The Artist Who Paints Dungeon-Chapter 81

One day, the little mermaid said.

“I’ll eat you.”

“.......”

Giovanni laughed awkwardly.

“...Is that what you say to someone who has been to the market?”

“I’ll eat you.”

“I guess you didn’t like that I left Aria alone to go to the market.”

“Yeah, I don’t like that.”

“You were the one who said you would stay home alone because you were so absorbed in a book, Aria.”

“I’ll eat you...”

“Okay. Let’s go together next time.”

Isser, who was constantly checking Giovanni’s back, wondering if his sister was angry, patted Giovanni and handed the bag of groceries to the child. It wasn’t that heavy.

“Can you take it to the kitchen?”

“Oh, yes, I will.”

“Thank you for always helping me, Isser.”

Giovanni, who was watching Isser go to the kitchen, sat down next to Aria.

“Looking at it this way, it doesn’t seem like he’s very angry.”

“Do humans express this as being angry?”

“As expected, mermaids are insensitive to emotions. Is it because they live among sea creatures that they rarely communicate with?”

“Sea creatures do communicate. It’s just that stupid humans don’t notice.”

“Is that so? However, it’s probably different from creatures on land.”

Her blue eyes widened.

“What you’re feeling right now, Aria, is probably anger.”

“It’s quite unfamiliar to hear stories of mermaids being angry.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen a mermaid get angry. Mermaids always had a blank expression when they fought against humans.”

“That must be the case.”

Even when humans killed the mermaid’s baby, the mermaid didn’t get angry. They just punished with expressionless, cold faces, and people said that they were monsters who didn’t care if their children died.

“Come to think of it, there was another fight between humans and mermaids in the next town. Did you see it, teacher?”

“I didn’t see it, but the mermaids I’ve seen in my life have never shown any emotion.”

He laughed.

“As you know, Aria, the conflict between humans and mermaids has been going on for so long that we don’t even know who started it first.”

They didn’t even know who started the conflict. The humans simply saw mermaids as creepy sea monsters, and the mermaids saw humans as stupid, threatening beasts.

The conflict was escalating. Now the mermaids were drowning innocent humans in the sea and killing them, and the humans were killing innocent mermaids in the square.

They were shouting at each other as they watched.

“Everyone says this. We should kill mermaids. We should kill humans.... How could anyone but the devil create such a terrible situation?”

“.......”

“I have seen the conflict between mermaids and humans with my own eyes. I have traveled here and there as a son of the sun, and I have encountered many mermaids along the way.”

“So you are proud of your knowledge of mermaids?”

“It may have been an inappropriate confidence to show in front of a mermaid. However, I am also not used to seeing Aria angry.”

“I may be seeing you more often in the future.”

“Oh my....”

Giovanni carefully stroked his dark blue hair.

“As far as I know, the idea that mermaids eat humans is just a superstition spread in some regions, so why did you say you would eat me?”

“Because everyone listened obediently when I said that.”

“So that is the result of learning, I understand.”

Giovanni understood the mermaid’s learning. The mermaids’ indifference, which made them not even feel the need to choose the means and methods because they could only achieve the desired results, further fueled the fears of humans.

However, Giovanni hoped that this mermaid who was curious about humans would become a more friendly and social adult, so he hoped that this would not end as a simple result of learning. Giovanni continued.

“Then it must be a joke.”

“A joke?”

“You’re not really going to eat me, are you?”

“Mermaids don’t eat humans, they give them stomachaches.”

“Then let’s just call it a joke.”

He didn’t want to put too much weight on the mermaid’s cruel learning. Up until now, humans and mermaids had been giving too much meaning to the other’s ‘incomprehensible actions’, which had led to such deep conflicts.

He simply gave advice. It was a very light piece of advice that I could give as a teacher and a friend.

