Rock the Pleiades

Rock the Pleiades (ロック・ザ・プレアデス) is a game event in Mass for the Dead that was released on April 1, 2023 to April 15, 2023.

Background
In order to publicize the great deeds of the Sorcerer Kingdom, an experiment to produce bards has been started. The members are Lupusregina, CZ, and Narberal. The musical instruments they picked up were electric guitars. Dengeki live in Nazarick. Where is it going...?

Incident
Along the central road of the Ba haruth Empire, there is a bar and inn called the Singing Apple Pavilion located in a corner of the shops, bustling with workers. Inside the store, which is said to have started as a gathering of bards who used musical instruments made from apple wood, New Six Arms: Regi, Shizu, Malmvist, Peshurian and Zero are seen sitting at a table eating lunch.

Regi compliments the stew though is bored nothing new has come up for jobs. Shizu admits that no clients seem to have approached them. Zero doesn’t mind as they have a moment of peace to themselves. Malmvist is content to continue doing subjugating jobs in the Katze Plains. It seems that the number of polluted beasts has increased since the "Disaster of Fire".

From what Regi heard, E-Rantel seems to have had a hard time as it was hit with another attack. Peshurian knows what she is talking about and is referring to invisible enemies that ravaged the city. Regi curious about the invisible enemies inquires if the knight heard anything else. Peshurian though only heard that there were no corpses left when the attackers hit the city. Soon Malmvist gets off put by the conversation and wishes his comrades would not talk about corpses as he is eating. Besides all this Regi knows already.

Zero deduces in general, that the girl is looking for a profitable opportunity. While that is her cover story, Regi though actually was just hoping that there might be some information that she didn’t hear about while she was unconscious and incapacitated while on the “other side” of the Crack. Something has caught Shizu’s attention, which causes Regi to follow her line of sight. In the back of the room, there was a human figure singing while playing an instrument. For Regi and Shizu, the contents of the poem could only be understood in fragments.

Zero seeing their interest explains that it’s a poem about a heroic tale of the emperor's plan to wipe out a horde of chaos beasts. A plan which he knows all too well as his old team almost died behind that feat. Peshurian mutters that there is no mention of sacrificing the workers that they led.

To Regi, it sounds like words that don't really make sense, as does Shizu. Still they find the information interesting and may have some value. By what it sounds, to the undercover maids, the poem is almost like a heroic tale and asks if that is what bard do for work. Malmvist is surprised by their reaction wondering if bards are a rare scene for the ladies, but guesses that they probably don’t understand the content. His assessment is joined in by Peshurian who affirms that the listener needs education and sensibility.

Regi uses that as an excuse for their ignorance but accounts to her comrades that even if you don't understand the meaning of the verses, if she listens carefully, they’ll be drawn into it. The women now know bard is an occupation for singing poetry and Zero adds that bard can use special skills. He even heard that the leader of the Empire's adamantite-class adventurer team Silver Thread Bird is one. However Peshurian thought that the team was in E-Rantel.

Regi notices that the bards frequent taverns like the one they are in now, prompting Zero to explain that if someone accomplishes a great dead, bards take it upon themselves to spread the word through their songs. While it may be entertainment for taverns, for nobles these songs are a useful source of information. The women are now intrigued by the intel gathering part and even the musical instruments bards use.

Seeing their interest, Malmvist jokes if the pair want to become bards, if so usually it would require joining a guild or such and such. Zero doesn't dissuade them as if they manage to get some skills in the job, then it could be useful for gathering information and sing the glory of the reborn Six Arms. This banter causes Peshurian to wonder if their boss has drunken too much, as the women obviously couldn't become bards as they hardly could understand the lyrics of the songs being sung at the tavern. Malmvist though tries to imagine the possibility, if they managed to improve their education and sensibility, of singing a ballad about Six Arms. On that Peshurian states that it would be ludicrous.

To themselves, Regi and Shizu believe this business with bards is all self-praise, but still a very useful idea, as they continue to observe their male teammates, changing their commentary of the feat of the emperor sung by the bard.

Later at the Round Table Room, in the Great Tomb of Nazarick on the 9th Floor, Lupusregin and CZ return from the Empire to report to Momonga, Albedo and Demiurge about their findings on bards. The information they brought allows Momonga to confirm that the job occupation exists in the New World. Lupusregina admits that though they witnessed a bard play their music, she and CZ had difficulty following the content. Given what Momonga knows, for some reason in this world other languages are automatically translated and heard. But strangely there have been reports that the translation of a song seems to go wrong. Demiurge is more interested in the spell-casting aspects of the bard profession. The Pleiades maids were able to confirm their special abilities, though only hearsay that bards were able to use similar effects to magic, such as doing suggestions and charms through their instruments and songs.

