episode_0041

A few days later, I disguised myself as the Phantom and went to Vanderbühne’s tent.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Phantom, the candidate for the Warrior of the Pen! I’m Fluffy, the leader of the Vanderbühne Traveling Troupe!”

“I know. Nice to meet you too, Captain.”

A Suin woman jumping up onto a chair to increase her height.

A pair of hares perks up their ears and reveal their prominent fangs.

She asked cheerfully, extending her arm to shake hands.

“Why did you come to me, a mere mercenary? The Vanderbühne are just a group of wandering people who are good at doing trivial puppet shows!”

“A trivial puppet show? You are being too humble, sir. Isn’t it safe to say that the quality of Vanderbühne’s plays is the best on the continent?”

“Hehehe, thank you for the compliment! Of course, we are proud of our jobs too!”

Click! Fluffy’s eyes light up as he touches the brim of his silk hat with a cute hand gesture.

“But I, Fluffy, am the manager in charge of one extreme! If you don’t act humbly, humans will hate you! We are a bunch of idiots made up of unpleasant creatures!”

She was definitely right about that part.

The leader, Fluffy, is a small beastman who is cute, but is discriminated against due to his small size and weak strength.

The members of the troupe are mainly from races that are not welcomed by human society, such as orcs, lizardmen, and arachne.

It must have been because of that that they had not been able to settle down anywhere even though they had many highly acclaimed puppeteers.

Although the Gakseol-ipae may welcome a brief visit to the village, most people would frown upon it and regard it as a detestable facility if it were to drive stakes in.

“Okay, back to the main topic! Why did the great writer Phantom want to meet me?”

“Why would a playwright want to meet the director of a theater company? Of course, he wants to create a work together.”

“Huh? Are you talking about the work?”

She asked vaguely, fiddling with the crystal on her staff with a puzzled expression.

“We are just a bunch of wanderers who perform short one-act plays! We can’t perform to a few-hour-long script written by the great writer Phantom!”

“That’s okay. What I want is a puppet show in the style of Vanderbühne.”

“What is this?”

“These are giant dolls that I would like to produce for the collaboration. Don’t worry, I will invest the cost. ”

Not my own money, but royal funds from my credit card ring.

While muttering like that, he handed over the design drawing he had quickly drawn in the dormitory.

This time, in collaboration with Vanderbühne, we will present a new work, , as a birthday present for Prince Wolfgang.

A rough sketch of the Great Old One, with the concept of an ‘ancient demon from outer space’ who was worshipped as an evil god by evil pagans before the spread of Christianity.

“Oh. A horror play based on a fictional ancient demon? It’s certainly interesting, but why would you do a play with such a monstrous subject? It doesn’t fit with the style of the Phantom writer I’ve been listening to!”

“I am a very challenging writer. Please understand that I am just being experimental. ”

In fact, many readers express disappointment after reading Lovecraft’s works, saying that they are not as scary as his reputation suggests.

This is because the general readers’ sense of fear is significantly different from that of the author, Howard Lovecraft.

Because it pursues fear from a heavy and suffocating ‘atmosphere’ rather than a sudden stimulus, it is bound to be a bit disappointing for the general public who are used to instant horror.

But that’s only the story when you read the Cthulhu Mythos in book form.

What if monsters like Cthulhu, Hastur, Dagon, and Bokrug appeared in gigantic forms, looking down on them while reciting an alien language?

‘… … Of course, that alone won’t make the Cthulhu Mythos 100% effective.’

If you want to create a sense of cosmic horror, you can’t just recite the story of a Lovecraft novel.

On the contrary, the only way to convey true Lovecraftian horror is to give the audience an ‘experience’ of actually experiencing the situation in the play.

So the first step of preparatory work is to prepare vivid visuals and an eerie yet dreamy stage production.

It was the role of the Vanderbühne troupe to realize this. Isn’t it obvious just by watching their grotesque shows that they are skilled at creating a creepy atmosphere?

