episode_0026

026 – The Music Demon # 1

E&S is a three-member band.

First off, the ‘E’ of E&S, Euriol, who is in charge of main vocals and the lyre.

When she was alive, she was a nymph called Eurydice.

She was famous as the lover of Orpheus, a legendary musician and hero. In this Soul Society, she was also a celebrity who succeeded in becoming a top-tier entertainer with her own talent and passion alone.

She currently had short-cut blue-hued bobbed hair, was wearing an oversized shirt and jeans, and had a magic conch on her ear like headphones.

“……”

Whether she didn’t know I had come to the office or simply didn’t care, she was silently listening to music. Occasionally, she even hummed a tune.

Rather than being awkward with human relationships, it felt like she had no interest at all?

‘Hipster.’

I don’t know the meaning or etymology of that word, but Euriol seemed like a hipster.

And a highly successful one at that.

Next were the Sirens who handle the ‘S’ in E&S, Rilke and Carnoy.

They were Sirens, and Sirens were sea spirits.

“I am Rilke, a nymph of the sea water. I’m in charge of the bass. When I was alive, I was called a Siren, but I wonder if I was famous on land.”

Rilke was a woman with striking yellow honey-colored hair.

Her ear tips were short and pointed, which is a characteristic of nymphs, the fairies of the Greek worldview.

Her height was tall like mine, and her size was considerable in many ways, giving off a strong impression of being an ‘adult’.

“I am Carnoy of the ‘Wild Hitting’…!”

Next to her was Carnoy, the drummer.

Carnoy had long orange hair and her physique was small enough to be called a girl, an appearance that reminded me of Melinoye.

Of course, even if she looks like this, she must be at least hundreds of years old, so I shouldn’t underestimate her.

“Ms. Carnoy, are you also a Siren like Ms. Rilke?”

“…No, she was just a nymph who lived in the fields, they say.”

“This is my drum, ‘Thumper’…!”

Carnoy introducing her drum.

On each drum surface, there were drawings that looked clumsily drawn with crayons. They looked exactly like someone’s face.

“What is this?”

In response to my question, Ms. Rilke, the bassist, answered instead of Carnoy, the drummer.

“It’s Orpheus. Our E&S is a group formed to overthrow Orpheus, you see. Since everyone hated that man, we quickly became close.”

Heheheh.

It was Ms. Rilke, whose yellow eyes shone.

Indeed, even if you assume that’s the case for Ms. Eurydice, the main vocalist, the Sirens were also women deeply connected to Orpheus.

Long ago, when Orpheus sailed on the Argo and adventured with the heroes, he encountered Sirens who lured sailors to their deaths by drowning while passing through the demonic strait.

The fog-covered coast, where the Sirens’ songs faintly permeated.

When even the strong-willed heroes twitched their bodies to jump into the sea, Orpheus sang and overwhelmed the Sirens’ skill.

“I haven’t slept soundly since that day. I was confident in my singing, but I was completely defeated by that man. So, I’m just waiting for the day I can defeat him fairly with my own skill.”

“This Carnoy doesn’t know what’s what, but hitting the drum wildly is just fun…! If I hit the drum, my mood gets better, and I can earn a lot of money…!”

Boom, boom, boom, boom-.

Carnoy hit the drum wildly.

No wonder, so she’s Carnoy of ‘Wild Hitting’.

“You have an interesting nymph there too.”

The mature bassist, Ms. Rilke, showed interest in the newcomer behind me.

But only for a moment, Rilke and Melinoye approached each other and touched foreheads?

What are they doing?

As I wondered, Ms. Arachne, who was sipping coffee from her personal tumbler, spoke.

“Oh, I haven’t seen that in a while. Nymphs apparently greet each other like that when they first meet. By touching foreheads, they can apparently learn about each other’s health or evolution status.”

They have all sorts of weird characteristics.

On top of that, evolution status, you say…

‘Do nymphs really evolve, I wonder?’

Like Digimon or Pokemon?

I feel like I’ve heard something like that somewhere before.

“I, Rilke, have seen many nymphs so far, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a strange and unusual one. I’ve never even heard of a black-haired nymph before… and her constitution seems special…”

Ms. Rilke exclaimed.

Soon, Melinoye also put her hands on her hips and straightened her shoulders, as if she had been waiting.

“This Melinoye is a miraculous business nymph who will one day rise to the position of CEO, I say! Although she is currently just a gutter water nymph… her dream is to evolve into a fiend nymph someday, indeed!”

Evolution? Fiend?

I couldn’t follow the conversation.

My knowledge of Greek mythology, which I had learned while studying up to my master’s degree, felt like it was crumbling.

However, Melinoye was delighted.

“Seeing such big nymphs makes me feel good, indeed! This Melinoye wants to become big too! She is curious how she can grow as big as Rilke or Euriol, indeed!”

Melinoye standing on tiptoes.

Is her small height a complex for her?

Soon, Rilke chortled.

“I also had a time when I was that small. I remember the time when I tried hard in many ways to become an adult. Why did I want to become an adult so badly…? Being an adult isn’t good for anything anyway.”

Hoohohohohohohoho─.

Ms. Rilke’s expression was bright, but for some reason, the darkness in her heart seemed deep.

Anyway, the reason I came to see them was for collaboration.

‘Personally, it’s hard to like nymphs.’

Considering that I came to this ‘Happy World’ because I wrote a thesis on nymphs, nymphs were like landmines or traps to me.

It would be best to quickly get the work done and leave this place.

“I have something I’d like to say about this saga recording. Before that, I’d like you to accept a commemorative gift prepared by our company.”

Smoothly-.

I held out the ‘honey candies’ that nymphs reportedly liked.

It was an item in a luxurious gift box, and as soon as she saw it, the drummer Carnoy’s eyes sparkled.

