96. That Night
96. That Night
It was a deep night, the moon hung high.
"Hm-hmm... hmm... hmm-hmm...♬"
A deserted street, with no one around.
Streetlamps flickering and blinking.
A road not even a single car passed by.
Normally, such an empty place would be considered dangerous and even gloomy, but...
"Kill... them all! Let them all die♬"
For someone, it became the ultimate stage.
A place with not a single listener, a place where she could sing precisely because there were no listeners.
A tiny concert venue solely for herself, one that could only begin because no one was there.
"Spare neither mother nor father♬ I'll ravage them all...♩"
The humming from her nose was the bass.
The beating of her heart was the guitar.
The stone fragments kicked by her soles were the drums.
Combined with the song she hummed aloud, it was a band playing together.
"Peace!"
As a finale, she even threw up a peace sign with her outstretched hand.
In the midst of it, just in case anyone might see, she stretched both arms out pretending to yawn and stretch.
"......Hmm."
After the performance ended, she glanced around, checking if there might be an audience.
Only after confirming that no one was there did the street musician begin her concert once more.
"Hm-hmm..... hmm...."
Unlike the first time, she was slightly more reserved.
But the note that seemed to ring in the ears and seep out through the heart began to grow louder.
"Hm-hmm-hmm~... hmm.... hmm-hmm~~♩"
As she hummed her tune, she had arrived home before she knew it.
She opened the door and stepped inside, revealing an empty house with the lights off.
"I'm back."
A half-instinctive greeting.
She took off her shoes and put her socks and clothes into the laundry basket.
The moment she arrived, she washed up, tidied herself, and since the night was deep, immediately lay down on the bed.
"........Hmm."
Lying on the bed,
with her eyes quietly closed.
"Umm..... hmm....."
Once to the right.
Twice to the left.
She stretched her feet out meaninglessly, and her fingers, which had been extending aimlessly, began to tap lightly on the mattress. Tap, tap-tap, tap... tap-tap.
"Hmm.... hm-hmm.... hmm....."
The sound of the performance kept flowing out.
The lyrics swirled in her head with a tenacity that was truly relentless.
Ultimately, unable to fall asleep, seeing herself doing nothing but fidgeting with her hands the whole time, Minerva let out a light breath and raised her body up.
"Normally I shouldn't, but...."
Still, I worked really hard, didn't I?
For a whole week, I genuinely tried my best.
So, for myself, and for what lies ahead, maybe I could give myself a tiny little reward?
Truth be told, Minerva had already enjoyed a date with Chrono as that very reward, but she deliberately chose not to think about it.
After all, in the act of self-rationalization, the one who acknowledges it is the loser.
"Headset... amp..."
A wardrobe placed on the opposite side.
She opened a large box hidden beyond the clothes and carefully took out the objects inside.
"...Found it."
An electric guitar painted in navy blue.
She had named it [Grail Impius (The Unholy Grail)]... but she had never once called it that aloud herself.
'An apostle who serves Athena...'
Giving it a bizarre name like 'The Unholy Grail'.
To sum it up in one phrase, was it something like 'Athena's Unholy Grail'?
Just thinking about it was a name that made one fear divine punishment.
"Sure enough, maybe I should just go back to sleep now..."
No.
That's not it.
Having come this far, how could I go back?
Even if it's just one song, I have to play it for this feeling to settle down.
Minerva slowly got up from her spot and latched the door.
Since she lived alone, it wasn't like anyone would come, but it felt like something she absolutely had to do.
Only after drawing the curtains thickly did Minerva turn on a single small standing lamp and finally get to work.
Bzzzzzzzzzz──!
"Ugh... the sound is..."
She hadn't used it even once while in the dormitory.
Sure enough, the tuning was largely ruined. The strings were also slightly bothering her, but she brainwashed herself into thinking they had an antique flavor because of it.
Even though, fundamentally, for an electric guitar, the strings mattered immensely.
'How important strings are...'
