Chapter 197: The singing voice of the Spirits
I’ve been instructed to make as many instruments as possible to form a full orchestra, as well as expand the rehearsal facility. By who? Everyone.
What even is an oboe? What is a bassoon supposed to sound like? I do know the general shape of woodwind instruments though. Things like the trumpet and trombone were made partially or entirely made with alchemy, so although I had to tweak those several times, I didn’t have too much trouble completing them. However, take the trumpet for example, only the mouthpiece is made of brass and the sound varies depending on the material of the body............. Creating the instruments I’ve seen in my old world from Akane’s crappy blueprints and sketches was really tough. Even now, I’m still not confident it’s correct.
Also, there were more Elves that have had music training than I expected. Perhaps another blessing of the skill system, the Recital Skill doesn’t choose instruments. Speaking in extremes, if you can play the piano well, then you can play the trumpet well too. The Recital Skill is a cheat-class skill. Only, leveling up the skill is hard. And there are many individuals among the long-living Elven race that have spend several decades polishing their skills, so there are plenty of people with high Recital skill. They are able to adapt to the new instruments too.
「Wait, that aside, the Sanctuary’s inhabitants increased this much before we realized.」
「Yes, the Spirits are gathering the poverty-stricken and suffering individuals especially in Yggurle Kingdom and immigrating them to the Sanctuary. Mimir-sama is the person supervising this.」
「Mimir-sama, you say? Is it alright for the princess to help the citizens of her own country escape?」
「Yes, it is at the Great Spirits’ discretion after all.」
Haa, so that’s why the Elves increased.
Right now, I’m inside the concert hall listening to the orchestra’s performance while checking the acoustics of the hall. Being told by Sylph that only the best acoustics would be acceptable, I listened to the orchestra play over and over again from various areas in the hall.
This concert hall has 3000 seats, including box and balcony seats. In the beginning, when I was hesitant to reproduce the stained glass dome ceiling of the Palau de la Música Catalana with its degree of difficulty, Great Wind Spirit Sylph and Great Light Spirit Selene half coerced me into it.
So, having changed my mind because doing it manually would be unreasonable, I made a miniature stained glass ceiling using alchemy. After that, I experimented on the miniature version plenty, like adjusting the tint and revising the patterns, taking on the challenge.
「We received a message from Doganbo-san that the exterior sculptures will take 2-3 more days to complete.」
「Then maybe the concert will be around 5 days after.」
「No, guests from the three countries will arrive in 10 days, so it will be after that.」
「............since when did we have guests?」
It feels like this is becoming more and more serious. Will the guests be higherups?
And so, 10 days later, visitorsー along with their attendants, escorts, and the carriage driversー began making their appearance at the Sanctuary’s concert hall.
The kings of each country seem to have unending interest for the world’s first concert hall, a structure overflowing with artistry. Seeing the sculptures and ornaments inside the hall, and the large stained glass ceiling, they looked absolutely astonished and impressed.
The guest seating was filled, and amidst the murmuring, the performers appeared on stage and began their preparations.
The last to make his entrance was the eldest Elven maestro, Beethoban. He bowed to the audience then faced the orchestra and raised the conductor’s baton above his head.
Beginning from Elven classics, it then shifted to orchestral arrangements of the widely known tunes of this world.
Then 【Canon】 was performed. It was followed by 【Ode to Joy】 which was when beautiful women dressed up came out and began singing alongside the performance of the orchestra.
The beautiful women were the Mermaids whose specialty is singing.
And then, a mysterious noise began blending in with the mermaids’ singing.
From the stained glass-covered ceiling, lights of all sorts of color started becoming visible.
The mysterious sound eventually filled the hall with music.
「............the singing of the Spirits.」
When I muttered this, Sylph and Undine who were seated at the same box nodded their heads in affirmation.
Rainbow-colored lights danced within the hall.
The singing of the Spirits was in harmony with the orchestra’s playing and the mermaids’ singing.
The magical lights and torrent of sounds blessed everyone, be they Human, Elf, Dwarf, Beastkin, Mermaid, or Cat Sith.
Outside the concert hall, the Spirits danced boisterously around the Spirit Tree.
The uproar that began from me making a guitar in my free time came to an end in this manner.
After this, the maestros of the three countries longed to study in the Sanctuary, and the new instruments and tunes spread out within the continent, but that’s a different story.
***