Chaptre 1
【Shark Attack】
The sound of the waves at night unsettled my heart.
That was the only reason I came out to the beach at midnight.
There was a legend I had once heard.
In the deepest hours of the night, at the most dreamlike time, the sea sometimes calls people out to it.
They say the pearlescent waves, the moonlight reflected on the water, the shadows of coral and deep-sea plants create a mysterious force that lures those who stand at the shore.
And whenever the sea calls, there is always a reason.
Those who answer its summons are said to return having experienced something magical.
It seems that story was not merely a legend.
For on the night I left home, drawn by the voice of the sea, I truly met something extraordinary.
It happened when I was young.
Driven by an impulse I could not explain, I went down to the beach.
The white sand, glittering in the moonlight, had transformed into a fantastical world completely different from the daytime shore.
Something lay sprawled across the pale sand glowing in the darkness.
Its translucent form emitted a strange radiance, like a sea monster from a fairy tale.
But it was far too small to be called a monster.
As if hypnotized, I approached it.
Only when I got closer did I realize what it was.
It was a baby shark, washed ashore and dying out of water.
The previous night, violent waves had battered the coastline.
It must have been carried here then.
I lifted the small shark, which was flopping weakly, covered in sand.
The texture of its moist yet rough skin felt utterly unfamiliar.
Its round black eyes—like those of a startled child—seemed far too innocent for a fearsome predator of the sea.
For some reason, I felt certain it was this little creature that had called me out that night.
“You’re the one who called me, aren’t you? You were washed up on land and needed someone to help you.”
Talking to a fish. I knew it was foolish, yet somehow I found myself smiling.
Holding the shark, which shimmered like a ghost in the moonlight, I gently pushed it back into the now-calm sea.
It did not leave right away. Instead, it circled around me several times.
At last, as if making up its mind, it slowly swam toward the dark, distant waters.
I stood there watching the ocean until its shape dissolved into the white foam of the waves.
It had been a brief encounter, but I thought of it as something wonderfully mysterious.
In fairy tales, when you help an animal in trouble, something good always happens afterward.
It might return with gold and jewels to repay your kindness.
Of course, in reality, that shark would never come back dragging up a sunken ship’s treasure as thanks for saving its life.
Still, that strange midnight meeting had felt special enough on its own…
“I’m that baby shark from back then. I’ve come to repay the favor.”
Those were the first words the man said to me.
It seems there really is no such thing as something that could never happen in reality.
I looked him over—the man who introduced himself as the shark from that night.
His ash-gray hair oddly resembled the color of a shark’s dorsal fin.
His vivid blue eyes matched the sea he claimed as his home.
If his claim were true, that is.
He had a perfectly expressionless face, as though he had never learned to show emotion, and a voice as dry as desert sand.
His strong physique was another mark of someone who had spent his life navigating the sea.
Yet his cheeks were as white as a fish’s belly, with no trace of sun or wind having weathered them, which felt strangely out of place.
Especially considering what he was wearing.
A pale shirt, contrasted by a jet-black scarf, and a large, angular collar with stripes.
In short, he was dressed in what looked very much like a sailor’s uniform.
At a glance, he might have been called a strikingly handsome man with a slightly cold air about him—at least when he kept his mouth closed.
The moment he spoke, however, the razor-sharp teeth that flashed like a shark’s were enough to intimidate even the roughest of sailors.
A shark I once saved appearing in human form? Impossible. Absurd. Completely ridiculous…
And yet, judging by the pointed teeth that resembled those of a great white shark far more than a human’s, it was clear he was not an ordinary man.
“But the shark back then was only about this big. Are you saying that little baby has grown into someone your size?”
I spread my hands to demonstrate the length.
“Sharks grow big.”
He replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
My carefully prepared objection was dismissed so simply that I was left speechless.
As I stood there with a blank expression, unsure what to say next, he suddenly asked:
“Come to think of it, I don’t even know my benefactor’s name. What is it?”
“Me? I’m Marina Brine… Just Marina…”
I answered automatically.
“I see, Marina. A beautiful name. It has a lovely resonance. I had a feeling even your name would be as elegant as a pearl. It seems I was right. My name is Sharkrof.”
“Sharks have names?”
I asked blankly.
“Of course. We don’t merely exist—we have splendid ones. In fact, I think the names of sea people are far more impressive than those of land dwellers.”
“Sea people?”
“Yes.”
Sharkrof nodded calmly.
His composure stood in stark contrast to my growing sense that I was sinking into some increasingly bizarre dream.
“Come to think of it, Miss Marina probably hasn’t heard of us.”
He began to speak about the ancient world of the sea people.
With a face as indifferent as a shark’s and a voice just as dry.
I supposed it wasn’t so strange—how often would a shark ever need to speak with emotional expression?
Yet beneath that monotone voice, there was unmistakable pride.
According to Sharkrof, sea people like him had always lived alongside humanity.
The reason their existence had never become widely known on land was simple.
Sea people possessed the ability to freely transform between fish and human forms.
By pretending to be ordinary fish, they had survived without revealing their true identities.
“Then… could the legends of mermaids have been accidental sightings of sea people?” I asked.
Sharkrof immediately shook his head with firm conviction.
“Absolutely not. Sea people are nothing like careless land dwellers. We instinctively act with caution. We are masters of concealment and disguise. We would never be discovered by accident.”
He seemed immensely proud of his people’s stealth.
“There is only one case in which we are discovered—when we reveal ourselves by choice. Like I am doing now before you.”
He spoke solemnly.
“Revealing our true nature to a land dweller is a tremendous risk. But sometimes, one must take such risks.”
“Was repaying me worth breaking your people’s secret?”
“That is part of it. But in truth, I have come for something even more special.”
“Something special?”
“After the day you saved my life, I thought long and hard about how to repay you. What would be the greatest gift I could offer? And I finally realized. The finest gift is a prosperous life in our infinitely beautiful and merciful Sea Kingdom. I have come today to offer you that.”
“…What?”
“Marina, come live in the Sea Kingdom with me. Surely you would enjoy a far richer life there than in this dry and harsh world above. It is truly a magnificent place.”
“But…”
“You need not worry about being unable to breathe underwater. We have a solution for that.”
“No, that’s not what I—”
“The sea is merciful. It embraces any soul that belongs to it—even if that soul, like yours, is trapped in the body of a land dweller. There is an ancient magic passed down in the Sea Kingdom that makes this mercy possible.”
“Magic? I don’t understand what you’re saying…”
“It’s simple. Anyone who vows eternal love with a sea person receives the sea’s blessing and gains the ability to live freely underwater—just like us. So…”
Sharkrof paused briefly before declaring solemnly:
“If you swear to love me and remain with me forever, the sea’s magic will take effect. Breathing underwater will no longer be a problem.”
“A vow of love? Me?”
“For your information, I am already prepared. In fact, I fell for you the very first day we met.”
Sharkrof said this with a completely serious face—utterly devoid of even the slightest hint of a smile.
