Inside fishman island they quickly moved to meet Gluppy and Pecillia friends and family.
They were going to Mermaid Alcove, and when they passed by mermaid café, Ars decided to take a seat and drink some local specialities while Gluppy and Pecillia met who they wanted to meet.
Ars started inspecting the menu, and made a list with everything he wanted to try.
When the mermaid waitresses came to pick his order he gave them the list with everything he wanted.
The mermaid looked at Ars like he was crazy and questioned him.
"Are you sure you want all this? You do realize that this is enough to feed the whole place right?"
Ars smiled at her and replied sarcastically while wearing a confused and shocked expression.
"Really? I thought that was only enough to feed one or two ants."
The mermaid looked at him now a bit pissed off at his dismissive attitude, and with a few veins starting to appear on her head. Ars could almost see an angry red mark on her head…
She took a deep breath and was about to say something, but Ars interrupted her.
"Yes, I get that with that amount, anyone with eyes can tell that it's a lot of food, but I think you are overestimating the amount… I know of a few people that could eat all that and more."
He looked at her with an insulted face and finally insisted.
"So yes, I'm sure, I want all that."
Suddenly he heard a new voice from behind him.
"And do you intend to eat all of it?"
Ars looked back to see a larger mermaid than the other ones around. Wearing a hooded purple blouse, only buttoned in the middle with 3 buttons, and had a belly-chain around her waist. He finally answered with a serious and righteous face.
"No, i don't."
On her side another smaller and younger mermaid wearing a worried expression could be seen. With green hair, a pink tail and a tank top, Ars recognize them.
The mermaid attending to Ars greeted her happily, feeling relieved her boss had come to help.
"Madam Shyarly, this customer is causing trouble."
Ars looked at her indignant, and quickly denied it.
"No I'm not! I just asked for food to eat and you refused to bring it. I'm a paying customer, who just ordered and got refused…"
The mermaid gave Shyarly the list, she looked at it and smiled with a defeated smile, Camie took a secret look at the list and also was shocked by the amount.
Shyarly smiled at the mermaid that was previously attending Ars and calmly dismissed her from attending him.
"Morhany you can go serve other clients i will deal with this one, and Camie, you can go too."
The mermaid, feeling relieved from not having to deal with Ars, thanked Camie.
"Thank you for calling Madam Shyarly."
"No problem."
Shyarly looked at Ars with a curious expression, and asked about her doubts.
"Are you a pirate? You don't look like one but looks can be deceiving."
Ars looked at the list in her hands then at her sighed and replied calmly, a bit disappointed he still didn't get to try the fishman cuisine.
"No, I'm not…I suppose it's better if I introduce myself. I'm Ars Nautical, and I came here specifically to bring 2 mermaids who wanted to visit home and while I was here I wanted to try the local cuisine, but you can already see how that went…"
She looked at him trying to discover if he was telling the truth. After a moment she chose to believe him and finally explained the reason the previous mermaid was not accepting his request.
"If you're telling the truth, I thank you for bringing those 2 home. And I should explain why your request is being denied. In short, a group of idiots caused trouble and we couldn't buy the same amount of spices and ingredients we normally buy, and since we are running low on stock and have more than one client… Knowing that most of that food won't be eaten she refused to bring it. I apologize for the inconvenience. I also would like it if you shared the name of those mermaids."
Ars finally got why the large amount of items was such a big deal for them, at least for now. Ars smiled a bit sad that she still didn't seem to trust him, made quite clear by the expression on her face and the fact she wanted names, probably to confirm his story.
Ars finally relinquished trying on all the food items, and then lightly said the 2 mermaids names.
"Their names are Gluppy and Pecillia."
He suddenly remembered and requested her help.
"I almost forgot, I'm also looking for a shipwright named Den I think."
Shyarly had frozen when she heard the 2 mermaid names, it wasn't just her, almost all the mermaids around froze, and looked at Ars hopefully.
Shyarly suddenly grabbed Ars shoulders, and demanded answers with a somewhat relieved face.
"Are you sure you have the names correct?"
Ars nodded and asked, ignoring the mermaid's outbursts around him.
"So can you help me with Den? And when can I expect my food?"
Shyarly looked at Camie who was free and ordered her.
"Go check if Gluppy and Pecillia are really back, you know where to search…"
Then she turned at another mermaid who was free and ordered her.
"Choose 3 random meals from his list and serve it to him."
She then looked at Ars who now had a happy expression, and very seriously and coldly warned him, to the point it felt like a threat.
"You better be telling the truth, because if you're not, you will be explaining how you know those names… And I will be getting Den for you."
Ars just stood there ignoring her somewhat aggressive tone and asked with a sunny smile.
"Can I have a cola too? By the way can you drop the, i don't believe you face?"
Shyarly calmed down a bit, she understood that if he was telling the truth she was being rude, but she didn't trust Ars at all, she was trying but it was easier said than done. She nodded at him, and looked at one of the waitresses and ordered her.
