CH 322

And the day of the concert came in a flash.

The location is the central grand plaza of the royal city.

Yes, it’s a big square in the center of the city, facing the royal palace, the temple, and so on.

Since this is a major event that opened its doors not only to the nobility but also to the commoners, there’s no way it can be held within a building.

And I heard there’s no charge for it.

Apparently, it’s not a money-making event, but a festival… A kind of music fest… sort of.

That’s why there’s no barrier between nobles and commoners, or so I heard.

Certainly, not all musicians are aristocrats.

Commoners normally don’t have the luxury of practicing music from a young age, though, so it seems that most musicians are the third son of a noble family or even younger.

So it’s most likely that one of the purposes of this event is to find diamonds in the rough among music-loving commoners and turn them into patrons.

That’s why some of the commoners are putting their lives on the line for this concert.

…That’s heavy…

But we, the Society, will take it easy.

The purpose is just for advertising and publicity stunts, not to win prizes or anything like that.

If we can unveil the juvenile group and show them to the public that they are healthy and happy… also to their parents… that’s good enough.

So there’s no need to worry about mistakes or anything.

Thanks to this policy, we were able to enjoy our practice.

Compared to the difficulty of aiming for no mistakes, if you don’t mind making a few ones, the amount of practice and difficulty would be greatly reduced. I don’t want to give the younger children a hard time for this.

If you were forced to practice hard and painful exercises, you will start to dislike the things you’d normally like.

Well, it’s almost time for the big day, the big show for everyone!

******

The venue was a temporary stage built in the wide plaza.

A large crowd surrounded it.

While the public remained standing, the nobles were sitting in chairs in an isolated area.

Of course, that area was surrounded by guards, and each nobleman had an escort on his side.

No matter how much of a festival it was, the event was well organized. Nobles have a lot of enemies, you know. Both domestically and internationally…

We’re in the back of the line. But not exactly last.

The first, last, and other delicious slots were taken by the children of powerful nobles or musicians who were patronized by those aristocrats.

Yes, the order wasn’t drawn by lot or anything, but the organizers decided on their own.

Still, no one complained about it.

It’s just a matter of course that the nobles were given priority in everything, and the fact that not only the nobles but also the commoners were allowed to participate in this concert makes it an honor for the commoners to be treated with respect and appreciation.

And although we don’t have any patrons or connections to the organizers, well, that’s fine.

Because they were called saints and were extremely popular among both the nobility and the commoners, they were assigned to the fourth from the last, which was a very good position, although not the best position (the first or the last).

Oh right, we are in two teams, so it’s “fourth and fifth from last” to be exact.

I applied for two teams because I had to make them separate teams, or else, we would only have time for one team, but they were able to put them next to each other in the order I requested.

Otherwise, we would have to set up and put away the instruments twice, and it would take a long time to prepare and wait. The families of the members who came to see the show also had to be there the whole time…

I’m sure they would like to pull out of the venue together as soon as the kids are done, throw a celebration party with the kids to praise them, and take this opportunity to get to know the parents of the other members of the group.

…Of course, it’s not just a friendship party as parents, but a sales activity as “Parents Of Society Members” and connections and influence as aristocrats…

Ah, the greetings from the organizers, their advertisements, and the request for donations are over.

Then the instruments of the top batters are brought in, and the concert finally begins.

******

Umumu……

The performances and songs of the other participants were, what can I say… classic?

Well, of course, this would be the case, since this was the era where “classical music” was currently in the works.

The sound was not very profound due to the instruments, the number of musicians in the group, and the poor acoustics of the outdoor setting, but, well, given the poor conditions, everyone did a pretty good job.

Perhaps because of the lack of daily entertainment, or perhaps because they can enjoy aristocratic entertainment for free, they were a big hit with the masses.

……Certainly, it has a lot of musical and performance technical excellence that I think the classical enthusiasts of this world would enjoy.

But, aside from the members of the Society, the kids in the juvenile group were getting bored…

And the song we have practiced and will perform today is not a classic one…

******

And the turn of the performance progresses, and soon it will be the Society’s turn.

Starting with the main group, to be followed by the juvenile group.

When the juvenile group enters, the main group needs to provide a lot of assistance and support, so if we haven’t finished our own performance, we might get distracted by a lot of things and make unexpected mistakes.

It would be sad for the children if it was their mistake, but very frustrating if the senior helpers caused it. Therefore, we cannot change this order.

The two previous teams were finished.

As the team in front of us was getting ready, we were doing final checks on our instruments. It won’t be long now……

“All right, let’s get ready!” (Mitsuha)

The performance of the previous team was over, and the preparation to exit from the stage began.

At the same time, we started bringing in our equipment and setting them up!

This area had been prepped and all went smoothly.

……I acted as the MC, introduced our group, then the Society group started playing after the introduction!

The song was a classical masterpiece of the earth.

I made them listen to some songs without video and made them vote on the song to be played. Then, the members, except me, figured out the music by ear and practiced it.

I have taken the liberty of changing the name of the song to “Search of Heaven”. The original song title has no meaning in this world after all… (『天上の調しらべ』)

Naturally, since this would be the first time it was released in this world, the audience assumed that one of us composed this piece.

Therefore, even if the performance technique was a little poor, the excellence of the music was enough to make up for it.

……And, unsurprisingly, it was a smashing hit! Applause and cheers roared!

Well, regardless of the performance, our Society was very popular, to begin with.

It’s only natural that we were able to see such a reaction, and this was the kind of response we deserved.

Yes! All right, the PR effect was outstanding!

Next up, finally my big favorite, the main event of the day, the little girls… no, no, the debut of the juvenile group!

The instruments and the main group members didn’t pull out, instead, they quickly moved to the back of the stage, leaving the center to the front portion of the stage open.

Then, I announced that the main group’s performance had ended and that it was the turn of the next group, the Society Juvenile Group… And I also explained that the reason why the main group didn’t get off the stage was to support the juvenile group.

“Well then, a round of applause for the Society Juvenile Group debut!!” (Mitsuha)

At the sound of my voice, the members of the juvenile group rushed to the center of the stage.

They all wear matching cute frilly outfits with nekomimi headbands and tails!

The costumes, of course, were the work of that certain cosplay store manager, who poured her heart and soul into them.

As expected, there were so many that she didn’t have enough hands, so she asked for support from her peers…

And…….

“Come on~, let’s go! One, two, ah, one, two, three, four!”

The children of the juvenile group performed a lively dance to the pop music that started to flow, which was upbeat and full of energy. It’s a song from a famous Japanese anime show…

……Is this a “concert”, you say?

It’s fine~, don’t mind the small details!!