“This Carnoy loves ‘honey candies’ so much! She never gets tired of eating them every single day! It’s great that she gets candy if she hits the drum wildly!”

Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble-.

Carnoy started stuffing the honey candies into her mouth wildly.

Soon, Ms. Rilke chuckled.

“When I was young, I also loved candies like that. I can’t eat them now because they’re too sweet. Is it because I became an adult that I can’t eat them? Or did I become an adult because I couldn’t eat them anymore…?”

When you become an adult, it does become difficult to eat sweet things like candies or chocolates.

Because you have to worry about blood sugar.

It seems to be the case for nymphs too.

“This Melinoye dreams of becoming a mature business nymph! She has absolutely no interest in ‘honey candies’! She wants to talk about work right away!”

At the mention of talking about work, Euriol, who was listening to music with her magic conch, approached me.

And then she let out a light snort.

“Manager Joy, my opinion should have already been conveyed through the producer. I think it’s strange for an outsider like me to interfere with recording a saga. Employees should do such things themselves.”

“E… Euriol!”

It was a startled Ms. Arachne.

Perhaps thinking Euriol was being rude.

“Arachne, I won’t flatter power or material possessions. The sole reason I sing is because I want to be free. Freedom and liberation, that’s why I sing.”

“Alright. Ms. Euriol’s opinion is certainly valid. Then, we will record the song as sung by our employees. Instead, could you at least cooperate with the accompaniment?”

Euriol’s stubbornness was good news for me.

Everyone must be expecting a splendid recording from the singer Euriol.

Just watch me present the employees’ amateurish singing as the final product.

As much as expectations for me had risen, the disappointment would be just as great.

Of course, there was something that bothered me a little.

The fact that Krauser, whom I brought today, was actually an amazing singer.

However, the current Krauser was nothing more than a clown.

He sings terribly.

It was unfortunate, but that was a fact.

‘In the first place, it seems he won’t cooperate with this task anyway.’

I vaguely felt that he was uncomfortable encountering Euriol.

That means he won’t be involved in this recording at all.

‘I should record the song ordinarily yet adequately.’

Perfect variable elimination.

I said satisfyingly.

“Then, after we finish preparing, let’s start recording in about 30 minutes.”

# # #

The man didn’t like this entertainment agency at all.

His heart kept churning, and he felt bloated as if what he ate in the morning was stuck.

‘Gasp, they’re Sirens!’

What’s more, there were plenty of women in this agency with whom he had a deep ill-fated relationship.

When the sea spirit Sirens wandered the hallways, Krauser, who was Orpheus, deliberately made a strange expression.

He thought things would become very troublesome in many ways if they recognized him.

But that backfired.

The woman holding the bass guitar asked.

“Wait, you there. Why are you making such a suspicious face? This office is off-limits to non-staff.”

“Ahem, I am also staff. I am called Krauser, the newcomer from Penal Enforcement Division Team 1.”

“Ah, then have we met somewhere before? Your atmosphere is strangely…”

“Absolutely not!”

Thump, thump-.

His heart pounded.

Just then.

Someone appeared from behind Rilke.

She was a woman with striking short-cut bobbed hair.

“Rilke, what are you doing there? Why aren’t you going to the recording studio?”

“Ah, Euriol.”

Euriol, Eurydice’s childhood name before her evolution!

As luck would have it, the person he least wanted to meet was encountered in an inescapable hallway.

The man despaired.

Because he didn’t want to show his pathetic appearance to his former lover who was doing very well.

‘I didn’t even put on lotion today!’

If Euriol recognized him, there would be nothing sadder than that.

But on the other hand, he also harbored a subtle hope.

‘Those long threads of fate, like spiderwebs, led us here. Maybe we can start over… like popular story lovers reuniting across space and time…’

Soon, Euriol’s and the man’s eyes met.

Euriol frowned.

“You, who are you? Ah, by any chance, are you a ‘Happy World’ employee who was scheduled to record a song today? Manager Joy brought you, right?”

But Euriol didn’t even recognize Krauser.

Even if his appearance had changed a little, they were a couple who had promised each other eternity.

In some ways, is it a relief?

Nevertheless, he couldn’t hide his bitter feelings.

“I didn’t come here to record… In fact, I am also a singer… Ahem. To what extent, you ask? Someone who had made quite a name for himself back in the day…”

A subtle appeal, both fearing recognition and hoping for it.

Human hearts are so complicated.

But Euriol actually got angry.

“You’re a singer? There are sometimes people who think they look cool if they just decorate their appearance showily. Don’t you dare look down on music? Because of people like you, I get lumped in and treated like a clown too.”

“What…”

Just by simply painting his face white and growing his hair a bit.

Beyond not recognizing him, to even utter such harsh words.

‘Euriol, was your love for me truly just that much?!’

The man got angry.

‘When were you chasing after me saying you liked me?! And now that you’ve found some success, you’re treating me like a complete stranger?! That fickle woman who only likes popular men!’

Living in a multi-family house in ‘Happy World’, a place filled only with fierce criminals and famous for having the cheapest rent and worst security, the man’s personality had deteriorated terribly.

‘What even is E&S in the first place? Despite being a hipster, don’t act like an idol riding on popularity! Is it about money? Were money and fame that good to you!?’

From the man, no trace of the composure or nobility from his days as a hero could be found.

Eventually, at this moment, his heart, stained with overdue rent, cactus, distorted ambition for success, failed love, and an inferiority complex─.

“That wretched band of women with just flashy visuals are merely putting on a show as entertainers, not music. I don’t even know if you truly have musical talent.”

─he transformed into a true demon in ‘Happy World’.

“Huh? Excuse me, what did you just─.”

“I’ll make you truly understand who is truly looking down on music!”