Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: It Worked Perfectly
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It hit the mark perfectly.
Before I could even respond, Elias's forceful insistence had me testing lines with Narke, and once it proved I'd memorized the entire script, the other students took over, barreling ahead without a care.
In that short time, we only rehearsed the first three minutes or so—three times through.
Surprisingly, everyone was so fixated on the fact that someone who knew the lines had shown up that no one even asked for my input.
I didn't need to push to be shoved onstage. I was literally pushed.
'...Of course, it's to my benefit this way.'
"Only twenty minutes left by then. Honestly, before you arrived, the professor was about to announce we weren't performing and send out the notice."
Narke, sensing my bewilderment, suddenly offered some comfort.
Only a few students remained in the waiting room now. Those not performing had headed down to claim seats in the audience.
"I see."
"Still, you made the right choice. It won't be as big a deal as you're worrying."
When I silently stared at him, Narke scratched his head and continued.
"Hm... there's a bigger problem."
"What?"
"I don't know for sure. Just a feeling."
He'd used his foresight ability.
On a day like today, packed with incidents, those words felt ominous.
At that moment, laughter erupted from the Class 1-A students on the opposite side of the waiting room.
"We've got 155 in the audience, guys!"
"Isn't that irrelevant? They don't even have a protagonist over there."
"Hey, has your protagonist shown up yet?"
The Class 1-A students were taunting us right outside the Class 1-B waiting room.
Many had known each other since the Third Education Academy, so they had no qualms about messing around.
'I noticed it when they were comparing how many from the special class had gone.'
Childish. It just made me chuckle.
Leo ignored their provocations and slammed the door to the hallway.
Then, a staff member knocked on the door connecting to the stage.
"Class 1-B, you're up now!"
The time was 9:55 PM.
Narke stood from his seat and nodded toward me.
"Let's go. See you later."
* * *
Finally, 10:00 PM—the scheduled start time arrived.
I stood backstage, giving the script one last check.
The stage lights flickered on briefly, and murmurs rose from the audience.
"They're just gonna do one scene?"
"Guess Mephistopheles is flying solo."
Laughter followed.
How loudly do you have to talk for it to carry all the way here?
Anyway, everyone was probably thinking the same. They'd said nearly a hundred people had already gathered. Without a protagonist, folks were curious how we'd even start.
'If we can't pull it off, all hundred will just walk out...'
But we would start—and now all that remained was to captivate that hundred drawn by curiosity.
Why was I thinking this? Because the two supporting actors beside me kept whispering about the audience count.
The moment our eyes met, they clamped their mouths shut.
'I wasn't even glaring to shut them up.'
I glanced at my watch and listened to the voices drifting from the stage.
It was 10:03 PM. The final line before Faust's entrance was underway.
God was making a wager with Mephistopheles over Faust, delivering his last words to the devil.
[I have never hated your kind, so I shall send you down for the sake of my humans. Go, and lead them in your demonic ways!]
Thud—
With the sound, the stage lights went out, and the curtain fell.
The students' chatter swelled. Everyone knew it was time for the protagonist.
I stepped onto the pitch-black stage. The heels of the crude prop shoes echoed loudly.
The Class 1-B students moving the sets hesitated, then gave me a serious nod.
'...Dramatic...'
Fine, time to meet expectations.
I sat at the prepared desk and stared into the inky void.
Soon, the start signal appeared in the distance.
I slowly opened my mouth.
"...I have studied philosophy, law, and even theology, pouring my life's efforts into them without end. Yet nothing remains for me."
"...Huh?!"
"What?! Faust is here?"
Before they could even see me clearly, the audience erupted.
Swish—
The curtain rose, sending a chill wind rushing across the floor from the seats.
Overhead lights blazed on, the heat now stinging sharply.
Still gazing stage-left as scripted, I delivered Faust's lines.
"To me, joy is forever lost, the certainty of knowing what is right gone, and the confidence to teach and awaken others in humanity now vanished. I..."
"Wh-what?!"
"Hey, hold on! What's going on!"
Chairs scraping echoed sporadically throughout.
I didn't need to look to know the chaos. The audience noise already drowned my voice—so much that even I could barely hear myself.
* * *
The play ended successfully.
As Elias predicted, attendance topped 500, final count at 550. The small theater couldn't hold more.
'And...'
Ding—!
'Route 1 — [Chapter 5]' begins.
「 Chapter 5. Good Things Take Time (1) 」
Chapter 5 Special Reward
A proper support base! New Impression entry granted.
'What the hell is this.'
A new Impression entry.
Curtain call loomed, so backstage, I opened my status window.
