Chapter 49: How to Say It

Water has buoyancy and resistance.

Lin Lin and Sharon couldn’t truly adjust to walking in the ocean like Arthur; often, they would float up unexpectedly, and then Arthur would pull them back down like a kite.

It was a very interesting feeling. Lin Lin even jumped up a couple of times, until she floated in the water and bumped into a confused yellow fish passing by, then she finally settled down.

Lin Lin quietly reached out, covered her bumped forehead, and let out a cry from her nose.

To get to the Blue Ocean Hotel, you first need to pass the central fountain at Padre Port and the little girl statue in front of the fountain.

Lin Lin stopped walking and looked a little longer.

The scene here looked very much like underwater, and you could even see the water plants growing at the base of the statue.

When Lin Lin saw this statue on land, she only thought the little girl was cute. Now, with the city at the bottom of the sea, little fish swam through the gaps in the statue’s raised arms, giving it a lively image of life.

Lin Lin wondered how the City Lord would feel if he passed by here and saw this statue.

Is the City Lord really the one who caused all this? Even if there are children’s toys on the magic circle that opened this realm, does that prove it was his doing?

Compared to Lin Lin, Sharon’s attention was clearly elsewhere. After noticing that the fish were a bit shy and did not approach her, Sharon started to gently reach out to catch a passing fish.

"I think you should be more careful," Lin Lin warned. "It would be bad if you disturbed something dangerous; Arthur still can’t change back."

"Alright," Sharon released a tiny, pale pink fish that was one finger long from her palm, letting it swim away freely.

Then, both of them looked up at the direction behind the statue at the same time.

"Did you hear that?" Lin Lin asked.

"No doubt about it," Sharon answered, "it’s an incredible sound."

They actually heard a cat meowing in this place without any humans or other land creatures.

This sound was exciting; maybe they were not the only ones trapped in this world, or perhaps there were other paths leading outside. Either way, it was good news.

Arthur couldn’t hear the sound, but the ladies’ actions were enough to catch his attention. He looked towards the statue, staying still.

There was no danger there.

Yes, no danger—only unexpected creatures.

Sharon quickly reached out and jumped behind the statue, bending down to pick up a small orange-striped kitten.

Like them, this little kitten was not harmed by the seawater; it was just that its fur was slightly wet at the tips, unlike the fluffy appearance of cats on land.

Unlike Sharon’s surprise, Lin Lin was a bit slower to react.

She carefully examined the kitten held in Sharon’s arms and finally remembered why it looked so familiar.

Lin Lin had seen a picture of this kitten in the task details from the Brave Team; it took the team several days to find it, but they returned empty-handed.

But here it was, just like them, a small life that did not belong with the sea.

As Sharon held the kitten closer, Lin Lin reached out to touch its belly and felt its round shape, "It looks like it hasn’t gone hungry."

"Maybe it’s because cats eat fish?" The presence of the kitten made Lin Lin feel more at ease; even though they were trapped here, it seemed somewhat safe.

"Did it come here along with the opened magic array?" Lin Lin asked.

"I can’t tell," Sharon shrugged, "but it’s hard to imagine a strict magic circle would have a cat mixed in."

Lin Lin reached out to pet the cat, feeling its rough tongue gently lick her finger, "Why do I feel like its color looks lighter than what’s on the task list?"

The orange cat on the task list was a deeper shade with more red, while this one was a lighter yellow-orange.

"Maybe it’s just the picture quality," Sharon confidently confirmed that this was the cat she had been looking for, "thank goodness it has stripes, it’s easy to recognize. I’ve been looking for so many days; there’s no way I would get it wrong."

Sharon had extraordinary confidence in recognizing cats, so Lin Lin believed her judgment.

Passing by various small shops, Lin Lin and Sharon went in to take a look and discovered that the dazzling decorations and even unfinished dishes were set out there.

It all looked so real, almost like a photo captured in a single moment.

Many details were just like reality, only paused as if someone had pressed the stop button.

Lin Lin found a simple magic wand in one of the small shops that she had forgotten to bring when she left, but sadly the shop didn’t have any purple potion to provide magic.

Lin Lin tucked the wand into her lower back. If this were a game world, a number showing her strength, "+2," would probably appear. Having a weapon always makes a person feel a bit more confident.

Through the winding paths, the Blue Ocean Hotel was hidden in the least noticeable spot, while still enjoying the bright sunshine from above.

It was still a bit dim, but the three of them saw the wooden house in the distance; a warm light shone from above, giving even the slightly low and rough little inn a touch of warmth.

It looked no different from the hotels they stayed at on the ground.

Lin Lin stopped in her tracks and saw the faintly shimmering figure in the warm light.

Because orcas do not use magic, Lin Lin had never witnessed the magic of sea creatures.

The light blue satin shimmered like the sea, and a nimble, half-transparent girl held the satin while swinging in the underwater beams of light.

Sensing their presence, the girl turned her head; the tips of her jellyfish-shaped long hair were a light purple, slowly swaying like tentacles.

Unlike Lin Lin’s caution, the girl showed great curiosity towards the three newcomers. She waved her hand to make the swing vanish and then, like a real jellyfish, gently approached them using the ocean’s waves.

The Jellyfish Girl stopped half a meter away from them, her slender body still floating in the water.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

The orange cat in Sharon’s arms meowed up at her, but it seemed to be just a simple reply with no special meaning. The cat then buried its head back into Sharon’s arms.

"We came here by accident," Lin Lin said softly, "Do you know where this is?"

–

The three were warmly welcomed into the inn by the Jellyfish Girl.

Although she looked a bit chilly, she was clearly quite a kind-hearted person.

