I Transferred to the SSS-rank Crafting Field - Chapter 28
Chapter 28
07 – Do you know the cries of the sea (3)
A small, cold house.
Atera’s memory began there.
Atera’s world was an iron door blocking her way. The huge door only opened during mealtime or when a middle-aged man visited.
The man visited every time the moon was full or waned; he held Atera’s chin and tilted her head up. His scrutinizing eyes lingered the longest on her two eyes, shining brightly despite the darkness of the room.
For a moment, his eyes glinted with greed before he looked at Atera’s black hair; he clicked his tongue. “Tsk. This is why half-breeds are no good.”
Since the man couldn’t speak her language, he made a sound close to a babble, and coldly removed Atera, who was clinging to him.
“This is valuable merchandise, so keep it safe.”
During the days, she would roll about on the cold, stone floor as she listened intently to the sounds outside.
Rustle Rustle–
The forest, densely packed with conifers, was so dark that one couldn’t see an inch ahead.
However, when she closed her eyes and concentrated, she could hear an indiscernible sound that could calm her discomfited, scared heart.
One day, she began to feel a thirst so intense that she wanted to tear out her throat.
She had emptied her entire water kettle, which was served to her once a day, but the thirst would not abate. Atera swallowed her saliva to try and quench her thirst, even a tiny amount.
“Hhhh…. Woo…” There was no way she could inform the others of her condition, so Atera threw the kettle. However, the servant only took away the kettle; nothing else happened.
Her thirst grew worse as the days went on. The sound that always calmed her down no longer sounded pleasant to her. Every time she heard it, her throat seemed to burn even more.
It was only after Atera plunged her head into her bathwater that the servant sensed an abnormality. Though, for the first time, the man came to see her before the moon was fully round, Atera was busy scratching her throat.
“What’s going on? Didn’t I tell you to keep it safe?!” The man, besides his big hands, was infamous for his fiery temper. He was a person of immense wealth and importance–enough to hide an important product. If she were to die…
Unable to overcome his fear, the servant fainted.
“Call a doctor, immediately!”
From that day on, doctors came in and out of her room every day.
However, no one was able to identify the cause of her thirst. All the doctors shook their heads, saying, ‘This is the first time we’ve seen such a disease.’
They tried all sorts of drugs and treatments, but Atera’s condition did not improve.
Atera couldn’t take her mouth off the water bucket all day. She would often skip meals, and, even after falling asleep, she would wake up complaining of pain.
When her already small body had withered away to an alarming extent, a strange-smelling man entered the room–rather flung into the room as if he were thrown in. Athera, who had been lying weakly on the floor, lifted her head at the smell that pierced her nose.
There stood a man with scars all over his body.
‘I feel like I’ve smelled this scent before…’
But the man’s expression was somewhat strange. When he saw her eyes, his fingertips shook in disbelief. Soon, his face distorted and he shouted at the people who dragged him in, “Are you out of your mind? Trying to keep a young seaperson here?!”
“So, we did well in not selling her off. Fix her.”
The man could not take his eyes off the girl even though he was beaten by the escort for shouting defiantly at their master. His faded eyes glowed fiercely.
Atera, who had been staring vacantly at the strange man, realized that his scent resembled the scent she occasionally smelled outside her window.
Since that day, Atera stayed with that man, Farran. He quelled the excruciating thirst that had been tormenting her with his magic skills.
Just by moving to a seaside church steeple and bathing every day in seawater caused her thirst to abate. When he sang in a strange yet fascinating tone, warmth spread throughout her body.
Atera, who wasn’t able to eat or sleep, gradually regained her health.
“That’s the sea. Follow me–Sea.”
“Se-ea?”
“That’s right, sea. That place where Medina resides is our true cradle.” 1 I don’t know if Medina is a typo and is supposed to be Medea btw. This is how it is in the original.
That wasn’t all. Farran named Atera and began to teach her wholeheartedly.
From the language and writing of the landpeople to the myths of the seapeople, ways to communicate underwater, and Oceanbloom’s songs. Like a sponge soaking up water, Atera absorbed the knowledge Farran poured into her.
Among them, Atera’s favorite story was of Medea who protects the sea. Farran would sing Medea’s lullaby every night for her.
