Gordon's heart skipped several beats.
Gordon had always been more skilled in music than in scheming, despite being a king.
So he didn't realize what was happening until he was bound hand and foot.
"Oh, oh~~~!"
Gordon understood Lindsey's plan and immediately began playing along in earnest.
"Oh, this is..."
"What a disgrace! What a humiliation! I, the King of Elegia, have carelessly fallen into the clutches of slave traders!"
"How tragic! Truly tragic!"
"All I want to do now is weep—"
Before he could finish his long-winded speech, Lindsey had already moved closer to Gordon.
With his hands tied, he nudged Gordon with an elbow.
"Did you come from the theater?"
"Musical theater."
Gordon corrected him.
Lindsey nodded in understanding and commented, "Performances onstage do need to be exaggerated. Otherwise, it's hard for the audience to feel the ebb and flow of the emotions."
"But in a medium or close shot, you need to focus on the details. The movements shouldn't be too big, or they'll look a little contrived."
"..."
Hearing such a professional critique, Gordon couldn't help feeling puzzled.
"Mr. Lindsey, are you an actor, too?"
"There are books in your library. I read a few pages, and I more or less got the hang of it."
"Oh!"
Gordon nodded, impressed without quite understanding why.
A dozen or so slave traders escorted the four of them deep into the forest.
At last, they stopped in front of a cave.
But instead of entering it, they turned toward a nearby thicket.
It turned out that the cave was only a decoy. The real "entrance" was at the end of the thicket: a small, inconspicuous hole!
They went inside and followed a staircase downward.
The four looked around and noticed many unusual things.
The passage was narrow, but