Sunday was the day when the vast majority of the God of Truth's faithful gathered for worship, and the five-story, Gothic-style building of the Musicians' Association was exceedingly quiet, with hardly anyone coming or going.
But when Lucian walked up to the front steps, the two guards greeted him with enthusiastic smiles. "Good morning, Mr. Evans."
"Good morning." Lucian was slightly puzzled. The concert had only ended past ten o'clock last night, and today was Sunday — there was no way the Association could have already spread word about him this quickly. Yet the guards' attitude said it all. "Did Elena tell them?" Elena was the only person among the concert attendees who needed to come to the Association to work on Sundays, but Lucian didn't think Elena was the type to go around broadcasting things — unless someone had asked her.
After Lucian passed by, the two guards quietly huddled together, whispering among themselves. "I can't believe Mr. Evans became a musician so fast. I remember over three months ago, he came here to haul trash, and I even watched his cart for him."
"I didn't expect it either." The other guard glanced back at Lucian's retreating figure. "For the past two months, Mr. Evans has been coming to the library every day, and in the afternoon he'd often practice instruments — just like any other music student. Who'd have thought he was a musical genius?"
The first guard clicked his tongue and shook his head. "What a pity I don't have any musical talent, or else I wouldn't have to stand here guarding the door. Heh heh, Mr. Evans must be here to quit his library job. A genius musician like him — is he ever going to lack noble patrons? Is he ever going to lack opportunities to hold concerts?"
…………
Walking into the Association's main hall, Elena and Cathy were organizing items in the wooden cabinets. When they saw Lucian, they immediately straightened up and said in unison, "Good morning, Mr. Evans."
Elena wore a playful smile, as if she were making a friendly joke, while Cathy was purely respectful and restrained.
"Good morning, Elena. Good morning, Cathy — what are you organizing?" Lucian asked with some curiosity.
Elena blinked and replied excitedly with a grin, "Lucian, it's the latest issue of *Music Review* and the *Symphony Herald*! It's the first time I've seen a friend's name in these two newspapers. You're really amazing!"
Although she was still illiterate, Elena had been working at the Musicians' Association for a long time, had come into contact with a great deal of written material, and was herself a diligent and eager learner. With some guidance from Lucian, she had already learned to recognize all the letters and could read most of the names of people at the Association.
Lucian was somewhat surprised. "That fast? Aren't these two newspapers supposed to come out at the end of the month? And the concert was only held yesterday."
*Music Review* and the *Symphony Herald* were the most authoritative newspapers in the music world, sought after across the entire continent. They were published in the last few days of each month, primarily featuring outstanding compositions and critiques from the past month across the continent, as well as news about famous musicians — almost all of them based in Altor, of course.
Victor's concert had taken place in the third week of the Harvest Month, so by all rights, there should have been at least another week before these two newspapers came out.
Elena said with an animated expression, "I heard that many musicians were so moved and shaken by your *Fate Symphony* that they wrote reviews overnight. They submitted them to the Association this morning before heading off to worship, so the Association decided to publish early. These are from the first print run."
"Mr. Evans, would you like to buy a copy?" Cathy looked at Lucian with a mixture of curiosity, deference, and respect. In her eyes, today's two issues would surely hold collectible significance for him.
Lucian felt it wouldn't make sense not to buy them, so he smiled. "One of each, please." He then took out his purse and poured out twenty Copper Fel.
Ever since he had started working at the Association, Lucian had managed to save up most of his money each month, after sending three Silver Naler to Aunt Elisa and covering expenses like clothing. After all, the materials and apparatus he needed had all been temporarily satisfied through that gathering without any cost, so his purse was no longer as anemic as it used to be.
Of course, after Victor had gifted him that formal suit, Lucian had also spent quite a few Silver Naler on a second formal suit to rotate in, and had taken the opportunity to buy a few more black garments and commission a new black hooded robe.
"What does it say?" Elena handed the two newspapers to Lucian, asking curiously. Cathy beside her did the same. During their breaks at the Musicians' Association, their favorite pastime was asking people they knew to read the newspapers and books aloud to them — Piero, for instance, or Lucian.
Lucian casually picked up *Music Review* and skimmed it. On the first page, besides the three bold black words "Music Review" and "Sacred Calendar Year 815, Issue No. 9," there was only an exterior oil painting of Sacred Hymn Hall and two lines of large black text:
"Gentlemen, ladies, remove your hats and pay your respects — this is a true genius!"
—Othello.
When Elena and Cathy heard these two lines read aloud by Lucian, their eyes lit up instantly, and they gazed at him with something close to adoration.
Turning past the first page, the first article Lucian saw was titled "Music Needs a Soul Too — A Tribute to the *Fate Symphony*":
"…Music is a gift bestowed upon us by the Lord, a weapon that inspires us to press forward. Yet over the past three hundred years, apart from the sacred and solemn music of the Church, all other music has merely made us feel that it is beautiful. And such beauty always feels pale and powerless, unable to truly move the heart."
……
"It was not until Mr. Victor's concert at Sacred Hymn Hall, when I heard the *Fate Symphony* composed by his student Lucian Evans, that I finally understood what music truly needs!"
"Music is a poem of the emotions within every person's heart. If it does not channel genuine feeling, if it does not give voice to the power of the soul, then music is destined to be pale, unable to move others — like a living person who has lost their soul. And this *Fate Symphony* has a theme and an emotion that runs through all four movements: an unyielding refusal to compromise with darkness, a resolute struggle against hardship. That is why it is the most rousing, the most powerful, the most soul-stirring symphony I have ever heard."
……