Chapter 8: Chapter 8: A Thief In The Daylight

The most largest events and big celebrations took time to set things up. No matter how preplanned.

Tartarus had one play they were going to preform.

'Jeromio and Rumiet' was the name of the play, and the theatre was set up to put on a great spectacle.

They were getting ready for both the drama bits and action scenes, as this was their great draw-in.

A never before seen performance of a lifetime.

So that they wouldn't get booed off the stage, all members of the Theatre Troupe were in training.

Practicing lines and battle choreography.

The man chosen to act as the heroine was feeling like he was on top of the world. His role was as the famed 'Ruliet', the star-crossed lover who was one of the twin sisters of the Dark Forest's great Tyrant.

Jeromio was a prince of the then named 'Human Empire', which had fought Beasts for decades.

Their positions couldn't be different.

Oh how tears and woe had woven into the fate of these two destined for tragedy. The highlight of the ending was something to marvel at, as it was when the reigning Imperial Ruler, 'Josiah', fought against Rumeit for the sake of taking back her lover.

Never would he allow his child to fraternise with the enemy. Both of them were held in contempt by him.

It would be at that time that snake woman, Rumiet, would accidentally drive a sword through her lover.

Jeromio would protect his father!

For despite their differences, the man was still the one who had raised him. The one he called 'Father'.

The hero would die tragically.

And in despair after losing her lover, the tragedy's high point would be taking her own life to follow.

As without her lover, life wasn't worth living…

Dwinley Clarkson even cried a little while imagining the emotional devastation the final act would give.

The audience would have been well-acquainted and invested into the relationship by that time.

Which was why the sadness would hit harder.

It was only a pity that they couldn't get anyone to play Jeromio consistently, because his face was copyright. Lancia had records of how the Prince of the time looked, and didn't want to ruin his image.

Thus, the performing actor had to wear a hood.

A much different situation than the unknown looks of Rumiet, who is only described as a 'snake girl'.

Was she one half snake and part human? Did she only have subtle features or a fully scaled body?

Whatever the case may be, it was the general consensus that she must have looked beautiful.

How else would Jeromio had become bewitched?

Thus, Dwinley played with the makeup that would make it look like he had 'some' scales and serpentine pupils. He was looking through his wardrobe to find the best dress he could find.

One that would make his role stand out.

Special effects were also techniques he'd been training to make the performance more dazzling.

But just as he was ready to rejoin the group, a shadow appeared at the corner of his room.

He noticed who the person was immediately.

"Is there something wrong?" Dwinley asked the ninja girl who was sticking to the room's corner.

"I need your help." Fear was honest about it.

"What do you need?"

"I… 'accidentally' sold the ticket that the Troupe Leader had been holding onto." The masked girl approached while twiddling with her fingers. She was ashamed that she'd fell for temptations.

"Who said you could sell his stuff?! Don't you know who that was for? His cousin-" He was interrupted.

"This number spoke to me." Fear held before her a Guild Card that had a lot of zeroes on the big total.

The amount was blinding…!

"I see that it was VERY convincing." Dwinley covered his eyes. They didn't need money now.

So wouldn't it be better to leave this job?

No, they were already close. There was no reason to give up unless the circumstances demanded it.

The drag queen regained himself and asked:

"Couldn't you have sold the person a fake?"

"I got the feeling that wouldn't work."

"There's no point in asking me about this. I've already given up my gig as that 'Thousand Face'."

"I know you're a full-time actor now, but I really need you. Jack will be furious if he finds out."

"…Alright. I'll help for once."

"Thank you!" Since Fear's antisocial nature and happiness clashes, she only gave an air hug to him.

"Good enough." Dwinley acknowledged she was at least trying, which was enough to convince.

He then helped her find the right makeup so she wouldn't have to wear the same mask over there.

Her looks had already been seen through once.

Alex and Arthur would likely recognise her on the spot if she walked around wearing her usual stuff.

She couldn't let that happen…

Thus, she used her days making a new look.

The time for the performance was slowly arriving.

Lancia was the most packed as it had ever been.

A day before the performance, the ticket stalls were open to exchange them for ID Passes.

At that same day, the troupe had gathered again.

Jack repeated the plan to the rest of them:

"Alright! Fear and Lily will be in charge of kidnapping the Prince. The rest of you better be ready to go when it's time for liftoff. If you get left behind, it's your own damn fault!" The Troupe Leader stood attention towards the rest of them.

The troupe members stood before him quietly.

"Also…" Jack continued with an iron cutting tone: "I couldn't find the ticket I wanted to give my cute cousin. Don't suppose any of you know where it could've gone? It's really important to me."

"No. Sorry…" The rest of them replied.

To give him some form of distraction, Fear bit the bullet and pulled out a critter she really despised.

A disgusting creature that made her skin crawl…

"I'll distract the audience with these 'Crawlers'. I hate them so much, but I think I'll manage." She put forward a ladybug-like critter that was considered a delicacy in some places. A real disgusting insect.

"Are you really feeling okay?" Lily turned to look.

"…I'm fine." Fear's face was pale under the mask.

Her eyes looked at the non-lethal ladybug with a thousand legs, and couldn't 'see' it's appearance.

Almost like her brain was censoring her vision.