Lucas René Ascanien
Title: Sir Nicolaus
Stamina: +1.3 [+4.3]
Mental Strength: -1.1 (+0.5)
Mana: ?
Skills: +2.7 [+5.7]
Impression: -9.9 [-7.0] [+6.61503261]
Luck: +1.15 (+0.2)
Traits: Dawn777, Divine Power, Charm (Lv.2), Retry (Lv.1)
A new slot in Impression.
-7.0, and from "proper support base"...
'The school, obviously.'
No idea they'd give a special reward here.
Targeting our school students as a support base? Yeah, time to tweak Lucas's image a bit.
I checked the final changeability one last time.
Dawn777
— To Final Ending 'Chapter X. Death': 693 days, 13 hours, 59 minutes, 21 seconds
— Changeability: 18.6% (+0.1%p)
Up again.
My gut said a slight dip followed by a bigger gain. Anyway, gains require risks. The net rose, and no way to know if real ups and downs overlapped—just focus on each moment.
"Lucas, let's go."
Narke wiped sweat, grinning wide as he pointed stageward. He looked thrilled the play he'd hoped for went off without a hitch.
'...Playing the devil and loving it—wild.'
Word gets out, it'll be chaos.
But for him, it was his solo decision, so he'd enjoy it.
As recast students gathered onstage, lights rose.
"Woooah—!"
Applause thundered.
At first, the unexpected lead froze the audience dead silent. But as time passed, they separated the role from me, immersing just enough to enjoy. In those moments, no one felt repulsed by Lucas.
Snapping back to reality mid-play left me oddly unsettled, fumbling lines a bit.
'Immersion got a boost from traits, at least.'
Charm's persuasiveness.
No real rehearsal—I figured it'd be robotic line-reading. No one laughed at my mechanical delivery, though. Had to be the 30% persuasion bonus.
[So, did you enjoy the play prepared by Class 1-B of the Magic Department?]
The emcee's voice rang out.
Decent cheers poured from the seats.
[And finally, we...]
"Argh!"
"Eek!"
Screams rang from the back of the theater.
Students beside me exchanged panicked looks.
The entrance doors yawned open, light flooding in.
"What? Why the screams?"
"......"
Leo, watching from below stage, gestured to the control room and headed for the doors.
But before he arrived, students near the entrance leaped up.
"Isn't that the Class 1-B guy?"
"Oswald?"
The missing protagonist's name.
Click—
Lights blazed across the entire theater.
Far off, a figure with half-lidded eyes scanned around, spotting us and exhaling in relief.
'But...'
Face to uniform shirt—completely blood-soaked.
A student behind me blurted urgently.
"Wait, what's with him? Why's his face like that?"
"What? Is he hurt?"
Lacking strength to walk, he clutched a chair, staggered, then collapsed.
Bang—
"Urk!"
Nearby half-risen students recoiled.
'...This...'
No mere slacker. Anyone could see he'd been attacked somewhere.
Crackle—
[Announcement: From 10:45 PM today, all on-campus warp magic and devices are prohibited. No external movement permitted for any reason. External visitors to the academy cannot move until investigation concludes—report immediately to Administration Office 1F upon hearing this.]
"Hey, you see the paper?! Read it now if not!"
Some students rushed in, dragging friends out.
Chaos mounted. Everyone knew something major had blown up.
That ominous feeling from Oswald's disappearance resurfaced. I stepped offstage, sifting memories.
'...Back then, the missing first-year was...'
Amalia Kastel.
I looked up at Leo. Amplification magic flared again.
[Announcement: Seeking Amalia Kastel, first-year Magic Department Class 1-B, and Oswald Schmidt, second-year Magic Department Class 1-B. Report sightings immediately to Administration or campus hospital.]
Leo's face paled instantly.
His shaken eyes wandered the air, meeting mine—raw shock in them.
And probably the same for me.
Kastel was a Bavarian noble house.
Oswald was Bavarian too.
"Lucas!"
Ignoring the call, I approached the exit, picking up scattered newspapers from the floor.
Bold black letters dominated the Imperial Post's center.
[7 Bavarian Wizards in Capital Gravely Injured... 4 Minors Among Victims]
The number ticked up as I read—now 8 victims.
Wizards gravely wounded in the capital's heart. All Bavarians.
I read on slowly.
'Perpetrator unknown.'
Investigation Bureau: All victims amnesiac, no eyewitnesses to the scene.
But... obvious.
Bavarian wizards all struck at once in the capital's center?
'...Retaliation and warning.'
Anyone could see: Pleroma's doing.