Chapter 148 Part 2
As they all got off the buses and started walking, several Sairei students wearing sailor-type one-piece uniforms came out of the entrance of Building D.
Among them, Yuu recognized Kate, whose long blonde hair was blowing in the wind.
「Friends from Sairyou Academy, we extend our warmest welcome to you. We will serve as your guides today.」
Kate always appeared prickly and unsociable, but right now she had a warm smile on her face.
It seemed that two girls from the student council, and two girls from the music department, the main stars of the morning, had come to serve as their guides.
「We will be in your face. 21 boys and 113 girls have come from Sairyou Academy.」
Setting aside the details of how things had come to this, Sayaka also answered with a plastered smile on her face.
Moreover, five security guards dressed in uniform were standing in front of and behind the group.
「This way, please.」
Led by Kate and the others, they all crossed the road from the main gate and headed to the multi-purpose hall.
From the outside, it was as tall as the three-story school building, and it was such an impressive building that it was out of place for a high school.
When they passed through the entrance, they found that the air conditioning was on inside, and a number of people exclaimed, 「Ah, so cool!」
Behind the thick doors was the concert hall, the venue of the event.
The ceiling inside was quite high, and the seats were stepped so that the seats at the back were higher.
Here, they would hold a recital performed mainly by students selected from the music department, which had the largest number of students among all art-related departments. Moreover, since it was a performance held for Sairyou Academy, the male students were grouped in the center of the front row, surrounded by the female students.
In the hall that could accommodate 1000 people, in addition to the 113 Sairyou students, there were also some people who appeared to be teachers and students from the music department sitting in small groups here and there in the back seats, but even then, there were less than 200 of them in total.
Considering how large its capacity was, they couldn’t help but think that it was such a waste.
Yuu was sitting next to Higashino Rei and Yamada Masaya, who came to the event with him.
Masaya, who learned how to play piano until junior high school and joined the concert band club in high school, was very excited. Which was unusual for the usually cool guy.
Looking at the program sheet handed out to them when they entered, Masaya spoke in an excited tone.
「To think they’d play 『Heroic Polonaise』 right from the start. And following that is another Chopin piece, the 『Black Key Etude』?! Lucky them. If I had continued playing the piano in high school, I’d have loved to play it.」
「Are they really difficult pieces, as expected?」
「But of course! Both pieces are beyond the advanced level and have a difficulty level of F, you know?! Both 『Heroic』 and 『Black Key』 have a lot of difficult parts and demand a considerable amount of willpower and stamina, after all. I’m looking forward to hearing how well they’ll play those pieces. Ah, I think you’ve heard the 『Heroic』 piece before, Yuu. It has a famous phrase that’s used in dramas and commercials, after all.」
「Hohou. In that case, I’m looking forward to it.」
「Also, I’m looking forward to the flute and violin accompaniment, but as expected, I can’t wait to see the joint orchestra with the concert band club at the end. Sairei’s concert band is said to be one of the best in the prefecture, after all.」
It seemed that Masaya’s unusually impassioned speech was still going to continue, but at 9:45, a beeping buzzer could be heard. The performance was finally about to begin.
The first announcement was made.
『Thank you very much for coming to the special open campus by Sairei Academy High School today. In the morning session, you will be able to listen to a performance by Sairei Academy’s prided students from the music department here in the concert hall. Please listen quietly until the very end. The first piece will be Chopin’s 『Polonaise No. 6』, also commonly known as the 『Heroic Polonaise』. This piece will be played by the representative of the Piano Course of the Music Department…』
A shiny black ground piano was placed in the center of the stage.
The student who had just been introduced slowly emerged from behind the curtain.
Her long dress, exposing her shoulders, was a vibrant crimson.
It was hard to tell because there was nothing to compare her to, but she was probably a tall female student.
Her long, wavy black hair that reached her back, and heavy makeup, perhaps to look good on stage, made her look awfully mature.
Perhaps because everyone was enveloped in tension as the performance had just begun, when she bowed gracefully, she was only greeted with a modest round of applause.
After taking a seat on the bench and adjusting its position, she straightened her back and closed her eyes for a moment, probably to calm herself down.
Then, with a natural movement, she placed one foot on the pedal and extended both of her hands to the keyboard, and began the performance.
