Liliana
— 5X minutes after the operations meeting ended, the podium in front of the 'Water Garment Pavilion' —
"No, no, no! Didn't we say Lady Crush's speech could last for one hour? It hasn't even been 40 minutes yet!"
Liliana yelled from behind the podium.
Boom~~~~
Hearing the loud noise, Liliana instinctively grabbed the nearby iron frame. The next second, the ground began to shake violently.
"I also didn't expect the battle to be so disruptive, Miss Liliana, please."
Liliana looked at Anastasia. In fact, she could understand. Constantly feeling this kind of vibration in the dim underground shelter, no matter how much courage they had gained from Crush, it would eventually vanish.
—Go! Haven't you already decided? Decided to sing for your pursuit on the best possible stage?
Liliana kept thinking this way, and then her leaden feet finally moved forward. It took her one minute to reach the stairs beside the podium.
—Ah! There's no one here!
Liliana looked at the empty square on her left and clutched the musical instrument in her hand. Her steps became heavy.
—There's nothing that can be done! Ordinary people are hiding in the shelter, and most of the relevant people are running around for the city. Even Miss. Crusch couldn't possibly abandon her duty to wait here for me for an hour!
Liliana could only comfort herself this way.
A familiar loud noise made Liliana grab the nearby railing. She looked at the distant sky. Unbeknownst to her, the battle had reached such a close proximity that Liliana could barely make out the figure flying in the air as Roswaal.
—Speaking of which, what was the reason I started singing? Why am I risking my life here?
No matter how many brave words she had spoken, when she felt the heat wave brought by the flames reaching the sky in the distance, and felt death approaching bit by bit, Liliana still began to waver.
—Right. Our family has traveled the world and sung for generations. After all, people in the minstrel profession can't make a living if they stay in one place.
So why am I here? How long have I been staying here?
-"Enough! You're too loud! Who wants to be cooped up in a place like this all the time! Mom and Dad decided everything by themselves without asking me! I'm going to the big city on my own!"
Liliana suddenly recalled the argument she had with her parents when she was 13. It wasn't out of teenage rebellion, but out of admiration for her parents, or more accurately, an admiration for the great adventurous figures whose stories they, as a couple, presented to the world and had been passed down through generations.
The more she learned about their journey of adventure, challenge, battle, love, conflict, and self-sacrifice, the more Liliana wanted to personally embark on the same journey. The impulses to follow the same path as them, to see the scenery they had seen, to stand under the sky that everyone looked up to, and to taste the same flavors, dominated Liliana.
"Hee hee hee! Just watch me, Mom and Dad! I'm going to become the Minstrel King!"
The thirteen-year-old Liliana left her parents just like that. Liliana Masquerade's grand adventure began that very night... Just kidding! As expected, how could a 13-year-old's journey be smooth sailing? Liliana's journey was a series of hardships. If the boasting she did during the argument with her parents hadn't cut off her retreat, Liliana would probably have backed down long ago.
"Honestly, I haven't changed at all."
Liliana forced a wry smile, but her heart strengthened once again. Then, she started moving upwards again, memories constantly flooding her mind.
-
-
-
The day after she started traveling at thirteen, swearing to become the Minstrel King, she almost died in the mountains. If she hadn't been picked up by a passing merchant caravan and temporarily hired as an errand girl, she probably would have died on the mountain. After about a year, the caravan disbanded. Liliana refused a marriage proposal and truly began her solo journey.
The world was cruel to an independent singer. Liliana was often plagued by money troubles. One day, after eating grass roots, Liliana developed a high fever. As she hovered between life and death, the girl realized the fact that the heroes and champions in the poems were strangers who had nothing to do with Liliana.
—Their journeys were all in the distant past. Although Liliana deeply loved them, they had absolutely never loved Liliana. Her feelings were completely one-sided, uncertain, and worthless.
Liliana pondered this matter for three days on the brink of death. Then, the completely dirty Liliana sang her own song for the first time. It was a song for those friends she had always thought were close to her. Liliana remembered singing and sending them off with a cheerful heart.
—I am nothing. But it doesn't matter. I will still proudly travel around and continue to sing. I will tell this world how many wonderful people there were in the past.
Liliana thought this amidst the thunderous applause. She had found the meaning of being a minstrel.
—And one day, I will truly become friends with great people and share their deeds in song. I'll do that.
At the same time, she found the goal of her journey.
"Is this what they call a life review? Does that mean the Witch will appear before me and strike me down in the next second?"
Liliana complained, remembering her experience at age 15. Then she looked at Anastasia smiling on the left and Roswaal using colorful magic in the sky on the right.
—Subaru, Miss Reinhild, Ferris, Lady Emilia... Have I become friends with so many great people without realizing it? Will my future self become part of a song?
A look of hopeful expectation gradually appeared on Liliana's face. Her steps also began to feel lighter.
—Speaking of which.
Liliana suddenly remembered something that happened when she was seventeen. She crossed paths with the parents holding a girl she didn't know in a certain town. It was incredibly awkward at the time. She walked past her parents, holding her head high, with tears and snot hanging proudly.
"One day, when Liliana's name becomes a world-renowned singer, those complacent parents will surely boast everywhere, and the sacrifice of their bragging will surely be the sister whose name I don't even know. —Isn't that an ambitious dream?"
-
-
-
The 22-year-old Liliana walked up to the microphone. She took a deep breath, and then the performance that would change the tide of the Water Gate City battle began.