#619 Our Sea’s Bubble Economy Group

It’s me, Isaki, the mermaid bureaucrat.

I was having a lively conversation with Zoth Syra, the witch prime minister, in her office when we heard the door open.

“Oh? You two seem to be having an interesting conversation.”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

As soon as the person appeared, the Prime Minister let out an ear-splitting scream!

This person is the partner who once supported the former king from the closest distance—the former Mermaid Queen, Mahi Kanne!

“S-S-S-S-Sis?! What brings you here? H-Have I done something wrong?!”

“No, you’re performing well, in fact. Arowana even praised you for helping the nation function well.”

“I am honored to be praised by Sis’ son!”

The witch, who has always had a disdainful attitude, suddenly becomes as meek as a small fish in front of the former queen.

What kind of relationship do they have...?

“I just thought I’d drop by. I was wondering what you were up to, Zossy. Since Darling abdicated and I am no longer queen, I have more free time. And I’m not used to spending my spare time...!”

“But I’m busy as hell here.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing, Sis!!! I’ll be happy to entertain you! Hey, Isaki! Bring some tea!”

Y-Yes, ma’am!

Prime Minister Zoth Syra’s menacing look pressed me to prepare refreshments in a hurry.

“But I came at the right time if I do say myself. You were just talking about the Talented Woman of the Ravine, right?”

“Your Majesty...I mean, Queen Mother knows the Talented Woman of the Ravine?!”

“Hey! Don’t speak out of turn! We can only speak when Sis allows us to! And you even had the audacity to ask a question!”

Why is the Prime Minister so scared of the former queen?

“It’s fine, Zossy. I’m not as sharp as I used to be. In fact, now that I’m getting older, I should answer more questions to nurture the new generation.”

“Okay, go ahead! Ask whatever you want! The Sis is being generous! If you don’t ask questions, you’re being disrespectful!”

How long is she going to maintain that energy?

The Prime Minister is acting way too strangely for me.

“The Talented Woman of the Ravine, right? Of course I know her. I’m the one who assigned her to the palace.”

“Truly, Queen Mother?!”

The rumor becomes clearer.

“When I got betrothed to my husband, Darling was still a new king. At that time, he was suffering from a shortage of human resources, just like Arowana is now. So, I introduced reliable people through my connections. One of them was the Talented Woman of the Ravine.”

What?!

I didn’t know there was such a secret story behind the birth of the Talented Woman of the Ravine!

“Another person I introduced at the same time was Carp.”

“Carp? The now-famous teacher representing Mermaid Witch Academia?!”

Who would’ve thought the Queen Mother had ushered many promising individuals to the Mermaid Kingdom?

As expected of the fruits of her labor as the wife of former King Nagus!

“Carp and the Talented Woman of the Ravine became good friends because of that. Even now, when they see each other, they squabble like little girls despite their age.”

“What? In what way am I good friends with that woman?! I’d rather feed that goody-two-shoes bookworm to my homunculi!”  

“Zossy? I’m still not done talking, you know?”

“Sorry, Sis! I’ll shut up, Sis!”

The Prime Minister has been annoying for a while now.

But what’s with the Queen Mother’s coercing power to silence her in a flash?

“Where were we again...ah yes, the Talented Woman of the Ravine. I first hired her and Carp as my assistants, and after assessing their aptitudes, I assigned them to different positions. Carp was assigned a teaching profession and the Talented Woman a government official...”

I see.

“I was worried whether someone as sharp as a luna lionfish fillet like her could keep a monotonous job. But ability-wise, she was apt at it. She used to be a potion compounder and was good at math, reading, and writing, so she could do in a day what it would take a regular government official days.”

Wow!

The activities of the Talented Woman of the Ravine as seen firsthand!

“She was still in her twenties at the time, so she was seen in an even more unique light. Of course, many of the people were jealous. She could’ve gained a lot of fans if she had flirted with them with that charm. She was like a naked sword.”

For some reason, Prime Minister Zoth Syra cleared her throat.

The story continues.

“Some colleagues who saw her as an eyesore were involved in bribery and other corrupt practices. One day, it was about to come out, and they tried to pin it on her.”

“On who, Queen Mother?”

“On the Talented Woman of the Ravine, of course.”

“No way!”

That’s just dirty!

“The tactics were sloppy and ill-prepared, but as I mentioned, she had no friends because of her unsociable attitude. On the contrary, she saw it as an opportunity to kick her rivals to the curb, putting her in a disadvantageous situation. Ultimately, she lost her temper and...”

“An eye for an eye!”

“240,000,000 evils!!!”

“She took immediate action, not only against the people who had wronged her, but against every piece of evidence of wrongdoing she knew of at work, and directly took all of them to Darling.”

“Pardon me, but by ‘Darling,’ you mean the former King Nagus, right?”

