Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 557

Chapter 557

After answering cheerfully, I immediately surrendered my consciousness to the song. In my rapidly blurring vision, the last thing I saw was Ellyuen wearing a familiar expression. Ah, right, that was it—a ‘what is this all about?’ kind of look.

Compared to that, Sibelius’s expression of contempt seemed a bit weak. As expected, the original is always different. I think these useless thoughts were my last memory. After that, I don’t know what happened. I felt like I fell into a space full of dazzling colors, or maybe I saw brilliant light. My whole body was languid, as if soaked in sunlight. I felt like I was having a very pleasant, overwhelming dream, or conversely, I felt so sad that I wanted to cry my heart out.

Fireworks kept exploding in my head. I felt like I had experienced all the emotions that exist in the world. I’ve heard that you hallucinate when you take drugs, and I think this is a bit similar. So, am I high now? I don’t know.

“This is quite an unexpected harvest.”

A low voice drifted in from a distant place. Someone was talking about me.

“The mermaids seem to have made a mistake because of my appearance. I’ve put on the mana seal for now, but what should we do with it? Shall we kill it?”

“No, no. It’s been amusing for once, so it’s boring to end it quickly. It’s better to leave it as it is for now. But it will be troublesome if it regains consciousness, so take good care of it so that it doesn’t wake up.”

“Yes, I understand. But there seems to be another companion.”

“Are they unicorns who came to find the female? Now that I see it, it’s a reproduction of that day. It doesn’t matter. Let them rummage around as much as they want. They won’t last that long either.”

Strange conversations that seemed familiar and yet unfamiliar. Besides that, noisy voices murmuring. I didn’t want to hear anymore, so I covered my ears. I don’t know if I actually blocked the sound or not.

—Can you hear me?

Suddenly, I felt a cold sensation on my cheek. It felt like a drop of water was falling regularly. Was it raining? Even that felt good, and I think I laughed. In a sensation that I couldn’t tell whether it was an illusion or real, I heard someone clicking their tongue.

—It’s not a pretty sight. Wake up now.

Maybe it’s because the voice itself is pleasant. The previous voice was so disgusting that it gave me goosebumps, but this voice is strangely soothing even though it’s scolding me. It was like a lullaby, so I kept falling asleep. I was already asleep, but I didn’t understand falling asleep again, but I didn’t care. I heard the good voice sighing.

—El.

The voice called someone with patience. Ah, did you call my name? Come to think of it, it seems to be my name.

—If you don’t wake up right now…….

I held my breath without realizing it at the lowered voice. If I don’t wake up, what? I was impatient to know what the next word would be.

—I’m going to take only you out of here.

“……!”

I suddenly woke up. Didn’t I just hear something terribly eerie? I don’t remember well, but I think I had a very scary dream. As I blinked a few times, my dazed mind gradually cleared. As the blurry vision became clear, I finally saw where I was.

Where is this? Until I entrusted my consciousness to the mermaid’s song, I was clearly at the entrance of the forest, but now I was in an unfamiliar room. The surroundings were dim, and I couldn’t tell whether it was still night or because of the closed structure without a window. As I slowly got up, I noticed a rattling sound and looked down. My wrists were handcuffed. It was an unintentionally familiar form, so I recognized it at a glance.

‘Mana seal.’

Wearing this means this is not a safe place. I hardly remember the process, but it seems I definitely entered the base as planned. Besides, my identity seems to have been revealed.

—Have you finally come to your senses?

I unconsciously turned my gaze at the voice and barely managed to hold back a scream at the hazy figure that immediately appeared. Looking closely, it was Ellyuen in a translucent form.

“Ah, you scared me. I thought you were a ghost.”

—That mouth doesn’t know how precious life is.

“Ahaha, I knew a ghost couldn’t be this handsome.”

—Stop talking nonsense and do what you were going to do. I can’t stand to watch you anymore.

Was the kidnapping plan that displeasing? I pouted my lips at the cold reaction and slowly got up. Before looking around in earnest, I checked my situation first. I was worried about whether they had confiscated my belongings like last time, but there were no signs that they had touched me yet.

‘Lapis? You’re there, right?’

“Yes, I’m here.”

