CH.345 SC: Cailie

CH.345 SC: Cailie

[Cailie POV]

“Cailie, you are up next.” My manager told me.

“... alright.” I wasn’t that excited to sing, but even if I wasn’t, I’d still sing with all of my heart. I know a lot of people had come to hear me sing, and I wasn’t going to let them down just because singing wasn’t my favorite thing.

Today, I was going to sing two songs. One was something I was taught for my first singing test, and I liked it enough where I didn’t mind singing it on the stage. The other was something I wrote mostly myself after I saw Brian in the audience of my performance.

... Well, I didn’t really see him. I just thought I did. Because when I asked my manager to bring him over to my room, I was told that no human had sat in that section of the audience. I even asked Ula about it later when she contacted me, and she told me that Brian had not been in the city, so it couldn’t possibly be him.

But still, concert after concert, I kept seeing him in the audience. Every time, I asked my manager if he had actually been there, but every time, I was told no. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to quit singing. But I also wanted Brian to hear me sing before I quit. So I did what I thought might bring Brian here. I wrote a song about us. About how we met. It was something I didn’t want to sing in front of anyone else, but when my manager heard the song, she said I just had to sing it, so it became the second song I sang at the concerts.

And it was liked. Too much. I had known this even before I ever agreed to become a singer, but the more emotion I put into my voice, the more my voice affects others. It was a curse and a blessing that I was left with.

I suppose I should tell you how that curse came to be on me. It all started that one day, when my sister had finally had enough of me.

“I’m sending you to the hallow prison as a punishment.” My sister said.

“B-B-But why? Wh-wh-what did I do?” I was just barely able to stammer out.

The hallow prison was a place where only the worst of the worst would be sent. There, you’d have to suffer all alone, until you manage to earn your freedom. That is what I knew of it at the time.

“Exactly. You haven’t done a thing. All of the jobs given to you. Undone. Someone else will always have to do them for you. You. Are. USELESS!” My sister said. “So I’m sending you to the hallow prison. I hope it will turn you into someone that can actually do something, instead of just hiding away.”

“B-b-but... what if I .. die?”

“Then that will simply prove that you are useless.” My sister said. Her voice was colder than anything I’ve ever heard, and I think I finally realized just how fed up with me she really was.

“I-I-I ... what about father? Did he..?”

“He gave me the permission to do this. I even conversed with the Great Prabhu Jala, and he agreed that perhaps this will be a good learning experience for you.”

“T-t-the Great Jala?” Even the Great Dragon that guards us agrees that I’m useless. I ... maybe I should just ...

“Do Not shorten his name.” My sister said. “You do not deserve to.”

“I-I a-a-apologize.”

“Do you have anything more to say?” My sister asked.

“...” I didn’t respond, just weakly shook my head. If both father and the Great Dragon agree that I deserve this, then I do. So the least I can do is not argue about it any more.

After a ritualistic banishment, I found myself in the hallow prison. It was nothing but a small cave, with a small pedestal at the center of it. In short, a dungeon. I’ve been to a dungeon once before, as we had a dungeon back at home. It was located under the island of the Great Dragon, and us mer-folk often entered it so we could get tributes to the Great Dragon from there.

But I only went into it once. When my mother transferred the position of the Dungeon Master from herself to my sister, making my sister the leader of our clan. I still remember how scared I was. All of those monsters. I just wanted to run and hide, but we kept pushing on.

The core of that dungeon was a lot larger than the one at the hallow prison. It was large enough where you would need both hands to carry it, but the one at the prison would easily fit into one hand.

At the prison, I had a lot of time to think. ... but I still didn’t know what to do. I quickly realized how I could get out. I’d swim out to the lake, catch fish and bring them to the core. Once I get enough, I will be set free.

But I also needed to eat, so I needed enough fish for both my food, and to feed my return. And catching fish isn’t as easy as it sounds. They are so fast, and I only had a long dagger as a weapon. I wasn’t even given a trident or a harpoon. It would be difficult to get that much fish fast. But this was my punishment, so I was going to do that.

... I wish that optimism would have kept up. Or maybe it was good that it didn’t.

At first, I caught my fish myself. By hand. I needed around one per day for my own food, and I caught anywhere from 2 to 5 more each day to feed to the core. But if I did it this slowly, it would take forever. I needed at least a thousand fish to go back home, so even if I caught five fish each day, it would still take me too long to get home. I would go crazy being alone for that long.

So I did what I thought was the best. I began attacking the land-folk fisherman. They always had these big nets full of fish, so if I made a small nick into one, I could get a lot of fish at the same time. It accelerated the number of fish I get, and I was getting ten times the fish I was when I was doing it myself.

But the land-folk didn’t seem to like what I was doing. They came in with guards the next time, and those guards would jump into the water as soon as I tried to cut the nets. I did manage to cut the nets, but I couldn’t move the fish from them into my own pouch, so it was worthless. At least they couldn’t get to me in the dirty waters.

I was afraid I’d have to go back to hunting myself, but I didn’t give up. Day after day, I attempted to cut their nets and get as many fish as I could from them, and while my speed did reduce a bit, I was still better doing this than when I was hunting by myself.

Until that fateful day.

