As last notes slowly faded, the sombre yet uplifting atmosphere that had enveloped the whole cafe slowly vanished.
Richard let out a sigh as his fingers separated from the keys, his mind finally at ease, the young man found that the weight bearing down on him had lifted somewhat. The feeling of suffocation had disappeared and it was as if he had truly been revived.
HIs sense had sharpened, the dull vision he had now brightened and the "noise" had now turned into normal sounds.
"BRAVO!"
As he was relishing his own "nirvana", a cacophony of applause suddenly erupted behind him.
In shock, Richard turned to see a large crowd had already gathered behind him. Their faces were stained with tears, women had their make-up ruined and yet they still clapped. Some demanded for an encore but Richard did not want to play again.
Although he did not know what had happened, he was no idiot.
Whether he was going through the classic trope of showing off or not, Richard was unwilling to take on the fame that was meant for someone else.
'But how do I claim that I was taught?'
Whether Pachelbel existed in this world or not wasn't an issue, the biggest problem was that the piece he played was "technically" an original in this world. But his pride as a musician prevented him from being blinded by greed.
Richard may want to be acknowledged as a musician but he would never accept stealing the honor that others obtained.
'It's still a problem though'
If Richard claimed that the piece belonged to someone else, anyone could claim it. Even if he didn't want to become the thief, unless Pachelbel himself came up, the tune was fair game. The worst part of it all was the fact that the piece, for the musicians in this world, even in his previous world, was quite simple.
Anyone could play canon in D, hell, many musicians had experienced making at least one new variation to the piece.
Some played it on a guitar, others on a violin, they added various tones and incorporated whatever technique they knew to make the piece sound "different".
There were those that turned the canon into a jazz song, others that made it sound like a bards song played in a tavern, in fact, some had even turned this classical piece into a rap!
The variations were endless and this was possible because the original piece was really that simple.
'Damned if I do, Damned if I don't huh?'
As his mind was trying to find a proper way to sort out this situation, one man from the crowd came forward.
He was an unfamiliar face, but he did carry certain air about him. He was like a talent scout, the kind you'd see in shows. Stereotypical "showman" vibes with the short cut beard, clean cut hair and cool guy glasses.
Despite everyone dressing in a weird victorian x steampunk style, the man, with his greyish white hair stood out with his near modern suit.
"That was a wonderful performance! Young man, how would you like to perform on stage?"
He came up to Richard with the typical intro of a classic talent scout. If Richard had died a few years earlier and reincarnated then, he might have accepted the offer without missing a beat.
Now though?
Richard had already experienced the sorrow of rejection, he had seen the reality of the entertainment industry and the memories of this world he inherited were enough to give him a negative impression on talent scouts.
Especially some old dude who comes out of nowhere while talking big.
Hell, others may have been bewitched and fooled but Richard understood that the scouts who are truly big shots would never appear in small areas like this!
This town was pitifully weak in terms of entertainment, this was not Hollywood or New York, it was something akin to an industrial city. The few theatres that still exist in this city were those that existed only because they were already part of the scenery.
Like the small movie theatre that no one goes to but is still running.
Although he did not know of him, Richard was pretty sure that the old man should be related to the theatre. The same theatre where Richard wasted time and money in…
"No"
Fortunately, the old man did not press Richard too much, this allowed him to think for a moment before replying.
"Why not? You have talent, looks and your bloodline, your mastery of your abilities… it's basically screaming STAR POWER", the old man said as he tried to put his hands around Richard's shoulder and do the classic "imagine this with me" act.
But Richard found that not only his senses, his reflexes and even his body had gotten livelier. He was able to easily evade the man's arms and stare at him with a bland expression.
"Nein, I'd rather waste away than act in your boring plays"
Richard responded in a bland tone but his words immediately caused an uproar.
A few people in the crowd started to stir-
"WHAT DID YA SAY?"
"DID YOU CALL MY PERFORMANCE BORING?!"
"IS THAT WHY YOU LEFT?!"
"THAT WAS MY FIRST TIME! I'M GONNA GET BETTER WITH TIME!!"
The words were clear, none of them were muddled, even when not focusing, Richard was able to easily perceive their words.
"So what? Everyone just watches the shows to "show off" none of them are having fun and the few that do are more into the pretty elf's legs than they are on the story anyway"
Richard commented and his words seem to hit a sore spot as one of the complainants turned away in shame. Her blonde hair and blue eyes coupled with her fair features and long ears were the typical traits of a classic elf that was famous in Richard's previous life.
