Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 556

556

“What’s with you since earlier?”

“…Wasn’t that a divine descent?”

“What?”

“Ah, it’s nothing!”

Weldy hurriedly shook her head, her face quickly turning bright red. Judging by how embarrassed she was, she must have muttered to herself without realizing it. So, I wasn’t mistaken about her calling me a god earlier. I already heard it all, but I decided to pretend I didn’t for Weldy’s sake, who looked like she wanted to disappear into a hole.

‘Actually, she’s not entirely wrong.’

She was quite perceptive in grasping the essence so quickly. The problem was that this didn’t seem like it would end as a simple admiration.

“Um, what’s your name?”

Weldy cautiously asked Ellyuen, awkwardly approaching him. Not just ‘name,’ but ‘esteemed name.’ My eyes naturally met with Sibelius’s. Without saying a word, I felt like we were thinking the same thing at this moment. Ellyuen, who seemed annoyed by the constant interruptions, didn’t seem to care about that subtle but significant difference in nuance.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, you know, we’ll be working together for a while. It’s inconvenient not knowing your name.”

Her voice was sweet, her face flushed, and her shoulders were tense, showing how nervous she was. It was impossible not to be sure, seeing how she couldn’t take her eyes off him, clearly showing her feelings. Weldy’s already difficult love life seemed to have entered a new phase.

“I don’t even know what to call you…”

She glanced at him and then blushed even more, as if embarrassed by herself. It was an action that made her already lovely appearance even more adorable. Not many people could be harsh after seeing such a sight. But unfortunately, the other party was Ellyuen.

“Why are you calling me?”

His gaze was genuinely uncomprehending, and the surroundings fell silent. Sibelius and I shook our heads, watching Weldy, who was speechless and frozen. It was a failed venture before it even started.

* * *

There could be many reasons why relationships fail, but I think two are the biggest. Either you’re clueless, or you know but don’t care. Ellyuen clearly fell into the latter category. It’s hard to believe he didn’t notice the affection the other person was showing. This was definitely intentional. Or rather, maybe he did it even more because he noticed.

Weldy couldn’t bear the rejection she faced before she even realized it. She kept fanning herself in a space that wasn’t even hot, not knowing what to do, and eventually said she wanted to get some air, taking Karian with her and running away as if escaping. She did the same thing when she felt awkward with Sibelius, so it seemed like it was a habit to avoid the situation when things became unfavorable.

“It would be nice if she just said she was going back.”

Sibelius’s attitude toward this situation was cold. There was no sign of emotional change, and he only seemed to have other expectations, so I figured this relationship was doomed too. I wondered if Sibelius was hiding his true feelings because of the Elder, but all those thoughts were in vain.

The incident happened a little later. We were deciding on the menu ahead of dinner when the door burst open and Karian came in. I wondered if Weldy was feeling better now. She didn’t need to be called and came back on time, so she had the luck of the draw when it came to food.

“You came at the right time, Karian. I’m planning a menu with mussels and tomatoes, do you prefer rice or noodles?”

“Sibelius, have you not seen Weldy?”

But what came back was a perplexing question. Sibelius, who was picking out tomatoes to cook, stopped all his movements. I was also taken aback and turned to look at him. Now that I looked, Karian’s complexion was pale. Sibelius’s expression also darkened.

“What are you talking about? Why are you looking for Weldy here? You went out with her.”

“That’s… she said she wanted to be alone for a while. She said she would only look around nearby… but she’s nowhere to be found.”

Before his rambling answer could finish, Sibelius threw off the apron he was wearing around his waist. Karian and I hurriedly ran after him as he stormed out the door. In the meantime, the sun had set, and it was so dark outside that it was difficult to distinguish objects.

“Where did you last see Weldy?”

“Th-that was nearby.”

Karian pointed with a stiff face at the entrance to the forest. Surely she didn’t go inside. I frowned at the ominous feeling, and then I heard a rustling sound from somewhere. Sibelius, who reacted first, immediately rummaged through the bushes.

“Weldy! Is that you?”

“Aaaagh!”

But what I heard was not Weldy’s voice. It was a younger and slightly hoarse voice. Surprised, I approached and saw a young child falling awkwardly between the bushes. It was the boy who had warned us not to enter the forest and disappeared a little while ago. His wide eyes looked up at us, filled with fear.

