Chapter 415: Dealing with Clever People

Ambrose and Aige were received with every courtesy the merfolk could muster.

The coral reef the merfolk called home was no natural formation. It had been cultivated over many years and shaped with distinctly merfolk magic.

The moment Ambrose entered, he could sense several different varieties of magical energy suffusing the water. The enormous coral formations, measured in tons, could shift and move at will under merfolk control.

What had looked from the outside like a closed bud now opened before them in full bloom. Luminescent sea algae, or perhaps fish, filled them, producing a genuinely spectacular effect.

Even Aige offered a rare remark: "I've long heard that merfolk are the elves of the sea. They do have the sensibility of artists. This coral grove truly is beautiful."

Ambrose nodded. Even without any particular aesthetic inclination of his own, he could tell that real care had gone into this place.

All the better. A tribe capable of maintaining a settlement this fine must be substantial. Nephrys, as its priest, would have connections even if he himself couldn't commune with the goddess directly. This would be far more useful than approaching one of the smaller tribes.

Social standing made a big difference.

Nephrys brought Ambrose and Aige respectfully to a broad, open platform, equally resplendent and striking. The tables and chairs carved from reef and coral possessed apparent, obvious artistry.

Nephrys invited them to sit and had attendants bring out two cups shaped like conch shells.

Ambrose was mildly surprised. The shells appeared to contain a small amount of perfectly clear, still liquid.

That was curious. They were surrounded by seawater, so why wasn't this liquid mixing with it?

Nephrys introduced the drink with warm hospitality. "The waters around the Blue Algae Tribe are sparse, I'm afraid, and we have little worthy of two such distinguished guests. This is pearl dew, a magical beverage brewed from pearls, with a mild restorative effect on the soul. Please, do try it."

"It acts on the soul?" Ambrose said, surprised.

Aige was equally taken aback. She had ranged the ocean for many years and had never encountered anything said to benefit the soul. The most common soul-affecting substance she knew of was ixiray venom, but that was harmful by nature, and only useful in alchemy as a diluted intoxicant for the undead. It was hardly wholesome.

Ambrose took a small sip. The liquid looked like water but had the consistency of something close to dissolving jelly. Insoluble, clearly, if it could be held in a conch shell without dispersing.

He couldn't taste it in any conventional sense, but the moment it entered him, he felt it diffuse rapidly through his soul, forming a thin protective layer, as though his soul had just received a thorough and thoroughly pleasant massage.

"I had never heard of merfolk possessing something like this," Ambrose said, with genuine appreciation. "Nephrys, you're treating us as true guests."

Nephrys smiled. "Against enemies, we bring out our sharpest spears. For guests, we bring out our finest offerings—such is the way of the merfolk. Sea cucumber sashimi, our greatest specialty, seemed unlikely to suit the undead. Pearl dew was the best we could offer in its place."

Ambrose understood the subtext. If they had come in good faith, the pearl dew would be a gift of welcome. If they had come with bad intentions, the spears would emerge next.

Ambrose was particularly fond of dealing with such clever people. They saved time, and their logic was predictable.

Nothing was more tiresome than dealing with fools or lunatics. Clever people all operated by the same internal reasoning, whereas fools and lunatics were chaotic in their own unique way and impossible to approach with any consistent method.

Nephrys was the archetypal composed, capable, and meticulous leader, someone who left no openings and said nothing without purpose. Dealing with someone like that was straightforward: you simply made clear who was the most capable mind at the table.

Ambrose finished the pearl dew and said thoughtfully, "So the merfolk have developed preparations specifically against the ixiray. It seems you genuinely intend to conquer the Sea of Volcanoes."

Nephrys's expression froze. How had this lich identified all that from a cup of tea? More unsettlingly, he wasn't wrong.

The merfolk had long maintained strict neutrality, attending to their own waters and avoiding other races' conflicts wherever possible.

But this time, the merfolk had decided to move first.

The reason was simple: their one true enemy, the ixiray, were mobilizing in force. Every sign pointed to their intent to claim this vast new sea as a breeding ground. If the ixiray secured a territory the size of an entire kingdom, it would spell catastrophe for the merfolk.

Staying out of the conflict was simply not an option.

The trouble was that, when fighting on home ground, surrounded by their own magical arrays, the merfolk could hold the ixiray's toxin at bay. Moving into open water meant accepting far heavier casualties. When the high priest learned of the ixiray's movements, she had prayed to Ezdolo for guidance.

The goddess had given them this formula: pearl dew, brewed from pearls, was capable of neutralizing ixiray venom.

Nephrys had offered it simply because he couldn't think of anything else appropriate for undead guests. He hadn't expected the lich to draw such a conclusion from one small cup.

