Capítulo 187: Fairy voice
"Arghhh!"
As the music reaches its climax a tragic cry escapes the old lady's mouth as she staggers and falls to the ground weakly. However, instead of slowly beginning to descend after reaching the climax the invisible orchestra forcefully keeps up the peak of their melody.
Lord winter's wife begins to convulse on the ground as if she is under a great amount of pain. Every note that sounds seems to increase her agony by an untold amount.
"Mercy, please. I didn't know it was you! I would never have- arghhh!"
Another cry forces its way out of her throat and hinders her from finishing her sentence. Navi all the while just stands there bathed in resplendent light looking down on the begging lady without a sliver of pity in her eyes.
"Mercy? I'm already granting you mercy. If Darwin comes back and sees you here your fate will be much worse. Now, leave this realm and let Valeria be in peace."
As the music finally comes off the climax and quickly begins to wane lord winter's wife seems to have all strength drained out of her. And when the music ends she slumps over lifeless and never to rise again.
The light around Navi has long receded and she looks like she usually does. Valeria also seems a lot better as she sits up and massages her arms and legs.
"What was all that about? Fairy voice?"
I can't help myself and ask Navi about the name lord winter's wife called her by.
"Just an old title that holds no real significance. Simply a small hobby of mine that I've long grown out of."
"Come on Navi, stop with the humility. You were the most popular singer in the entire gallery. People would scramble to buy tickets to your shows even if they were priced a hundredfold higher than all the others. And you call that a small hobby?"
Valeria seems to have gotten awfully talkative. Her tone sounds a bit mischievous and contains a teasing undertone. A withering glare from Navi shuts her up immediately.
"You were a great singer once?"
I tentatively ask the question hoping Navi won't send me a similar gaze. Since she's trying to play it down she might not be comfortable talking about it.
"Sigh, yes, yes I was. By the time I reached the peak of my popularity, I was hailed as the best singer of the millennium. Fairy voice was my stage name."
"Past tense?"
"I never wanted to be the best. I just wanted to bring the joy of hearing my voice to as many people as possible. Being the best made that harder. People started fights over everything I did. If I hugged one singer and patted the other's shoulder after a joint concert people would fight over who I liked more. Sometimes ordinary people were beaten up by adventurers because the adventurers hadn't gotten any tickets.
"In the end, I was bringing more sorrow and strife than joy. Continuing made no sense to me and I had already accomplished both my mission and my dream. So I announced my retirement and disappeared from the stage. They looked for me in the first year but I was too well hidden in this place."
"No one recognized you?"
"I'm very adept at using illusion magic. You are one of the few people who can see my face as it is."
I see. Navi's tone makes me think that the act of stepping off that stage wasn't as easy for her as she tried to portray it. Seeing how persistent Valeria's former parents were I can only imagine the horror a bunch of fans who are simultaneously high-level adventurers can cause.
Valeria stands up and stretches. She looks towards the corpses strewn across the reception area and her gaze remained on her former mother's lifeless body.
"She never knew when to quit. Now the consequences finally caught up to her."
I feel like there is a hidden meaning in her comment but this concerns a very intimate part of her life so asking her about it would be rude.
So what am I going to do? Do the VR rooms still work?
<Go home, Guy. We'll have to deal with the aftermath of this mess now so until further notice you are to stay home.>
I can't come to work?
<Take it as a paid leave. We need to give the impression that we were just attacked and aren't able to do business. Also, be prepared for an interview with an investigator from the police.>
Sounds like fun.
<Oh, can you also take Melody with you while you are leaving?>
What? Did something happen to her?
<No harm came to her but she seems pretty shaken up by what happened.>
I follow Navi's directions and find Melody curled up in one of the men's restrooms. She seems scared and jumps as I enter.
"It's me, dear. I'm here, everything's alright now."
She runs towards me and grabs onto me. While she is hugging me tightly I feel her body trembling.
"Guy! Are you alright? I heard a big explosion and the sound of things shattering coming from the reception area. Do you know what happened?"
I gently hold her and try to calm her down.
"Just some adventurers who came looking for trouble. Darwin and Navi already took care of them. Did you get hurt?"
"I'm fine but..."
"Shhh, let's go home. Navi said we are on paid leave until things here are resolved and everything goes back to normal. Can you walk?"
Hearing that the fight is already over Melody looks significantly less anxious and we leave the building using the exit where the wellness area is. No reason to make Melody see the bodies at the main entrance.
When we arrive at our house it's still only a little past noon. The girls won't be home for a while and I'd like to take Melody's mind off things before they do.
"Did you have a chance to eat lunch yet?"
Estado de energía semanal
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