[V10C29] Conspicuous Chirping / Poppo Dance
Translated by Jodas 10: A Job for a Con ManSeeing Hütter and his class singing and dancing, Roswitha Ohlendorf muttered under her breath:
“…What the heck is going on?”
Having grown up in a prominent Classical Magecraft family, Roswitha was ignorant of the popular trends in music and entertainment. More bluntly, she was completely out of touch.
Had this sort of thing become popular while she wasn’t paying attention?
That said, it looked like Rose was the only one enjoying it. One of the Seven Sages (an incredible mage) was currently echoing back the ‘poppo calls’ because, to quote: “I’m not sure what’s going on, but it sounds fun!”
“You fools! When my master speaks, you answer! Now shout! Poppo!”
Sevil’s shout caused Ella’s eyes to widen in realization.
“Could it be? Maybe this is some kind of plan…!”
Roswitha trusted Ella implicitly, but right now she couldn’t help a doubtful “Errr…” escaping her mouth.
“I can’t imagine Mr. Hütter and Sevil doing something for no reason… L- let’s do it! Poppo!”
Now both Rose and Ella were shouting “Poppo!”
Sophie then joined in with the “Poppo!”-ing as well. Although Sophie probably just wanted to be part of the fun.
Roswitha glanced out of the side of her eye at Gerald and Julius.
Both had their lips clamped tightly shut, showing no indications of participating in the shouting, but Agniol suggested differently from inside Julius’ ring.
“Young Master! Young Master! This sounds fun! Let’s poppo too!”
Julius muffled the ring with his other hand and silently took a few steps back.
Roswitha stormed up and grabbed Gerald and Julius by their shirts.
“…If I’m gonna be doing it, don’t you go thinking that I’ll let you guys get away from it.”
“No way~ppo! (Poppopo, poppoppopo)
I can’t~ppo! (Poppopo, poppoppopo)”
While he strummed the mandola and sang, Hütter listened closely to the calls coming from the audience.
Rose enjoying it. Ella serious. Sophie and Roswitha a little embarrassed. Julius and Gerald barely even trying.
Come on, guys! Get it together! Hütter chided in his head.
(At least the Apprentices have all taken the bait. There’s the one guy who gave in to Sevil’s pressure too…!)
But this still wasn’t enough. He needed more. He had to raise even more of a ruckus.
The reason Hütter suddenly started singing and dancing was neither to provide comfort nor because he had gone insane.
—This was a ritual to summon Poppo Four.
Poppo Four (everyone’s favorite lost child), who may well be holding on to some critical intel, loved lively places. If a large group of people were merrily singing and dancing, Poppo Four had a habit of drifting off towards them.
The more bombastic the party, the better.
To accomplish this, he made use of this briefing where a huge group would be gathered. If he couldn’t draw a large crowd on his own merit, then all he had to do was commandeer a venue where people were already assembled.
The kids and Wren were there for sympathy. Sevil provided the pressure. A con man like him would use any tools available to him to get the crowd going.
“And tomorrow I, too, will be a weather vane~~~ (Po, Popo, Po)”
With a powerful JAN! on the strings, he took a second to sort out his ragged breaths.
There was still no sign of Poppo Four in the blue skies overhead.
“That was my first song, ‘Weathervane Poppo.’ Now, please give me your attention. The second song is a new composition; a duet between myself and my student Tia. I call it ‘Conspicuous Chirping.’”
His only choice now was to continue singing, dancing, and hyping up the crowd until Poppo Four took notice of them.
(I’m counting on you, Tia!)
Hütter strummed out some notes on the mandola and, in front of the stage, Tia started to sing.
“Piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, po-po!
Piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, po-po!
A poppo stands out, piyoppo (woah)!
Is that a pigeon? (no?)
A poppo stands out, piyoppo (woah)!
Isn’t it great to stand out!
Piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, po-po!
Piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, po-po!
Piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, po-po!
Piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, piyopiyopiyopiyo, po-po!”
Tia loved singing. He knew she sang all the time, but she was even better at it than he expected. Most importantly, it helped that she had no hesitation when it came to singing in front of people.
The world was full of people who held incredible talent for singing but who would freeze the moment they had to do it in front of an audience.
But from the very beginning, Tia sang without a care in the world.
(You know, this chorus sure is something else, huh? It just feels so great to sing along…!)
Tia’s chorus elevated Hütter’s singing voice like he would have never believed.
She looked to be just enjoying herself as she sang, but the tone and resonance of her voice was unbelievably refined.
And her volume left nothing to complain about as well. She had no issue matching energy with Hütter, and he was using projection magic to amplify his voice.
And despite the outstanding sophistication of her performance, she clearly communicated an impression to the audience that she was just having good, simple fun. Even with her overwhelming skill, she didn’t let it go to her head. He could ask for nothing more in a singer.
(What do you think of this…! Come back, Four~!)
While singing with Hütter, Tia thought.