“Shall I offer you the beautiful days filled with light. Or shall I scatter the night stars, scoop up two full handfuls, and give them to you?”
“Farran?”
“Hm? Are you unable to fall asleep?”
“Umm… I saw it in a book earlier, but, what’s a ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’?”
Farran’s breathing paused at her unexpected question. “Your head has been buried in fairytales all day…”
When he hesitated to answer, Atera hugged Farran and asked, “Farran doesn’t know either?”
“Parents are the ones who give birth to you and take care of you. Among them, women are called moms, and the men are called dads.”
“Then, is Farran my dad?”Atera lightly slapped and pinched Farran’s arm, but Farran didn’t answer for a long time.
Then, he sighed, “If you want to call me that, then you can.”
The sharp-witted Atera understood that his answer was practically confirming that he wasn’t her father.
However, Atera called Faran ‘dad’ when they were alone together. When she voiced the word ‘dad’ out loud, the loneliness that kept her up all night disappeared like the snow melting on a hot day.
–Dad! The cradle! Tell me a story about the cradle and Oceanbloom!
Time flew by, and Atera was now ten years old.
Her once pitifully haggard form had vanished, and her once gaunt cheeks had become plump. Her unruly hair, which used to resemble bushes, now flowed like waves, and her gem-like eyes sparkled with affection and radiated beauty.
Farran changed a lot as well. The seafolk that had once lived as if he was barely alive regained his will to live by taking care of this child.
His faded blue hair and eyes became clearer, day by day. The dulled iridescence regained its former brilliance.
The two seapeople, who had been painfully lonely, found each other and discovered solace. Although Farran, who was strong enough to take on 3 or 4 young men at this point, was still wary of the outside world, and the two stayed holed up in their spire. But, that was alright.
“It seems we can hold the auction soon.”
Their peaceful days were soon broken by the man that had come to find them.
Farran thought there would be more time. They were too careless; these were folks that would mercilessly hunt down children who were in the sunflower stage of their lives. 2 There’s a double entendre here. In part, this is referring to how children are innocent and need to play (as befitting the meaning of the sunflower) but it’s also a reference to how seafolk children need to sun themselves (like a sunflower). We’ll learn more about this in later chapters.
“I can’t believe they’d sell a child who’s now barely ten years old.” Farran chewed his lips.
At the very least, he needed to save Atera. No–he will save her.
“Never ever trust a landperson. Don’t show them your eyes, and don’t forget to go into the sea once every ten days.” Farran recited the things Atera should know and should be careful about. Then, he handed her the necklace he was wearing, “This necklace can call Astrona once. Use it to call him when you really need him.”
Farran held Atera, who was squirming about at the mention of a sea spirit. The child’s innocent smile touched his heart.
There was only one way. It made him sick to the stomach to let a child go forth alone. However, with this method, Atera was guaranteed escape.
Farran revealed the truth about Sheila to Atera, for the first time. The child sensed something strange and whimpered. Farran’s eyes became subdued when he saw her distress.
She was a brilliant child, and she will survive. She has to survive. Farran held her tightly.
“Dad, come with me. Hm? You said we can’t stay here.”
“Athena, don’t cry. You’ll remember everything I said, right?” Eyes red, Farran patted Atera on the back. After whimpering and whining for a long while, Atera fell asleep deep into the night.
Still hugging the child, Farran hummed a lullaby.
–Our child, slumbering beneath the vast waters. Our child, lounging underneath the coral shadows.
In that deep, dark night, another seaperson made a wish.
The greedy gods grinned and accepted his plea.
Beautiful eyes and hair faded to white; the seaperson turned into seafoam and scattered.
TL: Human greed–it’s a plague as always.
Footnotes Section
- 1: I don’t know if Medina is a typo and is supposed to be Medea btw. This is how it is in the original.
- 2: There’s a double entendre here. In part, this is referring to how children are innocent and need to play (as befitting the meaning of the sunflower) but it’s also a reference to how seafolk children need to sun themselves (like a sunflower). We’ll learn more about this in later chapters.
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Orz
Uh I get that Atera suffered trauma from land people but the fact that she only intervened when the whale was about to die and not even when the two people protecting her were about to die just rubs me the wrong way.
So yeah, reading this chapter about her tragic backstory doesn’t make me feel sad at all. Or I’m just too desensitized at this point.