Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: The Laughter Epidemic
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"Rosalyn senior? You okay?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just spacing out for a second."
Rosalyn Wenford was strolling through the Brond Academy grounds with Balthazar.
She snapped to attention at her junior's call and lifted her head.
"What had you so lost in thought? Is something bothering you?"
"No, nothing like that. Just have a few things on my mind."
She responded with a bright, beaming smile and clasped her hands behind her back.
Balthazar stuck close by her side, a dutiful guard against any sly guys who might come sniffing around his senior.
He was a truly grateful and affectionate junior, but even he had worries he couldn't share.
'Could what Diana said really be true?'
That the playwright Phantom might be one of the Brond students?
The speculation her close friend had shared at Blanc Le Roais wouldn't leave her head.
The princess had presented two pieces of evidence.
First was the distinctive vocabulary shining through in Phantom's scripts.
From what Diana had observed, the playwright's word choice followed a clear pattern.
It was none other than the refined vocabulary that Brond students learned to cultivate their dignity as upper-class ladies and gentlemen.
Expressions rarely used in everyday life or society, but mandatory within Brond, appeared in fragments throughout.
And the second reason was that Phantom was deliberately hiding their identity.
If Phantom weren't from the upper crust, there'd be no need to conceal who they were.
If their goal was just wealth and fame as an artist, revealing themselves and basking in the spotlight would be far more beneficial.
Yet they went to great lengths to avoid exposure, which strongly suggested they didn't want to be caught mingling with lowborn actors.
Putting those two possibilities together led to only one conclusion.
'It has to be right. Diana's always so sharp.'
So, exactly who could it be?
Over the past few days, she'd scrutinized students with artistic talent, suspecting each one in turn.
But not a single one gave her that ironclad "This is it!" feeling.
And with no clear answer in sight...
"Balthazar?"
"What's up, senior?"
"What if the playwright Phantom is someone who's lost a loved one?"
"...Out of nowhere?"
Rosalyn let her imagination run wild on its own.
"It just feels that way. There's this raw anguish in Admiral Li's grief over losing his mother during the war, and Caesar's sorrow after losing his daughter on the Gallic campaign. You can't convey that kind of heartfelt desperation without having experienced loss yourself."
The admiral's elderly mother, who passed from illness on her way to join her white-clad son on campaign.
Caesar's daughter Julia Caesaris, who died in childbirth.
Both roles displayed a sensitivity impossible to fake from nothing.
Even if others couldn't relate, Rosalyn could—she'd nearly lost her father, Sir William Wenford, to tragedy herself.
And so, Rosalyn's final conclusion was this:
"Maybe Phantom's mother has already passed. That longing let them depict losing a mother or daughter so vividly. What do you think, Balthazar?"
"..."
"Balthazar? What's wrong? You look pale."
"N-No, it's just... 'passed away' for your mother has a weird ring to it..."
"Huh? What's wrong with that?"
Unaware she'd just killed off Balthazar's perfectly healthy mother in her speculation, Rosalyn wore an innocent expression.
She had no idea what was behind her junior's awkward grimace.
"E-Extra! Extra!"
A Brond student came sprinting from afar, panting heavily.
He bellowed at the top of his lungs, loud enough for every student nearby to hear.
"News on playwright Phantom's new work! Premieres next Monday! This time, not at the private Killigrew Theater—it's the public Gelorusina Theater!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The isekai-localized take on Charlie Chaplin, Chaplin Comedies, sent explosive ripples through society.
Just not the grand or revolutionary kind.
No boosting soldiers' courage like with Admiral Li.
No reshaping politicians' mindsets like with Julius Caesar.
Instead, Chaplin-style comedy brought something far more fundamental and reliable.
Laughter.
"Pffft, heh...!"
"Pbbt, gulp!"
"This is a lecture. Keep it down."
The professor's reprimand as he sketched elemental magic formulas on the blackboard.
The students who'd made noise clenched their teeth, desperately holding back.
But their efforts were in vain.
"Snrk!"
"Gulp! Heh heh heh...!"
This time, laughter erupted from another corner of the lecture hall.
And the moment everyone instinctively realized what had set them off...
