The Mermaid Asks for Love - Chapter 5

On a drizzly day, a crow knocked on my door.

It didn’t look very clever, fluttering its wings and stammering as it told me that the Seventh Magicians’ Conference was about to begin.

I don’t mind small animals wandering in here, but if they’re bringing some kind of notice, I don’t like it.

I asked it, “Have I ever said that I won’t return to the world?”

The little crow nodded.

I folded my arms. “Have I ever said that no one and nothing should disturb me?”

The little crow scratched its head and nodded again.

I laughed and asked, “Then you knowingly broke the rules?”

Everyone on this continent knows my temper is notoriously foul.

This messenger must be either inexperienced or simply reckless.

But the crow kept shaking its head, chattering away.

Its meaning was, no other crow would take this job, and since it couldn’t get any other tasks, it had no choice but to come.

I snorted.

“Go back and reply: I won’t participate in this kind of event anymore.”

Participate, win first place, my worth skyrockets, and then-

Honor and money, and power.

Again and again, the cycle repeats.

People are skilled at creating someone who rivals the gods, only to have a newcomer defeat them and create a new god.

I understand this all too well.

Over the years, countless people have tried everything to defeat me.

Endless wealth, unrivaled power, even ancient magic long thought extinct.

But with my abilities far ahead of everyone else, how could I care about any of that?

Power, money.

Rather than saying they were given to me, it’s more like I was swept up by them.

As for honor.

I looked at a seed on the windowsill.

It was left behind by the crow, unintentionally.

Who knows what flowers or grasses it brushed against, bringing this seed to me.

As I buried the seed, I thought.

Honor, that’s what I’ve sought all my life.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve told myself I would become the most powerful magician on this continent.

Unmatched, leaving all others in the dust.

Truly deserving, unshakably the strongest magician.

And for this ideal, I’ve always worked hard.

But when I truly achieved it, I didn’t understand anymore.

Yes, in the cheers of the crowd I didn’t understand, in their praise I didn’t understand.

In the admiring eyes of the people, only I wore a blank expression.

The highest honor-I obtained it.

But what comes next?

I gained that moment, and only that moment.

A lifelong obsession, dying right there in the cheers of tens of thousands.

It was then I suddenly realized I seemed to be missing something.

I began searching, wandering the continent like a walking corpse.

Finally, I arrived here.

The end of the continent.

I didn’t find any answers.

The rain grew heavier.

That day, I planted a tree.

I didn’t deliberately water it, nor did I care for it.

I even forgot it existed.

Yet it sprouted on its own, growing slowly, indifferent to everything around it.

By the time I noticed it, it had already grown to half my height.

The world truly is strange.

Whether or not it was given the conditions and care to survive,

It still forged ahead, just for itself-

Growing rapidly.