Compared with the explosive cheers and applause that had greeted the "Hunter vs. Monster" scene, the audience's response to the plot that followed was rather subdued.
Even the polite group applause that normally punctuated the performance had thinned to a few scattered claps.
Clearly, many audience members had yet to recover from the sight of whirling blades, a massive shield crashing forward, and the "Monster" being blown to pieces.
After all, most people could go their entire lives without ever seeing a Hunter in action.
In the old version of "Mountain God," the "Hunters" had appeared only in dialogue scenes. This version added a battle with a Monster, but in previous performances, the Hunters had done little more than brandish their enormous weapons and work together to drive it away.
That display of strength had been enough to make audiences cheer, but how could ordinary moves compare with the shock of watching Hunter Arts blow the "Monster" to pieces?
Everyone more or less knew the rest of the play's plot by now, so whether they paid attention hardly seemed to matter.
At that moment, many in the audience were thinking the same thing: Couldn't those two Hunters come back out and do that again?
Of course, some people felt the opposite, including Gael and Francesca in the VIP box, especially Gael.
The only thing that had surprised her was the identity of the Hunters onstage. As for the Midair Spinning Blade Dance, Shield Assault, and the rest... what was so impressive about any of that?
The plot of the stage play, on the other hand, was finally getting interesting!
Watching the actress who played the villainess with the same name... no, who was supposedly playing Gael herself, lord it over the wealthy young man while he swallowed his anger and humiliation made Gael grin from ear to ear.
What a theater. It made dreams come true!
I own a fair amount of property now. Could I hire the troupe and bring them to the New World to perform?
Francesca's attention, however, was fixed on picking apart the plot.
What? Aunt Jiajia... I mean, Miss Mushi, travels thousands of miles and endures countless hardships to reach Dad... I mean, the wealthy young man, only to stumble upon him embracing Mom... I mean, the villainess, and then slips away alone in despair?
Ugh, isn't that way too melodramatic?
The open ending was not bad, though. The wealthy young man used business tactics to break the villainess's stranglehold on his family's business, then took the opportunity to annul their engagement and set out alone to search for the missing Miss Mushi...
Still, the adaptation had taken considerable liberties. Who would ever have guessed that the "wealthy young man" would end up with the "villainess," while "Miss Mushi" became his younger sister instead?
When the curtain fell and the cast came out to take their bows, the audience erupted into unprecedented applause.
At least half of it was for the two young Hunters who stood noticeably taller than the other actors, even though they had spent less time onstage than anyone else...
"Let's go, let's go! Let's head backstage!" After applauding wildly, Gael sprang from her chair, ready to bolt out of the box.
Francesca hastily caught her, pressed down on her shoulders to make her sit properly, then rang the bell on the table.
A few seconds later, the door to the box opened, and an attendant bowed. "How may I assist you?"
Francesca cleared her throat. "Ahem... Mrs. Sterling would like to go backstage and offer her regards to the performers. Please lead the way."
"Of course. Honored guests, please follow me." The attendant bowed again.
The box was the finest in the entire theater. It was expensive, certainly, but also beyond the reach of anyone without the right connections.
Although the two guests' clothing was rather... casual, their status was beyond doubt. VIPs often went backstage to visit and commend the performers, so the attendant knew exactly what to do.
The attendant gestured down the corridor and led the way.
Francesca glanced back at her mother and pulled a face.
Her expression said it all: this was what VIP tickets were for. If Gael had barged backstage as recklessly as she wanted, security would only have stopped her!
Gael rolled her eyes, slung an arm around her daughter's shoulders, and followed the attendant.
—--
With the attendant leading them, the pair entered backstage without incident.
The performance had just ended, and backstage was buzzing. An ecstatic Sir Salonen was clutching Altaïr's and Isis's hands, bombarding them with questions like, "Would either of you be interested in pursuing a career in the arts?"
Francesca waved to them and called out with a giggle.
"Francesca!" Delighted to see an unexpected familiar face, Isis abandoned Sir Salonen and hurried over.
Altaïr, on the other hand, covered his face in despair.
