"Land of Wonders"

Night arrived right on schedule.

Ordinarily, the farmers would give themselves a cursory wash, then curl up with their plump, rough-skinned wives and sleep soundly.

If there had not been much farmwork that day, they might even put in a little extra plowing to increase the family's workforce.

Today, however, their young master of Azan had summoned them. He had even sent that adorable Rabbitfolk boy to notify their village chiefs early that morning.

Everyone had plenty of free time in the evenings. Otherwise, their original single village would never have grown into five scattered villages.

Two hundred people had been summoned, forty from each village.

When nobles elsewhere conscripted farmers, it was always to build castles or some other structure, all unpaid labor without so much as a copper coin in return.

Every summons brought groans and complaints from the farmers, but the nobles held absolute power. No one dared rebel; they only dared grumble.

Things were different in Azan, though.

Ever since Lin Ke had learned to walk and talk, he had never imposed such burdens on the people, so praise for him could be heard throughout the villages.

Even Garros had done nothing of the sort apart from building Azan Castle.

"But our young master of Azan is going to become just like those other nobles..."

Some village elders sighed.

Everyone knew that those greedy, pleasure-loving nobles liked nothing better than making farmers build this and that.

And so, unsettled by the elders' words, the farmers arrived here that evening.

Most of these two hundred farmers were young or middle-aged men, with the occasional broad-shouldered, thick-waisted woman among them.

The village elders had assumed they were being summoned for manual labor, so they had sent the strongest people.

Ahead of the farmers stood a "room" with a roof supported by wooden pillars, filled with seats.

At the very front of this room was a wooden platform, flanked by walls of stacked stones and covered by a wooden roof.

A narrow stretch of lawn separated the wooden platform from the "room."

"Land... Land of Oddities?"

One farmer seemed to know a little about reading, though only a little.

The servants of Azan Castle led them to the front of the "room," where four characters were written above the spacious structure.

"Welcome, audience members, to the Land of Wonders!"

Suddenly, an excited but somewhat youthful voice rang out, and the farmers turned toward it.

Three or four beams of white light abruptly shone from a tripod above the wooden platform, piercing the evening darkness and illuminating a little boy with black hair and black eyes.

John.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats as soon as possible!"

Dressed in his fiery-red servant's uniform, John sounded incredibly excited. There was not a trace of hesitation or embarrassment in him, nothing like the little boy he usually was.

"Is... is he talking about us?"

A young man in coarse linen clothes looked confused.

He was not alone. All two hundred or so farmers were puzzled.

"That's right, you! The ladies and gentlemen from Azan's five villages!"

Standing at the front of the stage, John pointed the straight wooden stick in his hand at the farmers, then at the seats in the audience area.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats!"

Only then did the farmers shuffle forward and sit down.

The audience area was lit only by dim torches, while numerous Servants of Truth illuminated the stage, making it brilliantly bright.

"Today, our future King of Azan-Young Master Lin Ke-has introduced an entirely new form of entertainment for the people of Azan, and invited two hundred ladies and gentlemen to experience it as our very first audience..."

Brimming with confidence, John delivered the words written on the parchment in his hand with great flair, quickly capturing the farmers' attention.

Up above the clouds, Lin Ke nodded in satisfaction and said to Ove beside him, "Teacher, some low-level spells are actually quite useful, like this Courage Spell and Exhilaration Spell."

He pointed at John below.

He was secretly amused. Once the magic wears off, John will probably die of embarrassment.

"Yes, magic has always been very practical."

John's words had caught Ove's attention. As he listened, he instructed Lin Ke.

"Even after becoming Professionals, we mustn't limit ourselves to using skills alone. We should employ both magic and skills flexibly..."

Then Ove changed tack. "...But energy and time are more precious than merfolk root. You must allocate them wisely. Skills are a Professional's primary source of power; magic is merely supplementary."

Lin Ke nodded gently, then glanced at a dark stone beside them and asked, "Teacher, the recordings in this Image Recording Stone really can be cut and edited afterward, right?"

Ove confirmed that they could, which left Lin Ke a little excited.

An Image Recording Stone!

Now he had a way to make movies and television series!

Then he looked down at the stage. "Teacher, the first act is starting!"

"...Next is our first act, the play The Coiled Serpent Ring! Please welcome Group One of the Azan Drama Troupe!"

John's voice blazed with passion, and he left the stage once he finished speaking.

Next, people dressed in all sorts of costumes came onstage and began to perform.

The farmers in the audience were still a little confused, unsure what "performing" meant.

But they had already put their anxiety and worries aside.

John had just told them that all they had to do tonight was sit here and watch the people up front perform! ...That was the gist of it, anyway.

So they relaxed.

And once they relaxed, naturally, they chatted, bragged, and shot the breeze with their neighbors.

"Our young master of Azan is still just as kind as he was when he was little!"

"That's right! I thought we'd have to dig ditches like slaves, just like the bards talk about!"

"Exactly! Huh, look at that poor fellow. His engagement got broken off. That's a real disgrace for noble lords, isn't it?"

"But her teacher is a Heavenly-Tier Legend... that's a being even greater than a god."

"And they even have their own private plane. Incredible..."

With more than two hundred people talking, the noise was tremendous.

But as the story unfolded onstage, fewer and fewer people kept talking.

They had all been drawn into the plot.

"...I, Xiao Leisi, will wash away this humiliation!"

"...You're the daughter of a planar ruler, a high noble, while I'm only a minor noble."

"But I'm still a noble, and I have my dignity!"

"...I swear I'll go to the plane where my fiancée lives and cast her aside!"

Onstage, a youth stood at the very center, raising his fist high and giving voice to his defiance.

A closer look would have revealed that his arm was trembling slightly.

He seemed very nervous, and his voice trembled too, but the farmers noticed none of that. Their attention was entirely on the story.

"That's right! Cast her aside!"

"She's a wicked woman!"

Several farmers could not help shouting. If John had not told them at the beginning that they must stay in the audience area, they looked ready to go up and beat that fiancée themselves.

Next, the youth accidentally discovered a "Coiled Serpent Ring" inside his family's little castle.

"...Hello, little fellow. I was once a god..." An elderly servant came onstage dressed entirely in white.

At those words, everyone gasped.

A god?!

A god had come to Azan?!

P.S. It really is the last day! What a waste to leave those monthly votes sitting unused! Hurry and give them to me, hehe~

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