Chapter 148
"One more song, here we go!!!!!!!"
"YEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!"
Where is this place?
The answer: It was supposed to be a quiet, deserted hot spring deep in the mountains.
There are a few more volleyball courts now, but originally it was a peaceful hot spring town.
"Liberta-kun!!""Right here!"
But now it's become a live concert venue with spirits cheering us on.
From low-ranking spirits to high-ranking ones, countless spirits are waving lights imbued with their elemental attributes in their hands.
As for how the spirits know about idol concert performances - I taught them.
I had this wicked thought - I wanted the spirits to have fun, and thought they might get hooked if they experienced the unity of a live venue.
I do regret it, but I have no remorse!!
I've been teaching Amina J-pop and anime songs I know.
Unique songs that don't exist in this world.
I have plenty in stock, so the spirits get super excited by fresh songs.
I start playing the first song on the lute, then Nael follows with the cajón, a box-shaped percussion instrument to keep rhythm.
And then, to my surprise, Claudia joins in with her flute.
I never thought I'd be performing such songs in another world, but since we're doing it, we'll enjoy it seriously.
We've already sung over ten songs, but potions are convenient, right?
Amina's throat is always in perfect condition, letting her sing full out while dancing mid-song.
The singing and dancing are still imperfect, but the spirits pick up on our full-hearted enjoyment, creating an incredible excitement.
"WOOOOOOW! AMINA-CHAAAAAN!!!"
The high-ranking spirits seem to have become fervent fans, and their full enjoyment makes the mid and low-ranking spirits go all out too.
No doubt we've earned the "Rookie Idol" title.
Feeling this response, we finish the current song.
"Amina, the next one's our last.""Eh? I want to sing more!""The sun's setting. We really can't continue."
I wipe my sweat and tell Amina, who's drinking water, that the next song is our last.
"Ugh, okay. Everyone!!! This next one's our last song!""EHHHHHH!?""Yeah! I want to keep singing too, but the sun's going down!! But I'll give it my all until the end, so please cheer us on!!""YEEEEEEES!!!!!!"
They're really getting into it.I taught them about encores, but we really can't do one.
We'll end with Amina's favorite song.
In less than five minutes, cheers loud enough to echo over the mountains resound.
"Everyone! Thank you!!!""ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE!!!"
When Amina expresses her thanks, the still-unsatisfied spirits wave their spirit lights like penlights. Amina glances at me, and when I shake my head, she smiles regretfully.
"Sorry!! That's all for today!!""EEEEEEHHH!?""But! Next time I'll sing at Topfa's branch temple in the royal capital!! I'll wear proper costumes, make the stage more flashy, and sing lots more songs!!"
I slip in some advertising here.Hearing "royal capital," the spirits begin murmuring.Spirits rarely appear where people gather, but some start saying it might be okay since it's a divine domain.
"Will you be happy if we come!?""Yes!!! I'd be so happy if you all came!!"
One spirit works up the courage to shout this question, and Amina nods with a beaming smile.
"Will you sing more for us!?""Yes!! Lots and lots!!"
Her appearance as she wholeheartedly responds to her audience is that of a true idol.
"Then we're coming!!"
With this declaration, the venue erupts as spirits shout "Me too!" and "I'll go too!" to declare their participation.
"Thank you!! Thank you!! Let's all enjoy ourselves to the fullest that day!!!"
And so, amidst this excitement, the live ends.
Some spirits try to approach Amina as she leaves the stage, but the high-ranking spirits smoothly intercept them.
This was prearranged.
I'd explained that if she got mobbed by spirits now and couldn't perform next time, it would be terrible. After experiencing today's excitement, the high-ranking spirits want to prolong this enjoyment, so they're willing to hold back temporarily.
They tell us we can leave the stage as is.
This stage was created by the Earth Spirit King.He can dismantle it when needed.
Waving until the end, we gather and return via the Pendulum teleportation.
Back at the mansion...
"Phew!! I'm tired but that was so fun!!"
Amina collapses onto the sofa with a smile.
"Let's do it again!!""Next time will be in the royal capital.""Eh? We're doing it soon?""Nah, this is separate from calling the spirits - a mini concert for publicity.""Hmm. Will lots of people come listen?""No way to know that."
Singing continuously like that would tire anyone out.
"Good work today, Lady Amina. Here's some water for now.""Thank you!!"
Cold water really hits the spot when you're tired.
She chugs it down and goes "Phew!" in a very unladylike way, but somehow it looks cute when she does it.
"So, did you get the idol title?""Ah!"
Now that she's caught her breath, it's time to check if she got the title.
If the acquisition conditions were correct, she should have it.A brand-new idol division created at Zink's merchant company.Members: Me, Nael, Ingrid, and Claudia.I'm the manager.
We executed this guerrilla concert for the spirits.
Amina was so into the performance she completely forgot, but when I point it out, she hurriedly checks her status.
