Chapter 102: Well, Now My Reputation Among Humans Is Completely Ruined |
"Siren?"
"Siren!"
Grill shouted "Siren" twice.
The first time was in confusion; the second was clearly laced with anger after confirmation.
He suddenly widened his eyes in fury and aimed his gun at Evina without any hesitation, completely different from how he had faced Samuel and Falson earlier.
Veins bulged across his entire face, and noticeable swelling could be seen beneath his clothes.
This seemed to be the enhancement from one of his Law Marks on his body, possibly something akin to berserking.
Grill's drawing of his gun surprised both Samuel and Evina.
Earlier, whether interacting with Samuel, Falson, or the maid, Grill had never directly pulled out his weapon. His current behavior seemed a bit too overreactive.
After all, people are visual creatures.
Samuel set down his knife and fork, looked at Grill, and spoke with a smile.
"Why so tense?"
Grill tilted his head to glance at Samuel, then quickly turned back to face Evina.
"She's a mutant."
"And she's a Siren."
He answered Samuel's question, but his tone carried more confusion than anything else.
As if he couldn't understand why Samuel would ask such a question.
A mutant? So what if she was a mutant?
He had once shared a life-or-death bond with a mutant at the party hosted by Mr. Pride, Wyatt.
As for the Siren...
Did you know that your own kingdom's prince is also a Siren?
Man, is this sheriff a species bigot or what?
Well, sure, the sheriff and species bigot combo is a classic pairing, but Evina isn't even dark-skinned.
Samuel glanced at Evina's deliberately crafted white skin, faintly tinged with pink.
Wrong skin color! Go back and start over!
Evina raised her hand to hook a strand of hair by her ear, gently twirling the strand around her fingertip, tilting her head as she looked at Grill, her face still wearing a smile.
"That's right, I'm a Siren," she admitted. "So, is there a problem?"
But Grill didn't seem to think he needed to explain himself to Evina.
His finger rested on the trigger of his pistol as he boomed out.
"I can't be bothered reasoning with you. You don't deserve to listen."
If he weren't worried that a sudden attack from her might make it hard to protect the pure newcomer who had become a Law Seeker less than a week ago, Grill would have already fired.
"Is that so?" A faint, translucent fish scale appeared on the hand Evina rested on her cheek, and the soft sound of crashing waves filled the air.
She let out a light laugh, her slightly dreamy eyes fixed on Grill, who looked like an enraged lion.
"A little hissy kitten~."
Though she didn't know what was bugging Grill, Evina was in a great mood after just venting her frustrations, and she wouldn't mind tearing Grill's head off.
After all, she was Samuel's darker side, and her moral standards were far lower than Celt's.
Tap, tap.
She took two more steps forward.
At the same time, Grill's gun muzzle ignited with a gray-golden flame.
He had lit his Spiritual Flame, clearly intending to actually fight.
Evina also raised her hand slightly, the right hand now covered in fish scales igniting with a pinkish-blue flame.
Samuel watched this scene with great interest, glancing at the creamy-white fin behind Evina's ear.
Evina had already retracted her gills; the only visible Siren feature was the fin.
But any normal person should have taken it as an accessory.
Yet Grill still managed to connect it to "Siren" and was utterly convinced.
So, "Siren" was indeed a race that existed in this world.
And someone who obtained the Law Rhyme of "Siren" would appear almost indistinguishable from the Sirens in Grill's understanding.
Samuel found this very interesting.
He was curious whether all "Sirens" were naturally born with this Law Rhyme, or if "non-Siren" species could "reclass" by inscribing this Law Rhyme.
He wondered if there was a Law Rhyme called "Terrifying Upright Ape."
Something that, once inscribed by animals, would turn them all into beast-eared girls.
But according to what Celt had heard from Allenay, as long as a Law Inscriber successfully created this Law Rhyme and then died, it could be absorbed by the world, becoming a Law Rhyme that might appear later under certain conditions.
If such a thing really existed, then that Law Inscriber truly deserved a spot in the temple of ancestors.
This was an achievement that could be written into history textbooks, a great existence worthy of being revered as the "Father of Beast-Eared Girls."
