episode_0008

The Fairy Riera, Eli, and Tiara Sisters

“…So… these kids did that to me? And to others besides me?”

“Yes, Zeke-nim.”

“…”

…Listening to Aria’s explanation, even I was speechless. The reason so many people gathered earlier was because these fairies sang the Sirens’ Song? And it’s something you can only get through black market dealings? I remembered how I’d briefly lost my senses earlier before Aria’s song brought me back. It’s truly… an ability that renders one speechless.

“Sigh… Haaah…”

At my sigh, I saw the fairies, kneeling on the ground with their hands raised high, looking extremely frightened. To be precise, they were probably terrified of Aria, but realizing that only I could calm Aria, they must have reacted strongly to my response.

“I usually try to listen… but the Sirens’ Song? Hmph… A song of a race that can sing songs causing confusion in the minds of other races… It’s certainly something to write in an exploration log, but… to think such a thing exists in this world.”

“That’s why the Queen of Sirens taught us the Song of Discernment, to stop those who receive songs from Sirens and commit greedy acts. Well… it was taught in secret, so these fairies wouldn’t have known about it at all. Anyway, you don’t seem pleased, do you, Zeke-nim? Then…”

“Aaaah! We’re sorry! Please forgive us! We won’t sing it again! Please!”

“Uwaaaah! Big sis is scary!!!”

The red-haired fairy and the green-haired fairy burst into tears and began to scream. Then, the yellow-haired fairy next to them also started crying. Aria must have become really terrifying… Wait. Big sis?

“Hold on. Are you sisters?”

“Yes… I’m the eldest… Eli, the yellow-haired one next to me, is the second, and Tiara, the green-haired one, is the youngest…”

“Your parents?”

“We don’t have any… They abandoned us and ran away… Please… just kill me! My… my siblings, please… they’re only 18 and 16 years old… Please…”

“And you?”

“I’m 20…”

“…”

It must be true. There’s no reason for them to lie when so terrified. Their parents abandoned them, so they had to raise their younger siblings, and they must have needed money to take care of them. And for that, they obtained the Sirens’ Song…? Why, of all things…

“How did you live before you obtained the Sirens’ Song?”

“Huh…?”

“Surely, Zeke-nim. You’re not thinking of forgiving them…”

“Let’s hear their story first.”

“…”

At Zeke’s question, Riera looked at him blankly, seemingly flustered, and Aria was greatly surprised, apparently displeased with Zeke’s choice. However, when Zeke patted Aria’s back, Aria quickly changed her mind and began to retreat behind Zeke.

“Alright, Aria’s behind me. Want to talk?”

“Ah… We… We, no… all fairies in Melodyan marry a partner who sings well…”

“Yes. I know. I got that much information from the library earlier.”

“Yes… Th-that’s how our parents met too… But…”

“But?”

“Both of them cheated.”

“…Cheated, you say… Huh? Wait. What?!”

I expected one of them to have cheated. But both of them?! What kind of terrible parents are these?!… Surely… they didn’t just abandon these kids?

“Both of them cheated… and as if they both lost interest in us, one day we woke up and found them both gone from the house.”

“…What kind of…”

“We had to live off the things in our house, and a year later, we got information about the Sirens. Even that they were selling songs. So we sold all the things in our house and obtained the Sirens’ Song through black market dealings…”

“And put it into action like this?”

“Yes…”

Honestly, the Sirens’ Song was shocking earlier… but this… this was such a huge shock I didn’t want to include it in my exploration log. What kind of parents are like that in this world? Are those parents living well now? Leaving these children behind?

“So, any news about your parents…?”

“A few months ago, a fire broke out in Melodyan. They both died in that fire. We thought it served them right since they didn’t take good care of us… but strangely, it still hurt somehow…”

Perhaps a lingering affection for their parents remained, as the three fairy sisters wore bitter expressions. But the most bitter expression was on Riera, the eldest. Was it because she had seen her parents the most? However, having such a past doesn’t excuse the sin of trying to use the Sirens’ Song.

“I heard that Melodyan provides grants for bards. Why didn’t you try other jobs instead and thought of obtaining the Sirens’ Song?”

“….Melodyan does provide grants for bards, yes. But everyone refused us. Pushed to the edge, we gradually started gravitating towards the Sirens’ Song… I was the only one who made the bad decision… Please, just my sisters…”

“What? Why did they refuse you?”

“You still don’t know about the fairies of Melodyan, do you…?”

…How would I know? I rushed here after investigating and feeling uneasy. My mood wasn’t great already, as the records were cut off midway. As if sensing my mood, Aria, who was behind me, suddenly made a sound like she was holding her breath.

