Chapter 35: Ex Machina (4)
At first, when I heard "token," I thought of her golden scales.
The scales of a siren, solid and beautiful, are impossible to imitate with human technology.
Anyone who sees them would immediately think of the moniker "Golden Tail."
What could be a more fitting token than this?
"But why was it blood?"
"Our blood contains powerful magic. It's pure and non-toxic, so it can be consumed to cure diseases."
"Blood... as a healing potion?"
"That's correct."
Only then could I understand why she had given blood instead of scales.
In the age of hunters, the role of doctors has been greatly diminished.
Especially surgeons.
If someone had a severe injury from, say, a car accident, they used to require emergency surgery. But now, a single healing spell from a healer can completely cure them.
No need for long surgeries, and almost no side effects.
What doctors have to study for years, healers can accomplish with just a click of a skill.
However, there are diseases that even healing magic can't cure.
The most notable being cancer.
While the exact reason is unknown, it's said that cancer cells are not foreign entities but mutated versions of one's own cells, so healing magic can't differentiate them.
Diseases caused by viruses or bacteria can be cured by healing magic, but there are still incurable diseases besides cancer.
"I healed his wounds with just one drop of my blood. Later, I heard that not only did his wounds heal, but even the chronic illness he had been suffering from was cured."
If her blood could cure a disease that modern medicine and hunters' healing magic couldn't, it must be even better than most healing potions.
"It was his idea to take the blood, wasn't it?"
"...Yes."
"So what happened after that?"
When Airin let out a deep sigh at the question, Coral began to speak instead.
"The guy who said he'd be back soon never returned. Instead, humans started to move."
"Move? How?"
"How do you think? They started hunting our comrades with fervor!"
Previously, the hunters were too afraid of the Golden Tail to even approach this island.
But after the man disappeared, sirens began to be attacked regularly.
The target was clear.
"Was it... for the blood?"
Potions are expensive.
Demand is high, but supply is limited.
It takes hunting monsters with high healing power, like trolls, and going through a complicated process to obtain it.
I've heard that it takes the blood of two or three trolls just to make one potion.
Even the cheapest potion costs millions of won, and higher-grade potions can cost billions.
I heard that the mana potion I consumed when fighting the Bone Dragon cost over 30 billion won.
So, siren blood is practically a treasure in itself.
The hunters knew this, so they didn't just kill the sirens.
"The humans are capturing our comrades and draining their blood! We can feel it! We can sense our friends suffering in your cities!"
Can sirens share their senses with each other?
A thought suddenly occurred to me, so I asked.
"When did the man disappear?"
"It was about two years ago."
"Two years...?"
People said the sirens suddenly became violent about two years ago.
"Is that why you attacked the city?"
"Yes. We were trying to save our comrades. But human cities are too complex. We couldn't pinpoint the exact location."
"Why did the humans kidnap them? Were they planning to use them as hostages for a prisoner exchange?"
"Kidnap? What are you talking about? Why would we kidnap humans?"
"What?! But I'm sure..."
People went missing after the sirens swept through the harbor.
Among them were the Mir Merchant Guild’s father and daughter.
I definitely heard it was the work of the sirens... but they say it wasn't.
'What's going on here?'
I expected there to be some hidden truth behind what's happening in Wonsan City.
But I never imagined it would be tangled from the very beginning.
In any case, this means that the Mir Merchant Guild’s father and daughter are not here.
As Hyun Suho organized his thoughts for a moment, a new curiosity arose, and he asked,
"Why didn't you take action yourself?"
Aerin's power surpasses even that of the Bone Dragon.
If she had personally attacked Wonsan, the city would have been devastated.
Of course, all the defensive towers were destroyed, but there were almost no actual human casualties.
Aerin answered,
"We are weak. If we fought humans head-on, we wouldn't have been able to avoid total annihilation."
Come to think of it, during the last dungeon break, even a Level 9 Lich appeared.
A powerful monster that Hyun Suho couldn't possibly confront at his current level.
But even such a monster was easily defeated when high-rankers joined forces.
Of course, it was Suho who stole the final blow, but without their help, it wouldn't have been possible.
The reason they hadn't yet subdued the Golden Tail was that, contrary to rumors, the sirens had never attacked humans first.
There were rumors that they lured and devoured people with their songs, but after meeting them in person, it didn’t seem to be true.
It must have been mixed with the myth of the sirens from Greek mythology.
However, if Aerin were to personally attack the city, it would be a different story.
It would be nothing short of a national disaster.
The government could have moved with the accompaniment of high-rankers.
Even a siren, strong underwater, would struggle against three Level 9 high-rankers moving together.
They could also hire hunters from other countries, just like when they took down the Lich.
Aerin was much smarter and wiser than I thought.
'The puzzle is mostly put together...'
Now, the only question is how to arrange the pieces to get the correct answer.
With the sirens' help, it might end up being easier than expected...
At that moment—
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed, and the entire cave started to shake.
“What, what’s going on?”
[Akula's ship is approaching this area. They are currently engaged in combat with the siren group.]
“Akula? But I thought we disabled the ship through hacking.”
[It seems they have a manual rowing function.]
“Rowing? What is this, the Middle Ages? They even have such a feature on a ship? What's next, a sail?”
[That, they do not have.]