Momonga wonders to himself if this ability is from YGGDRASIL, though sadly its a field he has limited knowledge of. Regardless the maids have brought some critical intel thanks to their undercover work as workers. For their hard work, Momonga grants the maids to rest in Nazarick. Lupusregina and CZ are in awe at Momonga's words, and have one request. They are permitted by the Supreme Being and Floor Guardians to speak their mind to which the maids while understanding that they couldn't understand the lyrics of the bard's song believe they only require education and sensibility to remedied this oversight. That is they need to be able to dramatize and convey events more effectively and conveniently than normal conversation. Therefore they would like to use bards to spread the deeds of the Sorcerer Kingdom to neighboring countries. For this plan they wish to include the protagonist who is in E-Rantel.

Momonga seeing that they want to conduct a matter of public relations, sees the merits of their plan, as the results of their work in E-Rantel have only been made known locally. Demiurge agrees as by transmitting their work through words to outsiders will more effectively be beneficial for future diplomatic trade. However his overall concern is how much control they will maintain over the content of the songs. Albedo points out that they still don't fully understand the bard's poetry, and thus requires some human instruction from this. With the mistranslation hurdles, Momonga asks Lupusregina how they expect to overcome this issue.

Lupusregina though believes that they can turn to the guild of bards, and suggests that the Sorcerer Kingdom infiltrate it for a better perspective. That way they will be able to write their own poetry in their own language.

The idea of bards from the Sorcerer Kingdom, feels enticing to Momonga as in other words, what Lupusregina suggests is to their nation’s cover story as a nation that has developed independently, related to the "Boastful Sage”.

Albedo replies that the Sorcerer Kingdom's credibility is already rock solid. And that the Bard’s Guild may be at a loss of how to promote such a nation or will take their request seriously. For Momonga, if there is a dispute, he proposes giving the Bard’s Guild a subsidy in the name of cross-cultural exchange.

For this plan, Lupusregina asks Momonga to entrust her and CZ with the duties of the bards. Since they are so full of motivation, Momonga grants her this request as he feels the two are reliable enough for this task. Since they will be doing an experiment like the Idol Project within Nazarick before dealing with humans this time around, Momonga asks Demiurge for his insight on this endeavor.

Demiurge feels that in considering that they will be conducting measures in human cities, he believes that it would be a good idea to have those who are conducting intelligence activities in E-Rantel participate as well.

That in mind, since the existence of the Soi being a hero is redundant, it's really a choice between Seba Tian and Narberal. He ultimately selects Narberal. Initially Demiurge suggests that the maids cooperate with the protagonist in E-Rantel, but Momonga believes that is not necessary. This time, Lupusregina and CZ, will be leading the plan with occasional advice from the protagonist since the latter Is very busy these days trying to restore E-Rantel.

Therefore, the plan shall be carried out by three people, both Lupusregina and CZ, plus Narberal, with Lupusregina being the head of the plan. Lupusregina thanks Momonga for this honor, promising to repay his kindness with the results of this project. The Bard Debut Plan is then formed.

After the Bard Debut Plan's initiation, Momonga recruited Narberal for the plan and briefs her on the details when she returned to Nazarick in hallway of the 9th Floor. While the her inclusion is a bit sudden, Narberal is happy to be involved in the new project to create bards for the Sorcerer Kingdom. Of course the experiment itself will only be within Nazarick, but Momonga hopes that the bards will be able to operate in a human city. And while Narberal may not be among the agents that operate in a city, her knowledge gained from the outside world will be useful in implementing their plan on site. Narberal asks her master if this plan will be like the Idol Plan that the Guardians did before? Momonga confirms that it will be similar, but this time Lupusregina and CZ will be leading it and Narberal will be cooperating.

As they walk through the corridors, Narberal asks Momonga on their destination. Momonga then explains that bards are those who use instruments and tunes to play lyrics. Thus he has summoned Pandora's Actor to gather suitable instruments from the Treasury and bring them to the Guest Room. From what he heard the treasurer gathered items that were related to YGGDRASIL, possessing appearances of instruments and also functioning as weapons. This surprises Narberal as she believes that she will get to use these items to eliminate those who criticize the Sorcerer Kingdom's promotional songs. Momonga corrects her as that is not the case.

They enter the Guest Room, where they find Pandora's Actor to be waiting. The narrow room is filled with a variety of piles of musical instrument for selection. The sight stuns Narberal as she can't even seen her sisters, Lupusregina and CZ, who are behind another pile of instruments. The two come out from behind a pile, as they were previously busy trying to select their choice of instruments. CZ having taken an interest in the musical instruments, made her choice, among the strings instruments such as the harps, lutes, etc. Narberal looking at the item that CZ selected, notes that it is an electric guitar. Pandora's Actor commends the maid magic caster for keen eye, though it is expected given the maid's affinity to lightning magic. He also compliments CZ's choice as the item is particularly excellent in terms of performance. CZ adds that she likes the grip of the item and its mechanical characteristics suit her, wishing to master it.

