Ch.51Rewards (3)

“Are you going too?”

I asked Mirella as she suddenly jumped onto the deck.

“Is there anyone else here who can handle monsters besides me?”

It would be nice if she could use her aura, but she seemed quite angry earlier.

The heart of a teenage girl is truly unpredictable.

“What? You don’t want me to come along?”

“No, I’m glad. Good to have you.”

“Seriously.”

Mirella leaned against the railing, muttering something under her breath.

I went to the bow and looked at the river stretching ahead.

If my suspicions were correct, there would definitely be traces.

A moment later, when what I was looking for appeared in the distance, I quickly gathered everyone and distributed Healing Potions.

“Here, each of you take one bottle. Drink it when your mind starts to get foggy. Mirella, you don’t need one.”

“Why not?”

“You’re a girl, so you’ll be fine. Crossbowmen, step forward!”

Following my instructions, knights with quarrels loaded in their crossbows moved to the bow.

“See that?”

Up ahead, something glistening occasionally reflected on the water’s surface.

Sirens. Creatures said to enchant sailors with their beautiful appearance and exquisite voices, then drown and devour them.

However, contrary to popular belief, sirens don’t actually look like women.

In reality, they’re hideous half-human, half-fish creatures that use their hypnotic singing to make themselves appear beautiful.

With my Healing Potion, we can block their songs for a while and kill them all.

Sirens aren’t particularly powerful monsters, after all.

But why are these sea-dwelling sirens here in freshwater?

“While the first row shoots, the second row will drink Healing Potions. After firing, the first row should retreat and drink their potions. Fire!”

The first row, aiming from the railing, fired simultaneously.

Several quarrels shot out crisply and struck the water’s surface.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

A blood-curdling scream echoed as red blood spread across the water.

“Ugh!”

One knight who missed the timing to drink his Healing Potion groaned and tried to jump over the railing.

“Grab him!”

While other knights rushed to pull him back, the second row of crossbowmen moved forward and fired their quarrels.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Sirens floated up with quarrels embedded in them. The remaining ones that had avoided the attack swam quickly toward us.

They moved so fast it was difficult to follow them with the naked eye.

“They’re climbing onto the ship!! Everyone draw your weapons!!”

As dozens of sirens clung to the ship and began climbing up, the knights drew their weapons.

People backed away in horror at the sight of the first siren that leaped over the railing.

A torso like a rotting corpse with sunken eyes, and a disgusting lower body reeking of fish.

This is what sirens truly look like when you’re not under their hypnosis.

The knights hesitated, none of them stepping forward to confront the sirens.

That’s because they’ve never properly faced monsters before.

“What are you all doing?!”

As more sirens continued climbing onto the ship, Mirella charged into their midst, activating her aura.

“Hyaaah!”

Only after a siren’s head was smashed by Vint’s Opener did the knights finally charge forward with battle cries.

Since sirens are relatively weak monsters, the deck was quickly covered in their blood.

Fifteen in total. That’s an incredibly large number, especially in freshwater rather than the ocean.

Is something wrong?

“Oppa?! More are coming!”

Mirella leaned over the railing, pointing ahead.

Looking back, I could see another group of sirens approaching.

Why are there so many?!

This is bad. I only have two bottles of Healing Potion left.

The potions people drank earlier won’t protect against this second wave of sirens.

If they climb up here, everyone will die.

“Mirella, listen carefully. You’re the only one who can fight now.”

I grabbed her shoulders and said.

“Send everyone below deck and destroy the stairs. Don’t let them climb up. Understand?”

“Got it. You want to prevent people from jumping into the water when they’re enchanted by those creatures’ songs, right?”

I shouted for everyone to go below deck. People went down, pushed by my back, not understanding what was happening.

That’s when the sirens’ singing began to reach us.

People already affected by the song were clamoring to come back up the stairs.

“Mirella! Destroy the stairs!”

“You need to go down too!”

“Destroy them!!”

When I urged her again, Mirella completely demolished the stairs with her opener.

“Alright, let’s do this!”

I picked up a fallen sword and stood beside Mirella.

She turned to me with an incredulous expression.

“Why didn’t you go down?”

“I couldn’t leave you alone here. The others are already hypnotized.”

“How exactly are you going to help?”

“I can at least watch your back.”

“Ha! You’ll just get in the way! Go down! How do you plan to fight sirens?”

“I have two potions left. I can hold out with these.”

The sirens began splashing and climbing up the sides of the ship.

I downed an entire bottle of Healing Potion and rushed to the railing with Mirella, swinging my sword.