(Ah, that’s right. Singing is fun. So much fun. It’s always been fun. I love it.)
Flying and singing. That was everything to a Harpy.
Yet lately, she’d had very few opportunities to sing to her heart’s content.
(But I won’t get to sing with Sis ever again…)
This was the climax of the song.
Tia and Hütter were singing a duet, but all of a sudden, female voices joined in harmony out of nowhere.
Only a Monster had the ability to make three voices like that. Not to mention the sheer quality of this impromptu accompaniment.
Tia gasped.
(This is Sis’ voice…!)
With how far this village was from the Wedge Towers, Monsters shouldn’t have been able to approach.
Could she have worn a crystal rivet and flown all the way over here?
Harpies had the ability to embed mana into their songs, causing all sorts of effects. They could cause any who heard them to fall asleep or influence their minds.
However, there was no mana in this voice as it resounded from far away. It was only a beautiful voice, singing out of sheer enjoyment.
(I’m singing with Sis! Right now!)
Before she knew it, tears were forming in her eyes. Oh no. If she cried, she wouldn’t be able to sing as well.
Instead, she focused on how grateful she was.
Grateful to Hütter, who gave her this opportunity to sing with her sister for the last time.
(Louder, louder, louder…! So my voice can reach farther, farther, farther away…!)
Having impaled herself with a Crystal Rivet, Charonlala left the Wedge Tower and almost immediately noticed Tia’s voice. Harpies’ ears were good, but they were especially sensitive when it came to music.
(…Tia’s singing.)
Her cute little sister, Folulutia. A Harpy born with the rainbow wings of a Harpy Queen. Even among the flock, her voice was exceptionally beautiful, charming, and joyous — she had always believed that her little sister would one day lead the flock with that voice.
But now Tia had donned a human skin, at the cost of her reproductive ability. She had found a place for herself among the flock of humans.
(Tia should live on with that human flock. There’s no need for her to come to the Wedge Tower.)
Abducting, raping, and mating with humans. That was the essence of a Harpy. And Charonlala was the only one left who could continue the bloodline.
(I’ve made up my mind. I am a Harpy. As the last Harpy, I will do what must be done.)
Therefore, at least for this last fleeting moment… Charonlala added her voice to Tia’s song. Without any of the power to control humans, she sang out of love toward her little sister, to say farewell.
(Farewell, goodbye, my dear sister. Go, live on in a world apart from me. I will bear the fate of Harpy-kind on my shoulders alone.)
So she sang and sang. All the while, savoring their last time singing as sisters.
Rikard Oks and Helena, two mages of the Extermination Office, left the Lange Hamlet after the Monster attack and made their way back to the Wedge Tower via a different route from Hütter and his class.
This was done primarily out of a desire to establish contact and share intel with Investigation Office branches stationed along the way. Midway through, they learned of the attack on the Wedge Tower and made for the evacuation village in a hurry.
As they made it to the gates of the village in question, Rikard stepped off of the horse-cart and frowned.
“There’s… Not a lot of villagers around, huh?”
“I’m sure they’re copped up in their homes in fear of Monster Attacks… Ah, how sad… The Wedge Tower is… in such a state…”
Suddenly, a familiar voice graced Rikard’s ears.
A familiar — no, nostalgic — song.
(This song…)
Rikard broke into a run before he even realized it.
As he ran, he recalled the days when he was just a boy. When he heard someone singing, he ran without a moment’s thought. ‘Oh crap, they’ve already started! Faster! Faster! I need to make it in time! I’ve gotta get there before the fun stops!’
Huffing and puffing, Rikard ran as hard as he could. There, standing on a tiny stage in the village square, he saw a person singing and dancing.
“Are you ready? (Poppo!)
Poppo, poppopopo (HEY!)
Poppo, poppopopopo (HEY!)”
His whole body trembled, and his breath got heavier.
This cool, thrilling voice! Those nimble steps!
“Mppomppo, poppopo
Mppomppo, poppopo
Poppo, poppopopo? (OK!)
Poppo, poppopopo? (YEAH!)”
The dancing man spun around on his heels.
That was the super stylish classy Poppo Turn! He’d tried to emulate it in secret more times than he could count!
“Poppolo, poppo, popopopo
Poluluppopo, poppopo
Poppo? (HEY!)
Poppo? (OK!)
Po~~~~~ Whoo! Wooooow!”
Rikard clapped thunderously as the tears of his boyhood streamed down his face.
Long ago, his sister had been with him. When they watched that man’s dance, the faintest amount of color returned to his sister’s wasting cheeks.
Then, as the dance came to a conclusion, Rikard and his sister would shout in unison:
“Nice-poppo!! Nice-poppo!!”
The man on the stage looked at Rikard. Their eyes met. There was no doubt, he was looking at him!
Hütter held his index and middle fingers to his forehead and winked.
“Thank you, poppo!”
Rikard wept in amazement.
Behind him, Helena covered her face. “My partner is broken already… How sad…”