The way is shifted around with jelly noises made her want to faint, but she kept her composure.

"ALRIGHT! The performance starts at midnight. I want you all to be ready and properly rested for it!"

Jack told those who busily hurried along.

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Lily was excitedly putting her plans together to infiltrate the castle. She was sure to catch him.

After all, she was also proud of her speed.

Fear felt bad while looking at her friend prepping.

The events were being set in motion, and at the centre of that storm was someone privileged.

A person who had never acted out in his life.

Vhalen was acting as he usually did at this fine sunny day. Handling some affairs Darren wouldn't.

Arthur following behind him at every step.

Their paths in life couldn't be any different, but the dominos were already there to make things work.

The one who'd cause a wrench to fall into those once clear-cut plans walked down the streets.

Alex was doing fine on his own today.

Even if it was a little lonely at times.

He was an entrepreneur working on his own chain store business. Well… He TRIED working on it.

Things weren't working out well.

Haggling had never been his strong point, and there was a lot of people chewing his brains out.

Being rich didn't mean he was totally free.

Taxes, wages to his extra workers and store cleaners, advertisement, actually doing his work…

…but the most damning thing of all was his desire.

If he wanted to make a big business, he'd have to interact with other stores and bring them to him.

He was already working on a brand with that tailor he saw get bankrupt earlier. Investing in his talent.

What he wanted to sell was 'Enchanted Clothing' like the ones he wore. Able to resist outer magic.

The only problem was pricing…

Alex got that tailor to work back up and regain his assets, but the jumping off point was difficult.

He needed an opportunity to show off his work.

Just as the Arcanist was walking down the street with his chin on his palm, he felt himself pushed.

His legs tangled up and caused him to fall.

A loud thud was heard.

'…Ouch.' It hurt, and Alex hated that this wasn't his first time falling over after falling deep into thought.

There was a worse time when he stubbed his toe…

"Sowwy!!" The immature voice of a child entered his ears, and two tiny little arms attempted to help.

Since he was a little too heavy, the little girl made a red face and big 'Mmmm!' noise getting him up.

When he rose back to his feet, Alex unconsciously slapped off the dust and looked to see who it was.

An ordinary young child playing on the streets hands chin something that had fell out his pocket:

"Here da ting you dwopped!?" She said bravely before running away with her friends in shyness.

Alex held the ticket in hand. His heart felt warm.

This was why he liked this place. Out of the five kingdoms, the people here had their standards.

Even the little kids were polite and kindhearted.

He made sure his ticket was more securely placed before heading towards the booth that would get him an ID. The only detour he took was because he got hungry on the way. Thus, getting a bite to eat.

There was a nice bar that sold grape juice and chicken legs. It went together pretty good overall.

What he didn't notice was one of the workers looking at him strangely. A maid with stoic looks.

'So this is the guy.' The feminine man in the disguise was actually pretending to work there.

He'd took the identity of someone who'd taken a sick leave. Making sure his identity was a secret,

Rather than going in, he waited for his opportunity.

Allowing himself to fade into the background…

As he did so, Alex finished his meal. He listened to some of what was being spoken about the theatre.

Some were happy to be able to go there, while others were finding other ways to keep things fun.

Maybe even partying it up outside the venue.

The owner of the restaurant wasn't happy about how hard it was lately to take so many orders, but it would also be the last time they'd be so busy. The play at the Tartarus theatre wasn't a usual event.

After paying for the food, the Arcanist left for the ticket booth. He could hear people gossiping.

There was an old couple who owned one of the stores he'd been eyeing talking about their tickets.

It'd taken them a long time to afford this event.

Many shops were closing down so that the owners could be in the audience of that colossal theatre.

Not inside the theatre ship, but the stands that had recently been built to accommodate middle class citizens and nobility. The rest would have to watch from their roofs or something. It was too important.

They couldn't allow any failures…

Alex finally arrived at the ticket booth for the moment he'd been waiting for. To exchange an ID!

There wasn't an exaggeratedly long cue thanks to most having done this act through other means.

He waited patiently for his turn to come.

His emotions were high, and he couldn't wait to be one of those who would see the play personally.

Finally, his turn had arrived.

"Show me your ticket, please." The man at the booth spoke robotically, and he opened a zipper…

…then reached into the pocket with his ticket.

He checked, then looked a bit deeper. His hand touching here and there which growing anxiety.

At first, the ticket booth man wasn't sure what he was doing, but felt pity after realising what it was.

The ticket wasn't there anymore.

Alex wasn't sure when it has been taken, but the ticket he'd spent a good portion of his fortune on was gone. All that money he spent… was now completely useless. Everything was for naught.

The greater the expectations, the bigger the fall from grace. Disappointment had filled his heart.

"N-NOOOO!" His face was red while running away in shame. He couldn't believe the ticket was gone.

How? WHY?!

Tears ran down his face as he crashed into the side of the alley. A peace of paper had fallen onto him.

{WANTED

Name: Thousand Face

Reward: 10,00000 Gold

Description: A man who can imitate and become anyone if given enough time to switch identities.]

Alex didn’t know how to enter the venue without a ticket. There was no way he’d be able to sneak in.

Since that was theoretical, the Arcanist decided to test if there REALLY was no way to enter the place.

A runic glow appeared in his dim brown eyes…

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