Shadow Slave

Sunny sat silently on his bed for a while, irritated by the fact that someone had disturbed his sleep. With singing, no less!

Slowly, however, his expression softened.

'Well… at least they have good voices… yeah…'

The young women sang beautifully. Their voices flowed and resonated with each other, creating harmonies that made him feel tingly. The song was neither sad nor happy — instead, it made Sunny feel a deep, poignant longing. A wistful sigh escaped from his lips.

'Maybe… maybe I should go introduce myself?'

Since these beauties were having a party, surely they wouldn't mind some company?

Sunny lingered for a few moments, then frowned. Slowly, he looked down and studied his shadows, which were silently trembling. His face darkened.

'There is just this one problem…'

How the hell was he able to hear the singing so clearly? His cabin was separated from other neighboring compartments by thick alloy bulkheads. The entrance hatch was securely fastened, isolating him from the rest of the battleship. No sound should have been able to penetrate inside so easily.

Suddenly, an old memory surfaced from the depths of his mind. For some reason, Sunny remembered how the members of the cohort had sealed their eyes with wax before traversing the dark river below the Hollow Mountains.

'Odysseus…'

His frown turned into a deep scowl. Sunny hesitated for a moment, then summoned the Undying Chain. As the lusterless, bleak steel of the slender armor weaved itself from light and encased his body, his thoughts seemed to have turned a little clearer.

The [Chains of Longing] enchantment provided the wearer with a high amount of protection against mind attacks.

However, contrary to his expectation, the beautiful singing was not affected at all. Sunny could still hear it clearly. He still felt moved by the alluring voices.

'Wait… what language are they singing in?'

Strangely, Sunny found himself unable to understand the words of the melodious song.

Even stranger, he had somehow failed to notice that fact earlier.

unobstructed. They echoed and resonated with each other there, making him feel

Sunny blinked.

'I'm hearing voices.'

tilted his

constitute an

the safety manual? Right… he was

heart desired to meet the beautiful singers, there was no way he was going to follow the call

already someone who was aggravatingly adept at tugging on his heartstrings.

to find an officer to report his hallucinations to. After a few steps, his foot suddenly made a splash, as if it landed into a shallow puddle. Looking down, Sunny saw a thin layer of clear water covering the floor of the passage ahead

His scowl deepened.

activity never ceased on a vessel of this size. The crew slept in shifts to make sure that a complete complement of sailors and specialists always

a corner. There was not a soul around, and the thin layer of water made Sunny feel uneasy. After

seemed in perfect order. A junior officer in a blue uniform was standing near the wall, studying the panel mounted on it, or maybe simply staring at the

see

water a hallucination,

gritted his teeth, then walked forward and

"Excuse me."

and looked at

"Yes?"

hair. There was nothing particularly memorable about him, except for how

sighed, and then

inform the nearest officer if I hear

man suddenly became more lively. A strange gleam appeared in

What do

Sunny rubbed his face.

hear beautiful

at him for a

case, please follow

leaned slightly to the side instead. Glancing behind the naval officer, he took a

supposed to appear. It swayed slightly on

for some reason. His intuition was not exactly ringing an alarm,