“What do you think? Are you willing to seriously consider my proposal, Captain?”

Instead of answering right away, Fluffy just stared at my rough sketch for a long time.

How many minutes passed like that?

She smiled back and nodded.

“I don’t have to worry or be lazy! It’s an honor to be a candidate for the warrior of the pen, to participate in Phantom’s experiment! Hehe! ”

“Haha, I see.”

Look at how his fangs pop out every time he smiles. He really is cute, like a rabbit running around a field.

“By the way… … Are all the series of designs drawn by the Phantom artist based on his imagination? Or are there separate motifs?”

“Of course, I drew it purely from my imagination. I’ve liked weird things since I was little.”

“… … ”

“What are your thoughts? As a director who has specialized in various puppet shows? I would like to know the opinions of people in the same industry.”

Suddenly Fluffy wondered what he would think of this sketch, so he asked.

“What is the opinion of a fellow worker?”

“There is no need to be polite or to polish your expressions. I am also a person who has worked in the art world just like you. Honest opinions without any lies are absolutely necessary.”

“Honest opinion? Is it really okay?”

“I wonder if there is any. Please tell me your 100% sincerity.”

“Um, um… … ”

Fluffy, the rabbit who was thinking for a while and holding back his words.

She smiled innocently and answered in an innocent voice.

“If you can imagine something like this, I seriously recommend you be admitted to a psychiatric ward!”

… … Don’t be so serious, little mountain rabbit.

Actually, I can understand thinking that way.

The gloomy atmosphere of Lovecraft’s works stems from the unfortunate life he lived.

Not me, to be specific, but my parents were both admitted to a mental hospital and died.

“Okay! Follow me for a moment, Phantom!”

Then Fluffy rolled up the design into a scroll and said.

“If you want to discuss doll making, there’s someone else you should meet besides me!”

After a while, we reached the backyard of the tent following Fluffy.

I encountered the man in question in a shabby trailer parked next to the performance equipment.

A doll maker’s room filled with dolls of all sorts of strange appearances hanging in a heap.

Since Captain Fluffy just explained the situation and then quietly left, only the two of them were left.

“Pa, pa, pa, Phantom? Are you, really, the Phantom writer, as the captain said… … ?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right… … ”

“Wow, hoowaa!!”

Snap! A girl who instinctively grabbed my two hands and started breathing heavily.

Crimson eyes sparkled between her dark hair, which was disheveled in a gloomy manner.

“I, I, I, I, I’m a huge fan! I watch all your works without fail… … !”

“Oh, I see.”

“Oops! Sorry, sorry! I got excited without realizing it and… … !”

She quickly let go of my hand and stepped back, speaking in a languid tone that made even the listener lose strength.

“Ah, anyway, it’s an honor to meet you like this. T, especially this Farewell My Concubine was truly the best ever… … !”

“Nice to meet you. So, your name is Morgan Yang, right?”

“Oh, that’s right. Hehehe.”

Morgan, with a gloomy smile and dark-circled eyes, happily hanging down.

Although she is clearly a pretty girl, her unique, shabby and gloomy appearance completely ruins her beauty.

The girl, who appears to have the temperament of a hikikomori at first glance, is, according to Fluffy, an apprentice witch about to have her coming of age ceremony.

A fantastic show with no tricks at all. You said that the ‘genius’ inventor was in charge of developing the magical devices and equipment needed for it?

I heard that the witch class didn’t suit her, so she ran away from home and joined a traveling theater troupe.

It is said that Vanderbühne began to rapidly gain fame after Morgan, a genius inventor who loved art, joined.

She was originally a girl with a genuine grotesque otaku disposition, so she got along well with Vanderbühne and Code?

“But Miss Morgan. Isn’t Miss Morgan a member of the Vanderbühne, a traveling troupe? She must have been moving around here and there, so how did she manage to see all the plays performed in the capital?”