I was relieved by the natural answer. After being split, I only put the fossil in my inner pocket and carried it around (I left it as is because I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to communicate if I put it back together), so I wouldn’t get caught if I could help it, but it would have been a disaster if it disappeared.

Besides that, the backpack I packed when I left was still on my back, and the things inside were intact. It seems they locked me up as soon as they caught me, but even in this situation, putting on the mana seal was a preparation for when I woke up. Even so, it’s difficult to summon spirits inside the barrier, so they must have been trying to control the sword energy. They don’t even know that the Spirit King can help the contractor regardless of whether they are summoned or not. Foolish people. Seeing the seal being broken so futilely at Ellyuen’s gesture made me feel even more sorry. That’s why there’s a saying that knowing yourself and your enemy is half the battle.

“How much time has passed, Father?”

—It will be dawn soon.

“It’s been longer than I thought. Was the Crown Prince here?”

I felt a gaze asking what I was asking when it was obvious. Well, if there was someone who could recognize me right away, it would be the Crown Prince and his close aides. I knew it would be like that, but the thought of seeing that slick face again here made me sigh. He’s like a cockroach that keeps clinging on and doesn’t get exterminated until the end. In some ways, he was a more annoying nemesis than Karian.

Why is the guy who is preparing for the coronation here instead of being stuck in the royal palace? Just try touching the people you kidnapped. I will never kill you nicely. Mion looked like an elementary school student, so even if that older sister was there, she would be a minor. It’s not something that adults should suffer, but I was seething inside when I thought that even children were being dragged away.

For now, I was the only one locked up in this space. No, now that I see it, there were more originally, but it seems I’m the only one left. It was too dark to see properly, but there were several things collapsed nearby. I could feel a musty aura of death from the shapes, and there was a faint smell of fish. Judging from the strangely odd shape of the lower body for a human, it seemed to be mermaids. It seems they were placed to monitor me and prevent the hypnosis from being released, but Ellyuen took care of them all. It also showed how difficult things would have been without him, so I couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

The Crown Prince’s preparedness was also proven by the bars surrounding the area. He must have been worried about just monitoring me, so he put me in jail. It was cumbersome to find the door, so I cut off a part of the bars as quietly as possible and got out. The wall I groped for while looking for the exit was covered with thick cloth. The texture and shape reminded me of the tents at the slave market. When I went outside, I saw huge tents set up on both sides. It was the same structure as the slave market, so much so that I wondered if I had regressed to the past.

“You’re really unoriginal……”

If this is a sanctuary, they must have built this as a sanctuary, but aren’t they putting in too little effort? They must have adopted the most familiar structure, but anyway, it made me feel dirty because it reminded me of old memories. It was even more so because I found a familiar face among the moving soldiers.

“Come on, everyone, hurry up! Those who are lazy will have no breakfast!”

The man who was giving orders with a lot of arrogance was the slave merchant from back then. I thought he was caught when the Crown Prince was caught in the Empire, but he somehow avoided the disaster again. He seems to have good luck, but I was curious why he was living like that with that good luck. At first, I thought he was leading the soldiers. But after a while, a procession began to walk out between them. They were all young women.

‘Are they the kidnapped people?’

White skirts, gold thread belts, and headscarves wrapped around their heads. All the women in the same clothes were holding candles in their hands. Just looking at them shrinking with frightened faces, it was obvious that they were being dragged out against their will.

“Where are you taking us?”

One of them asked cautiously. I couldn’t see her face because she was hidden in the group, but I could tell who it was just by hearing her voice. It was definitely Weldy.

“Huh? Ah, you’re a newbie who came in last night.”

The man, the former slave merchant and current leader of the procession, checked the person who asked the question and sneered.

“You’ll know when you get there. Just follow me quietly without complaining.”

“D-Do you know who I am? I’m the granddaughter of the elder. You won’t be safe if you touch me.”

“Oh my, were you such a precious person? But what a pity. Your fellow tribesmen won’t even be able to enter here. I wonder if you know that the guys who were looking for you all night are still wandering around the edge of the forest.”

Sibelius and Karian haven’t even entered the barrier yet. I got useful information from an unexpected place. It would have been better if they had joined here, but it was better than hearing news that they were caught or injured. But it would have been like a bolt from the blue for those who had hoped. I could feel Weldy’s breathing shaking greatly.

