Chapter 43

Biyeon looked at San’s retreating back meaningfully.

Her instinct allowed her to understand the true nature of people. Even if she showed this skill to San, he probably wouldn’t fully understand.

Her mouth went up playfully.

‘The Count seems to think differently though?’

The banquet was now approaching its end. The ending event was something that the nobles enjoyed the most during this era.

The ending event was an open mi c event . Nobles could participate and show off their music and literary talents, mainly through songs.

Bards talked about hero battles, war sagas, love stories, explorations of the unknown north, and the mystical stories they recently heard from other travelers. From time to time, in between their stories, they would call upon the nobles to share their personal stories and exhibit their lyrical talents.

This part of the banquet was definitely fun. In particular, this corner was being led by ‘Cecil’, a famous bard in this area.

He led a sophisticated performance, encouraging the audience to respond by properly mixing music and poetry.

People were enjoying the performance by tilting their glasses in pairs. The performance consisted of a format in which everyone participated .

At the bard’s request, a talented young man would stand up and sing a song dedicated to a deity or a woman he loved, and people danced to the song’s beat.

It was the northern people’s tradition.

Most nobles were good at singing. They would often recite a poem, asking a musician to provide a melody. The meter and rhyme didn’t seem to be strictly adhered to, and the subjects typically revolved around nature, love, patriotism, and heroic narratives.

The musical form was monophony similar to Gregory’s choir pieces on Earth. The harmony method was not yet applied in the songs, and the melody was reminiscent of northern Russian folk songs.

San drank a little more fruit wine. He drank quite a bit. The meaningful feeling that Biyeon mentioned earlier was silently sticking into his mind.

He wasn’t ready to answer the question, “What if I’m never able to return back to Earth?”

‘So? If I had to live here…’

He suddenly raised his head. Everyone’s attention was focused on him.

“Now, shall we listen to the stories and songs of Sir San? A person from a mysterious land where no one has ever been! What adventures and heroic stories await us?”

Cecil’s voice echoed across the hall, requesting San to sing a song. The people burst into cheers.

‘ Me ?’

San pointed to himself as if he was asking for confirmation.

Cecil nodded. San looked around. He saw the guests with rounded eyes full of expectation. The atmosphere made it seem as though he couldn’t refuse. There was no avenue for retreat.

San’s gaze instinctively found Biyeon. She glanced at him with slightly drunk eyes, but her expression didn’t contain any message.

He laughed. His mind was strangely relaxed. That didn’t mean he felt good.

Biyeon’s expression was similar to a person waiting for the next song in a karaoke room… telling him to get along with it and get it over with.

But why did San feel so offended?

He rose from his seat. Isn’t singing after drinking a specialty of Korean people? He slowly made his way to the left of the hall, heading straight for the band.

His gaze fell on the various musical instruments in the band’s hands. He saw an instrument that looked like a guitar. The number of strings was the same, and the shape was similar.

He had already thought of a song earlier, so why not just sing it to his heart’s content? A band member looked questioningly at San as he approached.

“Will you lend me your instrument for a moment?” San asked softly.

“Do you know how to play this instrument…?” the musician asked back with a surprised face. The band was playing new instruments that were recently developed, so those who could handle and properly play them were very few.

“Well… it’s similar, so I’m sure it should work?”

When San reached out his hand, the musician took off his instrument and delivered it to him.

“I’ll handle it with care, so don’t worry…”

San took the instrument and sat comfortably in a chair. After grasping the chords skillfully on the fretboard, he lightly strummed the strings.

He tilted his head and tried adjusting the string fasteners. The musician tilted his head. It was the first time he had seen this motion.

The banquet hall was quiet. Only the sound of San tuning the guitar-like instrument rang through the hall. It took quite some time to tune, but no one thought it was a waste of time.

People were watching his actions with interest.

Very few aristocrats handled musical instruments.

While civil servants with high positions enjoyed poetry and music, military officers would rather spend their time honing their martial skills.

In this era, when war was rampant, it was difficult to find a person who focused their study on the liberal arts.

** Chi-Hwan Ahn, ‘If I Were'**

Tuk-

The instrument’s sound suddenly stopped as the strings snapped . The music stopped.

Tok-

A tear dropped from Biyeon’s eyes. This was the first time she received a confession.

People were staring at him in a stupor.

They forgot to applaud or shout.