Chapter 574
-It wouldn't be easy to become friends with a picky race like Sirens.-
Giants were also not a race advantageous for becoming friends with others, but that was only because of the giants' physical characteristics.
If one could endure those physical characteristics, there were no others as simple-minded as giants.
But Sirens had a very fussy temperament.
Among the various races living in Einroguard's vast nature, it was evident from the fact that there were very few races friendly with Sirens.
-Well, you became friends with giants too.-
The boy in front of him was a boy with a rare friendliness, having a history of becoming friends with giants.
Occasionally, there were mages like this.
Instead of subjugating nature with cold wisdom and powerful magic, they became friends with nature with a warm heart and kind soul.
Usually, such mages were loved by the essence of nature, that is, spirits.
-You're probably loved by spirits too, right?-
"Uh, well, hmm, that, that's the case."
Yi-Han slyly put one hand into his sleeve and pushed the baby Basilisk deep inside. The Basilisk, who was dozing off, made a hissing sound as a sign of protest.
-It's good that you're friends with Sirens. Go and ask them a favor. Tell them that the giants are trying to pass through the passage, and ask them to help avoid unnecessary conflicts.-
"Yes. I understand."
Yi-Han answered confidently.
He felt a little prick of conscience when answering about spirits, but not with Sirens.
It was because they were truly friends.
Of course, there was a little misunderstanding at their first meeting.
Because he thought they were aquatic creatures that had to be caught for Professor Bungaegor's exam.
But after that, they exterminated the kraken together and solved the skull principal's stormy picnic together…
'This much makes us friends.'
Unlike with spirits, this was truly being friends.
Yi-Han went down the passage with confidence.
***
"Are you there?"
-♪↗♪↗↗!-
-♬♩↗↗↗!-
The Sirens, who were singing on the cool bedrock of the underground passage, screamed and jumped into the water as soon as they saw Yi-Han.
Splash!
Splash!!
"...Uh. You seem to have mistaken me! I'm not a suspicious person. I'm that 1st-year student from last time!"
Yi-Han thought the Sirens had mistaken him, so he called out loudly again.
"I'm the mage who exterminated the kraken with you last time!"
The Sirens, who had entered the water, quickly moved their fins and sought deep water to escape.
A sense of urgency to get out of here as quickly as possible was felt.
"I said you mistook me for someone else! I'm the mage who joined forces with you on the picnic when it was raining and storming! Don't you remember? That, during Professor Bungaegor's exam, when I grabbed your neck..."
Yi-Han, who was about to speak, hesitated.
This was an anecdote that was better left unsaid.
"Don't you remember?"
Silence.
"Ah. Is the Siren I met not here? If so, please pass on a message."
Silence.
The Sirens didn't answer and remained silent, not coming out of the water.
Yi-Han, who kept calling, realized that the Sirens' wariness was stronger than he thought.
"Just pass on the message."
Silence.
"...If you don't pass on the message right now, I will fill this underground passage with lightning."
Yi-Han resorted to a show of force.
As the pattern of Ferkuntra flashed with sparks on the back of his hand, the Sirens shuddered at the presence felt from that pattern.
As beings of the same spirit lineage, they sensed how powerful the spirit this mage had contracted with was.
Of course, Yi-Han had no real intention of summoning Ferkuntra.
'The misunderstanding will be resolved when a Siren who knows me comes.'
The Sirens here didn't know who Yi-Han was, but surely if a Siren who knew his face appeared, the misunderstanding would be resolved…
Swish!
"!"
Before long, a Siren suddenly poked her head out of the water.
She appeared so quickly that it seemed like she wasn't coming from afar after hearing the news, but rather just hiding in the water and coming out.
Seeing the familiar face, it was indeed the Siren he had met before. Yi-Han greeted her happily.
"Nice to see you. Have you been well?"
-...-
"I asked if you've been well?"
-...-
"You don't need to answer with words. You can just nod your head and I'll understand."
Still, the Siren didn't answer.
Instead, she just glared at Yi-Han with very dissatisfied eyes.
'Did I make a mistake?'
Yi-Han was puzzled.
Perhaps the Siren in front of him now wasn't the Siren Yi-Han had met.
Maybe he mistook her because she looked familiar, but in fact, she was a Siren he had never met before…
"I must have told the Siren I met to come. If you keep coming out uncooperatively like this, I have my own thoughts. Stop playing around and quickly pass on the message!"
Yi-Han warned, pointing his staff.
Then the Siren very slowly pointed to herself.
"You?"
Nod.
"But why didn't you answer?"
The Siren shrugged her shoulders.
Yi-Han didn't understand, but he just let it go.
There were more urgent problems than that.
"Siren, wait. What should I call you? Last time, it was chaotic in the water, so I didn't have time."
The Siren looked at Yi-Han with her arms crossed.
Her eyes were mixed with contempt.
It was contempt asking if a human could even pronounce a Siren's name.
"Ah. Is the name difficult to say?"
When the other party didn't answer, Yi-Han came up with it on his own.
Among the rare or unique races of the empire, there were some who had their own distinct language and way of communication.
Even Sirens communicated with songs instead of the common imperial language, didn't they?
The differences between races had to be respected.
"Then can I give you a human nickname so I can call you from now on? Hmm. How about Gainando?"
The Siren took out a slate with a look of disgust.
And she hurriedly wrote 'Parthenope' in a crooked handwriting.
"Parthenope. I see. Anyway, Parthenope. I think we've become quite close, considering the last incident, so I have a favor to ask, trusting our friendship."
