'Wait, I brought the hook!' I slapped my forehead.
I felt like an idiot for a moment for forgetting the Hook's shapeshifting ability.
Turning into an eagle, I started flapping my wings clumsily, soon gaining stability.
Flying had to be quick. I couldn't maintain this transformation for more than 1 minute.
From high in the sky, I could see a small kingdom with a castle that stood out.
'There I must find my answers,' I thought.
Diving quickly, I flew through the castle gates and soon entered the castle through an open window.
Once inside, I found myself alone.
However, I ended up flying too fast and crashed into a shelf.
The sound of things falling echoed.
I quickly canceled my transformation and hid under the bed.
I had to squeeze myself in tightly since the bed wasn't very high.
Luckily, I had a flexible body.
And then, I heard footsteps.
"Is someone here?"
A man's voice.
I held my breath, gripping the Hook tighter.
'Just 32 more seconds,' I thought.
Just as I could only stay transformed for 1 minute, the cooldown time was also 1 minute.
Counting the seconds, I heard the sound of what seemed like a wardrobe opening.
"Nothing..." I heard a murmur.
"Show yourself, I know you're there!"
I frowned.
I didn't believe it for a minute. I even thought this person was a bit foolish if he believed someone would come out just because he yelled something like that.
"Prince Eric." I heard the older voice of a man.
"Grimsby, you're here." Eric asked, "I suspect someone entered my room."
"Prince Eric, if that's true, we need to call the guards." Grimsby's voice sounded serious and urgent.
"No need, I'm not certain yet. It could've been a bird that came in and flew out the window. After all, look."
I couldn't see, but I imagined that Prince Eric must be pointing at the shelf I had bumped into earlier.
"I see, I see... Indeed, it does seem like something a bird would do. But, Prince Eric, just to be safe, isn't it better to call the guards?"
"You always worry too much, Grimsby. No need to alarm everyone over something we're not sure about."
Grimsby grumbled, "I still think you need to be more cautious. Not long ago, you almost drowned, and now this."
"I know, I know." Prince Eric said, "Let's search a bit more, if we find anything suspicious, we'll call the guards. Is that okay?"
"Then let me do it."
"Okay."
Hearing their conversation, I smiled because I could transform again now.
Turning into a seagull, I came out from under the bed, startling them, but when they saw me, I saw their relieved faces, and without warning, I flew toward the window.
"See, Grimsby, it was just a bird." I heard Prince Eric's voice.
Of course, I didn't go far. I simply flew up, turned into a mosquito, and returned to the rooftop.
Realizing no one could see me on the castle's roof, I canceled the transformation.
I could hear the sound of their conversation but not the content.
However, I noticed when Grimsby left, as I no longer heard his voice, but I still heard Prince Eric muttering something about wanting to figure out who she was or something like that...
'So, he's not the Stranger?'
If it wasn't him, I thought of the Little Mermaid.
Normally, by common standards, it was usual to suspect the main characters of the story first. To me, they were the ones who could be the most suspicious and with the highest chance of being the 'Stranger.'
But there was also the possibility that it could be someone who took over the body of a random person or even came with their own body.
'In the end, this is going to end up being like finding a needle in a haystack...'
Lying on the rooftop while looking at the sky with my hands behind my head and the Hook by my side, I sighed.
'Everything would be easier if I had brought the hat and the magic carpet with me,' I thought. 'But at least I brought the Hook.'
If I hadn't even brought the Hook, it would take me even longer to complete the mission...
Sitting up, I stayed a few more minutes.
Then, I turned into a mosquito and entered through the window.
When I entered, I saw Prince Eric lying on the bed.
I went and hid under his bed once again, canceling my transformation.
After several minutes, I heard him mumble.
"I need to confirm, I need to see her."
At this point, I canceled any possibility of him being the Stranger.
Turning back into a mosquito, I started flying again, but before I left, I heard something that made me stop.
"Could it really be Ariel?"
I froze, but soon I was deeply delighted.
'No mistake, it's him!'
In the end, I bet right.
'Should I just kill him now?'
A dangerous thought crossed my mind.
'But what if he has a powerful golden finger?'
Although I didn't think it was very likely, I decided to keep an eye on him for a while.
Flying outside the window, I stayed on the rooftop again.
Time flew. Soon the possible person who replaced the real Prince Eric started leaving the room.
"Alright, I need to confirm this!"
I didn't move. His words made me think he intended to go to the beach.
'But... has Ariel already made the deal with Ursula?'
I didn't know how far the original story had progressed in this dimension, so I needed to act accordingly.
If it's after she managed to trade her mermaid powers, as well as her voice...
I didn't even want to think too much about it.
'Focus, focus,' I thought.
It's quite possible that after I got rid of Prince Eric, this dimension would be reset.
Minutes later, I saw 'Prince Eric' leave the castle and get on a white horse.
Turning into a seagull, I flew, following him closely.
When he was getting close to the sea in a more isolated area, I canceled the transformation. Holding the Hook, I threw it toward Prince Eric with incredible aim thanks to Li Shang.
"Whinny!"
When he saw the Hook in front of him, 'Eric' pulled the horse's reins, making it neigh loudly.
"What the hell is this?"
Before he could react, I pulled the rope connected to the Hook.
The sharp tip of the Hook pierced straight through his chest.
I waited for a possible golden finger that would protect him somehow, but it didn't happen.
Eric started coughing blood violently as I pulled him.
When he turned his head and looked at me, I gave a stronger pull, and when he was about to pass by me, I managed to detach him from the Hook and transformed into a seagull.
As I flew, I heard his scream.
The height was 100 meters. The chance of survival was almost zero if he was still an ordinary human.
Even worse, he was falling toward the rocks near the sea.
Of course, I calculated all of this, waited for this moment to do it, although I admit I wasn't expecting it to work so well and even had a plan B.
"Thud! Crash!"
When he fell, his body hit a rock while blood spilled all over.
'Apparently, he was still an ordinary human,' I thought.
[Promotion Mission "A Stranger in The Little Mermaid Dimension" completed! Congratulations, you have been promoted to level 2 and received a special reward: a gacha ticket from this dimension before the reset!]
Before I could think about anything, that same black hole appeared and sucked me inside.
This time, I didn't panic.