Chapter 211: Wonderland – 14

Chapter 211: Wonderland – 14

In the Slagbrot Bakery Factory, there was a small three-story building that seemed out of place at first glance.

Although small in comparison to the factory’s size, it was larger than several houses combined.

The building exuded an atmosphere as if it was living in a different era.

Its architectural style was quite old-fashioned, and its exterior was quite worn out, despite having been renovated quite a long time ago.

Surrounded by the factory’s elegant buildings with graceful curves, the building looked even older than its actual age, seemingly out of place.

The descriptor of not fitting in didn’t just apply to its appearance.

Its purpose and location were also issues. It occupied a significant portion of the factory without serving any apparent function.

However, none of the factory workers questioned why the building was there.

That was because this place was where everything began for this company.

It used to be the pastry shop of a certain pastry chef before he became the owner.

Originally located on a different street, the pastry chef bought the building and moved it to this location.

Although the building was old and worn out, its interior was clean, thanks to the regular maintenance by the employees.

It was also the place where the rehearsal for “Fantasy 13” was taking place.

The 11 acrobats commissioned by the Marquis stayed here, dedicating themselves to the performance.

The Marquis’ soldiers guarded the building 24 hours a day, controlling access in and out.

No one was allowed to leave the building until he watched the premiere of the performance.

The Marquis did not want any information to leak out before then.

There were several attempts to break in, mostly unsuccessful.

However, one attempt almost succeeded.

Several journalists managed to sneak in by stealing the factory uniforms and pretending to be employees.

They managed to steal a portion of the script that was left unattended in the rehearsal room.

Fortunately, the suspicious behavior of the soldiers led to their capture, preventing the information from leaking out.

The public’s interest in “Fantasy 13” was explosive.

Newspapers devoted a whole page to the news every day.

Most of the news was repetitive, as there were no new revelations.

They speculated about the content of the play, questioned the authenticity of the script obtained by the Marquis, or condemned the Marquis’ monopolistic behaviour of owning cultural assets that should belong to all humanity.

Fortunately, there was little criticism of the acrobats invited by the Marquis, as there was no way to know what was happening inside.

Thanks to that, they could focus solely on preparing for the performance.

Before starting the actual rehearsal, they first selected a director.

No matter how good the script was and how talented the actors were, without someone to coordinate the entire stage, the performance would face difficulties.

“I’ll take charge. Any objections?”

Lord Fantastic shamelessly volunteered himself.

No one objected to him.

He was capable enough.

There was no one here with as much experience in leading such a diverse group of acrobats.

As with Christian’s other works, “Fantasy 13” had several experimental elements.

First, there were only six actors on stage, including the protagonist and the acrobats.

The other characters were represented by puppets, panels, shadows, etc. They were not only ambiguous or exaggerated in form but also had no lines.

“Oh, I see.”

“A court jester. Isn’t that too much for such a little kid?”

“Do you not like my suggestion?”

The dialogue between them and the protagonist was only progressed through the protagonist’s lines.

The audience could infer what the other character said through his reaction.

At first glance, it seemed like it would confuse the audience, but Christian cleverly arranged the dialogue, so the audience could naturally feel what the other person said.

Watching the rehearsal, admiration naturally flowed.

At the same time, in some parts, he deliberately laid the dialogue with ambiguity to provoke the audience’s misunderstanding and give them laughter.

Another peculiar point was that the script was dynamically structured.

The five acrobats could take on different characters.

Each acrobat could be the heir to the throne, an assassin, an ambitious person, an apprentice court jester, or the head of a poor family.

Maya, who had never been on stage before, was one of them.

She, a graduate of the Castya Magic Academy, skilfully handled even difficult techniques, and she memorized the lines and instructions perfectly after seeing them once.

The problem was her acting skills.

Although she took on the role of ‘assassin,’ which had the least emotional expression among the five, she struggled to express it.

Her movements were stiff like wood, and her voice was always cold and blunt in any situation.

It was to the point that it not only broke the immersion of the audience but also of the people acting with her.

In the end, the experienced Lord Fantastic came up with a trump card.

“I’ll use one of my Inspira.”

[Mime in the Mirror]

One of his four inspirations, which allows him to imitate the opponent’s every move, or make the opponent imitate his every move.

When Maya stepped onto the stage, he decided to use the Mime in the Mirror on her to let him act himself.

And Arno decided to implement the ‘Fantastic Vocal Cords’ to reproduce his voice.

“To be precise, it’s our Assistant-Director’s skill.”

He muttered as if excusing himself for something no one had asked.

“Wow, so this was the secret of the ‘Voice’? Maya, do you think you can do it too?”

“If I study it.”

So, leaving the movements and voice to the two, she decided to focus on acrobatics.

Many scenes of the play required one-person acts against silent objects.

So, it was convenient for them to practice separately.

Hopps was in charge of the shadows, dolls, and panels, which were their counterparts.

In the process of practicing the ground skills, he wore a doll mask and did it, so he was very good at that role.

His expressions were so noticeable in the plywood pictures that sometimes they could even convey messages.

“....”

“Can you bring me some water?”

The figure drawn on the board nodded.

The role distribution was finalized with Minova.

“What should I do?”

Simon smiled, as if waiting for Wonderstein’s question, and replied, “There’s one thing. It’s not related to the stage, but it’s important. It’s helping everyone from behind.”

The Director assigned him to handle odd jobs.

It had to be seen as intentional torment.

Giving such petty tasks to someone who was a Director was insulting.

“Go and mop the floor.”

“Hey, didn’t I tell you to move this luggage before breakfast?”

It was like this.

Ella resisted strongly, but Wonderstein accepted it humbly.

After all, someone had to do the job in the courtyard where access by other personnel was prohibited.

Ironically, Ella, who had expressed so much dissatisfaction at first, was the one who was bossing him around the most later on.

“Director, give me a shoulder massage!”

“Yes, coming.”

“Director, let’s go to the rooftop and feel the breeze!”

“Yes, yes, I got it.”

It wasn’t so bad.

He had been bossed around by her more than anyone else so far.

Above all, her intention to preserve her dignity by appealing that this was something that happened routinely in our circus troupe was felt.

Everyone was faithful to their roles.

On the 10th day, they were ready to show the stage to the Marquis.

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Chapter 210: Wonderland – 13