“Well, well, I’m a witch. I, I shared my senses with my crow servant and watched the performance from her perspective. Hehe.”

“A crow?”

“Ah! That, that doesn’t mean I secretly watched it for free! I, I asked my friend to bring the crow in! T, t, I always paid the ticket price by sending it to my friend! ”

“Okay, I understand. Calm down, Miss Morgan. First, can you take a look at this?”

After calming down the girl who was complaining that it wasn’t poison, he moved on to the main topic.

“You heard the explanation from Captain Fluffy earlier, right? What do you think? Do you think it’s possible to make the doll I want?”

“Um, this is… … hmm, hmm… … !”

Morgan takes the drawing paper and carefully looks through its contents.

Her pink gaze moved ceaselessly, examining the rough sketches and order details.

Did about 1~2 minutes pass like that?

“Sniff.”

“Huh?!”

Suddenly, tears welled up in Morgan’s eyes.

“Are you crying? Sorry! Did I do something wrong?”

“Oh, no! That’s not it, cool!”

Morgan wiped his eyes with a tissue and replied in a rather cheerful tone.

“So beautiful! Wow, I’ve met many horror artists over the years, but I’ve never seen such an original and captivating take on the demons of Hell!”

“Huh? You say it’s beautiful?”

“Da, when other people think of the devil, they can’t imagine anything more than a monster with skulls or goat horns… … The author’s imagination is truly beyond expectations! I’m really touched! This, this is not just art, it’s dark art that is hard to come by even once in a thousand years! ”

… … After all, an otaku is an otaku.

Seeing this, I feel so moved that I even cry. Is this the happiness of a so-called ‘sungdeok’?

“Oh! Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m speaking purely from an artistic standpoint. I’m not a devil worshiper, and anyway, my witch clan gave up devil worship a long time ago… … ”

“I don’t misunderstand like that. If you’re going to be so picky, then what am I, who drew this?”

“Ehehehe. That, that’s right too.”

The ‘witches’ of this world are blood relatives who have inherited mysterious sorcery passed down since ancient times.

Before the establishment of Cheonshinism, these people served as priests in tribal society in the form of shamanism.

At one time, they were implicated in devil worship and were subject to ‘witch hunts’, but that was at least a century ago.

He has now given up black magic and is focusing on making magical items and selling practical amulets, coexisting with the church to some extent.

“So? Is that possible? As you can see, the ‘Cthulhu’ entity that was included in the latter climax, in particular, had to be made much larger than the giant doll used in the play.”

“Me, me, it’s going to be a bit difficult… … The bigger the doll gets, the harder it is to move it delicately… … Oh, and also, for such a doll to appear, the tent would have to be bigger… … ”

“Don’t worry about that part. I already discussed the tent expansion with the manager on the way here. I’ll pay the cost in full.”

Of course, this time it was a credit card ring bestowed by the royal family.

This money is used to buy a birthday present for the prince, so I don’t think anyone would say anything.

“Well, then it’s definitely not impossible!”

Morgan grinned as he rolled up the paper again and tied it tightly with a purple ribbon.

“If it’s such a huge doll… …I wonder if it would be better to express the outer skin lightly with colored paper, and make the inner skeleton out of metal with a lightweight order?”

“Colored paper? Is it possible to express something realistic with something like that?”

“Of course! It’s not just regular colored paper, it’s magic paper with a witch’s spell, right? We can vividly recreate the wet and sticky texture and mysteriously shining scales that the artist wants! And if there are any awkward parts, the dull lighting will hide them all! ”

“Hmm. Interesting.”

For a while I chatted with the apprentice witch girl about making puppets.

As time passed and passed, I was about to roughly finish the story and leave the trailer.

“Okay, okay, author! Just a moment!”

Morgan handed me a bundle of writings that he had put together in a very crude manner.

“Ho, by any chance… … Before you go, could you please sign just one sheet of paper? On the cover of the book.”

