The Melody That Awakens Desire
The little boy walked ahead with an innocent face and asked, “Why is Big Sis going to Ryuzan?”
“Mm, I have an important matter to attend to.”
“What kind of important matter? My parents only ever say it’s important and never tell me anything.”
“Something like… protecting the world?”
“Ehh~ What does protecting the world even mean?”
“Well, it means defeating evil monsters.”
“Pfft, liar. How could a frail woman like Big Sis defeat monsters? It has to be strong men like the soldiers!”
He swung his little fists earnestly through the air. To my eyes, it only looked adorable.
“In Xenuma, women also serve as soldiers in the military, you know?”
“Hehe, I know all about that. They mostly work in the rear, right? The ones fighting on the front lines are men.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
In truth, I didn’t really know what female soldiers in Xenuma usually did. Every Xenuma visitor who came to Eden had been male. But the female officer who had accompanied Theorantys seemed like she had rolled around on the actual battlefield. The murderous aura she gave off without even trying had been overwhelming.
“Women are supposed to stay home obediently and receive protection from men. That’s only natural. Women should give birth, raise children, and support the men who do the big important work.”
Hmm. This little boy… Even I, who was born in Eden where women are sold, understand general societal views, but this child held extremely outdated values.
“You don’t have a girlfriend, do you?”
“I-I do have one!”
His face flushed red as he shouted. I wondered if he realized he was proving he didn’t.
“She’s not prettier than Big Sis! Her personality isn’t that good either! But anyway, I have one!”
“Okay, I believe you.”
“Ugh!”
The boy trembled all over, clicked his tongue, then spun around and ran off, shouting, “The dining car is in the next compartment! I’m leaving!”
“Thank you.”
“Tch.”
He dashed back the way we came and disappeared. The train was perfectly straight, so finding the dining car would have been easy anyway, but the boy didn’t seem to know that.
As I stood in front of the dining car door at the connection passage between compartments, a clear singing voice pierced through the noise of the rails. Even though the door was closed and the sound was faint, an overwhelming emotion I had never felt before made my heart race.
Entranced, I opened the door. The song crashed into me like a dam breaking. In the center of the dining car—which was far larger than the others—a small stage had been set up, and a beautiful woman in an elegant dress was singing.
It was a language I had never heard, yet her breathtakingly beautiful voice blended perfectly with the melody played by the musicians around her, filling the entire space. I stood with my hand pressed to my excitedly pounding chest and simply listened in place until the performance ended.
I was completely immersed in the song when the sound of applause brought me back to my senses. The woman smiled gracefully and bowed. Despite her petite frame, she looked enormous. Had that voice really come from such a body? She appeared incredibly delicate, which contrasted sharply with her beautiful and powerful voice.
“As expected of Kansas’ greatest singer, Adel Delphina.”
“A singer…”
It was my first time properly witnessing a singer’s performance. A live one, at that. So this was how magnificent it could be.
“Music really is wonderful.”
“Hm? Hehe, I pride myself on believing that music is humanity’s greatest art form.”
The old man wearing a hat who had been sitting beside the door while I listened to the song spoke with conviction in his eyes. Humanity’s greatest art form. Even though I had only experienced it once, I could fully agree.
“From the way you looked earlier, you seemed deeply moved by the song. Do you like singing?”
“I only just started liking it a moment ago.”
“Hehehe, of course you would after hearing her live performance.”
“What language was the song she sang in?”
“It’s an old traditional language from Kansas.”
“I’ve never heard it before.”
At my answer, the old man—who had been watching the female singer while leaning on his cane—turned toward me and said, “Hmm. Young lady, are you from Eden?”
“Oh? How did you know?”
“Your accent is distinctly Eden’s. Among the countless accents of the continental common tongue, women who use that uniquely soft, seductive lilt are mostly from Eden.”
“You can tell that apart?”
I had met people from many countries while working as a bartender, but I had never really noticed differences in accents.
“People surprisingly don’t recognize their own accents. The differences are subtle, and tone and voice can create even larger variations.”
