The eyes of the children were focused on John, who was standing in the church. And the thoughts of the main characters looking at him were different.
I thought of Sabaki as someone who liked installation, and thought of Jackal as someone I had to recruit. Adrine thought that this might be the first bible God presented to the world, and Evangeles doubted that this was really the Johann Espertz he had known. And Ida thought, ‘As expected, he’s my man’.
Johan calmly took their gazes and glanced over the homework he had submitted. I don’t remember the moment I wrote it because I wrote it through [Auto Skip], but the style, rhetoric, and expressions that I mainly use remained sparse.
Shakespeare’s tragic love story between a man and a woman born into enemy families.
Perhaps it resembles the plot he had when he made this game, ‘Death in love’.
After a while, instead of reading them, John closed the notebook. And he said it in a calm voice.
“I’m sorry, but I’d like to put the script on hold.”
The literature teacher tilted his head. Often, there are children who are shy about giving presentations. However, the literature teacher did not get the feeling of embarrassment from John’s expression, attitude, or tone.
“I don’t think I’m very shy.”
“Rather than feeling ashamed, it is because I don’t like the story being leaked before the performance. And unless it’s written as a read-aloud play, even as children, just listening to the script will be boring… So instead, I’m going to announce something else.”
The literature teacher was interested in John’s words. It was thanks to John’s speech skills that aroused curiosity.
“What do you want to announce?”
“Nothing else… When I was writing this article, I had the roles for this play marked out in advance.”
“casting?”
“yes. I imagined the characters in the script through former students. So, I have never thought of, nor do I want to consider, other roles. If you allow this, I will do my best to make a performance.”
Sighs and admiration escaped from among the children. The literature teacher said with a light blush on his face.
“Let me take responsibility and support the role. Yes, announce it.”
“All right. First, Juliet.”
John stopped talking for a moment, and the whispering children’s voices died down again. John was content with this stillness. He told the literature teacher about the role, but Yohan planned to raise expectations by properly mixing the story with the introduction of the character.
“Juliet is a beautiful 13-year-old girl, the daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet. He is the most important character in this play. She never thought about love and marriage, but one day she sees a boy and falls in love.”
John’s eyes turned to the blonde-haired girl.
“I wrote this part imagining Miss Adrine Violet.”
“under! indeed!”
The literature teacher who had just read the story clapped loudly. A sigh came from the children.
“Wow. From the start, it is an eye-catching casting.”
“Isn’t he the one who withdrew from the election for the school year president?”
“right. I was originally going to take a picture of him.”
“But weren’t he and John like that? I heard that the two of you just hugged on the march?”
Of course, the voices of the children who spat out as if they didn’t care if they could be heard reached Adrinne’s ears as well. During the election for the school year president, her cheeks blushed as she had never been intimidated even in front of the entire school. As if they had uncovered something important.
Adrine shrugged her shoulders and said.
“Hey, hey, sir? I… .”
“Your Excellence. you are juliet John? Keep announcing.”
Adrine did something she wouldn’t normally do. He grabbed his blonde hair tightly. Perhaps she lived her life like a play, but she had never been on the stage.
John continued to announce.
“Romeo is next. This is the character she will fall in love with.”
The children’s eyes fell on John without mercy. And especially the boys’ eyes seemed to contain some kind of will.
‘Could it be me?’
‘You’re not saying you’re going to do it yourself, are you?’
‘You are a writer! It’s against the law for you to even learn!’
etc.
And John said without hesitation in their eyes.
“Romeo. He is a young man of sixteen, the son and heir of Montague and Lady Montague. His ideals and passion bring the play to its climax.”
The next moment, the one who received John’s gaze was startled. It was something that the parties could not have imagined.
“This Romeo’s role is the Jackal Frodo.”
Before long, John felt the smell of death. Needless to say, it flowed from Sabaki.
But as for John, he could never give up on this role. Adrine and Jackal.
The relationship between the two is a major indicator that determines the success or failure of the true ending route in the future. And preparing for the performance was a good opportunity to raise each other’s affinity.
The rain continued to fall. Even at this time, Kirov would be preparing a massive terror attack on the academy, expanding his magical influence through water.
She is the one who decides when the terror begins anyway.
The later the event starts, the more thorough her preparations are, which means the difficulty of attacking her goes up.
But John was not discouraged.
‘If I run away one step, I just need to follow two steps.’
John decided to prepare as much as he could.
He silently accepts the death of a southern prosecutor and continues to announce his role.
***
The casting announcement is over. It was a composition with all the main characters.
Evangeles became Lawrence the Monk, and Savacchi became Mercutio, Romeo’s friend. And Ida became Juliet’s maid. And the Mubartrigger was assigned to Benvolio, Romeo’s cousin.
“With this, all the roles have been decided.”
