The beautiful laughter, like silver bells, mingled with the sound of the cascading waterfall.
There was also the faint murmur of conversations between girls and men, which continued uninterrupted.
Marie—this is the name of the mermaid girl.
Although the Xenoswere born in the underground city, just like those monsters, they all possess clear reasoning and intelligence; of course, they have their own names as well.
Some were captured by their own kind, while others were seized by fellow Xenos.
As a title, a name is indispensable.
During their brief conversation, Link successfully gained the trust of the mermaid girl.
Seeing that Link wouldn't harm them, as Fels had said, Marie shook her long blue hair, slightly tilted her head again, and displayed a cute smile.
"Hello, Link," she called softly, drawing Link's attention to her.
"Let's go there, shall we?"
Pointing her delicate fingers toward the entrance of the cave labyrinth, the mermaid girl appeared a little awkward.
After realizing what she meant, Link raised his head slightly and looked up at the sky.
The dome of Water Mystery City is undoubtedly the highest roof in the underground city so far.
Above the ground, the large tree labyrinth's shadows and extremely thick roots, with diameters of at least five meters, spread out in a radial pattern.
Above the vast zenith, a few swallows appeared sparsely, flying in the air, and the shadow of a half-human, half-bird mermaid flew past.
Although the two near the waterfall pool have yet to be found, lingering will probably just be a matter of time.
Reasonable Xenos are attacked by other monsters in the dungeon like outsiders.
It is precisely because they are aware of the approaches of these new monsters that Marie feels uneasy.
The large, hollow waterfall pool here offers a wide view.
If they continue to stay, they may be easily discovered and become targets for the monsters.
Perhaps a new adventurer arriving on this floor will see them from the cliff.
"That's right, it's time to change places."
Without much hesitation, Link nodded in agreement.
A bright smile bloomed like a flower on Marie's face, and she smiled sweetly at Link.
As a mermaid, although Marie cannot enter the labyrinth from land with Link, the dungeon is always considerate of monsters.
At the bottom of the waterfall pool, there is a channel that connects to the river of the cave labyrinth.
Marie can enter the labyrinth through this path.
There are countless caves in the labyrinth.
Temporarily bidding farewell to Link, the mermaid girl jumped into the water and stirred up the waves, and Link did the same.
"Boom!"
Did the cliff seem to shake?
It felt as if something had hit it hard enough to provoke a reaction.
"Did someone mess with a big monster?"
Sensing the tremor emanating from below, Link came to the edge of the cliff and looked at the situation down there but found nothing unusual.
After a brief glance and without paying much attention, Link quickly returned to the labyrinth.
Looked around and quickly tracked Marie's location, avoiding complicated divergent routes and arriving at a small cave.
No water flows in the cave, but there is a bottomless pool, and ice-like blue crystals surround the rocks on the shore of the spring.
Marie and Link almost arrived here one after the other.
When Link entered the cave, Marie was sitting on the shore with her eyes slightly closed and her cherry-colored lips slightly parted, as if she were preparing to sing.
However, when she saw Link enter the cave, the mermaid girl was cutely stunned, her eyes blinking as if to say, "How did you find this place?"
Originally, she wanted to use singing to guide Link.
"Sing fewer songs in the labyrinth from now on. If someone hears you and comes to your door, it will be very dangerous. Be careful that you might be kidnapped and sold."
Reading what the mermaid girl was thinking on her face, Link walked over and nodded to remind her.
"Wow…"
After waking up in a daze, Marie rubbed the spot on her forehead where she had just been touched and replied subconsciously, "Link… how did you find me?"
Soon, Marie came back to her senses and continued to struggle with the matter.
"If you insist on saying it, is it just following your feelings?"
"Feeling?"
Link nodded but stopped explaining.
It was a little funny to see the mermaid girl slightly frown as she tried to understand the meaning of his words.
This girl's curiosity is quite strong, and she is innocent and childlike.
No matter how you look at it, she is very easy to fool.
But think about it.
As a mermaid, she can't fly like the songbird or walk on land like other monsters
She can only stay in the water.
In the environment of Mystery of Water City, adventurers are always cautious when facing water, and there are no people who jump into the water of their own accord.
This results in an extremely limited number of creatures that Marie can come into contact with.
She had to hide from the same kind of monsters when she was underwater
Other than Xenos, she had no one else to communicate with, and her experience was pitiful.
It may have been a long time since she was born a Xenos, but she still looks so innocent. It can only be said that her innocence is caused by the environment.
"Stop talking about this, Marie. Why are you here at that Waterfall? Shouldn't you be with your companions?"
Shaking his head, Link stopped thinking about other things, instead worrying about why she appeared here.
When it comes to his attitude toward Xenos, Link is undoubtedly on the friendly side.
A group of creatures that won't actively attack adventurers, or even be hostile toward them
Why should they fight to the death?
They merely want to find a place to survive.
From a personal standpoint, there are no conditions sufficient to justify Link being hostile toward them.
Not to mention...
Who can resist an innocent and clingy mermaid girl?
"My companions are gone; I'm the only one left..."
Perhaps contemplating something unhappy, Marie pursed her lips awkwardly.
"Ray and the others have gone up there. I'm left alone to take care of the house."
Placing her hands on the rock, Marie slapped her tail hanging down from the shore. This was the unique dissatisfaction of a mermaid who couldn't move on land.
"So you ran off to play alone again?"
Link felt he already knew the answer.
"No!"
This was met with a strong rebuttal from the mermaid girl.
Then, she lowered her eyes a little, disappointed.
"There's something scary right now where we live, and it wants to eat me, so I ran off."
Link rubbed his forehead, trying to grasp the key points of the girl's words.
"Is it? Is it a monster?"
"Well!"
Marie nodded her little head vigorously and continued, "He always wanted to eat us... But before, Lyd and Gros would chase him away. Now that Lyd and the others aren't around, I can only run away."
"I can't go back until he leaves."
Finally, the mermaid girl didn't forget to add something.