Evening.
After the rehearsal ended, the stage lights were temporarily switched off.
Staff in the square began replacing the props, while several workers climbed the rigging to readjust the colored lights for tomorrow's official performance.
The members of the song-and-dance troupe sat in twos and threes backstage, resting.
Some drank water.
Some wiped away sweat.
Others still quietly hummed the melodies from the rehearsal.
Uta took off her headphones and let out a soft breath.
She had sung that new song very seriously just now.
The seats below were still empty, without a single audience member, yet she could already picture the people who would wave glow sticks and call her name tomorrow.
They would laugh.
They would cry.
For a while, they would forget the war, the pirates, the hunger, and the pain of losing loved ones in the music.
That was what she wanted.
Even if reality remained cruel, at least her songs could give them a dream.
Even if it was only a fleeting dream.
Gordon stood nearby, watching Uta with a gentle tone.
"Are you tired?"
Uta shook her head and smiled again.
"I'm fine."
"A lot of people will come tomorrow. I need to stay in good condition."
Gordon's gaze softened slightly as he looked at her smile.
He knew that Uta had been trying hard all these years.
Trying hard to sing, to smile, to make herself seem no longer trapped by the past.
But some wounds could not vanish completely just because one knew the truth.
Just as Gordon was about to speak, his brow suddenly furrowed.
A burst of footsteps came from outside the camp.
The next moment, several Marine Branch soldiers stationed on the perimeter were silently taken down before they could even cry out for help.
Figures entered from the