"I got it!! Look!!""Alright, no problems."
When she shows me her status, I see the "Rookie Idol" title added to her status screen.
Even with hundreds of spirits attending, it's still "Rookie" - makes you wonder. But this title requires repeating concerts many times to level up, so advancing will take time.
Audience size counts toward experience, but progressing from Rookie to full Idol depends more on number of performances than crowd size.
At Rookie Idol max proficiency, singing and dancing skills get a 5% bonus.At the next Idol level, it becomes 10% in addition to the Rookie bonus.At the third stage, Shining Idol, another 15% is added.
And at the final Bright Star Idol level, there's a 20% bonus.
Yeah, at that point, even limited to singing and dancing, getting a 1.5x multiplier without doing anything else is crazy.
No wonder it's considered the strongest buffer class.
"Next, we have three missions: asking the boss about stage setup, preparing costumes, and obtaining the dungeon key."
Amina might become a strategic weapon in the future, but since other FBO endgame players will reach similar levels, I'm not worried.
"Which to tackle first? Definitely getting the dungeon key. Without it, we can't level up."
Now that Amina's job acquisition is settled, it's time to work on everyone's class upgrades.
As for Nael's job acquisition, honestly with Amina's preparations and some toilet paper, we're set for one attempt.
Somehow, I feel like Nael might succeed in that single attempt.
"That's true, but you said you already have a lead on getting it, right?""I did, and I've actually confirmed the item exists."
So the most crucial thing is getting the dungeon key for leveling.
I often act alone, and during such times I investigated and confirmed the target item.
"If you've confirmed it, that's unusual. Normally Liberta would just obtain it immediately.""That's true, but this time the owner isn't a merchant but an ordinary person. Their grandfather was an adventurer, and it's an item he gave them.""That makes it a memento, right?""Nah, the owner's grandfather is still alive and well, drinking at bars. Sometimes he teaches kids swordplay to earn drinking money."
There was a quest called "The Old Dreamer."This old man left his poor village wanting to make it big as an adventurer and become famous - a common enough dream.
The key's current owner is his grandchild.
"He's willing to give us the key, but on one condition: we must fulfill the grandfather's dream.""Which is?"
He drinks, teaches swordplay to children.Though long retired from adventuring, he never put down his sword.
You'd think he has some grand, fantastical goal, but...
"He wants to shoot beams from his sword.""Huh?""Yeah, Nael. Don't give me that utterly confused look. And Amina, stop making that 'I totally get it' face. Wait, which of your brothers was it who-""Not just one~ Dad and all my brothers were seriously discussing it.""All of them!?"
It's simply about a man who never lost his boyish spirit wanting to fulfill his dream.
When I contacted them, the grandchild grabbed my hands and desperately begged me to fulfill Grandpa's dream, so they must somewhat understand it too.
I get the sentiment, but Nael, Amina, Ingrid and Claudia didn't seem to relate, leaving the mood a bit awkward.
What's wrong with sword beams? They're cool.
There actually are skills like that.They have some practicality too.
The quickest solution would be getting a skill scroll and giving it to the old man to complete the quest, but unfortunately the monsters that drop those aren't nearby.
"Which means we need to obtain a weapon with that functionality as a drop item.""You mean like a legendary weapon?"
The alternative is obtaining what's called a magic tool.What Nael imagines isn't wrong, but to get something like that we'd need to challenge higher-level dungeons.
At minimum, we'd need class 7 golems that drop them.
"No, there are expendable one-time use weapons that can unleash such skills."
But being impractical and single-use, we can obtain them nearby.
"Huh.""You don't sound interested, but Nael, I need your help getting this.""Me?"
As for what enemy drops it...
"Remember the Haniwa? The golems we relied on for leveling at class 1."
Haniwa.Believe it or not, those Haniwa can drop a rare sword that shoots beams.
"Of course I remember... wait, seriously?""Yeah, they drop it. Specifically, a rare variant among evolved Haniwa has a low drop rate."
The attack power is low, making it impractical.But visually, it's quite flashy.
Enough to fulfill a man's romantic dream.
"Huh, those Haniwa...""To do this quickly, let's all go tomorrow.""It's been a while.""I'll prepare lunch boxes.""Ah! I want egg sandwiches!""Understood. Any other requests?""I'd like something more substantial!"
Once we do this, we'll have a path for class upgrades.Then we can obtain jobs for Amina and Nael, get Ingrid's job...
"? Is something wrong, Lord Liberta?""No, I just suddenly worried whether I'll successfully get my own job."
When my turn comes, will I be okay?Since coming to this world, my real luck seems to be declining - or rather, fluctuating wildly.
I can't help but imagine a future where Nael succeeds in one try, Amina and Ingrid struggle a bit, and I have to work really hard to barely make it.
The quest itself presents no concerns, but for some reason I'm uneasy about the luck aspect.