Chapter 36  

Fey looked down at the town below her.

Because citizens entered buildings from above, Pearlview lacked real streets, with shops and homes tending to cluster in natural-looking arrangements, spaced out by gardens and artwork.Instead of the wide-open roofs designed to display wares and invite potential customers in, Fey now saw screens designed for privacy and small entrances that would only allow one person to enter at a time.

She guessed that they had left the commercial district and entered a residential area.Fey glanced back at Requiem, who was following her lead without paying much attention.

She was not familiar enough with the merman to determine whether his withdrawn state was due to preoccupation and thought, or he was simply sulking.Either way, Requiem was being useless, and uselessness was not something Fey was prepared to put up with.:Any ideas?: she asked.:Hmm?: Requiem blinked, then focused on Fey.:On getting a quest.: Fey’s telepathic tone was a quarter of the way towards the exaggerated slowness she reserved for idiots, and her left eyebrow was very slightly raised.

Neither of the cues were large enough for Requiem to consciously notice, but he flushed slightly and straightened his posture.:Ah, well, I’ve only ever gotten non-hunt quests when NPCs heard me singing: he confessed.:That’s fine: said Fey.

Now that Requiem was being useful again, her speech (and eyebrow) had returned to normal.

:Why don’t you try that now?::Singing?::Yup.::…Okay.: It took Requiem a moment to shift into performance mode.

As a trained singer, he automatically straightened his posture to optimize lung capacity, though telepathic singing did not require it.

:Any requests?: he asked.:Something that will buff attack: said Fey pragmatically.It took Requiem several seconds to find a song that fit Fey’s vague request, but soon enough, the music began with a martial drumbeat.

It appeared that one of the bard’s skills was to produce instrumental accompaniment without needing instruments.Requiem launched into a rendition of “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You” from the Mulan Disney movie.

Unlike the sweet tone he used for his earlier love ballad, his telepathic voice now held the power and vibrancy of a warrior.Fey tried not to be impressed.

Her face remained calm and impassive, but her inner fangirl danced and twirled in silly circles in her mind.

Requiem had unwittingly picked one of her favourite songs, and if anything, was performing it better than the original soundtrack.It occurred to her that if Requiem stopped the flirting nonsense and simply sang all of her favourite songs as well as he was singing this one, she probably would develop a crush on him.

She kept the thought to herself.

(Meh, she’s safe.

Bard-dude is too dense to figure it out.):…Mysterious as the dark side of the moon…!: The music ended with an emphatic drumbeat, and Fey applauded.

She was not alone; a small crowd had gathered throughout the performance.

<Fey has listened to Requiem’s battle song.>