◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

  「Fuwa~. Five more minutes, Chiyuki-sa~n…」


  Nao spoke while yawning.

  When I looked around, I saw Rino and Shirone’s unladylike appearance. The same went for Sahoko, she was a bit on the lighter side though.

  It’s already past noon. You guys just danced around too much last night.

  「Sorry Nao-san, but we can only rely on your power for this investigation.」


  After this, we’re going to head towards the grand theater in the Republic of Ariadya.

  The reason was because the members of Donkey’s Ear theater troupe led by Midas were gathered there.

  We were led by Midas to the theater.

  Other than Midas, there was Reiji, Nao, Rino, Shirone, Sahoko and lastly Decius.

  General Clasus didn’t go with us since he still has some business to finish. Though Shizufae and co wanted to come along, we couldn’t bring too many people with us.

  The journey until we arrived at the theater was uneventful.

  「Hee~ Such a huge theater.」


  Rino spoke with her usual cheerful voice.

  The name of this theater was Alphos theater.

  Alphos was the older brother of Rena, a male god who ruled over song and arts. This theater was built to revere that god.

  According to the myth of this world, Alphos was the most handsome god in this world. There was endless gossip about his relationships with women.

  One of them was the story about Ishtar and Faeria quarreling about his upbringing since his childhood.

  Since none of them were willing to back down, Alphos ended up raised by those two goddesses.

  And then, because of the influence of his step-mother, Ishtar, Alphos’ believers mainly came from Ishtar’s believers.

  「Please wait here for a while Hero-sama, I’m going to call the prie~st.」


  Midas spoke while sending a sidelong glance to Reiji.

  Reiji seemed to be frightened by that.

  The one who managed this theater was Alphos’ believer. The one Midas referred to as priest was Alphos’ faith’s priest.

  Midas entered the inner part of the theater, leaving us behind.

  The theater wasn’t the semi-circular type. It was full circle like that of a colosseum. The guest seating was also encircling the center, and the height of the seats became lower the closer it was to the center.

  We’re currently waiting right at the entrance of the theater.

  「Chiyuki-san, is this some sort of relief?」


  Shirone looked at the giant relief-like thing at the entrance of the theater.

  It was a relief of a man wielding a bow and arrows, fighting against a strange monster.

  「This is Alphos, Shirone-san. Right, Decius-dono?」


  I looked at Decius for confirmation.

  「You’re correct.」


  Decius replied to me.

  「What is this Albadon thingy, Chiyuki?」


  「It’s a myth, Reiji-kun. Republic Ariadya was attacked by the evil god called Badon right after its founding. Records state that there were numerous casualties during that incident but the said evil god was then slayed by the arrow fired by Alphos. This theater was built to praise him. And then, this relief was carved in accordance with that event. After Alphos defeated Al Badon, its name was later shortened to Evil God Badon. Or else, also called Albadon.」


  I explained to Reiji.

  「As expected of the Black Haired Sage. You’re correct.」


  When I looked at the direction from where that voice came from, I saw a woman standing right there.

  「It’s nice to meet you, Hero of Light-sama. My name is Clio, a priest of Alphos-sama who’s responsible for this theater.」


  Clio greeted us.

  We were fascinated by Clio. She was a beauty with porcelain white skin and slightly wavy blue hair.

  But, there’s something that I’m worrying about with her.

  Clio’s ears were pointed. In short, she was an elf.

  That was unusual.

  Elves in human society aren’t that rare. But, this was the first time I saw one of them gaining such high status in human society.

  Elves holding a notable social position in human society was a rarity. It wasn’t because discrimination, it was simply because the elves were rarely interested in being involved with human society.

  In short, this elf was one of those rare types.

  「Hee~. An elf huh. But, you’re not dryad right, onee-san? You have a tinge of sea smell on you.」


  Nao said so while squinting her eyes.

  「Indeed, I’m not a dryad, I’m a Nereid.」


  Clio replied with a smile on her face.

  Nereid was one of the elf branches.

  In addition, different from dryad who mainly reside in the forest, they’re the type of elves that excel in music and live by the sea.

  In addition, nereids were famous for their beauty. That’s why they became the target of many races.

  The story in which a poor nereid was forced to become the wife of a cyclops after the latter killed the former lover was famous.

  「How rare. The god must be delighted knowing that such beautiful elf is the priest of the temple in the human country.」


  Reiji gave praise while touching Clio’s hair.

  「Fufufu, quite a player aren’t you, Hero-sama.」


  Clio was smiling happily as she placed her hand on her cheeks.

