65 65. Moonchase Festival
Author's Note: Sorry guys. Actually, I just got fucking home yesterday. And I was too tired and forced myself to relax for a bit. You know, something like idk what to write at that moment. Anyway, I'm back.
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September 5th.
It had been five days since Ryūhei asked Xinyan to join him and form a band. As Xinyan was new to the songs Ryūhei wanted to play at the festival, she needed to adapt and learn everything from scratch.
Yet, Ryūhei was quite surprised. Xinyan was so talented and a hard worker at the same time. Xinyan herself didn't expect that the songs Ryūhei wanted to perform at the festival would be so interesting. That's right. The songs that Ryūhei wanted to bring are a combination of musical genres. They sounded unique to Xinyan's ears, so she couldn't help but get excited after hearing those songs.
When Xinyan managed to complete the 1 song that Ryūhei wanted to perform at the festival a few days ago, he went to the Ministry of Civil Affairs and registered Xinyan's name as a member of his band.
When they saw her name, they glanced at each other if it was alright to let her participate. Ryūhei frowned at their responses, causing him to defend Xinyan since she did nothing wrong. Then, they told Ryūhei that Xinyan was a troublemaker.
She would often start burning somewhere after the halfway mark of the performance, until all that was left was a smoking pile of charcoal. After many warnings, the Millelith were finally forced to tighten their patrols and try to find ways to stop Xinyan from staging her performances.
When Ryūhei heard the story, he just chuckled. It was clear that Xinyan just wanted attention from other people while rebelling against ossified prejudices due to her fiery appearance, using her music and passionate singing to awaken dazed souls fatigued by worldly matters.
Ryūhei assured them that he would prevent Xinyan from burning something while performing since he had an interesting way to engulf the stage with something else.
Apart from that, he also asked Xingqiu something regarding the performance at the festival later on.
With sufficient preparations, Ryūhei only needed to synchronize his and his servants' musical performance with Xinyan. Without a doubt, thanks to Ryūhei sharing his memories with Eni and Nibi, they must have been able to work well together which made their music synchronized. But that didn't apply to Xinyan. That was why, all they needed to do was practice together.
— — — —
And finally, September 10th.
Today is an occasion for outdoor reunions among friends and relatives to celebrate the Moonchase Festival while having feasts and enjoying themselves. Not to be forgotten, the main theme of this festival is a music competition. A notable part of celebrating the festival is the carrying of brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, or floating sky lanterns. As one can see, the lanterns are already neatly arranged all over the streets and buildings of Liyue Harbor as the lanterns symbolize the festival itself.
On this day, lots of snacks are sold along the way, ranging from the traditional to the newest. Not only that, but various kinds of games are also presented at the festival. Starting from the shooting range using a slingshot, puzzles, to eating competition. All in all, people are enjoying themselves at this festival.
The festival has started since morning. And the main event, the music competition, will begin in the evening with a stage that has been prepared at the northern wharf of Feiyun Slope. What's more, the music competition will be attended by Ningguang directly who acts as a judge along with 2 other people.
The sky dusked and the people gathered near the stage. Some of them gathered in the upstairs region of the city, especially the upstairs part of Xinyue Kiosk and Liuli Pavilion since they could get a good view from that place.
"Welcome, everyone, to the musical competition. At the appointment of the organizing committee, I am your host and officiator, Yanfei! This event is brought to you by the Liyue Qixing in collaboration with a number of participating enterprises. The competition is divided into the selections phase and the finals. As the officiator, it is my honor and privilege to represent the organizing committee and indeed the people of Liyue in overseeing today's proceedings."
Yanfei stopped for a moment before continuing.
"Next, please allow me to introduce the judges. They are:
The Tianquan, Lady Ningguang.
The Yuheng, Lady Keqing.
And last but not least, the Liyue Qixing secretary, Lady Ganyu."
Yanfei introduced the judges one by one to the audience.
"The three judges here will give specific assessments to the contestants, and for the judging criteria, hehe, you will find out later."
"And now, without further ado, please join me in welcoming our first contestants into the stage! Come on out!"
And with that, the music competition starts with the performance that the first contestant will perform.