I still remember those metal monsters. They followed me to my cave, to the hallow prison. I really thought I was going to die. That was until I saw two land-folk exit the metal monsters.

“No. Don’t Come! You’ll be trapped as well!” I yelled at them. This is a prison, they shouldn’t come here. But it doesn’t seem like they understood me, so I kept yelling “Leave!” and “Away!” at them. Until one of them split into two. The water spirit that had blessed him had separated from the man. I had never seen it happen before, but I’ve heard stories. During the history of our clan, a few of us have been blessed by water spirits. This land-folk was just like they had been. Someone with a water spirit’s blessing. Feeling that I had no other choice, I spoke to him.

When he showed me his Founder’s Terminal, I remember being terrified. I thought he was a prisoner like I was. But he wasn’t. He was a Founder, like great Aminah had been. And then, without asking for anything in return, the man gave me a huge pile of monster corpses. I absorbed all of them into the core, and just like that, I was able to return home.

It could have been the happy ending, but it wasn’t.

After I got back home, my sister congratulated me. She was so amazed that I got back home that quickly, and was ready to throw a celebration for me. ... only until she heard how I got out. When she heard I was helped by land-folk and got out without suffering my proper punishment, she got extremely angry. The angriest I’ve ever seen her. She used a whip made with Water Magic to beat me, despite me begging for mercy, and in the end, she sent me right back to the hallow prison, saying that if I cheated my way out again, she would end me.

Spoiler[collapse]Spoiler[collapse]

Using the floating wheelchair, I headed for Brian’s room. There was something I wanted to ask him before I went to sleep. I knew the way there, as Brian had shown it to me when he was giving me the tour, and he even said I could come and bother him if anything was wrong.

So I did just that. After knocking on the door of Brian’s room, the door opened by itself and Brian invited me in.

His room was... it was something else. It was a massive room with an equally massive bed. But I suppose someone owning a place like this should have a bed that size.

Brian himself was dressed in some sort of pajamas, so he was probably about to go to bed.

“Cailie, did you need something?” Brian asked.

“... yes. I wanted to ask something.” I told him.

“Alright, ask away.”

“... did you take me here because of my voice?”

“... no? Why would I?”

“... so you don’t know about my Charming Voice?”

“Oh, so you do have something like that. Is it an extra skill, or unique?” Brian asked.

“... what?”

“I did realize you had a voice based skill during your concert.” Brian said. “I just wasn’t sure what skill it exactly was. So is it an extra skill or a unique skill?”

“... extra.” I answered. “But... aren’t you mad? I ... I used that skill on you. And made you bring me here.”

“Well, not really. I’m almost unaffected by that skill actually.” Brian told me.

“... how?”

“Level difference, most likely. It does make your voice sound a bit more beautiful and you voice carries a bit of mana when you use it, so I can tell when you are using it, but I can tell you that it doesn’t really affect me any more than that.”

“... are you angry?”

“No. I’m not. Cailie. You have done well, and I’m not angry. I’m happy that you finally have some determination. You know what you want, and you aren’t afraid to go for it. And I want you to keep living that way, okay?”

“... alright, I will. ... can I start right now?” Cailie asked.

“Yes. Go for it.”

“B-B-Brian! I love you! Would you also love me!?” I blurted out.

...

...

...

Brian took a while to respond, so I got a bit scared. He was rejecting me without words, wasn’t he? Just as I was about to turn and float away, he spoke to me.

“It isn’t so simple, Cailie.” He said. “... come here.” As he said that, my wheelchair began to move even though I wasn’t moving it. I ended up right next to Brian, who had sat down on a chair.

“If it was the old me, I’d have refused you.” Brian said. “But ever since Lua and Laura opened me up, I’ve been ... well, more open to the entire harem idea. So I don’t want to reject you. I think you are lovely and I wouldn’t mind having you as my girlfriend and maybe even my wife. But it isn’t just about me anymore.” Brian told me, before he spoke up. “Lua, you can come in now.” He called towards a side door that I thought led to a bathroom or maybe a walk-in closet.

From it, in walked someone I hadn’t seen all day, even with Brian showing me around, but I did know her. She was the water magician that traveled with Brian, Miss Lucia, or Lua.

“Cailie. I’m already in a relationship with Lua. And not just her. Also with Alice.” Brian said. “And while I don’t mind you joining in, it isn’t just about me. It is about them as well. The two of them have dealt with their differences and have agreed to share me. So if you can convince the two of them that you can work with them, I will accept you with open arms. ... but if not, then I hope you can find someone else to love you. Is this fine?”

“I ... I ... I’ll do my best. Thank you, Brian. You as well, Lua.”

“Good. Now I think it is about time we go to sleep. I’ll take you back to your room.” Brian told me.

He took a hold of my floating wheelchair and teleported us back to my room. He then lifted me onto my bed, before putting the wheelchair into its dedicated spot.

“Good night, Cailie.” Brian said.

“Good night.” I responded, and then Brian disappeared from my room, probably teleporting back to his room.

I ... I may have overcome my feeling of uselessness, but now I have a new bigger challenge ahead of me. Alice and Lua will be formidable opponents, but I know I can overcome them and earn my spot by Brian’s side.