"Bwahaha!"
"Puhaha! Ahahaha!"
"Heeek, huff, hoooh...!"
The sacred hall of learning instantly devolved into a chain reaction of uproarious guffaws.
No divide between seniors and juniors, boys and girls.
Even the professor glowering in annoyance ended up recalling Chaplin and failing to stifle his own chuckles.
And this change wasn't confined to the academy.
Across the empire, people everywhere started bursting into laughter.
Even bitter enemies who'd been at each other's throats until recently now cracked up at the sight of one another.
"Hahaha, sorry about back then. I was too narrow-minded."
"Heh heh, no, I was the one acting selfish. Sorry on my end too."
"Mrs. Max, take these potatoes. My apology for running my mouth."
"Thanks. Here, Mrs. Hans, some turnips for you. I was sulking for no reason and must've stressed you out."
Before laughter, borders meant nothing.
Age, gender, personality, status—all transcended by its power.
And at the center stood one mustachioed gentleman in a black bowler hat and cane.
[Come on! Don't talk about dying! We'll make it through!]
The protagonist 'Chaplin,' common to the Chaplin Comedies series.
What he delivered wasn't mere slapstick.
With delicate, warm portrayals, he soothed the people's daily hardships and sorrows.
Thanks to that, after grueling days, folks flocking to the Gelorusina Troupe with ticket money became their natural pastime.
They cheered a common man's challenges in The Champion.
They whooped at the protagonist's riotous triumph in The Gold Rush Era.
They dreamed of uncertain but hopeful futures together in Magic Workshop Times.
But the one exploding in popularity across all ages, classes, and genders was The Great Mayor.
[Those who spread hate enslave us while freeing themselves! Let's honor their promises and reconcile! Let's sing together to root out greed, hatred, and exclusion! Advance toward a world ruled by common sense, where magic and technology bring happiness to all!]
"Hahaha, what a speech!"
"Hey, kid protagonist! Don't go choking on your lines like last time without breathing, hahaha!"
Charlie Chaplin's immortal masterpiece, The Great Dictator, reworked into The Great Mayor.
Even with its liberal leanings, the explosive popularity came down to Phantom's cunning adaptations.
[So, in the name of our merciful Emperor, let us wield that power! Achieve harmony!]
The dictator 'Hinkel' was now Mayor Hinkel of the fictional city 'Tomenia.
The oppressed masses became bumbling cityfolk suffering under an incompetent mayor.
The fiery calls for struggle and liberation turned into pleas for reconciliation, love, and forgiveness.
The original's democratic rallying cry was tweaked: electing a bumbling braggart through voting led to their misery.
Hinkel's real-life inspiration? The dictator democratically elected by Germans, Adolf Hitler.
Knowing this, Phantom slyly twisted history to shift the theme.
The result? A refined satire that stayed appropriately toned for the empire.
Enjoyable by commoners and nobles alike, without excessive discomfort.
"Haha, that was fun again today. See you tomorrow, friend."
"Yeah. You got this one, so drinks on me tomorrow."
"Hey, next time, family picnic? Would be nice to let the kids play too."
Surprisingly, after one comedy, people forgot all their daily fatigue.
Resentments and grudges melted away like mist.
The harmony proclaimed by the barber Chaplin in The Great Mayor.
That was the gift playwright Phantom bestowed on the empire's people.
...Of course, that power had its side effects aplenty.
"S-So, uh, pfft! This year's defense budget as set by parliament is... heh!"
"Barbarian movements at the border...! Our army's weapon systems to counter theheha!"
"Y-You there! Can't you speak properly? Think council meetings are a joke?"
"S-Sorry, Your Excellency! Not on purpose, it's just Phantom's new play... whehehen the starving Big Jim mistakes Chaplin for a chicken and chases him, hahaha-!!"
"D-Damn it! I was barely holding it together, and you had to mention thahah-!!"
Not just in routine administrative duties.
Even in high-stakes council debates, laughter started exploding.
It got so bad that some days, meetings ended with everyone just cracking up.
There's an old saying: "Laughter is contagious."
Phantom had unleashed a laughter plague on the empire.