Momonga looking on is content to allow the flow of the plan, including the trial and error, to be decided by the ladies. He though questions Lupusregina of what will be her next step. The maid has one thing to share, that she realizes that while playing a musical instrument a story is conveyed as a ballad. Rather than spending a difficult time of putting it all together, she believes that it would be better to share the work with each other and make it one through the combined strength of all three members.

Because none of the women have obtained the bard class, Momonga agrees that it would be better than imitating the class and more likely will lead to results. Taking his approval, Lupusregina divides the work among the three members of the group, assigning CZ with instruments, herself handling poetry and Narberal handling singing. Narberal hearing her assignment then selects something from the pile of instruments, which Pandora's Actor identifies as a stand microphone which can amplify her voice and also has high performance in battle. Narberal interested originally took it as it resembles as staff and is eager to try it out, though is reminded by Momonga that its use is for hone the skills to communicate effectively as a bard.

Lupusregina anxious to "promote the splendor of the Sorcerer Kingdom and its contribution to human society" plans to reach out to the general maids to assistance and participation. Her avidity reminds Pandora's Actor that she is behaving like a producer, which causes her to question what the title is. Momonga tells her that she will be given full autonomy of this project and it be up to her to bring everyone together and show them the way further. Once he receives an acknowledgement of his orders, Momonga grants Pandora's Actor to cooperate with the maids at his discretion and to respond to any of their requests. The treasurer is elated as he will be once again working behind the scenes in another Idol Project. Even so, Momonga is worried about the instrument selection as it feels that the plan has gone in a totally different direction, but since the group's motivation is high he doesn't feel the need to express his concerns.

Some time later, at Ashurbanipal, a pile of books on "Musical Instruments", "Poetry" and "Songs" are arrayed around by Lupusregina and the two other Pleiades maids to supplement their lack of various knowledge.

Narberal goes over what the lore says about bards, that they are wandering musicians who sing stories about historical events that happened in remote places. And that they mingle with the people of the lower classes and then perhaps the nobles of the court. The information is line with what Lupusregina and CZ heard in the Empire. CZ is intrigued by the illustration of a lute which appears similar to the electric guitar. In addition there is a picture of a stand mic. Lupusregina notes that the plan is feels to have a different flamboyance compared to the Idol Plan.

The genre of rock music catches CZ's attention musing it to have a ceremonial feel. From the images depicted in the books, Lupusregina sees that the electric guitar is slammed in the floor and wonders if it is being used as a weapon. However CZ sees that there are no enemies in sight. So far from what Narberal can tell from the pictures, only lowly humans are shown going wild. This makes Lupusregina assume that this is part of the performance. Not only that the singers using the mic are depicted holding it various positions. The women attribute the positions to be part of the performance, though they are still unsure.

Regardless, the three are drawing close to the decision that the Sorcerer Kingdom's bards will be based on "rock". While going through the material, they are intrigued to learn that there are subgenres of rock such as hard rock, punk rock and other progressive variations. But it is the quote: "Rock will cure illness" that catches Lupusregina's eye. The Pleiades take this as literal and seals the decision in stone and they resume digging into the stacks on all they can about their music genre.

During the progress report on the Bard Debut Plan, Momonga, Albedo and Demiurge await the news in the Round Table Room. Upon seeing CZ and Narberal in rock regalia, Momonga is left emotionally stunned. As he recovers, Albedo questions if this has to do with the plan for the bards of the Sorcerer Kingdom. Lupusregina confirms that it is, and that hey reproduced the bards called a "rock band" from the literature. Right now the werewolf id working on drafting the the poem, but first would wanted to show them the costumes they have planned. CZ reports that electric guitar she has is not really an instrument and can only make a few sounds, but has conviction she can play something. Narberal also states that she has been practicing in using the stand mic to fight. Though this still does not answer the question of why the women are dressed in leather, which Demiurge queries again.

Lupusregina elaborates that the attire are suited for the "rock" genre. According to her research, "rock" is a music genre that makes the public go wild, and with these unique appearances it will let the bards from the Sorcerer Kingdom stand out. CZ adds that electric guitars are played to appeal to the masses, attracting those who mainly rebel against the physical norms, political and social issues and hence why their attire is so flashy. The leaders of the group includes that the genre is all about anti-authority and individuality, and as a bard from the Sorcerer Kingdom, recommends "rock and roll" to be used with Momonga's blessing.

Momonga while admitting that their cover is good, is still concerned if the plan is still viable. In opposite of his feelings, Albedo commends the maids on their thorough research as it exceeded her expectations. The demonic style of leather and spikes appeals to Demiurge's aesthetics as it would be helpful to differentiate their country's bards from others. But most of all the anti-establishment theme is something that they can use with potential. The comments of his two aides, give Momonga pause on considering to shutter the plan and thus allows it to proceed. But asks the maids on their focus of the anti-establishment theme, particularly on how it could benefit the Sorcerer Kingdom's image.