The combat ship I saw in the harbor looked like a 10,000-ton cruiser.
Now, in the era of hunters, where a high-level mage's spell can easily sink an aircraft carrier, the size of combat ships has been decreasing, as their main function of transporting hunters has become more important than the bombardment power of dreadnought-class ships.
So among the combat ships that sailed from Wonsan, Akula’s was the largest.
And now you're telling me they moved that massive ship by rowing.
“Seriously, hunters are just monsters.”
Of course, I’m now a proud hunter myself, but sometimes even I’m shocked by the inhuman strength of other hunters.
But since Akula is a Level 8, they could probably move the ship on their own if they wanted to.
“Have I been stuck in a fixed mindset?”
I had thought that disabling the engine would be enough to immobilize a high-level hunter like Akula.
Hyun Suho quickly spoke to the two sirens.
“Have your comrades fall back. I'll handle them.”
Coral shouted angrily in response.
“They’re your friends! How can we trust you?”
She spoke as if she was about to rip my throat out.
It was only natural.
To them, I’m probably just another deceitful, cowardly human.
But there was no time to explain everything to them now.
Instead of Coral, Hyun Suho addressed Aerin.
“Please, could you trust me just this once?”
At those words, Aerin unconsciously touched her left hand.
A smooth hand that looked no different from a human’s.
Surprisingly, a ring was fitted on the ring finger of her left hand.
None of the other sirens had rings or any other jewelry.
For something worn by a Level 8 named monster, the ring didn't look that special.
A thin gold ring with no cheap gemstones embedded in it.
Sensing its significance, Hyun Suho pleaded again.
“There must have been some circumstances with that man. I promise I’ll find out the information about him and let you know.”
At those words, he noticed Aerin’s hand, which was caressing the ring, trembling violently for a brief moment.
It didn’t take long for her to make a decision.
“Please... I’m asking you.”
This must be her true feelings that she had been hiding.
The reason she brought Hyun Suho here despite claiming not to trust humans.
She still wanted to believe in that man.
After hearing her answer, Hyun Suho bowed to Aerin and started to head outside.
Coral ran after him, asking,
“Hey! What are you going to do?”
“What do you think? I’m going to stop them.”
Mayor Myeong Eun-sook hired Akula's crew to deal with the Golden Tail.
But Nova had a different story.
[There are traces of Akula's ship docking at Wonsan Harbor multiple times over the past two years.]
Of course, Wonsan Harbor is relatively close to Russia.
Since the concept of territorial waters disappeared with the rise of the hunter era, it wasn’t strange at all for Akula’s ship to come this far.
In fact, they made a lot of money through maritime trade.
However, it bothered me that the frequency had increased so much over the past two years.
If my suspicions are correct...
“I guess I’ll just have to confirm it directly.”
Just as I was about to fly straight to Akula’s ship—
Suddenly, Coral called out to me.
“Are you really going to fight humans?”
“Probably.”
“Then I’ll help.”
“That won’t work. If a siren kills even one person, the situation will spiral out of control.”
The outline of the incident was beginning to take shape.
If I go just a little further, I’ll be able to confront the truth.
The sirens' help would be a great asset, but someone might misunderstand and misinterpret my intentions.
In Wonsan City, sirens are seen as the epitome of evil, the ultimate terror.
Just as I was about to explain and leave, Coral’s body suddenly started emitting magic power.
“$^#^@#!”
“What are you...?”
I was startled and quickly moved back, but the undulating mana, resembling the sea, entered my body.
It felt like a cool wave was cleansing impurities as it coursed through me.
I could feel vitality surging through my entire body.
“A buff spell?”
It was an excellent buff spell, on par with the support I’d received from Jin Seo-yeon in the past.
Seeing the surprised expression on Hyun Suho’s face, Coral spoke proudly.
“With this, there shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Is it because she’s the Golden Tail’s sister?
Her combat skills with the trident were lacking, but she was unexpectedly using powerful magic.
“If you had this kind of magic, why didn’t you use it when you fought me?”
“I thought I could beat you without magic!”
What an idiot.
Anyway, as Coral said, a buff spell shouldn’t be an issue.
“Then I’m really going now!”
Hyun Suho exited the cave and shot up straight through the sea’s surface.
Boom!
As soon as he emerged above ground, his battlesuit quickly transformed from marine mode to flight mode.
The nano-particles moved smoothly, without even the sound of clanking metal.
“No romance in that.”
[Do you wish to be a transforming robot? If so, we could modify Master’s body to...]
“Sorry, my bad.”
There was no time for even a brief joke.
Akula’s ship had already approached close to the island.
Hyun Suho flew gracefully and landed softly on the ship’s deck.
Thud!
Looking up, he saw Akula, arms crossed, watching him.
It was as if he had been waiting.
He leisurely spoke up.
“I figured there’d be a rat snooping around. Who sent you? The Association? The Union? The Tower of Magic? Or... the Knights?”
Some of what he said was vague.
I knew “the Association” referred to the Hunter Association, and I’d heard of the Tower of Magic, but what were the Union and the Knights?
What kind of trouble has he been causing...?
Whatever it is, it’s not related to me, who’s siding with the sirens, but I decided to act like I had some powerful backing.
Then he really started talking nonsense.
“The ‘divine power’ hidden here is mine. I won’t let anyone take it from me!”
