Chapter 25: Only my talent level up

Rewinding time a bit, before Lindaril arrived.

Chloe, having witnessed her friend’s sudden haircut, decided to first fulfill her duty as an adult.

“Emil! It’s not right for a girl to treat her hair so carelessly, tsk tsk!”

“…Are you one to talk?”

“Are we really going to counter that with gender equality?”

Right.

There’s no law that says a girl has to have long hair.

I was being a bit sexist.

I’ll reflect on that.

‘But why am I getting a lesson on gender equality from a Luntraval native?’

Chloe despaired at her own eloquence.

I should have majored in liberal arts.

Science is completely useless in a reincarnation-possession-transmigration story.

At this rate, I’m disqualified as a web novel protagonist.

Shouldn’t a protagonist be able to talk a dragon into submission?

‘Right, I’m not the protagonist.’

Where is the original protagonist, that punk?

Ah, right, it’s not even the prologue yet.

He’s probably still in some church, building up his ‘hidden past’ that gets revealed in the middle of the original story.

“Sob sob…!”

Meanwhile, Yaltarion’s emotions exploded again.

A friendship (with its ups and downs) that moved even the Empress.

He who remains unmoved by this human drama is unworthy of being called an artist!

“Chloe, Emil…! Grandpa will be right back! I’ll make the most perfect wig for our Chloe!”

“Ah, yes.”

Shouldn’t you be comforting your granddaughter, who got a short cut because of me?

Chloe (disqualified as an artist, science major) kept her words to herself.

‘And just like that, I’ve become “our Chloe” again.’

First an uncle, now a grandfather.

I’m good at farming family.

I’m collecting more family members than hidden pieces.

Chloe snapped back to her senses when she saw Emil about to leave.

“What? Emil, where are you going now?”

“To blow off steam.”

“Suddenly? On who?”

“…The petty thief’s top disciple?”

Who’s that?

Why is there a question mark in the answer to a question?

‘No, more importantly.’

Going out this late at night.

Chloe clicked her tongue at Emil’s lack of safety awareness.

“A kid shouldn’t be wandering around alone late at night. Emil, you could get kidnapped and not even know it.”

“Are. You. One. To. Talk.”

“?”

“Haaa… never mind. Just go. Don’t come out of the inn.”

Chloe was thrown into her room, unable to go anywhere.

It felt like she was being confined.

The tearful reunion with a sobbing Groomloc was a bonus.

“Why are you crying too, teacher?”

“It’s nothing, my child…. Oh, it seems to be raining….”

“The construction corruption in the Holy Empire must be serious.”

Yaltarion was like this, and now here too?

The inn and the villa, all dazzling on the outside, but completely leaky on the inside.

After the one-sided, tearful reunion ended,

and she was confined to a secure private room.

Emil stared at the instrument on the table.

A child-sized violin.

An instrument she had received on the way to the inn.

“Beautiful….”

How long has it been?

I want to kiss it.

Look at its slim waist.

Isn’t it sexy?

Pianos are better the bigger they are, but violins are better the smaller they are.

If it gets bigger, it’s a cello.

Chloe trembled at the coherence of her own logic.

The smaller and more petite, the more you love it,

and the bigger and thicker, the more you distance yourself from it.

That’s right.

The violin is an instrument for those who love small things…!

If it’s too big, a violinist will have a negative reaction, like ‘Ugh, something this big is a bit much.’

The octobass is a prime example of a victim of this trend.

The path of the violin family is the path of the supreme ruler of the world.

To take a single bow as one’s beautiful companion and forge through the thorny path of music!

Naturally, Chloe can only handle the violin.

Flipping that around, it means she can handle the violin.

However.

“Hsss…”

Pausing while tuning the strings.

Pausing again while playing a note.

Chloe groaned, clutching the violin.

It wasn’t because the partner her dad’s friend had arranged was too small.

What was small was Chloe’s courage.

But what could she do?

‘I wonder if it’ll be okay. I’ve had a pretty long hiatus.’

A full two months.

To have spent that much time in a long-distance relationship with her violin.

