I sat with Sophia on a bench near the park.
As I swung my legs back and forth without touching the ground, Sophia placed her hand on my head.
"Are you curious why we don't get along?"
"...Was it that obvious?"
"Gyeoul, your tail gives everything away. Your tail was making a question mark shape."
"Ah."
My tail does do that.
Though I wasn't particularly embarrassed at this point, I still grabbed my tail with both hands.
"It's not really a remarkable story. It was just a difference in social status."
"Yes. That child Marin and I are both merfolk, but there's a difference between us, isn't there?"
The difference between Marin and Sophia.
I could tell without thinking too deeply.
"Legs?"
"...You guessed exactly right."
Sophia looked down at her own legs.
Her exposed white legs were a bit longer than mine.
"Do merfolk have different statuses depending on whether they have legs or not?"
"There's no formal class system, but there is an invisible status difference. Merfolk with legs are rare after all."
Sophia had definitely seemed uncomfortable around Marin.
Perhaps merfolk with legs received poor treatment in merfolk society.
"...Are merfolk with legs treated badly in merfolk society?"
"No, it's the opposite. Those with legs receive special treatment in merfolk society."
"Special treatment?"
"Yes, being able to freely move between water and land is something all merfolk aspire to. Just bringing common items from land can earn tremendous respect. That also makes one a target of envy."
"Ah..."
So Sophia had been envied by other merfolk without legs.
Perhaps she had been secretly ostracized because her lower body was different from other merfolk.
Though I didn't know Sophia's past exactly, I thought I understood why she felt uncomfortable around Marin.
"Seeing her confined to just the swimming pool when the land is so vast makes me feel sorry."
"I see..."
Being a merfolk who enjoyed the special privilege of walking on land alone made her feel guilty.
I'd also been feeling uncomfortable about Marin's limited range of movement.
'I wish Marin could feel more freedom.'
That would also help alleviate Sophia's guilty feelings.
There had to be a way.
My pondering for a solution didn't take long.
"What if we used Bom or Levinas's magic to give Marin legs?"
"That's..."
"If merfolk without legs could also walk around on land, it might ease Sophia's guilt."
"...I don't feel much guilt anymore at this point, but it would be a sight I'd like to see."
I got off the bench as Sophia nodded her head.
I tried to approach Marin with Sophia, but Sophia remained seated.
"I'll watch from here. If I go with you, she might suspect my intentions."
"Hmm... okay."
I left Sophia behind and approached Marin.
Marin was playing with children at the swimming pool playground.
"Marin, Marin."
"Yes?"
Unlike Sophia who had shown guilt, Marin was kindly playing with the children.
She looked so carefree that I felt comfortable asking my question.
"Marin, do you ever need legs?"
"Legs?"
"Yes. Living in just the swimming pool playground forever seems confining. It would be nice to walk around different places..."
"Legs are..."
Instead of answering, Marin glanced toward Bom.
Bom, whose eyes met Marin's, spoke up instead.
"I asked her before and Marin refused."
"Why?"
"Marin is quite powerful, so the mana needed to maintain her legs would be substantial. She absolutely forbade it because it would put me in danger."
"...I see."
Marin was certainly impressive in water.
And Bom's transformation magic had the drawback of requiring more mana the stronger the subject was.
Marin had been protecting Bom from the radical nobles.
She probably didn't want to waste Bom's power on transformation magic.
But now that all those problems were gone, it shouldn't matter anymore.
"But isn't it fine now? The park is safe, and we've resolved the issues with the radical nobles."
"Yes... it would be fine now, but using magic to create legs would tire Bom."
As Marin waved her hand dismissively, Bom cleared her throat and puffed out her chest.
The little "ahem" unique to beast-kin children was always cute. seaʀᴄh thё NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"Marin, I'm much stronger now than before."
"Are you stronger?"
"Yes. My mana has increased too, so I can easily maintain your legs now."
Black mana rose from Bom's hand.
Bom's mana was directed at Marin's fish lower body.
The black mana began transforming Marin's lower body, and suddenly it changed into ten octopus legs.