At the beginning of this time, the Pleiades were interested in bards, who sing poems that praise heroic tales and the achievements of nobles, spreading them widely. Their speech is said to be elegant and pleasant to the ears, but it is said that the listeners also need to be educated in order to understand the meaning of the poem. Lupusregina personally fees that they won’t be able to fulfill their role in public relations.

Cz then adds that therefore they came up with the idea of rock, music as it would be effective to call out to the "soul", which doesn't require much education, where the amount of passion in a voice is more important than the meaning of the words sung.

Narberal states that is what anti-establishment preaches. At first, of course, she believed that meant the lyrics were to criticize and rebel against the Sorcerer Kingdom’s system which she saw as extremely disrespectful and outrageous, but—when she asked the other sisters for their opinions, Solution pointed out that if, on the contrary, "a bard from the Sorcerer Kingdom sings about his homeland with rhetoric," it could make the Theocracy’s attitude towards their nation even harder.

Demiurge admits that's a valid point. Starting with the reign of His Majesty the Sorcerer King, the merits of the Sorcerer Kingdom are too numerous to enumerate, but for the rulers of other countries that are far from the castle, it could sound like a harsh criticism of their own country.

Albedo sees that the maids wish to adopt the criticism of the system as it is and make effective use of it. When hearing this Momonga is still not sure what to make of this ploy, until Demiurge explains as a matter of fact that anti-establishment lyrics can become a genre and also lead to the interpretation that the Sorcerer Kingdom is a nation with mercy and magnanimity. In other words, it appeals that it is a comfortable country to live in, where free criticism of the country is allowed.

According to Demiurge, depending on the specifics of the criticism that the lyrics presents, the Theocrcay and others will think of the Sorcerer Kingdom in this way.

This is all lost to Momonga, but Albedo sees the deviousness of the plan as it will give the impression that if the Sorcerer Kingdom allows such free criticism it will be regarded as an unrealistic threat.

Since the concept of "free criticism" of a regime is nothing more than a vice that only invites interference and internal conflict by other countries. Although to Albedo that is only true to the countries of inferior creatures like humans.

This has the advantage of being able to bring down a foolish leader, but for a Sorcerer Kingdom led by a noble ruler with overwhelming wisdom and power, that advantage is not enough. Momonga is in despair at hearing this, as his subordinates’ expectations are too high. For him, the current situation where there is no criticism of what he has decided is more troublesome. but finds it's true that it would be a problem if other countries interfered strangely and fueled internal conflict.

Demiurge states that the deception that the Sorcerer Nation is a nation with such a stupid side invites the other nations to let its guard down, and it can also be a good opportunity to catch their tail by carrying out more careless intelligence work than ever before. Putting aside Rambossa III, who tended to confuse mercy and sweetness, the leaders of the nations carelessly allow "free criticism". Because they can understand that the climate is an opening to take advantage of the Sorcerer Kingdom.

Momonga maintains it's a splendid plan, but asks the women if they initially really set themselves on “rock”? Lupusregina confesses that it was unpredictable. While Narberal is convinced that if she were to play a foolish fool, this brand of music will relax the ruler's mind and reinforce the policy of disguising the truth of the Sorcerer Kingdom. Cz also adds that she has thought about how to devise ways to prevent criticism of the system from leading to bad publicity for the Sorcerer Kingdom.

Momonga then asks what direction are you thinking of for this project. Lupusregina claims that while rock music has a touch of criticism, it's a pure "cry of the soul" born out of love for the country. Feelings that come from singing about the country and His Majesty the Sorcerer King…and her aim is to create simple lyrics that can reach many uneducated people.

While Momonga has no idea what she is talking about, he allows Albedo and Demiurge to offer opinions. From their point of view, success of the project will depend but see no reason why it’s a bad idea. In addition to the aims just mentioned, they can expect multiple effects. Currently, E-Rantel is taking advantage of the reconstruction to greatly change the environment, such as being provided undead from the Sorcerer Kingdom.

While the Sorcerer Kingdom has led to improvement for the lives of the residents, there are also people who have a mental resistance or disgust towards them. To Albedo such reluctance is viewed as stupid and incongruous. On the other hand, Demiurge believes that the anti-establishment rock can vent these feelings if they dump various negative feelings about the Sorcerer Kingdom into harmless entertainment called music.

If it goes well, it can be used to control the buds of internal conflicts and rebellions, and to expose the unrest elements. The 7th Floor Guardian is convinced that it is a really excellent proposal that can be expected to achieve multiple goals with just one move.

Aftermath
TBA