"Ummm… I don't think so. During her time, there was no need to swim unless it was for sport. Most underwater places, in fact, are filled with such dangerous sea creatures that even the strongest of dungeon runners struggle with."

My maid of fire didn't look a hundred percent sure, so I took her words with a grain of salt before going to practice yet again.

"Honey, couldn't you just give her-"

Suddenly, Auntie Ethel cut off Athena with a sharp smile, clearly intent on shutting her up, so she kept quiet and helped me with my swimming practice.

I kept this in mind as we practiced, but soon the thought slipped out, and I was just having fun as I began to learn this foreign and new skill.

…

A few hours had passed, and my skin was all wrinkly for some reason, causing me to be a bit frightened as my soft pale skin had always been flawless, but now it was ruined.

Mother made sure that my skin was always perfect for some reason, with all the types of ointments and lotions you could imagine… and now all of that was gone.

"M-Mother won't be mad, right?" I stuttered, eyes teary as I looked at my maid of death, who responded with a blank stare. "S-Say something."

"Young Miss, this is normal. Your skin will return to normal in about half an hour, so just calm down," She finally replied, and all my worries soon washed away.

"R-Really?"

"Yes, now let's get going. We must leave by today, and we only have about half more of the day left. If you want to swim out there, then let's begin now."

"Come on, don't have such a stick up your ass. Just like you said, we got half a day left. Let's enjoy it some more before she leaves this place,"

My maid of death ignored the woman's words as she dragged me out of the cave, only for my other arm to be caught by Ethel.

"Do you have to be such a goddamn buzzkill? At least ask Ada what she wants to do… geez, you maids are so fucking uptight that it grosses me out."

"I do not care about your opinion of me," My maid of death quickly replied, with my maids of fire and ice yanking Ethel's hand off of me.

Athena just stood in the corner, watching this spectacle as if it was a fun theatrical presentation. To be honest, if she had popcorn, that smug look on her face would be complete.

My maids quickly took me away as I looked back at the annoyed Ethel, with Athena coming from behind to give her a silent pat on the back.

…

As I stood in front of the massive clear lining, I looked up at the rest of it, forming a bubble around the seemingly floating island that I was in.

"So, we can just walk through?" I turned to my maids, and they all just nodded, but as I was about to take a step out of the bubble, a pair of glowing red eyes revealed themselves from beneath the bubble.

I gulped down a large drop of saliva whilst looking at my maids, whose two gave me an encouraging look while the maid of death just stood there, uncaring and expressionless.

"Don't worry. We will protect you from any harm, so just enjoy yourself," My maid of death spoke up, but her face wasn't very encouraging.

Yet again, I swallowed some saliva before diving in, holding my breath and shutting my eyes closed until I felt the sensation of water wrapping around me.

The light chatter coming from the city disappeared, and a long eerie silence befell around me… and then, I saw a beautiful sight.

A glowing golden orb slowly floated towards me, and from within it, a mermaid appeared, dancing in the water.

I attempted to swim after her, but she was too fast in the water, and I was already running out of air.

I then felt a chilling sensation erupt from beneath me, and when I lowered my gaze, I saw that dreaded thing lurking beneath, causing the rest of my oxygen to escape from my lungs.

With the looming presence and the suffocating feeling, I struggled to swim back as my muscles lost power, but then a pair of arms wrapped around me… and then I could breathe?

I was warm and comfortable, and when I looked back, I saw a familiar face: Auntie Ethel with a golden crown sitting atop her head.

I gasped for air within the water, and that air came to me, and as the thing from below began to swim up to try and eat me, my maids dove in, immediately freezing, burning, and spreading an aura of death within the ocean.

But, with a soft and slow slicing motion from Auntie Ethel, the monstrous fish was cut in half, its blood immediately being sucked towards the palm of my aunt's hand.

Strong… she's too strong.

Suddenly, my gaze caught a glimpse of her lower torso and noticed it was half fish, and it wriggled like one, keeping her in place as she softly gazed at me.

"Did you have fun?" Her voice permeated through the ocean as it began to glow softly around me.

I swiftly nodded my head with a toothy smile, and all of a sudden, she tilted my head downwards and kissed me on the crown of my head.

[You have obtained the blessing of the Mermaid Empress: Ruler of the Deep Ocean]

[You have acquired new skills]

"Tell your mother when you see her again that she needs to give you more time to have fun instead of constantly forcing you to work and work and train and train… trust me, I know what it's like to get burned out. Just have some fun every now and a while… and if you have nobody to come back to, you can always visit me,"

I lightly smiled with closed eyes, laying my head on her chest and hugging her ever so tightly.

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