But that defied logic. Had someone fed him this information in advance?

Nephrys's gaze drifted toward Aige. In his mind, she was the guest of highest standing: the Mistress of the Silent Sea in person. The lich was probably some kind of strategist attached to the crew. If the lich was saying this, did it mean the Silent Sea Pirate Company had designs on the coming war?

Were they here to negotiate, or to make a display of power?

Ambrose caught every small shift in Nephrys's expression. Merfolk faces were close enough to human faces that his ability to read them still worked. He had already formed a fairly accurate picture of what was going through Nephrys's mind.

Exactly as he had said, he preferred dealing with clever people, because they thought deeply and reliably followed whatever thread you gave them.

Right now, Nephrys was thinking too hard, which made him easy to lead.

Ambrose pressed on. "Unless I'm wrong?"

Nephrys smiled ruefully. He couldn't deny it. A battle was nearly underway, and there was no point in deceiving the Silent Sea Pirate Company. That would only earn enmity.

"You're quite right, but the details remain confidential. If possible, I would ask that you not let this information spread. If you could tell me where it came from, the Blue Algae Tribe would be deeply grateful to know from where the leak originated."

"Grateful enough to send me some pearl dew?" Ambrose asked.

Nephrys answered easily: "Of course. I'll have ten shells sent over immediately."

Inwardly, Ambrose scoffed. "Is that all? That's small change." Outwardly, he pleasantly said, "That was a joke. I merely deduced it from the clues at hand. I couldn't possibly accept such a gift under false pretenses."

Nephrys's brow creased slightly. "Guessed it? How does one go from pearl dew to the merfolk preparing for war? What connection could there possibly be?"

Ambrose smiled. "Would you like the honest answer, or the politic one?"

"Could I hear both?" Nephrys asked.

"Certainly." Ambrose was perfectly happy to oblige. "Pearl dew is something even Captain Aige has never encountered, which means it mustn't have existed for long. If it had, the Silent Sea Pirate Company would certainly have come across it at some point. A preparation beneficial to the undead soul doesn't simply go unnoticed, so it must be a recent creation. And the specificity of its design is too deliberate to be accidental: ixiray venom attacks the soul, whereas pearl dew restores it. It's a purposeful antidote.

"I happen to be an alchemist myself, and I know very well how costly it is to develop something this precisely targeted. If the goal were merely to treat the occasional poisoning victim, a priest's divine magic would be more practical and cost-effective. Investing in such preparation only makes sense when you're anticipating mass casualties that would overwhelm the priests—in other words, an offensive campaign.

"Under ordinary conditions, merfolk stay within their own waters. Your magical arrays keep ixiray toxin at bay, and large-scale poisoning events are rare. Pearl dew would be extraneous if not for the possibility of external combat. Combine that with the newly emerged Sea of Volcanoes, and the logic becomes obvious: you're going to contest the ixiray. That's the politic answer."

Nephrys had been nodding throughout, increasingly impressed. The reasoning was airtight—wait, this was the politic answer?

"Hold on," Nephrys said. "Then what's the honest answer?"

Ambrose said coolly, "The honest answer is that I had a gut feeling. No reasoning involved."

Nephrys looked pained. "That isn't funny. You just walked me through an ironclad chain of logic, and then told me that was the lie? How does a random hunch count as the truth?"

Ambrose spread his hands. "I am a diviner. I trust my intuition more than my reasoning. The goddess of fate has a habit of testing us diviners, playing little tricks to see whether we trust fate or prefer to rely on our own deduction. Doubt our intuition, and punishment will follow. So we shoot our arrows first and only paint targets around them afterward. That's the daily life of a diviner."

"A diviner?" Nephrys paused. That term had been making waves recently, though it was a particularly rare profession.

"Forgive me, but might I ask for your name?"

Nephrys had been operating under the assumption that Ambrose was simply Aige's mouthpiece. Among the undead, hierarchy was absolute. To the greater undead, all subordinates were tools, not independent minds.

So Nephrys had directed his attention almost entirely toward Aige, treating the lich as little more than a messenger. He hadn't even thought to ask his name.

But something now seemed amiss.

A name was surfacing in Nephrys's mind. A very alarming name, the name of the figure who had exiled an entire kingdom and created the Sea of Volcanoes with his own hand...

Ambrose watched the undisguisable alarm spreading across Nephrys's face and smiled. "Yes. I am he."

Nephrys produced a stream of bubbles in what appeared to be a coughing fit. As he composed himself, his first words were, "Master Megaman Tiga, my eyes have been clouded by the depths. As a gesture of apology, I would like to offer you three hundred shells of pearl dew, and beg your forgiveness for my discourtesy."

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