If you like my work, please support me by joining my Patreon here.

This series is only possible thanks to my Patreons, paying for the professional translator and keeping this passion project feasible.

Chapter 0688 Bonus Side Story: Traveling Musicians, Ryo and Abel

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

“We should have departed from the city of Chuarou, but...”

“Did another city happen to be right next door...?”

Ryo looked bewildered, and Abel was bewildered as well.

Of course, the two of them were riding on Andalusia and Feiwan, and the ice <Dollies> was following behind them too.

And yet, the two of them could not understand the situation.

In front of them was a castle gate.

A huge gate, the kind you would find at the entrance to a city.

And yet, thirty minutes ago, the two had left the city of Chuarou, where they had resolved the transfer issue at Kanro Lake, and had once again hurried onward on their journey.

And yet, they had arrived at a city almost immediately.

Probably a different city from Chuarou...

And what was more, right in front of that gate...

“Abel-sama, and Ryo-sama, I presume. We have been expecting you.”

They were courteously greeted by an elegant old man, who bowed deeply.

“Yes we are indeed Abel and Ryo... but old sir, is this a different city from Chuarou?”

Abel asked on their behalf.

“This is Soupun-sama’s manor, the estate governing the entire region including Chuarou and the surrounding area.”

“The manor gate...”

“Wow, it is huge.”

The old man answered, and Ryo and Abel were astonished by the scale.

It was so large that they had mistaken it for a city gate.

Even if he was a lord, it was hard to imagine this being the gate of a private residence...

The two were politely guided inside.

After leaving Andalusia and Feiwan in someone’s care and entering the building, they found a man standing respectfully at the entrance, bowing.

“I am Count Soupun of Veevee. I am overwhelmed with joy to be able to welcome such renowned guests to my residence.”

After introducing himself and addressing the two, Soupun bowed deeply once more.

Conversely, Ryo and Abel were the ones left bewildered.

“Ah... Lord Soupun, please raise your head. As for the matter of Lake Kanro, we only did what we had to due to the circumstances. It was only natural as adventurers.”

“Not to mention, the residents asked us for help—and so did the water fai... those who are not human.”

Abel and Ryo replied.

“Yes, of course. I have also received a report from Deputy Magistrate Chuuran*. In fact, it was only a few dozen minutes ago. I was truly fortunate that you passed in front of this residence. Otherwise, I would have had to run after you.” (TLN: Written as Hyuran prev. will keep a lookout for which is it.)

Soupun answered with a smile.

“But that is not all.”

“Hm?”

“Sorry?”

Soupun bowed again and continued.

“You are Duke Rondo and his escort, Albert-dono, are you not?”

“Ah...”

“Er...”

Faced with the smiling question, the two hesitated over their answer.

“I was also present at the site of the Kyoonkai.”

“Ah...”

At Soupun’s words, Abel could only nod in the end.

Ryo nodded silently.

“To have been helped by two people so honored by the Emperor, and then to let you leave my territory without offering hospitality would be a lifelong disgrace for Count Veevee. Please, for the sake of my honor, accept my hospitality.”

“Ah...”

“With you saying that much...”

And so, the two were treated to a delicious meal.

It was almost enough to call it a life of wine, women, and song... though that would be going too far, but truly, dish after dish kept coming.

Still, while eating, there was something that bothered Ryo just a little.

They were dining with Soupun’s family in a broad indoor space like a lecture hall.

A huge table had been placed there.

According to Soupun, it was apparently a place used when holding banquets with senior officials or high-ranking military officers.

And in one corner of that lecture hall was an object covered with a cloth.

Only the upper structure could be seen, so Ryo could only imagine what it was...

Once everyone had had some alcohol and were feeling pleasantly tipsy, Ryo stood up and walked over to that ‘object’.

Then he gently lifted the cloth.

“It really is! Shen-Lon!”

Indeed, what was there was a grand piano.

“Shenlon?”

Abel did not really understand.

“Look, the piano.”

“Oh, a piano.”

So ‘piano’ was understandable.

“I ordered it at that Kyoonkai and bought it, but...”

Soupun said that much, then glanced at the woman beside him.

Soupun’s wife, whom he looked at... merely smiled warmly.

Yes, she smiled and brushed it off.

She seemed to have grown tired of practicing the piano.

“Learning an instrument takes time, after all.”

“That is true.”

Ryo nodded, and Abel agreed.

In response, Soupun’s wife nodded repeatedly as well.

Soupun quietly shook his head and sighed.

After that... for some reason, a violin was also brought from the music room...

And the two of them ended up having to perform.

Preparations proceeded, including the piano.

Then suddenly, as if noticing something, Ryo raised his head.

“What is it?”

“I just wanted to check the pitch of the piano...”

Ryo answered, approached the piano that was being moved, opened the keyboard lid, and pressed the A key.

A.

“Ah, the pitch is correct. I’m glad it isn’t off by a semitone.”

Ryo felt relieved, closed the lid, bowed to the people preparing to move it, and returned to Abel’s side.

“Off by a semitone?”

“Yes, it wasn’t off. It was the usual pitch.”