“It would certainly be convenient to scare people into obeying orders. But if you just scare them, a lot of people will try to run away from Aria.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“At least it wouldn’t be a good thing for Aria, who wants to learn about humans. Humans are not creatures that only show colorful reactions when they are afraid. Rather, they show much more reactions when they are happy and joyful.”

Giovanni hoped that this mermaid would not be left alone in the future. So he hoped that the sea and the sun would become one, just like her sister had hoped.

Mermaids live for a very long time and remain in one memory. Maybe this young mermaid who liked her current daily life could grow up to be a mermaid who helps humans someday. It would be the beginning of peace.

It was impossible to know if that would really happen, and he didn’t want to force it. However, there was a clear wish that this mermaid, who had to live her entire life embracing her short life, would become more gentle.

“If you keep playing this trick, there will be no one left by Aria’s side.”

The arrogant mermaid asked.

“My brother?”

“.......”

“And, what about you?”

“...We will probably always remain by your side.”

“Whenever?”

“Unless I die.”

“I will.”

The mermaid complained.

“Human lifespans are too short. The sun that created you was stupid.”

“Isn’t it because lifespans are short that there are more colorful aspects?”

“I don’t understand. Isn’t it natural that we can learn more because our lifespans are long?”

“You will slowly understand if you spend time with them.”

“What?”

“Desperation.”

Giovanni knew the limits of humanity. Also, I knew the infinite possibilities that came from there.

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“Because we are creatures with short breaths, it is humans who work harder than ever. Lazy humans are easily eliminated, the situation gets worse easily, and humans cannot welcome such situations.”

“They are acting out because they are more desperate?”

“Maybe so. Is there a point we can think about here? What is it? Aria, think about it.”

“.......”

The mermaid princess, who was thinking with her small head, asked.

“Then, when mermaids are desperate, do they become colorful like you?”

“Yes. Mermaids are just more familiar with water and live a little longer than humans. They are not that different.”

“A lot of things seem different.”

“If humans were given gills to breathe underwater and live a life closer to eternity, people would call them mermaids.”

“Are you saying that we are the same?”

“No one is wrong. We are just different. If there is one thing I felt while spending time with you, it is that in the end, Aria, you are just like me.”

Giovanni had no doubt about that fact.

“Aren’t mermaids also creatures that create precious things?”

“What does that have to do with future diversity?”

“Because any living thing evolves to protect what is precious to them.”

“Any living thing?”

“Even quadrupeds that don’t speak, and even fish that are often eaten by us, use all sorts of tricks and grow strong to protect their young.”

“That is an instinct to maintain the species.”

“You could say that innate instincts are also precious.”

The mermaid didn’t seem to understand.

“Then is human greed the same?”

“If protecting that greed is precious to you, then yes, it is.”

Everyone becomes diverse because they have something precious to themselves. Just because humans have shorter lives than mermaids, they try harder to achieve their goals.

“So mermaids will be the same.”

“...Then what is the difference between humans and mermaids?”

“Actually, they are no different.”

They just don’t understand each other.

“So, we don’t need anything great. If only there were more people who understood each other’s differences....”

“.......”

“If there were more people who spoke of understanding and compromise, this long conflict would eventually end.”

The mermaid complained with a blank expression.

“That’s strange.”

“That’s what it sounds like.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ll eat you.”

“You wouldn’t do that, but you’re so mean....”

“I’ll eat you.”

“Of course, I understand.”

But there was something she absolutely had to remember.

“Aria, if you’re going to scare someone into eating you, you must know this.”

“What is that?”

“Whatever Aria’s purpose was, humans will react differently, and Aria must take responsibility for that reaction. A creature that doesn’t take responsibility cannot learn anything.”

“.......”

Responsibility.

“...yes.”

The mermaid obediently agreed.

“I’ll take responsibility.”

“That’s great.”

“I’ll eat you.”

“Oh my... What else did you not like?”

So, it was a joke.

“I’ll put it on my table.”

“This priest is tasteless.”

A very light joke.

“.......”

“.......”

The mermaid blinked, seeing the dazzling light.

