#85 Drasha’s Festival (2)
Harris moved toward the stage and looked over his group members. ‘Good. We’re perfectly prepared.’ Thanks to their passionate efforts, they had already finished every precaution.
Curi, the timid female member of the group, did show signs of nervousness for a moment, but thanks to the 「Melody of Harmony」 he had acquired this time, they had overcome the immediate crisis.
As long as they didn’t make any mistakes at the beginning, they would naturally become absorbed in the music afterward, so there was no need to worry too much. ‘I tried it just in case, but it’s a relief the skill applies to my ordinary voice too.’ 「Melody of Harmony」 was a typical bard skill that granted all sorts of positive effects to music.
It was not limited to simply making it more pleasant to hear; it amplified the energy contained in sound and even provided all kinds of buff effects.
It seemed the racial traits of elves had shone brightly again this time.
After all, Harris’s voice as an elf sounded somehow like singing even when he was merely speaking.
-Individual Name: Harris
-Race: Elf
-Common Traits: 「Mind Hub」, 「Persona」, 「Super Regeneration」, 「Clear Mirror, Still Water」
-Individual Traits: 「Child of the World Tree」, 「Spirit Arts」, 「Nature Affinity」, 「Fairy Arts」, 「Melody of Harmony」
-Special Notes: Contracted with spirits of lightning, fire, wind, and sound. Due to various factors and high affinity, natural power is rapidly increasing. Under the influence of the nearby World Tree, the individual is in an excessively synchronized state with nature.
There was also one thing he had realized while practicing singing continuously for the past few days.
As long as he was beside the World Tree, there was no way to cure Harris’s languor. ‘It must be because of 「Child of the World Tree」.’ Just as he had learned in spirit arts class, singing did have some effect.
The problem was that it did not last very long.
It was a little troublesome that, without stimulation through music, his body kept trying to droop like a plant, but since it accelerated his growth and helped him in various ways, it wasn’t all that bad.
In any case, as long as he paid a little attention, he could move his body as he pleased, just like now.
“Next! Please come up onto the stage.”
At that moment, the academy students who had gone before them descended from the stage, and the stage host called their group.
“All right! Then let’s go!”
Timer, who had been floating a heavy drum set in midair, excitedly went up onto the stage.
Curi took a moment to breathe deeply, then followed behind him with a much calmer expression, while Shapiron headed to the stage with her usual haughty stride.
Harris watched them with a smile on his lips. ‘Good. Then… shall I use 「Melody of Harmony」 at maximum output and hammer the essence of Earth’s modern music into the minds of these otherworld elves?’
It was the moment when an invasion of Earth culture, known only to him, began in Drasha, the capital of the Elven Kingdom.
***
Murmur, murmur—~♪
With the festival in full swing, dazzling sights had been set up all across the capital.
As befitted the Elven Kingdom, which took pride in its culture, the elven residents generously brought out everything they had prepared.
There were artworks such as paintings and sculptures, of course, but also practical items useful in daily life, like clothing and carpets.
“Ah! Lord Lafori, Lady Cecily, you’ve arrived?”
“Greetings. I heard there was a performance by Drasha Academy here, so I came to watch.”
“You’ve come at just the right time! Miss Shapiron’s stage is scheduled to begin shortly. Please come this way.”
“Ah, I didn’t come specifically to see only my daughter’s performance… It just so happens that a young friend I sponsor is also going to be on stage with her. He has a connection with Lady Cecily here as well. Hahaha…”
Cecily, her star-shaped pupils sparkling, looked this way and that at her surroundings as she followed behind Lafori.
Having awakened from the aftermath of opening her eyes, she was now touring the festival together with Lafori.
Born in a small elven village on the Ion Continent and having lived simply with nature as her companion, she had never seen such a splendid event in her life.
Moreover, this festival had been held to celebrate her.
Even though this was already the second day, this place was truly another world, filled with astonishing sights wherever she looked.
~♪
Clap, clap, clap—!
When the students who had presented a dance and song finished their performance and came down from the stage, the excited Cecily clapped again and again.
“As expected of the Elven Kingdom. In our village, all we had were simple dances and songs. This is so wonderful!”
At that moment, the next group came up onto the stage.
