After a brief exchange, Fukaboshi stepped out from the tower.
"Rear Admiral Karl, Miss Ain—you may come in now."
Entering the Hard-Shell Tower, Karl noticed that many areas inside were partially submerged underwater. The room itself was spacious, featuring a massive bed draped with long curtains, bedside cabinets with twin lamps, and an intricately carved chandelier hanging above.
"Rear Admiral Karl, Miss Ain," Neptune said solemnly,
"allow me to introduce my youngest daughter—Princess Shirahoshi."
Looking at Shirahoshi, who was barely half Neptune's height, Karl nodded silently.
She was small—but still over four meters tall. More than twice Karl's height.
Shirahoshi was a giant kissing gourami mermaid, the largest mermaid Karl had ever seen.
She had flowing pink curls, a taiyaki-shaped hair ornament perched on her head, shell-shaped earrings, clear sapphire-blue eyes, and delicate, refined features. Her lower body was a pink fish tail with alternating light and dark hues.
As for the "impressive proportions" he remembered—
Naturally nonexistent.
After all, she was only seven years old. Judging by her physique, she had just begun developing.
Beside her floated a plump shark wearing clothes, with a rather vacant expression and an inflatable swim ring around his waist.
Shirahoshi noticed the two humans staring at her and immediately lowered her head shyly.
She didn't cry—mainly because her father had already prepared her mentally beforehand.
"Princess Shirahoshi is really adorable," Ain said with a smile.
"Don't you think so, Karl?"
Karl nodded.
She was adorable—soft, gentle, and sweet. The kind that made you want to pinch her cheeks just by looking at her.
Hearing Ain's praise, Shirahoshi covered her face shyly and spoke in a soft voice:
"Thank you… for finding the person who killed Mother. Mother, in heaven… she can finally—
sniff—rest in peace…"
In the end, Shirahoshi couldn't hold back. She began to cry, her sobs growing louder and louder.
Ain's heart ached at the sight. She quickly stepped forward and gently stroked Shirahoshi's tail fin.
"Don't cry anymore. It's all over now. You have to be strong."
"Shirahoshi, your mother would definitely want you to be happy every single day, right?"
Comforted by Ain's words, Shirahoshi nodded seriously and wiped away her tears.
"Mm! Big Sister Ain is right! Shirahoshi has to be strong!"
Seeing the timing was right, Karl finally spoke.
"Little Shirahoshi… can I call you that?"
"Mm-hm! Of course you can, Karl-sama."
"Your father should've already told you—we're here to help you solve your problem."
"That way, you can go out and play every day like other kids."
Shirahoshi blinked her large, sparkling eyes.
"R-Really? I can?"
"Of course. Don't you trust me?"
She shook her head vigorously.
"No, no! Shirahoshi trusts you, Karl-sama!"
Karl turned to Ain.
"Your turn."
Ain smiled gently at Shirahoshi.
"Shirahoshi, don't move around later, okay?"
"Mm-hm!"
Ain extended her right hand. Peach-colored flames—resembling ghostly fire—emerged from her palm.
The color gradually faded, becoming lighter and lighter.
Naturally, the weaker the color, the weaker the effect.
Otherwise, at Ain's current level of mastery, a single touch would be enough to erase Shirahoshi from existence entirely.
The process was deliberately slowed.
The peach flames faded into a pale pink, and Ain immediately placed her hand against Shirahoshi's tail.
Before everyone's eyes, Shirahoshi began to visibly shrink—her body reduced by roughly one size.
Neptune stared in amazement.
"Incredible! This is exactly what Shirahoshi looked like when she was six!"
"Huh? I got smaller?"
Ain smiled.
"Of course you did. Your body has been reverted to its state from a year and a half ago."
A year and a half ago—
That was before Queen Otohime's assassination.
Back then, Shirahoshi had not yet been marked by Vander Decken IX.
In other words, Ain had effectively reset Shirahoshi's body to a state before she was marked.
From this point on, Shirahoshi could grow normally again—unless Ain personally canceled the ability, or Vander Decken marked her once more.
The price Shirahoshi paid was merely reverting her physical state by a year and a half.
Whether that was a blessing or a loss… was hard to say.
Neptune looked at Ain with hopeful eyes, asking carefully,
"Then… now?"
Even Ain didn't dare to promise too much.
"We'll need to observe for a few days. There's no immediate way to tell whether the mark has fully disappeared."
"…I see." Neptune sighed.
"I suppose that's all we can do for now."
"It's getting late," Neptune added.
"Rear Admiral Karl, Miss Ain—why not stay the night at Ryugu Palace? Let me properly play the role of host."
Karl and Ain exchanged glances and smiled.
"Then we'll trouble you, King Neptune."
"Good night, Shirahoshi. We'll come play with you again tomorrow," Ain said cheerfully.
"Make sure you sleep well tonight!"
Shirahoshi beamed.
"Good night, Big Sister Ain! Good night, Karl-sama!"
The Next Day
Outside Fish-Man Island
Vander Decken IX crawled out of bed and stretched lazily.
"Ahhh! Another wonderful day~ Hehehe… Shirahoshi, accept my passionate love!"
He picked up an axe beside him, used some snot to stick a pre-written love letter onto it, took aim—
"Go, go—eh?!"
The smile slowly vanished from Vander Decken's face.
He stared at his pitch-black, filthy hand, suddenly feeling extremely unsettled.
That didn't make sense.
Something was wrong.
Unwilling to believe it, Vander Decken tried several more times.
In the end, he arrived at a terrifying conclusion—
The mark on Shirahoshi was gone.
"N-No… no no no no!!!"
"Boss, what's wrong?" a subordinate asked nervously.
Vander Decken wailed in despair.
"The mark on Shirahoshi is gone! It's gone!!!"
The subordinate stared at him in shock.
"Boss… you didn't wash your hands, right? How could it disappear?"
Vander Decken suddenly snapped back to his senses.
"That's right! I didn't wash my hands! Then the problem must be on Shirahoshi's side!"
"I still have a chance—as long as I see Shirahoshi one more time!"
"But boss," the subordinate said hesitantly,
"there are Marines on Fish-Man Island right now! Even Hody Jones got taken down. Wouldn't we just be walking into our own graves?"
Vander Decken took several deep breaths and finally calmed down.
The Marines couldn't possibly stay on Fish-Man Island forever.
At worst… he could just wait a few days.
Ryugu Palace – Hard-Shell Tower
Neptune and his sons nervously inspected the Hard-Shell Tower.
After confirming that no new "love letters" had arrived, they were overjoyed.
"This is great, Father!" Fukaboshi exclaimed.
"If the mark were still there, that bastard would've thrown all kinds of junk at us again."
"But now—nothing at all! Little Shirahoshi is finally safe!"
"Yes… truly," Neptune said gratefully.
"Thank you both so much. You've helped me immensely."
Karl, however, shook his head.
"It was only a small favor. And Shirahoshi is only temporarily safe."
"To eliminate all future trouble, Vander Decken IX must be dealt with."
Neptune naturally understood this.
After thinking for a moment, he said,
"Then I'll immediately mobilize the Sea King Army to sweep the surrounding waters and search for the Flying Pirates."
"Rear Admiral Karl… do you think this is feasible?"
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 60 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/SwipeSage