-??????????????-
Parthenope couldn't understand what he was saying and gaped her mouth.
She could refute if she heard one line of nonsense, but when she heard several lines at once, she didn't know where to start refuting.
"I'm trying to take the giants through the passage, so can you help prevent other races or monsters nearby from coming? If a fight breaks out, the passage might collapse."
The Siren writing on the slate dropped it.
Yi-Han kindly picked up the slate and returned it to her.
"Are you listening?"
Parthenope hurriedly tried to write that it was impossible.
But suddenly, a question arose.
Would this mage in front of her quietly back down if she said it was impossible?
-...-
Absolutely not.
If uncontrolled giants rushed into the underground passage…
The image of the underground passage being shattered and collapsing vividly came to the Siren's mind.
[I'll help!!!]
"Thank you."
Yi-Han was pleased with Parthenope's answer.
As expected, the Siren's answer didn't disappoint Yi-Han as much as they had become friends.
It was completely different from those spirit bastards.
***
-Ugh. It's a mermaid.-
-It's not a mermaid, it's a type of mermaid. That's what Ikurusha said.-
-What's the difference between the two?-
-Uh...-
-It's complicated. Let's just call them fish.-
The giants passed through the stagnant water of the underground passage, splashing.
The water was quite deep, but it was enough for the giants to walk through.
The Sirens each took charge of a spider web-like shortcut that branched off from the underground passage to prevent the entry of any other beings.
-♬♩♩♩♩...-
-♩♪♪...-
When the mournful singing of the Sirens was heard, the giants covered their ears with a look of disgust.
-Ugh! I hate it!-
-The fish's singing makes me feel sick!-
'Do they feel it instinctively?'
Yi-Han was amazed by the giants' reaction.
The giants' resistance was famous, although not as much as Yi-Han's. It was clear that their resistance made them react to the Sirens' singing in such a way.
Of course, just like the giants, the Sirens were also very displeased.
The descendants of spirits who took pride in their singing couldn't possibly look kindly upon the giants who covered their ears and said, 'Ugh! It makes me feel sick!'
The Sirens looked at the giants with eyes of contempt.
"Can't you make the singing inaudible?"
Parthenope, who was pulling the boat Yi-Han was riding in front, kindly advised with a gesture of putting her hands on her neck.
Seeing the Siren pretending to strangle herself with both hands, Yi-Han regretted asking.
'They really hate the giants.'
Unlike Yi-Han, the Siren really hated the giants, and there was nothing Yi-Han could do about it.
If he interfered unnecessarily, Yi-Han could also incur resentment.
"Hmm... Can I sing a song?"
-???-
Parthenope looked at Yi-Han with a look of horror.
She couldn't understand what this mage was thinking.
She became afraid that he might drink a transformation potion and hide among the Sirens.
Because a crazy mage could do anything.
Sensing the meaning in her gaze, Yi-Han explained.
"It's not just any song."
The minstrel Ipadour and the skull principal.
Yi-Han had diligently grasped the basic structure of music magic while traveling with the two.
Although the results were still too meager to call it 'magic', he could now sing a few songs that had an effect.
"Since it contains mana, I thought it might be able to block the Sirens' songs to some extent."
Parthenope didn't stop him. She nodded her head as if to say try it if you want to.
Interpreting that as encouragement, Yi-Han cleared his throat and sang.
"Once upon a time, there was an orc with a hoe, the orc's field was flooded by heavy rain, go to the field, to the field..."
-?!-
Parthenope was startled.
Surprisingly, this young mage's song was pushing back the Sirens' songs!
The Sirens' songs that had been influencing the giants were losing strength and disappearing into the distance as an echo.
Parthenope blinked her eyes and listened several times, but the phenomenon didn't change.
-Mage! Mage!-
"Ah. Is it effective?"
-The fish's singing is better!-
-The lyrics are too unpleasant!-
"No..."
Yi-Han was startled by the giants' reaction.
It was surprising that it was effective, but it was even more surprising that they disliked it because of the lyrics despite its effectiveness.
Why on earth?
"Aren't the lyrics good? Ah. You might not know what kind of song this is. It's a song about a legendary orc farmer who stubbornly plowed the field despite all kinds of natural disasters, to the point where even demons gave up, it's an educational..."
-I hate working songs!-
-If the mage keeps singing such songs, we won't walk!-
The giants stopped walking and complained.
Yi-Han felt wronged.
'It's a good song though.'
But now that he knew it was effective, he just needed to change the song. Yi-Han tried a few more memorable songs.
The song of the dwarf stonemason who never stopped swinging his hammer even when his fingers were reduced (the giants booed), the song of the librarian who collected so many books in his mansion that even his bed disappeared and he ended up sleeping on books (only one of the giants liked it)...
"...Oh, there goes the knight, dies by an arrow, dies by a mace, dies stabbed by a sword, dies by a spear..."
-The song is good!-
-This is what we wanted! The mage is the best!-
-The knight dies! The knight dies!-
-The knight gets trampled to death! The knight gets rammed to death by goat!-
"..."
The giants seemed to like it, as they sang along, changing the lyrics.
When the giants with loud voices sang the song with all the pitches and rhythms wrong to the point where the passage resonated, the Sirens guarding the shortcuts covered their ears and tightly closed their eyes.
They had expressions that looked so painful that they wanted to end their own lives.
"...It would have been different if it was another song."
Yi-Han made an excuse to Parthenope.
It was because the giants only liked strange songs, but if it had been the song about the orc farmer earlier, the Sirens might have liked it too.
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