An Ode to Divorce - Chapter 61

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#61

 

In the meantime, the deer realized that the humans were no longer interfering with it and rammed into the wall once more.

 

Thud!

 

Thud! Thud!

 

After just a few impacts, the stone wall crumbled and collapsed, creating a hole.

 

“Kyaaaah!”

 

The people hiding inside the house screamed and ran toward the door on the opposite side.

 

With the loud crashes and screams mixing together in chaos, my lyre’s sound couldn’t even be heard.

 

But I had prepared myself for this sufficiently.

 

My opponent wasn’t an audience that would quietly listen to my performance. It was a beast with no intention of listening to my music, with all its nerves focused on its lost offspring.

 

There was no way music could reach the ears of such a creature.

 

‘Then I just need to make it impossible not to hear.’

 

Normally, no matter how noisy it was, I would have drawn attention through crystal-clear, high harmonics.

 

But with the strings I had just replaced, I couldn’t produce sounds high enough to pierce through the noise.

 

In that case.

 

I opened my mouth.

 

“Ahhhhhh——————.”

 

A low, long note flowed from my throat. The sound continued without breaking.

 

At the same time, I plucked the lyre. The lyre’s arpeggios, honest to the point of sounding monotonous, became the foundation for my voice.

 

Ding-diring-ding.

 

Ding-diring-ding.

 

Amidst the irregular noise, the sound that repeated endlessly without stopping had powerful force in itself.

 

“Ahhhhhh——————.”

 

Soon, the deer that had been swinging its antlers here and there gradually slowed its movements, then slowly turned its head toward where the sound was coming from. The deer’s black, gleaming gaze turned toward me.

 

As the deer stopped rampaging, the noise also diminished. Silence came like waves soaking into a sandy beach. Though I could hear sobbing sounds, that much was fine.

 

Ding!

 

With a strongly struck note as the finale, I also abruptly cut off my voice that seemed like it would continue endlessly.

 

And then came silence.

 

The deer only stared at me. Unlike ordinary creatures, before its gaze that seemed to look down on humans infinitely, my heart naturally pounded.

 

But my current racing heart wasn’t solely due to fear. I had faced countless monsters, even dragons, but this was my first time confronting a divine beast blessed by the gods.

 

Would my performance really work on a divine beast?

 

The anticipation and excitement from that possibility overshadowed my fear.

 

I had drawn the deer’s attention, and it had become quiet enough to sing perfectly.

 

The time had come.

 

The monotonous performance until now had been merely preparation. Musical notes poured out into the world like a waterfall through my fingertips.

 

***

 

“She’s crazy, she’s crazy!”

 

Princess Lairinne, who was inside the instrument shop, let out a shrill scream and stamped her feet. Just moments before, hadn’t a giant man been kicked by the antlers and rolled away like a fallen leaf? Someone like Orphea would surely have her ribs crushed.

 

‘As far as I know, Orphea wouldn’t take such risks…’

 

According to Eurich, during the expedition, Orphea had always stayed only in safe places. If she had to go anywhere even slightly dangerous, she would get irritated, and she would only play the lyre in places protected by Gert or other expedition members.

 

After other heroes performed their feats, she would sing songs about their battles to win the favor of the expedition members, and that’s how she seduced Gert and married him.

 

But the appearance of Orphea she was witnessing now was completely different from the story she had heard from Eurich…

 

While Princess Lairinne was just staring blankly at Orphea advancing, Helena, who came to her senses first, recalled what Orphea had said earlier.

 

“The, the baby deer should be hi, hiding somewhere a, around here. She also said that the deer would ca, calm down if we f, found the baby deer.”

 

“…Did Eurich hide the baby?”

 

“Pr, probably.”

 

Looking at the circumstances, it was certain.

 

Judging from what Orphea’s head maid had said, this instrument shop was definitely a place Orphea frequented. Eurich, knowing that Orphea would come to this instrument shop today, must have set a trap.

 

Having trusted Eurich, it was difficult to easily accept this situation. Princess Lairinne’s head cooled down as if cold water had been poured on it.

 

“If, if he was targeting Orphea, he definitely would have hi, hidden the baby somewhere near this in, instrument shop. We need to bring that baby deer.”

 

“…Right.”

