Ch.127127. Plague Wind (9)

“Hah… seriously.”

It was frustrating. No matter how much I scratched my head and thought about it, there was absolutely no solution.

Even when I played all my remaining cards to persuade the Elder, it was completely useless.

-“The Penalive Baronial House. They defended you all!”

-“…You seem to know them. Yes, they alone advocated for us Sirens. But now they’ve all been imprisoned. There’s no one left to testify on our behalf.”

-“There is one person. There’s definitely someone who can testify!”

But he maintained his current attitude and refused any further conversation.

-“I don’t want to be swayed by your words anymore. Even if what you say is true, for our immediate survival, we have no choice but to keep you all confined.”

The Elder said that the moment any of the captured humans set foot in the Empire, it would be over.

He predicted that if even one person escaped, their location would be discovered, and afterward, they would be helplessly exterminated.

I couldn’t argue that it might not happen.

The entire Penalive Baronial House stood up to defend them, and despite all the Sirens pleading their innocence against false accusations, their former leader was executed. I was left with absolutely nothing to say.

I can’t be certain either.

Even if we promised to keep silent about the Sirens, would everyone really keep their mouths shut until the end?

The moment they set foot in the Empire, they might suddenly change and betray the Sirens. Especially someone motivated by bounty money.

And…

I couldn’t continue speaking because I had a similar experience myself.

So I kept messing with my hair, wondering how to resolve this. I can’t see a way forward, not at all.

I threw an innocent pebble into the lake.

The lake that rippled with a splash would become mirror-clear again with time.

“The lake view becomes clear like this. Why is my path so dark?”

As I was just grumbling to myself, a familiar lizard came looking for me again.

“Where do you think you’re going? Don’t want to get covered in saliva like before, do you?”

-Chirr-!

“I’ll let you go. Just don’t lick my face. Got it?”

-Chirr!

“Hmm… I hope you understood…? I’m putting you down.”

What had changed was that I was now permitted to act alone within this barrier.

An apology for conducting a disrespectful test on the one who saved Nella. That’s why I was here staring at the lake.

“Wondered where you went, Chirr! Here you are!”

They say pets follow their owners, but this aspect seems uncontrollable.

Like last time, whenever this little guy runs off somewhere alone, Nella always comes looking for him.

“Ah, again… I’ll take him away right away!”

-Chirr-rr.

For some reason, the creature wouldn’t budge. Since Chirr absolutely wouldn’t listen, Nella tried to take him away with her own hands.

But with such nimble movements, it climbed all over my upper body, persistently evading capture, making me feel like I’d become a tree.

Nella was the first to tire out.

“Ugh, Chirr, you!”

-Chirr~.

Your owner is clearly annoyed, yet you’re provoking her more and inviting punishment. This won’t do.

-Chirr? Chirr!

“No, you little rascal. You’ll get in more trouble that way.”

Taking advantage of the opening created while it was teasing its owner, I firmly grabbed Chirr and returned him to Nella.

“Ah, thank you. He’s not usually like this… You troublemaker! Say you’re sorry, quickly.”

-Chirr-uu…! Chirr!

Come to think of it, this lizard Chirr has some peculiar aspects.

He looks like a lizard on the outside, but he’s not a magical beast. Yet he’s too different to be classified as a regular animal.

Plus, I think he was the first to appear during my initial meeting with Nella.

“Why is he acting like this today? Why does he keep trying to go to that brother?”

-Chirr. Chirr-rr chirr.

Chirr continues to struggle. Somehow, I feel like he’s constantly trying to approach me.

“What’s he doing that for?”

“Well… Chirr tends to rush toward people whose magical power instinctively attracts him.”

“There’s no specific reason for this behavior?”

Animals have instincts and humans have desires, so I thought this lizard must have some intention too.

I wondered why he always rushes toward me specifically.

“He enjoys eating that person’s magical power. That’s probably the reason…”

“Hmm… eating magical power… That lizard definitely isn’t a magical beast, right?”

“No. If he were a magical beast, he probably would have attacked me first.”

“I guess that’s true.”

There would be no reason for him to seek me out specifically when prey is right in front of him. At least I know he’s not a magical beast.

More importantly, despite Nella’s desperate efforts to hold onto him, Chirr persistently breaks free.

And then, without fail, he charges at me.

-Chirr! Chirr-rr!

Having finally escaped from Nella’s arms, he’s rubbing his face against my hand just like before.

What an enthusiastic greeting. His joy is visible throughout his entire body.

“Just leave him be for now. He seems to like me, and when he gets tired of it, he’ll go back to his owner. Should I try giving him some magical power?”

“Sigh. I’m really sorry. But I fed him plenty earlier… that’s strange.”

“Here, snack time.”

So I tried offering him a bit of magical power… but he didn’t even show interest.

He just shook his head and climbed onto my shoulder, rubbing his face against me as if showing affection. What is this lizard, anyway?

