"Thank you all for coming to our show!"
Entering the main stage, were five girls all wearing cute dresses. They were the members of Kimbol.
At their appearance, the crowd erupted into cheers as they all started waving their glowsticks in the air.
"Whaaa!
Waving her glowsticks in the air, Nola mimicked the crowd as she cried out in excitement.
Grabbing onto her small legs, I raised my head and shouted. The way she was moving made it hard for me to keep ahold of her.
"Nola be careful."
"Whaaa!"
But it didn't seem as though she could hear me as she continued to shout alongside the crowd. I could only sigh at this.
'I guess I just have to be more careful.'
"Thank you, thank you."
Thanking the crowd was a girl with soft black hair and a very pretty face.
Her name was Sophia Ray and she was the leader of the group.
I knew this because throughout the whole journey to the stadium Nola had made me memorize the names of each of the girls in the group.
Flashing a stunning smile, Sophia winked at the crowd and got into position with her group
"Thank you all for coming today, we are very happy with your presence. Today, we will start with our first song, 'Tribunal', I hope you enjoy it."
The already boiling crowd became even more excited as they began to shout words of love.
"We love you Kimbol!"
"Thank you, Sophia!"
"We love you all."
Listening to the crowd's words, my face cringed a little.
To be honest, I wasn't the type of guy that loved this type of stuff. I was more into classical and calming music.
Sometimes I liked listening to different genres, but that was when I was in a mood to destroy something.
Glancing at Amanda who was standing next to me, I asked.
"Still angry at me?"
"...I'm over it."
To my surprise, Amanda shook her head.
"Oh?"
Tilting my head to get a better look at my face, I remained skeptical.
"...Are you really?"
"Yes."
Amanda once again nodded her head. I squinted my eyes when I saw this, however, I eventually shrugged it off.
Didn't really buy it, but there was nothing else I could do anyways.
What was done was done.
'A lot of women fall in love and chase empty dreams.'
'But I wanna take that to the head before I leave your side.'
'You make me happy, just being with you.'
'I fall in need of your love.'
It was then that the music started playing, and the girls beautiful voices started traveling throughout every corner of the arena grounds.
It had to be noted that the girls were currently not holding onto a microphone, and that was because the sound they were making was created through the vibration of the mana in the air.
It was sort of similar to Benjamin, the guy I wanted to recruit back at the Lock.
Through manipulating the mana in the air the singers were able to directly instill emotions into the viewer's heads, making the music seem more impactful.
The general person couldn't have noticed it, however, that was the general crowd.
With my strength nearing <A-> rank, such tricks could no longer fool me.
"You also noticed it right?"
"Yes."
Amanda also seemed to have noticed the same thing as she nodded her head and added.
"Their mana control is not bad."
"I agree."
For them to be able to do what they did, they without a doubt had trained a lot.
'When things get rough, love is all you need.'
'So let me shoulder your burden, love me right now.'
'And that you love her.'
'Like roses loves them over growing.'
The first song lasted for a total of five minutes, and throughout the whole performance, the dancers danced to the rhythm of the music in a very coordinated manner.
Following the first song, they began to sing a second, then a third, and soon they were on the eighth song.
By this point, I was already exhausted, yet, the crowd and Nola seemed more energized than before.
"Whhhhaaaaa!"
Fortunately, it didn't seem like I was the only one who felt this way as Amanda also seemed to be feeling the same as me.
I understood where she came from though.
Just like me, she wasn't someone that liked crowds a lot and wasn't really the energetic type too.
Leaning closer to her, I whispered in her ear.
"You also tired aren't you."
"!?"
Seemingly caught off-guard, Amanda's head recoiled back as she covered her ear with her hand. She glared at me.
"Y..you.."
"That was not on purpose."
Raising my hands, I immediately tried to defend myself.
"Don't blame me for this, the crowd is too loud."
"..."
Squinting her eyes, Amanda lowered her hand. Once she did so, I was able to see that her ear was slightly red.
I feigned ignorance to that. Pointing that out would do me no good.
"Don't do it again..."
Amanda said in a soft voice. Pursing her lips together, she added.
"...It tickles."
"You ticklish?"
My eyebrow raised at this new piece of information.
However, before I could follow up, I suddenly felt the attention of the whole crowd directed toward my general direction.
"Gentleman over there."
Following this, I suddenly heard a familiar voice from the distance.
Turning my head in the direction of where the voice came from, I finally realized why the voice sounded familiar.
It was because it belonged to none other than the lead singer Sophia Ray.
'Oh god.'
I inwardly groaned when I realized this.
Once I turned around and my eyes met with the lead singer, she proceeded to flash a smile in my direction.
The moment that happened, I felt multiple jealous gazes headed in my direction.
I then pointed my finger toward me.
"Me?"
Although it was quite clear that she was trying to talk to me, I just wanted to make sure I was really the one person she was addressing.
Her next words made me realize that I was.
"Yes, yes, you."
Taking a step forward, she looked at the top of my head and asked.
"Gentlemen over there, may I ask, is that your daughter over your head?"
