“WELCOME EVERYBODY!" Wolfgang was standing in the middle of the stage, shouting at the top of his lungs, magic further amplifying his word "WE ARE MYTHRILLHEAD AND. WE. BRING. YOU. MYTHRILL!!!”


    The presentation was half the win, and Wolfgang did it well. Being Charismatic and having Showman probably helped – interestingly, the Orc was able to use his Negative Perk in a positive way. Sure, his stance, the way he held his axe, his wide gestures, and the way he wore his clothes, were overblown and showy, but it was exactly, what was needed for a successful entertainer. Or so Prof heard.


    The pillars of flames on both sides of the stage certainly gave an awesome look.


    As soon as the first riffs were played, Prof noticed a few official-looking Greenskins approaching the stage from the back. One of them was even playing the flute, not that it could be heard over the guitars and drums and Sandra screaming. Binky was happily munching on some Gremlins and didn''t look like he was giving the newcomers any mind. Prof knew better. If they came any closer or tried to threaten his mistress, the Scorpionlizard would be munching on Gobs, Hobs, and Orcs in a few seconds.


    That wasn''t good. If Mini''s mount started to munch on official-looking folks, it was highly likely, even more official-looking folks would arrive and asked pointed questions. Which would lead to said mount munching on even more official-looking people. The result would be heavily armed official-looking folks arriving, and not asking questions.


    “Good evening, Sir. How can I help you?” Prof engaged his Gentleman Perk on the most highly ranked official-looking individual. It was almost second nature by this time. Actually, since the Character Parchment described exactly, what one was, and how one behaved, it was first nature to him. He already noticed he had to make a conscious effort to not be polite to anyone.


    “Are you related in any way to this band and venue, Sir?” The let’s-call-him-officer asked back


    “I''m a friend of the band, yes. Helped them set up the concert. Why? What may the issue be?" If it wasn''t for officials, Prof probably would have boasted, he was a Stage Manager or something. But with officials, it was better to stay with the truth. He had no official standing with the band or the concert. Please go away and fine someone else! The Greenskins were amateurs in fining folks when compared to Elves. They probably would have fined him anyway for loitering, illegal security work, or breathing offensively.


    “The honored not-Guildmaster of the Musician’s not-Guild fielded a complaint against this band playing a piece of so-called new music. According to the complaint, the new music is illegal and the band was explicitly forbidden to play it. We are here to hand over a cease and desist order."


    Oh, the old Goblin tried to lawyer his way so Mythrillhead wasn’t able to play after all. Bad Luck. For the old Goblin, that is!


    Fortunately, one of the band members was good in laws, and so had contacts to the Thieves’ not-Guild. More likely, Wilhelm was a member. He – and a few colleagues, who were "accidentally" there – spent an hour giving Prof pointers and phrases, on how to handle a situation just like this. Almost as if they knew, something like this would happen.


    “I understand, Sir. Since I''m just a friend of the band, I can only forward the order to them after the concert is over. Disturbing them while they are playing would be preventing and hindering. As far as I know, the local law, that would be considered a serious crime!"


    “Indeed, it would be!" the official nodded. Strangely, it almost looked like he was nodding along to the rhythm. "Since it is such a serious crime, I would have to go back and ask my superiors what to do."


    “Or, you could just wait here, and hand the order over to the band after the concert.” almost all of the officials were nodding furiously by this point. The flute player was even salivating with wide eyes.


    “Yes, that would be acceptable. We could report on this excellent… ehmm… I mean, so-called new music more exhaustively if we stayed. Squad, listen to the music most attentively, and watch the band closely!"


    “Yes, Sir! Understood, Sir!”


    Prof thought about giving the officials a few protective drinks so they wouldn''t be parched while they waited, but unfortunately, there was only a small keg of beer behind the stage, and giving free booze to officials could be considered bribing. He wouldn''t bribe officials, that would be a crime! Also, the keg was only ten liters or so and was meant for the security detail (him and his party) and the band.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    By the third song, the first row of the audience was headbanging furiously, shouting the lyrics. Well, not exactly the lyrics, because those were completely new to everyone not friends with the band, but some approximation of what they thought the lyrics were. All with a few seconds delay to the band. Well, since everyone believed the lyrics to be something else, and everyone had a different delay, the audience was more or less shouting random things.


    At least they figured out the chorus part on the second try.


