Memoirs of the Returnee - Chapter 93



Only Krnovel

＃Returner’s Notepad Episode 93

Theater (3)

[Act 1]

Elise said from the stage.

─Did you wait?

It was a soft tone. It was a vocalization that flowed smoothly into my ears.

─I am a bard. Sometimes I cross the line at the dock… … .

Although he only said a few words, the audience was already focused. There was also a celebrity who was jealous with a blunt expression on his face. Jade wordlessly placed her fingers on her temples.

─Would you like to hear my story? However, you have to listen to Bard’s story with one ear and with one ear. You shouldn’t reflect on it in too much detail.

She recited puns to them like song lyrics, as if she was talking to the audience. She approached the front seat directly and asked a question, and also made eye contact with Jade.

Jade laughed at that bold appearance.

─Stop!

However, a man appeared, interrupting her words. Bard looked back in surprise.

─Are you that famous bard?

─… … Let’s say Yu, Myeong. I’m the only bard around here with a name.

─I am Baron Jolan. There was word that His Majesty would like to see your performance. This is a very honorable thing for you, so get ready to leave… … .

Afterwards, the scene of the stage changed to the royal palace, and the king with white hair welcomed the bard.

─Bard. Welcome to the palace. I summoned you because I heard that your tune has spread far beyond the kingdom. Is it possible for you to have an enjoyable performance here as well?

The characters lined up next to the king. Head Maid, Minister of the Interior, Baron Jolan, Prince, Queen.

Bard looked at each and every one of them in detail and muttered softly.

─God has seven bundles. If you allow me to tell only one story a day, I will finish all the lyrics here and then go back.

─Good. Make sure to stay.

Jade quietly watched the play.

He didn’t think much of it.

Of course, the quality is somewhat high for a magical high school play, but the story itself is flat and will continue to be flat in the future. This is true from the Latinel play [The Bard], which is the original version of this play in the first place.

Jade looked at her watch again.

It was 4 minutes.

They told the media they would only stay for 30 minutes, but it would have been okay to leave earlier.

─Then, let’s start the first lyric… … .

The bard sang a song. It was a musical rhyme. Jade’s ears almost opened slightly, but as if it was just a taste, the curtain soon came down and the stage changed.

It was a dark hallway.

This character was the head maid. There was a note in her hand.

─Who on earth did this…? … .

The head maid walked down the hallway with an anxious face.

─… … Who on earth would reveal what happened that day? We have to tell the queen quickly.

Although Raye’s tone of voice could be faintly heard in the last note, the drama continued in earnest.

───Tap!

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps hitting the theater from the back of the audience through the surround sound.

The audience is startled, and the head maid also turns her back to look at it.

Her eyes widened in shock.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

A vivid scream shook the stage. It was a loud noise that made the back of your neck stand on end, but what was more direct was what happened next.

Sigh-! Someone suddenly appeared and stabbed the head maid in the heart. A dagger stuck out from behind her chest.

─Kkeokkeokkeokkeokkeok… … .

The gunman pulled out a dagger. The maid, Jang, stumbled and fell as her blood foamed. He twisted the dagger around her back and struck her maid Chang hard in the neck.

Kwazzzzzz, that is—! The sound of a throat being cut.

Slurp, rippling… … . The sound of blood flowing.

The explicit murder scene and the bleeding that covers the stage are enough to completely change the atmosphere of the play. It’s full and overflowing.

“… … .”

Silence fell in the theater. The audience, including Jade, were dazed for a moment.

After a short period of time, the entire stage was immersed in darkness.

Is this really a murder case? It was around this time that the audience started to worry about the too-realistic sequences.

Rumbling!

The lights came on again with the sound of thunder.

This time outside the dark window with heavy rain falling.

It was a royal palace hallway. The head maid’s head was cut off, and there was something written in blood in the hallway.

─… … Tsk.

All the characters, including the Prince, Baron Jolan, and the Bard, gathered next to the Minister of the Interior who was investigating the murder.

─What the hell is this…? … What did this killer write?

Baron Jolan asked.

─Um… … well.

The Minister of the Interior chuckled, and Bard took a step forward and answered.

─Cardious. It means ‘revenge’ in Latinel.

─Revenge? Bard, how do you know that?

─I learned Latinel before.

─Hmm. For a clown, I learned a lot. If it is revenge, is it the work of an outsider?

Jolang rolled his eyes. The Home Minister nodded.

─… … That seems highly likely.

─No.

Bard came out again. Her other characters glanced at her with her dissatisfied face.

─There’s a storm raging outside right now. If there had been an external intrusion, some traces of moisture would have remained.

─Then what, the culprit is inside the palace?! Among us?! No. Bard, since a murder occurred after you arrived, you are the most likely candidate.

The little boy pointed his finger noisily. The prince’s expression wasn’t very good either.

-I’m just a bard. What reason do I have for revenge?

─… … That’s true, though.

Jolang licked his lips.

The Home Secretary said:

─… … It was late at night. I’ll call soldiers to guard the scene, so please wait until dawn. Your Majesty is in a dream.

The idea was to reason again when the sun rises.

Everyone nodded.

One by one, they leave the stage, and the only minister left looks intently at the murdered head maid.

─Revenge… … .

There was a moment when I was mumbling quietly and staring at the Latinel word engraved in blood on the floor.

Tap – something fell.

The Home Minister looked around.

Rain streamed through the suspiciously open window, and wet notes, as if they had fallen through the gap, were scattered on the floor.