Siren heads poking over the railing were smashed and split by my sword and her opener.

This is unexpectedly satisfying, like a whack-a-mole game.

But there are too many climbing up.

One that slipped through between Mirella and me climbed onto the deck and began singing with an eerie sound that pierced the ears.

The knights hiding below deck started clamoring to come up. They were enchanted.

“Kuk! Damn it!”

As the song began to sound enchanting to me, I quickly downed the remaining potion.

“Argh! Die! Die! Die!!”

Mirella, completely unaffected because she was female, jumped around wrapped in red aura, killing the sirens that had climbed onto the deck.

But there are too many of them!

Gradually, the sirens began surrounding Mirella.

“Mirella! Watch out!”

I saw a siren quickly crawling behind Mirella, about to swing its sharp claws.

As I threw myself to protect her back, the creature’s claws slashed across my abdomen.

I fell to my knees as blood gushed from my stomach like a waterfall.

They were insignificant monsters in the game, but in reality, they’re not so easy to deal with.

Maybe it was more fatal because I’m an NPC with weak health.

“Oppa!”

“Mirella…! Don’t come! Focus on the battle!”

“No! Oppa! You’re bleeding too much!”

“I can hold on with the potion…!”

Despite my spirited shout, I soon collapsed forward with a groan.

I might die because I tried to show off unnecessarily.

Who would have thought one hit from a siren would do this much damage?

What was I thinking, stepping up with the body of an NPC with only 120 health points?

I guess I forgot my place while flourishing with potions in the Starting Village.

I can’t die like this.

I wanted to develop the city to avoid death, but somehow revitalizing the city became my goal.

If I had known I would die so absurdly, I should have passed on all my future plans to the administrator in advance.

“Oppa! Stay with me!”

Mirella cried out pitifully while decapitating sirens.

I feel sorry for Mirella too. She must have suffered a lot, pretending not to know my feelings while I clearly knew hers.

But it couldn’t be helped. You’re still too young.

Maybe we could reconsider when you become an adult, but I might not live to see that day.

Everything is getting brighter.

It seems I’m really dying. Is God coming to take me?

If so, I have some questions. Why did I possess this body in such a way?

How could you make me possess an NPC shopkeeper in a tutorial village?

My vision turned white as the light grew increasingly bright.

Then, with a tremendous roar, a gust of wind swallowed me whole.

* * * * *

Something soft is pressing against my lips. What could it be? Not a siren.

Perhaps God appreciated my determination to save the village and sent me to heaven?

Maybe beautiful angels are kissing me there.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was red hair.

Hot breath rushed into my mouth as my chest expanded.

“Puahk!”

As I coughed violently, Mirella, who had been giving me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, raised her upper body.

“Oppa!?”

“Mirella?”

“Oppa!”

Mirella hugged my neck and began sobbing uncontrollably.

What’s going on here? I thought I had died, surrounded by sirens?

Why is Mirella giving me artificial respiration?

“Are you conscious now?”

I turned toward the voice and saw Liberone in armor looking at me.

“Liberone?”

“The Holy Knight saved us, Jack.”

One of the knights sitting beside Liberone spoke up.

“We met her on the way to Odelin City, just in time.”

“Is that so…?”

Now I notice the horribly torn siren corpses scattered all over the deck.

“I’m glad you’re safe, Guardian Angel.”

Liberone knelt on one knee and gently stroked my cheek.

“I’ve treated all the stab wounds on your abdomen, but please don’t overexert yourself.”

“Yes. Thank you, Liberone.”

“Thank Mirella, not me. Without her, you would have truly died.”

Liberone said I was swept into the river by the impact when she jumped onto the deck.

Mirella had jumped in after me and pulled me out.

I hugged Mirella tightly as she continued to cry while holding me.

“Thank you, Mirella. For saving me.”

“If you act this recklessly and die next time, I’ll kill you myself!”

Mirella shouted with a tearful voice.

“Anyway, we should dock somewhere nearby for repairs.”

Under Liberone’s command, the knights brought the ship close to the riverbank and dropped anchor.

Just then, a group of soldiers appeared from the forest along the riverbank.

Judging by their uniforms, they were Imperial soldiers. Why are they here?

“Holy crap? Those really were sirens?!”

A woman in a blue robe at the front of the group gaped in shock.

Since she’s wearing a robe, is she some kind of mage?

“Hey! You there! The man with black hair! Are you Jack from the Starting Village?”

The woman presumed to be a mage pointed at me and shouted.