It’s the sun.

“...I....”

Why am I agitated? The moment my heart wavered, it was true. I had waited for so long that I absolutely did not want to lose.

But the light was hot enough to dry up even the vast ocean. It was the sharp heat that once dried up the tails of mermaids on the sea.

My stomach lurched. Even in the deep, dark depths of the ocean, even on the surface of the water tossed by a typhoon, I felt seasick.

“...I don’t quite understand.”

“What do you not understand?”

“Well, this is....”

Desperation? If so, what is it? The mermaid immediately found something to say.

“Why do you think I would want you not to die?”

“Aria, because you didn’t create me.”

Giovanni’s voice was no different from thousands of years ago.

“I saw the laboratory. You tried to create and combine countless lives. I taught you how to dissect and organize living things, so it was obvious that you could tell.”

Aria suddenly thought that it was too strange. It was a voice she had chewed on and remembered for countless years, but it was strange because she knew why it had been absent.

You ran away to the sun. Or melted into the cold sea. How could someone who had returned to nature come back alive and speak to me in the same way?

“Even some succeeded, and some intentionally ruined it.”

“.......”

“I suspected that it was to give me a life that didn’t feel like living.”

The priest of the sun, who seemed to have been stuffed in his most beautiful days, asked.

“But why didn’t I do that? Why didn’t I revive him?”

“...No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t succeed. Since he was dead, not even a corpse, there wasn’t enough material to study.”

“That must be because he respected me.”

“If you had died in a more normal form, the result would have been different. It was just something beyond my ability, not something I had intended.”

“If emotions are also abilities, then they wouldn’t be false either. I know that mermaids feel emotions too.”

Giovanni was convinced.

“You love me, Aria.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Your voice is weak.”

“No.”

It was a meaningful reunion with an old friend.

I didn’t intend to proceed in such a stupid way, but now that I had decided that the end was near, I wasn’t as sarcastic as I thought.

I hadn’t been this stupid for hundreds or thousands of years. I had killed, tormented, and toyed with so many humans... .

“.......”

But I couldn’t say anything because I had only seen one face that I missed. The only thing that had changed was Giovanni, your presence.

Only then did I remember that you were not only my friend but also my teacher. An adult I could never defeat, my milestone.

‘That’s right. That’s right, that’s what happened.’

Surprisingly, Aria had never defeated him. She realized something she had forgotten for a while.

She opened her mouth with difficulty.

“In the first place... Giovanni, who holds divinity, would you die like this? This must be just a trick to embarrass me.”

“If this is a lie, I can die a thousand times in front of you, and if this is true, ‘Giovanni’ disappears from this place. He is nothing more than a human.”

“...That’s true too.”

I found myself laughing at myself for not thinking that such a counterattack would come back. Unlike Aria, who couldn’t even touch the fingertips of my teacher whom I met by an absurd miracle, Giovanni could ruin himself at will.

‘If he had cherished his own body and life, he would have lived longer than that.’

However, Giovanni was a human who could do anything he wanted. Aria had not been able to defeat her teacher for a very long time.

“.......”

Now that she had come this far, Aria could not lie that she didn’t love Giovanni. Of course, no matter what kind of confidence he had, Giovanni was certain of the mermaids’ love, and unfortunately, it was true.

“Ah....”

From that moment on, the outcome was already decided. Aria knew that too, and that was why she placed her end entirely in Giovanni’s hands. Even so, the teacher chose to torture himself rather than swing the leash.

Because he knew that would be more effective in punishing Aria. It was clear.

“Why must you be so cruel?”

The reflexive question was answered as it was.

“Why were you so cruel?”

“.......”

“To me, and to the countless people I’ve met.”

“...I’m angry.”

“So you have to take responsibility.”

I know.

“I know.”

He told me to take responsibility.

“You’ve been telling me that for a very long time. Be prepared to take responsibility for everything I do.”

No matter how much time has passed, there’s no way I could have forgotten your teachings.