Moreover, the Jellyfish Girl was very eager to treat them as her guests, even pulling out chairs for them and serving them juice from the deep sea.

"Well," Lin Lin replied, "I actually drank a lot of seawater on the way."

The expression of Jellyfish Girl clearly dimmed.

Lin Lin, "I want a drink! I’m thirsty, I want juice!"

Jellyfish Girl smiled happily and floated towards the front desk, where the table was the same as the one at Blue Ocean Hotel.

This table was just the right height for her, unlike the dwarf boss who had to stand on tiptoes to climb onto his chair.

"What’s going on?" Sharon whispered, asking Lin Lin, "Why isn’t she answering our questions?"

"I don’t know, but she doesn’t seem like a bad person." The most cautious one had already started to relax.

When Jellyfish Girl brought the juice over, Lin Lin asked their question again.

"Where is this place?"

The girl showed a slightly apologetic expression, "I don’t know, I can’t remember."

"How long have you been here?" Sharon asked, casually touching the leaves of a green plant on the table. "It looks a bit wilted."

The girl showed a more troubled expression. "A year… or two? I’m sorry, I’m not sure. I can never take good care of these plants. Even when I move them outside in the good light, they still look sick."

The girl truly felt embarrassed about these small matters; her fingers twisted together, and a faint blush appeared on her translucent face.

Unlike the many questions from the girls, Arthur was struggling with his tail. The orca’s tail was large and didn’t fit well in the chair, so he tucked it back.

"These plants cannot be in direct sunlight," Lin Lin recalled her conversation with the dwarf, "because they originally lived in the dwarf’s underground castle and prefer the shade."

The Jellyfish Girl blinked slowly when she heard the word "dwarf."

"Dwarf?" she began to repeat the word.

"Yes," Lin Lin explained to her, "we come from the surface, where there is a city just like this one. The hotel here has a dwarf owner. Have you seen a dwarf? They are a species that likes to have big beards and enjoys living in groups."

Lin Lin covered half of her face with her hand to show how bushy the dwarf’s beard is.

Jellyfish Girl giggled at her silly movement, "I haven’t seen it, but it sounds fun."

"Well," Lin Lin said sadly, "do you know about any dangers or special places here?"

Her question made Jellyfish Girl feel awkward again.

"I’m sorry, I can’t leave this hotel, so I don’t know about other places."

Unlike them and the cat, she was tied to the hotel.

Lin Lin and Sharon exchanged a glance, realizing Jellyfish Girl’s uniqueness.

"But I’m not always alone," Jellyfish Girl seemed to try hard to share everything in her mind with Lin Lin, to make up for not answering so many questions, "The City Lord comes to visit me sometimes."

"What does he come for?" Lin Lin spoke softly, hoping the girl could remember more.

"Usually, he doesn’t do anything," the girl tilted her head, "sometimes he comes to drink some juice, sometimes we sunbathe together, but he is very busy, so he leaves quickly."

If it weren’t for the fact that Jellyfish Girl looked nothing like the statue, Lin Lin would almost doubt that the girl in front of her was the City Lord’s daughter.

But Lin Lin did not understand the meaning of the City Lord being here; as the girl said, he was really too busy, not only with the management of the port but also with matters related to magic.

In such a situation where his body was overworking, how could he even sit in front of an inn?

This level of kindness as a City Lord felt a bit too much, to the point where one might think something was wrong.

Sharon, like Lin Lin, couldn’t figure it out; her personality was more straightforward, and she stared at Jellyfish Girl, "Can you think a bit more carefully? Like, feeling unwell after meeting him, or having a bad mental state, or even losing memories in between."

Sharon’s nervousness made Jellyfish Girl laugh lightly; she couldn’t help floating in front of Sharon, showing off her mostly healthy, albeit transparent, body, "Not at all. In fact, my spirit feels a bit better after the City Lord leaves."

Not getting any useful information from Jellyfish Girl, nor seeing Allen, the three did not linger and tried to find the "boundary" of this area.

After bidding farewell to Jellyfish Girl, the girl gently swung back and forth in the sunlight of the water.

She looked up at the sunlight from the seabed, her gaze gentle and peaceful.

"Do you always stay outside the hotel?" Lin Lin suddenly asked.

The girl turned to look at her.

The Jellyfish Girl’s hair transformed, with light purple jellyfish tentacles gently retracting in the seawater.

"Yes," the girl replied, "because I always need to greet the guests."

"Dwarfs are a race that lives underground. Why did you move here?"

"Because someone wants to build a hotel by the sea."

Only the dwarf was left at the Blue Ocean Hotel on land.

In the depths of the ocean, a deep-sea hotel waited for guests to arrive.

Lin Lin remembered when they first met the dwarf; this shy race stood in the sunlight, silently cleaning the outside of the house.

She remembered talking to the dwarf, who carefully took care of the yellowing plants, while the underground plants did not give any respect to their old master.

Lin Lin opened her lips and then slowly closed them.

In the gentle smile of the girl, Lin Lin reached into her bag to feel for something. It was quite scattered, and there was no flyer she was looking for. The advertisement for the Blue Ocean Hotel that she had put away on her first day was long gone.

Lin Lin stood in front of the Jellyfish Girl, like a student who knew there was no answer but still struggled in confusion, desperately flipping through the books.

She missed the answer.

Lin Lin did not know the name of the hotel owner.

They always discussed their grand plans to save the city at the lively wooden table, sipping the tea or barley beer that the owner quietly brought, occasionally whispering their dislike for the unappetizing salad.

They had never asked the owner for his name.

At this moment, no matter how hard she tried to think, how could she tell the girl?

Among the many dwarfs that just made her smile and felt curious and interesting, there was one very special one.

He turned away from the shadows and waited in the sunlight.