[V7C26] The Pianist’s Lover, The Tale of Dragons and Monsters
Translated by Jodas 7: To the NorthHe could feel the humidity in the air that heralded the coming of rain.
The man sitting in front of the piano, the Blind Pianist Kamil Hinkel, stood up and walked over to the window. Even without his cane, this distance was no issue for him.
The rain had yet to start falling.
He hesitated for a little bit on whether or not to close the window. If possible, he’d like to keep it open for a little bit longer.
Because he never knew when she might come.
—It was then that his ears caught a faint sound.
Ah, this was her sound. She had come again.
Filled with joy, he wondered if he should return to the piano or wait for her by the window.
“Kamil.”
He heard her voice.
As if a light emerged in his dark, unseeing world, his ears delighted at the sound of her bright, beautiful voice.
Her voice was music itself. Whether singing or speaking, her voice was sublime.
She was not a resident of this town, as far as he knew. She lived in a nearby village, but visited this town on occasion.
She took a liking to the sound of Kamil’s piano and often came to sing him a song.
Kamil loved her singing voice, but not just her voice. He loved her headstrong personality, her fluffy hair, the warmth of her cheeks, and everything else about her. He loved her.
“What do you want me to play today?”
Kamil mimed playing the piano, but she responded with a hushed, solemn voice.
“Sorry, I don’t have much time today.”
“…Oh, I see. That’s a shame.”
“But, look, here, a present! I brought you a flower that blooms in the North. It has a very sweet smell, doesn’t it?”
“You’re right. It smells wonderful.”
As he cradled the flower laid on the windowsill, he heard her delighted laugh.
She didn’t hand the flower directly to Kamil. She’d said that she suffered from a disability in the arms. That was why she couldn’t embrace Kamil.
Instead, the two of them would always sit on either side of the window, telling of their love through her singing and the notes of his piano.
“Will you allow me just one song?”
“Sure. I’m fine with whatever song you like, Kamil.”
“Then how about a song you like?”
Kamil returned to sit at his piano, then ran his fingers across the keys.
In tune with the emerging melody, she began to sing. This was her favorite song.
Because you are so beautiful, I taught you the color of the sky.
I wanted you to feel the spring breeze wafting over my wings.
Let us see the world outside the window.
O rose, O rose, with you, I will go anywhere.
O rose, O rose, with you, I will be forever.
—I will steal you, and we will go anywhere.
Her voice slowly drifted away from him.
She really did have to go. So, she sang on her way out.
So that, even if she couldn’t stay here, they could be together for at least a little bit longer.
Therefore, Kamil continued to play the piano. Until he could no longer hear her voice.
Even if he couldn’t touch her, so long as the singing and the piano could reach, it was no different from them being together.
(But honestly, I just want to invite you in and hold you close.)
Eventually, once the singing had long drifted out of earshot, he lifted his hands off of the piano.
He heard the sound of pouring sheets of rain. He’d best close the window.
(I hope she… I hope Lala isn’t feeling too cold.)
With an ache in his heart, Kamil slowly drew the window closed.
The flower that she had picked out for him was already drenched, yet its sweet fragrance still lingered.
A young individual walked across an open plain amidst the pouring rain.
This individual, with starch-white hair and silver eyes, had a hood pulled up over those eyes and a red decorative bracelet tied around the left wrist.
Directly above said individual, the beating of wings echoed across the plain.
“My King.”
Gradually descending through the rain, with brilliant flame-like orange wings and hair, was a Harpy.
“Charonlala.”
The beautiful flame-like Harpy closed her eyes. She could not look this white-haired individual directly in the eyes.
It had constrained itself considerably at the moment, so there should be no issue even if she did look directly at it, but ordinarily it would emanate an unbearable aura of fear.
“Message from the Chancellor. ‘His Majesty Valdemar is willing to become our god’ … He says.”
“I see. Then, let us go.”
“As you wish.”
The white-haired individual moved to raise its left hand, then stopped. It didn’t want to risk tearing the bracelet around its left wrist.
Reconsidering, it raised its right hand. Charonlala jumped up above it, then grabbed its right arm with her massive talons.
Stretching her wings wide, she took off. Without minding the rain soaking her feathers.
The white-haired individual raised its face up. Against the grey sky, Charonlala’s hair and feathers looked like a blazing inferno. The white-haired individual looked back down to the bracelet tied around its wrist.
