[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 181: Clause Memoria (4)

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The projected scene changed again. This time, they found themselves at a train station, standing amid a crowd of people who seemed preoccupied with their own affairs.

Many times people walk through their bodies, but strangely they cannot feel any physical sensation from the touch. It seemed like it was quite reasonable, considering all of this was just part of the memory projection.

"Music tools, and stations ... There's only one thing on my mind … "

Iris muttered to herself in a voice that sounded like an anxiety.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but I think I understand it" Alan said, taking a few steps forward.

He finally got out of the crowd, and found two people he knew sitting on a park bench not far from the station gate.

The two people were Izaya and Shion, but there was one more person beside them. That person was a man, and based on his physique, Alan concluded that he was about 20 years old.

The three of them were sitting on the park bench, seeming to be arranging their musical equipment.

Izaya was preparing her violin, while Shion seemed to pluck the strings of her acoustic guitar several times to confirm her voice. The man who was with them, he seemed to be holding a bass that had been set before.

Before long, everyone gathered around Alan, giving a surprised-filled look at Izaya and Shion's projections.

Not only were people in the real world, but some people from that projection also seemed to be gathering, waiting for what the three people would do.

" … I don't know this. Do you want to be a street artist? "

Hiding her pouting expression, Olivia asked Anzu, who was then answered with a brief slit.

"We've only done that a few times, but it seems our popularity as a street artist far exceeds what we imagined. So .. Yahh, we always do that if we need money."

To Olivia, it sounded like something unbelievable. After all, he knew that Izaya's personal wealth back then was enough to buy a private island with all the assets in it. Therefore, he was a little surprised when he heard from Anzu, that Izaya needed money.

Anzu seemed to be aware of Olivia's thoughts, and only smiled wryly in response.

He said nothing more, and turned to see the show that had already begun on that projection.

Izaya's figure was still wearing his coat, and he was wearing a pair of white gloves on his hands. As for Shion, she apparently hasn't changed her clothes since morning. It was the same hoodie and skirt she had used before.

Ignoring everyone's gaze, Izaya stood up, and began to prepare to play her violin.

His hands slowly and following a predetermined tempo swiped the bow on the violin strings, making him produce a very comfortable tone to listen to.

The sound produced by the friction of the violin is not at all muffled by the many sounds that are there. As it were, the violin sound of Izaya had become central and had a higher volume of all those sounds.

The people at the station started looking towards him, and were silent without saying anything to watch his performance. Some of them took their own phones, and started recording Izaya's performance, while Shion there smiled a little while strumming one string on her guitar.

Everything is on time. But, due to that rather unusual combination of musical instruments, many people started to turn their attention to Shion.

Even so, Shion did not care about it. He continued strumming his guitar strings and began chanting a song.

Surprisingly, even when they were all confused by the combination of Shion's acoustic guitar sound with Izaya's violin, they seemed to enjoy the sound enough, so no one would mind the combination.

Soon enough, the other men they were with also started playing their bass. The deep, but strangely unhinged sound adorned the choir of acoustic guitar with violins that had been played first.

A second later, the sound of bow friction with Izaya's violin strings sounded even faster. He continued to swipe the bow with those strings while still putting on a relaxed expression. The fingers of his left hand covered in white gloves were agilely moving to clamp the strings right in the position of the key, so that the sound produced became more perfect.

Meanwhile, the singing from Shion was no less good. The song he sang was a song that tells about lovers who have to separate. It was an old song, released 17 years ago, in 2013, and not many of the audience knew about the song.

Every lyric he sang seemed to be the content of his heart that he spoke naturally, and it made everything even more amazing.

Until finally, they arrived at the ref. This time, the man who played the bass raps with slow notation so as not to mess with the tone that Shion had previously made. His hands don't stop playing bass to dribble the melody of Shion's acoustic guitar and Izaya's violin, but he looks undisturbed by it.

Instead, he looks more comfortable when it comes to playing bass while doing rap.

And midway through the song, Izaya finally joined the vocals.

He doesn't stop playing his violin, and instead looks more intense with it, but strangely he can expertly divide his focus between controlling the violin along with his own voice.

The voice that the three had was no less good than the famous singers of the time, and it made all the spectators there feel astonished why the three of them were still not famous.

The song continues, and now the three of them sing each other each lyrics in a perfect combination. It was like the three of them were having a dialogue with each other, making the lyrics of the song feel like a real conflict.

Soon, the three of them simultaneously sang the same lyrical passage over and over again. Until finally, the song is over.

The song itself has a duration of no more than 4 minutes, but the story behind the lyrics is what makes the song feel very slow.