The world of musical instruments is one where a single sensation at your fingertips makes it go 'ah' and change to 'uh'─── ugh, a-ah-eut....!
"...Haaaaaaaah."
It seemed she had been holding it in, quite a lot.
Come to think of it, before entering the academy, she used to visit at least once every two weeks, hadn't she?
When she was completely obsessed, she went more than once a week, so having endured for nearly three months, it wasn't strange at all for withdrawal symptoms to kick in.
"Athena might mock me if she heard..."
That she was addicted to the electric guitar to the point where her hands and feet were trembling, or something like that.
Minerva finished tuning the guitar with familiar hand movements and put the headset over her head.
BZZZZZZZING!
"Hoooh......!"
The machine sound piercing coolly right by her ear.
Just lightly flicking the pick made her mind go hazy and distant, a sound that seemed to blur all the worries in her heart.
Minerva slowly began to play, fumbling as she searched for the guitar chords.
"Kill... them all...."
The performance she heard for the first time today.
"Mother, father, let them all die♬"
The performance Chrono had played.
The one that had captivated the passing crowd.
"I am a terrorist risen from Hell!"
"I tore off Lucifer's head and ripped apart Michael's wings!"
Her fumbling touch soon became tinged with confidence.
Recreating that moment's performance at her fingertips, Minerva began to sing while holding her breath.
"Violate the father...! Slaughter the mother...!"
A sanctuary completed only by destroying the place you were born!
KEEEEEEEEEEEENG!!!!
A high note blasting from the electric guitar.
Death metal heard solely through the headset, for her alone.
Minerva shook her entire body as she played the guitar, and at last, as she reached the climax──
──Twang-snap!
"Kyat.....?!"
A string snapped and flew off.
More than the palm struck by the guitar string of the electric guitar, now ruined into a rag in an instant, a sense of sheer absurdity overwhelmed her.
"How... did this..."
What do you mean, how did this happen?
It happened because the guitar strings were rotten but you forced it, even drawing upon the power of an apostle to play.
"Eut.... uu.... eu-eut....."
It was a shame.
Something felt regretful.
She had been right there. She could have reached the very end.
The place that felt best.
She had come right up to the very edge, and now this was the state of things.
"....Heu.... haaaaaah...."
Minerva gripped the neck of the guitar tightly and let out a deep sigh.
Right.
Of course it turned out like this.
"Something unbefitting one's station should never even be started in the first place... was it?"
A question asked as if speaking to someone.
Only with the sharp, stinging pain did Minerva finally see the back of her own hand, her fingertips.
"....It hurts."
Skin scraped and peeled by the guitar string.
The sharp, keen pain felt from under her fingernails too.
Minerva silently pulled the half-ruined guitar against her chest.
"It hurts... it hurts so much..."
As if throwing a tantrum, Minerva hugged the guitar tightly, kkwuuk, into her embrace.
".............."
She breathed in and out five or six times.
Minerva slowly lowered the guitar from her chest.
"Throw away the guitar string, endure the pain,"
She tidied up as if nothing had happened.
"I did everything I wanted to do, after all."
After cleaning up her room, Minerva lay back down on the bed.
"......Haaaaaaaah."
Sleep still did not come.
The sound of instruments no longer swirled in her ears like before.
It was just that her heart felt as if it were floating, buoyant, and for some reason, sleep just would not come.
"Hooooooo, haaaaaah..... hooooooooh, haaaaaaaah....."
A heart that found it difficult to calm down even when trying to.
Ultimately, putting her whole heart into it, she raised her fist and struck the bed hard with a kung!─── well, there was no way she could actually do that.
"....Haaaaaaaaah."
Because the moment she struck it, it would break.
Ultimately, unable to do either, Minerva reached out her hand blankly.
Where her heart went.
Where her hand went.
At the end of it, was her own cellphone plugged into the charger.
".....Hmm."
A thought suddenly came to her.
'Chrono is probably, at this hour...'
Sleeping?
He was probably sleeping.
"..............."
She stared vacantly at the screen.
Ah.
What should I do?
