"Won't even say anything," Kaede grumbled. That was a lie. "First your throat, now your fingers?"
Not that hers weren't blistered, too. But Konrad wasn't about to complain.
Yuki-san ignored them.
"That's a song I wrote," she noted, listening to the other band. "Not that I remember doing so. But why not play Hoshi-sama's stuff?"
Konrad wasn't a great conversationalist while mute. How long until he could speak again?
It took one glance for the dragoness to figure him out, furrowing her brows.
"After they finished this. But doesn't mean you should be screaming—"
"He won't," Midori-kun joined. "The next song's too corny for that. In fact, I won't have anything to do. Do I have to be there?"
If he had to guess, they continued the topic via telepathy, excluding him.
Super rude.
And whatever the conclusion was, the Demon Lord left with a nod.
Konrad couldn't even yell after him. Being mute sucked.
Well, his fingers no longer bled, and he transferred more mana into his adamantite blade.
"How does that even work?" Yuki-san asked, looking at the glowing sword.
Another thing he couldn't answer.
"A huge redhead blacksmith made it out of mana-conductive materials," Kaede said. "And you're not going to bring it on stage, by the way. It'd be out of place now."
Weren't they enjoying his silence too much?!
Though it made sense.
September Ends was a lyrical song with no place for props.
He didn't expect it to be a crazy success. But during those three songs, he must have recovered at least five hundred points already. Half of his mana pool. That was insane.
And yes, he subtracted the amount he'd spend as well.
Did this work for every musician? Those who have never heard of magic? What did they do with their mana? And was that why the Japanese straight-up called their bands idols?!
He could have probed Yuki-san for answers—could he talk—but she listened to her own song.
"Kind of meh," she noted.
"Bet we'd play it better," Kaede smirked. "Lots of screaming for a cute girl's song, though."
Those two sure hit it off.
Like two eggs from the same chicken.
Which reminded him of Halaima's terrible agriculture. All the things he'd have to do after—
He had the mana to return now. Was the town still standing? Were his friends alive and safe?
Homesickness? But Earth was his original one. The song ended, and if he had time to think about such things, they indeed played meh, as the expert put it.
"Guys, you're up," Manager-san announced. "I put a bouncer next to the switch box, so, uh—"
His eyes narrowed.
"Where's your pianist?!"
Konrad wanted to know, too.
"No keys in the next song," Kaede noted. "He's in the restroom."
Now at least he knew where not to look for Midori-kun. Sigh. The control he always craved was nowhere in sight. But they took to the stage as a trio, and the crowd fell silent.
This routine was becoming familiar.
He played finger-picking style, all alone, until Yuki-san started singing.
"Summer has come again—"
The melody wasn't complex, but he had to pay attention to get everything right. Had he had the time to scan the audience, he would have seen their shocked faces.
After all the punk, emo, and hard rock, they got a slow, sad song.
The club fell silent, with only his reborn guitar and the girl without memories making a sound.
Yet, the buzzing in his veins was strong. Not on the level as during the Black Parade, but he was glad he transferred more mana into the blade.
By the time Kaede joined, the audience held up their phones, turning the hall into a night sky.
Weirdos. Back in his day, people used lighters for that.
But it seemed like slow songs had their place under the sun, too.
He stomped his pedal, switching to the sharp bridge pickup as the buildup came.
It wasn't a bad song after all.
They finished without issues, but before they left, the manager stepped on the stage.
The other band was there, too, and the cheering stopped.
"And now that we've all calmed down a bit, a reminder," he yelled into the microphone. "This is a duel, and we only have one song left from each band. To decide the winner—"
He produced a small device looking like an old phone, from when they were still humongous.
Its antenna was in the middle, though, and too big to make sense.
"This'll measure how loud you are after each song. The band getting the loudest cheers will win."
Well, that simplified a very complex question, but it made sense.
Konrad was glad they didn't leave this slow song for last. Had he known earlier—
"And now, let's hear Hoshi-sama's new band playing In The End from Linkin Park."
They froze. Kaede opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Yuki-san was mad, too, though for a different reason.
"It's not a new band. It's my band, with him—ugh."
She missed the important part. Good thing Konrad could finally speak.
"What're we gonna do?" he asked in the green room. Maou was yet to return. "And where's he?!"
"Sent him out scouting," the dragoness said, holding up her phone.
It showed the outside crowd, a lot of people in a nearby park, watching live broadcasts of them.
Konrad had no idea they even had that.
Hold on.
"Don't your birds keep an eye on everything?!"
Ouch. He should've kept his voice low.
"The two that they did not take out yet," Kaede shrugged, her tone ominous.
When did she plan to tell him?! And Midori-kun was out there?
"He's not a target," she said, reading his mind.
"They could still kidnap him, though," Konrad pointed out, feeling angry. And right before their last song, too. That had a lot of keys in it. And the other band would play it, too.
"Kidnap who?" The Demon Lord entered right on cue.
Thank fuck. Konrad was never this happy to see him.
Whether Yuki-san missed their convo or was getting tired, she chose this moment to curse.
"Those fuckers will get it now," she claimed, whatever that meant. "They stole my fav bassist? Fine. Stole my song? Okay. But they even want to steal our grand finale?!"
That took her a while to process.
"We only have to play it better than them, and we'll win," Kaede said, switching gears, too.
Which was one way to look at it.
But they had the home turf advantage, and even played it first.
"Play what better?" Midori-kun looked confused. The dragoness brought him up to speed.
"Turns out we'll both play In The End," she noted, sorting through pictures. "Wait, those—"
An ominous pause until Maou checked her phone.
"Yeah, looks like it," he said. What? "Don't ask how they got them here, though."
Bring what where?!
Wait, he could talk now.
"Bring what?!" Konrad repeated, trying to take a look, but Kaede put her phone away.
"Never mind. Get ready for the song. We'll wipe them off stage."
Damn her and her priorities.
"Yeah, let's go, duet partner," Yuki-san smirked, pumping her fist in the air.
For fuck's sake—
'A heads up,' Kaede's voice echoed in his mind when he was about to lose it. 'We won't leave this building. Ever. So let's hope your theory is correct, and you can teleport us out.'
She looked pale and serious.
What a way to set the mood for their big finale.