Drama, Part Two

Riyao chose the best viewing spot, directly facing the center of the stage, with a wide and unobstructed view.

Mirajane naturally sat down next to him, and the two of them simultaneously took out sunflower seeds from their pockets, their movements so synchronized as if they had rehearsed it.

Lyra took the stage first, her harp melody flowing like water, her voice melodious and beautiful, like celestial music drifting down from the heavens.

The audience was instantly captivated; some closed their eyes to listen, while others swayed gently to the rhythm. The entire theater was so quiet that only the singing and the lingering notes of the harp remained.

Yajima's lips curled into a slight smile, "That singing is so beautiful."

Even Bob and the others were full of praise. Bob rested his chin on his hands, revealing a rare expression of rapture.

"What a beautiful singing voice."

Riyao munched on sunflower seeds, nodded, and thought to himself that the Lyra was still played so beautifully; the opening performance alone was worth the ticket price.

Then, Erza.

She was dressed in a magnificent prince's robe, her cloak billowing, her boots gleaming, and a long sword at her waist; she exuded an aura of heroic spirit.

The moment she stepped out from behind the curtain, the entire audience was stunned. Some gasped, while others couldn't help but applaud.

But the next second, everyone fell silent.

Erza stood in the center of the stage, stiff as a log, unsure of what to do with her hands, her expression tense, and an unnatural smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

It looks like a smile, but more like a muscle spasm.

She opened her mouth, then stammered out her lines: "I... I am... Da... Da La Beng... Ba..."

Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, and the pauses in between were longer than the lines of dialogue.

Former space scout Bora tilted his head, looking puzzled. "Why is it so hard?"

The young Black man stroked his chin thoughtfully and commented, "It's probably meant to convey a certain feeling! It's an artistic technique!"

The Heimei crossed her arms, looking utterly confident, and solemnly announced, "This is the so-called Lameze Method, isn't it?"

The ever-sober-minded Bora rolled her eyes and mercilessly retorted, "No, you guys are just too biased."

Erza continued her stiff performance on stage, her movements frame by frame, like a PowerPoint presentation.

She raised her hand, paused for three seconds, lowered her hand, paused for another three seconds, turned her head, and paused for yet another three seconds.

The person was like a slow, old computer, with every movement noticeably delayed.

Mirajane was laughing so hard her stomach hurt. She leaned against Riyao's chest, her shoulders shaking, and she could barely hold onto the sunflower seeds.

"Make sure to record it clearly! We'll show it to Erza next time! Haha!"

With one arm around Mirajane to prevent her from laughing so hard she fell off her chair, and the other holding a crystal ball, Riyao chuckled as he pointed the camera at the stage and said, "I'm a professional, don't worry."

The crystal ball clearly recorded Erza's every stiff movement and expression, Riyao had already begun to conceive an editing plan in his mind.

Backstage, Lucy and the others could also see that Erza was too nervous.

Lucy held the script and flipped through it, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper as she ran her fingers over the lines, turning each page one by one.

"Erza's lines are still quite far in the story, where has she jumped to already?"

Happy, peering from behind the curtain, pinpointed Erza's problem on stage.

"She was so tense, it seemed like she wasn't breathing."

Indeed, Erza's face was flushed red, her lips were slightly purple, and the rise and fall of her chest was barely visible.

She completely forgot about breathing, focusing all her attention on "not making mistakes," and as a result, the more she tried to avoid mistakes, the more mistakes she made.

How nervous was she? Her Requip Magic went out of control.

Erza instinctively tried to Requip, but instead summoned ten weapons: longswords, battle axes, spears, and meteor hammers. Various weapons appeared out of thin air and whistled towards the audience.

The audience screamed and scattered, swords stuck in seats, battle axes clashed with pillars, and meteor hammers smashed through the floor; chaos reigned.

Yajima sat calmly in the audience, holding his teacup, watching a spear whiz past his head, and remarked detachedly, "These days, watching a play requires risking your life."

Makarov stared wide-eyed at Erza on the stage, his mouth agape enough to fit a fist.

Lucy and Gray exchanged a glance and rushed onto the stage to save the day.

Lucy dangles from the ceiling, Gray stands on the other side, and the two try to steer the plot back, but Erza is too stiff.

Lucy had no choice but to start reciting her lines in an attempt to steer the plot back on track, but her lines didn't match Erza's at all, leaving the audience completely confused.

"Hey, hey, hey, I don't understand this at all!"

What is this performance about?

Was the script changed at the last minute?

Seeing that the dialogue couldn't save the situation, Lucy quickly summoned Horologium, whose Horologium- space magic absorbed Erza.

After a few seconds in the space of the Horologium, Erza finally regained her breathing, and as if she had been rebooted, she regained her spirits.

She stepped out of the Horologium, took a deep breath, straightened her back, and stood back in the center of the stage.

Then they continued their awkward performance.

Mirajane laughed so hard she hiccuped, snuggling into Riyao's arms, tears streaming down her face, scattering sunflower seed shells all over the floor.

"Hiccup! Haha! Hiccup! Help! Hiccup!"

