Chapter 144
Now, Nel is fired up and determined to acquire her job, which means the remaining two must also take action to earn their epithets.
"For now, let's head home. We also need to store the Marsh Dragon materials."
"Okaaay! Nel’s going home!"
"A hundred thousand zeni? Selling the Marsh Dragon materials should cover it, but we’ll need to be careful about where we sell them. And a new product? What if it already exists somewhere in the world and I just don’t know about it?"
"Lady Nel, please take my hand and come this way."
Nel’s brain is working at full capacity, trying to figure out how to produce a hundred thousand zeni in three days while also brainstorming ideas for a new product.
Muttering to herself, she attempts to come up with solutions using her limited knowledge. But as a result, her body moves on autopilot, and Ingrid ends up guiding her by the hand as they return home via the Pendulum of Gathering and Teleportation.
"Shall I prepare some tea?"
"Yeah, the explanation might take a while, and Nel’s like this right now. Claudia and I will handle the cleanup. Amina, could you help Ingrid?"
"Leave it to me!"
For now, we settle Nel onto the sofa while Claudia and I put away the weapons and materials.
With two people working, the cleanup is done in no time. And thanks to the magic kettle, tea is ready quickly.
Unlike earlier, where we talked outside, this time we start the explanation in a more casual manner, as if chatting in the living room.
Nel, having overthought things, is now eating sweets to replenish her brain’s sugar levels.
She seems to be listening, at least—her ears are clearly turned in our direction.
"Alright, next is Amina. You’re fine with the Singer job, right?"
"Yep!"
"First, the steps to become a Singer. You’ll need to undergo a trial at one of the branch temples in the western part of the capital—the Temple of Topfa, the God of Entertainment."
FBO’s world follows a polytheistic civilization.
Not quite as vast as Japan’s eight million gods, but still numerous.
The deity Amina will be dealing with is Topfa, the God of Entertainment.
Judging from the statue, he appears to be a slender, handsome man—though my personal impression is that he looks like a good-looking but unsuccessful rock band singer.
His divine statue holds a lute, which is why he’s recognized as the God of Entertainment.
In reality, his domain isn’t just singing but also includes performance, acting, and dance—so the title isn’t wrong.
"The trial for becoming a Singer is simple: you just have to sing a dedicatory song at the branch temple."
"Huh? That’s it?"
Trials are categorized by their nature.
Amina, who had braced herself for something as unreasonable as Nel’s challenge, relaxed upon hearing how straightforward it sounded.
"Yeah, if you just want to be an ordinary Singer, that’s all there is to it. But the Singer-type jobs are a pure test of skill. I don’t think Amina has anything to worry about, and I’ve prepared skills for this purpose. Still, be prepared to raise your Singing skill all the way to Divine Singing if necessary."
"O-okay..."
But when I gave her a serious look, signaling that this was where the real challenge began, she tensed up again.
"First, the Singer job is divided into three tiers. This isn’t about evolution—it’s a three-tier evaluation system."
I set down my cup, stood up, and walked over to the blackboard in the living room.
Picking up a piece of chalk, I drew a large triangle, then bisected it horizontally twice to divide it into three sections.
"The bottom tier is the Singer tier. What I just described—the basic Singer—falls here. Even here, you can get an epithet, but it won’t be anything special, and the skill effects are barely noticeable. It’s more of a symbolic bonus than anything practical."
I wrote "Singer" in the bottom section.
This tier is for those who sing purely for enjoyment, like casual karaoke enthusiasts—not for making money.
"Next is the tier for the job called ‘Songstress.’ To reach this tier, you must perform your dedicatory song in front of an audience of at least ten but no more than five hundred people. The larger the audience, the higher your chances of earning a special epithet."
I wrote "Songstress" in the middle section.
This tier represents professional singers who are just starting to make a name for themselves—those whose talent and popularity are still unproven.
"The job effects here are practical, but still not quite satisfying. There are unique epithets available only at this tier, but honestly, compared to the ones above, their effects are lackluster."
"Ten people… so if I just gather some friends..."
Amina’s plan to rope in acquaintances to meet the requirement slipped out, and I couldn’t help but smile wryly.
"Lady Amina, according to Liberta’s explanation, you’d need at least five hundred people to qualify."
"Five hundred? How many is that?"
Even if she made a hundred friends like in the children’s song, it wouldn’t come close.
Amina, unable to visualize the number, looked to Ingrid for clarification.
"…Roughly the number of people in the marketplace after the early morning rush."
"That’s so many! Huh!? I need that many!?"
"Yeah, you do."
Amina tilted her head in confusion, and after a few seconds of thought, Ingrid gave the closest comparison.
Amina gasped, then frantically turned to me for confirmation—only for me to shake my head mercilessly.
"Liberta, judging by your tone, even five hundred might not be enough?"
"Yes. The absolute minimum is one thousand."
"One thousand?"
"Think of the number of people filling a single street during a festival in the capital."
"That’s insane! No way, no way, NO WAY!!!"
Claudia, realizing the even harsher reality, hesitantly pressed me further.
If even Nel’s conditions were already tough, was Amina also being subjected to a trial like this?
All I could do was nod grimly.
"Ideally, I’d prefer ten thousand. With just a thousand, it’s not guaranteed."