If her acquaintances in Yaltesance were to see the current Chloe?

What’s with this kid, suddenly doing music?

Wasn’t she a painter?

They would surely be confused.

Two months is that long of a gap.

[It was a really long time…. 😔 But I’ll still cheer for you!]

“Getting encouragement from you just makes me angrier.”

[Hey, no need to thank me! I’ll cheer for you again anytime!]

Who said thank you, and in what context?

I’m so pissed off, my body is getting hot in this dead of winter.

[Is it a fever problem? Then try applying some thermal grease!]

Please stop the musician abuse.

Chloe sighed and picked up the violin.

‘Right, compared to the hardships of the past, what’s a little thing like this?’

The moment she decided to sell AI paintings, she had cast away her shame.

What about being reborn as a girl?

Now, even wearing girls’ clothes has become bearable.

‘…I really don’t mind skirts anymore. During the university festival, I even cried tears of blood while cross-dressing.’

[Cross-dressing is the manliest act! 😘]

Then is dressing as a man the most womanly act, you b*stard?

If I wear pants, is that a fall to femininity?

Chloe’s hands trembled at the encroaching sense of futility.

And she became angry.

Remember!

The humiliation of the day you were first made to wear a skirt!

The past when you were beaten to death after going out in just your underwear in response to the scolding, “If you’re going to keep hating it, don’t wear pretty clothes for the rest of your life!”

– Kgh! Just kill me!

– Do you really want to die, my daughter?

– No, I’ll wear it, please let me wear it.

What could she do?

She was born into a non-unisex era where it was heresy for a woman to wear pants.

‘Right, let’s do this.’

Chloe composed herself and propped up the chin rest.

It’s also said that her pride was shattered.

And so, Chloe played the strings to regain her feel,

“Titus. Find them.”

“Yes, what?”

“Find them! Who is the person playing this music!”

The situation escalates with Lindaril’s scream-like shout.

Lindaril ran down the hallway as if possessed.

Chasing the still faint song of the strings.

‘The first note is steady.’

Fast, slow.

Fast again.

‘And slow.’

A straightforward performance, bouncing the bow.

A clear tone that spread as if testing the instrument.

There were no flashy techniques to show off.

And.

That’s why it’s beautiful.

Even though it’s clear from the rough sound that it’s a poor-quality instrument.

And yet.

This person’s performance had a demonic magic to it.

A power to captivate a person’s soul.

An absolute appeal.

‘…This is the one.’

Lindaril forgot all the reasons she had come here.

There was only one thought left in her mind.

‘I have to bring this person to tomorrow’s concert!’

The elf’s ears, focused to the extreme, led Lindaril to the source of the music.

She knocked indiscriminately on the door that appeared before her.

“Excuse me, excuse me! I’m sorry to interrupt your playing! But there’s something I really must ask of you!”

The music stops and is replaced by footsteps.

The performer who moved Lindaril opens the door.

The short moment the door opens is surprisingly long.

Long and slow, pitiful and regrettable.

At this very moment.

Lindaril’s heart was filled with anticipation, like a child opening a present.

“Yes, I’m with His Excellency Yaltarion’s party. Who is it?”

“……Huh?”

The door she had knocked on in a trance.

That is, until Chloe came out of it.

The girl, wearing a shaggy wig on her head, tilted her head.

In one hand, she held a violin bow.

“His Excellency is out getting my wig right now, but if you’re a guest, would you like to wait inside?”

“Uh, huh? I am a guest, but.”

I am a guest.

But that’s not what’s important right now.

So, what is it?

Wait, my head isn’t working.

So, this is, um, that.

‘It was you?’

You were the one playing?

The violin I just heard?

“You, you? You’re Chloe? The bald one? Chloe?”

“Yep. Bald, shaved-head Chloe, that’s me.”

“I know! Chloe A. Turing! Oliver’s daughter!”

How does she know?

A stalker?

The moment Chloe felt a sense of caution.

“Oh my gosh!”

• Hugs!

Lindaril, at a loss, hugged Chloe and petted her.

