Episode 1149
by CristaeThe reason Lee Han was awake in the middle of the night was simple.
The giants could soundly sleep at night, but the wizard who took on the request could not.
He had to check if the magic performed during the day had any issues, report progress to the capital stonemason guild members, cook for the giants, soothe a fifth-year senior who seemed to be “aging backward” and was grumbling, confirm there were no shortages or quality issues in the supplies and materials…
And then he ran into a siren who popped up bubbling from the water. Even Lee Han couldn’t help but be taken aback.
“…Who are you? What’s your business?”
-……
Siren Parthenope blinked.
Normally, she would sing right away and put the target to sleep, then escape. But unfortunately, the wizard before her was a monster immune to siren song.
She’d suffered multiple defeats and wasn’t willing to take another gamble.
“Wait. Your face looks familiar… Oh! Are you perhaps the siren Parthenope I met before?!”
Lee Han was delighted to meet a siren he recognized.
Unlike the others, Parthenope had a connection with Lee Han.
Last year, when he had to secretly transport giants through the underground tunnels, he needed the sirens’ help, and it was Parthenope who acted as the bridge between both sides.
Since she’d done him that favor, Lee Han felt that he was fairly close to this siren. At least, as close as he was to the mountain giants.
…Of course, Parthenope herself had never felt that way at all…
Shake, shake!
Parthenope frantically shook her head. Lee Han asked, puzzled.
“You’re not Parthenope?”
Nod.
“Oh… My apologies. I must have made another mistake.”
It really did take more skill to tell apart the features of a strange race one rarely encountered.
He’d mistaken a siren before, and now again. Lee Han felt a little embarrassed.
“What should I call you, then? Oh, if your name is difficult, I once tried to give Parthenope a human nickname, ‘Gainando’—would you like…”
Shake shake shake!
Parthenope shook her head like mad. There was no way she’d accept that disgraceful name she’d already rejected once.
She hurriedly pulled out her writing slate and wrote “Phenoterpa.”
“I see. Ms. Phenoterpa. Could you perhaps call Parthenope for me? We’re on friendly terms, so it would be easier if I could speak with her directly.”
-……
Parthenope’s fin trembled.
She wanted to belt out a song of rage and torment right in his ear.
idontknow
But a contest of song would only disadvantage the siren. Parthenope suppressed it and, holding back, wrote once again on the slate.
“I see… That’s a shame. But, Ms. Phenoterpa.”
-?
“What brings you here?”
-……
Parthenope almost hiccuped.
Lee Han, growing suspicious, asked just in case.
“Is it because the lighthouse construction is too noisy…”
came to help
“Oh. Is that so?”
Lee Han was surprised by the unexpected response.
He had thought the sirens, being close to spirits, would be angry about the noise and construction. He never dreamed they’d come to help.
“I thought it was because of the noise. Thank you so much. Was it Parthenope who recommended it?”
-……
Phenoterpa—no, Parthenope—just wanted to sink into the sea and never come up again.
How did things end up like this?
“Then I’ll be counting on you.”
The siren nodded weakly.
-The knight dies, struck by an arrow!
-Dead by mace, stabbed by sword!
When morning broke, the giants began work, energetically singing.
The sirens, who had been working since dawn, covered their ears at the pig-screaming sounds coming from the surface, suffering in agony.
-♪♩!!!!!
-♩♩♪!!!!!!
‘Hm. I haven’t learned all the siren tongue yet, but I definitely know those are curses.’
Lee Han worried the sirens might attack in anger.
The sirens, on the verge of tears, stared at Parthenope.
They had come to deliver a blow, but had agreed to help. They feared that wizard as much as Parthenope did.
But this was too much.
Just look at those songs, almost an insult to siren dignity!
-♪♩♩♩♪…
Finally unable to bear it, the sirens, led by Parthenope, began their counterattack.
As their species’ mournful song rang out, students around the lighthouse looked up, surprised.
“Sirens? What are sirens doing here?”
“Did they come to attack us in anger?”
“…No, they’re helping with the job? They’re even towing the ferry over there. Though now they’re singing along with the giants…”
Had the sirens heard it called a “chorus,” they would have choked themselves.
They would never “chorus” with the giants!
This was a holy struggle—to push back the giants’ hideous song.
-Hmph!
-Fish! They’re interfering with our song!
-The knight dies, struck by an arrow…
-Dead by mace, stabbed by sword!
But the giants, surprisingly, didn’t back down so easily.
Ever since an anonymous wizard taught them how to sing last year, the giants had become obsessed, practicing for months.
They sang while herding sheep, while moving rocks, even when the old yacha elder begged for some sleep.
That practice paid off today.
Amazingly, they managed to withstand the melody of the musical siren race.
