episode_0170

I think the saying that your hair has turned white is for times like this. His brain was literally at a standstill, so he couldn’t answer anything and was left dazed, so Prinia asked for an answer again.

“Right? No?”

“How…how did you know?”

In the end, Prinia sighed as she gave the worst answer, going one step further than affirming and asking a question.

“Ha… On the other hand, how did you think I wouldn’t know?”

“No, Stella said she definitely wouldn’t get caught.”

“You probably didn’t get caught. I didn’t know either, but I just found out when I saw you.”

“I did a good job cleaning it up.”

“You have no sense of faith at all. Have you forgotten what kind of god you are?”

“Aha.”

If I were to sum up myself in one word, I would be the god of conception. Of course, sex is a necessary condition for conception, so not only should you keep your body in order, but you should also take care of your faith.

“They asked for it as a trading condition for the artifact.”

“Aha… Is that in your hand the relic you got after having fun with Stella?”

“Do you really have to do that even if you say it?…”

“I had a feeling, but I had no idea that Stella would actually do something.”

“You knew that kind of thing, but you sent me to Stella?”

“What should I do when Stella is the only one who has the relic? You should have held back.”

“I’m not blaming you, but it would have been nice if you had at least given me a tip…”

Who should I blame now? Anyway, I mixed myself with Stella of my own free will, and Prinia saw through that fact. Coincidentally, Prinia was the god who could most easily influence the underworld through the medium of the World Tree.

“I’m asking just in case… Do you plan on explaining it to Arjen?”

I shook my head in response to Prinia’s question.

“I plan to keep it as a secret for the rest of my life.”

This secret will not be leaked unless Prinia tells the elves through the World Tree and the elves relay the message back to Arjen. Prinia seemed to know that fact and looked at me with a sinister expression.

“Hmm. Is that so?”

“Uh… can you please keep it a secret?”

“Why me?”

“That’s right… If Arjen finds out about this, he will go on a rampage to kill Stella.”

“Uh… that’s a bit difficult.”

I don’t have to worry about being killed by Arjen. Even though I thought it was a very trashy thing to say, Arjen loved me so much that even if I had an affair now, he wouldn’t have done anything to harm me. Even before leaving on the trip, Arjen had already declared to Wayne that he would annihilate the other race, not mine.

“Of course, Arjen is not a god, so he cannot actually come to where Stella is and harm her, but since there is a dragon that has already reached here, we cannot be at ease. Um.”

A dragon that has once faced a god. I could easily guess that it was Akasha. However, there were many ways for Arjen to get Stella into trouble without having to face them.

“If humanity were to be annihilated right away, it would be a huge blow to Stella’s faith.”

“…I’ll keep it a secret.”

In the end, Prinia gave in to threats that weren’t my threats. It seemed that Viola, too, had her own trauma that had turned vast lands into barren land for hundreds of years. If it were just Arzen, it might be different, but if it was Viola, she had the power to cleanse humanity the moment she really put her mind to it.

“The story has leaked somewhere else, but anyway, how do you use this instrument? No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t look like a musical instrument; it just looks like a cup.”

When I held out a colorless and transparent cup, Prinia took it cautiously. At that moment, the relic that was just a cup instantly turned into a lute.

“What, how did you do it?”

“Yes. This artifact changes into the form of a musical instrument that the owner is most comfortable with.”

“Why am I a cup?”

“If you put water in a cup and hit it with a stick, it makes a nice sound. You can control the sound with the amount of water. It’s a great instrument. How long have you been living in isolation from Yeonju?”

“I have nothing to say.”

I had to keep my mouth shut due to Prinia’s sudden outpouring of harsh words. At least, I had to take comfort in the fact that Stella, like me, was kept in the form of a cup.

“Anyway. Let me explain how I make the sounds and how I play them. Once you hear the explanation, wouldn’t it still be a better string instrument than a water cup?”

Prinia said so and plucked the strings, showing various notes and chords. If you try to follow along, you won’t be able to do it at all, but once you have enough knowledge to know how to play, the artifact surprisingly turns into something other than a cup in my hand.

“Oh… but what guitar?”

“It’s my first time seeing an instrument. First of all, it looks similar to a lute.”

“Perhaps the lute is a deteriorated instrument? Isn’t it?”