***

“Haaah…”

The Elder sighs and turns away. It wasn’t necessarily because of Junon’s story, but because there were too many immediate concerns weighing on his mind.

Though he had learned much about him, there was still strong resistance to maintaining the current state of relations with the humans.

It’s a relationship with deep scars.

Each had their own connections, and humans had taken all of those away. That’s why other Sirens’ reactions to the current situation couldn’t help but be unfavorable.

“Are you finished with your conversation?”

“Yes.”

The only person who could intervene on both sides in this complicated relationship was Senia.

She hadn’t changed clothes or anything, so it seemed she had been waiting all this time.

“I made you wait long.”

“No, it’s fine. I also… had something I wanted to discuss.”

“Hmm… speak, then.”

“Before that, may I ask how the conversation went?”

She probably wasn’t eavesdropping, but even if she had, it wouldn’t have mattered with Senia.

“He asked if we would release them in exchange for their help. He was convinced that the Sirens’ power alone wouldn’t be enough to counter the Divourers.”

“…And your answer, Elder?”

“You know well enough. We have no choice.”

While Junon as an individual might be trustworthy, humans as a group remain unpredictable in what they might do.

Moreover, if even one person escaped, the Empire might once again frame them and issue an extermination order, which wouldn’t be surprising.

Even if not to that extent, the Sirens would at minimum be sold as slaves, criminals, black market trophies, or decorations for nobles.

“Sigh. So that’s how it turned out.”

Senia had anticipated this. However, she had hoped that Junon might bring about some change.

Giving these Sirens, who tremble at the mention of humans, too much time isn’t good. Soon, the main force from the Empire will arrive.

That’s why she too had been formulating her own plan.

“Soon, the Empire will send their main force. Our unit is an isolated one.”

“That boy Junon told me that, so I already know. And?”

“If it comes to light that we’ve been holding humans captive, things will go terribly wrong. That would be the worst outcome.”

Once again, they would claim the Sirens were trying to harm humans, and this time they would seek to eradicate them completely.

The Sirens are few in number anyway, and framing others is a specialty of the noble alliance forces, who excel at such malicious tactics.

“Then what do you plan to do?”

“Rather than proving it was a false accusation, we need to show that we are innocent. Just looking at this situation, we’ll appear guilty regardless.”

“Innocence…”

The reason Senia had been trying to learn alchemy all this time was to clear the Sirens’ name.

But now the goal has changed.

“To claim innocence, we need evidence. We can create solid proof that we helped humans.”

“How?”

Senia explained the relationship between the Empire’s humans, the Divourers, and the Lemtert plague.

The Elder nods in agreement with Senia’s flawless argument.

“I understand that many humans have been infected. But what do you intend to do with this?”

“We create a cure for the Lemtert plague. What if we could prove that a human was cured by Siren power?”

“Creating medicine can’t be easy. And we certainly don’t have research facilities.”

“That’s not true. None of us have ever been infected, right?”

The Elder was confused at first but soon realized what she meant.

“Could it be…”

The Lemtert plague spreading throughout the Empire.

The symptoms of the plague that have never appeared among the Sirens.

The barrier to block Divourers.

All of these connect to one thing.

“Hipplisia. This will be the main ingredient for the cure.”

Creating a treatment for the vicious plague that will soon afflict this subjugation force.

If this proceeds, it would be the perfect outcome.

Not only would the misunderstanding that has gripped humans be resolved, but the frame that has been imposed on them would be completely removed.

But here, one problem arises.

“However… who we cure is also an issue, isn’t it?”

Even if they treated someone infected from this subjugation force, it would be meaningless since symptoms haven’t manifested yet.

Therefore, they need to bring in a human who already shows severe symptoms and cure them.

There is already someone who meets this condition.

“Lumia Penalive. I’ll bring her.”

“Lumia…?”

“For this, Elder, you’ll need to release one more person.”

Only Cain knows Lumia’s location.

If Cain isn’t released by the Sirens, they can’t even attempt the treatment.

***

Having crossed the Utulum Mountains where heavy rain had poured down, the subjugation force had consumed considerable time.

Thanks to that, they are only now entering Shute Province.

“The subjugation force! The subjugation force has returned!!”

“But… huh? Aren’t they going to rest?”

“Yeah? We prepared alcohol and snacks and everything…”

Though they’re being welcomed by villagers and imperial citizens, they seem to have no leisure to enjoy their return. They appear to be regrouping as if to continue the subjugation immediately.

Muniher steps forward among the puzzled villagers.

“Where is Dalia?”

“Ah, I’m right here, dear. I also have something to tell you…”

“It’s urgent. I’ve brought rats that cause the Lemtert plague, so please start researching with them.”

“What? Wait, dear!!”

Dalia sighs deeply as she watches her husband walk away.

She too had received no small news, and her worries were immense.

‘You need to come back quickly, dear… We… don’t have much time…’

Muniher needed to know this too, to avoid repeating the bitter past of Rainesia and Jack.