107. Actually, It Was All Planned.
107. Actually, It Was All Planned.
"I'm sorry, but outsiders are not allowed inside."
"Huh?"
Right at the door of the practice room,
the orchestra member dispatched from the Athena Guild blocked my way and stopped me.
"You may be an intern, but you are still just an 'intern,' no?"
"......Wow."
Outsider.
Simply put, a dismissal order.
As I blanked out in overwhelming disbelief, unable to even open my mouth, Minerva, who had been standing beside me, stepped forward and shouted.
"Chrono is not an outsider."
Not an outsider.
Far from an outsider, he was the one who found the clue for subjugating Siren, who provided the key to the massive problem that had been eating away at the Athena Guild all this time.
And they called such a person an outsider? Minerva could not accept it.
Far from accepting it, she could barely even understand it.
"Watch your mouth. Do you not know what achievements Chrono has made up until now?"
Minerva asked, as if demanding an answer.
But her protest was...
"It is the Guild Master's order."
"Father's...?"
...snuffed out by the influence of just one person.
Father.
The Guild Master of the Athena Guild.
The Guild Master's order.
"Eut... keut... eu-eut...!"
She had to speak.
She had to cry out that it was unjust.
But she could not. She must not.
She must.
Do not.
The two voices echoed loudly inside her head.
'How... what am I supposed to do...!'
She could send Chrono back right away for her own convenience.
But that, that must not be done. That alone was something she must not do as a human being.
They had taken Chrono's merit.
They had stolen Chrono's efforts.
As if the Athena Guild had done it, as if she herself had done it, the affair had spread.
That alone would surely be unjust, but now they were treating him like an outsider.
'If it were me...'
She would not be able to forgive it.
Beyond being unable to forgive it, she would not even want to associate with them at all.
"Are you guys that good at playing?"
"Pardon?"
In a situation where she had to somehow, do something—
"Follow me to the rooftop, no, to the concert hall."
".....???"
—it was Chrono who made the first move.
***********
'I never imagined I'd get entrance-blocked, though.'
Minerva's event.
The orchestra sponsored by the Athena Guild.
The lead role foisted upon her. The main violin player.
...Up to this point, things had gone exactly as I wanted, but
"This is a bit much, though."
I understood the intent to keep me in check, but shouldn't there be a limit?
In the original event, depending on whether the Protagonist had handled an instrument or not, and whether he had the corresponding title, reactions did differ.
However, it was more a matter of like or dislike, not a complete entrance block.
'I can roughly guess the reason, but...'
The performance that overcame Siren's Charm.
Since I was the one who performed that very piece, rather than half-heartedly keeping me in check, they would want to eliminate the variable entirely.
"Haaaaah...."
In the original work, no matter how good the Protagonist's skills were, since it was early in the first year, his ability stats were lower than Minerva's.
Therefore, if he played together with Minerva, the reality was that no matter how well he did, he would not surpass Minerva.
So even if he drew glares from other members, he was still allowed to join the ensemble.
Because they could not tarnish Minerva's reputation.
If he messed up, Minerva's presence would shine all the more by contrast.
'The problem that arises there is...'
The situation where the basic premise of 'Minerva is excellent' had been shattered.
So I understood why they were drawing a line like this. I could even accept it.
"But if it goes like this, the event progression gets messed up."
My desired final destination.
To reach the 'resulting happy ending' no matter what,
I slowly got up from my seat and walked out of the waiting room.
"You are quite late. Intern Chrono."
"Heumi....."
In the center of the concert hall,
about thirty orchestra members, each holding instruments that looked expensive, were glaring at me.
"I heard an interesting story. Did you claim you could defeat the performance of all these members here by yourself?"
A gaze as if finding it amusing.
In the center of the concert hall, the person who appeared to be the conductor pointed at me while gently waving their baton.
"Minerva-yang, your heart that trusts your friend. I have no intention of disputing that it is worthy of respect."
Their eyes directed at me.
Their words directed at Minerva, sitting in the adjacent audience seat.
"However, regarding this matter, I would like you to understand the difference between 'trust' and 'blind faith.'"
A total of 30 orchestra members.
Furthermore, all the instruments were top-quality pieces blessed by 'Muse's Protection', and every single player was a renowned virtuoso.
By simple calculation alone, it was not just impossible but beyond common sense for Chrono alone to overcome this gap.
"Realize the difference in class."
These ones were a legion (orchestra).
...
..
.
"Chrono....."
How had things come to this?
Minerva sat in the audience seat, clasping her hands tightly together.
'He must be very angry...'
His merit stolen, his efforts disparaged,
and finally treated as an outsider and even given a dismissal order.
