Chapter 106: CH 102

Marie buried her face in her hands and muttered to herself, while the preparations for the Lirus Orchestra were almost complete. Members dressed in neat formal attire took turns stepping onto the stage to prepare, and the audience gradually filled up the seats, creating a bustling atmosphere.

After a while, even the temporary seats built below the VIP seats reserved exclusively for nobles began to fill up with tourists. People of all ages and races came to watch the performance, including children who came with their parents, elderly couples, and adventurers.

People of all walks of life gathered to watch the show. Were these people fans of Xenon’s Biography, or did they come to see the performance of the Lirus Orchestra? Maybe both. It was a proud moment for me.

Moreover, more people came than I expected, and the fact that we designated the plains as the stage was a good move. If it was a building, there might have been people who couldn’t see the performance, but there was no such worry now.

‘Is this really a fan art concept performance?’

To listen to the Lirus Orchestra’s performance, you had to pay a huge price, but as I mentioned before, they declared that they would receive support from sponsors, including themselves. Moreover, they showed a truly generous attitude by saying that all the support received at exhibitions would be donated to the development of the cultural industry, winning the favor of many people.

‘Those people care more about honor than money.’

I have seen it in my past life. When people become financially comfortable, they naturally seek more honor. Anyway, I saw this performance as a fanart concept, so it would be a good choice to donate the funds to the cultural industry to give them greater honor.

“What should I do? Should I just wear this? I thought this might happen and brought another one… No, he’s a fool, so he probably didn’t even think about it.”

What is she saying?

I glanced briefly at the sulking cat. She was either trying to cool down her flushed face or covering it with her hands.

Of course, I couldn’t help but have doubts about what she was saying. Maybe there was another meaning in what I said earlier.

But after learning the etiquette I learned at home, I never made a statement that could be misunderstood. I just wanted to chat over a cup of coffee in my bedroom.

‘I’ll find out after the festival is over.’

For now, let’s just focus on the performance. If we get distracted by other things, we might not be able to concentrate.

During the brief moment I was lost in thought, it seemed that the preparation for the performance was almost complete, and all the musicians were seated. I examined the appearance of the Lirus Orchestra in detail, which was not at all inferior to the orchestra I saw in my past life, proving that they were indeed the world’s best. It was not even comparable to the band that came to the freshman event.

And even at the freshman event, I felt that where people live is similar, and the instruments were very similar to those I had seen frequently in my past life. For example, string instruments like the violin, wind instruments like the flute, and finally percussion instruments. There were many similarities compared to my past life.

Suddenly, while I was looking around at the instruments, a performer behind the stage struck a drum strongly with a stick. Despite the fact that the stage had openings on all sides, the thunder-like vibration shook the entire stage. As the sound of thunder reverberated throughout the stage, the previously noisy audience suddenly became quiet, leaving only the lingering resonance of the drum.

Even Marie, who was muttering to herself next to me, raised her head in surprise. I was fascinated, thinking that I could make the sound of thunder with just one drum as I looked forward.

In an instant, the surroundings became quiet, and a man standing in the center of the stage turned his back to face the audience. He was the conductor, Lirus, who had just announced in a loud voice.

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen! I’m Lirus, the composer and conductor of the Lirus Orchestra. Nice to meet you!”

Lirus spoke in a thunderous voice, amplifying his voice with magic so that it spread throughout the entire stage. In response to his polite greeting, not only me but all of the audience welcomed Lirus with thunderous applause.

As the sound of applause gradually died down, Lirus opened his mouth with a bright expression.

“I feel honored to be able to share my performance with all of you. As you all know, the performance that I will show you today is inspired by Xenon’s Biography, which I composed myself. Some of you may have come just to see my performance, but I believe most of you are here because you love Xenon’s Biography.”

His explanation continued on and on. I wondered if he always did this before a performance, and dozed off while looking left and right. Before I knew it, Marie had settled down and was now fixed on the performance. Cecily seemed to be the same. As Marie knew more about the Lirus Orchestra than Cecily did as she is from Helium, I asked her about it.

“Marie.”

“Huh?”

As I called her name, Marie looked surprised and stared at me. I asked her the question that I was curious about while looking at her face.

“Do you always explain like this before a performance? I’ve never seen a performance before.”

“Oh, no. Normally, they just start the performance right away.”

“Really?”

“Um, Isaac?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you… hold my hand?”

She asked me in a shy voice. I looked at Marie, whose face had turned red like a persimmon due to her shyness, and held her hand.

This is not a big deal, just holding hands. When I took Marie’s hand, she smiled and squeezed my hand.

I have a feeling that I’ll be holding hands throughout the performance, but it’s okay, I don’t mind.

“The name of the song I’m going to show you is ‘Life.’ I believe you’ll know where I got my inspiration and how I came up with this name.”

