Pyris crawled onto the stage, and the hands of the performers playing music came to an abrupt halt at the bewildering scene.
Looking at that, I can’t help but worry about what Pyris is planning to do next.
I wondered where Dayton or Yerna were, leaving a child like that unattended, and as I glanced around, it seemed they had been frantically searching for a while.
With a slightly disheveled appearance and a look of shock, they were staring at Pyris.
Just earlier, she had been gobbling up desserts; I couldn’t understand what had possessed her to climb onto the stage.
Seeing her rosy cheeks, could it be that she has been drinking?
Did she go on stage tipsy?
But then again, her behavior seemed too normal for that.
She wasn’t staggering like Shirud and only had a slight blush on her face.
“Shirud, you sit here for a while and rest. I think I need to go check over there.”
“Yeah, yeah, that sounds good…”
Shirud sat down, holding his forehead as if he felt dizzy.
He really must be weak to alcohol; he looks like that after just half a glass of fruit wine.
However, considering Shirud’s constitution, which seems to react more strongly to substances, it’s possible that alcohol affects him even more.
Thinking about it that way, it makes sense that Shirud has suddenly become drunk.
Luke left Shirud at a nearby table and headed straight for the stage.
Eventually, Pyris, who had just barely gotten on stage, began to grumble at the performers who had stopped playing.
“Hey, why did you suddenly stop playing? It’s no fun.”
The performers, flustered by her appearance, spoke gently to Pyris.
“Little girl, no matter how much you liked the performance, you can’t just jump on stage! You’re being disruptive.”
The sight of a child suddenly showing up on stage seemed to strike them as somewhat cute, so even though they were baffled, they chided her politely.
Luke, who had approached just below the stage, added, “That’s right, Pyris. Get down from the stage! Are you drunk or something? Did you have a drink over there?”
Pyris shook her head and replied, “No! I have something I want to say.”
She pointed a finger at the performers and said, “Mister, you’re too red; it needs a bit more yellow mixed in. The sharp sounds should be softer to be more pleasant. And you, sister…”
With a serious expression as if she were sharing some great revelation, Pyris continued her critique with the performers, who all looked utterly dumbfounded.
“…What?”
“So… huh?”
The performers began to panic more at the child’s bizarre remarks.
They tried to respond but couldn’t make sense of what she was saying.
Red, yellow, sharp, soft—what on earth did those mean?
These words didn’t sound like any sort of direction for how the music should be played at all.
Therefore, the child’s rude interruption, calling their performance into question, seemed to slip right past their consciousness, and they didn’t even feel any annoyance.
It seemed she wanted to make some kind of a point, but since she didn’t have the words, it couldn’t be helped.
“Hmm…!”
Pyris, ultimately dissatisfied that the performers didn’t understand her at all, furrowed her brows and put her hands on her hips.
She was mimicking the posture Luke takes when reprimanding her.
“I guess I need to show you directly!”
————
Pyris ended up positioning herself among the performers.
Although she was drawing quite a bit of attention from below the stage, she seemed entirely unconcerned, focusing solely on the instrument she was about to play.
Pyris muttered with a big smile, “I’ve always wanted to try this.”
In front of Pyris was a piano.
It was an instrument she had really liked during her previous selection, but due to its massive size, which completely disregarded portability, she had to give up on having it.
Thus, Pyris had not had many opportunities to touch such a large instrument until now.
In most cases, unless your home was as spacious as Mary’s, it was nearly impossible to bring such a huge instrument inside.
Pyris had little interest in pianos that played sounds using magic rather than with her own hands, so magical pianos were not an alternative either.
Hence, this was her first chance to touch an instrument directly with her hands.
Pyris pressed a few keys to produce sound and nodded.
“Well then, I’m going to give it a try! Happy birthday, Sister Luke! I’m going to play for you! This is my present!”
Suddenly waving her hand toward Luke, she caused a flurry of gazes to direct toward her, making Luke feel a bit flustered as she waved back in response.
“Y-Yeah, that’s good…”
Luke thought that that comment sounded a bit like something out of an old minstrel’s script.
Perhaps because of that, a few people burst into laughter, finding it amusing.
While it was a straightforward comment for Pyris, nonetheless.
Seeing that her greeting was acknowledged, Pyris promptly turned back toward the piano, took her position, and began to race across the keys without hesitation.
Cheerful and joyful, it bounced lightly yet flowed as naturally as flowing water.
The notes Pyris selected could have easily been transformed into something intense and overpowering, but they connected gently as if they were conversing.
Moreover, the strongly accented parts were played with a clarity that made one wonder if it truly was the child’s hand pressing the keys.
Additionally, it seemed Pyris could hardly contain the excitement bubbling up within her as she began to hum a song while playing.