He had thought that only he and Isis would ever know about their cameo and that it would be behind them as soon as the performance ended. How could someone they knew have been in the audience?
Still, both women deserved his respect, Francesca as a senior Hunter and Gael as an elder. No matter how awkward he felt, he had to greet them.
Just as he stepped forward, Gael darted past him. She was not running toward Altaïr at all; she made straight for the actress playing the villainess named Gael.
Gael seized the actress's hands and pumped them up and down. "Brilliant! That was brilliant! Absolutely wonderful!"
The actress was taken aback. Her character was the play's sole villain and the source of every conflict, so audience members rarely praised her with such enthusiasm.
Was this recognition of her acting?
After praising the actress, Gael took out her portable camera and snapped a photo with her.
Then she said excitedly, "My only complaint is that she was too petty. She discovers her fiancé has been sending letters to his lover, then sneaks around and intercepts one? That's so underhanded! There's nothing bold about it!
"She should use it to rake him over the coals and squeeze a pile of concessions out of him! Then she should personally take an Airship to the Great Forest and add the adorable 'Miss Mushi' to her own harem!"
The actress stared at her in bafflement.
Even Sir Salonen, who had been momentarily forgotten off to one side, froze. What kind of deranged plot twist was that?
As a man of the theater, however, he found himself tempted for a split second before immediately suppressing the absurd idea.
If he truly adapted "Mountain God" that way, its loyal audience would probably burn the theater to the ground.
"I'm Gaston Salonen, the director of this play. And you are, madam?" Seeing that Gael still would not release the actress, Sir Salonen stepped in, partly to protect his cast member.
He had seen an attendant bring both guests backstage, but he still had no idea who they were.
"Oh, I'm Gael! Did you hear what I just said? What do you think? Exciting, isn't it?" Gael remained as exuberant as ever.
Sir Salonen did not understand. "You are Gael... What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Me, Gael." She pointed at herself, then at the actress. "I'm her. No, wait, she's playing me."
At that moment, Sir Salonen wondered whether he was dealing with a madwoman.
Fortunately, Guild Master Ota arrived then with Scar, her old partner.
Ota's initial surprise at seeing Gael quickly gave way to embarrassment.
As the local Guild Master, she knew Gael was a High Rank Hunter. She also knew by now that Gael was the wife of the real-life inspiration for the play's male lead.
The villainess in "Mountain God" was a complete invention by the playwright and had nothing to do with Gael. But once meddlesome people dug up the play's real-life inspirations, they had taken it upon themselves to give the character Gael's name...
As the person who had first spread the story, Ota naturally felt guilty for the damage to Gael's reputation. "I'm sorry, Gael. I never expected..."
"It's fine!" Gael waved it away. "I like the villainess role!"
Seeing everyone else grow even more confused, Guild Master Ota had no choice but to explain. "Gael's full name is now Gael Sterling. Her husband was the inspiration for the wealthy young man in 'Mountain God.'
"Of course, I must emphasize that Gael has no connection whatsoever to the play's villainess, and the relationship between the real people who inspired the male and female leads was not romantic..."
Unfortunately, no one paid attention to the rest of her explanation. The moment they heard that one of the figures from the play had appeared before them, Sir Salonen, the cast, and the backstage crew all crowded around.
For the young people who had grown up in Grom-Baum, this story had been part of their lives throughout childhood and adolescence.
They bombarded Gael with questions until Sir Salonen shouted, "Quiet!" and silenced them all.
He drew a deep breath. With a slight tremor in his voice, he asked the question that mattered to everyone who knew the story.
"So, Mrs. Sterling, could you tell us where 'Miss Mushi'... went in the end, and what became of her?"
"Her?" Gael scratched her chin. "She spent more than ten years freezing in the Hoarfrost Reach. Now she's back in the Great Forest eating bugs."
Horror filled the crowd's eyes as they stared at Gael. The actress whose hand she still held began trembling from head to toe.
So this was what the "villainess" had done, and this was what had become of "Miss Mushi"?! No stage playwright could write a story this dark!
* * *
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