Author's Note:
Starting from this chapter, the Original Work breaks, fabrications, alterations, and original settings are going to get even worse. Even. Worse. I said it twice because it's important. I feel like I've said this before, but my apologies to anyone who's not a fan of that sort of thing.
---
We managed to escape, which was good, but figuring we'd just get summoned again the moment we fell asleep tonight, both Uta-chan and I steeled ourselves and climbed into our futons.
Also, just in case something happened, Uta-chan would be staying in my True Suite room for the time being. It's more convenient for both of us to be in the same room, after all.
We also arranged for Gordon-san to stand by in a separate room nearby so he could rush over at a moment's notice.
On top of that, with Uta-chan and the others' permission, I explained the situation to my daughters (Snow and Iris included) and asked them to come. Just in case of emergencies, you know?
It's not that I'm worried about being attacked by an intruder while we're sleeping or anything. Getting past the security of this Gran Tesoro and making it all the way to the True Suite would be beyond a mere feat of impossibility. I mean, even World Government Intelligence Agents couldn't pull it off.
What I'm worried about is whether Tot Musica, who will almost certainly be rampaging inside Uta World while we're asleep, might somehow start affecting the real world too. According to Gordon-san, Tot Musica is supposed to manifest simultaneously in both the real world and Uta World and go on a rampage.
So far, it's only appeared in the Uta World where Uta-chan and I are, but... does that difference mean something?
Honestly, it might be dangerous to even sleep here on this Gran Tesoro, but Tesoro and the others told us, "Don't worry about it."
And then, night came.
"So, that's how things stand. If anything happens, I'm counting on you three. I think it'll be fine, though."
"Leave it to us, Mom! No matter what happens, we'll handle it properly, so just sleep easy like you're on a big sturdy ship!"
"Hey Alice, why are you saying that with such a huge forced smile while doing that creepy grabby thing with your hands?"
"I will also properly manage this idiot, so rest assured and sleep well, Mother. If it comes to it, I'll clobber her into stopping."
I couldn't help feeling like I'd invited in a Monster that required a different kind of vigilance, an anxiety from a completely different direction... but I decided to trust them, entrust everything to them, and sleep.
So, starting tonight, two of my daughters would take turns standing watch while Uta-chan and I slept.
I felt bad putting the burden on them, but honestly, this kind of rotation schedule for sleeping and waking was something we were pretty used to. I mean, for those several years before the Original Work began, there was that period when the three girls and I were traveling all over the place... and back then, we'd set up rotations just like this, with someone always awake keeping watch on our course and serving as Watchman on the seas.
So Leona was actually looking a little pleased about it, saying, "This feels kinda nostalgic."
Taking my daughters up on their generous offer... well then, good night.
Now then, it seemed I'd arrived inside the dream.
The surrounding space was still dim and hazy, making it hard to see, but both Uta-chan and I were fully conscious... and could see each other clearly.
Maybe it was because we'd fallen asleep knowing this would happen... or because we were here with the resolve that tonight, we wouldn't run, we'd fight.
But the time spent in that "incomprehensible space" was truly brief. Gradually, the area around us began to brighten.
'It's about to begin.' With that understanding, Uta-chan and I exchanged a brief glance and nodded silently. Nothing needed saying at this point. All our declarations of resolve and discussions about our anxieties had been taken care of while we were awake.
So the only thing left now was to give our absolute all to defeat Tot Musica.
And as the surrounding space flooded with light and everything became clearly visible... the Song Demon King, Tot Musica, revealed itself...
Re... vealed...
It revealed itself... but... huh?
""...What?""
Wait, what is this?
***
One hour later.
Sue and Uta woke up simultaneously... and Gordon and the others, who had been on standby, rushed in with concern.
There didn't appear to be anything abnormal about the two of them, and nothing strange had occurred while they slept, no paranormal phenomena that might suggest Tot Musica's influence. But for a while after waking... the two of them were acting strangely. They wore the expressions of people who had witnessed something unbelievable, and for some time, they simply sat there in a daze.
After a few minutes, Sue finally came back to herself, and with an air of trepidation, she turned toward Gordon...
"Um... Gordon-san. There's something I want to ask you about Tot Musica."
"? What is it? If it's something I can answer, I'll tell you anything I can... Did you see something concerning in the dream?"
"Yes. It's... I don't really understand it myself, so... sorry, this is going to sound strange, but..."
"...Does Tot Musica ever challenge people to a doubles tennis match?"
""" ...What?"""
***
L-let me tell you exactly what happened!
We were summoned to Uta World, and just when we thought we'd be landing on Elegia, we found ourselves standing on a tennis court instead...
Uta-chan and I were changed into comfortable tennis outfits and had rackets in our hands.
On the opposite side of the court stood two Tot Musicas... or rather, two mysterious beings that were human male from the neck down and Tot Musica from the neck up, shrunk down to human size. They were holding rackets.
And just like that, a match began. Not with swords, not with song, but with tennis...
I-I know you probably can't understand what I'm saying, but we didn't understand what was happening either. I felt like I was losing my mind.
This was categorically not some new story arc, or a side story, or an April Fools' joke. We had gotten a taste of something far more incomprehensible, a fragment of an Original Work break...!
...No, seriously, what was that?
We jumped in ready for a real battle, and instead we got made to play a tennis match. From start to finish, I didn't understand a single thing.
Well, I mean, Uta-chan and I both just kind of went with the flow and played tennis anyway. And we had a pretty decent time doing it, honestly.
Also, unless I was imagining things, Tot Musica seemed to be having fun too... Wait, that thing is the Song Demon King that destroys everything, right? There was zero song element and zero Demon King element. It just played tennis and the dream ended. Why?!
