Ball of Nothing

Chapter 627: Kelp Farm

Priscilla was a very efficient worker. Truen didn't think that there was a more hospitable host. Their accommodation arrangements were flawless. She did not judge them and maintained a neutral attitude throughout. As the head maid, she was very meticulous. Not a single detail escaped her eye, and Truen was impressed by how she understood their preferences in less than an hour.

The Marrissa was a huge ship, but when it was brought into Indra Seagloo, it looked tiny in comparison. The merfolks were surprisingly good shipwrights. It reminded Truen about the case of fitting a crib into another crib. Indra Seagloo's technology should not be underestimated.

Zero's meeting with Queen Leah lasted for a long time, and Priscilla received orders to entertain the guests. She wasn't completely happy with the arrogant suitor who claimed to be her queen's future spouse, but she tried to be optimistic as the head maid. In the worst case, she would simply dispose of his body and feed it to the sharks she raised just like every other scum who broke her queen's heart.

The sea otters marvelled at their assigned rooms in Indra Seagloo's most prestigious inn. Everyone apart from Zero was given rooms in Indra Seagloo's most prestigious inn as part of the merfolks' hospitality. There was nothing to complain about. When the inn staff saw Priscilla, they treated these land-dwellers with the utmost respect, serving them on fin and tail. Anything these land-dwellers wanted, the innkeeper and his employees would do their best to make it a first priority.

"Please make yourselves comfortable. There is still some time before dinner. Would you like me to give you a tour of our humble city?" the pufferfish mermaid asked.

When the sea otters heard the word 'tour', they quickly jumped at the opportunity. Bob and Truen were equally curious, so the whole group agreed on a timing.

Jermine shared a room with Bob as she felt most comfortable with the dragon after travelling with him. Truen shared a room with Monoman while the sea otters and Pepper had individual rooms, a reprieve from the cramped sleeping arrangements in the Marrissa. Priscilla passed down her orders to the porters to have their belongings moved from the Marrissa to the inn. Everything else they required was provided for, from food to clothes and essentials.

The highly anticipated tour of Indra Seagloo started at the scale wall. As creepy as it sounded, the wall was extremely beautiful. Apart from being aesthetically pleasing, this scale wall served as a very good light reflector for the indoor kelp farm.

"The scale wall started when Indra Seagloo was still under construction. Queen Leah accepted the pledge of any sea creature willing to contribute to building parts of this massive underwater city. We have many kinds of scales here from various citizens. Some of us are still alive, but some of us have passed on. Nevertheless, this wall reminds each and every generation of merfolk what our ancestors had to do to create this safe haven. If you look closely at the scale wall, you can spot the occasional crustacean shell mixed into it."

As they passed by the huge scale wall, the kelp farmers saw Priscilla and lowered their heads as a sign of respect for the pufferfish head maid. The head farmer in charge of the royal kelp farm rushed over to greet her.

"We're here to tour Indra Seagloo," she told the lobster merman. "Could you gather a few crustacean workers to give them a practical experience of kelp harvesting?"

Hearing that the land-dwellers were interested in kelp farming, the lobster merman snapped his powerful pincers in joy.

"Yes, milady! Right at once! Esteemed land-dwellers, please follow me!"

Priscilla maintained a composed expression, her poise still as dignified as before as she followed behind the excited sea otters. Only Truen and Bob found it odd how the pufferfish mermaid would bring them to the farm for a tour in the first place. Shouldn't tours begin with the grandest of places if they were treated as respectable guests? Was this a ploy?

The lobster head kelp farmer offered them artificial pincers and taught them how to wear them.

"Anyone left-finned in this group?" he asked, and Pepper raised his hand shyly. One or two sea otters were also left-pawed and needed to use the special artificial pincers for harvesting.

Bob was impressed by the level of consideration these sea folks had. The left and right-handed orientation concepts weren't too well received even in Smargdas. The only country he knew practised this concept was Rocket Mountain. They had left-armed and right-armed smiths. Everyone else simply assumed the right-limbed orientation because it was more resource savvy.

Kelp farming was more fun than Bob thought it would be. Priscilla's poker face gave nothing away, and the Eternal Dragon wondered if she was an ally or an enemy. What did she really think about land-dwellers?

The lobster merman taught them how to identify mature kelp to harvest, and the sea otter took to the work like fish in water. On the other hand, Pepper asked more about the kelp farm's design. How did the merfolks manage to build a water separation chamber that allowed farmers to replant and harvest mature kelp from the outside?

Priscilla observed their reactions from the side and made a mental note to invite Indra Seagloo's engineers to talk to Pepper and two sea otters who took particular interest in the technology used in their kelp farm. The semi-giant and blind mole beast girl were more interested in tasting kelp, so the pufferfish head maid made arrangements for them to participate in a gourmet tour tomorrow.

The kelp tour was a good way to understand every guest's character and preference. However, there were two people who Priscilla had troubles understanding. The elf and teen with powerful mana didn't show any signs of preferences or interest outwardly. If anything, they expressed caution towards her and everyone else. It was difficult to make arrangements for them, not knowing if she would offend her queen's guests.

The pufferfish mermaid thought that she would personally attend to them over the next few days for these two individuals. They had to be the queen's future spouse's closest aides to be this cautious over everything. Not to mention, they were more than capable of reducing Indra Seagloo into rubble if they were offended.

Feeling slightly uneasy at the thought of the threat these two powerful guests could cause, Priscilla stared at them a little too intensely. Bob and Truen felt the piercing gaze boring into their backs but pretended not to notice it. They wanted to see what this head maid would do.