Episode 446
Episode 446
"What do you think you're doing by catching that?!"
Even Professor Lightning Step, an explorer renowned throughout the empire for his experience, couldn't help but let out an involuntary scream upon seeing his first-year student dragging a siren up by the scruff of its neck.
"Sh-should I not have done that?"
Lee Han asked in confusion.
His face was filled with naive innocence that seemed to say, 'Of course a siren counts as an aquatic creature, right?'
Professor Lightning Step covered his face with both hands and exhaled deeply.
"No... no. It is technically an aquatic creature..."
Upon reflection, Lee Han hadn't actually done anything wrong.
After all, the professor had asked them to catch an aquatic creature.
But still...
'Who would have imagined he'd actually catch a siren?'
If you told someone to go up a mountain and bring back something to eat, they might return with mushrooms or mountain herbs—at most, maybe a wild boar. No one would actually go hunt down a dragon.
Similarly, in an exam where students were told to enter an underwater cave and catch a rare aquatic creature, no one would expect someone to bring back a siren...
"...How in the world did you even... No, just let it go first. It's clearly furious right now."
-♩! ♬!! ♪♪♪♪!!!
The siren burst into a furious soprano song. Even though Lee Han wasn't deeply knowledgeable about music, he could tell the creature was enraged.
"Ah. I thought getting it angry was part of the test. My apologies."
Lee Han released his grip on the siren's neck. The siren immediately splashed back into the water, poking only its head above the surface as it continued singing menacingly.
-♩♪ ♬♩♩♪!!!!!
"I don't understand the lyrics, but I'm sorry."
"L-let me apologize on his behalf, so please stop singing. The other students are collapsing."
Professor Lightning Step stepped in, offering an apology to the siren.
The siren, clearly feeling deeply wronged, kept singing desperately in an attempt to dominate Lee Han, but the only ones affected were the unfortunate students, who swayed as if entranced.
After singing nonstop for a long while, the siren finally seemed exhausted and started coughing. Then, huffing indignantly, it approached Professor Lightning Step.
"So, you're saying he didn't do it on purpose...? No. I'm sorry too. I didn't expect to get caught either. And honestly, who would've thought a first-year mage could catch me underwater..."
-♩♪♪♪♪♪!!
"I'll give you double the promised reward, so please calm down. And don't worry too much—no other first-year is at his level... I mean it. Think about it. Have you ever seen a first-year like that at Einrogard before?"
Professor Lightning Step sweated nervously as he tried to placate the siren.
Finally, its anger subsided, and the siren splashed back into the water. The professor let out a sigh of relief.
'Somehow managed to persuade it.'
There was no better examiner for this underwater cave trial than a siren.
If they had left in anger, the entire test would have needed reconsideration.
"Wait, so sirens aren't allowed?"
"The siren is definitely gone now, right?"
Professor Lightning Step checked the water's surface before answering.
"You did well. Full marks."
Once his shock and bewilderment faded, the professor regained enough composure to praise his student.
He still didn't understand how Lee Han had managed it, but catching a siren underwater was truly remarkable.
If word got out, captains of exploration ships might come running with fire in their eyes.
"Ah, so... catching a sirens was actually part of the test? I had a feeling it might be."
Lee Han looked at the professor with admiring eyes.
For a prideful siren to actually get caught and throw a tantrum, and for the professor to play dumb just to calm it down...
Truly, a professor couldn't succeed with mediocre skills.
"...Y-yes, exactly."
Rather than explain, Professor Lightning Step decided to just go along with it.
"Now tell me how you caught it. I'm curious."
-♪♬♩♩♩♬
After slapping Gyeongnamdo's cheek and realizing it had no effect, Lee Han immediately shifted to countermeasures.
'Sirens!'
The half-breed offspring of mermaids and spirits—those cruel tricksters of the sea—had appeared.
'So the underwater creatures the professor mentioned were sirens!'
Lee Han yanked the rope tied around his entranced friends three times. Responding to the signal, those above began pulling the rope upward.
Now unburdened, Lee Han immediately plugged his ears and charged toward the siren while reciting an incantation.
Startled by the mage charging at her unaffected by her charm, the siren widened her eyes and began singing even louder.
-♪♪♪♪♪♪... ?!!
Yet no matter how loudly she sang or how intensely she focused the power of her song, Lee Han remained completely unaffected—thanks to having plugged his ears in advance.
"...It's not because you plugged your ears. It's because your resistance is monstrous. A siren's song isn't something you can block just by covering your ears. That's a common misconception."
"Ah. Is that so?"
No matter how loudly she sang or how intensely she focused the power of her song, Lee Han remained completely unaffected—thanks to his innate mana.
For the first time in her life, the siren witnessed a pursuer approaching her completely unaffected. Panicked, she began putting distance between them.
-♬♩♩! ♬♩♩! ♬♩♩!
'Is she casting some kind of curse?'
The siren desperately sang warnings for him to stay away, but unfortunately, Lee Han—who didn't understand Siren Tongue—remained oblivious.
'Sirens are descendants of ancient spirits. She might be capable of wielding some sinister ability I don't know about.'
This only heightened Lee Han's wariness.
Rather than playing into the siren's hands, Lee Han decided to take the initiative.
-Strike forth... Perkuntra's lightning!
The lightning, which would normally shoot straight, discharged in all directions as if it were an area-of-effect spell.
This was a phenomenon only possible underwater.
Of course, the lightning struck Lee Han as well, but his natural resistance allowed him to endure it. The siren, however, flailed in panic at the unfamiliar, tingling numbness coursing through her body.