“I see.”
It was the first time I had learned that my own accent was soft.
“Young lady, you have a truly lovely voice. Why don’t you try singing something?”
“Here? And I’ve never sung before.”
After such a magnificent performance, and with so many people still crowded around, raising my voice felt incredibly daunting. Besides, I didn’t even know any songs.
“Do you remember the ‘Ah~~~~’ part from Adel’s song earlier?”
“The long sustained part?”
“Try imitating it.”
“This is really embarrassing…”
When I kept glancing around nervously, the old man also looked around and said, “Then let’s go to my private compartment. Follow me.”
“I have things I need to do…”
“Young lady. Don’t you want to sing?”
There was an inexplicable pressure in the old man’s words that made my heart race again. The thought of singing a song that could move people’s hearts sent a thrilling shiver through me. Before I knew it, I answered.
“I do. I want to sing.”
“Then follow me.”
I followed the old man as he confidently tapped his cane and left the dining car. After walking for quite a while, we arrived at the premium seating compartment. It was close to the compartment where the god was staying, which made me a little nervous.
Once the door closed and the room grew quiet, the old man said, “Now, give it a try.”
“Umm, okay.”
I recalled the part of the song I had heard as best I could, took a deep breath, and opened my mouth.
“Ah~~~~~h.”
The voice came out far more easily than I expected, and I was so startled that I covered my mouth. Wow, I could make a sound like this?
“As I thought, your timbre is exceptionally good. Your pitch is also quite stable for a first attempt. I’ll play a song in the common tongue for you. Listen and then try singing along.”
“Ah, yes.”
The old man took out a small device from his pocket. At his manipulation, a song began to play inside the room. It was a different voice from Ms. Adel’s—a sorrowful song confessing love toward a man. I concentrated as hard as I could on the delicate voice and memorized it.
The old man stopped the song midway and gestured for me to sing. There was no accompanying music, but I sang according to the vivid memory etched in my mind. It felt like I was reproducing the voice from my memory with my own throat. After finishing the short song, I felt both anticipation and anxiety at the same time.
Did I do well?
With a nervous heart, I waited for the old man’s evaluation. He opened his eyes with a serious expression and said, “It’s still rough, but I can see talent. Especially your timbre—it has a charm that captivates people.”
“Really?”
“If you work hard, you could become an excellent singer.”
“Like Ms. Adel?”
“Hehehe, she must have really caught your fancy.”
I wanted to become a singer and let people hear my beautiful songs. Just thinking about it made my heart pound. Was this what desire felt like? It was the first time I had wanted something so intensely, so the feeling was unfamiliar but pleasant.
“If you truly decide you want to become a singer, come find me here.”
The old man handed me a small business card. On the white, square piece of paper, elegant handwriting spelled out Rustien Labeles along with a number.
“Rustien Labeles? What is this?”
“You really have no interest in the entertainment industry. It’s the entertainment agency I run.”
“So something like that exists.”
I liked the pattern decorating the border of the card.
“I thought I was fairly well-known. This is a bit deflating.”
“Haha… I’m sorry about that.”
There were queens who worked in the entertainment industry, so I had been too indifferent. But a small question arose. I rubbed the card with my fingertips and asked, “Why are you doing this much for me?”
“Because I saw talent in you, young lady.”
“I’m not sure if I have that much talent.”
My singing seemed better than I thought, but compared to Ms. Adel, I was still at a fledgling level. The old man stroked his beard and said, “Hmm. In the old days, it was enough for a singer to simply sing well. But now, thanks to scientific advancement, talents beyond singing are also required.”
“What kind of talents?”
“Appearance, figure, and uniqueness. I don’t know why you’re here, but you’re one of those angels from Eden, aren’t you?”
“Yes…”
I answered quietly as he pointed at my eyes. It was well known that angels’ eyes were so unique they stood out. But it was equally famous that they could only be seen inside Eden. No one on the train had recognized me as an angel until now, so being identified made me slightly flustered.