    It still was disturbing to hear a very well-known song, Prof basically grew up with, sung in a completely different language, but nevertheless understanding every word. Not necessarily with the same rhythm, though. It was still different, since no language on Arkadia, as far as Prof was aware, had a word, or knew the concepts for a lot of things in that particular song. The chorus ended up something like: I''m on a well-maintained cobbled road to a very bad place. In Greenskinian, it actually rhymed and sounded better.


    Whoever was the nameless Traveller, who brought Granite to the Greenskins, complied and translated a few hundred classical metal songs to the Greenskinian language and culture was, was a genius. That, and he came from the same Central European country, Prof was.


    How did he know, you ask?


    Simply, there were a few songs in the book that were played by random musicians, that were from his home country. No one outside of his people was able to learn that language, so it was highly improbable, a random foreigner would know those songs, and could translate them into Greenskinian.


    This was probably a record. Despite being a small nation, everywhere you went on Earth, you would meet a fellow countryman, or someone, who was a descendant of one. To meet a compatriot’s descendant in a completely different universe…


    All right, that was a slight exaggeration. It was probably hard to find a fellow countryman in… one of those tiny island countries in the Pacific. But maybe not.


    The mages were really starting to do their job by this point. Illusions, from marching soldiers to mythical beasts were flying over the audience, while multicolored lights shone on the band. There were even spurts of flames shooting up from the sides. The whole thing probably would have violated dozens of safety regulations on Earth. but, here, no one cared. This was Arkadia!


    By the fourth song, the flute player of the officials approached him.


    “Sir, may I ask a question?” Prof gestured to him to continue “What exactly are those girls doing there in the background? With their heads?”


    “It’s called headbanging. A kind of dance. See the first row of the audience? They’ve got it.”


    “Aha! I think it looks better the way that Human females do it with her… fur on their heads."


    “Hair. It indeed looks better that way. Having hair isn’t obligatory to headbang, though.” Prof was ready to reassure a member of a race, where everyone was bald.


    “Hmmmm… Do you think, it would be possible to make artificial hair and wear it on your head? It would be an awesome sight! Greenskins of every race headbanging! With hair on their heads! I wonder if someone could make it happen."


    “A wig? Why not. You would have to glue it on your head, or else it would fly away in no time. You would need actual hair, horse mane, or thin fiber, though. Hey!"


    “Officer! I’m quitting! Got an excellent new idea! Bye!”


    Oh crap. Prof accidentally introduced “hair” to an innocent world. Hopefully, it wouldn’t spread. He hoped very sincerely, that no one would combine “hair” with “music” – Arkadia wasn’t ready for that. Of course, neither was Earth, and it still survived. Barely.


    By the sixth song – about Booze in the Jug – the audience started to go crazy. As far as Prof could see, everyone was showing a certain sign, with two fingers pointing forward while shaking their heads violently. It took only a few cases of the band doing that sign, and the audience already picked it up.


    Working a crowd into a frenzy was much easier with magic. Even assuming, some might have resistances. Actually, everyone had resistances, it was coupled to Stats, after all. [Magic: Music] was coupled to Emotional Stability, if Prof remembered correctly. Of course, some people had extra Perks for heightening their resistances. Or magical trinkets.


    The seventh song saw the first panties sailing up to the stage. Sexy underwear wasn''t exactly invented yet – or, at least widely known or worn, "sexy" involved most likely only some frills on normal underwear – so the panties in question were more or less ones you would expect from a medieval society: knee length, undyed linen.


    Prof always wondered, how females were able to unequip their panties during such concerts, and what exactly they thought by flinging it up to a stage, but some mysteries should stay just that. Mysteries.


    As the eighth song was ending, a runner arrived from the licensed beer stand.


    “Mister Prof! Mister Prof!" the young-looking Goblin waved his hand "Problems at the stall! A gang is breaking the mugs and isn''t allowing new customers to order!"


    Was this just a regular shakedown or the not-Guildmaster''s next escalation? Probably the second, from what Prof learned in the last month, shakedowns and similar criminal activity weren''t common in Ostwaldland. To be sure, he collected Bianca and Sharpclaw, leaving Binky to guard the stage.


    Circling the crowd and the other stalls from behind, it took them only a few minutes to arrive. Prof had to reassess his theory about the situation being a common shakedown immediately after seeing the “gang”.


    All six were Human.