75 The Girl With the Harp

Elder Lucas coughed to gather everyone's attention.

"There are separate rooms to eat and lounge in. There are also musicians playing in those rooms for those of you who enjoy that. However, entrance to any room requires contribution points so I recommend you visit the Yellow Lily Pond on the top floor," he explained.

At the very centre of this building lay a large pond where there was a single stone surface at the centre. The most accomplished, and most popular musician dubbed the 'Yellow Lily' would be invited to play there for contribution points.

Surrounding the pond and on any stone surfaces in the pond were beautiful yellow lilies that gave off a fragrant scent. It was the reason why Elia loved this hall since she adored the colour yellow and yellow flowers in general.

"There is a rule that you must be absolutely silent on the top floor unless you book a room overlooking the pond. The lower floors where you are closer to the pond require contribution points so all of you can't visit there."

He motioned with his hands for everyone to do their exploring. But just as he had said, most disciples didn't have enough contribution points to enjoy anything except for listening to the Yellow Lily from the top floor where the view was the worst.

"Well, let's head up then," Emily said as she began to lead the way.

She was excited to listen to music that would be played here since she didn't have the luxury to do so when she had been younger.

As they all made their way upstairs, they would occasionally pass by rooms.

The rooms were designed so that a tiny amount of music would leak outside but no sounds would make its way inside. It was also possible to make it so that the rooms were locked and that it was soundproof.

The default settings of the rooms were to let a tiny bit of noise out so that those who passed by and enjoyed the melody could pay to enter and listen or dine in the room while listening to said music.

Almost all rooms they had passed by were of people playing zithers, an ancient Chinese instrument.

When they reached the top floor, there were already plenty of disciples who were silently sitting and watching the Yellow Lily play her zither, the guzheng.

There were rooms that could be rented where you could speak comfortably so that your noise didn't interrupt anyone else's playing.

But most disciples were lounging about on the open sofas, listening to the drifting melody that made its way all the way up to the top floor from the bottom floor where she played.

Her right hand elegantly and precisely plucked at the strings that lay horizontally in front of her. The most interesting aspect of this instrument to Yeon, who was now more used to instruments from Earth, was the added vibrato effect that the left hand could apply over the bridge.

Unlike the vibrato of a guitar or a violin, the pitch of the string changed as she moved the string up and down.

The main melody was being carried by the repeated plucking of single strings, almost like a drone, where the notes would be plucked harder then softer to create a feeling of movement in the crescendos and diminuendos.

It was accompanied by the naturally bright scales played by her fingers running through the strings, eliciting a sound that travelled down your spine like a droplet of water.

"It's beautiful," Emily admired before being aggressively shushed by the people around them.

Adil had been completely ignorant of music beforehand, but he was now much more informed of his opinion.

He wanted to listen to the guqin, what looked like a smaller version of the guzheng. It only had 7 strings with no bridge, but as the instrument dubbed the Father of Chinese music, it had its own charms.

Yeon wanted to listen to a simpler melody where its warm sounds would be carried by the distinctive glissando of the guqin.

Yeon left the two girls to admire the professional playing of the Yellow Lily and moved between the rooms to look for anyone half-decent playing the guqin.

However, most rooms were already filled or had been closed at the request of the guests already listening.

Just as Yeon was about to give up on his search and return to the girls, he heard a familiar noise coming from one of the rooms that was hidden in the corner.

The only reason he could hear it was because the nearby rooms were all silent due to being at full capacity.

He looked at the entrance fee that read [3 contribution points], the cheapest option available. He pushed his disciple plaque to pay and silently opened the door and entered inside.

There were no spectators inside the small room and there were no separate compartments inside where people could order food and eat at the tables. There were only a few chairs and a single sofa surrounding a girl who was playing by herself.

Her hair had a soft leaf-green colour much like her playing which resembled the gentler sounds of nature. It was impossible to tell the colour of her eyes since she had them closed to focus on her music.

Her sleeves had blue cuffs to indicate her status as an inner disciple.

Yeon patiently waited for her to finish playing before applauding her.

"I enjoyed your piece, thank you," Yeon said sincerely while clapping.

She opened her eyes to see Yeon standing in front of her.

"Oh~, I didn't even realise~ that someone had come in~. Welcome~, welcome~~" she said while smiling tenderly. Her way of speaking was slow, and she elongated some of her vowels in a very distinctive way.

'Yellow eyes,' Yeon thought as he replied, "I thoroughly enjoyed your piece. Was it a piece that you improvised, or did you learn it from elsewhere?"

"I~ improvised it, ehehe~~" she replied proudly.

She had a kind face but one that looked unfocused. If you had to ask someone on the streets for help, she would be the first person to ask. Similarly, her naïve and aloof expression made her look perfectly exploitable.

"I know that this is a rude question to ask…"

"Hmm~~?"

"But do you often get swindled or cheated?"

