Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"It's a violin that was bought at a high price..."

"Why are you blaming it on the instrument? It's clearly your own fault."

"Isaac, do you understand music?"

“It’s obvious you don’t understand,” Isaac said.

He didn't have much time to cultivate his talents when he was a child, and he knew nothing about musical instruments.

I once visited Armstrong's house and learned a little about pianos, but that was limited to distinguishing which key represented which note.

As for singing... he can hum a few of MJ's songs, but then he only knows the Amestrel national anthem and the birthday song.

He himself would like to learn some musical instruments so that he can perform a piece at military events.

"I think so too, you damn alchemist, you have absolutely no artistic talent."

"That's because I haven't studied it. If I had studied it systematically, I believe I could have reached a very high standard," Isaac said, shrugging.

He was quite confident in his learning ability; although he wasn't a genius, he wasn't stupid either.

"I'm also thinking of relearning it, would you like to come with me?"

"I'd rather learn the erhu than the violin, and with a pair of sunglasses I'd look really cool."

"I don't quite understand your aesthetic sense."

Just then, a sudden sound came from behind the two people who were chatting.

"Could I borrow it for a moment?"

"Ok?"

Hugh and Isaac turned around and saw a young girl standing there dressed in a brand new white dress.

Her hair was a flawless, silky gray-gold color, paired with pale skin that could easily be mistaken for that of a patient. She seemed listless and sickly, and appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen years old.

"Excuse me, can I borrow this?"

As she said this, the girl reached out to Hugh's violin.

"you are?"

Hugh had never seen the girl before, nor had Isaac.

Upon seeing her, Isaac couldn't help but squint.

He didn't even notice the expressionless girl appearing behind him, because he couldn't sense any energy emanating from her.

Unlike the inhuman aura emanating from Dalian and Fran, this girl had no aura at all, like an inorganic substance.

She is not human, or rather, she is not a living being at all.

Chapter 1037: Is She Not Human?

This sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl in white looked lifeless. Her expressionless face and unwavering eyes gave people the illusion that she was not human at all. In addition, Isaac could not sense any energy from her.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Dalian immediately hid behind Hugh, while Isaac stepped forward with a frown.

"you……"

"Um... I'm sorry."

Suddenly, a bespectacled stranger, slightly out of breath, pushed through the low bushes and rushed over.

The man's age is unknown, but he looks to be around twenty-five to thirty years old.

Compared to her age, she had a baby face that made her seem unreliable. Her hair was still messy and sticking up like a child's, and she wore a dowdy work uniform.

"That violin... could we borrow it for a look?"

Even when speaking to Hugh, who was clearly younger than himself, the man remained very polite in his words.

"Ah, okay..."

With a somewhat embarrassed expression, Hugh handed over the violin.

After taking the violin, the man examined it carefully, while the girl in white simply watched him silently.

"Hmm, this is a fine instrument!" the man said admiringly in a soft voice.

Dalian glanced up at Hugh, her expression saying, 'The problem is definitely your technique.' Hugh shook his head helplessly.

However, the man changed the angle at which he held up the violin and said with a serious expression:

"But this violin is broken. The soundpost is off-center. There are many other problems... It was originally a good instrument, so even the dissonant notes are amplified."

Hughes raised one eyebrow.

"Will this... be able to be fixed?"

"Yes, if you don't mind, I can fix it for you here."

"Will you fix it for me?"

Hugh looked at the man with a surprised expression.

"Yes."

The man nodded nonchalantly, then bent down, took a mallet from his bag, and began to roughly strike the instrument. A destructive sound rang out.

This action made Hugh feel sorry for him.

"Um... let me just say that this violin is quite expensive."

He protested tactfully, but his voice seemed not to reach the man's ears.

"It's fixed."

The man said, after violently swinging the mallet a few more times.

Hugh blinked blankly.

"Huh? It's fixed just like that?"

“Try it, Christobelle, this…”

The man nodded with a weak smile and handed Hugh's violin to the girl in white.

"May I?"

"Okay, please."

He gave the expressionless girl a gentle smile.

"I see."

Fran looked at the girl in white, feeling as if she had seen her somewhere before.

Suddenly a car appeared in front of her. She picked up the newspaper that Dalian had used to line her lunchbox and started flipping through the pages.

"Wow, this is a celebrity!"

"Hmm? You know him?"

"Look at this."

Fran held the newspaper up in front of Isaac and pointed to one of the photos.

The black-and-white photograph in the newspaper showed a girl playing the violin in a grand theater, and this girl looked exactly like the girl in white standing before me.

"Christopher Sasteen?"

"That's her, the most sought-after violinist in the capital. Tickets for her performances are now extremely hard to come by."

As they spoke, the girl in front of them, who seemed to be named Christophe Bell, had already placed her violin on her shoulder, her slender little hands gently resting the bow on the strings.

Sizzle ———

A sharp, deafening explosion-like sound shook the surrounding atmosphere.

Unlike Hugh's sawing sound, this was an inhumane noise that even Isaac couldn't help but cover his ears.

The other three, needless to say, all closed their eyes and covered their ears, their expressions contorted with pain.

The noise continued for a while before Christobell put down her violin.

After the sound stopped, Hugh and the others felt completely exhausted.

"...Is this the famous musician you were talking about?" Isaac asked Fran, who was lying on her deathbed beside him.

"It should be right...they all look the same."

"Will tickets for this kind of audio really be so hard to come by? I could record it and use it as material for future interrogations."

He didn't know if people who went to this person's concert had suicidal tendencies.

"I think I understand..."

Christobelle whispered softly.

Just then, Christobelle picked up her violin again, this time holding the fingerboard with delicate gestures. Her movements were as precise as if she had carried it with her for decades, a beloved instrument whose characteristics she knew intimately. She closed her eyes gently, and this time she truly began to play.

"This……"

The group was immediately speechless.

This was simply heavenly music, a world apart from the noise we had just heard.

Christobelle ignored the two and continued playing. The disheveled man, mindful of the speechless Hugh and Christobelle, gave a weak bow.

"I'm so sorry, but once she starts playing, she won't stop halfway through..."

“No, I think it’s fine this way.” Hugh shook his head with a smile.

"Yes, this is much better than some tone-deaf person sawing wood."

Dalian muttered under her breath. Despite her usual boastful attitude, she seemed to really enjoy Christobell's playing.

As the melodious music played, a large number of onlookers began to gather in the park.

Several of them looked at Christophe with surprise as she played the violin.

"That person...could it be...?"

"Liar! Christobelle Sasteen?"

"Why would she be in a place like this...?"