"What?"
Moke pointed at his own cheek in disbelief and asked, "Me?"
The rabbit-girl Shila nodded vigorously. "Yes, you! You just said... um... I can't say it out loud..."
Shila covered her cheeks, her rabbit ears drooping as she blushed furiously.
"Wow, Moke, you sneaky bastard! You flirt with a girl and then try to pin it on me?" Liyana turned the tables, pointing at Moke and gleefully cursing him. "I never thought you were this kind of person!"
"What did I say? I didn’t do anything!" Moke looked utterly confused before turning to Xia Lun. "Captain Xia Lun, you have to believe me."
Naturally, Xia Lun stood by Moke’s side.
Having spent so much time together, Xia Lun knew Moke was a principled man—hardly the type to pull such a sleazy move.
"Miss Shila, could you clarify a bit more?" Xia Lun thought for a moment before asking.
"I’m a scout for Savage Fang, and my hearing is excellent. From five kilometers away, I heard... strange noises coming from here..." Shila began recalling.
Xia Lun’s expression turned odd. At that time... Moke had been singing.
Had Shila heard Moke’s singing?
The lion-headed Vic asked his teammate, "What kind of sound was it... exactly?"
"The frequency... it was the mating call of magical beasts!" Shila replied, her face burning red. "And a particularly... indecent one at that! It was exactly like this man’s voice!"
"Huh? But I don’t even speak beast language!" Moke protested desperately. "I’m just a regular human."
"Uh... Moke, why don’t you try singing now?" Liyana seemed to have figured out what was going on.
Moke: "Wh-why?"
"Just sing. Maybe it’ll clear up the misunderstanding," Liyana urged.
Moke glanced at Xia Lun, who gave a slight nod.
"Fine." Moke cleared his throat and began singing in front of everyone.
After all, Moke dreamed of becoming a bard—he wasn’t shy about performing.
But the moment he started, the expressions of the Savage Fang members twisted into something indescribable. Shila, in particular, clutched her rabbit ears and crouched on the ground, trembling.
Moke noticed their reactions and wisely stopped.
"Th-that’s the sound," Shila said, her ears standing straight up.
"He was just singing," Xia Lun explained awkwardly.
"That’s unmistakably the frequency of a powerful magical beast in heat!" Shila covered her face with her hands, peeking through her fingers at Moke. "I can’t believe someone as handsome as you would say such... shameless things..."
"Ahem... It really does seem like a misunderstanding," Vic said, sounding equally embarrassed before changing the subject. "But I have to admit, your strategy is quite creative—luring magical beasts by mimicking their mating calls. Very efficient."
Xia Lun hadn’t expected Moke’s singing to overlap with the mating frequencies of magical beasts... It was absurd, but there was no denying it.
This must have been why Moke kept attracting them.
With an effect this strong... it was hard to imagine how obscene Moke’s singing sounded to the beasts.
"Miss Shila, since you understand beast language... couldn’t you use this method to lure them too?" Xia Lun suddenly asked.
"I... I can only understand a little due to my bloodline. I can’t speak it. No beastkin can actually communicate with magical beasts normally," Shila replied cautiously, glancing at Moke with an unreadable expression. "Imitating beast language is incredibly difficult. A coincidence like this man’s... is extremely rare."
Moke stood frozen, as if turned to stone.
"Well... our apologies for the misunderstanding. We’ll take our leave now, Sir Xia Lun." The rugged-looking Vic bowed politely before leading his team away.
"Whew—"
Liyana exhaled in relief, lowering her bow. Though she hadn’t nocked an arrow, she had been ready to fight at any moment.
Thankfully, it hadn’t come to blows... That lion-man had been intimidating.
Savage Fang... Liyana had heard of them. A top-tier Level 4 adventuring party, just below the elite Level 5s, mostly composed of beastkin and demi-humans. Today’s encounter likely hadn’t involved their full roster.
"It’s fine, Moke. The misunderstanding’s cleared up... Pfft—HAHAHA! So the reason you attract beasts is because... HAHA! That’s just too ridiculous!"
Liyana doubled over laughing, slapping Moke’s shoulder without restraint.
But Moke didn’t react at all.
"Uh... Moke, you okay?" Sensing something was off, Liyana sobered up and asked carefully.
"I’m going to... swallow charcoal and seal my throat," Moke muttered in despair. "I’ll never sing again..."
Liyana’s expression turned serious. Moke giving up on singing? That was a grave matter.
"Don’t think like that, Moke... Your songs are for humans, not beasts," Liyana said solemnly, patting his shoulder again. "No one else understands beast language. They don’t know what you’re singing."
"Then do you think my singing sounds good?" Moke retorted bitterly.
Liyana looked away. "If... if you keep practicing, you’ll get there..."
Yeah, even she didn’t sound convinced.
She glanced at the others, silently asking for help.
"Don’t worry, Moke. Don’t let others’ opinions get to you," Musen reassured him. "Look on the bright side—no one else can do this. It’s something only you can achieve."
"R-really?" Moke seemed slightly comforted.
"Are you giving up on your dream, Moke?" Xia Lun said firmly. "The Moke I know isn’t that kind of man."
Moke’s gaze slowly hardened with resolve.
Aina: "Do your best."
Moke’s breath hitched. Even Aina had spoken up to encourage him—he was stunned.
"I understand." Moke took a deep breath. "From now on, I’ll keep chasing my dream... and make good use of this ability."
"Good. Then start singing now," Liyana reminded him. "We haven’t hit our quota for today."
Moke: "..."