Versatile: Alternate World

When the sun is bright again in the game, the two merfolk decided to properly talk to us this time. Since they didn't suffer any injuries during the time they were frozen, they were able to recover their strength by resting the whole night.

"We apologize for our behavior when we just woke up last time. We still have no idea what is going on so we decided to do what was best in that situation and think of a way to know who is trustworthy here. Thankfully, my brother has this ability to know who is trustworthy people and not. You guys passed," the mermaid explained.

"Let me introduce ourselves, my name is Li and this is my sister Sera. We are thankful for all of you saving us."

"Likewise. As for us, I am Bladeheart, and these are my followers, Atlas, Lucia, and Lina. As for her, she is currently accompanying us on a quest to reclaim the throne. Her name is Tina."

"Reclaim the throne? Is she perhaps...?" Sera looked at Tina.

"Yeah, she is the current princess of the Insect Kingdom. I bet you guys knew about them right?"

"Yeah. Of course, we do. They are part of the big group of settlers in Aquagius that has built their kingdom on the biggest island of Aquagius. They slowly garnered reputation and people and soon they developed the island and they are now a kingdom. However, I don't know how long we have been sealed so I don't know what is the current affairs of the world and why she is trying to reclaim the throne," Sera shook her head.

"Are there any people you guys know that you can remember to ask for clues on how long you guys have been gone?" I asked.

"It's not a big possibility that we will get our answers and see the one we are looking for but we needed to go and enter the Kingdom of the Deep Sea to learn about the situation," Li seems to have already thought of a way to determine on how long have been they been inside the Ice.

"So you guys are actually residents of the Kingdom of the Deep Sea?" Lucia looked at them with intrigue.

"Yeah. We grow up there and we learned basic education there until the threat of the Monster of Ice Hell threatened every one of us in the kingdom. To stop its attacks, we decided to volunteer and form the seal since the only way to activate the Cryo Seal is for members of royalties to perform the sealing ritual together."

"You two are royalties?" Lina is shocked though most of us aren't. I already suspected it while the others may have already learned about it already. It seems Lina is slow in the uptake.

"Yes. However, even though we are royalties, I doubt we are still going to be recognized as royalties. After all, we have been sealed for quite a long time and the people might have already thought we are dead already so perhaps no one knows our identities anymore if many years already passed by," Li guessed.

"That is a possibility. No one will escape changes and if someone from the past suddenly comes to the future without prior knowledge, won't they become the weirdo in the end?" Lucia added. It was clear she is speaking from the experience since she also woke up in an unfamiliar timeline being left out by her own current time and generation.

"Although we are going to impose on this, we wanted you guys to escort us to the Kingdom of Deep Sea. I know this is somewhat a selfish request all of a sudden to all of you since we just get to know each other but we have no other choice and we don't know the situation of the place so having a few escorts will certainly help. I already talked to my sister and although she is very reluctant to let you guys in on our troubles, there is no other way for us to ask for help from others," Li quickly jumped to the point and proposed a set of actions.

I stayed silent for a bit. Even though we are indeed targeting to get into the Kingdom of the Deep Sea, just asking someone out of the blue without knowing them fully is out of the question. Accepting it is not something I would like since that would make them think that I am an easygoing man and will accept anything out of goodwill. I am not someone who is willing to jump to danger without compensation. Even if someone calls me opportunistic, that is just how it is and anyone would be dumb enough if they just accepted it without thinking much.

"I know you guys are in need of that escort that anyone would like to get but unfortunately, you guys are too rushed and I don't think we are close enough to accept it."

"B-but..." Li was shocked however, Sera interjects.

"Then, we will hire you all as mercenaries. Your job will be compensated and we will make sure that even if the request fails, you guys will get proper compensation in the process. How does that sound?"

I didn't expect Sera to be the one to propose that notion. I was thinking of proposing it to them once they start to give up but to think Sera can also think far ahead already seems to be already a calculated move for them.

"How can we be sure you guys can compensate us?"

"We might have nothing materialistic to give you all but I can give you one thing that you guys might be interested. Since you lot seems to be adventurers, this thing might be more of a blessing and useful to you all."

She then held her left palm out and a small Ice looking artifact appeared out of thin air.

I squinted my eyes and inspected the thing on her hands.

[Blessing of the Primordial Sea God]

Effect: When applied to a person who doesn't have this blessing, the person will gain the ability to breathe underwater and gain the ability to borrow a partial power of the sea. An additional bonus is that whenever near the water or using an ability that has something to do with either an Ice or Water element will increase its effects in the process.

...

Are my eyes deceiving me? Isn't this the ability of the item that was in possession of the Sea God and was stolen by Serbal in Sandurk?! How is it possible they can create a Blessing this good? Not only do we benefit if we are near a body of water or uses water magic, even breathing underwater is a big blessing already!

"Is the reward unsatisfactory?"

I shook my head.

"This is already too much. I thought you would give us some sort of item or anything but to give up a big power-up, that is on another level of compensation and reward."

"Ha, you flatter us, but to us, this is nothing and I can even say that this is pretty cheap coming from us giving you guys these but we are planning to give more once we reach the Kingdom of the Deep Sea," Sera smiled.

"Are you sure about this Sis? We never usually give this blessing to someone outside our race. We might get in trouble in the process."

"Li, I know you are afraid we break rules but that doesn't mean that rules still exist today. We can't be sure how long has it been since we "disappeared" in this world and how long has it been since we get to interact with this world. We can't be sure about our situations. Breaking a few taboos from time to time is not something you need to be afraid of doing. No one is harmed and if it is taboo, how come there are others who are willingly going to abuse it? Now stop being stiff."

"I see, so you are all willing to break a few taboos to fulfill the contract. Well then, since you guys are willing to do much, then in the name of our group, we will accept. I don't know how long we will be on this but I look forward to working with the two of you."

A prompt appeared before me and to my surprise, the quest is labeled as "Side Story Quest."

[The Kingdom of the Deep Sea]

Type: Side story Quest

Objective: Find a clue on the two merfolks' circumstances and learn the truth.(Objective will be completed once someone received it or learned it.)

Info: In the unknown timeline where two people are stuck in the past, it is your job to let them cope with the current timeline and learn what they needed to do in the present timeline they are now in."

With that, everything is now settled and wrapped up. Now we are ready to go and the Kingdom of the Deep Sea and do the quest.