"Oh wow~~!" she said as she covered her open mouth with her hands, "how did you know~!"

"… I just did," Yeon replied. He had only asked her since she seemed like the type to not care, and he couldn't curb his curiosity.

"I wonder why no one else is here even though your piece was wonderful?" Yeon asked, he was genuinely confused.

Her playing was already at a professional level. Her melody had been simplistic but inspired, one you would expect from a talented musician.

"It's because~ no one~ likes the harp~~," she sighed woefully, her gentle smile fading into a sad one.

The reason Yeon had been drawn to this room was that there was the familiar playing of a harp. The melody was in C major, meaning that it was the equivalent of only playing the white notes of the piano.

Yeon eyed the sharp and noticed that there were no pedals or levers that were usually present to allow for accidentals, the sharps and flats, the black bits of the piano. So, it was not that she was playing a piece in C major, it was that she could only play in C major.

"No one likes the harp?" Yeon asked confused.

"People like you~ who don't discriminate~ against the harp~ are rare~~," she said while stroking the wooden curve of her harp affectionately.

"Even though~ the harp is older~ than the guqin~! They~ only want to listen~ to the guqin~ or the guzheng~!" she whined.

"If I remember correctly, the harp evolved from the use of bows which was why it developed faster than the guqin…" Yeon mumbled, it was something he had read on Earth and he wasn't sure if the same applied here.

"Exactly~~" she said while appearing before Yeon. Despite her slow way of speaking, her movements were impossibly fast.

'I guess she really is an inner disciple,' Yeon thought, only to realise that his hands were held by hers.

"I~ like~ you~~, ehehe~" she laughed.

"I'm… I'm a guy," Yeon clarified. It wasn't normal for someone to be so trusting of someone they had just met, and she was holding his hands to boot.

She stared at Yeon's veiled face for a good 5 seconds, her eyes curiously scanning over his features.

"Good~ for~ you~~!" she replied with her hands still grasping Yeon's.

In his confusion, Yeon could only let out a half-hearted response, "… Thank you?"

*BANG*

The door to the room slammed open as another girl rushed inside with such confidence and aggression it reminded Yeon of police officers who unjustly invaded homes without a proper warrant…

"The Laughing Tyrant! Two women weren't enough that you're going after my sister!" Elsher Elrod roared as she separated the two of them, slapping away Yeon's hands that were being held by the harp girl's.

Yeon, who was unjustly accused, furrowed his brows, "First of all, I can't take you seriously if you call me by that stupid name."

Elsher Elrod stood in front of her sister protectively, while her sister looked around in confusion with an open mouth.

"Secondly, she was the one holding my hand, not the other way around. As for your question, I plead the fifth," Yeon said with his hands raised.

"This is your fifth woman? Disgusting!" Elsher hissed.

"What? No! I mean..!" Yeon let out a disgruntled sigh. He had accidentally been using more terminology from Earth recently.

"May I call you Senior Elrod?" Yeon asked the confused sister. He had to get the sister to clarify the situation for him since Elsher didn't seem like she would believe him.

"Yuuuuulaa is fine~" she replied happily.

"Sister Yuula, no! He cannot address you in such a way," Elsher replied while huffing.

"Why~ not~~?"

"He's a very bad man, sister! A very bad man!"

"Hey, I'm still here," Yeon chimed in only to get ignored.

"He's~ a good man~~"

"He's dangerous!"

"Strong~~?" Yuula asked with her head tilting sideways.

"Not stronger than you," Elsher replied proudly.

'Siscon,' Yeon thought to himself.

"Then~~, it's fine~!" Yuula replied.

"No…" Elsher wanted to rebuke her but then she would contradict herself.

"And~~, he is a good man~ because~~" Yuula dragged on.

Elsher didn't interrupt her or urge her to hurry, but instead patiently waited for her to finish.

"He likes~ harps too~~!"

Elsher shot an angry glare at Yeon, and Yeon quickly nodded his head to show that he did indeed like harps.

"I like harps, no I love harps. Go harps!" Yeon said while punching the air.

Yuula followed along much to Elsher's dismay.

"Go~ harps~~!"

Yeon and Yuula gave each other a high-five in front of the very frustrated Elsher.

"Yay!"

"Yay~~!"

Yeon was having fun with Yuula and it was also a huge bonus to see the proud and dismissive Elsher Elrod become so fussy.

"Sister Yuula, what are you doing here? This wasn't the room we agreed to meet in," Elsher asked, putting the matter of Yeon aside for now.

She had waited in the room they were supposed to meet in even though it was empty, hoping for her sister to arrive.

When enough time had passed, she realized that her airheaded sister had gone to the wrong room and had desperately gone around looking for her only to walk in on Yeon and Yuula holding hands.

"It's not~~? I'm sorry~, Elsher~~" Yuula went up to Elsher and gave her a big, warm hug.

"It's nice~ to see you again~~"

"Mmm, it's nice to see you again, sister."