“If you understand, walk quietly on your own feet. I won’t stop you if you want to be fascinated by the mermaid again.”

With those words, one of the soldiers next to the man grinned. It was difficult to tell by appearance, but it seemed to be a mermaid. Weldy, who flinched, shut her mouth tightly. The man smiled satisfactorily at her more docile attitude.

“Yes, that’s how you should come out. If you behave yourself, you won’t get hurt. You don’t know how much expectation we have for you. We haven’t tried testing on other races yet.”

“……What are you trying to do?”

“Well, you’ll know when you get there. You should be honored. All of you here will be the foundation for a great achievement.”

Is spouting nonsense a common specialty of masters and servants? I decided to watch first to find the right time to rescue them. The group that started moving entered a path beyond the tent. It seems there are other places besides here. The procession of candles stretched out long into the dim forest path. I carefully followed behind them.

The further I went inside, the more I could hear the sound of water. I wondered if there was a river, but soon a lake appeared. It was seawater, not fresh water. The strong salty smell in the air proved that it was seawater. I don’t know if it was formed naturally or made on purpose, but it seemed to be connected to the sea through a cave in the cliff at the end.

Around the cave, which was half submerged in water, several mermaids with long tails were sitting. A small sea in a dense forest, and beautiful mermaids resting comfortably inside. It was literally a scene of a mermaid forest.

But the thing that caught my eye the most was the rocky island in the lake. A small island made of rough and sharp black rocks, with a human-sized statue in the center. It was a statue of a Siren goddess with the tail of a fish and the upper body of a woman.

I knew it the moment I saw it. That was the statue I had to purify. I just followed them with the intention of saving people, but I was lucky to have figured out the location of the statue. It would have been even more welcome if there was no altar in front of the statue, and if there wasn’t a woman lying on the altar.

The woman, who seemed unconscious, was wearing the same clothes as the Siren statue of the goddess. It was still dark and far away, so it was difficult to know the exact condition of the woman. But no matter how I looked at it, I could hardly feel any life.

“She’s not dead, is she?”

—She’s alive. To be exact, it seems only the body is alive.

Ellyuen, who was next to me, gave a scary answer in a calm voice. Only the body is alive, so that means the soul is already gone. I heard they were gathering women for the purpose of continuing the bloodline, but what’s going on?

“Come on, hurry up, hurry up! It’s almost dawn!”

In the meantime, the soldiers diligently led the women to the lake. Now that I see it, there was a fairly large magic circle in front of it. They made the women sit around it. Weldy was in an awkward state because she didn’t know what was going on, but the others seemed to be sitting in their seats with familiar faces, so it seems this wasn’t the first time this had happened.

What are they trying to do? It’s a picture I never expected, but it’s not a situation to be relieved about, so my body tensed up. In the meantime, the number of mermaids was increasing rapidly. The number, which was only three or four when I first arrived, was filling the area around the lake before I knew it.

“Now, start!”

While I was wondering whether it would be better to jump in right now or watch a little more, the man gave an order. Then, the mermaid who was dressed as a soldier opened its mouth and started making strange noises. Following that sound, the mermaids around them also opened their mouths.

Ahhh

Ahhhhh

The eyes of the women who were possessed by the sound quickly emptied. Weldy, who was covering her ears with a frightened face, was the same. They soon put their hands together in a prayer position and began to sing an unknown song. I could hardly understand the lyrics because they were so muffled, but it was a hymn to someone. The mermaids’ strange sounds and the women’s songs were combined to create a very bizarre harmony. To be honest, it was so creepy that I wanted to run away from this place.

As if responding to the harmony, the magic circle on the floor began to glow. The color was also a bloody red. The ominous red color began to appear on the altar in the center of the island. A dark red energy that rose like a haze covered the body of the woman lying on the altar.

“Hey, that doesn’t look good.”

Even if it wasn’t Lapis’s words, it seemed like I shouldn’t leave it alone. Ellyuen, who was still watching in a natural state, rarely frowned. I was about to pick up a suitable stone from the floor with the intention of stopping the song.