Maki Nishikino's feelings at that moment were probably much like those of a fisherman who had hooked a mermaid—after the excitement of witnessing a legend came the realization that it was completely useless...
As for the new song, Sogo Doma very... tactfully explained to the tsundere princess that the price he had mentioned was for Katsura Kotaro to pay; everyone else could forget about it. Incidentally, despite Maki Nishikino's generous words, she could not actually come up with forty million. The only reason she dared say such a thing was that she could use someone's name to get money from her family.
Thinking about it, that made sense. Even getting several tens of millions from Kaguya Shinomiya had been incredibly difficult, and Yukino Yukinoshita would struggle to produce even a few million, let alone Maki Nishikino, who was also a high school student. However, it also made Sogo Doma understand why she had barely hesitated when making her choice—
She had no money!
If Sogo Doma had created a serious piano piece, Maki Nishikino could still have used his name to get money from her family. In fact, if her father heard the news, he would probably send the money right over. But helping Muse...
The Nishikino Family's money did not grow on trees!
Yet it was precisely because Nishikino had no money that, when Sogo Doma directly... ahem, tactfully stated that he merely wanted Katsura Kotaro to lose some money, Kotori Minami and the others instead mistook it as him helping Maki Nishikino out of an awkward situation. After all, money was money no matter who paid it. Katsura Kotaro even said:
"Sogo, I understand what you mean now. The children are striving toward their dreams through their own efforts, and that sight of them working hard is the