Chapter 194: The Great Adventure of the Sea Witch Tyr

It was clear that Miss Tyr, the sea witch, wasn’t exactly thrilled about having “swum the wrong way”…

Meanwhile, through their conversation, Gawain finally pieced together how this deep-sea creature had somehow ended up on the human continent by mistake.

According to her, about a month ago the sea witches had fought a battle against a group of humans far out in the Endless Eastern Sea, far from any land. “A bunch of crazy humans, dressed in black robes and short cloaks, casting all sorts of strange spells,” she described. The fight hadn’t lasted long. Though the humans’ magic was powerful, they were isolated on a small island and outnumbered. The sea witches had summoned lightning storms twice and several tsunamis, breaking through the humans’ defenses. The humans fled in panic.

Miss Tyr had lost contact with the main force in the latter half of the battle—she suspected the humans’ magic had interfered with her senses, making it impossible to tell direction. She had been swimming toward sea witch territory but somehow ended up on the human continent instead…

“At first, I was puzzled why the seabed scenery looked so unfamiliar,” Tyr said, sitting on the edge of the well, her fish tail flicking lazily against the ground. (Gawain was curious about the structure of her tail—how it could bend like that.) “I kept swimming and suddenly saw the continent, and then the mouth of a big river… I thought I must have gone around to the far side of our continent.”

“Your continent?” Gawain blinked. “You have a continent too?”

“Yeah,” Tyr nodded. “Though you could also call it a pretty big island… I’m not very familiar with the land, since we mostly stay in the sea.”

Another useful piece of information!

Gawain felt this sea witch was a godsend, a rare stroke of luck. With Tyr’s insights, his understanding of this world would improve greatly. He couldn’t help but ask on: “Do you know who those humans you fought were?”

“How would I know? They suddenly showed up in our territory and occupied an island reef to hold some kind of ritual—that place is dangerous, with a strong unstable energy field underwater. If they messed around there, something bad was bound to happen. So we sent someone to warn them not to cause trouble. But those humans just shouted something about ‘the storm is coming’ and charged at us, so we beat them up…” Tyr tilted her head, clearly baffled by human logic. “We don’t deal with humans much, but those crazy ones were a first.”

“They’re the Children of the Storm!” Pittman immediately guessed from Tyr’s description. “That makes sense… Who else would be out that far from land? Those lunatics fled human lands after their fall, and ninety percent of them went out to sea.”

The old man stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Who would’ve thought… those guys not only fled to the open sea, but actually fought sea witches there…”

Hetty looked at Tyr. “So you were trying to warn those crazy humans not to take risks, and they ignored you, which led to the fight?”

Tyr, perhaps tired from talking, still sounding lazy, began answering others’ questions: “Yeah, otherwise who’d have time to fight you humans? We’re busy every day, you know.”

“Do you know what the humans’ ritual was for?” Gawain frowned and asked again.

“No idea. I couldn’t understand it. Your human magic system is too strange, I just can’t make sense of it.”

Gawain sighed. It was inevitable—there was almost no knowledge exchange between the two species. Asking a sea witch to explain exactly what those human cultists were doing was like asking a fish to climb a tree.

Rebecca, curious about Tyr’s sleeping arrangements, asked: “So you’ve just been hiding in our well this whole time?”

“Not the whole time,” Tyr yawned. “I just got here recently. I’d been swimming for so long, got tired, and found a spot with calmer water to take a nap… Didn’t expect someone to hit me on the head halfway through. By the way, who threw a bucket at me?”

Gawain: “…”

I thought fish only had a seven-second memory? How does this sea witch still remember that?

“Don’t worry about who threw the bucket,” Gawain said, twitching at the corner of his mouth. “Who’d expect someone to be sleeping in a well…”

Tyr looked at him curiously. “Is it illegal to sleep in a well where you humans live?”

Gawain froze. That question hit a blind spot in his knowledge. After thinking carefully, he hesitated before explaining, “Sleeping in a well isn’t illegal here, but it’s basically suicide…”

Tyr stretched lazily, her tail slapping the ground with a crackling sound. “Then I’ll find somewhere else to sleep.”

