kscans

Chapter 51 - Little One's New Daily Life, Five

"Nyu? What's this?"

Sakura had a personal collection of many books at Pandæmonium. The twins had been planning to choose and read a classic from among the books she had brought with her when she married, but a single sheet of stationery slipped out from one of the volumes. The light green stationery had embossed lines and a dragonfly design, with a few lines of elegant script written in the center.

"'How should I your true love know, From another one?' A walking stick, a cockle hat and staff, and his sandal shoon."

Eh? Isn't this...

"The title role, right? Hamlet, was it?"

"Title role?"

"An opera where the protagonist's name is the title. It's a work by a person named Shakespeare, nyo."

How nostalgic. I was quite fond of opera.

Little One smiled softly, her eyes narrowing.

It was a verse from the song Ophelia sings in the scene where she descends into madness.

"Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark? That's what she asks."

Behind Little One, who was grinning with a nishishi, Sakura's face froze.

"You... how do you know that?"

With a look of astonishment, she gently took the stationery from Little One's hand.

"So you were hiding it here. The rest were all burned."

Her face crumpled. Sakura carefully folded the stationery and tucked it into her robes. Gazing at the twins, who were looking up at her curiously, Sakura stared into the distance for a moment before she began to speak.

"A long, long time ago. There was something called theater in Kilfan."

According to Sakura's halting story, the entertainment known as plays had existed in Kilfan for a long time. However, about two hundred years ago, an emperor declared that even if it was a work of fiction, for a commoner to become royalty or an imperial family member was the height of disrespect. An blasphemy against the celestial beings. He had all the stories and classical books related to it burned to ashes. But kind-hearted people secretly saved many books and hid them deep within the inner palace. When Sakura fled Kilfan, she brought several of them with her.

"My foster brother, you see. He was interested in theater and would read them voraciously. He'd even copy down the lines. This is a remnant of that. Well, Chihiro did say she was from the same hometown, so it's not so strange that she would know this."

Sakura placed a hand over her robes, her expression sad. The twins didn't know what had happened, but something must have.

Still, book burning...

Little One's brow furrowed in disgust.

Book burning was one of humanity's worst follies. How many precious intellectual properties and historical legacies have been lost because of it?

I guess the things humans do don't change much, no matter the world. What a cruel world.

As Little One sighed, she was struck by a sudden inspiration.

Couldn't I use this?

She had never heard of plays or theater in Frontier. Stories and poems were things to be recited, not performed. In a way, a minstrel's one man show might be similar, but Little One, who had grown up in Japan with its deep appreciation for things like rokyoku and shigin, had also been a grandma's girl and loved old rakugo stories.

I could probably do something like 'Toki Soba' if I adapted it to something from here, and 'Hidari Jingoro' would probably be well-received too. Once people get used to seeing others perform, then a full-fledged play...

If she did it right, she could probably make a good deal of money.

Seeing his sister's wicked grin and upturned lips, Chihaya exchanged a look with his mother and sighed. At times like these, Chihiro was usually thinking of something outrageous. And she would go through with it.

The long-suffering older brother could already glimpse a future where everyone around them would be thrown into a panic again.

Chihaya's bad feeling was right on the mark. A short while later, a large tent for a playhouse was erected in the castle town. Paid for with Little One's pocket money. A large poster advertising for actors was put up, and involving Katsumi from Kilfan, she began to plot this and that.

"So, first, we lower the barrier to entry."

"Barrier to entry?"

One moment, Pochiko-san had suddenly arrived to deliver a letter, and the next, he found himself summoned to Frontier for this. No one could blame Katsumi for his weary, dead-eyed stare.

"If we just suddenly start doing theater, people won't be able to keep up, right? So, we'll start with things that are easy to get into, like paper stories and puppet shows, as an introduction, nyo."

"It's more exciting with a song, right? Like, GO! West?" To Little One's suggestion, Katsumi shot back, "You're just ripping it off!" but most plays were rip-offs of classic or fictional stories. Little One declared this with her chest puffed out, leaving Katsumi speechless. Arcadia had plenty of its own unique stories, and the rip-offs were just a starting point. Eventually, the stories of Arcadia, by the people of Arcadia, would become the mainstay of their theater.

Katsumi and Little One argued back and forth. The people around them couldn't understand half of the words the two were using.

Chihaya couldn't get a word in edgewise and openly chewed on a bitter cud. Someone gently patted his shoulder, pon pon. It was Romel, standing there with an enlightened smile, silently shaking his head.

"Once Chihiro gets like this, there's no stopping her. It's still better than the time with the honey or the border forest, I suppose."

Even so, Chihaya couldn't accept it.

Katsumi seemed to be so much closer to Chihiro than he was, despite him being the one who was always by her side and supposedly understood everything about her. He had been very fond of him since he was little, but this was a separate matter. In Chihaya's glaring view, the two were arguing boisterously.

"I'm telling you! I remember all of Princess Pri-Pri, so...!"

"I told you to get away from the rip-offs! We can just take excerpts from the stories here, can't we? General Luci flying off into space, the people of Arcadia won't have a clue what that's about! It's a parade of unfamiliar words like machines and sci-fi!"

"But I like that one!"

"So that's what it comes down to!"

As the two of them bickered, Dorfen and Drago looked on with pity at the tired faces of Chihaya and Romel. For the two who were directly involved, all one could say was, "You have our sympathies."

After a great deal of discussion, they decided to start with paper stories. As a compromise, the stories would be taken from Earth's fairy tales.

"For... for now, let's go with Cinderella and the Beanstalk."

"Okay, next is to decide on the size of the pictures and start drawing."

Breathing heavily, they decided on the shape and size of the carts, and that the familiar honeybees would pull them. Most of the details were settled. Once things were decided, Little One worked fast.

Paper stories were something of a revival even in Kilfan. The regulations on them were more lenient than on plays, and they had only completely died out about fifty years ago, so some materials related to them still remained. Many of the artisans were of an age to remember paper stories. Kilfan was abuzz with the revival of paper stories and puppet shows, which could be called the legacy of their predecessors. Many artisans offered their cooperation, and in no time at all, about ten carts with stages for paper stories were built. The sight was nostalgic. Even for Little One, who was not from that generation, it somehow evoked a sense of nostalgia. The stages were larger than usual, with double doors that could be opened and closed, sure to stir the excited feelings of curious children.

"I can't wait.♪"

What began with a socializing class led to Little One Brand paper stories and puppet shows. A little while later, centered around the people who had gathered with an interest in the profession of acting, they would spread far and wide throughout Frontier.

And so, while developing new forms of entertainment, Little One's academy life began.

No matter what she does, she never just falls down. Little One is full of energy today.♪