"Ten thousand?"
"That would be roughly the entire population of the capital."
"The whole capital!? Even the king!?"
"No, I doubt His Majesty would attend."
The silver lining here is that this job’s randomness is minimal.
If Amina can truly sing in front of ten thousand people, she’ll almost certainly earn the highest-tier epithet.
But if the gacha’s pity system is set at ten thousand, then the fewer people there are, the lower the odds become.
Nine thousand? 90% chance.
Eight thousand? 80% chance.
And so on.
"Liberta, at this rate, Amina might faint from shock. Let’s set aside the acquisition conditions for now. What are the benefits of obtaining this?"
That’s why we need to create an environment where she can sing in front of a massive crowd—but if I explain any further, Claudia warns me that Amina might actually pass out.
"From what I know, the highest-tier epithet for female singing jobs is ‘Divine Songstress.’ Its effect is simple: an increase in song-based skill effects. But when fully mastered, the passive effect boosts the potency by 1.5 times. Compared to the Singer’s 5% and the Songstress’s 15%, a 50% increase is insane."
So, I explain the effects of the Divine Songstress epithet.
What makes it so broken?
Because all song-based buffs become 50% stronger.
That’s an absurd increase.
And this effect is permanently active—24/7, 365 days a year—with zero mana cost.
"On top of that, this job effect is immune to enemy debuffs. It can’t be negated or even reduced. There’s even a buff song that blocks debuffs, so as long as that’s active, no other song’s effects can be interfered with."
And this job effect applies to all song-based skills.
That’s right—both active and passive.
If Singing skill only gives a 10% boost, mastering this job raises it to 15%.
This increase then applies to active song skills, further amplifying buff effects, which in turn enhances our combat abilities even more.
"…If the military knew about this, they’d probably create a dedicated unit for it."
"I’ve heard church choirs can do something similar."
"Not to the extent Liberta describes. Their effects are negligible, and they lack combat ability, so their levels remain low."
After hearing this explanation, Claudia looked at Amina with a serious expression, now aware of the potential of her final form.
"???"
Amina herself understands that it’s impressive, but not how insane it is.
Right now, she’s more preoccupied with how to gather ten thousand people.
Well, in Amina’s case, I already have an idea, so it’s not something to worry too much about.
"As an added bonus—though not the main point—the Divine Songstress also has access to a unique skill that’s pretty ridiculous."
"Please don’t give me any more heart attacks, but I’ll hear it anyway. Is it worse than the skill Nel is trying to obtain?"
After showcasing such an absurd support ability, there’s still the matter of the unique skill exclusive to the Divine Songstress.
"If ‘worse’ means ‘why would anyone design a skill like this,’ then yes, it’s terrifying."
"…Go on."
A skill with harsh acquisition conditions, tricky usage, but undeniably worthy of the title "unique"—overwhelmingly powerful.
"The unique skill is called ‘Last Song.’ It multiplies the effect of the next song skill used by ten."
"…Ten times?"
"Yes. Ten times."
Like Nel’s Fortune’s Summon, it can only be used once per day, with a 24-hour cooldown.
Additionally, after using it, the song skill activated immediately afterward cannot be used again for twelve hours.
"But… it’s a bit more ordinary than I expected. I was anticipating something even more outrageous."
"It’s already outrageous enough, Claudia. What do you think the first skill affected by Last Song would be?"
"Wouldn’t it be the next skill used?"
"Isn’t there already a skill active before that?"
"…You can’t mean—"
And here’s the most terrifying part of Last Song.
It affects not just active skills—but passive ones as well.
"Yes. If the user has any passive song skills, all currently active song-based passive skills are amplified. And this effect lasts until the next active song skill is fully performed."
"Wait a minute. The only song-based passive skill she has is Singing, right? There aren’t any others—"
"Oh, there are. There are plenty of passive skills that enhance song-based abilities."
This is why, above all other buffers, the Divine Songstress reigns supreme.
I’ve mentioned Heavenly Voice before, but there are others—like Pitch Perception and Rhythm Sense.
"B-but surely the effect only applies to one skill, right?"
"All passive skills active at the same time remain active in parallel. There’s no restriction on which one is applied first."
It seems Claudia is starting to grasp the horror of Last Song.
If all passive effects are multiplied by ten at once, imagine how strong the final song’s effect would be.
"And among the song-based buff-enhancing skills, there’s one that provides a balanced boost to all stats. Normally, it’s better to stack multiple songs, but with Last Song active..."
"It becomes monstrous."
"Yes."
"…How terrifying."
"Well, as Claudia said, Amina in her current state wouldn’t see such dramatic effects. This skill only shines after fully developing passive skills. But the fact that such an insane skill awaits her at the end is a merit in itself."
"???? Hey, Liberta. So what does this all mean?"
After all that passionate explanation, Amina—who lost track at "ten times"—tilted her head in confusion.
"It means if Amina becomes a Divine Songstress, she’ll become an incredible person."
"Ohhh! Then I’ll do my best!!"
Yeah… Seeing her cheer so innocently makes me feel a little guilty for scheming like this.
"Yeah, I’ll help too, so let’s do our best!"
"Okay!"
To ease my conscience even slightly, I vow to support her fully.
"Though… the schedule might be hellish."
"Huh? Hell?"