On the stage, various musical instruments have been prepared according to the needs of the contestants. There was also a musical instrument brought by Ryūhei himself for his performance.
When Ryūhei looked around, he saw Kazuha also participating in this competition. But he said nothing since he was different in appearance.
Except for his group and Kazuha, apparently, not all of the contestants were from Liyue, some of them were from Sumeru and Fontaine.
The first contestant shows his skills by playing a traditional two-headed drum. If he remembered correctly, it was a kendang, a traditional instrument used by people from the Indonesia archipelago in his previous life. He didn't expect to see something like that in this world.
Then, the second contestant played a flute.
The third contestant was 2 people, one was playing the zither, and the other one was singing.
And after many contestants had appeared on stage, suddenly the atmosphere was so lively because the next contestant was the person most awaited, Yun Jin.
When it was her turn to perform, about 10 or so people, including Yun Jin, got onto the stage. She fucking wants to perform opera at the competition!
And naturally, her performance was so smooth and enchanting as she got a lot of claps from the audience.
"She's the toughest candidate." Xinyan whispered to Ryūhei.
"Right. If the judges' thinking is still traditional, it's inevitable that she will win. But I don't think that Ningguang and Keqing are like that. Unless, Yun Jin is their favorite."
"Hehehe, let's teach them how to rock!" Xinyan reached out her fist toward Ryūhei, and Ryūhei did the same.
At that moment, Ryūhei was called out by Yanfei.
"And the next contestant is Niwa Ryūhei and his group!"
Ryūhei, Xingyan, Nibi, and Eni strode forward. Then…
"Oh, what is this!? It turns out that contestant Niwa Ryūhei and the others are wearing costumes like in the manga Shokugeki no Sōma." Yanfei already knew they were wearing costumes, but because of her position as host, she made a statement to fire up the audience.
And then, the audience commented one by one.
"That's right, his clothes are like what Soma wears, a Yukihira restaurant uniform. He's also wearing a white headband around his forehead."
"There's Mito Ikumi as well. Holy crap that cleavage!!! That's kinda hot, dude!"
"The blonde-haired one must be Nakiri Erina, right? But, who's the silver-haired one? Is this a leak for the new heroine?"
"I heard that Niwa Ryūhei has 2 maids, but how come I never heard of that girl posing as Mito Ikumi?"
"Pffttt. Hahaha."
"What are you laughing at?"
"Don't you recognize her? She's Xinyan."
"Xinyan? The troublemaker who liked to perform rock songs while burning the stage?"
"Otherwise, why are all of her fans gathered over here?"
"Little Xinyan, you're so charming today. Give your all!"
"Xinyan, rock and roll all the way!"
"Go, Xinyan!"
Meanwhile, Ryūhei who was already on the stage chuckled. He turned to Xinyan.
"You have a lot of fans already. They must be surprised to see your current appearance."
Ryūhei and the others were cosplaying characters from Shokugeki no Sōma. Ryūhei became Sōma, Xinyan became Mito Ikumi, Eni became Nakiri Erina, and Nibi became Nakiri Alice. It's not without reason that they are cosplaying when they perform at this competition.
The reason was to help Xingqiu's new shop that focused on cosplay outfits. They even go as far as dressing up so that their appearances are not much different from the characters in the anime. And that's just the first step.
Ryūhei immediately introduced himself as well as the other members. Ryūhei is the bassist and lead vocals, Xinyan is the guitarist, Nibi is the keyboard, and Eni is the drummer.
"And, the song I'm bringing this time is titled New Divide. ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!?"
"Whoooooo!!!!" The audience cheered.
The electronic-style keyboard intro started along with the thumping drums. Ryūhei performed a hand seal to perform a technique, making the smoke burst upward like a volcano around them while creating theatrical atmospheric effects just before the sound of a guitar and bass followed the rhythm. Then the smoke immediately covered the floor stage.
After that, Ryūhei started to sing.
"I remembered black skies
The lightning all around me
I remembered each flash
As time began to blur
Like a startling sign
That fate had finally found me
And your voice was all I heard
That I get what I deserve
So give me reason
To prove me wrong
To wash this memory clean
Let the floods cross
The distance in your eyes
Give me reason
To fill this hole
Connect this space between
Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies
Across this new divide"
