surface, attracting humans, elves, or monsters who had an interest in beauty. The beautiful-looking predators would lure those creatures to fall into the lake, then quickly kill them in the water before they could react.
Predatory mermaids were herbivorous mermaids who had tasted meat once in their lifetime.
While the mermaid in front of Isaac and Alyna was a herbivore.
"You wicked human! How dare you disturb my house? Who ordered you?"
Floating on the surface of the water, a woman with exotic skin appeared. Her black hair was wet and half of her fish's body was green scales. Displeasure was evident on her face. She was even pouting her cheeks. The mermaid then looked at Isaac and Alyna with a grunt.
Alya raised an eyebrow. The demonesse could still hold herself back. She would have probably killed that rude creature if it wasn't her that they were looking for.
The duchess looked curious as to what Isaac would do to the mermaid.
She was still waiting for Isaac to make a decision.
"Ahem." Isaac cleared his throat. "I'm sorry if I bothered you. I'm just here to talk. We don't know how to call you."
Mermaid herbivores could be considered introverts. They would only appear when they wanted to and would not appear to creatures they didn't know. If the mermaid in front of Isaac had been the carnivore, he probably wouldn't have had any trouble summoning her.
Based on his past memories, the mermaid of the lake at Yggdrasil Forest would appear when someone threw a stone into the water. Isaac knew about it from Gavin at the party after defeating Duke Samigina.
"Humph." The mermaid snorted. She crossed her arms, then looked away. "I accept your apology."
Isaac smiled at that, while Alyna really wanted to beat the half-fish monster right away.
"In return, I will give you a present."
The mermaid glanced at Isaac, yet she still tried to hide her curiosity. Alyna smirked cynically at the sight. In her eyes, the monster before her was just a child inside a mermaid's body.
Isaac accessed his inventory, then his hand pulled out an orange. The bright color attracted the mermaid's attention. In all her life, the fish monster had never seen a fruit before.
"What's that? Don't expect strange things to satisfy me!"
Isaac smiled while slightly chuckling. "It's not a strange thing. You will definitely like it."
He threw the orange, and the mermaid immediately caught it. With a look full of curiosity, she twirled the orange like a strange object. Isaac gestured to her to eat the fruit.
The mermaid nodded her head. She quite understood Isaac's meaning.
Without a doubt, the half-fish monster took a bite of the orange along with the peel. Her eyes were wide open. Sweet, sour, bitter, and a fresh sensation tickled her tongue. She quickly ate the orange at once. Both the skin and seeds, she swallowed them all without hesitation.
This was the first time the mermaid felt the deliciousness of citrus fruits.
"Wow! This is amazing!" the mermaid exclaimed happily.
Suddenly, Alyna burst out laughing until the brim of her eyes filled with tears.
Of course, the duchess's behavior surprised the mermaid.
"There is a way to eat oranges to make it taste more delicious," said Isaac.
He then took another orange and peeled the skin, then only ate the flesh of the fruit. His mouth chewed it, and not long, he spit out some orange seeds.
The mermaid opens her mouth slightly while nodding her head.
"So that's how it is," she said in an innocent tone.
"That's right."
Isaac tossed the rest of the orange, and the mermaid ate it exactly the way he did.
Her eyes shone brightly.
"Wow! This is delicious!"
The water monster then swam into the lake, bursting with joy from eating such a delicious fruit. Alyna looked at the monster and shook her head.
After dancing happily, she returned to the two demons who were standing by the lake.
"Hey, you! This is the best meal I have tasted in my life! I will forgive you for destroying my lake."
Alyna glanced at Isaac with a cynical look.
"That's it?"
Pleasing the mermaid was not Isaac's goal. The real plan was just starting now.
He put on a friendly, smiling face.
"Hey, mermaid. You want some more?"
Hearing his words, the mermaid's eyes sparkled. She nodded her head repeatedly. "Of course I want to."
Isaac took out dozens of handfuls of oranges from his inventory until his hands couldn't carry them all.
The mermaid quickly showed her greedy expression. She held out her hand.
Of course, Isaac wouldn't give it up easily.
"I'll give it all to you. I even have many more. But on one condition, find me an egg in this lake. The egg with scales."
Hearing Isaac's last words, Alyna opened her eyes wide. A look of surprise was clearly etched on her face.
Without hesitation, the mermaid replied, "That's easy."
Isaac had not finished speaking, but the mermaid immediately dived into the lake. He sighed, yet a smile crossed on his face.
On the other hand, his traveling companion seemed to be looking at him in disbelief. "So that's what you've been after all along."
"Believe me, the real surprise hasn't come yet."
After a few minutes of diving, the mermaid appeared again on the surface of the lake. In both hands, she held an egg that had dark brown scales on the shell.
While smiling broadly, the mermaid handed it to Isaac.
"This is what you asked for, wicked human!"
"What the…"
This time, Alyna was speechless. It was easy enough for a dungeon master to recognize what egg the mermaid was carrying.
A wyvern egg.
The mermaid had stretched her hand, hoping to get a lot of oranges in return.
Isaac examined the egg by looking at it from afar, then he said, "This isn't what I was looking for."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l