"Daugther?"
Raising my head and seeing Nola, I finally understood why she had called for me.
'Ah, I see, she mistook Nola for my daughter.'
Understandable, my current face was that of an older man.
"Yes, yes, she's our daughter."
Before I could reply to her, I suddenly felt something soft grab my right arm and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest.
"h..Huh?!
Letting out a weird sound, my head snapped toward my right where I saw Amanda standing next to me with her face as red as a tomato.
She had a look of regret on her face, however, biting her lips and increasing the grip of my arm she continued with her story.
"T-the girl..is our daughter."
Opening my eyes wide, I looked at Amanda with a dumbfounded look.
My mouth opened and closed repeatedly.
"A-Amanda?"
In the end, those were all the words I could muster.
Despite that, Amanda did not answer and forcefully kept her eyes on the front.
From her expression, I could tell that she wanted to dig herself a hole.
Unaware of what was happening, putting on a brilliant smile, the leading signer turned her attention toward Nola.
"Oh, what a sweet couple you two are."
The lead singer complimented. She then bent down and asked.
"What's your name little girl?"
"Nola!"
Nola shouted back.
What shocked me the most about this was the fact that she did not bother correcting the misunderstanding.
"This..."
Honestly, from that point on, everything felt like a blur.
My mind was so out of it that before I knew it, I found Nola on the stage next to the singers.
'Nola, in the stage...'
"Huh? Nola!?"
Snapping out of it, my eyes opened widely.
Turning around and glancing at Amanda who had long let go of my arm, I pointed at Nola who was on the stage.
"Amanda, when did Nola get there?!"
Without turning her head and glancing at me from the corner of her eyes, Amanda replied.
"...Do you not remember?"
"No."
I shook my head before I lowered my head and asked.
"Whose fault do you think that is?"
"..."
Pursing her lips, Amanda turned her head away from me and said.
"Everything should be fine. They only asked for her to dance on the stage. They do it every show."
Massaging my forehead, I let out a sigh.
"Haaa..."
'Wasn't this supposed to be a holiday? ...Why do I feel more mentally tired than back when I was inside of the Monolith?'
Really.
"Hm?"
Just as I was about to come to terms with the situation, I suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure in the distance.
Once my eyes paused on the figure, my head recoiled back as my face turned strange.
"Huh?"
'What in the world is he doing here?'
"What's wrong?"
Seemingly sensing my shift in mood, Amanda asked. Glancing at her, I softly muttered.
'Want To See More Chapters?' Please visit [ .C o M] "Nothing big, I just found a familiar face. Wait here, and keep an eye on Nola."
"...What?"
Lowering my hoodie I took a step forward, however, recalling something, my feet came to a stop.
Turning my head, I handed Amanda my phone.
"Take a video of Nola on the stage. Make sure to capture everything."
Without waiting for Amanda to reply, I quickly headed in the direction of the familiar figure.
Unprecedented solemness clouded my face.
'This is a problem.'
Passing through the crowd with my hoodie covering my face, I soon arrived next to the figure.
Placing my hand on his shoulders, I pulled his shoulder.
"Oy, what in the world are you doing here?"
"Huh?"
Obviously startled by my sudden actions, the figure angrily turned his head in my direction.
"Who in the world are you?"
"Ha."
I let out a dry chuckle.
"Didn't think you would forget about your boss, Leopold?"
That's right.
The figure who I had caught sight of from the distance was none other than Leopold.
"Boss?"
A sudden look of realization flashed across Leopold's face the moment I said those words as his face mellowed out.
Then, turning his head, he avoided my line of sight as he dryly laughed.
"Ha, ha, what are you doing here?"
"That's what I wanted to ask. I never took you for someone who was a fanatic for idol groups."
Out of all the people that I knew, he was the last person that I would've guessed.
Letting out a long sigh, I patted him on the shoulder.
"Before anything else, I just wanted to say that I'm not angry, just confused by the fact that you are into idol groups."
Everyone had their hobbies, I wasn't one to judge.
Was just weirded out by the idea of someone like Leopold being into idol groups. Just didn't fit his image.
"Actually..."
Scratching the side of his neck, Leopold had an awkward look on his face.
"I'm actually here for my daughter."
"Daughter?"
Freezing on the spot, I had a sudden look of understanding.
"Ah right, I forgot you had a daughter."
Prior to recruiting him, I had looked through his profile and did in fact remember that he had a daughter.
Because Leopold never really talked about his past, I nearly forgot about it.
Now everything made more sense.
She was quite old if I remembered corrected. Looking around the place, I curiously asked.
"Where is your daughter?"
"Over there."
Raising his hand, Leopold pointed toward the distance.
"Where?"
Curious, I followed the direction of where he was pointing at.
"Huh?"
Blinking my eyes a couple of times, I looked at Leopold with an incredulous look on my face.
"I'm not seeing wrongly am I?"
"You're not."
Leopold shook his head. Turning his head to look at me, he said.
"That's my daughter right there. She even has the same surname as me. Ray."
My jaw dropped.
