SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 188: The Fire (3)

The Terras had a magic word which they discovered about a millennium ago. It truly embraced every emotion, from delicate happiness to despairing sorrow. The children of earth always ended up reciting just one word, whether they were happy or sad.

Today truly fucked over a lot of Terras.

“Fuck! It was the climax! Things were really, really going well! You motherfuckers!” Ilric spat out.

The other actors also protested fiercely.

“He’s right. Out of all the possible moments, how could you barge in during the climax?”

“Just giving refunds to the spectators won’t do it. We also deserve a refund. How much were we beaten up for today’s performance? Because of you, all my hard work went down the drain.”

My fellow actors huffed and puffed, annoyed that the performance had been cut off midway. However, what annoyed them the most was losing their immersion.

The Terra police officers were sweating profusely.

“Well, we have to respond when we receive a report,” the captain tried to defend his squad.

How was he supposed to know people weren’t actually getting murdered? Even though sometimes people lied when they reported something, the police officers had a responsibility to check anyway.

“B-But it wasn’t just one or two reports that we got. Five people reported the same thing at the same time.”

The reports also seemed highly credible.

“We got five reports of arson and mass murder at the same time, so how could we not come to check?”

“Uger? So are you saying that it’s our fault?”

“Y-Your guys’ acting seemed too realistic...”

“What kind of baloney is that?”

The actors kept criticizing the police captain for his actions. He looked like he had a lot to say, but didn’t know how.

I came forward. “Hmm. I understand your predicament, sir.”

The other actors and I were now at the police station for further questioning. Even though our charges were cleared, an investigation was still needed as a formality. There was a sign on a wall that said “Prevention is better than waiting for judgment.” Perhaps this was the police’s slogan.

“But we’ll still need you to refund us. Our troupe should make our ends meet. We can’t run a business while only eating mud. You probably didn’t know this beforehand, but the situation of our troupe is really bad. Phew. If we can’t earn any money from this performance, we should take our sign down and close the theater for good.”

“Uger...”

The police officers’ faces were very long. They had already finished their investigation. Could I really ignite aura that resembled fire? Was I really so skilled that I could turn the entire theater upside down with my aura? Was it true that I could use my aura to freely play music?

Of course, everything turned out to be true. I had directly shown them at the police station. The officers had looked at me in amazement, wondering where a monster like me had come from.

I grinned. “But, as I said, I understand your predicament. So, if you do us a favor, we’ll ask for just a small amount of compensation.”

“A favor?”

“We’ll give you tickets to our theater’s special seats. Please come to our next performance.”

The other actors swiftly turned their heads to look at me.

“Little Boss, what the fuck did you just say?”

“We should rip them off for everything they got, not give them special seats for free!”

“I don’t think that’s right, Little Boss.”

They really didn’t know how to run a business.

With a hearty smile on my face, I cleared my throat. The actors immediately stopped complaining, studying my face. For the past week, while they had been going through hellish training, they had learned when to rebel and when to lay low.

“Where were we? Oh, yeah, the tickets for the special seats,” I said.

The police officers looked at me with mixed emotions because I was being called Little Boss by grown hobgoblins. We looked like the young master and the henchmen from a mafia family, so this was definitely not an ordinary sight.

“Our troupe would like to formally invite you to our show, officers. I know you’re all very busy, but I would appreciate it if at least five of you could make some time to watch us. This way, we’ll receive only a minimum amount of compensation.”

The police officers were a little flustered.

“Why?”

“Well, it’s great if you’re okay with that, but why would you formally invite us to your next show?”

I frowned a bit, trying to look as pitiful as possible. “It’s just that... it was heartbreaking to see the audience criticizing you in the theater earlier.”

“Uger? Heartbreaking?”

“Yes, you were just fulfilling your duty as police officers. Seeing you get criticized by citizens left and right, I wanted to do something... We are good actors, so I hope you find some comfort in watching our next play.”

I put on my best expression, the one that Raviel valued highly. Her appraisal had been “It warms my heart to see you like this. You look like a rain-soaked puppy...” It had earned me four pats on the head.

As expected, the Terra police officers were moved to tears.

“I can’t believe it.”