  Sahoko and Rino raised a groan upon seeing that.

  「Clio-dono! There’s a demon king’s worshipper amongst the members of the donkey’s ear troupe!!! We’ve to investigate this matter immediately!!! Depending on the result, we might have to stop the next play!! Please give us permission!!」


  Decius forced his way between Reiji and Clio.

  Reiji reluctantly separated himself from Clio.

  Good job, Decius.

  I praised Decius in my mind.

  「That’s definitely a huge problem. The play is something we do to praise Alphos-sama. If we suddenly cancelled the play midway…」


  Clio looked at Midas.

  Midas heaved a sigh as if apologizing.

  If I was in his position, I would do the same if one of my performers was missing. But, the common sense of this world was different. More than anything else, Clio seemed to hesitate to stop the play which was equivalent to praising God Alphos.

  「Surely, this is a rude request but, now, even our main actress, Sienna, is lost too… It’s not like we can find her replacement immediately…」


  Midas spoke, but his eyes were swimming.

  And then, Midas’ eyes stopped at a certain place.

  「Uhm, is something the matter?」


  Shirone asked since Midas was staring daggers at her.

  「This is it! Shirone-sama!! Please replace Sienna to play as the temporary lead role!!!」


  Midas rushed over to Shirone and grabbed her hand.

  Shirone’s mouth fell wide open, unable to hide her surprise when Midas suddenly grabbed her hands.

  And then, a few seconds later.

  「EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!」


  ===

  ◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

  The sunlight was shining down upon the arena in the center of Alphos’ ceilingless theater.

  It seems they could still perform even during the rain as long as they unfolded the tent but it wasn’t necessary during such good, sunny weather.

  The member of Donkey’s Ear troupe was in the middle of rehearsing in the arena.

  「THIS IS ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE, CHIYUKI-SAN!!!」


  Shirone told me so, completely against the idea of her substituting in for Sienna.

  「Is that so? I mean, you’re the best shot for this role, Shirone-sa~n.」


  「Let me tell you, Rino-chan!! I really am not suited for the lead role!!!」


  Shirone refused vehemently.

  The name of the drama that Shirone refused to play was 『Arfelia』. It was the story of a princess who went on a journey to save the prince who’d gotten kidnapped by an evil witch.

  Shirone was asked by Midas to play the role of Arfelia.

  The main lead, Arfelia, was a knight and also a princess in addition to being a sword master.

  Surely, the character of the female lead matched with Shirone.

  「Is that so? I think that role suit you though.」


  Reiji spoke with a wide grin on his face.

  He didn’t even try to hide the amused look on his face.

  「IMPOSSIBLE, I TELL YOU!! RATHER, RINO-CHAN IS MORE SUITED FOR THAT ROLE RIGHT!!?」


  Shirone tried to shift the topic to Rino.

  「Uhm. That princess character isn’t suited for Rino though.」


  Rino flat out rejected Shirone’s idea.

  Both Rino and Reiji have a wide grin on their faces. They really are similar when it comes to this kind of stuff, huh.

  「PLEASE PLAY THIS ROLE FOR US, SHIRONE-SAMA!!!」


  Midas pleaded to Shirone.

  Shirone was slowly being overwhelmed by Midas’ sultry face.

  Despite trying to dump this request to someone else, Shirone didn’t seem to be able to abandon a troubled person.

  「You mustn’t force her, Midas leader.」


  A woman emerged from the members who were in the middle of rehearsal.

  At a glance, she was a beauty in the middle of her twenties. But, I knew that figure was only a fake.

  That woman was using magic to slightly alter her appearance. Her real age should be around the latter half of her thirties, or first half of her forties.

  A normal person wouldn’t be able to notice that fact but she wouldn’t be able to deceive our eyes.

  The subtle look on everyone’s face had convinced me about that fact.

  What is her name I wonder?

  「It’s not like we can postpone the play with our lead missing, Ainoe. I really think that we should ask Shirone-sama to help us.」


  「But still, you really shouldn’t force her, leader. Even if you say that Sienna is missing, I’m the one who played the role of the princess before her.」


  Such an exchange was happening in front of us.

  And then, I recalled something upon hearing the name of the woman.

  「You, could it be that you’re that great actress Ainoe-san?」


  I entered in between the two.

  Thereupon, the woman called Ainoe looked at me.

  The great actress Ainoe was a famous figure in the Republic of Ariadya. I heard that the majority of the middle-aged men of this country’s big shots were her fans.

  And then, she was also the one who played as princess Arfelia up until last year.