 

Princess Lairinne nodded. Though her body was trembling from the sudden situation, she had to move.

 

Just as Orphea had stood before the deer saying there was no one else who could do it, they were the only ones who knew the identity of the missing deer and could find it.

 

“But where should we start looking? We don’t know anything about this area…”

 

“Th, that’s right. It would be ni, nice if someone familiar with this area could gu, guide us.”

 

Just then, the instrument merchant, who had said he would step away for a moment, came rushing down in a panic, apparently startled by the commotion outside, and asked.

 

“Wh, what is that monster rampaging outside?”

 

Helena and Princess Lairinne looked at each other’s faces.

 

***

 

When was it? It was around the time I first went into actual combat during my expedition days.

 

At that time, I was assigned the role of disrupting monsters with my music. Initially, I had set out confidently. No matter how dangerous the situation, I believed I would never stop playing.

 

But unlike when I played in safe places normally, when faced with dangerous situations where monsters could charge at me at any moment, that belief of mine was shattered to pieces.

 

The killing intent that grazed past my nape. Thinking I might actually die if I made a wrong move, I simply couldn’t play.

 

Then, Gert clicked his tongue. Given how he usually found me disagreeable, I thought he would mock me for trembling before such an insignificant monster.

 

But what Gert said as he grabbed and pulled my hand was something I had never expected.

 

“Spread your hand.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“I said spread your hand.”

 

I barely managed to spread my trembling fingers. Then Gert began drawing something on my palm with his finger.

 

It tickled, so I fidgeted my hand, but Gert’s grip was so firm that I couldn’t escape.

 

Like that, Gert drew two dots on my palm, and then something like an incomplete semicircle.

 

No matter how I looked at it, it was just a smiling face drawn by a child.

 

“What is this?”

 

“A spell for courage.”

 

“…What kind of spell is this? It’s just doodling.”

 

“Sometimes doodles become spells too.”

 

Gert, still with his stoic expression, folded my palm into a fist. Strangely, the parts where his fingers had traced seemed to burn hot.

 

Gert wrapped my fist with his hands and smiled slightly.

 

“For example, if I made a vow while drawing this useless doodle that I would absolutely never let you die.”

 

Amazingly, as soon as I heard those words from Gert, my trembling subsided like magic. It was unbelievable that I had been shaking just minutes before.

 

True to his word, Gert protected me so thoroughly that I didn’t feel even a hint of threat.

 

Thanks to that, I successfully debuted as an expedition member, and only then did I feel like I truly belonged to the expedition…

 

Well, after that, every time I sang, he would find fault with me in displeasure, so I forgot all about gratitude and everything else.

 

Still, after that, there wasn’t a single time I couldn’t perform due to trembling with fear when going into actual combat.

 

Of course, I knew that now there was no Gert to save me like back then.

 

But what I had learned from Gert then wasn’t the certainty that someone would save me.

 

It was the point that even useless doodles could become spells if I gave them meaning.

 

Remembering that time and gaining courage, my fingers raced brilliantly between the lyre strings.

 

Ding, diring, ding, ding-

 

Ding, diring, ding, ding-

 

A fast interlude like the footsteps of a rampaging deer.

 

The tense and unstable melody could incite the opponent’s excitement, but it was also suitable for drawing their attention.

 

Sure enough, before long the deer snorted and shook its head. It seemed to be a reaction acknowledging my performance.

 

I kept my eyes on the deer as I opened my mouth.

 

O you of Artume

 

Why do you rage so?

 

With anger you can find

 

Nothing at all

 

But just because the deer reacted didn’t mean it had calmed down. Like how medicine tastes bitter and painful when you take it, the deer writhed as if the song was causing it pain.

 

“Kiiiiiek—!”

 

I knew that calming a divine beast wouldn’t be easy. I continued my performance.

 

The deer pulled its ears back sharply, lowered its head, and struck the stone floor repeatedly with its antlers. Each time the golden antlers traced chaotic trajectories through the air, chunks of stone the size of human heads went flying.

 

Whiiik!

 

Thunk!

 

A flying stone chunk struck the wooden planks that had been leaning next to the building. The wooden planks shattered completely and the debris tilted precariously.

 

And beneath it, the figure of a child was revealed.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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