"Bring him a drink… Wait, make it 2, one for the meal and another while he waits. And I'm trying…"
Ars was delighted with her offer, deciding to ignore her annoyed expression and before he could say anything she left to find Den.
Shyarly came back first much to his and her surprise, she was already thinking how to cause problems for Ars, so he would be forced to confess where he heard those 2 names.
Ars just stood there eating while he waited for Den to arrive. Apparently he was taking longer because he was finishing coating a ship.
Shyarly was thinking of a reason for her to call the guards so they could question Ars, and she could get her answers from them, when from the door Camie arrived along with Gluppy and Pecillia.
At that moment Shyarly attention quickly shifted to the 3 new arrivals. Her eyes went wide and she rushed to hug them, every other mermaid in the café did the same.
Not only the mermaids but a few other fishman and merfolk that knew of their existence, showed relieved faces, and smiled at the happy reunion.
In the meantime Ars was compending a list of critiques to his chosen meals. Of all of the meals on the given list, they chose the ones humans stayed away the most. Basically the mermaids thought he was lying and chose the worst options for him.
Ars got up after finishing his meal and prepared himself to pay the bill and deliver his list of critiques. He was going to find the cashier among the mermaids surrounding Gluppy and Pecillia.
But he was stopped by Shyarly, who now had a very apologetic face, knowing that she and most of the mermaids in the café had been very rude to Ars, she bowed her head and tried to apologize to Ars.
"I apologize for everyone that works in this café, we misjudged you and made you uncomfortable."
Ars didn't really care that they were rude to him… He cared about his meal, and it sucked.
"This café is supposed to have good food but my meal was anything but good… So no, I don't accept your apologies."
Gluppy and Pecillia looked around and could understand what happened by the guilty faces of the mermaids and the displeased look on Ars face, she was feeling very thankful that Ars didn't cause problems, because she didn't think this would have ended well for the mermaids if Ars decided to respond with violence, something he was quite a fan of.
She greeted him and tried to calm him down.
"Your majesty, I apologize for taking longer than expected. And I would like to apologize on behalf of my friends, they were just worried for me and my daughter."
Ars looked at her, while everyone besides him and the 2 mermaids, was shocked by his title, only now did they discover that not only he wasn't a pirate but he was royalty.
Ars brows started twitching and he replied angrily.
"The food they served didn't just suck, it was horrible."
She thought he was exaggerating, so she tasted it, and she found out why he was angry.
Not only did they choose meals that weren't exactly for human tastes but they also had made the food quite unpalatable even for her.
Shyarly was confused by the sudden change in color on Gluppy's face, and she decided to try the food herself. She also showed a very regretful face after tasting it.
The mermaid cook approached them and quickly bowed to Ars while asking for forgiveness.
"I'm sorry, I might have made the food unpalatable bad on purpose since I thought you were lying about Gluppy and Pecillia, I thought you were actually the kidnapper behind their disappearance… How about I make you my best dish as an apology?"
Ars was still angry but he also wanted to taste something good, so he replied with an interested face.
"If it tastes amazing I will forgive you, but if it doesn't I will trash the place!"
Everyone went a bit pale, especially Gluppy, since she knew that trashing the place was the same as demolishing the café to the ground.
Shyarly sighed, but she accepted, after all they were in the wrong first and she trusted the cook enough, considering everyone praised her for her cooking.
Ars sat at the same table as before, and awaited his meal.
Suddenly Den arrived and looked at the nervous Shyarly. She understood the look and pointed at Ars.
Den approached Ars who was now eating the meal happily, and sat down in front of him. He was curious about the reason behind the strange aura in the café right now but since someone had called him, he wanted to finish business first.
"I heard you wanted to talk with me."
Ars was surprised but instead of replying, he took out a letter and gave it to Den.
Den took the letter cautiously and a bit confused, and then he started reading the letter. His eyes went completely wide, and kept bouncing from the letter to Ars.
At first he didn't want to believe it, but the more he read the more certain the letter was really from his brother. Since in the letter there were secrets only known by the 2 of them and their family.
Den was a bit lost, but then Ars said calmly.
"I don't know what was in that letter but i would like you to burn it after being done with it, i would prefer if that letter didn't fall in the wrong hands."
Den nodded, still confused about what he should do. Finally after contemplating his options, he decided to explain his circumstances to Ars.
"First i would like to thank you for helping him, second i would like to ask you to show your kingdom on a map so i can visit in the future, and finally, although i would like to go visit straight away, I still have things to do."
Ars thought about it and questioned him.
"Are those things important? Because if not we can be at my island in hours, and then I can bring you back just as quickly."
Den was surprised but then he replied happily.
"In that case I will take your offer."
Ars looked at Gluppy and Pecillia, and questioned them calmly.
"Would you prefer to stay and I pick you up when I come back with Den or want to go back now?"
She quickly replied, with a very happy expression.
"I will stay until your majesty comes back with Den-san."