#623 In the Waiting Room

I am Arowana, the Mermaid King.

The Mermaid Sumo Tournament I facilitated is going well.

Soon, mermaids will have to take the initiative to go on land and interact with people from other races.

In the hope of providing an opportunity to do so, the Sumo Tournament was held with the participation of brave humans, demons, and merfolk.

The tournament’s first round was over, and all our terrestrial guests won.

Naturally, Lord Saint and the Demon King also advanced to the next round. 

“To think we’d be this overwhelmed by them...!”

This shock not only came from the merfolk in the audience but also from myself. 

The mermen who had been selected to compete in this tournament were undeniably strong, having made it to the finals of the recent Martial Swimming Competition.

But not even they could stand a chance against the powerful land-dwelling wrestlers! 

General Shark, Beltfish, and even Wild, who had just been promoted from Imperial Commanding Officer to Mermaid General, were tragically eliminated from the tournament.

It could be that they are not yet accustomed to using their legs after drinking the humanizing potion, but... 

Are you telling me their lower body isn’t tenacious enough, despite enduring rough seas regularly...?! 

“I thought it’d benefit merfolk, who do not mingle with other races, to get to know the outside world, but this is a little too shocking...!”

“It certainly is.”

I, Arowana, and my sworn friend Hendra are one of the few mermen among the first round of wrestlers to make it through.

Hendra cleared the first round, living up to his reputation as this year’s Martial Swimming Competition runner-up.

Well, he was up against a fellow merman, though.

But as first-time fathers, we mustn’t let our wives and children see our pathetic side.

Both of us are keen to show our fatherly dignity by aiming for the top prize, continuing after the Martial Swimming Competition.

“We cannot let our mermaid pride be shattered! Either you or I will make it through the top and display our mermaid willpower!!!” 

“Yes, I understand that, but...!”

Hendra’s eyes look distant!

He witnessed the first round of matches and realized he wouldn’t stand a chance against the land-dwelling wrestlers.

This is a disaster even for the number two of the Mermaid Kingdom.

Not even I, the number one, can tell how far I can go against those brutal elites.

This is a disgrace as the newly crowned Mermaid King...!

What should I do?!

Should I go to Lord Saint and the Demon King now and secretly ask them to go easy on me?!

“This is pathetic, Arowana.”

“Who said that?! ...M-Mother?!”

I was surprised that my mother and previous Mermaid Queen, Mahi Kanne, came to see me!

“Mother, why are you here? This is the wrestlers’ waiting room! You should be in the audience seat...!”

“You’re too pathetic to be left alone, so I had to come here. No... Rather, those aren’t my words. I’m just speaking for someone else.”

“Ahem!”

That voice... it can’t be!

“Father?!”

The former Mermaid King Nagus?!

“Ah-Ahem!”

“Dad honored the merfolk’s valor since his reign. To him, he cannot turn a blind eye to today’s pathetic mermen. You should be ashamed of your own ignorance—you even made a retired king get to work.”

“Yes! I sincerely apologize!”

This is not a parent-child issue.

This situation is where a senior scolds a junior as the king who supports the Mermaid Kingdom—there is no sugar-coating or naivety here.

“Aaaaaaaahem!!!”

“If this flow of events keeps up, merfolk would only be piling shame on top of shame. It was thoughtless of you to irresponsibly make merfolk, who are not accustomed to being on land, challenge strong land-dwellers.” 

“Ahemahem! A-Ahem!”

“Dad can’t keep standing by and watching, so he’s also participating. Former Mermaid King Nagus is stepping into the ring!”

Huh?!

You’re taking part in sumo, Father?!

After winning the Martial Swimming Competition fifteen consecutive times, Father retired from the sport and rarely participated in public matches.

The only exception was the competition two years ago. He participated in a memorable tournament in which Lord Saint and I were in after returning from my pilgrimage, but...

“But Father, the tournament has already begun and is in full swing! The matches have also been decided! Former king or not, suddenly stepping in is too despotic of an act!” 

“Ahemahemahem!”

Huh? What?

Mother, please translate!

“The tournament is canceled! We will now split into a mermaid and terrestrial teams and have a team competition!”

What? Did you really do that, Father?!

“After the first round, five land-dwelling wrestlers won. Our side also has five mermen after that head-on clash. It’s the perfect five-on-five team battle!”

What?!

But Mother...and Father? How in the world did you narrow down our wrestlers to five?

There are still more than five mermen left after the first round if I recall!

“Don’t worry; we’ve already chosen our players.”

“Huh?”

I went out of the waiting room.

There are many people lying on the flooooooor!

They’re the mermen wrestlers who advanced to the second round!

All of them made it to the finals of the Martial Swimming Competition, but they were beaten in this tournament so easily?!

Among the fallen people, two people remain standing.

One of them is so small that he could be described as a child, young and full of life.

The other, by contrast, is a mature and lean man. I could feel a menacing aura from him, as if he had experienced all of life’s hardships.

Were they the ones who committed this violence?!

“They are the special helpers Dad brought for the team competition.”

“A, ahem!”

“First is our second son, Tetra.”

“Ahem!”

“And then one of Dad’s old friends, Gurnard.”

Both names are familiar to me.

Tetra, my parents’ son and my younger brother, has always been an unruly, mischievous little rascal.

I have a lot of younger siblings other than Platy and Angel, after all.

But what astonishes me is Gurnard. 

Is that the Gurnard who was feared and called the Wicked Merman?!

“Once a strong man who was a regular in the finals of Martial Swimming Competitions, he was banished because of his radical fighting techniques and refused to change even after repeated warnings... The very same Gurnard...?!”

“Dad summoned him for today’s event. Gurnard, Tetra, you and Hendra—the original participants—and Dad. You’re forming the Mermaid Union with all five of you.” 

“Mermaid Union?!”

“And you will slay the humans and demons and defend the pride of the mermaids! Okay?!”

“Ahemahem! Aheaheahem!!!”

What an absurd escalation of events!

I planned this tournament with the intention of sharing with the mermaids the wonders of sumo.

But before I knew it, it had devolved into a war of pride between the sea and the land!

“Don’t be so pathetic, brother. Land-dwellers are only strong on land, right?”

Drop the cocky attitude, Tetra!

The same thing can be said for us merfolk in the water!

“They’re just full of themselves! It’s a little early for my debut, but I’ll show the land and sea how strong the king’s brother is! I will use my strength to raise your status as Mermaid King!”

“...”

I, the eldest son, was followed by Platy, Angel, three more younger sisters, and then Tetra.

So, though we’re brothers, we have a huge age gap between us. If anything, he feels more like my nephew.

...Of course, I can’t possibly think of him as my son or anything like that...

“Dad trained me to be strong! Today’s the beginning of the legend of Tetra, the Mermaid King’s Brother!”

“...”

* * *

After abridging a few events, the Mermaid Union vs. Human-Demon Union wrestling match began.

The first is Tetra vs. Gobukichi from the farm. 

Immediately after the match started, a counter-harite hit Tetra in the jaw as he recklessly rushed forward.

The vibration transmitted to his head, and Gobukichi mercilessly threw Tetra, who suffered a concussion, into a seismic toss.

It took less than a second for Gobukichi, the fastest person on the farm, to finish off my brother.

Well, this marks a lot of beginnings for Tetra.

I sincerely hope this defeat will teach him a good lesson and fix his hotheadedness.