"Kyaaaah!"
"Huh?"
Marin screamed, and Bom tilted her head.
It didn't seem like she had done it as a prank.
**
After several transformations, Marin finally got slender, long human legs.
In between, she had to go through various animal legs.
"Ugh, uugh..."
Marin's face was pale.
I would have been terrified too if my lower body had transformed like that.
The last legs she had...
"Urrrgh..."
Just imagining it gave me goosebumps all over.
As I trembled, Bom wiggled her fingers in front of Marin.
"Marin, I'm sorry. This doesn't usually happen..."
"I-it's okay. The water resistance probably disrupted the magic."
Marin said this while looking down at her legs.
She sat in the shallow swimming pool playground, moving only her toes.
Levinas, who had been playing in the swimming pool playground, seemed to have just noticed this and approached with her horned rabbit eyes wide.
"What?! Mermaid Marin got legs!"
"Yes. Bom made them for her."
Amazing, right?
I said this proudly to Levinas, but for some reason, her expression wasn't good.
Her face was pale, and her ears were standing straight up.
"Can Marin not talk anymore...?"
"Talk...?"
"Yeah... The Little Mermaid gave up her voice in exchange for feet...! And in the end, she turned into sea foam...!"
Levinas's ears trembled.
The fairy tale and Marin's situation seemed to overlap in her mind, frightening her.
"It's okay. I can still talk."
"Huuuuk!"
When Marin opened her mouth and spoke normally, Levinas's horned rabbit eyes grew even wider.
She seemed very surprised that it differed from the fairy tale.
"How can you still talk?!"
"...Maybe because Bom's magic skills are excellent?"
"Huok! That's right! Kind Bom's magic is the best in the world!"
Ahem.
Levinas puffed out her chest.
Bom also puffed out her chest in response.
Gaeul, who had just joined us with a giggle, saw the children and puffed out her chest too.
She even made a somewhat smug expression.
It was fun watching everyone copy each other even without knowing why.
**
The first thing Marin did with her new legs was practice walking.
She waddled like a penguin before plopping down.
Moving her legs seemed difficult, as she sat on the grass and caught her breath.
"Marin, is it very hard?"
"W-well, it's a bit difficult... I can't figure out how to balance myself..."
"...It's natural since your structure has changed. Of course it's difficult."
The one who answered Marin's question was none other than Sophia.
Sophia, who had approached at some point, was staring intently at Marin's legs.
"I suppose so..."
"Indeed. If our tails suddenly disappeared, we'd also lose our balance and fall at first."
I tilted my head at Sophia's words.
While we do use our tails for balance, I didn't think we'd fall if they disappeared.
"Sophia, why would we lose balance if our tails disappeared?"
"You probably wouldn't have trouble simply walking. But it would be difficult to perform the agile movements beast-kin are known for."
"Huh?"
Does the tail play that significant a role?
Sophia seemed to notice my doubt and gave a slight smile.
"Would you like to try it then?"
"Well... if Sophia says so, it must be true, but I'd like to experience it myself."
I looked toward Bom as I spoke.
I needed her magical help.
"Bom."
"Okay. I understand."
As Bom's black mana enveloped my tail, my white tail vanished.
The feeling of losing the tail that had always been with me was incredibly strange.
It was like losing an arm.
"Hmm...?"
As expected, my tail was gone, but walking wasn't a problem.
I tried jumping in place and circling around Sophia, but I didn't fall.
"Would you try running faster?"
"Faster?"
"Yes, like when you hunt monsters."
"That would be..."
I drew on my mana to strengthen my body.
I tried to perform an acrobatic movement where I'd run at high speed, turn halfway, and shoot an arrow backward, but...
"Nyaaaaaak!"
My body couldn't stop rotating and just kept spinning around.
I twirled three times like a figure skater performing a technique.
"Woah."
"Whoa!"
Clap-clap-clap-
Gaeul applauded.
Levinas followed with applause of her own.
Did the children think I was showing off an amazing technique?
As I kept spinning, I finally lost my balance and fell to the ground.