Oh wait, sorry, it wasn't just tennis. It became Super-Tennis partway through.
Around the point where we'd played two games and were tied at one win each, the atmosphere shifted... Shots started coming in with power that you absolutely could not produce just by hitting a ball with a racket, wreathed in flames and tornadoes, flying on trajectories that were physically impossible.
But it wasn't just Tot Musica. We could do it too if we put our minds to it. Balls that curved at right angles, balls that split the ground on impact, balls that came back to you no matter how the opponent returned them. We went wild with all sorts of stuff.
So we played a full five-game set like that, and Uta-chan and I managed to win... and then we woke up... and as everything came flooding back, it was just, 'What was that?!'
"""...What even is that?"""
That's what I'm saying, I don't know either! It was completely different from all the information we'd been given beforehand... and honestly, even completely different from what Uta-chan and I experienced the last time we slept. Some bizarre development happened that I can't even begin to understand. Even if you ask me, I can't explain so much as a guess.
...That said, if I had to point something out...
"Say, Mother. That, um... that competition disguised as tennis that you described experiencing in the dream... was there not something like that among your works, Mother?"
"Oh, I thought the same thing! It was, um... The Prince of Tennis... right?"
"Ahh, the one where the disclaimer at the beginning says, 'What the characters in this story are playing is tennis but is not tennis. Please do not confuse it with real tennis'... Now that you mention it, it does sound just like it, doesn't it? Was Tot Musica maybe a fan of Mom's?"
"There's no way, Dad... Tot Musica was sealed away all this time, and it's not even human."
"Well, logically speaking, it's not the sort of existence that would take interest in books meant for humans to read... and even if it were, it would never have had the opportunity to read them."
"...Actually, we might not be able to say that for certain."
""" Huh?"""
Those utterly unexpected words made everyone freeze, and all eyes converged on the speaker... Gordon-san. Gordon-san had briefly made a puzzled face a moment earlier when Iris said "Dad," but now he had a hand on his chin, deep in thought as he continued.
"Of course, I don't mean that Tot Musica literally read Sue-san's books. However, for whatever reason, Tot Musica's Sheet Music is currently inside Sue-san's body, and a kind of 'connection' has been formed. If that's the case..."
"...Through that 'connection,' it learned the contents of what Sue-san wrote? Not by reading the books, but by 'reading' them from her memories and Experience... something like that?"
"It's purely hypothetical, mind you... And this too is for reasons I cannot fathom, but it took an interest in one of those stories... what was it, the tennis one... and recreated it within the Uta World under its control. And then it faced Sue-san and Uta using those rules."
I see... It was speculation stacked on speculation, and I had absolutely no idea why, but if you approached it from a fantasy perspective and squinted past a few things... it did seem vaguely plausible.
And... there was one more thing in Gordon-san's explanation that caught my attention.
"If that reasoning is correct... then this time, Tot Musica clearly 'faced us head-on,' right? And it prepared a stage in the form of a 'competition' with explicit rules."
"...Oh, that's true. Now that you mention it, that part's weird too... Tot Musica is supposed to be a Demon King that just endlessly destroys and slaughters, right? But instead, it specifically targeted particular individuals it has a connection with, set up a 'confrontation' format, and chose tennis instead of combat... Saying it all out loud, this really is different from the prior information in multiple ways."
"Compared to before... even compared to when Mother and her group encountered it in Uta World the night before last, does this mean some major change has occurred? I hesitate to even suggest this, but... could it be that Tot Musica read the 'tennis' story from Mother's memories and was so moved that it decided it wanted to play tennis more than it wanted to fight or destroy...?"
That couldn't possibly... oh, but then again, since we truly understood nothing at all, I couldn't definitively say it was completely impossible...
And yet, even so, the idea that an existence with the power to destroy an entire country, a Demon King no less, secretly liked tennis... that was one heck of a plot twist, wasn't it?
...Or what? My books can move even a Demon King's heart? If that were true, I'd be proud in a way... but honestly, I'd have no idea what to do with that...
"...For now, it's still dark and there's time to sleep, so I'll go back to sleep... and I'll probably get summoned again, so I'll try to investigate and figure something out."
"How?"
"...Somehow."
Communication... Could I even communicate with that Clown? It hadn't said anything resembling human speech, just roars and laughter... and various other incomprehensible shrieks. Yeah, that part really drove home that it wasn't human but a Monster.
Things like "GROOOAAAH!" and "HYAHYAHYAHYAHYAHYA!!" and "GET FIIIRED UUUUP!!"
...Actually, some of that did sound vaguely like human speech mixed in there...
Well, anyway, yeah... I'd just have to try. Okay then, good night!
-- Two hours later --
"(shooting upright) OBJECTION! ...Oh. A dream?"
"Whoa, that startled me!"
"...What is it now, Mother? A courtroom drama this time?"
"It's not even a sport anymore... Oh, good morning, Uta-chan. How was it this time?"
"The courtroom... the courtroom turned into Broadway... What was that? Are trials supposed to be, like, rapid-fire talk-battle things like a machine gun? I don't really read that genre so I wouldn't know..."
"Whew... Tot Musica in a suit with a side-parted combover was a formidable opponent..."
"What is this? Could it be that Tot Musica is trying to wear you guys down by refusing to fight properly?"
"No, given that this time it also drew from one of Mother's works, I sense a different intent... Could it genuinely enjoy the stories Mother wrote and simply be playing with them...?"
"..." Gordon, lost for words.
...Wait, is this seriously what every single night is going to be like from now on?!
To be continued...