Since I couldn’t play anything, I didn’t know anything about the history of the instrument, but I thought it might be because they just looked similar. Anyway, as I was holding in my hands the relic that had turned into a great acoustic guitar, I somehow felt it fit in my hands even though it was my first time holding a guitar.

“Now. Now, if you think of the score you know in your head, your hands will move automatically. Or, try pointing the actual sheet music at the blue wave pattern you see over there.”

The part that Prinia pointed to was the body of the guitar, and when I looked closely, I saw that there was literally a wave pattern (~) engraved under the bridge of the plain acoustic guitar.

I thought it was an incongruous decoration in many ways, but it seemed to be an important part of the relic. If you look at what remains whether it’s a cup, a lute, or an acoustic guitar.

I took the score of the song that Ludwig had written by hand to the wave pattern on the guitar. Then, the sheet music was sucked into the gap in the pattern, like dust being sucked into a vacuum cleaner.

“Wow.”

“That’s it. Now you can play that song whenever you want.”

“Huh? Really?”

As if I was being deceived, I remembered the song with the appropriate working title ‘Descent of the Hero’, and to my surprise, my hands began to move without my will, as if they were being controlled by something. My fingers were sore from squeezing the strings so hard, but a melody so beautiful that I didn’t even have time to think about the pain rang through the guitar.

“Wow, the song is good. Is this song composed by the god of music?”

“You may not believe it, but he is still praised as the god of music on Earth.”

Although the nickname ‘Music Saint’ is more popular, it is consistent with the meaning that he rose to the rank of saint through music.

“I guess adding lyrics is also work, right?”

“Don’t worry about the lyrics.”

It should be a lyric with a specific purpose of praising Wayne, but it is a combination of several sentences anyway. I have a lot of good phrases and lyrics in my memory, so all I have to do is hit them to the beat and melody.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy, but it was definitely easier than composing or playing this music.

“It’s a shame. I tried to make a wish later under the pretext of exploiting his weakness.”

“What’s your wish? If it’s not difficult, I’ll grant it.”

Even if Arzen had no intention of harming me, I would also be in trouble if the story spread, so granting Prinia’s one wish was not a fool’s errand.

“Is it true? Ahh~”

I don’t know what she was wishing for to make her so happy, but I returned to the underworld, leaving her behind.

“…Are you here?”

“Yes. The performance issue was also resolved safely.”

As soon as I arrived, Wayne welcomed me. Wayne looked at the guitar in my arms and tilted his head.

“A strange object suddenly appeared again? What is this?”

“Uh… It’s like some kind of holy relic. It’s an instrument that even people who don’t know much about music can skillfully play the scores they remember.”

“Is it a string instrument…? This is the first time I’ve seen it. It’s amazing.”

“It’s called guitar. It is a very common instrument on the planet where I live.”

“Really? Then Eugene, do you have any music you can play?”

“No.”

It felt quite bitter to admit that I couldn’t even play a common instrument, but I couldn’t help it. In modern society, having an instrument that you can play as a hobby means that you are a wealthy person, both materially and mentally. Coincidentally, before I came here, neither of us were wealthy.

“Oh, that’s right. Have you met Stella?”

“Uh…? Uh huh? Why, why… why!?”

“…Why are you being so surprised? Anyway, the only people I’m close to are Stella and Prinia.”

“That’s right, but… it was me, right? Why?”

Since I had been working so hard, I was startled just by hearing Stella’s ‘s’.

“Nothing different, a separate oracle suddenly came down. He gave me a lot of divine power, and when I asked him why, he said that something happy happened and that I should ask you, Eugene, for more details.”

“This guy is really…”

They said they would keep it a secret, but it looks like they are anxious to reveal it somehow. It’s a shame, so I’ll have to make sure I don’t return the instrument for a while.

“It was Stella who lent me this instrument. I guess it’s because I gave Stella something she wanted in return.”

“Really? Stella, what did you want?”

“…I can’t tell you that’s a secret.”

“Eh. It’s shameful. How about telling me a little bit?”

If I tell you, you will definitely tell Arzen, and you will have no choice but to stand by and watch the destruction of humanity without knowing what is going on.

Swallowing these words, I tried to laugh it off.