“Is this Sylvan an angel?”

“We made a grave mistake! We stopped this young lady from acting!”

They trusted people too easily. As their daddy, I was getting worried. It was a harsh world out there, so how would they survive if they acted like this?

—Zombie... Man, you...

Yes? What?

—Nothing. Yeah, what am I going to say anyway?

The Guardian heaved a deep sigh. What was wrong with him? Could ghosts go senile too?

Anyway, the police officers happily accepted the invitation. Even though not many of them could come due to their schedules, they sincerely wanted to repay the gesture.

On the way back to the theater, Yumar muttered, “I didn’t know you were so thoughtful.”

We had been dragged out in the middle of our performance, so we were still dressed in our costumes. My fellow actors walked with only a cloth wrapped around their waists and there were pitch-black markings all over us, so pedestrians kept stealing glances at us.

“Right. It was a little surprising.”

“Until now, I thought our little boss was a demon that came out of Kekerukker’s stomach.”

“I was just upset because we had to stop our performance... I feel embarrassed.”

I clicked my tongue. “You really don’t get it, do you? We received an incredible reward.”

“Ugor?”

“We can always earn money by doing a few more performances. Actually, we can perform the play tomorrow. Right now, we just cast a bait.”

The three actors tilted their heads.

“What do you mean, Little Boss?”

They were adorable. Terra was the strongest and the most adorable species in the universe.

I said, “We have the skills and plays necessary to perform. Now all our troupe needs is attention. By tomorrow, everyone in the city will be talking about what happened today.”

—Apparently, the police officers rushed to the scene after a report about a fire.

—But it turned out it was just a play.

—The aura felt so alive that the audience thought the fire was real and reported it to the police.

“These are our baits.”

They were gossip material, so to speak.

“All Terras are potential customers. Regardless of age or gender, every Terra watches Cavefire plays. If they hear that my aura was so life-like that they thought an actual fire broke out, wouldn’t they be interested in our play?”

That was when the final bait came in.

“What if the news goes around that our troupe invited the officers to special seats, despite them ruining our play?”

My fellow actors slowly grasped what I was trying to say.

“Ugor...”

“I see.”

“Does this mean we’ll have more people in the audience?”

“Of course.”

That wasn’t all.

“Besides, I'm Sylvan,” I said. “You probably haven’t thought that far ahead, but if we maintain our momentum and become more successful, there will be Terras who will be very jealous of us. I’m sure of it.”

Cavefire was a unique culture of Terras, but now a strange new Sylvan appeared and became quite popular. I would not expect a positive reaction from the Terras.

“People are going to make up all sorts of rumors to tamper with our reputation, so we need to get on the police’s good side in advance. We earn money by acting, and it can’t hurt us to be on good terms with the police. Who knows? The officers may take our sides in case something bad happens later on. At the very least, they’ll ignore nonsensical reports from now on.”

Everyone was impressed.

“Awesome...”

“Our little boss doesn’t seem like a Sylvan sometimes, but she certainly has the weaseling brain of one.”

“She has the heart of a Terra and the brains of a Sylvan.”

“It would have been perfect if our little boss had some muscles ...”

Even if I could have their muscles for free, I would never take them, unless Raviel suddenly developed a taste for muscles.

I could imagine Raviel whispering in my ear, “Gong-Ja, it would be nice if you gained a little more weight.”

Leaning in closer, she would softly add, “Just a little more.”

Her lips would be right by my ear. “I want your arms to be a bit thicker than they are now.”

Well, in that case, I needed to get into special training right now, even if it meant paying a fortune to the best health trainer on the Tower’s first floor. My functional muscles were lame, so I had to get rid of them.

“Our little boss is grinning like a fool.”

“Sometimes she does that without saying anything.”

“I don’t know what the boss thinks about when she smiles like that. Honestly, it’s unsettling.”

“It’s scary and makes me feel uncomfortable...”

Be quiet. You guys don’t know what love is like. Even if you do, you don’t know Raviel, hence you have no idea what true love is either, you babies.

“There they are.”

“Ah!”

“The actors are back!”

Quite a crowd was gathered in front of the theater. Someone pointed his finger at us, and the Terras who had been wandering around the theater door came running in our direction. Dozens of tall Terras gathered around us, scaring my fellow actors.