“Hey, wait,” Gawain suddenly realized, “You’re planning to just wander around the human world like this?”

Tyr paused, as if only now noticing how different she looked from everyone else around her—and the soldiers cordoning off the scene, their curious gazes fixed on her. The mermaid let out a belated “Oh—” and said, “Oh… I forgot you don’t look like us!”

No sooner had she spoken than a splash of water mist spread out with a bang. When it reformed, the mermaid sitting on the well’s edge had changed appearance—her scales on cheeks and arms vanished, her fish tail transformed into a pair of human legs, and even her leather outfit had become a pale blue long dress!

The dress was clearly very similar in style to Hetty’s, just a different color. Without a doubt, this was a magical or innate transformation she had conjured after seeing human clothing.

Gawain watched in amazement, recalling the legends Pittman had told him about sea witches: a race with the power to change their form at will, able to take human shape when moving among humans. That’s why there are tales of sea witches roaming the land…

Hetty and Amber, watching nearby, were also seeing such a convenient and magical “spell” for the first time. This was far easier than human wizards’ “polymorph” or druids’ “animal shape-shifting.” Rebecca couldn’t help but exclaim, “Wow! That’s amazing!”

Her thoughts immediately ran wild: “If I could learn this, I’d have endless new outfits to wear…”

Amber gave her a disdainful look. “Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t even learn a simple repulsion cantrip… And using a staff to hit people is cheating, just so you know!”

Gawain blocked out the two noisy girls and looked at Tyr, who was awkwardly trying to stand upright on her new legs. “The transformation spell is impressive, but I suggest you don’t wander around until you get used to the land environment. If you want, would you like to be a guest in the Cecil Domain?”

Tyr, getting used to walking upright, looked at Gawain. “…Is that a polite way of saying ‘we’re going to detain you’?”

“No, I mean it kindly,” Gawain said seriously. “You know, I had contact with sea witches seven hundred years ago, so I’m somewhat an old acquaintance of your kind. You helped me back then at sea, and now that a sea witch has come to land, I want to help you in return. I don’t know how your society works, but the human world is very complicated. There are many countries with different customs and cultures, countless factions and races with conflicting views. I can’t be sure how humans in other lands would treat a sea witch—especially since you’re not yet adapted to human society. You could easily face hostility.”

Tyr thought for a moment. “Hmm… You do have a point.”

“I’m the lord of this land, at least within the Cecil Domain, and I can guarantee your safety—and keep your race and origins confidential,” Gawain smiled. “Of course, this is just an invitation. If you really don’t want to stay, you can leave anytime. Just try not to sleep in wells anymore.”

“Ah, walking on land feels more troublesome,” Tyr took a few lazy steps, seemingly ignoring Gawain’s last few words. She waved her hand. “Anyway, I’m not planning to leave. I’ll stay with you. By the way, do you have a place to sleep?”

Though communication with this fish was a bit difficult, it seemed the goal was achieved?

This sea witch held knowledge Gawain didn’t have. No matter what, he wanted her to stay in his domain. Providing a comfortable place to live was no problem at all. He smiled and said, “Of course there’s a place to sleep—just tell me what you need.”

“Not much, just sprinkle some salt,” Tyr waved her hand. “No need to change the water; I can purify it myself.”

Gawain took a moment to realize she meant a saltwater pool… Of course, a fish tank or basin would do, as long as it was big enough.

Though Gawain trusted his authority would be fully enforced in his domain, it was hard to say how much influence he had over this salty fish. To prevent Tyr from doing anything shocking or against human sensibilities when unobserved—like suddenly transforming her tail and picking a fight with fishermen—he decided to house her in the newly completed lord’s manor.

He hadn’t built a huge castle like the extravagant traditional nobles, but the new manor was still a large building with many unused rooms. Setting aside one for the sea witch was no problem.

Coincidentally, Hetty and Rebecca had recently moved into the new home as well, so it made sense to have Tyr live next door to them.

(End of chapter)