Through the remnants of the memory Arhan had left in the piano, Dason was able to recall her playing.
'It was only the one time, but I can remember it well enough.'
There was no sheet music, and all he had done was watch her play from a third person's viewpoint, but the notes were imprinted clearly in his head.
'I can do this.'
Even without knowing the composer's intent or the message held in the sheet music, carrying a melody that lingered in his ears over to the piano was as easy as eating cold porridge for him.
Dun-dun-dun.......
Besides, strictly speaking, Dason was not wholly ignorant of the meaning held in Arhan's playing. The emotions she must have felt as she pressed the keys, the sincerity engraved in each and every note, had been passed on to him whole, after all.
Duun!
And so Dason placed his hands on the keys without hesitation. With a light heart, yet bringing a lucid concentration to bear, he began to play.
Du-ru-ru-ru.......
A transparent, pure tone flowed from the piano. The light and lovely melody Arhan had played was being vividly reproduced.
He was playing off the cuff, calling up fragments of a memory, but Dason's passion and talent breathed life into those notes.
It was enough to give the illusion that Arhan was pressing the keys right before one's eyes.
"......."
Sorakan stared at Dason, who had begun to play, as if she could not believe it.
'Is this person really the one I knew...... Dason?'
Deep shock and astonishment were plain on her face. Dason had said he did not know the piece well, and yet the melody flowing from the piano was confidence itself.
As if dealing with a friend of many years, he was caressing the keys without hesitation.
Holding her breath, Sorakan focused every nerve on Dason's playing. Flawlessly beautiful notes filled the room to the brim.
Dason's playing was wondrous beyond measure, enough to carry her past surprise into wonder.
Ba-ba-bam~
Life began to stir in Sorakan's dwelling, where silence had ruled.
As if the sunlight of a spring day had seeped in, the whole space took on a warm, bright mood.
Dason's playing, worthy of the reputation of a genius maestro, was powerful enough to change the very air in the house.
A wondrous force poured from his touch as he pressed the keys.
Sorakan was more and more enchanted by the notes. The deeper she sank into the melody Dason wove, the more her heart filled with joy.
Without her realizing it, a smile was rising to her lips.
Giving her whole body over to the emotion of the performance, Sorakan watched Dason with a bright expression.
Bam!
In that instant, Dason's playing cut off. The rapturous melody was abruptly broken off before it had even reached its close.
"Up to here...... is all that I know."
Having stopped playing, Dason muttered with an embarrassed face.
"Ah......."
A sigh escaped her of its own accord. Sorakan recalled the situation. Dason did not know the piece thoroughly.
He had kept playing with no sheet music and without ever having heard the whole piece.
'He doesn't even know it thoroughly...... and he shows me this level?'
That he had reproduced the piece this far under those conditions was a marvel. But she was also keenly sorry that the performance had stopped partway.
"Mmm......."
Disappointment showed on the face of Sorakan, who had been steeped in the music. Like someone woken from wandering in a dream, she was dragged back to reality.
"Miss Sorakan?"
Dason called to Sorakan in an uneasy voice. His playing done, he sensed that her reaction was out of the ordinary.
Sorakan scratched her head with a face that looked somehow uncomfortable. She seemed to want something desperately and yet to be hesitating.
'Did I do something wrong?'
Wondering whether there had been some flaw in his playing, Dason began to worry.
Sorakan's eyes were darting about restlessly, so it seemed that something had failed to satisfy her.
Gulp.
Gripped by anxiety, Dason was about to go up to her and ask what mistake he had made.
"Your playing was excellent."
When Sorakan spoke first, Dason looked puzzled.
"Pardon?"
"The melody you just played was very moving. I only reacted this way because I was so surprised, so please don't worry."
Sorakan was still looking at Dason as though he were some curiosity. As if she doubted whether the man before her was a real person.
"To be honest, at first I suspected you might be deceiving me. But I see now that the worry was groundless. I made this piano myself, you see. If you had used magic, I would have noticed at once."
"But I do not even have mana."
"You have a spirit instead, though. There's also the method of asking the spirit to play for you."
In truth, right up until she heard Dason play, Sorakan had had a mind to test his skill.
She had also wanted, if he fell short of expectations, to pay him back for the insult he had once dealt her.