The three of them finished, and the sound of their musical instruments had stopped.

A second later, boisterous applause from dozens of spectators there immediately appeared, replacing their finished song.

Shion, along with the bass player, stood beside Izaya, and smiled faintly. The three lowered their heads and simultaneously said, "Thank you! " to the audience present.

Applause did not stop, and various cheers of praise asking them to repeat the song continued to appear.

However, they did not seem to force the three to play one more song, and instead threw some money into an Izaya violin bag that was left open on the ground.

The three stared at each other for a moment, and then smiled. "Thank you very much! " they said as they bowed again to the spectators who kept throwing their money.

Before long, most of the spectators started to leave the place with satisfied expressions on their faces. In fact, there were some adults who had previously looked tired with their work, then his face instantly turned full of vigor after watching that simple musical performance.

" … Somehow I have to comment ... That's Amazing … "

Waka with great admiration also noticed the projection of the three people, while Muku who was beside him gave a brief nod. "I didn't know you could sing, Anzu."

"Ohh, everyone can do it, if they want to practice and improvise the sound they have."

"You may be right, but such a perfect combination can't be done if you don't have the talent for it. How long have you been practicing? It doesn't look like a show rookie does."

"From that, who's the guy who plays bass with you guys? I've never seen it before."

"Ohh, umm .. K-you guys are amazing … "

Various positive comments instantly flooded Anzu, and made her feel embarrassed for a moment. It was a projection from his memories that had been very long, so he had almost forgotten some important details there. But, it seemed that the projection even perfectly displayed every detail that he did not really remember.

Of all the positive comments, there was one voice that felt very different. It came from Olivia, who gloomily asked without turning to look at Anzu.

"Can I ask you one thing? "

" … What? "

There is a long gap between Anzu's response and Olivia's follow-up question.

"Why did you collect all that money? I'm sure that you have some money in your account, and Iza has more money than I can think of. So I don't understand why you guys did all that to raise money that wasn't too big."

" … If this memory projection continues .. I think you'll know the answer."

It was not a straight answer that came out of Anzu's mouth, but rather a vague answer that asked him to figure it out for himself.

And just as Anzu said, the projection scene continued.

All the spectators who had previously gathered there had left, and the station had begun to quiet down.

The sky turned increasingly brighter, the sun had also been at the peak of his throne, and the three of them were sitting on the garden chair while calculating how much money they had earned.

"12,000 yen for one performance, huh ... That's really big money .. I'm planning one more performance for the afternoon, but .. I don't think it's necessary."

Of course it was a huge sum, considering all that money they had earned from the voluntary pay of others.

"How much do you want? Should we divide it equally? Actually, I only need 3500 Yen," Izaya said as she stared back and forth between Shion and the man.

A moment later, the man shook his head with a smile. "You don't have to pay me. I play because I love it, and busking with you guys is also quite fun. Call me if you need any help."

After saying that, the man then immediately went away from the two of them.

"Actually .. I don't really need that money either. But, I'd be happy if you gave me about 2000 Yen."

"All right, here."

Izaya gives Shion two 1000 Yen notes, then folds all the remaining money.

"Will you use what all that money is for? "

Shion certainly knew how much nominal was in Izaya's account, and that's why he wondered why Izaya bothered to do all those things to earn money.

Anzu silently smiled gently as her eyes narrowed quietly at the projections of her past self.

"I want to buy a biosphere crystal. The ecosphere looks really good to be a gift, and I ordered it directly on the craftsman to make one that's themed night sky."

"Ahh, I understand .. No, actually not. Why did you bother to get money? "

Olivia gulped her saliva, looking impatient with the answer Izaya was about to give.

Izaya shrugged her shoulders lightly, and leaned against the back of the garden chair after sighing for a long moment.

"Well, you know .. There's a lot of money in my account, but all that money is what I got after hoarding most of the monthly money I sent me. I don't remember how much money I made myself, so I can only make it back from scratch."

" … Basically .. It's just your personal will to buy Ayano a gift using the money you got yourself, yes … "

Shion muttered, and Izaya immediately turned to him, giving a gentle smile that even made Shion freeze for a moment.

After a while, Shion finally returned to normal. He took a deep breath, and leaned back on the back of the chair.

"It's easy to make money if you're talented, yeah … "

" ……… "

Everyone fell silent after hearing the reason Izaya did all those things.

Of course, they didn't expect that he would answer Shion's question like that. And of all the people, the most shocked there was Olivia.

He had empty eyes, and the expression on his face looked hollow. However, faintly, Anzu and Iris could see a slightly formed smile on Olivia's lips.

