Translator: Yang_Wenli
Holme led Joshua to his residence. It was a shabby room located behind the tavern’s kitchen.
The room was very dimly lit. When Joshua entered the room, he could hear a faint breathing sound.
The infant girl described by the dark elf was lying on a bed made out of several folded shabby rags.
“Is there... something you need from me?”
Holme’s speech was a bit difficult to understand. After all, he had just been miserably beaten. Through the dim light, Joshua could see that his face and eyes were completely bruised up.
The bruises made Holme look like a comical clown. Holme seemed to be concerned about the injuries on his face as he was lowering his head toward Joshua the entire time.
“Sit down first.”
Joshua handed the only chair in the room to Holme.
Holme knew fully that the person standing before him was a ‘grand individual,’ someone he cannot afford to offend. Because of that, Holme obediently sat down on the chair.
Then, Joshua moved over a table before Holme. After that, he found a chair from the tavern outside and sat down before Holme.
“Mister... if you wanted to purchase that infant girl...”
Holme found the interrogation-room atmosphere difficult to bear. In the end, he spoke in a probing manner. He did not believe that this grand individual would come here especially for him, a little sewer rat.
Thus, most probably, he came here to adopt that infant girl.
“Infant girl? Indeed, I am quite concerned about the infant girl you’ve adopted,” Joshua took a glance at the baby sleeping on her bed.
Even though the dark elf had reported to Joshua that her true identity was a Chaos Demon, Joshua did not sense the aura of a Chaos Demon from her...
“But, this time around, I’ve come precisely for you,” Joshua’s gaze fixed onto the youth in dire straits.
Likely, he had just experienced the worst day of his life...
“For... me?”
Holme didn’t dare believe his ears. He raised his bruised-covered eyes and finally recognized who the grand individual before him was.
“I... remember you’ve helped me during the audition, Mister.”
“No, I didn’t help you. You’ve obtained acknowledgement with your own performance. And now, I came here to congratulate you on ascending to the semifinal. Furthermore, I wanted to know if you’re ready for the upcoming performance.”
When Joshua asked that question, Holme was momentarily stunned. He clenched his scar-covered fists. His lips started to tremble slightly. In the end, he lowered his head, afraid to look at Joshua in the eyes.
“I... I plan to forfeit,” When Holme said those words, he felt like his throat was being choked. But, in the end, he still managed to speak those words.
“Forfeit? Why? You clearly have another opportunity.”
Holme did not answer Joshua. Instead, he quietly took out a shabby piece of paper from his back pocket.
It was a letter. But, the encounter from earlier had caused the letter to be soaked in sewage water. Nevertheless, Joshua was able to clearly tell that it was Sir Weissenasche’s writing.
More or less, it was a congratulatory letter telling Holme that he successfully entered the semifinal. Furthermore, it explained in detail the semifinal competition will be done through ‘dueling’ — two contestants will compete with each other and one will be eliminated.
The audiences will be the ones to decide on who will be eliminated.
“Was the contestant that you’ll be facing in the semi-final the opera singer from Farucci? He seemed to be quite famous too.” After skimming through the letter, Joshua learned that Holme’s opponent for the next round of the competition would be a somewhat famous opera singer from Farucci.
“That’s why, Mister... it is impossible for me to win. Besides, before I left, that opera singer told me that if I am to withdraw from the competition... he will reward me with ten gold coins.”
Even though Holme tried his hardest to make himself appear happy, Holme’s shivering voice betrayed him.
“Ten gold coins? If you are to defeat that opera singer, you will gain more than a mere ten goin coins! Do you really look down upon your own music that much?” Joshua’s words managed to stab Holme’s sore spot in his heart.
“No, it’s not that I look down on my music... Mister! The people of Norland all look down upon my music!” Holme’s hands were forcibly pressed against his forehead. As he spoke, his voice was choking with emotions, “The things I sung about... in the end, they are nothing more than trash of the underground world not accepted by others. How could they possibly compare against the sung performances of those opera singers...? Simply no one in the entirety of Norland is willing to accept my music. No... it can’t even be considered to be music.”
“Then make them accept your music,” Faced with Holme’s sob-filled venting, Joshua only responded with a very simple sentence.
“Mister, didn’t you catch what I was trying to say?! The people of Norland are incapable of comprehending my music!”
“Then make them comprehend,” Joshua once again responded in a very simple manner.
But, to Holme, Joshua’s reaction appeared like someone who can’t understand his situation at all. Holme was preparing to say something in refute when Joshua suddenly stood up and grabbed Holme’s clothes collar.
“Listen properly, kid... I know what you’re trying to express. You want to say that your music is not popular in Norland at all, that the citizens of Norland, or perhaps the entire world, are all not interested in your style of singing! But! That is not a justification for you to give up!” Joshua lifted Holme up with his collar. Because of that, Holme was forced to look at Joshua’s pitch-black eyes.
“But, human’s taste is not forever unchanged. A real musician is not someone who follows the trend. Instead, they are the ones who create their own trends! Do you understand?”
Holme was choking slightly from being lifted by his collar. In order to make Joshua let go of his collar, he nodded repeatedly. Joshua released his hand from Holme’s collar.
“But... but, Mister, I... don’t believe I can accomplish such a thing.”
Holme’s confidence was already destroyed by the first round of competition. He had given his all to the performance. He swore that it was the best sung performance in his whole life.
Yet, all he received were the audiences’ hiss, boos and countless shouts for him to get off the stage.
“Indeed, it’ll be impossible for you now. But, that does not mean that it will be impossible for you in the future. All you need is a bit of enlightenment.”
Joshua took out three pieces of paper and placed them on the table. Holme noticed that there were musical staffs on the papers. Furthermore... there were lyrics written there too.
“If those people doesn’t know how to appreciate your music, make them realize exactly how amazing that style of music is! The writer of this song is someone I admire. His life experience resembled yours slightly.” Joshua pushed the three pieces of musical papers to Holme, “But, it will not be an easy task for you to accomplish a complete interpretation of this song. Holme, I will only give you one chance. This is also the only chance you’ll ever have. You can either continue being a sewer rat in Squirrel Street or... have your name be remembered by the audiences of Norland.”
Holme quietly listened to Joshua’s words. He was at a loss as to how to respond. The two conflicting emotions of excitement and fear were fighting in his heart. Nervously, he picked up the three pieces of paper. From the first piece of paper, he saw the name of the song, ‘Lose Yourself.’