-Vol 5: A New Life-

-Mermaids(2)-

Kenshin didn’t move from his spot, allowing the others to deal with it. With what he heard and seen on the internet unless the people whose lust’s appearance they had taken didn’t enter the water body, they won't attack either. Their strength lies in shapeshifting and mind control, physically they were very weak. Even though they were level 47, a level 30 hunter can kill one if he or she tries for some time. The point was that these mermaids had a very low HP, it's only 300.

The only reason he used [Starfall Domian] was that he wanted to kill them quickly and stealthily. He also wanted to save a few trump cards in case things get nasty later. He still couldn’t shake that feeling of imminent danger from his sixth sense, and the source was still the same, Isabella. He was also very upset because he was yet to find the reason behind her killing intent at that time. As such he decided to sit this one out. But if any monster comes into his field of vision, he would immediately slay it.

The commotion behind his back was going intense every minute as mermaids, one after another appeared out of the water, wearing the face of some unknown and known people. Every now and then a male mermaid would appear, but mostly there were only female ones. In reality, although this monster was named mermaid, they clearly didn’t have a definite gender. They just took the form of the lust of their target. It was due to their mimic trait, nobody had ever seen their real appearance.

Raymond gathered everyone in the middle of the boat as they discussed the plans on how to take down these mermaids. These mermaids were very troublesome, not only they maintain a safe distance away from the boat, their mimicry skills and mind control was very troublesome to deal with. Since it was he, who had warned everyone. First, these hunters all un-anonymously decided to listen to him this time around. Of course, Reymond was no expert when it came to the mermaid, but he understood the reason behind why he was selected to lead.

“Okay, everyone listens. From what he has seen so far, these monsters take the form of our inner…ahem…lust to seduce us, and if we react to it, they will use their mind control powers to control us. Aside from that, we know nothing about them. Anyone here who knows something more?” Raymond shouted, urging for them to speak their mind. In reality, he did research about various sea monsters, but among the list, Mermaids weren't it, thinking that they won't appear here.

Now that he was really going against them, he couldn’t help his past self for his naïve thinking. If he had known it earlier, he would have better prepared. Just as hew as drowning on self-mockery, a man, fairly old raised his hand. With a loud voice, he started “I have seen an article on these mermaids. Although they tempt using lust and mind control, physically they are very weak. There was also written that their strength was no different than a normal human, so I think if we can bring them to strike distance, we might kill’em. Besides, the long rained hunters can also give a try, but these monsters were very fast, they manage to avoid even the fastest of the attacks.”

The old man’s words showed a new light to everyone as they realized that they might have a chance to turn around the situation. Actually, nome of these hunters had ever seen this many sea monsters. For them, a sea monster whose level was so close to 50 would be a very frightening existence. Because they had already fought a group if level 20 monsters just now, and they barely managed to save their lives. The lingering fear was still fresh in their hearts. Now they encountered another bunch, that too with such frightening powers, they were on the verge of giving up.

“Thank you …you didn’t mention your name?” Raymond asked as he didn’t know the old man’s name.

“haha, my name is Oboro.” The old man supplied his name. Nodding his head, Raymond continued, “Thank you Oboro for your input. If what you told is true then we might really stand a chance…”

“I don’t know if it's true or not, I only read it on the internet. We should first catch one and test if the theory is correct or not.” Oboro said with a complicated face. He was very afraid, if these guys really believe him and went with that plan and something happens, won't he be a sinner? The old man knew his psyche couldn’t handle such a blow.

“Hmm! What Oboro told was the truth. Okay, let's find a net and catch a mermaid and check out if its true or not.” The woman with the bow, possessing the highest level among everyone said. She was still hiding her level from everyone. That’s why she didn’t go out of her way to lead anyone, opting to just follow the masses instead.

“But how do we catch one?” another hunter, a thin man holding a short tanto like sword asked unsurely.

“Haha! Have you guys forgotten that this is a fishing boat originally? Catching fish is what this boat is best at…” just as Raymond was about to speak something, a boisterous voice came from within the compartments of the boat. An old man wearing a captain’s uniform, and holding a rum bottle stumbled towards them. He was the old captain of the boat, the one responsible for guiding them to the most monster frequent locations of the sea.

“Old man, do you know a way?” Raymond asked looking at him hopefully. Taking a chug out of the bottle, the old man wiped the rum from his lips and said “laddy, these mermaids are just a bunch of over glorified fish…of course, I can catch it. But, my usual crew of the boat is not present…so you guys have to help. Any problem?”

“No! We will help!” everyone agreed. The mermaids, although didn’t come near the boat, they still lingered around, showing their face every now and then, holding the face of some famous individuals. They were like a thorn to these hunters, constantly threatening their lives.

“Good. Now listen, don’t question my decision and obey my orders. I can guarantee that you will succeed.” After that, the old man said a bunch of stuff on what to do and how to do. He also ordered two hunters to retrieve nets from the basement. These nets were specially made stronger than usual and could even bind a monster, let alone a fish. After following a bunch of instruction, the trap is ready. The old man then continued, “Now that we prepared the trap, what we need now is a bait.”

“bait?” everyone weirdly looked at the old man. What was he talking about? They were going to catch a mermaid, not a fish.

“Of course a bait. It was common sense that to catch prey, one needs to have bait to lure in. How can you forget such a common fact? Are you even qualified to call yourself a hunter?” the old man raged before taking another mouthful from his bottle. Sitting down, he continued “For a mermaid-like this, what we need is a human bait. So prepare among yourself who will become the willing bait…”

“Eh!?”