“Yes, I don’t. I came here feeling uneasy during my investigation. Will you tell me?”

“The fairies here have an unspoken rule. It’s a rule that bards must be adults. Our fairies have the same lifespan as humans. That means we have to be over 20 years old to become bards.”

I see… an unspoken rule… In other words, a strange tradition was tormenting these sisters. As a result, these sisters made the very dangerous choice of the Sirens’ Song. Was it the fairy society that made these fairies choose this…? When I heard that story and sighed deeply, Aria, who was behind me, spoke.

“Why bother worrying about that?”

“Huh?”

“Eek.”

What are you suddenly saying from behind me, Aria?! Didn’t you hear that they can’t live without support?! While I was greatly startled, Aria opened her mouth again.

“Don’t mind those looks. No one has forbidden you from singing, have they? Besides, you all… even though it’s annoying that you harmed Zeke-nim…!!”

“Hieeeeek!!”

As Aria’s annoyed voice came out, the three sisters simultaneously shrieked and began hugging each other. Aria… you’re scary… truly… Then, Aria exhaled deeply and continued speaking.

“Still, since Zeke-nim is watching with a pitying expression, I’ll endure it… So, when you sang, no one criticized you or told you not to, right?”

“Th-that’s because there were many audience members enchanted by the Sirens’ Song…”

“Exactly. If there are many audience members, they won’t be able to do anything, will they? How can they harm you when there are audience members who genuinely like you and actively support you?”

“…Uh…”

Hearing Aria’s words, Riera swallowed hard and stared blankly at Aria. Then Eli and Tiara looked at each other, then at me. Why are you looking at me? Do you expect me to explain? I don’t know anything about Sirens yet…

“Aria. Why are you saying such things with such confidence?”

“Because… if you can sing the Sirens’ Song, it means you’re good at singing.”

“What? I don’t know anything about the Sirens’ Song…”

“Hmm… To sing the Sirens’ Song, you need good vocal ability. That’s why I demonstrated earlier that these kids used the melody of the Sirens’ Song with their own vocal abilities.”

“True… you also sing well… Wait. So they originally sing well too?”

“Yes… Yes! Uh… we practiced a lot with our big sisters…”

When I asked, Tiara suddenly raised her hand and stood up. Then she took a deep breath to calm her trembling body, opened her mouth, and began to sing. Eli, who was next to her, also plucked up the courage to sing, and the eldest fairy also began to sing. They definitely sing well. The singing…!!!

“Ugh!!!”

I let out a strange groan without realizing it. There was something behind me radiating an immense presence. I had a strong feeling about what it was, and my whole body confirmed it, which made me groan like that. Aria, who was behind me, was clearly glaring at the fairies with jealous eyes. Feeling the strange gaze, the fairies, who had been singing with their eyes closed, opened them and were greatly startled to see Aria staring at them with an intense look.

“S-save us! We won’t sing…”

“Ha… haha… Y-you sing well…!! Ha… hahaha…”

“Aria, your singing is good too, so calm down a little.”

“Ah! Yes… Hehe…”

Aria, who had been looking envious, instantly calmed down at my single word. The sisters, seeing that, seemed utterly dumbfounded and stared at me with vacant expressions. Am I the strange one?

“Girls. I’m feeling dizzy too…”

“Ah… Yes… So, the Black Saintess… does she follow your journey because she likes you?”

“Th-that…”

“Of course! I love Zeke-nim very much! Just seeing Zeke-nim’s face makes me able to live in this world, and Zeke-nim’s touch fills me with ecstasy… I don’t need gods or the world… as long as Zeke-nim is by my side…!!”

At the eldest sister’s question, Aria cut me off and said loudly with an ecstatic expression. It’s embarrassing, Aria… I have no interest in romance, so what does that make me if you keep doing this…?

“Well… that’s what she says… Anyway, your singing is good, you know? Why don’t you try singing on the streets?”

“Uhm… that is…”

“Because we’re shy…”

The eldest sister couldn’t continue, too shy to speak, so Eli answered my question on her behalf. So that was also a reason… Well… it would be embarrassing. But listen.

“Yeah, well… But I don’t explore the world without any preparation either. I’ve trained my body for a long time for exploration. If you truly want to be recognized as bards, shouldn’t you overcome that shyness?”

“Then how…”

“Think about what you need to do to achieve that and prepare for it. And then, just try it. Otherwise, you’ll keep suffering from shyness, won’t you?”

At my answer, the sisters began to murmur. I’m not used to saying such things… but even so, don’t I need to challenge myself like this to help them? Being able to help is also a challenge. That’s how the world works, after all… Ah. I didn’t ask one thing.