The Einrogard students responded quickly.
“Cover your ears!”
“If you don’t know a hearing protection spell, come get one fast!”
Whether it was the siren’s song or the giant’s, it was bad for the students either way.
If the sirens won, the students would fall into a half-trance; if the giants won, the students would come to hate music for life.
“Enough! Enough!”
When the musical confrontation showed no sign of stopping, Lee Han quickly intervened.
“Everyone, back to work! We’re running short on time here.”
Parthenope wrote on her slate that if the giants would stop cursing, she’d really work her hardest.
“Cursing? Oh, the song.”
-“Curse?!”
-“Fish are always like that! Making noise on the water’s edge!”
Naturally, the giants were outraged. They delivered their demands to Lee Han.
-We’re going to work with singing!
-No song, no work! …Though not having food is worse.
Who would have thought something like a tribal music rivalry would be a bigger problem than magic?
The stonemason guild members were right; in reality, other wisdom was always more important than magic.
Lee Han frowned, feeling another headache coming, and made a new proposal.
“How about you work while listening to the sirens’ song?”
-Bleaugh!
-……
Parthenope gritted her teeth.
If not for the flood risk, she’d have tossed those lugs into the lake already!
“Hm. Then I’ll play music for you instead, how about that?”
-That… um, can we make requests?
“Nope. And you can’t sing along, either.”
-Awww.
The giants were disappointed, but Lee Han was adamant.
If they started singing along, war between the species would break out again.
Once he had one side settled, Lee Han turned to the sirens.
“I’ll play for you as well. That’s alright, yes?”
-……
Parthenope looked at Lee Han with deep suspicion and mistrust.
Wait: wasn’t he the one who’d taught those giants that accursed song last year?!
Now he wanted to “play” for them? She couldn’t believe it. Having to work to terrible music—whether sung by giants or played by a wizard—was no different.
While the sirens hesitated, Lee Han pulled out an ominous violin. The thick aura made the sirens raise their guard even more.
What kind of instrument was that…?!
Feeling the sirens’ gaze, Lee Han readied himself.
‘I can do it. I’ve gotten much better.’
All he could play was -Ode to the Einrogard Freshmen- or -Flight to the Shadow Fortress-, but magical music was about how well you played, not how many pieces you knew.
‘Play with true conviction!’
Just like when he got inspired for -Flight to the Shadow Fortress- by witnessing the duel between the Mad Clone and the skeletal Headmaster.
Lee Han played with a single-minded goal: reconciling the sirens and giants.
It was a truly grand march.
Even the giants, who’d planned to quietly sing along, dropped their jaws, and seniors, who’d been plugging their ears, lowered their sound-proofing spells.
But above all, the sirens were stunned.
A wizard with the manners and taste of a giant, living among those brutes, could play something like this?
The melody—no, the intertwined magic enchanted those around and brought energy to the work.
When it ended, the giants applauded in delight. If the music was like this, they were satisfied.
Parthenope, coming to her senses only after the performance ended, found herself asking without thinking:
whatsongwasthat???
“That’s the one the giants were singing earlier.”
-……
The sirens bit their tongues in shame at feeling moved by such a song.
The capital stonemason guild members who came to Einrogard this time were nothing if not responsible.
Naturally, it was only right that they worried about the project.
Taking on a job inside Einrogard was difficult enough; to promise completion in even less time…
They held back, giving only advice, not to overstep, but they couldn’t help worrying.
“Shouldn’t we go have a look?”
“We can’t do that. What if they think we don’t trust the wizards?”
It wasn’t good to give the wizards too much freedom, but interfering too much was rude, too.
If you’re going to hand it over, you have to trust them.
“Oh, a letter has arrived. Looks like he’s gathered the students as planned.”
“That’s good! He’s assembled all the Einrogard magicians he wanted—that’s half the battle.”
And a bit later—
Another letter came.
“What does it say? Construction’s started, right? By the calendar, it must have begun.”
“…It says he borrowed a dragon’s power to clear the site and giants to start the work.”
“???”
Wizards often used ciphers or allegory when writing to each other, to keep knowledge for those in the know.
Was this one of those cases?
“Well… We’ll know when we see the result.”
And then, not long after—
Another letter arrived.
“Give it here! This time, I’ll read it. Hm. Looks like with the sirens’ help, they’ve shortened the schedule. There was a fight with the giants, but I made peace by playing music…”
“Is this guy kidding me?”
“Read it yourself, then!”
Thinking it was a prank, the member snatched the letter and read it.
Then, he spoke.
“…We’ll go see for ourselves.”
The guild members all nodded.
Protocol or not, they simply couldn’t hold back without seeing it with their own eyes.