It had been quite a long time since it had last talked with a human. Furthermore, that may well have been its first time talking with a human who held no hostility or anger towards it.
After all, the white-haired individual — the King of Monsters — was an entity that spread fear at all times.
“These Crystal Rivets are wonderful. I can go out without my fear coming out.”
The King of Monsters loosened the collar of the robe it wore.
Beneath its white throat and collarbone, a series of rivets made of crystals were embedded in its skin.
In exchange for weakening the strength of a Monster, the Crystal Rivets were a tool that allowed Monsters to greatly expand their range of activity.
By impaling numerous of these in its body, the King of Monsters was now able to leave the Crystal Territory.
Charonlala here as well was only able to fly around the human territories because she had a Crystal Rivet embedded in her.
“…My King. It is true that we can go out thanks to these. But, I hate the Chancellor who made these.”
“I see.”
During the experiments to finalize the Crystal Rivets, it was Charonlala who was by far the most cooperative.
Charonlala was searching for her missing little sister.
In order to expand the reach of her search, she agreed to cooperate with the Crystal Rivet experiments. That decision, without a doubt, brought her much pain in the process.
Suddenly, the King of Monsters was struck by a whim, and opened its mouth.
“I want to tell you an old tale. Long ago, there were dragons known as crystal dragons. By now, they’ve all died out.”
Crystal dragons were, as the name implied, dragons with beautiful scales made of crystals.
Dragon scales contained powerful mana and made the ultimate materials for magical devices. Among them, the scales of a crystal dragon held a greater power than any other dragon scales. As a result, humans often tried to hunt them down.
“Monsters and Dragons generally do not venture into each other’s territories, yes? However, a crystal dragon decided to shelter a certain Monster, fleeing from pursuing humans, on a whim.”
As they talked, the Monster and the Crystal Dragon came close to each other. At some point along the way, the two of them started to work together.
In time, as the mana slowly disappeared from the world, both the Monster and the Crystal Dragon lost their homes.
“Unable to bear watching the Monster lose its strength, the Crystal Dragon traded its life to create the Crystal Territory. It was a land made just for the Monster. The Crystal Dragon’s final gift.”
The King of Monsters stroked the Crystal Rivets embedded in its chest through its clothes. As if caressing a loved one.
“These Crystal Rivets were made from a mix of the crystals of the Crystal Territory and my mana. Perhaps that’s why I feel so fond of them.”
“Was it also the work of the Chancellor that caused your hair to go white, My King?”
“He agreed to make the Crystal Rivets in exchange for my color and mana. The Chancellor has done exactly as we agreed.”
In the past, the King of Monsters had ink-black hair.
As if the pure darkness of night was woven into a tapestry, its hair was a pure black that didn’t reflect any light at all.
The King granted that color and a piece of its immense mana to the Chancellor, and in exchange, the Chancellor granted the King’s wish.
The Chancellor said as follows about his own intentions:
“*I am but a weak creature, desperate to establish a place where I can belong. That is all I wish for, King.”
With the Crystal Rivets the Chancellor had made, the King of Monsters could now go on its search.
A search for its obsession.
“It has been so long. But, the longer the work and hardship last, the more persuasive it becomes.”
Monsters were obsessed with humans or the things humans created.
The King of Monsters was no different.
“At last, my greatest desire is within reach.”
Flying with the King of Monsters hanging from her leg, the Harpy Charonlala turned to her own thoughts.
The King of Monsters apparently held a strong affection for the Crystal Rivets, given that they were made from a mix of the Crystal Dragon’s and its own mana.
—Could the Chancellor have made the Crystal Rivets that way because he knew the King’s feelings?
Charonlala despised the Chancellor.
He acted like a Monster, but he was no Monster. Yet, he could not survive among humans either.
That thing was a cursed entity that should have been dropped to the bottom of the Breakneck Gorge.
(I hate the Crystal Rivets. But…)
Charonlala thought back.
About that person she loved. About the beautiful sound of that piano.
(Thanks to this, I met Kamil.)
Thinking of the smiling man at the windowsill, Charonlala bit her lip.
He did not know that his lover ‘Lala’ was a Harpy.
(…Were it not for these wings, I could have jumped through that window and hugged him.)