“What are you? What were you doing here?”

“I-I definitely said it!”

The boy shouted as if he was being interrogated by Sibelius.

“I-I told you not to go into the forest… I definitely said that…”

The following words were something I couldn’t just ignore. As a signal, we immediately approached the boy, making eye contact.

“Tell me more about what you’re saying.”

“What do you know?”

“I, I… I was just wondering… I just wanted to check…”

“Speak clearly! I’m asking you what you saw!”

“Sibyl, you’re scaring the kid. Calm down.”

I stopped Sibelius from pressing him and knelt down in front of the boy. Looking closely, I could see tears all over his face. Judging by his swollen eyes, it seemed like he had been crying for a while, not just starting now. When our eyes met, the boy flinched and looked around. I smiled gently to reassure him as much as possible.

“Sorry for being scary. We’re looking for a companion who disappeared. So, if you’ve seen something, would you mind telling us?”

Fortunately, speaking in a soothing tone seemed to have an effect. The boy, who was more stable, rubbed his face with his arm and raised his head.

“I know who you’re looking for. You’re talking about the silver-haired lady, right?”

“…That’s right. Did you see where that lady went?”

The boy nodded and pointed in one direction. It was towards the forest again. I heard Sibelius and Karian sighing at the same time, and I also swallowed a sigh. She really went inside. She was horrified by the dirty energy, but I didn’t know why she went in alone in the middle of the night. She wasn’t someone who did reckless things without a plan, so it didn’t make sense.

“I’ll go first, El.”

“I’ll go too!”

“Ah, wait a minute…!”

When I turned around, Sibelius and Karian had already run into the forest. The backs of the two people were quickly swallowed into the dark space. I wanted to avoid going in at night as much as possible, but now that it’s come to this, I can’t help it. I got up, thinking of following them. Then the boy grabbed my sleeve urgently. His anxious expression was filled with fear.

“Are you going there too?”

“Huh? Ah, well, I have to go to find them. But I think there’s a misunderstanding…”

“No! You must never go in! That forest eats people!”

“My sister was also taken by that forest! And another sister who went to save my sister! That silver-haired sister from earlier was also taken by the forest!”

“What the heck… Don’t cry and tell me slowly. What do you mean the forest takes people?”

I calmed the boy down again, who was starting to cry sadly, and waited for an explanation. The story I heard after he barely calmed down was bewildering.

“You hear sounds from the forest?”

Until the Siren’s followers went in and out of the forest, this place was just an ordinary village. It didn’t matter to those who weren’t interested whether they called the forest a sanctuary and proselytized [tried to convert people to their religion]. But after a gray mist began to form in the forest, people began to hear auditory hallucinations. They said the forest kept calling them and that they had to go. All of them were women of a certain age.

“They said the sisters were chosen as saints. So they were called by the sanctuary.”

“They?”

“The monsters that live in that forest.”

The boy’s face contorted as he answered. “They look like people, but they’re not people.” At first, I thought he was referring to the followers, but after hearing the added words, that wasn’t the case.

“You’ll know if you talk to them. You can’t have a normal conversation with those monsters. They can only say pre-memorized words. If you ask them if they’re human, they’ll answer, ‘I’m an angel of Siren.'”

Ah, so that’s why they asked us if we were human. I thought it was a ridiculous question, but it was because of this background. Singing-like auditory hallucinations, monsters in the shape of people living in the forest of mermaids. At this point, it was obvious what the monsters were.

“Aunt Zena said that it’s a mermaid. She said that mermaids are the ones who lure the sisters into the forest.”

The villagers also knew what they were. This village took the lead in calling it the Forest of Mermaids. It was to warn travelers who might visit without knowing anything about the danger.

“My sister also heard auditory hallucinations. But she didn’t want to go to the sanctuary. But the forest kept calling her… No matter how much I tried to stop her, she kept going into the forest.”

Even though her younger brother was crying and clinging to her clothes, the boy’s sister walked on, staring only at the forest like a lost soul. The boy was still trembling at how scary the situation was at the time.

The forest, with its gaping black maw, swallowed only the women it called. There were people who went into the forest to find their missing daughters and sisters, but they only wandered around for days and days before returning outside. Sometimes they were found in a daze or as corpses, but most of them returned. But none of the women who were possessed by auditory hallucinations were able to return.