“Life…”

Cecily murmured quietly on my right. She seemed to be completely absorbed in Lirus’s explanation.

Earlier, Lirus mentioned that he was inspired by seeing the end of Sakran. So the song he’s going to show us will reveal the life of Sakran and the demons.

I think overall it’ll have a dark atmosphere. It might be a sorry statement for the demons, but they are a race that fits well with darkness.

“Finally, before we start the performance, there’s something I want to tell you. Our Lirus Orchestra’s performance is just an appetizer. The real performance will be with the Matrics Troupe after this.”

“What?”

“What does that mean?”

Just as they were expecting the start of the performance, Lirus made a statement that was enough to confuse the audience. This made the audience begin to stir.

I was also just as surprised. The size of the band alone is impressive, but to think that this is just an appetizer. Then how amazing will the collaboration with the Matrics Troupe be?

With a soft smile as if he had expected the excitement in the audience, Lirus spoke up.

“Ah, of course, just because it’s a preview doesn’t mean the performance will be short or anything. I’ll show you everything, haha.”

“… …”

“Well then, let’s start the performance now. I hope everyone enjoys it.”

After a long explanation, the signs of the performance finally began to appear. I tightly held Marie’s hand, focusing my eyes and ears.

Unless there’s magic, there’s no recording function in this world, so this will be the only time I hear it…

Snap!

Suddenly, the sound of a finger flicking came from Cecily’s direction. I looked at Cecily with a puzzled expression.

Cecily smiled at me, knowing that I would be watching her. She then explained what she had done.

“It’s the recording magic. I can listen to the music I want anytime, anywhere. However, it only records what I hear, so only I can listen to it.”

“… …”

Indeed, she was on another level like the elves. I chuckled and looked towards the stage.

Lirus greeted the audience again with courtesy as the applause sounded like the stage was about to die down. He turned his body around to face his band.

As soon as they entered the theater mode, the sound of applause gradually faded away and soon a quiet silence settled in. The lights that illuminated the audience seats through special devices also went out, and a pitch-black darkness descended. Only the band on stage was illuminated by the lights. I gripped Marie’s hand, my excitement swelling even more. 

And then…

Ooh-

Starting with the heavy and dark melody of the cello, the performance of “Life” began. It was a piece that expressed the life of a demon, as the artist herself claimed, with a dark and solemn atmosphere centered on the strings. The sound of the drums ringing intermittently resonated deeply, and even a sense of sadness could be felt.

Even though the piece created a gloomy atmosphere for about ten minutes, suddenly the tense melody changed. If the beginning of the piece revealed the dark nature of demons, this tension might have been an expression of the inner struggle of fighting against devils throughout one’s life.

One becomes the devil that they have been avoiding and fighting against, consumed by desire in a moment of carelessness. Even if you restrain yourself, you must fight the inner demon every day. The life of a demon is like a constant struggle with oneself, born with the fate of having to fight against oneself for a lifetime.

‘I,I need to record this…’

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As I listened to the piece, the urge to record it grew stronger and stronger. Not only did the piece perfectly match my taste, but the fact that it was composed with inspiration from Xenon’s Biography was the biggest factor. I used to save BGMs and OSTs that I liked on my phone even in my past life, and I also wanted to record the performance of the Lirus Orchestra. However, it was truly regrettable that I could not do so.

In the end, there were only two options. One was to remember not to forget, and the other was to continue calling the Lirus Orchestra to our territory. Due to the limitations of my memory, which tends to forget things that are not recorded, the former was almost impossible, and the only option left was the latter.

‘I wish they would create more pieces of music…’

As I was lost in trivial thoughts, the performance reached its climax. The tense music gradually faded away, returning to the melancholic atmosphere of the early part, which was not much different from the beginning. But I thought it was even more appropriate now.

The demons are closest to darkness, yet paradoxically, they crave light and are more human than anyone else. However, their lives are filled with tragedies that are beyond measure. And like being born with a tragic destiny, most of them end up with unfortunate endings. It’s a pity, but that’s reality, and the overall mood of the entire piece is likely due to this.

If it had been another species, especially human life, it would not have been expressed in music, and if it had not been the Lirus Orchestra, They would not have thought of composing a piece about the demons’ lives.

‘What is Cecily feeling?’

As a human, I simply enjoyed the music, but it would be a more impressive piece for Cecily, who is a demon. Turning my head to the side, I checked Cecily’s expression.

“…Sniff.”

“… …”

“Sniff…Huhk…”

Moisture filled her reddened crimson eyes, and it ran down her cheeks, leaving traces behind. She kept wiping them with her hands, but the tears kept flowing steadily.

I stared at her, dumbfounded, while Cecily wept.

It was such a different sight from her usual playful demeanor, and it was the first time I had seen her like this.