But in this world, such features were a proof of mixed blood.
True elves in this world had white hair, golden eyes and extremely long pointed ears. Their ears would normally look a lot like alien antennae instead of elf ears but in elf culture, the longer ones ears were, the purer their bloodline is.
There were even studies that confirmed that the elves' magical abilities were tied to their ears.
But the elf that was in the acting troupe? Her ears were just a little bit longer than a human's and the point on her ears were barely noticeable.
Heck, her long hair had covered her ears making it near damn impossible to see them if she stood still and hid her ears.
'Real elves look like aliens but halflings are extremely attractive'
Richard thought as he recalled the facts that he surmised based on the memories he had inherited.
Halflings were the unfortunate group of people who had mixed ancestry between puremen and numen.
As Richard thought about how attractive the elf woman was, he felt a heated gaze directed at him and instinctively he turned towards the source…
"Marie?"
He asked as he found himself staring at the short haired avis, her beautiful hazel eyes were staring daggers at him.
"After showing off, you immediately forget about me and start hitting on my sister?", Marie complained as she poked Richard's chest, though instead of the weak feeling she expected, she found herself touching something quite… hard.
This had led Marie to take a few more pokes while continuing to glare at him.
Richard on the other hand did not notice the small shifts in Marie's feelings as his mind was preoccupied with a thought-
"Sister?", RIchard blurted out as his gaze shifted between the black haired avis and the blonde elf.
Seeing his reaction, Marie stopped poking the man as she rolled her eyes while answering, "First time seeing an orphan?"
Her words immediately struck Ricahrd, she did not need to say anymore. The few words she gave him were enough, the implication was there and when he compared the elf and Marie once more, he realized that…
"Yeah, they can't be sisters"
But his inner thoughts had leaked out as Marie's expression froze before a dark smile washed over her face as she asked, "Where are you staring at while saying that?"
"crap…" , as the realization of his error snapped him out of his stupor, Richard stepped back but Marie did not give him the chance to retreat as her wings extended. Wrapped in an almost physical barrier of air, her wings had pulled Richard closer to Marie.
The two were not so close that they were touching but they were close enough that it wouldn't be hard for either of them to wrap their arms around the other.
"Your personality?", out of desperation, Richard quickly answered with the first thing that came to his mind that did not mean "chest".
But as he responded, due to the rather short distance between Richard and Marie, the young Richard had inadvertently ended up being in the perfect position to stare down at the beautiful avis.
As he did, he noticed something-
"Black…"
He muttered silently, but his words quickly caused Marie to blush as she lost control of her magic causing it to shoot towards Richard who was fortunate enough to have gotten a bit sharper. Although Marie's actions were sudden, Richard was able to dodge the wall of pressurized wind that would have sent him flying.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
He exclaimed as he saw the wall of wind shatter a wooden stool and table to pieces.
'If that hit…'
Richard could not even imagine the state of his body if he did not dodge…
'Come one… I haven't lived a year in this world yet'
He complained as he stared at Marie but the pretty avis did not show a hint of remorse as she glared daggers at Richard while covering up her chest.
"Come on, why are you getting mad at me? I didn't ask you to wear black underwear under a white to-"
Another wall of wind came flying at him.
"Don't kill people for seeing something slightly pervy!" he complained but internally-
'These damn tsundere's! Moments ago she was basically flirting with me! Now she wants to kill me?! For fucks sake! I thought they only existed in anime!!!'
He complained as he continued to dodge, initially it was dangerous and many patrons had already left save for the few actors under the old man.
That was maybe most likely the only good thing about this whole situation as the female actors were all wearing skirts…
'I did not mean to do it, I mean… they were the ones who chose to stay!'
Richard thought as he dodged another attack that caused another powerful gust to blow, another piece of cloth fluttered and another magnificent sight to behold.
He did not do it on purpose, he really was just trying to survive but if he could get a few benefits while doing so, why not- right?
Fortunately, the female cast did not seem to mind at all as they too were doing their best to dodge the attacks.
It truly was fortunate that Marie was still sane as she missed mostly because Richard was running in between the cast.
"STOP HIDING!"
Marie complained but Richard retorted back, "THEN STOP ATTACKING!"
"NO!"
"BACK AT YOU!!"
As Richard continued to evade the semi-crazed Marie, the old man who tried to scout Richard had quietly moved behind the cafe counter and had started to brew coffee…