How absurd and dumbfounded must he have been to burst out shouting on the spot and barge right inside?
Emotional actions unlike his usual self.
All of them were understandable to Minerva.
"What am I supposed to... do...."
Saying 'how bothersome,'
or 'do as you please,'
the usual Chrono would have consistently ignored whatever they did in front of him.
At least, that was how Chrono acted within the academy,
and also when faced with any problem, Chrono never handled things emotionally, but as if he 'knew it would happen.'
She did not know how many times she had relied on that 'naturalness' and 'matter-of-fact movement'.
But this time, it probably wouldn't be the case.
He would get really angry, barge inside, and yell...
'....Huh?'
Wait.
Something was strange.
It was oddly strange and kept bothering her.
"Chrono is.... angry...?"
Getting angry?
Well, since he was human, he could get angry.
But—was Chrono the type of aggressive person who would pick a fight when he got angry?
'No.'
Chrono, the Chrono she knew, was a person far removed from 'being emotional.'
From A to Z, everything went according to plan.
At the very least, when handling matters, he was a person who brought them into his palm and manipulated them.
He felt emotions but was not swayed, a person who could remain 'rational' to the very end.
...Of course, seeing his occasionally 'romance'-filled appearance, he didn't seem entirely rational,
but at least, his actions were mostly carried out under a thorough 'plan.'
So, if,
really, just by some chance...
'If he predicted all of this and instigated it...?'
Minerva slowly turned her head towards Chrono.
"Realize the difference in class."
"....Well, well."
Chrono was smiling.
Rather than a laugh of disbelief,
it was a smile of a 'higher dimension,' as if satisfied that things were flowing according to plan.
'Really...?'
Did he predict this?
Did he anticipate it and bring it about?
This situation.
This battle.
If he had predicted and foreseen everything and instigated this,
"Chrono........"
Thump, her heart pounded.
Her father's plan, her father's scheme,
the 'shackle' that she could never escape by herself,
"So, should I go first? Or should your lot go first?"
"Ha! You have plenty of guts. Then how about you go first? Since you would not even dare to think of playing from behind us...."
"From start to finish, all you do is spit out defeat flags."
Chrono laughed.
He naturally sneered.
He pulled out his instrument (weapon) into his hand,
smiled, and positioned himself against the 30-strong orchestra (legion).
"That is...!"
"What. Did you think only you guys had it?"
"...You have the basics, I see. However, those are just the basics."
A top-quality instrument blessed by Muse's Protection.
"Chord—B Chord."
Difficulty——Master.
"Master-level...?"
A bewildered expression.
"...Are you saying you have the skill to spout such insolence?"
But the expression,
as if there was still something up their sleeve,
"Mode, Full Combo, ALL Perfect."
"....What?"
It warped.
As if it was nonsense, as if they could not even dare to imagine it.
"Add Shadow, Noise Effect."
"Foolish...! With that, you can't even properly play a single note!"
"Are you worried for me?"
".....Suit yourself."
We shall slowly watch your clown act.
The conductor tutted as if it were preposterous.
However, Chrono, the target of that remark, looked extremely relaxed.
'Master-level playing...'
A piece that even the most talented person could barely play after decades of effort.
Without a single mistake (Full Combo).
Without wavering even once (ALL Perfect).
Without even looking at the sheet music properly (Shadow).
And even adding an Illusion (Noise Effect) that made it impossible to see properly anyway...?
'Impossible.'
Minerva knew.
Common sense said it was impossible. It couldn't be done. Doing it was what was strange.
That kind of 'common sense',
the 'common sense' and 'truth' that was so natural to her,
the 'shackle' she had placed on herself, that her surroundings had placed on her.
[B Chord-Master]
[Full Combo]
[ALL Perfect]
[Shadow]
[Noise Effect]
[1,012,989 (SSS+)]
"I've taken a dump...!"
He shattered it, far too simply.
As an aside.
[Power Chord Activating]
['A Very Good Olive Tree on the Head' resonates]
"Huh?"
A Very Good Olive Tree on the Head, which I had forgotten when I received it.
['A Very Good Olive Tree on the Head' evolves into 'Blessed Olive Tree']
"....How come?"
An unexpected gain.
It was bewildering when things happened without any foreshadowing or anything.
[Goddess Athena: Do you happen to know of the Good Onion Experiment?]
"Huh?"
A sudden oracle.
[Goddess Athena: A tree that grows up listening to good music naturally bears good fruit.]
"..........."
The Good Onion Experiment, that thing,
when you look into it, it's just pseudoscience—
[Goddess Athena:—Isn't the very existence of gods far removed from a human logic called science?]
"......Aha!"
She meant to just let it slide.