'I shouldn't, do this...'
Without realizing it, she entered the call log.
She looked at the phone number where Chrono's name was written.
"...Let's not do it."
Yeah.
Not doing it was definitely the right call.
Minerva pulled herself together and turned off her phone.
"But... come to think of it..."
I haven't received the money yet.
Self-rationalization began to start up once more.
'He said he was very strict about money...'
They often say people crazy about money will go out and knock on doors even in the middle of the night.
So this was, at best, because Chrono had told me so, and it was never my true intention...
...Even though it was something I absolutely, must not do, but since money was on the line for this side too, it felt like I had gotten a little serious...?
─Ding-a-ling♬
"Ah."
I sent it.
I went and sent it.
I went and sent it, for good.
[Minerva : XXXXXX-XX-XXX, this is the cadet account.]
"....A-uuuuuuuut!!"
This.
Idiot.
Idiot.
'Idiot idiot idiot...!'
I wanted to cancel it.
But of all things, I sent it as a text message, so even cancellation was impossible.
The only thing possible was to pray that Chrono wouldn't see it.
And so, Minerva waited for Chrono's reply not to come.
".............."
She waited for the reply not to come.
".......Huh?"
But, did people normally wait for a reply not to come, or something like that?
Even she herself thought it was an incredibly stupid thought.
If there was normally a reason to wait for something...
"You wait for a text to come..."
You don't wait for a text not to come.
Then, what that meant was that I... was hoping Chrono would reply...
".....Haaaaaaaah."
Just today, no, just since coming home, how many sighs had this been?
Minerva flipped her phone over completely and turned her body away as well.
'Let's sleep.'
She was thinking too much.
It was better to think after sleeping and waking up.
"................"
I have to sleep.
I have to sleep.
I clearly, was trying to sleep?
─Ding-a-ling♬
"!........"
But if an alarm sound suddenly rang, it was only natural to get a little curious.
It could be a meaningless spam mail, but what if it was a reply from Chrono?
At the very least, it was proper to apologize for sending a text late at night.
"Khum.... hm, hm-hm....."
Minerva reached out and checked her phone.
[♚♚Heroine of the God(G)☆Spot♚♚Join$$All Members Card Pack☜☜100% Backside Provided※ ♜World of Secraft♜Harem Pet Free Provided￥ Specific Conditions §§Lucifer3§§★Demon's Legacy★Acquisition Chance@@@]
".....I see."
Of course it was.
It was a situation perfectly suited for her.
Rather, with her heart cooling clean off at this development, Minerva regained her reason.
Minerva put down her phone just like that and turned her body over—
—Ding-a-ling♬
".............."
Why is it, that people keep being fooled even when they know?
As a side note.
"....Uh..?"
The reason people keep repeating mistakes is...
[Chrono: who dis?]
"............."
Perhaps, it was because sometimes, a mistake became a miracle.
Minerva slowly typed and sent a message.
[Minerva: This is Minerva. I apologize for sending a text late at night. It's just that I hadn't told you my account number, so I ended up sending it without thinking... I'm sorry, Chrono. (Bowing frog emoticon)]
"...I wonder if this is fine?"
Minerva stared quietly at her phone.
[Chrono: but Mai isn't Big Brother]
"Huh?"
What, did you say?
[Minerva: May I ask who this is...?]
[Chrono: Mai is Mai]
".............."
The name of someone unknown, called Mai.
Judging by the feel of the name, a woman.
Judging by the tone, probably a young child.
[Minerva: Mai, what is your relationship with Chrono?]
"No way....."
Suddenly, one hypothesis floated up.
But, no matter how she thought about it, Chrono couldn't be that much of a piece of trash, or so she denied the hypothesis...
[Chrono: Mai is Big Brother's pet.]
".........Oh."
He was a complete piece of trash.
This is just.
A waste-grade piece of trash not even suited for recycling, prattling on about pure love.
"Pets and lovers are separate...?"
That night,
Minerva found it hard to fall asleep, in many senses.