13. Sonata Campbell

“I am hungry……”

The man crawled a few steps in a prone position and then laid his face down on the ground.

I and Shura… Our face met.

“He…fainted?”

“It seems so…”

I approach the man with a wooden plate.

When I put the wooden plate with the bean sprout on it in front of him, the man ate the bean sprout on the wooden plate without using his hands.

It flattened in a matter of minutes.

“You sure? Your share is gone now…”

“It’s all right…I’m used to being hungry. I’m okay without eating anything for about a day.”

As I said, Shura stabbed a piece of wild boar meat with a fork and presented it in front of me.

“Well, it’s only one bite left…”

Shura raised her chin, saying, ‘Open your mouth.’, so I opened my mouth and ate the wild boar meat.

This would be an indirect kiss, right? Maybe she is not the type who care so much about that kind of…

And… Shura’s face turned red. 

Well, if you’re going to be embarrassed, you don’t have to force yourself to do it…

Somehow the boar meat was a little sweet and sour. 

I don’t remember seasoning it that way…

There was a part where Shura thinks of herself as an ‘adult woman who can do anything’. But to be honest, that kind of thing made her looked more like a kid. If I were to say that to her, I was sure that she would be furious, so I kept it for myself.

“Well, wellー! I’m alive, I’m resurrected!… Really, you saved me. boy!”

The man ate the stir-fried bean sprouts and stood up vigorously.

Rough beard, unkempt gray hair. I couldn’t see his eyes because it was covered with a green fedora. The clothes were a green long coat that looked not fashionable. He was a man with a mysterious atmosphere.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Sonata Campbell… As you can see, I’ve run out of food! I was almost reach out to the monsters you know!… Hahaha! “

“If you do something like that, you’ll become a demon…――I’m Seal. “

“I’m Shura.”

“Seal-kun and Shura-chan… You guys are lucky!… Because you met a superstar in such a place! “

Sonata removed the fedora and bowed.

Now that I could see his face after he removed his fedora, I could see that he was quite good-looking.

“You see, I’m a singer!… A wandering musician, or you could say I’m a Bard!”

“Bard…?”

“I see, so you never really stay in one place huh…”

I turned to Shura, who sat with a stone as a chair.

“Do you know about it?”

“Bard, is someone who sing while traveling, as he said… I’ve seen them several times in my hometown, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it since I traveled.”

“Thanks for the stir-fried bean sprouts… Well, maybe I need to sing one song as a gift?!”

At night when the bonfire burns.

Surrounding it with friends while listening to the song….

――What a wonderful idea.

Well, I hate singing, but I don’t hate listening to someone singing.

…Alright, let’s ask him to sing.

“I want to listen.”

“I also want to hear… Well, I also quite like singing too!”

“Really?!… Alright, then I’ll sing with the lake there as the stage. “

“Lake as the stage?”

Sonata walked towards the lake calmly.

“Oo, Oi! You’ll fall!”

“It’s okay! Even though I look like this, I’m a magician ――――Walking～ onー theー water～ isー very～ easyー!”

When I was thinking, ‘There is such a magic?’… Sonata put out his tongue.　

Something like a Magic Circle was drawn on Sonata’s tongue, and the tongue shined with the Magic Circle as the starting point.

The light flowed toward Sonata’s feet,

Sonata… he really walked on the water.

“Wow …!”

“Not yet!… After all, I’m a great Magician! ――――On this lake, Evenー something～ like～ flameー pillars～ areー easyー to～ make～!”

Well, he can walk on the water, I’m sure he could do something like that too.

Sure enough, Sonata spawned a pillar of fire from within the lake, illuminating the surface of the water.

“So strange… what he just did?… I couldn’t read the flow of Mana at all … “

After illuminating the area with flame pillars and took a breath once or twice, Sonata opened his mouth wide.

“Then ladies and gentlemen!… It’s time for Night Music Festival by Sonata-Campbell!”

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

I and Shura applauded…

Sonata spread his arms and began to sing.

――I didn’t remember much from that point onward.

What I remembered were…

That, the childish lyrics that adolescent boys made in the room were lined up.

That, there was an unpleasant treble sounding like ores were being put together.

That, Shura was holding the sleeve of my clothes with teary eyes.

And that, I was sweating from the whole body.

When the seemingly endless time was over, and right after the Music Festival was over, I and Shura had collapsed on the spot.

“Thank you so much for listening!”

To summarized it briefly,

――Sonata-Campbell was an unimaginably tone deaf.

————————————————-

“Well―, I sang a song～!… I’m very satisfied!!!”

I and Shura stared at Sonata while covering our ears.

Somehow, Sonata’s skin was shiny.

“Y-you … are you really a Bard?”

“Ah, as expected you didn’t like it?… Well, my sensibility is rather uniqueー, so of course my music can’t be understood by ordinary people～.”

Sonata laughed.

What should I do…? I really want to hit him at least once…

“Ah, that’s right! I’ll give this to you guys!”

Sonata gave a piece of paper to me and Shura.

“What is this?”

“It’s a membership card! of my fan club!”

Membership card…?

Then, I read the letters written on a piece of paper.

” ‘Sonata-Campbell Fan Club Membership Card ――No. 0001, President: Seal’ “

“I have a vice president written on it …”

“That’s right! I’ll appoint you guys as president and vice president of my fan club!… Well, well, you guys are really luc―― please don’t tear it without saying a word like that!”

After that, Sonata tried to sing so many times, And that Every Time, I and Shura stopped him with all our might.

Sonata gave up his shoulders, saying, ‘Aren’t you guys being mean to me?’, And then turned his back on us with his luggage.

“Wait… Where are you going?”

“<Distall>… I want to meet someone there ――I wish that person is still alive…”

Who is it, huh?

So, your friend there is on the verge of death?

“Now? Stop it… It’s dangerous to walk in the forest at night.”

“It’s okay! I’m pretty strong!”

Hmmm, that’s true… I think a magician can easily defeat the monsters around here… but his words are unconvincing as he almost fainted when we met him. Sure, based on his performance, he seems like a strong Magician, but it is not only monsters that are scary while you’re travelling.

Sonata waved lightly while saying, ‘See you ~’, then right before he entered the forest, he stopped.

“Ah, I forgot to ask… Are you guys planning to go to the Port Town?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Is your final destination <Mother Punk>?”

“That’s right.”

“If so, don’t make a detour… Go straight to <Mother Punk> “

Even without you telling me, I’m going to do that …

… Or perhaps there’s some implications behind those words?… well…

“Then, let’s meet somewhere again! President and Vice President!… I’ll let you guys hear a new song when we meet next time! “

“ “I don’t want to!!!“ “

I and Shura said so at the same time.

Then, a man named Sonata Campbell, he disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

Since it was late at night, Shura and I took turns sleeping.

――”Don’t make a detour”.

‘I wish that I had heard this advice more properly’, In the future I would think so.

With the old man gone, I soon realized that the world was steadily heading in the wrong direction.