It was Harris’s team, each holding an instrument in hand, including a large something floating in the air.
“That’s another unusual instrument… Ah! It’s Mr. Harris!”
As she was watching with interest the drum set made of several drums and cymbals woven together with plant branches, she spotted Harris and brightened.
Since they had spent a fair amount of time together, she was glad to see him again after so long.
“Wow… But Mr. Harris has grown tremendously in the meantime too. If I hadn’t become a High Elf, he would have overtaken me long ago.”
Seeing Cecily exclaim in admiration as she watched him prepare for the stage, Lafori slowly nodded as well.
Indeed, even in his eyes, Harris’s growth had something extraordinary about it. ‘I did think his level of acceptance of natural power was exceptional, but he’s grown even stronger while I wasn’t watching. He already has four contracted spirits too. And one of them is a fairly rare spirit…’
But those thoughts vanished as though washed away the moment he saw Shapiron standing on the stage.
Upon seeing his daughter diligently preparing something, only a gentle smile lingered around his mouth.
Then Harris, who had been exchanging glances with his group members, stepped forward and opened his mouth.
“We have prepared a slightly different song. It is a song sung in my hometown, and it may be very unfamiliar to everyone here…”
His low voice, aided by the two spirits of wind and sound, spread in all directions and captured the audience’s ears.
That voice, enough to make even those passing by in the distance turn their heads without realizing it, had the power to focus everyone’s attention even before the stage began.
“…We will begin.”
And so, amid the expectations around them, their stage began.
~♪
It began with the sound of a weighty string instrument, soon followed by drumbeats that seemed to strike the heart and the sharp sounds of other instruments.
At the unfamiliar music, the audience tilted their heads. ‘What is this? This music?’
The moment everyone was bewildered by sounds they had never heard nor seen before…
“To the far end of that white sandy beach~♪”
Harris’s powerful voice rode the wind and wrapped around the venue.
The gazes of everyone within reach of that song turned toward him.
“Mm?”
“What is this?”
Most elven songs had a strongly lyrical and gentle feeling.
Their basic tendency to dislike loud noise had influenced the development of their music.
It wasn’t as though they had never encountered songs with lively atmospheres, but none of them satisfied their tastes.
They detested dwarven songs, which mainly consisted of shouting at the top of one’s lungs, so as time passed, that stereotype could only grow stronger.
But the music being presented on the stage now was different from the indiscriminate noise they had heard before.
Moderation that was not excessive, and thoroughly calculated rises and falls.
On top of that, the natural power contained in Harris’s voice forcibly synchronized the listeners, slowly making the hearts of those who had been soaked in familiarity begin to beat.
“Wow…”
And Lafori and Cecily, both High Elves, were also feeling that emotion. ‘Impressive. To think he has this level of synchronization power. I didn’t know he possessed such talent.’
Unlike Cecily, who kept moving her shoulders and watched the stage with sparkling eyes, the experienced Lafori calmly analyzed the song even as he enjoyed the music. ‘The theme of the lyrics is… a journey to find oneself.’
Harris had wandered the continent alone from a young age, living as a mercenary.
Although he had gone through all sorts of hardship and reached the Elven Kingdom like this, his essence was freedom.
Somehow, didn’t those lyrics resemble Harris’s current situation quite closely?
~♪
While everyone, drawn into his voice, focused on the music, thick vapor had at some point settled over the stage floor.
The white mist gathered only around the feet of those standing on the stage made it look as if they were above the clouds.
“Oh, using spirits in that way…”
That was not all.
With a spirit of light sparkling brilliantly above their heads, various spirits of all kinds…
Fwoosh!
—And even pillars of fire rising from the floor.
It was truly the height of splendor.
“Wow!”
“Ooh—!”
The elves, who until the previous stage had merely watched quietly and nodded their heads, were swept up in the atmosphere and began moving their whole bodies without realizing it.
“I’ll find my dream~♪”
The spirits communicating with them radiated an intense presence, and the surrounding natural power, assimilated with the energy in the music, surged wildly.
Those leading the stage, those watching the stage, and the spirits resonating with them—all fell into the emotions of the song without exception. ‘That level of resonance…’
And Lafori, watching it, was once again filled with admiration.