But she didn’t take responsibility for anything. It was because I didn’t want to take responsibility for the death and suffering of a mere human being. If I was going to measure the weight of my anger, I wouldn’t have even started.

“If I take responsibility for what I’ve done, wouldn’t that mean there’s no point in venting my anger?”

Oh, I hate humans. I hate them. Even this feeling of anger was so precious to Aria that she couldn’t bear to let it go. My resentment and disgust were as heavy as the feeling of loving you. It was truly precious.

So it was natural that I wouldn’t take responsibility either. If I were to take responsibility, if I were to atone, I would have to conclude that this feeling was wrong. I didn’t want this terribly precious memory to be tarnished and dulled.

“No one told me to take responsibility.”

“Quite a few people probably wanted me to take responsibility.”

“I guess so, the countless people who died and were hurt by my hands.”

This horrible sea monster would have met the most miserable death in the world, and would have wanted to atone for his sins by continuing days more horrible than death.

“But isn’t that a funny story? How can you expect human emotions from a monster like me?”

She looked at the white-haired hunter with an indifferent expression for a moment. Was it Yoo Seong-un? Aria asked him.

“Do you hunters want the monsters living in the dungeon to be judged by the law? Or do you want them to apologize or feel sad?”

“...Monsters are just targets for subjugation. We don’t expend that kind of emotion. We don’t have enough resources to put monsters who aren’t criminals on the stand.”

“Yes, that’s right. Most humans eliminate monsters without emotion because it’s their mission. I also kill humans because I hate them.”

Aria looked at Geo.

“Why should I be responsible for this? Giovanni, you taught me to be human... But now I’m just a monster.”

“When you say that, this priest’s heart really hurts. I taught a man who loved the sea, but in fact he was a monster.”

Giovanni said.

“You know that this is all a venting of anger.”

“I know.”

I know.

“I didn’t want to justify my actions with your death.”

“Thank you.”

“That’s why you, too... were so merciful. You wouldn’t have wanted something like this.”

“I see.”

“It just wasn’t appropriate to use it as an excuse.”

He asked to confirm.

“Don’t you still resent them?”

“I resent them and hate them.”

“Then why are you pushing me?”

“Because I don’t resent them enough to take responsibility for their deaths.”

He said that he resented them, but he didn’t want them to die. This was the answer Giovanni could give because he thought that if he influenced someone in some way, he had to take responsibility for all their reactions.

He said.

“Choose.”

“What on earth?”

“Are you a human or a mermaid?”

“...What...”

It was a difficult question to understand.

The sharp light of the sun was visible. It was ready to pierce Giovanni at any moment.

“Taking a hostage, how clever.”

“I’m using myself, so wouldn’t the responsibility be light?”

“You’re right.”

There was nothing more cost-effective than consuming oneself. Aria knew that too. That’s why she had used herself to instill fear in countless humans.

It wasn’t the first time she had seen a human make this choice. There had been countless humans who had traded with themselves, and they were just... not Giovanni.

That’s why she tormented him.

“.......”

Of course, she didn’t regret it. Aria knew from the beginning that her and her brother’s actions were nothing more than venting anger based on favoritism and injustice.

She only vaguely wished that one day their master would come back alive and scold them and punish them so much that they would end their long lives. Only Giovanni could do that. If not him, it would mean nothing to these mermaids.

‘... But in the end, this is how it turned out. How could things not have changed so much?’

He rarely let his disciples sway him. The scolding from his teacher, whom he had truly reunited with, took a form quite different from what he had imagined, leaving him speechless.

“To be honest....”

“You can be honest.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Oh, how pitiful.”

“He was so full of confidence.”

He was disillusioned.

Until Giovanni was forced to choose, I was sure that the ‘end’ was right in front of me.

“...I’m not sure what to do now.”

Kwad-duk-!!

A spear fell.

“.......”

“.......”

Blood flowed down Giovanni’s shoulder.

