Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou (LN) - Volume SS - Chapter SS3

Arifureta Fairy Tales: Little Mermaid 

Deep under the sea lay a village of mermaids, hidden from human eyes. Within that village lived a mermaid princess. Though she was called a princess, she wasn’t actually royalty. She was just cute. Incidentally, her mother was an extremely beautiful single lady. At any rate, this mermaid princess was a source of great joy to the people of the village. Especially the men of the village who wanted to treat her to snacks and have her call them Daddy. One day, when the princess was playing tag with these men of rather suspicious motivations, she ended up swimming pretty far away from the village. 
“Th-That was close... They’re trying really hard today...” 
The mermaid princess would never call any of them Daddy. She was determined to protect Mommy from them at all costs. Suddenly, she heard a huge splash from the surface of the ocean. 
“Wh-What happened!?” 
Looking up, she saw there was a fierce fight going on close to the water’s surface. The ancient creature of the deep, the Hell Eater, was locked in mortal combat with a human. Normally, the Hell Eater wouldn’t have had any trouble with a lone human. But this one was different. It pumped the Hell Eater full of black tar, then blew the giant jellyfish up. As the jellyfish turned into a rather ugly fireworks display, the human who’d been fighting it fell into the sea. 
“Oh no!” 
The mermaid princess quickly swam toward where the human was falling. Then, she grabbed hold of him and made a beeline for the surface. Eventually, she poked her head out of the water and saw that the boat the man had been fighting on had been severely damaged during the explosion. And so, she placed the man on the remains of the boat and shouted, “Are you okay!? Hang on, I’ll—” 
The mermaid princess suddenly trailed off when she got a good look at the human she’d rescued. He had white hair and wore an eye patch. But most importantly, she could tell at once that he had the strength of a great white shark and the kindness of a whale. He was a true prince. It was love at first sight. Myu knew that this was the man she would call Daddy. She’d been growing tired of the lecherous men who’d been chasing her day after day, but at the same time, she had been longing for a father figure. Still, she wouldn’t just let any random guy be Mommy’s husband. But this man... Well, he was clearly her fated father. 
But first, she needed to save him. She grabbed hold of the man once more and started swimming to shore. Once he was safely on land, she slapped his cheeks a few times, but he didn’t respond. Thinking he might have swallowed seawater, she elbowed his stomach in the hopes that it’d get him to throw it up. As she was attempting various other lifesaving maneuvers, she sensed someone nearby. She couldn’t let humans see her, or Mommy would scold her! The mermaid princess hurriedly dived back into the water and poked just a little bit of her head out to see what was going on. If anyone tried to steal her prince away from her, she’d fight them tooth and nail, regardless of what the rules said. 
“A-Are you alright!? Don’t worry, I’ll cast healing magic on you right— Oh my, you’re so handsome!” 
A woman dressed in a priestess’ robe had arrived. Though she looked saintly, the mermaid princess could tell she was the kind of woman who’d chase the man she desired to the ends of the earth. The woman cast healing magic on the mermaid’s prince, and he slowly opened his eyes. 
“Huh? Where am I? Did you rescue me?” 
“That’s right! You washed up here and I healed you! So now, you have to marry me!” 
“Like hell I do. Anyway, come to the castle, I’ll give you your reward there.” 
“I don’t need money, all I want is your hand in marriage!” 
“Oh great. Figures I’d get saved by one of the crazy ones...” 
In the end, the prince ended up going back to the castle with the priestess without ever learning it was the mermaid princess who’d actually saved him. 
“I’m not letting you have Daddy!” the princess swore to herself as she made a temporary, tactical retreat. She was going to visit the witch who was squatting in the mermaid village. 
“Miss Witch, Miss Witch! Please make me into the prince’s daughter!” 
“Mmm!? The prince, you say? Hmm, this might just be my chance...” 
After a few seconds, the witch smiled at the mermaid princess. 
“Very well, I shall use metamorphosis magic to make you appear to be his daughter. However...” 
“I know, you want something! What is it?” 
The mermaid princess was wise. She knew there was no such thing as a free lunch. As she stared into the mermaid’s resolute gaze, the witch fidgeted bashfully. 
“Once you’ve become the prince’s daughter, can you call me Mommy?” 
“No way!” 
The witch was taken aback by the mermaid princess’ blunt refusal. 
“P-Please, can’t you at least consider it?” 
“I’m sorry, but I already have a mommy!” 
But despite the mermaid princess’ clear refusal, the witch was undaunted. After all, she was in love with the prince. However, the world believed she was evil, which was why she was hiding out at the bottom of the sea. Meaning this was her only shot at making the prince hers. 
“I’m fine with being your unofficial second Mo—” 
“Not happening!” 
The whole time she was shooting the witch down, the mermaid princess was smiling brightly. 