“Yes, she was just like royalty when she made all the civil servants, including superiors, colleagues, subordinates, seniors, and juniors, get down on their knees.”

Continuing with the Queen Mother’s story, the uproar triggered a large-scale personnel shakeup at the Mermaid Palace.

The bureaucrats who had committed the fraud were terminated from their posts, but at the same time, the Talented Woman of the Ravine, who had been the one to denounce them, also left the palace.

“But why, Queen Mother?! Didn’t she do the right thing by correcting the injustice?”

“In a quarrel, both parties are to blame. She indeed took credit for exposing the injustice, but after that, she took it too far.  She brought her homunculus army to the principal offender’s residence and made them run amok.”

“Whaa...?”

“But above all, she wrote a resignation letter. The old me would’ve beat her to death till she changed her mind, but it was evident that she didn’t fit in the workplace, so I accepted it. What do you think? Aren’t I so mature?”

“Y-Yes...?”

I sense bits and pieces of not-so-mature parts from her recollection, though...

Hearing an anecdote of the Talented Woman of the Ravine deviates from the image handed down for generations... 

There’s no doubt she’s capable, but the Queen Mother’s anecdote doesn’t convey much of the impression of the other Talented Woman of the Ravine of purity and innocence.

The most I can get is a spirit that cannot tolerate evil—a harsh retaliation for injustice.

“That part can’t be helped. After all, everyone who knew what happened left the scene because of the incident I just described, including myself. First-hand witnesses did not pass down the story. That’s why her misleading image of pure and unselfish spread instead... Pupupu.”

“There’s nothing to giggle about, Sis.”

“Well, I’m sorry. But to think they’d call you upright and clean-handed of all people, it’s just... Pupupupu.”

The Prime Minister exhaustedly looks at Queen Mother, giggling. 

What’s going on?

“Oh my, I’ve already said so much, and you still can’t connect the dots? The Talented Woman of the Ravine has already returned to the Mermaid Palace.”

“Huh? What?”

“We can’t just suddenly make a wanted witch the prime minister, no matter how competent she is. But if she has contributed greatly to the industry in the past, that’s a different story. Especially one with experience in reforming and eliminating the old ways, which is what is most needed right now.”

“Whaaaa?”

I turn to Prime Minister Zoth Syra.

“That’s right. I’m the Talented Woman of the Ravine.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”

“Well, I didn’t know I was called that at work. It seems my ‘heroic saga’ has been embellished and has taken a life of its own. To think people would think of me as a woman of integrity and purity, ugh...”

“You were simply merciless to your enemies, weren’t you?” and Queen Mother chuckles again.

“I can’t go against you, Sis. I had to do work that I didn’t like. On the other hand, Carp’s vocation was to be a teacher. I finally convinced you to let me go after I cried and got down on my knees.”

“Oh, Zossy. You make it sound like I’m a bad mermaid who forces others to do things.”

“Not just ‘like,’ you do force merm... No, sorry, that came out wrong! Sis is a sincerely good mermaid inside and out!!!”

The Prime Minister is clearly being manipulated by the Queen Mother.

Though I suppose that has been happening for a long time now.

“Unlucky for you, huh? The talented woman whom you admired so much was the witch you hated with every fiber of your being all along.”

Still, I can’t believe that the Prime Minister was the Talented Women of the Ravine...

“I’m far from pure and innocent. After all, I’m a witch. I didn’t get involved in corruption when I was a bureaucrat because I wasn’t interested in the small amount of money that could be obtained by an insignificant official who cheated. Be it a good or a bad deed, you must go all out and do it on a grand scale.”

“Prime Ministerrrrrrrrrrr!”

“Huh?!”

I understand now!

You’re the one I’m destined to serve!

I will follow you forever!

Let’s reform the Mermaid Kingdom together!

“What’s with the sudden change of attitude? It’s creeping me out! Didn’t you hate me until a second ago?!”

“Would you look at that, Zossy; you’ve got yourself a loyal subordinate right off the bat. You’re being more and more at home as the prime minister.”

* * *

Lastly...

“Zossy, can I ask you a question?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“What’s that painting on the wall?”

Oh yeah, I was curious about that too.

There’s a painting hanging on the largest wall in the office.

It depicts a robust male figure, but it’s not human... It’s an orc.  

“If you’re going to hang a portrait, why not have something more majestic? You’re going to have political discussions here, so wouldn’t religious or landscape paintings be more appropriate?”

“Nooooooooo! That’s my emotional support paintinggg! I work while looking at it so I can do my best! Please don’t take the painting version of that orc away from me too...!!!”

“Huh?!  ...W-Well, if you say it helps you, I won’t comment any further...”

The Queen Mother was taken aback by the Prime Minister’s desperate plea. In the end, the orc picture remains hung in the office.

Tsk.