Riyao held Mirajane to keep her from falling, and laughed so hard his shoulders shook.

"Mira, watch out, hahaha."

The situation on stage has completely spiraled out of control.

Gray recited his lines, his expression as serious as if he were on a mission: "I'm going to summon Fire Dragon to destroy everything!"

Natsu, dressed in a comical Fire Dragon costume, was carried into the air by Happy, breathing real flames—not special effects, but real fire.

"I am the Fire Dragon that destroys everything!"

Flames spewed from Natsu's mouth, and a wave of heat hit them, startling the audience in the front row who shrank back, but then excitedly peeked out to watch.

The audience below watched in astonishment. Some thought it was special effects, while others could tell it was real fire. In any case, the effect was truly stunning.

What followed was complete chaos; the script became irrelevant, and they might even have forgotten what they wrote in the script itself.

Gray spoke to Erza in a tone so affectionate it was like a confession.

"We have no choice but to work together."

Erza replied, her expression as serious as if she were declaring war.

That's a good idea.

Lucy waved her hand, striking a cool pose. "Leave this to me! You guys get out of here!"

The audience members began to complain, and the noise grew louder and louder.

"Hey! Isn't this the Fire Dragon you summoned?!"

"No, aren't you a princess? What are you doing?!"

"You two just ran off like that, all fresh and beautiful? Aren't you going to save the princess?"

"What a terrible show!"

Bob, never one to shy away from drama, cupped his face in his hands and exclaimed excitedly, "Oh my gosh, they're eloping!"

Goldmine made a puzzling comment, his tone profound as if he were lecturing on philosophy. "That's the advantage of being young."

Riyao, listening from the side, shook his head, thinking to himself, "What is all this nonsense?"

The situation on stage became even more chaotic.

Happy couldn't hold Natsu anymore; Natsu was too heavy, and Happy couldn't support himself after a few flaps of his wings.

Natsu fell from mid-air, breathing fire, and the flames burned Lucy's skirt.

Lucy screamed as her skirt was burned through, and she frantically tried to put out the fire.

When Erza saw Lucy's skirt on fire, she instinctively rushed over, Requip her longsword, and swiftly chopped off the burning parts of Lucy's skirt.

The skirt was saved, but a large area was cut off.

Lucy's skirt was cut down to a small piece. She looked down and her face instantly turned red to her ears. She tried to cover her skirt with her hands, but she couldn't hide it at all.

The audience members blushed as they watched; some whistled, while others covered their children's eyes.

"Whoa whoa!"

Before Riyao could react, a pair of hands suddenly covered his eyes.

"Don't look!" Mirajane's voice came from behind, tinged with jealousy, but mostly with amusement.

With his eyes covered, Riyao could only continue holding the crystal ball by feel, muttering, "I'm recording a video, a professional video!"

"You're not allowed to watch the video either!"

The stage was in complete chaos.

Natsu was spewing fire everywhere, Gray was frantically creating ice, Erza nervously wielding her longsword, Lucy was running around clutching her skirt, and Happy was flying wildly through the air.

Flames and ice collided on the stage, steam filled the air, a longsword slashed across a pillar, leaving deep marks, and the entire theater teetered on the brink of collapse under the trio's onslaught.

With a loud crash, the theater completely collapsed.

Makarov emerged from the rubble, covered in dust and with a piece of broken brick on his head, his expression one of shock as if he had just experienced an earthquake.

"How so!?"

Yajima sat beside the ruins, calmly brushed the dust off his clothes, and sighed.

"Old Makarov, you should retire sooner rather than later."

Bob cupped his face in his hands, looking completely absorbed, as if he were admiring a work of art.

Fairy Tail is still as energetic as ever.

Goldmine nodded, his tone deep and serious.

Ah, youth.

Riyao crawled out of the ruins, dusted himself off, looked at the chaotic theater, and then at the few people on the stage who were still unaware of what had happened. He shook his head helplessly.

But to everyone's surprise, this disastrous performance actually excited the audience.

"Wow! That's amazing!"

"This is so exciting! It's more thrilling than watching any serious drama!"

"Fairy Tail truly lives up to its reputation!"

"Is there any more tomorrow?!"

Instead of demanding refunds, the audience members were as excited as if they had just watched a blockbuster movie, with some even clapping and cheering.

The dean crawled out of the rubble, looked at the enthusiastic crowd, his eyes darted around, and he immediately seized a business opportunity.

He kept Lucy and the others on the show, which continued with three shows a day, all of which were sold out and tickets were in high demand.

The audience spread the word that this was the most thrilling theatrical performance in the entire Kingdom of Fiore, bar none.

As for the compensation?

The director smiled and produced a bill listing the theater's maintenance costs; the figure was so large it made one dizzy.

"Let's pay the repair fee first."

Lucy stared at the bill, froze, then slowly squatted down and hugged her knees.

"My payment..."

Riyao, munching on sunflower seeds beside him, said gloatingly, "I told you, the performance would be even more tiring."

Lucy suddenly looked up and roared at Riyao, "Shut up, you scheming man!!"