“Ah, alright... I’m sorry I asked for the impossible...” 
The witch slumped to her knees, defeated at last. She looked so forlorn that it wouldn’t have been surprising if she let the current just sweep her away. 
“U-Umm, Miss Witch! I can’t call you Mommy, but I can try to ship you with the prince! Will that work?” 
“It most certainly will.” 
The witch recovered almost instantly, her mermaid disguise melting away. Meanwhile, the mermaid princess returned home to leave her beloved Mommy a letter. It read, “I’ve found the perfect Daddy. I need to convince him to let you live with him, so I’ll be gone for a while.” 
And with that, the witch and the mermaid were ready to set off. 
Since this mermaid princess was perfectly capable of speech once she found the prince, all she had to do was tell him that she was the one who’d carried him to shore and he happily took her in as his daughter. After that, she spent her days in the castle, living with her newfound Daddy. Of course, she didn’t forget to pester him about Mommy. 
“Daddy, Daddy, can Mommy live in the castle too?” 
“Hm? Of course she can. If she’s grown up, she’ll have to work, but there’s plenty of work here to do. I’m sure I can find her a job in the castle.” 
“Thank you Daddy! I knew I could count on your harsh but realistic methods!” 
“Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush!” 
“By the way, what do you say to marrying Mommy?” 
“Well, uh, I’ll have to think about that...” 
The mermaid princess was in no rush. She’d already gotten Daddy to promise to bring Mommy here. Once they started living together, Mommy’s natural charm would captivate him in no time. The mermaid princess was confident no one was as beautiful as her Mommy. Oh, but there was one last matter she still needed to settle. 
“Also, can the witch who helped me live here, too?” 
“A witch, you say? Are you sure she can be trusted?” 
“I owe her my life! Plus, she’s really nice and cute!” 
As promised, the mermaid princess did her best to ship the witch with the prince. She would never go back on her word because she was such a good girl. And thus, the witch and the mermaid princess’ mother were brought to the castle. 
“Oh my, it really is a castle... That girl sure is something.” 
Despite her attempt to smile gently like usual, the mermaid princess’ mother couldn’t hide her shock. Honestly, her daughter’s assertiveness was rather worrying. On the other hand, the witch was extremely nervous. At long last, she’d be meeting the prince of her dreams. A few minutes later, the prince came down to greet the two of them. 
“H-Hello... I’m the witch.” 
“Greetings, witch. I’m the prince. Now, I realize this is rather sudden, but I’ve fallen in love with you at first sight. Please marry me.” 
Though the prince’s sudden proposal came as a surprise, the mermaid princess was quite happy about the sudden development. It meant she’d fulfilled her end of the bargain already. All that was left was to let her mother work her charms, and the mermaid princess’ life would be perfect. Unfortunately, life never went as smoothly as people wanted it to. 
“I’ll never hand the prince over to some witch!” 
The priestess everyone had forgotten about suddenly burst back onto the scene. Things were getting heated. 
“Choose! Either give up on the prince... or I’ll stab you with this knife and throw you to the bottom of the sea!” 
The priestess held her hand out and a knife— no, a sword, suddenly appeared within it. In fact, there was another sword in her other hand as well. It appeared this priestess was a master of dual-wielding as well. 
“You’ll be the one swimming with the fishes!” 
“Bring it on! Just sit there and watch, Prince! I’ll take care of this dirty witch!” 
There was a series of resounding explosions as the priestess and the witch began fighting over the prince. The prince watched on as his castle was destroyed by the two women. 
“M-My Mommy is a much gentler person,” the mermaid princess said timidly. 
“I see... That’s reassuring.” 
The prince looked kindly down at the mermaid princess’ mother. She blushed slightly, seemingly pleased with the attention. 
In the end, the mermaid princess’ mother, the witch, and the priestess all lived happily ever after with the prince. At some point, an overpowered bunny girl and a perverted dragon joined his harem as well. Still, while their life was quite crazy, the mermaid princess was happy to be surrounded by so many people.