Upon opening the door to the stone house, the sound of an accordion drifted out, accompanied by a strange sensation that washed over me.

Instinctively, I opened the skill panel, and in the next moment, upon seeing the information above my status bar, I quickly clicked on the area-of-effect dispel magic for negative statuses, creating a halo that surrounded the three of us.

"Oh, Teacher, you've indeed noticed," remarked Kai'nan.

My dispel abnormal status aura flickered on Kai'nan before disappearing. Right, I remembered then that this guy was a summoned phantom and couldn't actually be affected by statuses.

"Your abilities are quite handy, aren't they? If you were to draw an identical person, you could easily shift the blame onto them."

"Indeed," replied Kai'nan's phantom.

"Everything here is drawn. Unless I understand what I'm drawing, he would just be a phantom sound. The person before us now bears the appearance of a murderer from 500 years ago, though I've only seen him in a photo. Thus, besides him being my shadow roaming about, he can't do much else. His attack power is even weaker than that of a child."

A child? Do you mean the type who plays with sand by the roadside or someone like Oyado or Sally? Well, I think he's more akin to the former.

"Enough about that... Let's talk about Geraldine."

I shifted my gaze towards the girl playing the accordion at the forefront.

I could tell she was playing with great seriousness, but after casting the dispel abnormal status magic, her music became... jarring.

Yes, jarring. Off-key at times, with occasional pauses, it sounded eerie no matter how you listened to it.

Yet, apart from us, the other listeners seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it, even being entranced by it.

"What do you think, Teacher?"

"I believe that Geraldine has incorporated strange notes into her music, causing listeners to hear phantom sounds and fall under its spell."

"Ah, I see."

"Hey, hey, hey, doesn't this violate the pursuit of art? Though I don't know much about you all, this seems like cheating."

"If she's doing it on purpose, then it is cheating."

"Do you believe she's doing this unconsciously then?"

"More or less. I tried it myself. I praised her for her excellent performance and asked her to play freely. Her music was excellent then. But when she performs in front of many, she adds phantom sounds in hopes of gaining approval from others."

"...So if you initially approve of her, she won't use this ability?"

"Because this ability stems from her subconscious; she can't control it."

"..."

"Don't look at me like that. I'm only explaining this to help you understand your students better, Teacher."

"You seem quite interested in this activity. Why not come to school?"

"Even as a shadow?"

"It seems you have many untold secrets as well. Are the people you'd bring with us also your phantoms?"

"Not quite. I'll find a way to resolve my own issues when the time comes."

"I see. Well, in return for your enthusiastic help in understanding Geraldine, I'll consider it."

I then turned my attention to Geraldine.

Seated on the platform, the girl playing the deep black accordion, adorned in a white dress, was her. Her gray hair tied up and swept over her left shoulder, she kept her eyes closed while performing.

"Next up is her, um, so her concert emits strange notes based on her subconscious, confusing others, and then what?"

"That's it. Just like me, her ability comes from her subconscious, what they call self-taught."

"So is your summoning magic based on the same principle then?"

"Who knows, maybe we're just really lucky?"

Well, I won't dwell on that question.

And now, what needs to be done is... to make this girl playing music understand her ability and come to class.

At this moment, as the music below ends, there is a warm applause in the arena.

All of them are deceived...

Wait a minute, if her subconscious is making her do this, then it means she really wants others to acknowledge her, maybe...

Thinking like this, I proceed straight towards her, standing in front of Geraldine.

She also notices me and looks puzzled.

"Excuse me... do you have something to say to me?"

"I'm Fir, do you recognize me?"

She shakes her head.

"Well, at least I'm a teacher at the Imperial Academy. I think your family must have left you a message about a teacher coming to see you, right?"

"I... I haven't been home in a long time... and, I don't go to the academy, there's no one there who appreciates my music!"

"Tsk, is this the extent of your music?"

"Huh?"

I stare at her.

"You clearly love your music, but only let those who approve of it listen, without trying to influence those who don't, is that the extent of it?"

"I... I'm not..."

She takes a few steps back, leaning against the wall.

Well, thanks to her music, the audience is now in a half-dazed state, they probably won't even react to our conversation.

"Hmph! If you can't even move me, what are you saying."

"...Bring it on!"

Suddenly, she looks up at us, her eyes emitting a red light!

In my experience, there are only two situations where such eerie eyes appear.

Either it's congenital, or it's one of the Oni, demonized, or berserk types. But after seeing the change in her name, I realize I need to revise my impression.

Geraldine Campbell (Seal Unleashed Phase One)

Musician LV30

Neutral, Timid, Idle, Self-satisfied, (Sealed One), (Demon of Sound - Martin), Music Lover, (Mind Controller)

...

My class is really lively, who is this? The third demon race?

With me, that makes four already?

I draw my weapon and then look towards Keinan.

"Get the others to evacuate quickly... By the way, you knew about her situation, right?"

"Well... I was just asked by her family."

Keinan looks quite helpless too, but I don't believe his innocence.

"Alright, consider this a favor owed, both to me and the Campbell family."

I look at Geraldine, who at this moment spreads out demonic wings behind her, with a fierce expression on her face.

What a waste, she's actually quite pretty.

But the next moment, she suddenly pulls out the accordion in her hand, and a visible sound wave directly spreads out!

"The Ultimate Ice Imperial Palace!"

An ice wall suddenly rose up, separating us from Geraldine.

But those sound waves penetrated the ice wall directly, passing through our bodies.

At the same instant, the magic that was dispelling abnormal status effects on me was lifted, and everything around me suddenly fell silent.

"...Huh?"

When I came to my senses, there was no one around, not a single person in the entire music hall. No demons, Oyado, the phantom of Keinan, or even the audience remained.

"...This is bad."

I tried to open the menu on the terminal, only to find that besides the HP bar, I couldn't access the status bar or anything else.

Not even the skill bar!

"I really hate this kind of thing..."

Helplessly, I looked around and then headed towards the door of the music hall.

Unfortunately, that was the only place emitting light.

Even in a game, you should follow the prompts at times like this, right? But this feeling was very unpleasant.

After all, illusions are what the other party wants you to see, so you never really know what's real.

"Let me see what you're up to."

With that thought in mind, I pushed open the door of the music hall.