Was it because he was his disciple, or was it just because Aria was smart? She instantly understood the meaning of that action.

It meant that it wasn’t the right answer.

“What should I do?”

Kwad-duk-!!

A second spear fell.

“Should I apologize for my rudeness...?”

Kwad-duk-!!

It was the third spear.

“Don’t die.”

“You were wrong.”

Boom!!

“Don’t die in front of me.”

“You were wrong.”

Kwad-duk-... !!

“I....”

“Do you think you will respect me now?”

“...Are you angry, Giovanni?”

“Did you expect me not to be angry?”

His voice was still gentle and soft, but Aria realized that he was very angry.

No, rather.

“Did you expect me not to be disappointed?”

He seemed disappointed.

“.......”

“...It’s quite eerie.”

With just a few gestures, Giovanni was covered in blood. There were many holes and many cuts. His body was weak, unworthy of the honor of the new sun god.

That was why he was scared. He could not live in the face of the sun’s fire.

There was this awful smell of ripening. It was the stench that told the mermaid that her old friend was turning into a mere piece of meat.

“...Was it like this back then?”

Seeing her injured face like this, in the sunlight of all things, she remembered that day.

“You were tortured, you know.”

“Yes.”

“Did it hurt ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) as much as it hurts now?”

“It hurts more now.”

“Then stop it. You’re not wise.”

“Emotionally changed humans are not wise to begin with.”

“That’s....”

“You’re not like that, Aria.”

“.......”

“That’s why you did such cruel things.”

Aria couldn’t help but laugh, as it was so funny and speechless.

“...Why me....”

“.......”

“You still see me as a human....”

But she was crying.

“How could that be?”

On the floor, on the hem of her dress, the pearls fell.

“Why haven’t you changed at all?”

We have changed like this.

“Isn’t this a deception toward the humans who died because of me, because of my brother? How can you be so affectionate?”

“I don’t see you as humans because I’m affectionate. I treat you like that because that’s the truth.”

“It’s really funny. It’s funny. No one sees us as humans. So you’re still affectionate.”

She didn’t look particularly sad because the pearls were falling from her eyes, still as pale as wax, without turning red. They seemed like mere decoration.

“I’m not human, Giovanni.”

Aria found that a little unpleasant. She didn’t like it. She wanted to eat everything to be comfortable.

“But I could be human.”

“It’s natural for monsters to eat and torment humans.”

“It’s just an excuse to say that being called a monster is natural for one to commit monstrous evil.”

Giovanni still had a smiling face, and his voice was soft. The smile that remained intact despite being damaged and messy felt eerie, like a stuffed painting.

It was like looking at a portrait that didn’t change its expression even when burned. The bloody body that contained something that could be alive or dead continued to speak.

“You could have stopped eating humans, you could have stopped tormenting them.”

“.......”

“You could have stopped being called a monster, Aria. You could have.”

Unaccustomed to fear and anxiety, the mermaid didn’t know exactly what she was feeling. She had never felt this way even when her teacher, who had been the only meaning in her long life, died.

She simply asked. She looked unexpectedly stupid because the other person was the only meaning in Aria’s life.

“Don’t be angry with me.”

“Aria is my student.”

“...still?”

“Still.”

If you’re so angry because I’m still your student.

“...then isn’t that too cruel?”

I know, it’s not right for someone who prides themselves on being a monster to say such things. Those who died by her hands would laugh and despise her. But if they had followed the right path, they wouldn’t have thought of becoming a monster in the first place.

Aria repeated to herself because her own heart was precious to her. You know, I’ve missed you for so long that I can’t even count.

“Don’t be so hurt in front of me, you can’t do that.”

“If you’re a monster, this is okay.”

“.......”

The mermaid had to admit it in the end.

“...I’m still your student.”

“Yes.”

“I’m not a monster, can I get scolded in a different way?”

“Of course. This is a human conversation.”

Giovanni said in a gentle and firm voice, like a teacher.

“I have always treated you as human beings. As beings like me.”

