Siltovis, the Baird Opera House.
The Premiere of Annan Potter and the Magic Stone was about to begin. Gentlemen and ladies carrying Invitation Letters filed in.
Wall Baird, owner of the Baird Opera House, grinned from ear to ear. Every guest who entered looked like a gleaming Gold Narl to him—
Then he spotted an uninvited visitor.
"Bero, I didn't know you had an Invitation Letter," Wall Baird called out deliberately.
"I'm here to see you." The owner of the Shali Grand Theater looked grim. "I didn't expect you to be as stupid as ever."
"Are you talking about the new Manor I bought?"
Wall Baird's smile made Bero want to plant his boot squarely in his face... but that wasn't why he had come today.
Bero sighed theatrically and gave him a pitying look. "You think you're the hunter? You're just a Fox that thinks it's clever! That Sorcerer is the hunter! How long has it been since your Opera House staged a performance?"
"Why would I stage one? I'd have to go to the trouble of hiring performers, advertising everywhere, currying favor with upstarts who can't appreciate art, and paying those greedy Actors a fortune! Now all I have to do is rent the venue to Mr. Annan, and I earn dozens of times what I used to!" The weight Wall Baird had put on over the past few months said it all.
"...Idiot!" Bero had to spell it out. "Everyone's gone to watch Magic Films. No one watches Opera anymore! He's going to swallow your Opera House whole!"
But Wall Baird wasn't actually an idiot. He knew why Bero had come. "I'm not worried. People still want to see Opera now and then. Your stage plays, though? They won't be so lucky."
"We'll see about that!" Bero