The rehearsal itself wasn't difficult, because the entire structure of the piece was built around the hymn sung by Duanmu Huai. The music was more like embellishing background music, and all they really needed to do was keep the rhythm. Thus, everyone quickly ran through the song once.
"Whew..."
Kurokawa Akane lowered the violin in her hands and let out a long sigh.
"I was so nervous. I feel like this is the first time I've ever been this nervous. Performing onstage might actually be more relaxing."
"Me too."
Hachiman Mirin nodded.
"But getting to hear such strange and wonderful lyrics made it all worthwhile."
"Mm..."
Wakaba Mutsumi was still in a daze, as if she hadn't yet recovered from what had happened earlier.
Only Toyokawa Sachiko was doing somewhat better. After all, she'd heard Duanmu Huai sing a cappella before and had developed some resistance. Thus, she could understand why the others looked like that.
It wasn't that the music itself was difficult. It was that when Duanmu Huai began to sing, the sacred, magnificent, and dignified feeling he gave off was genuinely nerve-racking. To put it more dramatically, it created an oppressive sensation that if they didn't perform well, they'd be dragged out and beheaded on the spot.
What was even more deadly was that this pressure didn't come from outside. It came from the depths of their own hearts. Even if nobody else held it against them, they would still be so ashamed that they wanted to kill themselves—Duanmu Huai's hymn had reached that level.
Well, that was normal too. Although Duanmu Huai himself had no particular interest in singing, who could blame him when this body came with the Superior Charisma of a clone?
It was the same model as True Clever's, after all.
The only