“.......”

“I know you are mermaids and I know the difference, but that doesn’t mean you are monsters.”

I thought this was the perfect moment to end the story, since it was so long, but it seemed like Giovanni had no intention of ending it here.

“Why isn’t killing me the perfect ending?”

“Because that is also an evasion of responsibility. It is cowardly.”

“I will never consider my sins as sins for the rest of my life.”

“But as long as you are by my side, you will consider sins as sins.”

“It is a great honor to be able to remain by my old friend’s side.”

I asked, feeling amused.

“Do you think that would be a sufficient punishment? To give back someone precious to me?”

“First, I will not be the subject of your punishment, and second, I will not return anything to you.”

“But if you do not punish me, why do you keep me alive? If you do not return anything, how can you stay by my side?”

“My existence will be your punishment. Since I like good things, you will be interested in good things, and someday you will be moved.”

“That will never be hell to me. If the people I have killed and tormented find out, they will shed tears of blood. That is no punishment....”

“I tell you once again, I will not be the subject of your punishment. I have no responsibility or obligation to do so. Isn’t that right?”

He continued.

“However, as time passes, someday you will see yourselves as humans, not monsters.”

“That is ridiculous.”

“When that day comes, you will go to hell on your own without anyone having to step forward. You will punish yourself.”

“How do you know that?”

“I raised you. I taught you. I protected you. I know how good you were when you were by my side.”

Giovanni said calmly, as if discussing the obvious story of the hot sun.

“You are so curious and smart. You have the will to improve and are not afraid to try new things.”

“.......”

“That’s the kind of people I know. So stay by my side. You have to take responsibility for what happened.”

Aria surrendered in a banquet hall that was a mess with the blood of the noble priest and the fire of the sun.

“...Then that’s enough.”

She admitted defeat.

She had no regrets about the long, meaningless venting, but it was too long. Still, her hatred and anger were endless, so she couldn’t stop, and she didn’t want to.

So if possible, Giovanni, she wanted you to come back and give the mermaid’s story an ending. Only you could end the mermaid’s life. Only you were qualified to finish this crazy fairy tale.

“I wanted to win, but I lost.”

“I guess it’s because I’m a teacher in this country.”

“So give me time.”

“Time.”

“I need time to think about how I’ll stay by your side.”

“I’m the same way.”

At that moment, the few remaining spears of light disappeared. Aria looked into the air with a face filled with regret.

“...I should have killed the monster.”

“I keep saying that, but that’s not my job. Why are you asking me to punish you?”

“Are you going to call me a coward?”

“Yes, don’t be a coward. I’m telling you not to stay in the time I died, but to behave like an adult.”

“What are you going to do if I keep killing people?”

“That’s none of my business either. I never encouraged you to kill, nor did I stop you.”

“Then how can you call this the end? Nothing has ended.”

“But now that I’m here, nothing will end, but that doesn’t mean nothing will change, right?”

“I won’t deny it.”

“Personally, I think this isn’t such a bad ending. Do you know that?”

Giovanni laughed.

“In Earth’s fairy tales, mermaid princesses sometimes turn into bubbles and disappear, but sometimes they become human and live happily ever after with the prince.”

“Yes, my prince. I thought of you like that from the moment I saw you. So will you live happily ever after with me?”

“If you want to, then do so. The ending of anger can be reconciliation, forgiveness, or destruction. It depends on how much responsibility you take.”

“It’s not going to be a story about you, sir. I don’t know if you’re being affectionate or indifferent.”

“Oh, no. I’m sorry to say this, but I’ve done enough. I just wanted to cut ties and pretend not to know anything, but you kept hitting me with all sorts of things, so I came to see you.”

“Be kind.”

“So... let’s think about the rest slowly. It’s up to you to decide what kind of story we’ll make from now on.”

Geo concluded.

“We have a lot of time.”

“.......”

“Right?”

The Little Mermaid’s Ending (1/1)

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