Thwack!
The siren stopped her paralyzed tail fin and began singing to summon water spirits.
Her plan was to borrow their strength to increase her speed.
But the water spirits, upon seeing Lee Han, suddenly flinched and then fled madly backward.
-??????
The siren was horrified by the sudden betrayal of her kin. Meanwhile, Lee Han cast a spell to block her path.
-Burn...
-?!
The siren panicked, bewildered by the mage conjuring flame energy underwater.
Who in their right mind would attempt fire magic underwater?
No mage, no matter how foolish, would ever try such a thing...
Whoooosh!
A meticulously crafted wall of flames unfolded, blocking her path.
For a moment, Lee Han felt his eyes grow moist.
The fire magic that had tormented him for so long had now succeeded in transforming so cleanly into a complete form.
"That was truly moving."
"Uh... Shouldn't you be more concerned about fire that doesn't extinguish underwater rather than being moved...? No. Never mind. Carry on."
The siren, now in full-blown panic, thrashed helplessly. Lee Han swam effortlessly and seized her.
Trapped by the mage's unbelievably well-trained strength—unheard of for a mage—the siren struggled desperately, trying to lock eyes with Lee Han.
The abilities ingrained in the siren's bloodline weren't limited to song. By meeting another's gaze, she could unleash an instinctive illusion magic.
A powerful ability that read the opponent's vessel and showed them illusions of their deepest desires.
Normally, her song made this unnecessary, but with her song ineffective, the siren desperately tried to meet his eyes.
-!!!!!
But the moment their eyes met, she froze stiff as a log, terrified by the mana she sensed.
Assuming she had finally given up, Lee Han grabbed her by the scruff and swam upward.
"They're already difficult to persuade—what were you thinking, scaring them like that...?"
"Huh? I didn't threaten them or anything, though?"
"That wasn't a verbal threat... Never mind. Good work. You should rest now."
Professor Lightning-Step praised his remarkable student while shaking his head in disbelief.
It was absurd, but it was indeed an incredible achievement.
Who in their right mind would catch a siren in this kind of weather?
"Yes. Understood."
However, contrary to Professor Lightning-Step's expectations, Lee Han didn't wrap himself in a blanket to rest—instead, he approached his friends.
"Guys. It's confirmed—sirens count. They seem to be high-scoring targets."
"Seriously?!"
"But how do we even catch a siren?"
"Wardanaz. I'm really sorry to ask, but... could you show us just once?"
At the earnest requests of his top-ranked friends, Lee Han nodded.
It wasn't that he didn't want to rest, but since he had already finished his exam, demonstrating once for his friends wasn't too much to ask.
"Alright. Everyone, cast underwater breathing and come into the water. Gainando. Why are you clutching your cheek?"
"I dunno. Must've hit a rock earlier."
Gainando grumbled while holding his swollen cheek.
Apparently, while he was briefly unconscious, the guys above had yanked the rope too hard, slamming him into something.
"The way to catch a siren is... Hmm. No. It'd be faster to just show you. I'll catch one again, and you all can watch from a distance. How's that?"
"You'd go that far...?!"
"Wardanaz...!"
Professor Lightning-Step, who had been listening, gaped in shock.
In the end, the students gave up on catching sirens and instead ventured into the underwater caves to search for rare aquatic creatures.
When Lee Han saw the water rabbit Yoner had brought back, he muttered enviously,
"Maybe I should've gone for a water rabbit instead of a siren? They look way easier to catch."
"......"
-......
Professor Lightning-Step and the siren both stared at Lee Han as if he were insane.
The siren, in particular, glared at him like he was her mortal enemy.
The humiliation of being caught by the same mage three times in one day (since Gainando hadn't understood, Lee Han had demonstrated once more) wasn't something she could easily forget.
Lee Han noticed the siren's gaze and turned his head. Immediately, she averted her eyes.
Unless she was deep underwater and far away, she didn't dare curse at that mage while out in the open.
"...Alright, everyone! Let's thank the siren for her hard work!"
Professor Lightning-Step, sensing the siren's foul mood, called the students together.
Among Einrogard's mystical creatures, if he didn't want his name on the blacklist, he had to mediate.
"Thank you, Lady Siren!"
"Your song was truly wonderful!"
The students bore no ill will toward the siren.
Being enchanted by her song had been less unpleasant and more like a dreamy, beautiful memory.
And truthfully, they had been captured and dragged away far more gently than the siren had been.
The siren lifted her chin arrogantly, as if their praise was beneath her, and listened.
"I'm grateful too, Lady Siren."
-...♪♪♪♪!!
The siren, who had been controlling her emotions well, finally exploded and unleashed a torrent of song directly at Lee Han.
Professor Lightning-Step hastily intervened, calming her down before concluding the lecture.
"Everyone, great work! And to the noble descendant of the sea song spirits, you've endured much! You may return now! Oh, and Wardanaz."
"Yes?"
"When you're wandering around Einrogard, it'd be best to avoid areas where sirens appear!"
"Wait... Isn't that too harsh? It was just a lecture exam!"
Lee Han was disappointed by the siren's less-than-cool reaction.
"There's the cabin!"
"Throw the harpoon!!"
"Got it!!"
Morning.
After resting, Lee Han and the other top students rode atop Tanjuer, hunting for the cabin—no, whale hunting, or rather, cabin hunting.
The harpoon hooked onto the drifting cabin, and it slowly began to be pulled toward them.
'Huh? Why does this look familiar?'
Lee Han tilted his head at the oddly familiar sight of the cabin.