KENSHI
Entering the Diorman Theatre and Cinema stirred something inside me that automatically straightened my back and made my entire demeanor similar to these people with us. It was as if the memories of the past lessons I once had to become a noble suddenly took over my body like muscle memory.
My walk became more of a gentleman than of a swordsman. I greeted everyone with such elegance and politeness that all the ladies seemed flustered after receiving a simple nod from me.
"You've got quite a charm, lad," Uncle Avidius whispered, and I felt a little bit embarrassed when he mentioned it. "I guess this is where we split up. It's still too bad I couldn't join you up there. If I only knew you would come, I could've bought the same seat as you have."
"But didn't you say the tickets were sold out a few hours after the start of the selling period? And we weren't even sure by then if we were really gonna watch this film. If you had waited, I don't think you would've been able to watch the film at all," I pointed out, and Uncle Avidius chuckled along with a few nods of agreement.
"That is indeed true. We should go to our seats now. Any moment, the film is about to start. And oh, tonight's theme of the film is tragedy—I hope you have some hankies with you."
Right after Uncle Avidius said those words, an announcement coming from the speakers ricocheted throughout the entire building, notifying us of the film's near beginning.
The three of us immediately went to our designated seats, which were in one of the protruding verandas on the walls. Ours was on the left, flanked by the other two.
When we reached it, it felt as if we belonged to the highest hierarchy, overlooking the crowd below. This was indeed a nice spot to watch the film, as there were no obstacles that could hinder your vision as the film progressed.
"It's Tanshiro," Kana suddenly said while glancing toward the other verandas in front of us.
And Kana was right—it was undeniably Tanshiro, and he was looking in our direction. When he saw us, his entire aura lightened, which escaped from him as a cheerful wave.
"Did he forget that we are still mad at him?" Shino commented.
The lights abruptly went off, implying the start of the event. The murmured and whispered gossips from the crowd dissipated until the entire hall was filled with silence.
Then, a brilliance coming from the projected light partially illuminated the stage. It started out as a white blank, which later on showed words and images. The last thing it projected was the director's name, "Akihiko Tamada," before the projection turned black.
My brows met in suspicion when I noticed something. It was brief, like a blink of an eye, but I still managed to catch it. It was a magic circle, and I could sense danger from it. The sensation was so strong that even in that brief moment of its apparition, I could feel it.
I wanted to share it with the two so they could prepare themselves in case something bad happened—but how sure was I that what I saw was indeed danger?
What if it was just my paranoid self playing tricks on me because I couldn't stop my mind from thinking of a possible bad future?
I wasn't able to decide whether to tell them or not because the moment the first scene was projected, my mind suddenly got drawn to it. And before I even knew it, I was already enjoying the film.
It started with a scene of a boy who was happily playing with his parents. One could tell it was a happy family. No sorrows. No sadness. Just pure happiness.
Then, the boy and his father went out adventuring. It was the boy's first time being out in the wilderness in search of a monster to hunt. He was both happy and scared—happy because he got to experience this with his father, but also scared of the possible danger ahead of them.
Eventually, the boy finally got his first successful hunt. He was so happy about it—and so was his father. When they realized they still had a few hours left before sundown, the two continued hunting.
Until they stumbled upon an undiscovered dungeon. Curious, the two entered it, not knowing it was actually a trap. Inside, they encountered and fought countless monsters. The deeper they got, the stronger the monsters became.
But with the father's prowess and skill, which hailed him as one of the strongest swordsmen in their kingdom, they managed to reach the bottom.
In it was a spectre who offered a bargain instead of fighting. Normally, making an agreement with an enigmatic and ominous spirit always ended badly for the other party, so the father refused.
The father clashed with the spectre while his son watched him get overpowered by his enemy. The boy wanted to help, or else his father would die.
With his deep desire to get out of there alive with his father, the boy unconsciously accepted the spectre's bargain. And in just a blink of an eye, the two got teleported out of the dungeon—and the dungeon vanished as if it never existed.
Happy they had escaped death, the two went home to a worrying mother and spouse. They thought it was over—until the boy awakened. During his awakening rite, the awakening crystal detected something dark inside the boy, which was identified as a curse.