Some might call this petty. But for Sorakan, it had been the perfect chance to settle that old grudge.
'At this rate...... I look like a worse villain than Dason.'
But once she had actually heard Dason play, such uncharitable thoughts vanished like melting snow.
The melody he had played was wondrous beyond measure. She had never dreamed that someone who claimed not to know the sheet music could deliver a piece this perfectly.
Contrary to her original plan, an intense curiosity about Dason had taken hold of her. Sorakan found herself drawn to his talent, which combined genius with passion.
"Sheet music......."
A fierce desire to hear the piece in full welled up in her. Just imagining how moving it would be if Dason played the completed piece sent a thrill through her whole body.
"Fortunately, identifying the song wasn't difficult."
"Is that true?"
"Yes. This song is a traditional children's song from over in the Montere region, in the central lands."
"So it was a famous song."
At Sorakan's words, Dason let out a sigh of relief. In that case, all that remained was to get hold of the sheet music.
"Where is the sheet music?"
And so. With a light heart, he asked where the sheet music could be found, but.......
"It isn't here. And you won't be able to get it, either."
The answer that came back was of a kind he had not expected.
"What do you mean by that?"
"It's a song that holds the sentiment of a particular region, so it's difficult. Unless you were born and raised in that part of the country, the sheet music is very hard to obtain."
Dason realized he had thought of this world's musical culture far too simply.
Here, too, sheet music existed in its own right, and the concept of ownership over it was firmly established as well.
"You are not from Montere, Young Master, so getting hold of it will in effect be close to impossible."
The problem lay in the fact that they had no custom of paying royalties in 'money'.
For Dason, an outsider, to win the acceptance of that region's people and get his hands on the sheet music was no different from plucking a star out of the sky.
"Haa......."
Dason sighed deeply at Sorakan's words. He had found out which piece Arhan had played, but with no way to actually obtain the sheet music, he was simply at a loss.
'It's not like I can change where I'm from.......'
Dason was sunk in despair, and his head filled with tangled thoughts.
Just then, Sorakan spoke again.
"Actually, it isn't that there's no way at all. An Aura Knight from Montere recently came to your territory, Young Master."
"Pardon?"
"Asking that knight would be the best course for now."
To Dason, who was now full of hope, Sorakan added, as if reluctantly.
"To be honest, it isn't good to carelessly divulge a customer's personal information. But after hearing you play, Young Master, I changed my mind."
At Sorakan's words that an Aura Knight who did business with her was from Montere, hope flickered across Dason's face.
"Thank you."
Dason offered his heartfelt thanks. In his eyes, along with gratitude, was a firm resolve.
"......."
Sorakan gazed at Dason for a long while, then suddenly murmured.
"It's fascinating that a person can change this much. It's as if you've become someone else."
Her voice held surprise, and with it a curious unease.
Was this truly a real change in Dason, or was it nothing more than a passing whim?
Feeling Sorakan's gaze, Dason gave her a gentle smile.
"I will go on living just as I am now. I will never repeat the wrongs of the past."
It went without saying, but Dason had no intention whatsoever of repeating the vile behavior of the past any longer.
He was a completely different person from this body's original owner, after all.
'What I really want to do is.......'
Right up to the moment he lay dying on his sickbed, the only thing that had filled Dason's heart was 'music'. And now, the chance to fulfill that earnest wish had opened up before him.
And yet. One more thing had been added to it.
'I want to make many people happy with music.'
If in his previous life he had been absorbed only in his own growth, in this life he wanted to go beyond himself and bring comfort to the hearts of others.
Clench.......
Recalling Arhan's memory, Dason made a vow firmer than any before. That he would color the world more beautifully with music.
"I will be going now."
Dason rose from his seat.
Then he gave Sorakan a slight bow of the head and left the living room.
Creak.......
And just before he left the house.
"Young Master."
Sorakan called to Dason.
"From next time, you must speak informally to me. You're the young master of the Count's family, after all."
And she pointed out that Dason had been using polite speech with her.
"Ah."
Realizing his mistake, Dason scratched his head. Then, just as he was about to say he was sorry.......
"If you'd like, stay and have dinner before you go. I've added plenty of good medicinal herbs to the soup."
Sorakan shyly added.
"Ah. I do not care for medicinal herbs, so I will eat when I get home."
But Dason was a picky eater.