Fortunately, she didn’t wear much makeup, so her swollen eyes weren’t too noticeable, but it was still shocking to me.

‘Wha… what…’

I turned my head to Marie, wondering if something was wrong with her too, but she wasn’t shedding tears like Cecily. She was just listening to the music with trembling lips, while her eyes were moist and her nose was runny.

It meant that I was the only one calmly enjoying the performance. It was either a medieval sentiment or my lack of sensitivity that made me feel confused.

‘The music is undoubtedly good… but is this something to cry about?’

I thought that the influence of my past life was probably the biggest factor. After pondering how I should react, I decided to just switch to appreciation mode.

Forcing myself to cry here would probably be even more strange.

And so, how much time had passed? The performance ended with the soaring notes of the violin.

It felt like there was definitely something more to come, but they purposely ended it like that. The reason was not just the music, but the presence of the opera beside the orchestra.

The opera singers sat still without even moving their lips from the beginning to the end of the performance. There must have been a reason for the Lirus Orchestra not to let them stand up for no reason.

CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP!!

But as if to announce that the show was over, the lights turned on, and thunderous applause erupted. It was an enormous round of applause. 

Marie wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes as she held my hand, and Cecily wiped away her own tears and eagerly gave the applause.

As I watched Cecily’s side profile, where a mark had begun to form, I rummaged through my pocket and took out a handkerchief. It was a new handkerchief, not the one I had given to Adelia.

“Noona, here.”

“Hu… Huh?”

Cecily turned her head towards me when I called her. Her reddened eyes, made even more poignant by the tears, looked straight at me.

Without a word, I handed her the handkerchief. Marie was also stealing tears, but Cecily seemed to need it more, as tears were streaming down her face.

“Oh… T-Thank you…”

Cecily blushed in embarrassment as she saw the handkerchief, then took it from my hand and began to wipe away her tears.

There were still marks left from the tears she shed, but they seemed to disappear quickly.

“I guess it was quite moving.”

“I suppose it’s because I’m a demon… The gloomy atmosphere and the sad music made me cry. Huh…”

I couldn’t have imagined that Cecily had this side to her, I looked at her with a surprised expression as she answered me in a trembling voice.

Indeed, people are unpredictable. Both Adelia and Cecily, who seemed to be far from tears, were the ones shedding more tears than anyone.

“How about Isaac? How was it?”

“It was just… a great song. I feel like I want to remember it forever.”

Kuwong!!

Before I could even finish my response, a strong vibration echoed from the front. It was a huge vibration that shook not only the audience but also the entire field.

The applause that had filled the stage was silenced in an instant, and everyone, including me, turned their gaze towards the source of the vibration.

Finally, something black was discovered in the center of the field behind the Lirus Orchestra, or the middle of the plain. The lighting there was appropriately focused, so we could see it more clearly.

And that was… a person. A person writhing on the ground.

An unidentified person had intruded onto the stage.

“Sto… stop it… aaahhh…”

The person on the ground started screaming in agony. It was a situation that was hard to accept, and I could only blink my eyes in disbelief.

Not only me but also the other people were in the same situation. The audience could not respond promptly to the unexpected situation.

‘What, what is it?’

Kuduk! Kwap!

When everyone was bewildered and unable to move their bodies recklessly, a strange phenomenon occurred in that person. Along with the sound of rustling, wings gradually sprouted out from his back. The wings were not like those of a normal bird, but more like those of a devil that one only reads about in literature, with no feathers, just membranes like a bat’s wings.

“Ahhhh…!”

“What the f*** is that?”

The monster screamed and exposed the devil’s wings on his back, causing me to curse in return. Even if something was wrong, I felt it firmly with my entire body and tried to stand up hastily, but there was a restraining hand, which turned out to be Cecily wiping away tears with a handkerchief. She held onto my wrist and opened her mouth as if to tell me not to worry.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing.”

“Nothing?! That’s…!”

“He’s not a demon.”

“Wha…t?”

At the same time Cecily spoke those words, something changed in the man who was turning into a devil. Suddenly, a large scythe appeared and pulled him by the neck. As if caught, the man’s form as a devil disappeared into the darkness behind the light. There was no one standing in the illuminated circle except for the pitch-black darkness that surrounded it.

As I stared with a dazed mind, an old man’s voice rang throughout the stage.

-Morphae, please grant this poor soul eternal rest…

Morphae is one of the gods that appears in Xenon’s Biography. Based on the real-world deity, Mora, it is a god that the demons in Xenon’s Biography worship.

It was only then that I realized that the appearance of the man transforming into a devil and the appearance of the giant scythe that grabbed his neck were all just part of the performance. The giant scythe was the weapon of Xenon’s greatest scene stealer, Sakran.

‘…Was all of that just a show?’

What an amazing trailer.

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