“Aaargh-! A pervert elf! I should have locked the door!”

“I’m not a pervert! Didn’t Oliver tell you? I’m Lindaril! Your dad’s friend, Lindaril!”

“Huh.”

Huh?

Now that I hear it, she looks familiar.

‘Ah! The one I saw when I was little!’

During her infancy, when she could barely distinguish objects.

She was one of the elves who had visited Oliver’s house.

“No, more importantly! What was that performance just now? Don’t tell me you composed it, Chloe?”

“No? It’s someone else’s piece. I can’t compose.”

“Ah, really?”

As Chloe answered immediately, Lindaril felt a little relieved.

Right.

There’s no way she’s that good at composing too.

‘I’ll have to ask who the composer is later.’

But for now, it was a matter that could be overlooked.

Because the praise was still far from enough.

It was only natural.

If her skills are lacking, let’s treat it like a children’s concours?

Ridiculous.

A duet?

Absolutely not.

‘Only an ensemble!’

Just an ensemble.

Absolutely an ensemble!

Never again anything but an ensemble!!

Even if you beat me to death, we’re going with a full court orchestra ensemble!

“It’s okay, you don’t have to be able to compose! I was so surprised my jaw almost dropped! How can our Chloe play so well?”

Now, a cheer that was almost incoherent.

Chloe’s answer to it was slightly tinged with Emil’s etude.

“I know, right?”

“?”

What’s with this kid?

Lindaril was flustered.

Chloe was also flustered.

It couldn’t be helped.

‘…Why am I so good at this?’

Two months of apprenticeship.

A rest period that could be fatal for a young child.

Even after experiencing that gap, Chloe’s hands were producing a far more captivating melody than before.

Was it Clicker’s doing again?

If so, she wouldn’t have been flustered.

[Of course! Wow… I was so mesmerized listening that I couldn’t do anything!]

‘Be quiet. Don’t ruin the mood.’

[Okay!]

Anyway.

What just happened was definitely Chloe’s skill.

A performance of her own, unfolded by Chloe’s will.

‘If this were guitar or piano, I would understand.’

Not just understand?

I could even boast and show off.

Who am I?

A 10-year veteran musician with triple-digit busking experience.

A bandman who freely switched between guitar and keyboard, eventually being pinned down as the keyboardist.

A person who does music as a hobby.

But the violin?

“…I haven’t even been learning the violin for 3 years.”

“Huh?”

Chloe’s incredulous mutter.

Lindaril doubted her ears for a moment, and then her mind cleared as she was reminded of this girl’s age.

Of course, Chloe was in no state to explain further to Lindaril.

Unaccompanied Violin Sonata No. 1.

Fuga.

It was a masterpiece she had memorized like the back of her hand.

Bach himself had arranged it for the organ, and Chloe had practiced it to death on the piano.

So, there was no way she wouldn’t know.

‘The 1st Fuga is not a piece for an amateur violinist to play.’

A masterpiece widely known for its high difficulty.

The Chloe of two months ago could not play this piece.

At least, not on the violin.

But now, it was possible.

She hadn’t practiced at all, but only her skill had improved.

As if.

As if Chloe’s talent itself had grown.

Chloe was dumbfounded by her own conclusion.

‘Can talent… grow?’

A limit determined from birth.

The prime example of a concept that doesn’t change with effort.

Isn’t that what talent was?

But it grows?

The limit of talent, growing on its own?

‘Wait a minute, could it be?’

Could it be that Clicker’s status window was real?

Chloe and Lindaril looked at each other.

And opened their mouths stupidly.

“What is this?”

It was a chorus of musicians whose common sense had been shattered.

—

🌟 Name:

Chloe A. Turing

🛡 Class Level:

Warrior 1 / Mage 9

📜 Skills:

Spirit Magic Lv 1

Bard Magic Lv 1 → 2 (New!)

[Your talent blossoms with the wisdom of the Dragonborn.]

[Your performance is imbued with magic.]

[You can use song spells.]

⭐ Current Level Cap: 10 / 41

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