Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Drasha's Festival (1)
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"Welcome, Sir Heinrich!"
Heinrich gave a wry smile at the sight of Saintess Riesta greeting him with her usual beaming smile.
After a lengthy training period with the Brilliant Guardian Holy Knight Order, he had been exceptionally promoted from low-rank to high-rank Holy Knight, and now a new assignment had been given to him.
It was quite different in nature from his previous missions...
'Who would've thought I'd end up as the Saintess's personal guard.'
This was, of course, the result of strong backing from the Saintess and those above her.
Until now, the Saintess had remained solely within the Roselia Grand Cathedral in the holy city, so she hadn't needed a guard. But with the Immortal King revived, she couldn't stay put like this forever.
"Of course, it's not just for that reason that I chose you as my personal guard, Sir Heinrich. I figured you need more personal time now than learning on the job!"
Indeed, while the Saintess stayed in the Grand Cathedral, there had been no need for a guard, so his training time would increase significantly.
"And once preparations are sufficiently complete, there will be something you must do, Sir Heinrich."
"Something I must do?"
"Even though it's taken a blow, the Immortal King won't just sit quietly like this. He's surely plotting something from the shadows."
Far from plotting, it didn't even exist in Outerica anymore, but Heinrich simply nodded gravely with a serious expression.
"Right now, we must mobilize every means at our disposal to prepare countermeasures. And one of those is quite important..."
The Saintess, who had been speaking calmly, took a light breath and opened her mouth with a hardened face.
"Obtaining the holy sword."
"The holy sword... you mean?"
"Yes. To truly defeat the Immortal King, we absolutely need the holy sword's help."
She gazed at Heinrich with shining eyes and spoke again in a voice full of conviction.
"Sir Heinrich, you must prepare for the trial to obtain the holy sword."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Whoosh— Thunk!
The arrow flew like a hawk, brushing past branches before sharply piercing the target.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The entity has gained enlightenment through repeated training. Acquired skill 「Fairy Archery」. A system message appeared before his eyes at the same time.
Harris, perched in the tree, let out a soft sigh and slowly lowered the bow he had been aiming.
"Impressive. The human scent has completely vanished from your archery now. Correcting long-ingrained habits is incredibly difficult, but you've done it splendidly."
The archery instructor, who had been watching from a branch on the neighboring tree, slowly clapped.
"It's all thanks to your excellent guidance, Instructor. Thank you."
At his modest response, the instructor smiled warmly and encouraged him once more.
The day's training ended amid the warm exchange between teacher and student.
But as Harris tried to return to the dormitory...
"Harris! Let's go practice!"
"Ah, Thymer. I wanted to head back to the dorm and wash up first. I need to put the bow away too..."
"Oh? Right, you don't have a water spirit! I'll help you out! Come on, no time—let's go!"
"Ah, uh..."
He ended up being dragged along by Thymer, whose enthusiasm was at its peak.
The practice area he was led to already had the other female group members waiting.
"Everyone's here. Shall we start today's practice?"
"...Mm."
Two days before the Drasha Festival.
While preparing the performance with his group mates, Harris had come to one firm realization.
That the elf race was far more serious about 'music' than he had imagined... and...
'It's possible in just three days? Even tuning them to match the existing instruments?'
That they possessed overwhelmingly talent for it.
Given the short time frame, he hadn't expected a perfect recreation of the original.
He could handle the singing, but there was no way they could follow a piece played on completely unfamiliar instruments in such a tight schedule.
'And yet, they did it.'
For this stage, he had planned to settle for simply introducing a new genre.
Even with the group helping, he thought the limit would be matching the beat with simple instruments like the ones he demonstrated...
"Phew—that should be passable now."
"Wow! It's all thanks to you, Shaphiron! Drasha Academy's top prodigy, this generation's greatest diva. I'd heard the rumors, but I didn't expect this level!"
"...As expected... amazing."
"Hmph, don't praise me for something so trivial. It's only natural. Oo-hoo-hoo—"
As soon as their synchronized performance ended, compliments poured in, making Shaphiron's lips twitch while her pointed ears perked up happily toward the sky.
'She really is impressive.'
All the group members were talented, but Shaphiron's performance stood out especially.
She had been the first to bow to Harris—whom she had previously scorned—borrowing the magic tool with the recorded music, then diving into it obsessively.
Analyzing every characteristic and note of the instrument, finding the most efficient adaptations for them in just two days.
She looked more haggard each day, making one wonder if she even slept, but her eyes sparkled brighter than ever.
"Still, it's a shame we couldn't recreate it perfectly. That sharp 'ziiing~' sound was too tricky... I'd love to see the actual instrument."
Even as she said that, the alternative sound she proposed was of extremely high quality.
Using spirits and natural forces with magic to tune the sounds, creating something similar yet uniquely charming.
It had changed quite a bit through the process, but the original flavor remained.
'It feels like a collab between Earth and this world's civilizations—pretty cool.'
He almost regretted being the only Earthling who could appreciate it that way.
To the point where he thought about releasing it on Earth right away.
'Nah, too soon for that. But it'd be fun if I could later.'
Thus ended the first practice after sourcing similar instruments and tuning the sounds.
The result was, naturally, a resounding success.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The entity has gained enlightenment through repeated training. Acquired skill 「Melody of Harmony」. Perfectly so.
And the effect of the newly acquired skill was immediately evident in the next practice.
