SSS-Class Suicide Hunter Chapter 177

The tale of a city.

Rimepolis.

A city that survived on the mining industry and trade.

Rimepolis had one of the largest and purest salt mines in the Snail Empire, which increased its prestige. There were people who asked ‘Can you get food and wealth from digging into the ground?’, and the answer was ‘Yes, we can get both’.

-The Great Cavern.

-The Skull of the Earth God.

-We collect the teeth of the Goddes.

It was such a place.

A city that prospered from the wealth and glory that came with digging up the ground. The deeper into the ground they dug, the more glory they received, until one day, when they swung their pickaxes, they heard a clanging sound.

They’d reached the bottom.

[The mining ability of Rimepolis has deteriorated!]

There was still some rock salt left. However, they would have to dig too deep to find it. The work time would be much longer, and the level of difficulty would also increase.

[The cost of the Rimepolis salt industry increases!]

The slaves had fled. The snails’ skin was naturally weak to salt. It was fine for them to swing pickaxes or manage workers at the entrance of the mines, but it was difficult for them to go deeper. This was why they needed slaves from the other six races. As the slaves disappeared, the economy of the city, which was powered by rock salt, shrank rapidly.

[The Snail Race’s dominance weakens!]

The mermaid race looked like regular mermaids, but the seawater irritated their skin which forced them to remain in the rivers.

However, one day, a special species was born. Even when this special species entered the sea, they could withstand it, only saying ‘ah, it’s a bit salty’. Even those who were born with mixed blood from the special species were able to withstand the sea.

[The Mermaid Race evolves!]

The sea was a magical place that the snails had a hard time going in and out of, and the fact that the mermaids could now go into the sea meant that they would no longer have to interact with the snails.

Then, one day, one of the special mermaids accidentally tasted some of the soil from the tidal flat. ‘Huh, it’s salty’. Of course, the soil would also be salty since it was a tidal flat that seawater constantly flowed over. ‘Can it become more salty?’.

They remembered the time when they had been imprisoned by the snails in Rimepolis. [You have to dig a hole to get salt.] This stereotype had been implanted onto them. So the mermaid dug a hole in the middle of the tidal flat, put wooden sticks in the corner to keep its shape, covered it with reeds before adding mud on top of it. In that way, they created a primitive jar.

A week later, when the mermaid checked the jar, they found that it was filled with seawater. They scooped up the seawater and baked it in a kiln. When they tasted it, they found that it was very salty. It was sea salt. New technology had been created after an old stereotype met with a new environment.

[A new technology has been created!]

[The Snail Races competitors appeared!]

The mermaids were natural sailors. After all, they were amphibious from birth, so they wouldn’t die even if they were to be caught in a storm. The Sea God, which was terrifying, was now their Guardian Deity. Ships laden with salt flowed in and out of the waterways like guests at a house. The production and distribution of salt had been completely taken over by the mermaids.

[An ideological conflict has arisen!]

The snails couldn’t accept it. According to the mythology of the snail race, salt came from the ‘teeth’ of the Goddess. So it was difficult for them to accept that eating salt from the sea would not cause sickness.

There were several attitudes that a person could take when they couldn’t accept the opinions of another.

-It’s sorcery.

The snails chose the easiest one.

-It is the work of the devil.

-Sea salt is cursed food created with the breath of the devil.

-The mermaids are all demons who worship the devil!

-The fact that their skin can withstand the sea is proof of their devil worship!

The snails could have taken a more difficult path. They could have simply modified their mythology a bit. [The Goddess actually split in half when she died, half of her body was buried into the ground, the other half sank deep into the sea.]

They could’ve done that.

The more the empire expanded, the more in jeopardy their myths became. Salt, which they thought only came from the land, also appeared in water. Their world expanded. As their perception of the world grew wider, the myths lost their individuality, and the subjects of the myths seemed to lose character.

It was possible that one day, the empire would abandon [local myths filled with individuality] and instead adopt a [universal, invisible, all-powerful God] faith. Rimepolis might even move from the name of a city to the name of the empire itself, like Rome.

-Those who eat salt made by the demons.

-Regardless of the reason, it is blasphemy!

But the snails didn’t do that.

-Salt dissolves when it goes in water. Water dissolves salt. So how can salt come from water? This is a trick of the devil, a scheme to deceive the people and lead them along the wrong path.

Instead, they justified the reason why it wasn’t possible.

-From now on, all citizens must only eat rock salt produced by the empire. Anyone who digs up salt from mines not recognized by the temple, those who make salt from water, and those who try to bring sea salt into the empire will be punished!

-Trade of water salt is prohibited. Block all the rivers and waterways. Seize and sink every mermaid ship that is loaded with salt!

Chapter end