The tragedy Emile had come up with was forcibly rewritten into a happily-ever-after by the old man Finlan.
“Alright, alright, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and get off the stage.”
He waved us away, then suddenly his body lurched.
“…?”
Emile stared at him, puzzled, letting out a soft “huh.”
He awkwardly straightened up and smoothed his clothes.
“What? An old man’s not allowed to take a fall now? Hurry up and get off.”
He turned his back to us and clapped toward the audience.
“My dear spectators! It’s been ages since this old man last opened for business!”
Just that one simple greeting was enough to draw a roar of cheers, no weaker than when Emile swung that sword.
“Tch.”
Down in the stands, Emile spat viciously.
“He already built up his fanbase. It’s good enough if we can pull off even half of that.”
I patted her head to calm her down.
On stage, the old man Finlan was wrapped in a white robe from who-knows-where. His usually messy hair was now neat and tidy, and he actually looked a bit handsome and flamboyant.
He flipped his robe aside, revealing the same dashing, flashy long coat Nalesha had worn underneath.
“How did it go again? Right—welcome to the Ultimate Lab of the Mad Mage, my adorable little lab rats!”
“Ooooooh!!”
What were all these grannies and grandpas getting so hyped about…
Emile’s expression was getting stranger by the second.
“What’s wrong, Emile?”
She stared at the old man, brows knit tight, then shook her head.
“It’s nothing, probably…”
On stage, Finlan looked completely like a young idol. He struck exaggerated poses, circled the stage once, then pointed at the audience.
“Today, I’m only going to perform once.”
The crowd slowly quieted down, staring at him in confusion.
“Hey now, don’t look so let down. This is the ultimate trick I spent my whole life researching. I’ve promised it again and again, but I’ve never pulled it off.”
The old man sitting in front of Emile and me swallowed hard.
“Could it be… that one…”
“Grandma, if it’s only once, no matter how good it is, it’s not enough to watch, right?”
The young man who asked got smacked on the head with his grandma’s cane.
“What do you know? That’s a legend from our time.”
“Is it really that amazing…”
Half doubting, the young man turned back to stare at Finlan on stage.
Finlan laughed wildly and shouted,
“I used to be famous. I toured in different countries, was even summoned by royalty, but I never completed this trick—”
“I had the idea, but no strength left.”
“But now, I’m already half a foot in the coffin. So let me throw away these old bones and, in the truest sense, show my adorable little lab rats a miracle!”
“You all… still remember this move, don’t you?”
Finlan put his hands on his waist, balanced on the tip of one foot, and spun his whole body in a full 360-degree turn.
“This is the miracle the Frenzied Flower juggler can pull off without breaking a sweat!!!”
He pointed at the sky and enunciated each word:
“—Glory… Kaleido… Blaze…!!”
Brilliant light burst from all sides of the stage, igniting the audience’s passion in an instant.
“This old man’s lost it!”
Emile shot to her feet and tried to rush the stage, but a dry, withered hand pressed down on her shoulder.
The old lady Shia shook her head at her, eyes on the ever-brightening radiance on stage.
“Leave him be. This is the perfect ending for him.”
Staring at the old man’s arrogant grin, Emile silently clenched her hands, then sat back down.
—————————————————————
No one could say for sure what it was they saw that day.
Some would say they witnessed the birth of the universe. Others claimed they saw their lover’s cherry-pink lips. There were even those who told you they saw an entire world.
Their answers were all over the place, but one thing was certain: it was a feast.
Not just for the eyes and ears. It was a feast that swept through every sense a human could have—
With that one spell, Finlan offered the audience a whole world. A bizarre, misty, uncanny yet dazzling world, overflowing with fantasy.
The audience gazed at this world in rapt intoxication. And the one who created it quietly collapsed, without anyone noticing—
Well—
Guess… that’s the curtain call… huh?