“So don’t go in, okay?”

I swallowed a bitter sigh as I looked at the boy clutching my sleeve tightly. Following the kidnapping of the Magic Swordsman, now it’s civilian women. I don’t know what the mermaids are up to, but I wonder if it’s related to what the Queen said about gathering women. No, it must be that.

“What’s your name?”

“Mion.”

“Okay, Mion. I’m El. How long has it been since your sister went into the forest?”

“A week. It’s been about two days since my sister’s friend went in.”

The girl, who was a classmate of her sister, was not a resident of this area. She came to visit during the vacation and entered the forest to save her friend after learning that she had gone missing. But she didn’t come back either.

‘It shouldn’t be too late.’

Still, since this is their base, they probably haven’t moved the kidnapped women to another location. Rather, it was more likely that they moved the women they had gathered from all over the country to this place. If they weren’t dead, there was a chance to save them.

―Aaaah…….

At that moment, a strange melody flowed into my ears. It sounded like a performance mixing a harp and a xylophone, or like a beautiful song. Conversely, it also sounded like an eerie dirge [a lament for the dead].

Something whispering quickly brushed past my ears, but it was too quiet to hear what it was about. The more I concentrated on trying to hear it, the more dazed I felt. Mion looked anxious as I started looking around.

“S-Sister? What’s wrong?”

“Can you hear a song right now?”

Mion, who flinched, shook her head with a stiff face. Ah, right. So it’s a sound that only I can hear. Unwelcome déjà vu [the feeling that one has experienced a situation before] filled my mind. Are all the villains blind? Why do they keep inducing me to do undercover work like they did with the Archduke?

Anyway, if I received an invitation, it’s polite to respond. When I got up, Mion raised her head with a frightened face. She looked like she was checking to see if I was possessed by the forest, so I smiled and reassured her.

“I’m okay, Mion. I’m not easily possessed by those sounds.”

“Really? Then you’re not going into the forest, are you?”

“Um, that’s not it. I think I have to go in.”

“Why, why?”

“My companions are in there. I have to take them all out. Actually, even if that wasn’t the case, I was going to go in because I had something to do. Don’t worry and wait at home. I’ll save your sister too.”

“I told you, you can’t? I told you the sisters can’t come back?”

“Oh, um. That’s what I’m saying. That might be okay.”

I answered with an awkward feeling, and Mion made an expression that she couldn’t understand even more. My tongue felt bitter at the innocent eyes that had no doubt. It’s not my fault that I didn’t get a chance to speak, but why do I have to bear the guilt alone?

“…I’m not a sister, first of all.”

I guess even the mermaids didn’t know that.

* * *

After soothing Mion, who was surprised and spaced out, I roughly finished preparing to leave. Standing in front of the forest entrance with a solemn heart, the overflowing fog seemed to be beckoning me to come inside. The reason why this wasn’t just a delusion was proven by the clear song that was still being heard at this moment.

Mion’s misunderstanding was resolved, but the mermaids’ misunderstanding showed no signs of being resolved. Rather, the sound was becoming more and more beautiful, as if they were anxious that I wasn’t coming over. Even though I was trying to keep my mind in check, I was inadvertently listening to it, so if I was even a little careless, I would be possessed as it was.

“Why are you standing there?”

Ellyuen, who had been standing next to me naturally since some point, asked. He was asking why I wasn’t going into the forest.

“I’m wondering whether to use the high-pass ticket or not.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I know you’re planning another reckless plan.”

“But think about it, Father. If I just go into the forest, I have to go find the base myself. Of course, I’ll find it, but the other side will have time to figure me out. In the meantime, they might move the kidnapped people to another location or harm them.”

But if I’m possessed by the song, things will be different. First of all, they’ll be careless about me. Since they mistake me for a woman, they’ll take me to the base themselves. In other words, bloodless entry is possible. I don’t think this is the right time to use this word, but.

“But this is definitely a dangerous method. I might not wake up even after I arrive.”

“…So what are you trying to say?”

“You know my heart, Father, right? You’re the only one I trust.”

“What…”

“Please take care of the aftermath!”

Even if I can’t wake up, Ellyuen will somehow solve it!