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.

unknown language seemed to seep straight into his mind, unobstructed. They echoed and resonated with each other there, making him feel a

Sunny blinked.

'I'm hearing voices.'

he tilted his

voices constitute an

these circumstances in the safety manual? Right… he was supposed to immediately inform the nearest navy officer

matter how much his heart desired to meet the beautiful singers, there was no way he was

adept at tugging on his heartstrings. His

hallucinations to. After a few steps, his foot suddenly made a splash, as if it landed into a shallow puddle.

His scowl deepened.

on a vessel of this size. The crew slept in shifts to make sure that a complete complement of sailors and specialists always tended to its internal systems

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

was standing near the wall, studying the

not see

water a hallucination, as

his teeth, then walked

"Excuse me."

turned around and looked at him without any particular

"Yes?"

skin and dark, slicked back hair. There was nothing particularly memorable about

and then said

uh… the safety manual says to inform the nearest officer if I hear voices.

man suddenly became more lively. A strange gleam appeared

do

Sunny rubbed his face.

hear

for a few moments, then

please

slightly to the side instead. Glancing behind the naval officer, he took a short glance at the

slightly on the surface of the water, staring at Sunny

very disturbed, for some reason. His intuition was not exactly ringing an alarm, but it