“Are there any people who have been completely enchanted by the Sirens’ Song?”

“No. We only started the operation today…”

“Zeke-nim, the Sirens’ Song requires being enchanted multiple times. If they don’t hear that song again here, there won’t be any harm.”

Phew… that’s a relief. At Aria’s explanation, I felt relieved, and the sisters also seemed greatly relieved, as if they had changed their minds. But… Aria thought for others?

“Hmm~ Zeke-nim. You’re curious why I said that, aren’t you?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“Because I thought Zeke-nim would want it.”

“…You’re a bit scary too.”

“…?!”

Ah, I said what I was thinking! Then Aria became depressed and was about to collapse on the spot. I quickly grabbed Aria’s body and tried to calm her down somehow. Then I heard the sisters laughing at us from behind. Don’t laugh, help me… Please!!

“Ah… I feel like I’m dying…”

“Seeing Zeke-nim, who suffered so much because of me, my heart goes *sob*…”

“Can you not talk like that even when we’re back at the inn, Aria…?”

After a big commotion, evening came. Aria and I were resting at the inn when I said something like that from the bed, and Aria started getting depressed again. Ugh… I still haven’t finished recording everything, so I have to stay here for about two more days… Tomorrow, I’ll definitely write down everything worth putting in the exploration log. I’m curious why the fairies who used to live in the forest ended up living with humans. And well… while investigating, I discovered an interesting fact.

“Oh? Zeke-nim. What’s that?”

“Ah, it’s jerky. I looked up what famous foods there are here and found jerky.”

Melodyan’s famous food was surprisingly jerky. It’s said that the fairies living in Melodyan use their abilities to create wind and dry the meat smoked by humans. Thanks to that, when there’s a lot of jerky, they even hold festivals while singing… I just chewed some, and it’s definitely tasty. I’ll need emergency rations during my journey, so I should buy a bit more.

“Want some too, Aria?”

“Huh…? Th-that thing in your hand right now…?”

“Yeah? Oh… I’ve already chewed it, so maybe not…”

“Of course! Give it to me!”

Aria quickly took the jerky I had been chewing and started eating it. With a very ecstatic expression at that… Why is she eating the meat I chewed with such an expression…? Is it that delicious? I still couldn’t fully understand Aria’s inner thoughts. Huh?

“Don’t you hear something?”

“Hehehehe… It sounds like it’s coming from outside the window, Zeke-niiim…”

“The window?”

I opened the window and looked out. As I looked out, I noticed many people gathered in the street. What is it? Why are people gathered? Surely it’s not because of the Sirens’ Song again? Are there others who bought that song besides the sisters? I took out my binoculars from my bag and looked at the spot.

“What in the world is there? Aria, do you know?”

“Hehehehe… I think I know whose singing that is… Ah! The meat Zeke-nim was chewing is in my mouth…! I have no regrets even if I die!!”

…Why is she making such an ecstatic face just because she’s eating the meat I chewed…? And why is she saying she has no regrets even if she dies…? Ugh… I left the very happy Aria alone and looked through the binoculars again. Ah… So that’s why they gathered?

“Aria, just tell me.”

“I’m sorryyyyy… But my mind was completely taken by the jerky…”

“Alright, well… if you’re happy, that’s fine. To be singing in the evening like this… Most bards sing during lunchtime… With thoughts like these, what’s the point of the Sirens’ Song…”

There, the sisters were singing amidst a large crowd. Perhaps because they were young fairies who sang well, even other fairies seemed to be admiring them instead of protesting. It definitely wasn’t the Sirens’ Song. If it had been that song again, Aria would surely have thrown a fit suddenly.

“Aria. We have to stay here for two more days, you know? How much do you think they can grow?”

“Wellllll… Since it’s their first time, wouldn’t it still be difficult?”

“But so many people gathered?”

“I don’t need any of that; all I need is Zeke-nim! Hehehehe…”

…We can’t have a conversation. Well… if you’re happy, that’s fine… Lately, whenever I see Aria’s ecstatic expression, I often think that… Wait. It’s evening now. I have to sleep soon. In that case… that again?

“Ah… damn it.”

“Why, Zeke-nim?!”

As I suddenly sighed deeply, Aria anxiously worried about me. But I’m worried about myself… because of Aria. To have to experience Aria’s terrifying sleep-talking again… If I stay up all night tonight, it’ll be a disaster… because I can’t record things while exhausted! Please, Aria!

“…??”

Leaving Aria, who tilted her head at my reaction, behind, we ate and fell asleep. And I.

“Hehehehehe…”

*Damn it.*

Couldn’t sleep peacefully. Again.