CH 96

We arrived in the sixties.

Hmm. A grassy plain as far as the eye can see, huh?

“…This is…”

“Does it remind you of somethin’?”

I do remember having seen something like this before.

“Yep, a marshland zone.”

The safety-zone-like plain right after we descended the stairs has no swamps, but it’s pretty likely that we’ll run into a swampland if we proceed further through the grassy plain. And, it’d only follow the typical pattern for there to also be poisonous swamps.

“Going by theory, this floor is a marshland, and although it won’t apply to the entire floor, we can expect poisonous swamps, too. I have no idea about the poisons of this world, but you should become poisoned if you enter any such poisonous swamp.”

“Yeah…I know. Gotcha.” Sword scratched his head.

I looked upwards, but although it was a cave, it didn’t seem to have a ceiling.

“Taking the easy way out would be flying in Char while almost grazing the ceiling. However, assuming it follows the cliche, we can assume the floor to be inhabited by monsters who catch their prey by extending their tongues. It’d be typical for the ceiling to still be within their attack range. Now then, what should we do…hmm,” I said as I folded my arms.

In response Sword clapped his hands together, “Well, let’s take our time thinkin’ it through after settin’ up our camp since it’s ’bout time for that anyway, ‘kay? I’m pooped from before and this place is a safe area, which means drinkin’ some booze won’t be any problem either!”

……

That’s fine with me, but still…

――Sword made me shower with him without losing any of his high spirits, and then he grandly rejoiced when I provided him with some grilled meat-skewers after starting a campfire, stabbing the meat on twigs, and roasting them over the flames.

…Aren’t ordinary adventurers doing stuff like that?

Just as I wondered about that, Sword brought the lute over, holding it out to me.

“Please play somethin’.”

……

“Certainly, that’s the standard when sitting around a campfire. But, why do you know about such a cliche?” I asked while taking the lute.

“Somehow, it just felt right. Probably,” he answered.

Oh shit, this guy’s ability to deal with things flexibly cannot be underestimated.

――Since it’d be a problem if he got too excited, I played the standard song for classic guitars, 【Jeux interdits】. 1 Afterwards I sang several common campfire songs while suitably adapting their lyrics to the language of this world, but they were more popular than I had expected.

“…You know, you could totally become a songstress. You might even fill the capital’s theater, you see?” Sword told me, seemingly drunk.

“A songstress requires a patron. At least according to my knowledge. …They’re allowed to sing their songs while giving their body to someone as collateral. I’ve got absolutely no intention to do anything like that!”

“……Hmm, so that’s how it works for musicians?”

Probably. But in the first place, do songstresses actually exist in this world anyway?

＊

“…Play a cheerful song at the end,” demanded Sword.

“…Okay, but you sing as well since the lyrics are pretty simple.”

Sword stared at me blankly, “Haah?”

“Don’t act like a fool. That’s what music is about. It’ll be fine even if you hum or just use lalala or lelele, so match my singing. Come on, swing this. That’s how it’s usually done.”

Since I had no spring onion, I plucked some grass and passed the bundle to him.

“Alright, let’s start. 【Ievan Polkka】.” 2

I sang while thrumming the lute. Once my singing started to repeat itself since I only knew a part of the song, Sword also joined in. Even the Ryokus had apparently learned it once it started to repeat it.

…Eventually even the monsters memorized it, it seems. A jovial polka song could be heard from all over the place.

＊

――Now then, the morning sun hasn’t risen, but it’s morning anyway.

“I guess we’ll fly in Char,” I said after deciding. “It’ll only apply to this floor, but I’ve come up with an effective method. While flying high up, we’ll think of a new countermeasure for the next floor.”

“Okay, and what kind of method is it?”

“［Singing in a canon］!”

Sword didn’t show any reaction to that.

“Memorize the song we’re going to sing from now on.”

Sword became flabbergasted.

＊

“…What’s that, the song you just sang?”

Sword became even more flabbergasted when I finished singing.

“How should I answer that anyway? Rather than that, did you memorize it?”

“…Well, it’s easy enough, but…”

“We’ll ［sing this in a canon］ with everyone on this floor!”

“Now listen, did you realize that the words you said just now make absolutely no sense?”

“It’s just that I haven’t found any proper words in this world’s language to describe it. Hmm, I suppose you could call it a trailing song? First the Ryokus and I’ll have a go at it. Ryokus, once I say 『Yes』, sing the song I sang one after the other.”

“”Ayessir!””

“Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, rib, yes!”

“Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, rib.” “Yes!”

“Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, rib.”

As the three of us sang, Sword also started as he had apparently understood the principle.

“Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, rib.”

As we were now singing with the four of us, the monsters had apparently understood as well, seeing how they started to sing, too.

“Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, rib.”

Sword appeared to have understood the situation even without me explaining, and after I matched my eyes with his, both of us got into Char. While singing.

Then we flew off while letting the canon blare through Char’s megaphone.

We didn’t get attacked at all. Yep, we didn’t get attacked, but the chorus was terrifying. We passed through this floor while accompanied by a thundering canon.

“If they had attacked us, I’d have killed them without hesitation, but I couldn’t bring myself to indifferently slaughter comrades who sang together with us yesterday evening. It’s great that we could wrap this up without killing any of them.”

Sword smiled wryly, “Monsters who like singin’, huh? Are they sirens or what?”

Oh, sirens exist?

“I’ve heard it’s best to sing together with sirens while being out of tune to avoid being bewitched by them, you know?”

Sword burst into laughter, “Deliberately singin’ out of tune? Sounds like a high-level technique to me!”

“About that…you don’t know since the people of this world don’t sing, but there’s lots of people who’re basically tone-deaf, okay? Rather, the number of people unfamiliar with music might be much more predominant.”

Sword’s body shook with a start.

“……What ’bout me?”

“Your music was proper, wasn’t it? No need to worry.”

Hearing that, Sword appeared to be relieved from the bottom of his heart.