Upon knowing this, the father feared that his son might cause trouble to his soon-to-be-born sister and exiled him from the family. The boy failed to understand why his father did that to him, but he thought he would never get to understand.
The boy grew up into a fine swordsman only to find out his father passed away due to an illness. It was a disease unknown to mankind—no healing methods nor treatments were working.
A year later, the mother passed away too, for a similar reason. His sister failed to escape it as well and eventually died.
The boy, now a man, was devastated when he heard the news. He blamed himself for the death of his family. And this caused him to kill himself before the curse could get to him first.
And the projection went black along with faint noises of cries and runny noses.
"That was so sad," Shino said while trying her best not to totally cry.
"It is, and also kind of familiar," Kana mumbled.
It was indeed familiar. It was so familiar that I thought I was watching my previous life.
"Mister Kenshi? Are you alright?" Kana suddenly asked, and I looked at her, clueless. I was about to ask her why she questioned me like that when I felt a cold sensation on my cheek. This could only mean one thing... "You're crying."
Suddenly, all the lights lit up, illuminating once again the darkened hall. Then, an eruption of applause and praises filled the entire building as the figure of a man walked up to the stage.
He bowed several times to show his heartfelt gratitude along with a fulfilling smile.
"That must be Akihiko Tamada, the director of the film," Shino guessed.
"And Tanshiro's father," Kana added.
Shino added some more, "And the person we've been looking for."
"Thank you all for your praises and applause! It really warms my heart knowing that you loved the show. Again, you never fail to amaze me with the support you've been giving me since I joined this industry," Akihiko thanked. "Apologies if the film made you cry. I saw and heard a lot of sobbing during the film, and it really joyed me. It was a validation of the film's success."
"Congratulations, Mister Tamada!" a man's voice screamed, earning a few laughs from the audience as well as from Akihiko himself.
"Congratulations as well to all of you. If it wasn't for your undying support, I wouldn't be able to show this masterpiece to you," Akihiko paused for a moment. "But before we all go home, I just want to share something with all of you that I'm also working on.
"You only know me as a filmmaker, right? But there is also another side of me that most of you don't know. I'm also a servant of wisdom and a disciple of knowledge. As a researcher, I crave knowledge more than anything because I believe knowledge is power.
"What kind of study am I working on, you may ask? Well, it focuses on the human mind—particularly the concept of emotions. You see, emotions are a complex concept. One would think someone is crying, but to another, they are simply happy.
"Emotions manifest differently from one another, but sometimes they overlap. And this overlapping usually invites misinterpretation and conflict. Do you agree?
"Yes, emotions are complex and hard to understand, yet they are so easy to manipulate."
"Mister Kenshi, look," Kana alerted while pointing somewhere. I followed her finger and my eyes landed on a figure that felt eerily familiar.
"What is the Dark Order doing here?" Shino asked in both worry and panic.
"So I wasn't seeing things after all," I mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Shino asked.
"I saw a magic circle in the film that reeked of malice. I thought it was just my eyes playing tricks on me because it appeared only for an instant. But now that they've made an appearance, I can confirm that the film has something to do with what's about to happen any moment."
"I believe that these emotions are the gateway to someone's soul. Tweak them, and a door will open inside all of us. But this is only a theory—a hypothesis waiting to be proven. And it is my great honor to have you all as my participants.
"After you watched the film, it opened the gateway inside all of you, and now to prove my research...!"
Several non-destructive explosions echoed above the audience, followed by brief high-pitched screams, murmuring, and coughing. The explosions released pitch-black smoke, gradually filling the space within the hall.
Indistinct monstrous noises could be heard from below, along with a few shouts of fear and panic.
Curious about what was happening, I went to the edge of the veranda and glanced at the scene below. At first, I couldn't see a thing due to the smoke. But when it dissipated, my eyes widened in pure shock and horror.
"Oh my gods," were Shino's only words.
"What is that, Mister Kenshi?" Kana asked, and I could feel the fear in her voice.
Even though still in shock, I managed to move my mouth. "A corrupted human being."
"How is that even possible? But humans couldn't be influenced by Evil Remnant unless they are Dark Orb Wielders," Shino explained—and she wasn't wrong.
"This is why this is the first."