“With a violin, you adjust the strings before every performance. Do you do that for pianos too?”

“Normally, it is once a year or so. Of course, before a concert, a tuner will do it... but a piano that no one has played, like this one, is dangerous.”

Ryo nodded with emphasis.

Naturally, Abel tilted his head, not understanding.

“Long ago, in my homeland, there was a musician named Brahms... well, perhaps more of a pianist, really. He was traveling with a violinist. And at a concert in one city... just before the performance, the venue was changed, and when they tuned the piano, all the keys had gone down by a semitone.” 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“That is a serious problem. A violin only has four strings, so it can be adjusted quickly, but that piano has many strings, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, yes. The opening time was approaching, so there wasn’t time to retune it.”

“...So what did they do?”

“They performed with the piano raised by a semitone.”

“Raised by a semitone?”

Abel frowned.

It was hard to imagine with a violin.

“The piano is an instrument with white keys and black keys, and they are offset by semitones.”

“So they ended up having to play the part that was supposed to be on a white key on a black key?”

“However, there is no black key between E and F, so that is a semitone difference, and there is no black key between B and C, so that is also a semitone difference...”

“Black keys here, neighboring white keys there... I have no idea what that means.”

“Yes, I have no idea either. He did it almost entirely by improvisation. As expected of Brahms.”

For some reason, Ryo nodded vigorously.

“Could Ryo... do that?”

“Absolutely not.”

Once again, Ryo nodded vigorously.

“I’m glad it matched properly this time.”

“Yes, indeed.”

Both of them nodded firmly.

“Now then, for the performance... which of us goes first?”

“Would you like to try playing together?”

In response to Abel’s question, Ryo made a rather offbeat suggestion.

The piano had only recently been born in this ‘Phi’, so naturally Abel had never played it together with a piano before.

Incidentally, Ryo had never played together with a violin either, back when he was on Earth...

“Wha... t... together...?”

Uncharacteristically, Abel was dumbfounded.

But then came Ryo’s gospel.

“Abel, please just play Paganini’s ‘24 Caprices’ as always. I’ll accompany you.”

“Accompany me?”

“And if you get into the mood, feel free to improvise some variations.”

“Improvise some variations?”

“I might do it too, so... think of it as a jazz session!”

“Jazz? Session?”

Abel could not understand a single thing Ryo was saying.

But this was Abel.

“Well, fine. Let’s just give it a try.”

Immediate decision.

A king’s decision.

The speed of judgment of someone accustomed to taking responsibility for the outcomes of his own decisions.

Once the preparations were complete, Ryo sat down in front of the piano.

Abel stood up, holding the violin.

And then...

He launched into the familiar opening from the characteristic phrase of the ‘24 Caprices’.

Ryo’s piano accompanied it.

Entwined, chasing each other... and sometimes colliding.

In Caprice No. 24, the characteristic phrase—the ‘theme’—appears again and again.

They must not miss that... and beyond that, let themselves be carried wherever the music led!

They wove and connected, and a new ‘Variations on a Theme by Paganini’ was born.

Only, it was a one-time creation.

The audience was swept up in the vortex the two created.

Soupun’s family, his retainers, and even the horses.

Music affects all living things.

A great force that transcends every boundary.

A great force created by the two of them.

And it made all who heard it happy.

The day after the impromptu concert, the two departed from Count Soupun’s residence in Veevee.

“Wow—music really is wonderful!”

“That it is.”

“I think the key to world peace is music.”

“World peace, huh? That’s a grand notion.”

Ryo asserted it, and Abel gave a wry smile.

“Someday, when King Abel sets out on the path to world conquest, the key to making it succeed will be music.”

“Yeah, I think the moment you say ‘conquest’, it’s already pretty far removed from ‘peace.’”

“A king must not fuss over trivial details.”

“First of all, I prefer peace.”

“So you make neighboring countries feel at ease and then strike without warning. What a strategist.”

“I really don’t think that is something I should be hearing from Ryo.”

The premier duke and the king were always mindful of the country’s safety.

“I think this place is actually quite far from the center of Darwei.”

“What’s this all of a sudden?”

“And yet the piano has spread even to places like this.”

“Probably because it is such a wonderful instrument. Well, if you can play it, that is.”

Abel shrugged.

Playing an instrument is by no means easy.

Even though a piano makes sound when you press the keys... that does not necessarily mean it is truly ‘playing’.

“But someday, I feel like it will cross cultural boundaries and even make its way to the Central Countries.”

“It will.”

Ryo was only speaking from a hunch, but Abel seemed certain.

“Why are you so confident?”

“Because people like good things.”

Abel said decisively.

“Even if it is something difficult to master, it will eventually become widespread. I think that is a quality people are born with.”

“Abel is really good at grasping the essential part of things like that.”

At Abel’s words, Ryo nodded in admiration.

Because Ryo completely agreed.

“It’ll probably come here along the roads we travel.”

“We’ll have to keep walking toward the Central Countries, too.”

Abel said, and Ryo declared his resolve.

In response, Andalusia and Feiwan neighed.

The two men and two horses continued onward toward the Central Countries.

Join my Patreon and continue to the next chapter early here on Patreon!