Congratulations on Your Magical Girl Duties

37 – Only She Doesn’t Know…

Taishi felt confident.

This time, she was certain she could prove her superiority.

“A girl’s hobby, it is!”

Kim Siyul regarded the guitar Taishi had brought with wide, curious eyes.

“What kind of guitar is that?”

“A bass, it is! A magical bass, to be precise, that needs no amp whatsoever!”

Meanwhile, Sora observed Taishi with a look of puzzlement.

“Didn’t you used to not have a hobby like this?”

“I started recently, out of boredom, I did!”

Of course, it was a lie.

A lie as red as Taishi’s crimson eyes.

The bass was an instrument Taishi had been practicing for a long time.

She had simply kept the truth hidden because her skill hadn’t matched her love for the instrument.

But, that was until today.

Lately, she felt her skill had greatly improved. The magical beings of Magical Buddhism had even lavished praise upon her.

So, Taishi was reasonably confident.

It wouldn’t hurt to show them now, would it?

‘Everyone will be astonished by this girl’s skills, they will!’

Ray, his face etched with surprise, couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from Taishi’s bass.

A truly satisfying reaction.

He must be very impressed, then.

“That such a minority instrument exists… Has America’s PC culture reached even the guitar?”

“Inferior species! You’ve said too much, you have!”

Taishi’s anger flared.

She’d thought he was amazed, but Ray was simply surprised by the low number of strings.

“No, I just think it’s…amazing.”

“Hah….”

Still, Taishi did her best to restrain herself.

“It’s quite alright.”

To get angry at such an unrefined person would only be a detriment to oneself.

Besides, once they heard his playing, things would be different.

Taishi believed this, and smiled.

“Hey, don’t come down too hard on him. He’s trying hard to play an instrument that doesn’t even make a sound.”

However, this time, it was difficult to bear.

From the moment this inferior type, whom he’d just met today, spoke, he couldn’t control himself.

His name was Kim Si-yul, wasn’t it?

Well, that wasn’t important now.

Taishi’s eyes narrowed sharply as he glared at Kim Si-yul, the source of the voice.

“Inferior one, where exactly do you reside?”

“I live a bit higher up. Around D7. Think your bass can make it up here?”

“Ah, I sincerely wish to kill you, I do!”

Homicidal urges surged within Taishi.

The bass could not reach.

Not could not, but would not.

Perhaps.

“Anyway, you said playing the bass is a hobby, yes? Would you be willing to play for us?”

Still, thanks to Sora calming things down, Taishi managed to hold onto his reason.

‘At least this one among them is not too bad, I suppose.’

He certainly found her pleasing.

If only she’d converted to Magical Buddhism, it’d be even better.

Still, for now, he would play the bass.

Of course, Taishi wasn’t simply planning to play for the sole purpose of displaying his superiority.

If everyone here was amazed by his skill and took an interest, he could use teaching them the bass as a pretext to convert them to Magical Buddhism.

It wasn’t bad for them either. It was a path to escaping their inferiority and becoming superior Arhats.

“In that case, I shall perform, I will.”

And then, Taishi moved his fingers.

The thick, weighty low-end unique to the bass resonated throughout the Magical Living Quarters.

After a few repetitions, Taishi caught his breath, wearing a confident smile.

“How fares it? Do you now perceive this maiden’s true skill?”

Kim Si-yul and Rei’s reactions diverged.

“Not bad for an octopus. I’ve a new respect.”

“As it should be, no?”

First, Kim Si-yul wore an expression of surprise.

Well, a natural response. A performance of this calibre was not something readily encountered.

“There was no sound though?”

“Th-there was surely a sound! Your ears must have gone deaf and heard naught!”

Rei, on the other hand, simply cocked his head.

This too was a reaction foreseen. A dog’s intellect could hardly grasp the allure of the bass.

‘Ah, well, such things cannot be helped.’

Meanwhile, Sora showed no particular reaction to Taishi’s playing.

Instead, she addressed Kim Si-yul.

“Does a senpai like girls who can handle instruments well?”

“Well, it’s nice to see someone who’s good at it. Though, frankly, I wouldn’t really know.”

“Ah, that’s the otherworld concept again, right?”

“It’s not a concept, you little shit.”

At that moment, Sora flashed Taishi a sweet smile and closed the distance.

“Could I perhaps try playing once?”

“Of course, do! Feel free to try. However, it shall surely not be easy.”

Indeed, it would not be easy.

Taishi was certain.

Even Taishi, who prided himself on his talent, had taken a considerable amount of time to be able to play it properly.

Much less, Sora, who had never particularly played an instrument before. Could she really play the bass?

Regrettable, but impossible.

The bass was an instrument for a chosen few, after all.

Taishi readily handed over the bass.

“Here, take it.”

“Thank you. I’ll play just one song.”

And then.

“Huh…?”

He doubted his ears.

It was beyond belief.

Was this really happening?

A mellow, mid-range melody drifted, beautiful and light.

It was undeniably the same bass, but how could the sound be so utterly different?

The bass isn’t flashy?

The bass is just boring?