"Alright, alright, let's keep the peace." Samuel's hand reached out from behind Grill and gently pressed down on the barrel of Grill's gun.
Grill's Spiritual Flame was snuffed out instantly at Samuel's touch.
Samuel had somehow already walked behind Grill.
Grill frowned, looked up at Samuel, and showed complete incomprehension of Samuel's behavior.
"Falson is a pure rookie and doesn't know, but you don't either?" Grill demanded harshly.
The fact that Samuel could snuff out his Spiritual Flame with a single touch showed that the gap between them was far from small.
He knew Samuel was strong, and since he had stepped in to stop him, he knew there was no point in struggling.
So he simply gave up resisting.
But he really couldn't understand why Samuel was acting this way.
Know what?
Samuel was a bit confused but didn't show it.
Was there something I was supposed to know?
Just as Samuel and Grill were locking eyes, the Travel Guide in Samuel's hand suddenly vibrated.
"Hold on a second," Samuel said, ignoring Grill's reaction as he lowered his head and flipped open the Travel Guide for a quick look.
The Travel Guide had a few lines written in crooked Chinese.
"Uh... so..."
"I just hacked into the Public Security Bureau and took a look at their recorded history."
"It seems... Sirens... eat people."
"And a few hundred years ago in Liastan, there was an incident where mutants slaughtered a city, and among the mutants involved was the 'Siren' race."
"...?"
Samuel looked at the book, then looked up at Grill's furious face, then looked down at the book again, then turned his head to glance at Evina, who was curiously watching from nearby.
Oh, so that's how it is.
Samuel understood, and he simultaneously transmitted the information he had seen to Evina.
After receiving the information Samuel had shared, Evina suddenly had an epiphany.
So that's it. In that case, it's hard to blame Grill.
No wonder Hiss suddenly hissed and got all bristly.
This really would make it hard not to hiss.
It seemed her negative reputation among humans was now completely maxed out.
Evina wasn't unreasonable either. Now that she understood there was a reason behind it, she no longer felt like blowing Grill's head off.
"Alright, alright, let's all calm down." Samuel cheerfully snatched the gun from Grill's hand. "She's different."
"What's different about her?" Grill stared coldly as Samuel took his service weapon.
He knew he couldn't take it back, but if Samuel couldn't come up with a good explanation, he would list Samuel as a human traitor who sheltered mutants. Even if he couldn't win in a fight, he wouldn't submit.
He would try his best to take Falson, who was not far away, and leave.
"She really is different," Samuel said with a wave of his hand. "Let me introduce you. This is Miss Evina."
"She wasn't born a Siren. She became one because she inscribed the Law Rhyme of 'Siren,'" Samuel explained.
What Samuel didn't mention was that Evina wasn't originally born a human either.
Grill gave Samuel a dead-eyed look that screamed, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"
His instincts could sense Evina, meaning she couldn't possibly be a Law Contemplator.
A Law Seeker couldn't have a Law Rhyme.
"What's with that expression?" Evina's pleasant voice sounded from not far away, her tone gentle, laced with a smile and a tempting allure. "Law Seekers can inscribe Law Rhymes now too."
Grill was about to retort when he suddenly froze.
He sniffed lightly, his expression shifting continuously.
No lie?
There was no scent of lying in the air.
Savage not only provided sharp instincts but also allowed him to smell pheromones on living beings.
And when Evina spoke, she didn't emit any "lying" pheromones.
Both his "instincts" and "pheromones" told Grill that Evina wasn't lying.
She truly wasn't born a Siren; she had indeed become one through a Law Rhyme.
This left Grill starting to feel confused.
The knowledge he possessed told him that Law Seekers couldn't have Law Rhymes.
But his instincts told him Evina wasn't lying.
Could he really be such a bumpkin that he didn't even know Law Seekers could now inscribe Law Rhymes?
"It seems you have your own way of distinguishing truth from lies." Samuel smiled as he set down Grill's pistol. Grill remained silent, not reaching for it.
Tap, tap, tap.
Evina began to approach the table.
The muscles in Grill's arm instantly bulged, but then quickly relaxed again.
He remained silent, unsure of what to say.
"Can we talk now?" Evina elegantly pulled out the chair in front of Grill and sat down.
Her full chest was directly placed on the table.
