The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Their charm may not match that of dragons, but it wasn’t far off.

Dragons were real creatures, whereas sea sprites were beings of legend, imbued with various malevolent or benevolent fantasies. One should not underestimate the nobles’ curiosity, nor the magicians who sought truth.

“So, I must disguise Ake’s identity, flawlessly. Fortunately, Ake hides in the shell and hasn’t spoken; no one knows of her existence. I can announce that I found a shell-like sea monster, which should keep people from paying any attention to Ake.”

Sea monsters and magical beasts were similar, the difference being that magical beasts lived on land while sea monsters lived in water.

Like the pearl oysters bred by the Sapphire Family in Tranquil Lake, which were a type of sea monster, it wouldn’t be surprising for Liszt to catch a shell-like sea monster.

Having clarified this, Liszt felt at ease.

He glanced into the shell again; Sea Sprite Ake had stopped shivering, but was still curled up, never relaxing her vigilance.

“Ake.”

Liszt tapped the shell, a giant clam with a three-meter diameter that took up most of the room on the Fresh Flower Vessel.

“…Liszt.”

“Can you live without the sea?”

“Ake… there is seawater in the shell.”

“You speak Serpent Script. Where did you learn it? Have you ever been to places where humans live?” Liszt was curious, and he also saw conversation as a way to open up Sea Sprite Ake’s heart.

So far, he still didn’t know what Sea Sprite Ake looked like. From the vision of the Eye of Magic, it seemed she had a form not unlike a human’s but with additional fins and wings. She might be a bit shorter than an average woman of one meter sixty, roughly the height of a one meter fifty-five woman.

But her figure was shapely.

According to the golden ratio, with a slender waist, full breasts, prominent buttocks, and long limbs.

He remembered in knight novels, some authors described sea sprites as having the beautiful upper body of a woman and the hideous lower body of a giant sea serpent, others wrote that sea sprites had blue-colored skin, and there were knight novels depicting sea sprites with scale-covered green skin.

Liszt was very curious.

But he wouldn’t ask so directly for a look; after all, he already had the sea sprite in hand and could look whenever he wanted in the future.

“Ake likes… listening to the talking on passing ships… on the sea. Ake knows a lot… about the Sapphire Kingdom… there’s a very, very big… Sapphire Dragon.” Ake’s tone was filled with joy when she spoke of the Sapphire Dragon; clearly, even sea sprites couldn’t resist the charm of dragons.

“Yes, the Sapphire Dragon is the symbol of the Duchy of Sapphire. My father has seen the Sapphire Dragon with his own eyes; it is a magnificent dragon the color of sapphires, as flawless as a crystalline blue gemstone. Just one distant glance was enough for him to feel the incredible power of the Sapphire Dragon.”

“Ake likes… dragons, dragons are the most beautiful…”

Upon hearing this,

Liszt smoothly transitioned to talking about dragons. He knew of many, Elemental Dragons, Gemstone Dragons, Metal Dragons, and even Sacred Dragons. He spoke so engagingly that Sea Sprite Ake, completely forgetting her fear, could not help but sneak a peek outside through her shell’s crevice multiple times, glancing at Liszt before closing the shell again.

When the dragon topic was nearly exhausted, Liszt added, “By the way, Ake, I’ve heard many sailors say that sea sprites’ singing can guide those ships lost at sea. Is it true?”

“Mm… Ake has guided some… by singing, singing human songs… hehe.” Ake appeared to recall something and even laughed.

This was a very good sign.

Proof that Sea Sprite Ake was gradually opening up.

“Sea sprites are indeed kind creatures, just like Ake’s singing that brings joy to the heart… Ake, are you hungry now, would you like something to eat?”

“Ake is a little hungry.”

“What do you like to eat?”

“Ake likes… fruit from the trees by the sea… falling into the sea… Ake loves picking them up to eat.”

Liszt had plenty of fruit, his Gemstone Space was stored with fruits, where everything was static, and there was no worry about food spoiling. That’s why he would stock up on a lot of supplies, to prevent the inconvenience of not finding good food when outside.

Right away, he took out apples, raspberries, grapes, peanuts, oranges, and other fruits from the Gemstone Space: “Ake, I have a lot of fruit here for you to eat.”

By this time, it was already daybreak, and the rising sun slowly brightened the cabin.

With an expectant heart, Liszt saw Ake hesitate for a moment then opened the shell. No longer just cracking a crevice, but slowly opening up completely, the light shining in, revealing Sea Sprite Ake’s appearance fully before Liszt’s eyes.

What a beauty it was!

First to catch his eye was the white skin tinged with a delicate pink, smooth as if that of a newborn, as pure as the ocean, and as flawless as a fragile gemstone. It was mermaid skin with human traits, but its delicateness and whiteness far surpassed that of humans.

Just seeing this fair skin, Liszt couldn’t help but want to bite into it, to taste the flavor.

Then, his gaze was attracted to her exquisite face.

Dainty features, full of exotic charm, accompanied by waist-length sapphire blue hair and a pair of sapphire blue eyes. Such beauty was beyond the reach of humans, and Liszt could only crudely rate her an eleven out of ten.

The most peculiar was her ears, not shaped like human ears, but from the root of the ear gradually turning from flesh-colored to water-colored, then sprouting spiny fin-like pale blue ears.

These ears were not solid, but actually made of water.

Liszt could clearly see that her sapphire blue hair played over these fin-like ears. Similarly, there was a pair of spiny fin-like wings growing out of her back, probably at the shoulder blade position, small in size, more like fins than wings.

His eyes moved away from the fins, and Liszt noticed her neck, pale and slender.

Then his gaze fell upon her chest.

Round and firm.

The most marvelous thing was she wore no clothes but had ribbon-like water flowing in front of her chest, which was clearly water but didn’t look transparent, perfectly concealing her bust.

Below that was a flat belly, with a waist that could be gripped in a handful, and a delicate navel.

From the navel downwards, another ribbon-like water flow concealed, blocking the most mysterious triangle area from Liszt’s reveries.

She glanced shyly at Liszt and slowly stood up. In the shell was pale blue seawater, and those water ribbons covering her vital parts extended from the seawater in the shell, wrapping around her body.

Her legs were long and straight, without a single flaw.

The seawater slowly flowed down.

Liszt couldn’t help but follow the droplets, from her thighs to her knees, then looked towards her calves. Where there should have been bare feet below the calves, like her ears, the color gradually shifted from flesh to water, blending entirely into the seawater. It looked as if she had no feet, as if grown into the water.

“Irresistibly beautiful!”