It's like he's very happy, but he doesn't know how he should show his feelings. If Noelle was there, Olivia would definitely run straight to her and hug her with all her might while kissing her so many times.

Obviously they didn't want to see the sight, so they were grateful that Noelle wasn't there.

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The scene changed again, it seemed that the place had not finished projecting the memories Anzu had.

This time, the place is not in the station, but a large shopping center that is quite crowded.

It was one day before Christmas, no wonder why there were so many people there.

At that place, the figure of Izaya with Shion who was still carrying their musical instruments seemed quite prominent.

The two silently walked around and entered one of the shops. Soon, they came out, carrying some paper bags full of small accessories and wrapping.

"Where are we going to make the bouquet? There's a lot of people in my house, so we can't get there."

" … You're right, we can't go to my apartment either because of the possibility that Ayano will be there."

Izaya paused for a moment to think, then flicked her finger after getting the idea.

"I know a good place, follow me."

Izaya starts to speed up her pace, and is painstakingly chased by Shion.

"Wait on! Don't run! Don't you know how heavy this guitar is? "

Several times Shion almost tripped and fell, but fortunately Izaya helped him so that he did not experience the embarrassing little accident.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm too excited, I'll treat you later, so let's get this over with."

"Ughh, okay. I also don't want to go home now, too noisy there … "

In the end, Shion could only sigh tiredly and start walking while trying to match Izaya's speed.

Until finally, they stopped in one place. That must be the place Izaya was referring to.

" … A Manga Cafe? "

It's in accordance with what Shion said. The place they were heading to was a manga cafe. Shion is quite active on social media, so she knows that this is a pretty famous place these days. But, he was a little unconvinced that Izaya would bring him here.

"Let's go in."

Without waiting for Shion's approval, Izaya immediately entered the building.

"Ahh– wait! "

Shion did not have time to protest, he could only immediately run after Izaya entered the place, and the result …

What greeted him there was a large room with a calming atmosphere. The reception desk has a brown color that appears to blend with the pastel beige wall.

Shion did not move in the slightest from where she was standing, she confusedly looked around her, unaware of Izaya who had finished booking the place.

In an instant, Izaya's hand touched her neck, and made Shion shiver for a moment with a slightly reddened face.

"W-what are you doing?! "

"Hehe, sorry. You look funny when you're confused, so I'm tempted to bother you a little."

"You–"

"Alright, forget about it. I've booked a place, so let's go there."

Again, Shion could not voice her protest. It's like he's dragged into a current called 'Izaya'. He could only willingly follow where Izaya was going.

They walked down the hallway filled with doors, and finally arrived in front of a door with the number 43 hanging on it.

Izaya inserted the key into the doorknob, and turned it once. The door opened, and allowed them to see everything behind it.

It is a square room, with a size of approximately 6 × 6 meters. The size may be the same as the room in Izaya's apartment.

The two of them entered, and Izaya immediately closed the door.

"I heard this is a place that will protect the privacy of its customers, so I guess this is the place to be. But .. Seriously, this place looks more like a small hotel."

They all easily agreed on what Izaya said.

There were indeed some bookshelves filled with manga and novels in various genres, but the place was more like a hotel room considering everything inside.

"Alright .. We'll make it here."

Izaya placed her violin in the corner of the room, then sat on a soft thick carpet while taking out all the items she had bought from the shopping mall.

Shion without saying anything sat down with him, and began to inspect all the items he bought.

Everything was in order, Shion nodded and arranged each piece of equipment until it was neat and pleasant to look at.

However, his gaze was focused on one thing. It was the thing Izaya was holding with both hands.

"When you say biosphere, is that what you mean? "

What was in Izaya's hand was a crystal ball with a wooden part as a placemat. It was not an ordinary crystal ball, but rather a mini-ecosystem that was entirely within that crystal.

There was a snowy mountain at the top, with a small river below, and the crystal also had a dark blue color that explained that the setting was night.

A few white spots that were somehow made of what was seen floating inside the crystal, seemed to be made to be the 'stars' that adorned his night sky.

"Beautiful Biosphere .. I didn't expect that you'd give that to Ayano."

Shion with eyes that were emitting the attraction light stared at the biosphere in Izaya's hand without even blinking a single moment.

"Yahh, you know .. Ayano has always loved the night sky view, so I got the idea to give her a gift related to something she likes. To be honest, it would be great if I could get a light festival-themed biosphere, but it would take a very long time to make it, so I could only order this simple one."

"So, yeah .. I hope she likes it."

"Hehe, thank you for your support. Now, let's finish this greeting bouquet, I've gathered birthday greetings from everyone who knows Ayano, so we should be able to get this done quickly."

"All right."

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