“W-What is it?”

“What is going on?”

The Terras raised their voices at us.

“When is the next performance?”

“We paid for our tickets, yet your play got interrupted at the worst possible time!”

“That’s right!”

“We have the right to seats at the next performance!”

“Give us tickets!”

They were as fierce as a flock of pretas. The other actors were dumbstruck.

“Ugh, uger, wait...!”

Someone came out from the crowd with difficulty. It was the troupe master. His wrinkles had deepened while my fellow actors and I were away, probably due to getting harassed by customers until now.

“Huff. I told them if they want a refund, huff, I’ll do anything I can to refund them next time—”

The Terras once again revolted.

“I don’t need a refund!”

“Yeah! We aren’t trying to get a refund!”

“We just want tickets to the next performance! Surely you’re going to perform this play again, right?”

“I heard that the special seats are six times the price of the regular seats. Is it possible to upgrade my seat? Of course, I’ll pay more if I have to.”

“Just tell us how many special seats are left!”

The troupe master was sweating profusely. “I-I already told them that we have yet to figure out our schedule, but they’re still insisting. I’m really not sure what to do.”

At the moment, I was the one held power in this troupe. The troupe master had really done his best by dealing with the customers without blindly promising the next performance.

I smiled brightly and bowed. “Everyone, thank you for your enthusiasm. Did you enjoy Troupe Yapper’s performance?”

“This isn’t just about enthusiasm! Ugor!”

“It was my first time seeing aura move like that. But the aura wasn’t...”

“Anyhow, it was awesome! It was just as fierce as real fire! There was something unique about your performance!”

The customers went wild. I bowed once again to express my gratitude, but the other actors’ reaction was a little more dramatic.

“Our acting...”

This was probably the first time that Ilric, Yumar, and Sakum received compliments. They were all at a loss, like children who opened their gifts from Santa for the first time in their lives.

“We’re still planning our schedule for the next play but, unfortunately, we don’t plan on performing the Wild Fire Sword Dance again.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“This is all because of the cops, isn’t it?”

I put on the smile of a businessman, which was the result of the Black Witch’s training. “But your compliments really make us want to return the love. Fine. We’ll perform Wild Fire Sword Dance again next Saturday!”

“Oooooh!”

“There's more! As Troupe Yapper exists because of you, the audience, we’ll give the tickets only to those who were at the play today! A special performance just for you! A private one!”

Everyone went wild.

“Thank you for your support! Now, anyone who wants our autographs, please come in turns.”

The Terras were also fond of autographs. However, they were drawn on skin, rather than paper. Using soft mud, the actors drew their autographs on their fans. Fans of popular actors often flocked to the theaters with the autographs on their skin.

I beamed. “But there is one condition if you want to receive our autographs.”

“What is it?”

“Please shout ‘Fuck you, Fire Emperor’ before we sign.”

Everyone laughed. Maybe they thought I was joking, but I was serious.

“Fuck you, Fire Emperor. Is that all?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Fuck you, Fire Emperor!”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

“The Fire Emperor is a son of a bitch!”

“Wow, I didn't expect you to get so excited. You’re very cool, sir.”

The Terras laughed as they exchanged jokes with me. Satisfied, everyone returned home with autographs on their shoulders, chest, or back.

My autograph was a dog. It promoted the Troupe Yapper, as well as made it obvious that the Fire Emperor was a son of a bitch. I was killing two birds with one stone.

—Zombie... You... Man...

Yes? What?

—Nothing. Yeah, what am I going to say to a lunatic?

The Guardian sighed again. I was sure that he had gone senile, so I felt bad.

[The heretical sects among the Terras are losing their power!]

[The idea of returning to stories of ancient times is gaining popularity among the Terras.]

[The possibility of a renaissance has opened up for the Terras.]

[You have made progress in the quest Warring Theaters Period.]

[Heretic erosion level is at 86%.]

It seemed like the Tower was also trying to support me.

I smiled at the troupe master and the actors. “Guys, are you ready to become a mega-hit troupe?”

If not, get ready. Your daddy doesn’t stop once he gets going.