The bass doesn’t stand out?

No. Not in Sora’s playing, at least.

‘That’s a girl’s bass, but why…’

It’s different with her. Taishi’s eyes darkened, sinking into shadow.

“Oh, Sora. Did you take separate bass lessons? You’re so good!”

“Hehe. I just messed around with things as a temporary teacher in America, to kill time.”

“The sound is amazing! Sora, you’re really something!”

“Sis, why are you making such a fuss over this? Besides, this is just a hobby.”

Kim Siyul and Rei’s exclamations of wonder.

Sora’s sheepish reaction.

But Taishi heard nothing. Only the bass’s siren song resonated.

Taishi reflected on days gone by.

The bass had remained indifferent, no matter how much he sweat and toiled, furiously moving his fingers. At first, it wouldn’t even produce a proper sound.

Later, sounds emerged bit by bit, but they were never perfect. Each time he finished playing, a sense of dissatisfaction lingered, a feeling of something creaking and off-key.

Each time, Taishi moved his clumsy fingers even harder. But the result never changed.

Still, Taishi had forced himself to be content. Someday it would produce a better sound, he thought; with practice, he too would be able to create something decent.

But this bass was different.

Sora, not its owner, just a Japanese-American he’d met today. Her long fingers, the knuckles slightly thick, yet so supple.

Each time those fingers moved, roughly and gently, the bass shamelessly spilled out a beautiful timbre.

As if truly grateful to its real owner.

As if delighted to reach an unreachable range.

The bass wasn’t ashamed in the slightest. Rather, it cried out vulgarly, as if proud.

The dignified bass Taishi knew was no more. Now, it was simply an instrument, true to its essence, making sound.

In that moment.

“Sora, I’m sorry to ask, but could you possibly play one more song? Wow, this is truly amazing.”

“Then I’ll put some extra effort in, specially!”

Sora set her fingers to dancing once more.

Softly, as if caressing something precious.

Simultaneously adding rhythm, growing stronger, little by little.

The reaction was immediate. The bass, having completely forgotten its shame, poured a bewitching and mournful melody throughout the entirety of Magical Living Quarters.

Even as its strings trembled uncontrollably, the bass made sound, urging Sora to continue playing.

Begging her to move her fingers more and more.

Pleading that this music would never end.

Wishing to feel the joy of the instrument just a little longer.

Presently, Sora’s performance reached its peak.

The climax, its other name. The moment she arrived at that point, the bass let out an exquisite cry.

A sound that, in all the days past, the bass had never once shown to Taishi.

The bass’s true sound, only revealed when held roughly in Sora’s arms.

The sound only an instrument makes when it meets a superior player and is satisfied to its utmost.

Taishi did not know this sound.

“Ah.”

In that instant, Taishi realized he was moving his fingers without even knowing it.

Of course, it was a futile act.

Taishi knew it well.

Nothing but empty air. Fingers moving forlornly in such emptiness could neither make sound nor satisfy the bass.

Merely empty air-picking.

However.

“I used it well, really nicely. The bass is pretty good.”

“U, uh. Thank you very much.”

Even after taking back the bass, the same held true.

He cautiously moved his fingers, but the bass that had been screaming madly in Sora’s arms only moments before was now utterly silent.

It merely emitted a couple of dull *ticks* and *tocks,* but beyond that, the bass did not make any further sound.

Just as his fingers had moved emptily a moment before.

‘Why, with a girl’s fingers…’

No sound escaped him. Tears welled, little by little, in Taishi’s eyes.

Nothing more entered Taishi’s blurry gaze. Only the past he’d walked until now continued to flicker by.

‘I lived… in a fantasy.’

From the start, he hadn’t possessed any exceptional talent, hadn’t even played the bass well…

Only, he loved the bass more than anyone, and without shame, he deluded himself and lived in a fantasy.

How was he supposed to live from now on?

To whom could he possibly tell this story?

Even after showing his flaws, the flaws still remained.

Envy.

He felt envy.

He envied those who played the bass well.

Even if they were alcoholics, he felt envy.

Even if they were men dressed as women, he felt envy.

He, too, wanted to be like them.

“…”

Presently, Taishi’s gaze landed. On Sora, smiling brightly as she looked at Kim Si-yul and Rei.

Taishi could no longer look at Sora with eyes full of goodwill.

It was you.

You were the one who played the bass so well.

Just seeing you makes my world crumble.

And.

Even now, it is crumbling.

Taishi didn’t say anything more, and quietly lay down on the bed. He put the bass he’d loved so much away, next to the Magical Locker.

“Oh, Taishi? Are you going to sleep already?”

“…That is so.”

So that the bass couldn’t be seen, Taishi pulled the blanket over his head, all the way up, inwardly certain.

That no matter what effort she made from now on, he could never return to his previous relationship with the bass.

Taishi hated everything.

Even the bass that never deigned to sound for her.

Even Sora, enjoyed as nothing more than a fleeting fancy.

Even the world, that bestowed talent on those without affection.

But.

She loathed herself most of all, for having never once satisfied the bass.

“Sob…sob…”

She could no longer love the bass.