Grill opened his mouth, wanting to say something but not knowing how.
He hesitated for a long time, as if making a judgment.
Finally, he chose to trust his abilities over his common sense.
He propped himself up with his hands on the table, stood up, and bowed to Evina.
"If that's really the case... I'm sorry."
"I apologize for my earlier behavior and hope you'll forgive me."
"It's okay." Evina leaned cheerfully against the table, propping her head up with one hand. "I understand."
Falson, looking at the fullness directly placed on the table, awkwardly averted his gaze and looked at Grill.
"Mr. Grill, I'm sorry, but I still don't understand."
Grill sat back down, not particularly affected by Evina's charm.
"Sigh... This matter... can't be explained in just a few words..." Grill shook his head.
"It's a story from a long, long time ago."
"Then let's hear it. I'd like to listen too." Evina looked at Grill with her beautiful pinkish-blue eyes, completely devoid of the tension from just seconds ago.
Grill thought for a moment, then nodded.
"It starts with history from a few hundred years ago."
Seeing the atmosphere between the two easing, Samuel chuckled and turned to leave.
But he didn't go back to his table. Instead, he walked over to a glass window not far away.
He raised the Travel Guide in his right hand toward the window, its reflection cast on the glass. Then, he extended his left hand to touch the glass window, pushing through it as if penetrating water, becoming one of the "reflections" cast by the glass.
Then, he grabbed the Travel Guide reflected in the window and pulled the book out of the glass.
Holding one copy of *The Lunatic's World Travel Guide* in each hand, Samuel fell into thought.
It seems a bit inconvenient to carry.
He glanced at Evina, who was listening to the story not far away.
The Law Rhyme had been sent out, but after all, she was his own fragment, offshoot, half-body. Even though they were mostly independent, Samuel could still sense their Law Marks and Law Rhymes.
After all, the "core" was still him.
Feeling the Law Rhyme called "Siren," sensing that embracing, all-encompassing feeling a bit like the "ocean," a sudden idea struck Samuel.
He began using his "Toymaker" ability to modify the Travel Guide.
The Travel Guide itself didn't resist, so this upgrade went smoothly.
The disturbance from this modification was small; aside from Evina, none of the others chatting nearby noticed.
Soon, the modification was complete.
The two Travel Guides in his hands instantly vanished, their whereabouts unknown.
At that moment, he suddenly felt as if something had been placed inside his body.
But it wasn't simply being placed inside his physical body, since nothing extra had appeared in his flesh.
This feeling was a bit hard to describe, like something had suddenly been placed into his soul.
The new Travel Guide had directly entered his soul, allowing him to summon or dismiss it at will, rather than just leaving it somewhere and calling it when needed, like before.
Samuel revealed a satisfied smile.
"Mhm, that's right."
This update naturally wasn't limited to just this one effect.
Samuel casually took a coin from his pocket and played with it in his palm.
Then, his hand holding the coin gently clenched, and when he opened it again, the coin that had been in his palm had vanished.
After waiting two seconds, a ripple like water appeared in his palm, and half of the coin emerged from his skin, with the other half still submerged beneath it, as if his palm had turned into a fleshy pool.
"Excellent." He nodded in satisfaction.
Though he didn't know the principle behind it, it seemed there was some connection between the "soul" and the "body" in this world, just like how when Celt killed the homeless man's soul, the body died rapidly. By having a *The Lunatic's World Travel Guide* capable of storage housed within his soul, Samuel discovered that his physical body also seemed to possess a similar effect.
He could directly "store items" through his body.
It manifested as being able to casually insert or retrieve things from his skin's surface.
However, not just anything could establish a connection with the body through being "housed within the soul."
Just as the Travel Guide had always said, this book was originally an extension of Samuel's ability and will; now it was merely reintegrating with its main body.
Other things couldn't achieve this.
Samuel turned around, and a newly duplicated Travel Guide appeared in his hand as he waved it toward Evina.
The next moment, the book in his hand instantly vanished.
Not far away, Evina, who was listening to the story, paused in her actions as if she had suddenly sensed something.
She turned her gaze toward Samuel.
Samuel cheerfully gave her a thumbs-up, showing off his newly developed achievement.