“Imagine an angel you’ve only seen in photos or videos singing right before your eyes. Especially if that angel possesses outstanding beauty and figure and becomes a singer—the chances of her becoming a star are very high.”
I simply liked singing, but it seemed there were many conditions required to become a singer.
“When I see such talent, I take them in, refine them thoroughly, and present them to the public. That is my job.”
“Ah, so the structure is that if the talent you discover becomes famous and earns money, you earn together.”
“Ahem. Money is one purpose, but I have lived finding fulfillment in the entertainment industry—especially in nurturing musicians.”
As the old man spoke with his eyes wide and resolute, I felt again the unidentified pressure I had sensed earlier. Despite his old and frail body, an inexplicable spirit made him seem strong. Soon he relaxed his gaze and smiled, and the atmosphere softened in an instant.
“Grandfather, you seem like someone truly remarkable. I can feel that spirit from you.”
“Ho, you have good senses, young lady. But didn’t you say earlier that you had something to do?”
“Ah.”
I had completely forgotten my purpose of buying food for the god and returning. Surely nothing terrible would happen if I was a little late? I needed to hurry back to the dining car, buy food, and return to the room.
“I should go now. It’ll be bad if I’m any later.”
“This is a gift. And since there’s still time until we arrive at Ryuzan, come visit me often.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
He gave me the small player that likely contained the song he had played earlier. Although it had been rather sudden, I bowed deeply in gratitude for showing me a clear path called “singer” and headed to the dining car.
Humming the melody still circling in my head, I bought a large amount of food and returned to the room.
“Um, I was a little late because something came up.”
Not knowing how the willful god would react, I carefully opened the door and made my excuse. But there was no sound from inside. No—more precisely, I could hear breathing, but no answer.
“Hello?”
I set the food bags I was carrying in both hands on the table and looked for him. He was sleeping peacefully.
What? He ate all my food, ordered me to buy more, and then just fell asleep? I felt like an idiot for worrying about him.
Fine. Whether he wakes up and eats or not, I’ll just eat by myself.
I unfolded the crispy paper wrapping, took out a sandwich, and bit into it. Mm, compared to the food at the temple, this really wasn’t very good. Well, comparing train dining car food to temple food was meaningless anyway.
It was only after I had eaten about half the food I bought that he finally woke up. As usual, he sprang up the moment his eyes opened and began eating the remaining food as if nothing had happened.
“Mm, the taste really isn’t great.”
This man… Perhaps he was the type who only cared about what interested him and was indifferent to everything else. Come to think of it, aside from handling dimensional gates, he showed little interest and found most things bothersome. Maybe he was only sitting in the position of Eden’s ruler out of necessity?
If I promised support regarding the dimensional gates, he might unexpectedly give up the position of Eden’s ruler quite easily. As I thought this and looked at him, trash was piling up around where he was devouring the remaining food.
“Wait a moment. Please put the trash in the bag next to you. It’s getting dirty.”
“It’s bothersome. You’re going to clean it anyway, so why?”
This man, seriously. For some reason, it felt like his self-indulgence had increased compared to when we were at the temple. Still, I couldn’t let the space we would be sharing for a long time become filthy, so I cleaned up the trash.
After throwing the bag of trash into the bin and returning, he was standing there completely naked.
“…Why are you naked?”
“I’m bored.”
“Ah, I see.”
I couldn’t see the connection between being bored and being naked. I quietly avoided him and sat down. While meeting his vacant stare, I heard Uriel’s voice.
“Huh? Begin what?”
What is this? I was just trying to quietly listen to music.
Realizing I was hesitating, Kyubey spoke as if it were simple.
“Right now, I just want to listen to music.”
With Kyubey’s words, Uriel took control of my body. Ah, I need to connect the player to the implant.
At my words, Uriel reached into the pocket, took out the player, turned it on, and wirelessly connected it to the implant.
“Is it done?”
I felt my consciousness being sucked somewhere and was startled, but in the blink of an eye, I was inside the mental space.