"Whoa... Harris, what was that?"
Clap clap clap—
"Wait... how did you do that just now? The natural forces in your voice suddenly felt... refined? And the effects were much stronger..."
Harris smiled contentedly at the group's enthusiastic reactions.
"Ah, something clicked while I was singing."
"W-what was it? How do you do it like that..."
Shaphiron, who had hurriedly asked, suddenly hesitated.
She had come to acknowledge him through their practices lately, treating him more cautiously, but her past attitude made her embarrassed now.
"I can't explain it well. I just go with the feeling. Haha..."
He couldn't say it was thanks to 「Melody of Harmony」, so he brushed it off vaguely.
He couldn't teach skills anyway.
"......"
No one knew how she took his answer, but her face fell for a moment before returning to normal.
She hated showing weakness, so her expression remained arrogant as always, but her eyes were noticeably dimmer.
'Does she think I don't want to teach her?'
Or maybe it sounded like he was rubbing in their talent gap.
From what he'd observed the past few days, she seemed to harbor strong competitive spirit toward him.
Perhaps even inferiority.
"Phew, everyone got where we messed up earlier, right? Let's focus more and go again. You too—get ready quick!"
But with her strong self-esteem, she recovered fast, taking charge with even more vigor than usual.
Their practice, sealed with soundproof barriers for the festival surprise, continued late into the night.
And Harris's 「Melody of Harmony」 went beyond enhancing his singing, synergizing greatly with its original purpose: communion with spirits.
His lowest-grade fire spirit 'Kali' and wind spirit 'Pascal' had evolved to mid-grade, and...
"Whoa... th-that..."
"Shh! Be quiet!"
With the group watching, Harris stared quietly ahead.
A small spirit hovered before him, rippling faint waves around it.
'No way...'
It was a phenomenon-element spirit, not an elemental one—a 'sound spirit'.
His time as an elf was short, and even in this Elven Kingdom, it was his first time seeing a non-elemental spirit.
'Well, I haven't wandered much.'
As learned in spirit arts class, non-natural spirits were extremely rare.
They required a separate talent from natural affinity to contract, and one had now appeared before Harris.
Circling him persistently like a cat choosing its owner, signaling its desire for a contract.
'A sound spirit... an unexpected gain.'
Of course, Harris had no intention of letting the opportunity slip. He cautiously extended his hand toward the spirit.
Their wills aligned, and the contract formed in an instant.
"From today, you're 'Decibel'."
Harris's fourth spirit was the sound spirit 'Decibel'.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Through working in the same group as Harris, Shaphiron shed her prejudices about him.
No, truthfully, she had just gritted her teeth and refused to admit it until now.
But now, she had no choice but to acknowledge him.
'...That affinity and technique with natural forces. He hasn't studied spirit arts long, yet he already has four contracted spirits. And one is a sound spirit?'
She had guessed from the surging natural forces and affinity when he sang, but his growth speed was miraculous.
To the point where she could understand why the World Tree took interest...
'Ugh... no helping it. If he's that good, I can acknowledge him as my rival...'
After her one-sided rival declaration, she had been subtly orbiting Harris, observing him closely.
The importance of information against an enemy went without saying.
Buzz buzz—
This held true even in the backstage waiting room behind the stage in one of the plazas on the second day of the three-day festival.
But one thing particularly grated on her nerves.
"Whoa! We're right next to the central plaza? This is prime for getting noticed! Even the high elves might watch!"
"......"
Thymer, either mentally tough or just oblivious, was hyped up, while Curie quietly gnawed her nails—a stark contrast.
'She doesn't look good.'
Shaphiron's gaze, which had been on Harris, shifted to Curie.
She had seemed perfect during practice, but now on the eve of the real thing, she was crumbling.
Just as Shaphiron reluctantly stepped up to talk to her...
Harris, lounging against the railing with his usual languid expression, approached her.
"Feeling pretty nervous?"
"......"
Curie nodded silently while taking deep breaths.
Seeing her back to how they first met—saying nothing, just watching others—Harris scratched his head and looked at her.
"Hmm, what did you think of the song we prepared? Good, right?"
She still didn't reply, but Harris continued undeterred.
"During practice, what were you thinking? Were you nervous then? Worried about messing up?"
This time, her head shook quietly side to side.
"For me, practice was just pure fun. Exciting. I'm looking forward to how others react to this song."
A slow smile spread across Harris's face as he spoke to her.
"This song gets you pumped, right? When you're lost in the music and having fun, don't all other thoughts just fade away?"
The subtle resonance in his voice rippled through Curie's rigidly tense heart.
"Forget everything else and just recall how you felt in practice. Come down from the stage the same way—full of excitement."
He didn't seem experienced at comforting others, so it wasn't exactly polished...
But even in his plain words, his voice had an oddly lyrical quality that drew focus unconsciously.
Like during practice when fully immersed in song, it pulled her in, making her recall those emotions as he suggested.
Her expression softened, lips curving up slightly.
Recalling it, her eyes sparkled, cheeks flushing red.
And Shaphiron, who had unwittingly been drawn in by his voice, snapped back to reality and looked at Harris anew.
'Unexpected.'
He didn't seem the eloquent type, yet his words carried strange persuasiveness.
Looking after a nervous group mate made him seem different somehow.
"Next group, get ready~!"
Of course, such distractions vanished quickly.
Their turn was almost here.