Free Web NovelChapter 6: Siren Stronghold [ 2 ]
"You’re lucky that you chose to be a nudist today of all days," the knight woman said.
Nacho raised a brow as he followed after her. "Why? What’s so special about today?"
"Hmm? Have you been living under a rock?"
Maybe?
"You could say that."
The knight glanced back at him, clearly expecting more. But seeing his stupid expression, she just clicked her tongue and explained:
"Today is the Tide Festival. Every unmated male Siren in the city is expected to present himself to the Selection Pool. The elders pick partners based on lineage, power, and compatibility."
Nacho stopped dead in his tracks. "Pardon?"
She scoffed. "You’re very gullible. I’m just joking. The Tide Festival is simply a celebration of the city’s founding. Food, music, and the usual." She glanced back at him. "Though your timing is still unfortunate. The streets are packed, which means more witnesses to your nudity, which also means more paperwork for me."
"Ah. Sorry about that."
"No you’re not."
Nacho shrugged. "No I’m not."
She exhaled in annoyance and kept walking.
Nacho followed after her, scanning the crowd around them. She was right — the city was alive. There were Sirens everywhere, stalls lining the edges of the water streets, sea lanterns being strung between towers. It was actually kind of impressive.
No one’s looking at me like I don’t belong here either. Looks like I can infiltrate any civilization I want. Heh.
"What’s your name, by the way?" he asked.
"Why?"
"You’re arresting me. I think it’s common courtesy to introduce yourself."
"I’m not sure which ocean you came from, but that’s not how it works here. Either way, if it means you shut up, my name is Sera."
He smirked. "I’m Jonathan Sinclair the first."
She gave him a weird glance, clearly finding his name a bit stupid and fake.
Either way, he was taken to prison, locked in his own personal cell, and then left alone. Sera walked away to deal with the paperwork, and she was likely going to look through some kind of records to look for his name.
Obviously, this body’s name wasn’t Nacho, so that might be a bit problematic.
I can’t be asked to deal with prosecution and trials and whatever. So I’ll just get out for now. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
[Current Form: Siren (Uncommon) → Sardine (Common)]
He switched forms, slipped through the steel bars, and then found one of the Siren guards. It was a man, funnily enough.
Nacho switched back into his Siren form and smacked the guard in the back of his neck.
Though...
-882! Critical Hit!
The Siren guard fell face forward and bled from his mouth.
"Ah. Whoopsies..."
Nacho facepalmed and then undressed the guy, stealing his uniform.
The uniform was simple but distinct. A deep navy tunic with silver trimming along the collar and cuffs, paired with fitted trousers of the same color. Over it sat a lightweight chest piece, something like hardened scale armor.
It was clearly designed for underwater movement rather than brute protection. A short cape was attached at the left shoulder only, dark teal, embroidered with the shark emblem of what he assumed was the city.
Lastly, some fancy knee-high boots. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
All things considered, he kind of liked it, except for the cape.
At least it’s not flopping around stupidly in the water. The physics are like above water.
In the end, Nacho hid the body under some bedsheets in his cell, and then confidently left the prison without anyone suspecting a thing. He even saw Sera near the reception desk filling up some documents, but she didn’t notice him leave.
The festival worked in his favor too. The streets were crowded enough that one extra guard patrolling didn’t raise any red flags.
So after just a few minutes, he was so far away from the prison, and looked so much more different, that no one could recognize him. Probably not even Sera.
Alright then. What should I do now? Hmm... I don’t know shit about this world or this city, so an inn is probably the best bet.
Glancing around, Nacho soon found an inn off to the side. Sirens came and went. He was the next to enter, and yeah...
The ratio of women to men really is messed up. Jeez. This is a horny man’s paradise. Still, I should go abuse my power.
He sat down at one of the tables near the back of the inn and waited. A few seconds later, a beautiful waitress approached.
"Hello officer sir. Have you already had time to look over the menu?"
Sigh... I used to do this before, but to do it again, it makes me feel shitty. Nacho prepared himself and said:
"Ah, on the contrary, I was thinking this inn has one too few people protecting it. What do you think?"
The waitress obliviously tilted her head. "Mm? This inn doesn’t need protection. The owner’s a Level 100 Spirit Summoner."
Yikes.
"Yep. Which is why I’ll stand up and make my merry way elsewhere."
With that, he left the inn and tried a couple more.
Sure, he wasn’t a big shot. He wasn’t in the past either. But he did know Level 100 was higher than Level 22. He would get his shit rocked, and the last thing he wanted was to die again.
Eventually, he found an inn with less people. It was in the outskirts of this giant city.
Some windows are messed up too, so this is probably where the slums start. Either way, let me try my luck here.
He entered and sat down wherever was free.
CRACK!
The first chair he tried kind of broke.
CRACKKK!
The second did too...
He stared at the third and shook his head. He wasn’t going to try his luck and embarrass himself further.
Right as he was about to leave though, a waitress ran over and grabbed his arm.
"P-Please sir! I’m sorry about the inconvenience! Please let me repay it with a free meal!"
Nacho second guessed himself whether he should accept, since this place did seem like a shithole.
Yet when he turned around and saw a pale emerald haired beauty holding onto him, his whole demeanor changed.
"Of course. Who would ever decline a freebie?"