John was satisfied with his composition. However, none of the main characters could sympathize with Yohan’s satisfaction. In particular, Jackal’s dissatisfaction was not even in the role itself.
“Are you trying to make me look like a clown?”
He was the eldest son of the Frodo family. Besides, he is still in a cast due to an unfortunate accident that happened at a recent performance.
It was close to an insult to make such a person the main character of the play.
So do others. Adrinne had no desire to be famous for her beauty, and Ida, the head of the school year, was dumbfounded thinking, ‘How can I be a maid instead of a heroine?’
The literature teacher looked around at the children Yohan called out and nodded.
“I will copy John’s script and distribute it. Those who are dissatisfied with participating in a role or performance should come directly to the dean’s office and make a suggestion.”
Of course, this does not mean that you should come here to make suggestions. It is beyond rudeness to go to the dean of the academy with the teacher’s permission during class.
“Today’s class will end early. Yohan can choose the number of people he needs and look at the preparations needed for the performance in advance.”
The literature teacher took John’s notes back and continued.
“As of today, the auditorium will be open to performers, and if you need to practice at night, I’ll arrange for you to use it after the roll call. Until the play, think that John is your teacher. Let’s all follow John’s words and put on a great performance. I’ll look forward to it… Everyone, you did a good job handing in your homework today.”
In the early ending of the literature teacher, it was because I wanted to read John’s script again quietly. He was confident as a scholar. The homework submitted by Johann Esperts was a play script that would become a masterpiece representing this era.
The children ran out of the classroom chattering about what had happened in class.
And as promised, all the main characters came to John.
“it’s crazy?”
“You wanna die.”
“I would like to hear an explanation.”
“To go to a play without prior consent?”
“Brother, why am I a maid?”
For now, Yohan made up his mind to start with the easy-to-manage order. He whispered in Ida’s ear.
“After roll call, see you in the auditorium.”
“Why am I a maid?”
“Because even a play can’t make you fall in love with another man.”
Ida looked at John with a blank expression for a moment. Then she blushed and nodded.
Then John looked at the jackal. There was a bar where he was pretending to be the son of this great family through a circus performance. For him, being nominated to participate in a performance in person can’t be a pleasant thing.
“You’d like to hear an explanation.”
“Of course. More than anything, if I went to a show like this, it would be like advertising that I’m an asshole. I haven’t read the script yet.”
“I will take the time to explain myself.”
As for John, there was a reason he was cast as the main character. Although the main characters were gathered through a literature teacher, the preparation period for the performance had to be as long as possible. That’s why the patient needed it.
“Explain, you’ll have to do it right.”
“I get it.”
After meeting Sabaki’s eyes, Yohan lost some courage. The fact that the sword was not held in the hands of a swordsman with a low balance breakdown level was not important. Sabaki is a guy who can beat everyone here like a dog with just a broom in the classroom.
Johan put off talking to him for the time being and spoke to Adrine.
“Adrine. I’ll give you 2 hours. You want to go out with me.”
“… Are you going out?”
At the word going out, Adrine was nervous. John had made the same suggestion before. And at that time, Johann, Adrinne, and Hoan entered the magical space of the Clock Tower.
Johann added, looking at Adrine’s hardened expression.
“Your literature teacher just said that. Check out the preparations for the performance in advance. It seems that you, who are well versed in the water, will be of great help.”
Adrine immediately knew that John’s words were lies. There is no way that she, who has lived in the court for a long time, is well-versed in the world. And that curiosity touched her. As for her, she was interested in the actions that the incarnated god John would take.
“It is. Where can I meet you?”
“I’m going to hit the strike force at the parade ground.”
“… Yeah? You mean in this rain?”
“I think it must be lucky.”
“What are you talking about? Everything is lucky.”
The last one to spit out was Evangeles. The sound of ‘catch a cold or not’ was added in a muffled tone.
In a somewhat tense atmosphere, Evangeles and Mubartrigger stared at me with similar eyes and walked away. On the other hand, Sabaki had been giving me a more bloody look from the moment I nominated Adrine on the pretext of looking at the preparations for the performance.
The bleakness that gives you the feeling that you might die from being stabbed in the eyes.
John bowed to everyone and left the classroom to get out of the bleakness. The rain that was still falling obscured the view, but the clock on the clock tower was clearly visible.
In the first place, it was not a physical building, but a symbol created by magic. In the Empire, the time indicated by that clock is called ‘Frantimo Mean Time’.
3:23 p.m.
It will be around 5:30 when I meet Adrinne again.
John walked towards the batting range. The sound of raindrops falling on the raincoat, saying ‘Crunch’, was becoming louder and louder. Before the events leading from [Chief Kirov] to [Witch Hunt], John wanted to do his best to prepare.