Magnyra and Byron agreed that during her absence from Banta'an, three military officers would act as liaisons, responsible for contacting other "talents" within the Iris Colony. With this settled, she bid farewell and prepared to depart for the Old Continent.
As Byron saw his aunt of convenience off as she boarded the warship, she suddenly seemed to remember something else and instructed him, "The Newman Family has already sent me an invitation to attend Miss Tilly's engagement ceremony with Pirate General Bill (Chapter 167). I won't have time to go, so you'll have to take Jacqueline with you. I've met that Miss Tilly at Royal Harbor before. Even for someone as indiscriminate as Jacqueline..."
Seeing her daughter, who had come along to see her off, quietly pursing her lips, Magnyra glared fiercely at her before continuing, "Even an indiscriminate and universally lascivious [Chameleon] like her must have some standards when it comes to beauty. I don't believe she'll be so rude as to disrupt Mr. Bill and Miss Tilly's engagement ceremony. What do you think, Miss Jacqueline?"
The girl stuck out her pink tongue. Seeing her mother about to flare up, she hurriedly stood at attention and saluted. "Mother, rest assured, I will definitely not make a move on Miss Tilly. Ever since arriving at the Bantaan Archipelago, the married and unmarried ladies of high society often organize gatherings, and I've interacted with this lady before. I always kept my distance from her at those parties. Diana, whom you sent to keep an eye on me all day, can testify to that."
Magnyra was just about to relax, thinking that this troublesome daughter of hers had finally matured a little after suffering a setback in the Silver Empire. At least she now knew not to provoke those she shouldn't.
But then, the girl continued on her own, "At the parties, there's no shortage of beautiful women, married or unmarried. Our Iris Governor's Sanna from the Leopold Family, Eve from the Hansson Family of the Rhein Alliance, the Thales Sisters—which of them isn't far superior to her? What if these sweethearts think I have questionable taste? Wouldn't that be terrible? I, Jacqueline, would never make such a low-level mistake."
Realizing her slip of the tongue, the girl, who was beaming with smug satisfaction, suddenly covered her mouth, her almond eyes widening adorably.
"The Governor's precious daughter? Those Thales Sisters? Jacqueline—!!!"
Furious, Magnyra nearly jumped back down from the warship that had already left port, wanting to string up this unfilial daughter of hers, whose nature was so hard to change and who never learned from her mistakes, and give her another sound thrashing. After a murderous glint flashed in her eyes for a moment, she ultimately just sighed, utterly exhausted, deciding it was best to let it be—out of sight, out of mind.
She gave Byron an apologetic look and waved her hand weakly. "Thank you for your trouble. I'll give you a raise when I get back." Thɪs chapter is updated by ⓝovelFire.net
Then, suddenly, she opened her red lips and belted out a series of crescendos and diminuendos in a soprano voice.
The notes vibrated the omnipresent Source Material, resonating and harmonizing with it, and in an instant, a vivid, lifelike image materialized: a large ship rode the wind and cleaved the waves, sailing gracefully into the distance. The captain, gripping the ship's wheel, removed his tricorn hat and gave a smiling salute to those seeing them off.
Then, the spectral image of that large ship descended upon the warship she was aboard. The warship, as if suddenly gaining its own soul, achieved perfect harmony with the wind, waves, and sails, its speed instantly and dramatically increasing.
This was the core ability, [Soul Singer], acquired by a Third Order [Grand Singer] when they were Second Order: "Singing different pieces can achieve various effects such as attack, defense, movement, support, and buffs."
Thanks to this versatile, all-purpose ability, Singers had become indispensable support Transcendents in both official and unofficial teams. Even if a ship lacked a priest to address the crew's psychological well-being, a Singer was an absolute necessity.
What Magnyra had just performed was a vocal imitation of the symphony "The Ocean and Sinbad's Ship." Its effect was to allow the vessel to ride the wind and cleave the waves, increasing sailing speed by 20% for one hour.
Of course, every Singer has their own area of expertise. If they cannot truly grasp the spirit and emotion of certain songs, lacking the necessary affinity with them, they wouldn't be able to produce the desired effects even if their life depended on it.
When they reach the Third Order, they can [improvise], composing their own exclusive songs. These could achieve one hundred percent compatibility. The higher the quality of these songs and the more widely they are sung throughout the world, the greater the Transcendent effects they can produce.
Witnessing his aunt's display of formidable power, Byron's expectations for Jacqueline, this problem child, rose significantly.
Besides the money, this Second Order [Singer] from a noble family could perfectly fill a gap in the team. The effect of a battle song combined with Heroes' Rage Water... just thinking about it makes it highly anticipated. Additionally, I now have Violet, a graduate of the Vinaia Art Academy who majored in painting and sculpture and minored in classical dance. And Jacqueline, who majored in opera at the Vinaia Art Academy but was forced to drop out after causing a major incident. I wonder if an art academy reject will truly appear in the future, allowing me to complete my 'collection' and trigger some special effect.
Just as Byron retracted his gaze from the departing warship, he found Miss Jacqueline, the [Chameleon], standing quietly before him.
The peculiar smile on her face lent the otherwise perfectly decent, short-haired young beauty an inexplicable trace of the sleazy confidence of a seasoned flirt.
"Hey, Governor Sir, from now on, you're my Captain, and I'm your crew member."