─What… … .

Although the Home Minister was suspicious, he slowly approached and picked up the note. He unfolded it carefully.

─Isabel… … Isabelle?!

Someone’s name was written on the note. The moment the Home Minister looked out the window with his cheeks shaking.

Chaaeaeaeaeang──!

Crossbows rushed in, shattering the glass window.

─… … Wow!

A thick arrow pierced his chest. He was holding it and barely breathing, and between his eyes, he was crying! One more foot stuck.

─Big, big, big… … .

He fell straight down on the road. Blood flowed from his chest and head. Wind and rain poured in from the shattered window, and realistically sprayed onto the audience watching the play.

* * *

… … The head maid and the Minister of the Interior. The two died within 10 minutes.

After another 20 minutes, another person died.

The third victim was Baron Jolan, who Jade thought was an important character, or rather, a ‘culprit’.

─Joe, Baron Jolan!

Under a violent storm.

He lies dead on the lawn of the royal palace, covered in miserable blood.

The audience watched with open eyes. His mouth was open like a goldfish, and he was as still as if he were dead.

It was like this 20 minutes ago. Everyone was immersed in the play itself.

“If not Jolan, then who…” … .”

Even Jade was muttering to herself.

It was even more surprising for someone who had previously encountered “The Bard.” Because it was 180 degrees different from the play I remembered.

“… … I. Lord Jade.”

However, while Jade was trying to deduce the culprit and predict the story in her own way.

The driver came up next to me and whispered.

“30 minutes… … .”

The promised 30 minutes had passed. So much time has already passed.

Jade glanced at him with an annoyed look.

“Know.”

“… … yes. What should I do.”

Of course, Jade said she would only stay for 30 minutes. In fact, he had to.

If you stay for a long time, there will be articles with a tone like ‘Jade with nothing to do’.

This is not Jade’s delusion of grandeur. Jahanna, or Jedric. Those two people, who know their personalities very well, would try to get on my nerves by creating such trivial public opinion.

So I can’t sit here and watch the whole play.

“Not yet. “It would be rude to leave now.”

However, they are sitting down because it is not polite.

If you stand up right now, you will be disturbing not only the play itself but also other audience members who are concentrating on the play.

That is also against the dignity of nobility.

“Once Act 1 is over.”

Fortunately, plays have a break called an intermission. A gap between the actors and the audience to catch their breath after the first act ends and before the second act begins.

“Leave then.”

“yes. “We will prepare it for you to leave right away.”

The driver quietly left the theater.

* * *

─Joe, Baron Jolan!

Behind the curtain. While other actors are acting on stage, Elise is taking a moment to catch her breath while waiting for her turn.

“Elise, you have done very well so far.”

Just then, a staff member came over and removed the dust from her face and the lint from her clothes.

“Duke, come out soon.”

Duke.

A key character who appears in the last 5 minutes of Act 1.

The most critical moment has arrived on a stage that has been perfect so far.

“Don’t panic. Just keep thinking it’s Miller. If Elise leads you well, Zion will be able to do it to some extent. “The visuals were made to be realistic.”

Elise nodded at the staff member’s words. She relaxed her body, which had been tense for a moment, as much as possible.

“It will go up soon. preparation.”

─Even the Baron died. I can’t stand it anymore. Bring out everyone except His Majesty and the Queen. Right Now. This is my name as a prince!

At that moment, the prince spoke.

“now. Bard goes up!”

With a signal from the staff, Elise went up to the stage again.

As soon as I took one step, it was a rainy lawn, and 2,300 audience seats were spread out across from me.

“Hey, Bard is coming.”

Under the rain, the prince looks at himself with narrowed eyes. Elise becomes a bard again and approaches him.

“Are you calling me, Your Majesty?”

“okay. she called. Can you see it?”

The prince pointed to Baron Jolan’s corpse. Bard trembled and placed his hands on his chest. The prince’s lips quirked up.

“… … The Baron also died. Now, tell me your favorite mystery story.”

The prince sarcastically quipped.

“Prince!”

Suddenly, his servant hurriedly approached and whispered. Those whispers were fully audible to the audience.

“The Duke has arrived now.”

“… … “Duke?”

At the same time as those lines were spoken, an eerie background sound echoed loudly throughout the theater.

Boom!

An unusual darkness falls at the end of the stage, and all the audience’s attention is focused on it.

A nobleman who slowly appears for the first time from beyond the darkness.

“okay. The Duke was here too… … .”

The prince’s mouth froze for a moment as he looked at him. Elise also looked back and her eyes widened.

It was Zion Askal. But it was different from before.

Her messy blonde hair was now neatly pulled back, and thanks to trimming her eyebrows, her look had calmed down. His gold eyes were much more shaped than before, as if he had lenses, and the dark aristocratic uniform that fit his body perfectly gave off a strange atmosphere.

It didn’t look like Sion Askal.

Rather, it was very similar to the Duke’s ‘dangerous image’ that Elise inadvertently came to mind every time she read the script.

“The Duke, the duke, the duke. You were here too. No, where have you been all this time? “So far?”

The prince also stumbled a lot of his lines, probably because he was surprised, but it was acceptable as he ad-libbed.

The Duke was a character that even the prince feared.

“… … .”

Without saying a word, he glanced at all the bards, princes, and other extras on stage, and then walked out to the center of the stage.

The corners of his mouth twisted as he looked at Baron Jolan, who had been horribly murdered.

It was a laugh.