What?!? I've Been Reincarnated as a Arachne! (On hold)

Part 7

Siren – Second Part

This wasn't a ship with sails, but a golem ship.
A golem ship... Truly the kind of naval vessel you would find in a fantasy world.
By appearance, it looked similar to a paddle steamer.

Instead of an internal combustion engine, it used a golem to drive the paddle wheel.
Paddle golems themselves used the mana of the spellcasters as energy, so this ship also had several magicians on board to serve as mana suppliers.
By nature, golem engine ships weren't suitable for long distance fishing or long voyages, but it looked like people usually use them for sailing across shorter distances.
Since the ships didn't have masts and those other stuffs, the deck felt quite spacious.
Right in the middle of that wide deck, Harn was unveiling his beautiful voice, his pride and joy.
"Aaah, beautiful goddess Kagura. Thou tamed the sacred white beast and sliced apart the ferocious demon of the underworld. And in the end, light filled the land, and hope was returned to the people..."
Apparently, the song that he was singing while accompanying himself with music was based on this world's mythology.
I can't deny that it's quite a clichéd story, but his voice was undeniably beautiful.
He's completely different from the frivolous man that he was, just moments ago.
The listeners around him were enraptured by his singing, their faces flushed.
The story finally passed the climax, and it ended with goddess Kagura returning to heaven.
And just as it ended, the deck exploded in cheers and applause.
Everyone was throwing offerings non-stop into the donation box put in front of Harn...
"How is it? Quite good, don't you think?"
Waiting until the listeners scattered, Harn brought the box full of tips to where I was, watching him a little distance away, and showed it to me.
Mostly small and medium copper coins, but considering how many there were, it's quite the haul.
"Yes, your singing was lovely... Harn, do you always work on passenger ships like this?"
"Ah, naah... this singing is more like a side job kind of thing. My real occupation is an adventurer of the Adventurer's AssociationGuild."
"...Wait, so you were an adventurer. Isn't it quite rare for a bard to be an adventurer?"
"Mm, not exactly. Since a bard travels from town to town, they work together well with the adventurer's association, which has branch offices in every town... And you need some amount of fighting ability if you're going to travel alone anyway."
"I seeeee... So this time, you're here on this ship because of a job or something similar?"
"Mmmm... Well... Sort of...... Don't spread this around, ok? Actually..."
Looks like Harn wasn't someone with very tight lips.
Well, it's not like I know if he's obligated to keep the adventurer's association's secrets or not.
According to that blabbermouth Harn, recently, ships passing through this area have been constantly getting stranded.
Luckily, no one died and there were only injured people, but according to the results of investigating the damage...
A lot of people mentioned hearing a strange song before the ship got stranded in their testimonies.
Judging from that, it's likely that the cause of the strandings was some sort of singing aquatic monster, like a merrow1 or siren. And from that conclusion, the association decided to make a request to a bard who can neutralize hypnotic songs, like Harn.
"If that's true, shouldn't they stop sending ships out?"
"They can't do that. Shuren island is a large supplier of magic crystals. Even if trade between the island and the mainland ceases for just 3 days, there'll be a much too large impact on the islanders and the town of Jiza..."
"Then maybe change the route?"
"They don't even know where in the route the incidents happened in the first place. One of my duties this time is to find that out."
"...I see. The request you received wasn't to defeat the aquatic monsters."
"...There's no way I can manage to do that alone."
I see, no wonder.
"So, what do those merrows or sirens thingy look like?"
"Mmm... Well, first off, both of them are beautiful women with the lower body of a fish. The difference is that merrows manipulate the weather to sink ships, while sirens use their songs to manipulate the sailors to have the ship run aground... so this time, it's highly likely that sirens were the culprits."
Hmph. As someone who has the lower body of a spider, I suppose this was where I should show my sympathy... But leaving that aside.
"Lower half of a fish... You mean, like that?"
Around 50 meters ahead and starboard of the ship, a single human floated on the ocean with the lower body half submerged.
Her skin was tinted blue, but she certainly looked like an extremely beautiful woman.
Her long blue hair swayed along with the waves, and I could see something like fins where a normal person's ears would be.
And once in awhile, *splash*, a large fish tail slapped the water surface.
"Yeah, yeah, exactly like... Whaaaaaaaa?!"
Looks like that was a bulls-eye.
Flustered, Harn took out his harp.
"Ummm, n-neutralization song..."
*ting* *tllling*
Harn began to play his harp even while panicking, but at almost the same time, the water monster began to sing with a voice like the sound of a glass harp.
*Ptwitttlrillllllllriii...tweetwweetwee...*
As the aquatic monster's song echoed throughout the sea, the song's magic began to force the ship to deviate from its course.
Looked like it's stronger than Harn's neutralization song.
"Grrr... That's quite some power there, siren, but how about this?!"
*tingtlingting...* *twangggg...*
Harn put more strength into his performance... Beads of sweat formed, crowding his forehead.
And his effort wasn't in vain. The ship slowly turned back to the right course...
"Hah, haha... How about it, don't underestimate the power of a bard's spellsong..."
"Wow, you really are amazing!"
"Of course, right? Right?"
"Ah, but..."
"Hmm?"
"...There's more of them now, you know?"
"...For real?"
Adding to the first siren, another five showed their upper bodies above the water and joined the fray.
A solo performance turned into a concert.
*Ptwittttwiiiiitlrillllllllriii...tweetwweetweetweeetweetwetwettwee...*
"Waaaarghhhh! Like hell I can neutralize this!!"
"Ahh... Yeah, this really is too much."
The moment the sirens' songs harmonized, I could feel the magic inside their singing increased by more than an order of magnitude.
The ship was getting further and further away from its planned course.
Just one person's ability was certainly not enough to repel their singing.
... If that person was a human, that is.
"Hey, what's that voice?"
"Sounds beautiful... but sad, somehow."
"...Hey, look! Over there!"
"Monsters?!"
"They're sirens! Monsters leading ships astray!"
Whoops, this is bad.
Looked like the other passengers have also discovered them.
The deck began to get crowded, chaotic.
"Hey, at this rate... we're going to get shipwrecked..."
"So the recent frequent strandings were because of sirens?!"
"H-Hey, sailors! Do something!!"
"We might still make it if we escape on the boats now..."
"There aren't enough boats for that... or rather, will that song let us go even if we get on the boats?!"
Yeaaah, at this rate, everyone's going to panic, and worst case scenario, someone might even try to jump off the ship...
No other choice.
"Harn, please stop playing for a bit."