With Harris standing at the center, the resonance continued to soar, influencing their spirits.
Something about it was different from the communion of others.
~♪
And when the stage concluded with the final note of the performance…
Clap, clap, clap, clap—!
“Waaah—!”
“Oh! It’s different, but I like it!”
Countless rounds of applause and the praises of flushed audience members poured onto the stage.
They had been made so absorbed in the music that they had no chance to feel resistance to its unfamiliarity.
“Wow! Music like this! The Elven Kingdom really is amazing! I’ve never experienced anything like it!”
Having thoroughly enjoyed the music, Cecily chattered to him with her face flushed red.
“Mm… To be honest, this is my first time hearing it as well.”
“Pardon?”
“Hahaha—”
Seeing Cecily tilt her head, Lafori could only laugh.
In truth, he was the one most curious about that music. ‘I’ve lived fairly long and heard plenty of music from the Ion Continent, but this is truly a first.’
Looking at its structure, it was absolutely not a system that could have been created in a short period, so he couldn’t help but feel genuinely bewildered. ‘It’s not as if it just dropped in from another world.’
He shook his head as he watched those on the stage give their final greetings and disappear to the back.
Moreover, though it seemed the others had not noticed yet, the performance just now was not merely impressive in terms of communion. ‘The moment I listened to and enjoyed the music… the flow of internal energy became a little smoother. It’s still at a faint level, but to be able to affect an unspecified number of people to this extent through music alone…’
Lafori let out a small laugh.
He had thought the young man had potential, but this far exceeded his expectations. ‘This is going to cause quite a stir.’
It was a central plaza with heavy foot traffic, and those entranced by the strangely wide and clear sound continued to gather.
A new kind of music had been forcibly hammered into all of their minds.
Because of that, even now that the stage had ended, the venue remained unsettled with murmuring spectators.
And so, just as someone had intended, an alien culture successfully sent ripples through their hearts.
***
Southern Ion Continent.
In an underground hideout of some kind, beneath a deserted wasteland located quite far even from Kalkos, the tribal alliance nation.
Inside a large stone chamber whose scale made it hard to believe it had been created by digging underground, every kind of unrecognizable art was densely packed.
Magic circles and barriers were carved without regard for floor, walls, or ceiling, and there were also ritual tools, including altars and magic devices.
In that bizarre space, a group of more than ten hooded figures appeared and silently looked around.
“The preparations?”
“Almost complete.”
At the voice of a large man, a small-framed old man answered in a gloomy voice.
“Fortunately, we somehow managed to avoid the Church’s eyes. Those bastards poking around everywhere lately have been more than a little annoying.”
“…It was quite a struggle.”
Because of the Main God Church, which had grown as sensitive as a beehive stirred up by the sudden appearance of the Immortal King, they had faced considerable difficulty in carrying out their work.
The grand plan they had spent decades on had nearly been exposed.
It was only natural, since somehow, the Immortal King of this generation had even infiltrated the Great Temple of the Holy Land.
Though they had somehow wounded him and driven him back, that fact alone was enough to provoke the Church’s sense of crisis.
Naturally, the Main God Church was keeping such detailed circumstances under wraps, but thanks to a comrade with a special ability, they had managed to find out with great difficulty.
“You have no regrets, do you?”
“Of course. If I can only destroy this world, nothing matters anymore.”
Once the ritual began, the old man who served as its subject would end up in a state worse than death, but his rage toward the world made him care nothing for such things.
“They say even the Immortal King has revived, so if we lend him just a little help, he’ll take care of the rest on his own. Krhuhuhu…”
“Hmm… Yes. He did seem quite capable. Though I don’t know where he’s hiding now or what he’s doing.”
The large man, having grasped the progress, looked at the old man cackling madly to himself.
Once this man completed the ritual, the current peace would shatter, and an even more chaotic world would arrive.
There was no way the Immortal King, who sought to cover the continent in death, would simply let such a golden opportunity pass by.
And his movements would surely be of considerable help to them in carrying out their own affairs from now on.
The hooded figures met one another’s gazes.
There was truly not much time remaining now.
“To defy the heavens.”
“For the sake of the oath.”
The true forces of evil were quietly stretching in the shadows.