Ah, indeed, I’ve heard this phrase before. Still… Talk about amazing.
What was being played out was a powerful rhythm and a beautiful, flowing melody.
Meanwhile, the performer’s fingers were busy moving from one end of the long keys to the other, with barely any time to rest.
He thought it was amazing how she moved her fingers so quickly and yet made no mistakes.
Perhaps the acoustics were a factor, but Yuu never imagined that a live piano performance would resonate with him so deeply and make his body shake.
The fact that all the popular songs he used to listen to since his teenage years had been completely replaced in this world he had been reborn into made him feel a sense of loneliness.
This, too, was probably due to the dramatic decline in the number of men, and also the reversal of the concept of chastity.
After all, in addition to the fact that more than 90% of singers were women, there were almost no female idols who set the men as their target market.
However, perhaps because they followed a similar history in terms of classical music, there were many pieces that even Yuu had heard before, which was a lifesaver.
Yuu himself was not very knowledgeable about classical music, so there were limits to it, but in 『Heroic Polonaise』, a phrase he remembered hearing in dramas and commercials even in his life prior to his rebirth was repeated over and over again, so it made him happy.
The next performance was another Chopin piece with a rather bare-bones title of 『Etude No. 5 in G-flat major』, which was better known by its nickname 『Black Key Etude』.
As soon as the tall student dressed in a striking blue-purple dress began to play the piece, the audience was blown away by the incredible fingerwork and the gorgeous, fast-paced melody.
The powerful keystrokes and the melody played in a free-flowing manner were so fascinating that even Yuu, who wasn’t particularly interested in classical music, was drawn into it.
As soon as the performance was over and the performer stood up with an accomplished look on her face, basking in the afterglow of it, a thunderous round of applause rang out.
Naturally, Yuu was one of them.
Following the piano solo was accompaniment with flute, violin, and soprano soloist.
Although all the pieces were unfamiliar to Yuu, they were all so wonderful that he ended up getting completely absorbed in them.
After a 15-minute intermission, the curtain rose to reveal a stage full of an orchestra with a variety of instruments in their hands, and a group of schoolgirls dressed in uniform standing in a row in front of them.
It was a joint performance by the various instrumental courses of the music department and the concert band club, and a chorus by students from the vocal music course, performing Beethoven’s 『Symphony No. 9』.
Even before his rebirth, it was known as the 『Ninth』 or 『Ode to Joy』, and it had the image of a festive piece.
Perhaps the reason why this piece had been chosen was to represent the joy of the Sairei students at being able to welcome boys to their school; so Yuu thought.
The second piece, which was played after the chorus group went behind the curtain on the wing of the stage, was a completely different song, and it appeared to be the signature song of a nationally popular singer.
Naturally, Yuu completely had no idea about it, but even now it was still played on TV programs every now and then, so he was barely able to make out the chorus section.
The last piece played was 『Bolero』.
At the beginning, it was played by a snare drum with a distinctive rhythm and a quiet flute, but when they reached a certain section, the same melody was played by different instruments, such as clarinet, piccolo, oboe, trumpet, and so on in turn.
They were just playing the same melody over and over again, but the audience couldn’t help but get captivated by it, and by the time the violin joined in, they began to gradually pick up the momentum.
Eventually, in the final section, the piece reached its climax with the raging force of all the instruments.
For Yuu, it was a piece that left a strong impression on him because it was used as an insert song in an anime movie based on a space opera novel that he loved.
For that reason, when the piece reached its climax, Yuu’s heart was overcome with emotion, and the moment the performance was over, he reflexively stood up and gave a huge round of applause.
This sentiment spread to the other boys and girls as well, starting with Masaya who was sitting next to him, and they commended the performance with a standing ovation.
It was said that music transcended national borders.
Perhaps it meant that even those who were at odds with each other due to different religions, ethnic groups or economic backgrounds could become one under the charm of music.
Although they had opened up a little after they settled for a draw in the quiz championship held some time ago, Yuu and the other Sairyou students’ impression of Sairei was not that good.
However, in the face of their excellent performance, the lingering ill feelings vanished, and they were left with a feeling of honest admiration for them.
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
Reborn In A World of Chastity Reversal
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 70 hours
Evangelion is not a space opera if that is what Yuu is thinking about