“Of course, but what is this? The story of the red dragon and the blue dragon?”

When I asked about the strangely familiar title, she smiled sinisterly and said,

“Pae, it’s a fan fiction. Pae, a more beautiful reinterpretation of the twisted relationship between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang in Farewell My Concubine.”

“Fanfic?”

“The club I’m a member of made it. Of course, it’s not being distributed commercially, so don’t worry. It’s just being shared among members.”

I had heard related news before.

Theater lovers who follow the works of the Phantom.

Because the news that they were actively working together on secondary creations spread all the way to the academy.

But Morgan’s explanation felt a bit awkward.

A beautiful reinterpretation of the relationship between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang?

“Excuse me, but isn’t that the case? So, between men and men and stuff… … ”

“Huh?! I, absolutely not! Also, the people in the club do not pursue homosexuality, which is forbidden by the church!”

Morgan, who is disgusted and starts to squirm when asked, “Do you read BL novels?”

I was relieved at the claim that this was definitely not a fan fiction about camaraderie.

“Why, because! Here, Hang-woo appears as a woman!”

D.

“Ah, a man who rises like a weed no matter how much you trample on him! Princess Xiang Yu, who looked down on his breasts and made fun of them due to misandry, gradually begins to see him again, and little by little, she becomes obsessed with the Han king’s color!”

Deadet.

“That, and! Finally, in the Wujiang, Xiang Yu doesn’t die, but surrenders to Liu Bang, and his misandry is cured when he has his body and mind completely taken over by him! What do you think? Isn’t it a really beautiful happy ending with just a gender change?”

Oh my god. It’s not a BL drama, it’s a TS drama. And it’s a dark TS drama that involves Xiang Yu and Liu Bang.

Is the surrendered Xiang Yu (female) getting hit in the lower part by Liu Bang’s sword and shouting “Byu Ji, you’re third-rate-❤︎”?

How on earth did such a horrible hybrid come into being?

“Hehehe, Phantom Author… … Author’s autograph… … ”

About an hour after the playwright Phantom returns.

Morgan rolled around in bed, holding the fanfic he had signed in his arms.

It was truly a dream come true. Not only did I get to meet the great writer I admired, but I also got to get his autograph.

I will never lend this fanfic to anyone else.

I will just put it on display and pass it down as a family heirloom to future generations.

But what was truly exciting was the artistry of the Cthulhu Mythos blueprints Phantom had given her, and the creative inspiration and passion they had given her.

“Yeah! That’s it!”

Morgan jumped up and ran to his desk to begin writing down his ‘inspiration’.

“Hehe, ehehe… … ”

As she continued to stroke the pen, the girl’s pale cheeks began to turn a little red.

In fact, Witch Morgan’s side job is writing erotic novels.

He was a professional ‘commission’ artist who wrote cheap porn, also known as ‘blue cover’, and even drew the illustrations with care, and sold them to the black market.

And her specialty is the so-called minor genre of erotic fiction.

The main target group is the suspiciously wealthy water-lovers and paraphiliacs who fantasize about interbreeding with slime-like creatures.

Until recently, she had been fantasizing mainly about the rape of orcs, influenced by Vercingetorix in Julius Caesar.

But the appearance of the demons that just appeared in the opened my eyes to a new genre.

Something that has never existed in this world before.

However, I have a strong feeling that this dangerous arrival will definitely create a loyal customer base.

“Okay, this is it… …the sticky, warm, flexible, yet hard tentacles of monsters like krakens or giant man-eating plants! They grab the heroine and start to rip her apart, hehehe!”

Right now, I’m just organizing my ideas because I’m busy working with Phantom.

However, once the premiere of is over, I plan to polish and refine it and write it again.

… … In this way, Phantom’s ended up planting the seeds of madness in another world even before it was produced.

A terrible madness, also known as ‘tentacle stuff’.