Her still-developing human language skills couldn’t deliver proper lyrics, so she was only humming a string of “la la la,” but even so, it was sufficient.
The sudden performance by the child startled the performers once again.
They were surprised both by her audacity in starting to play and by how pleasant it turned out to be.
As she played softly, sometimes with a touch of sadness, with each continuing note, a curious sense of emotional crescendo built up.
Once you embark on a career as a performer, it becomes hard to enjoy music like others, even when it is good.
You begin to hear the performer’s mistakes even when you don’t want to, and without intending to, you find yourself analyzing the rhythm and melody.
However, this music was different somehow.
It felt genuinely enjoyable, reaching right into the heart.
There were no distracting thoughts; I could purely enjoy the music.
Could it be because it was the first time hearing this music?
The performers began to wonder about the sheet music for this unique composition they were hearing for the first time.
Where could such music possibly come from that they were performing it like this?
If a proper score existed, it would make them want to play it at least once.
But even Pyris herself didn’t know the piece she was playing.
If she were to stop playing the piano for a while, she would probably forget it entirely.
Just like how you often forget the mundane chatter you had with a friend when killing time after a short while.
In fact, right now, Pyris was conversing through the piano.
No, it can be said that she actually was doing that.
Pyris’s performance was something that could be translated into spirit language.
If you roughly translated that into spirit language, it would go something like this.
“Happy birthday! But I just realized that I have to give presents on birthdays!
Sister’s friends said they would cut the birthday cake and then give presents later, but I’m not prepared, I’m sorry…
So today, I’m going to do what I can for you!
I wish I had a piano at home too! I’d like to receive a piano for my birthday later!
But I’m so sad I have no place to put it…”
Such a message.
“Truly Pyris-like content…”
It began as a birthday song, but ultimately, she was just saying whatever she wanted to, as it came to her mind.
While it might sound rather sentimental to others.
But if it sounds good to the ears, that’s all that matters, right?
After Pyris finished her performance, which felt long to some and short to others, the audience responded with applause filled with admiration.
Feeling pleased by their reaction, Pyris lightened her shoulders and smiled broadly.
“Not bad, huh? Have you learned the piano before?”
“What piece was that? It sounded wonderful. Who composed it?”
In response to the performer’s questions, Pyris grinned and said, “I made it! Did it sound good?”
“Really? You composed that? For such a young child, that’s amazing talent! Do you happen to have a score?”
The performers were greatly surprised, never expecting someone who looked around 8 years old could come up with such excellent musical ideas.
However, Pyris understood music but had no idea how to read sheet music.
She simply had no interest in the musical symbols and language defined by others.
“Well, I don’t have anything like that…”
“It’s a shame there’s no score. Do you have any other pieces? Or do you want to play something else? We’ll try to follow you.”
“Well… sure!”
Pyris immediately began to eagerly hit the keys once again.
This time, it was a piece that was clearly different from the initial tranquility, both fierce and joyful, while also filled with a passionate sense of happiness.
As expected, this was yet another piece they had never heard before.
But curiously, the performers could clearly recall how they should play certain parts, how to execute it.
Having done some improvisation before, it was a remarkable experience.
Typically, improvisation means simply playing according to following the performance.
It’s rare to have a clear musical idea come to mind during improvisation.
The performers exchanged surprised glances, sensing they were all experiencing the same thing.
It was intriguing.
And witnessing this phenomenon, it was evident that the child was genuinely enjoying playing the piano.
It seemed like a reflection of their younger selves when they first began to learn how to handle their instruments.
“This feeling has really been a long time coming.”
The improvisational performance had a richness of emotion that was decidedly different from when Pyris played alone.
The lively, upbeat music reminiscent of a classical ball made the audience feel compelled to sway along.
Indeed, the meaning embedded in the spirit language contained within the music was precisely that.
“Enjoyably, excitingly, and joyfully.”
An exuberant piece of music that without restraint would take hold of and shake emotions.
To think that just playing music could sway so many people’s feelings like this.
Seeing such a scene, it was certain that Pyris was an extraordinary spirit.
After all, Py was a different class of spirit, capable of something as astonishing as ‘manifestation,’ which even his own self from 5000 years ago had only heard of as a legend.
There was no way that a performance by such a spirit wouldn’t sound beautiful.
To begin with, wasn’t Py her musical mentor?
Thus, the musical stage really was nothing less than Pyris’s playground.
Noticing that Pyris likely wouldn’t be leaving the stage anytime soon, Luke turned away.
It was certainly better for her to be up there performing than running around causing trouble.
As Luke listened to Pyris’s cheerful performance, she thought, “By the way, it’s a performance where she is ‘directly’ participating rather than just being supported by the spirits.”
I wonder if the people here know?
That they’re witnessing a rare performance that cannot be seen anywhere else.
