Chapter 191: Prima Donna (3)

The Black Witch and the Paladin united as if they had never argued before.

“Death King, please let us participate in this performance.”

“It’s been a long time since I stopped composing music, but I still remember a lot of songs. I’ll incorporate songs from our world. Woah, just imagining it feels...”

Why were they so enthusiastic? Their eyes were sparkling so bright. Well, I was starting to feel a little distant from them.

“The music you made is really great, but if you put me in charge—no, just let me assist you. Trust me, your music will sound

so

much better.”

“I’ll take charge of the story. Since this is a dance drama, should I call myself a director rather than a writer? Chief director? Hmm, since this is a new form of art, I guess we need a new name for the position.”

I took a deep breath to calm down to some extent. My head still tingled from the previous cringe compilation. “Okay, if the play goes up in quality thanks to your guys’ input, that would make me very happy. After all, this is the cultural heritage that will become the blood and flesh of my Terra children...”

The Black Witch smiled just as warmly as the sunset on a watercolor painting. “Yeah, that’s what I like about you.”

“What?”

Was she going to bombard me with compliments again? I looked at the Black Witch with wary eyes.

She giggled. “You always reap the rewards after deciding on the best course of action.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It means you make the flag stand first then put sand around it. When I watch you from the side, it seems you’re walking on a tightrope but, well, I’m sure your soulmate will take care of it.”

What a puzzling statement.

The Black Witch laughed again, most likely prompted by my bewildered expression. “Forget it. Let’s just decide on a name for your guild.”

“That’s a good idea,” the Paladin agreed. “Names are important.”

“Hmm, from what I remember, there are really only a handful of music guilds registered in Ascension City. There are probably about... thirty jazz guilds?”

“Twenty-six. One music guild is a chamber orchestra, and eleven are quartet bands. Considering the inactive guilds, there are about fifty in total, give or take. Even then, most of the guild members are also part of other guilds.”

The Black Witch sighed. “The Tower’s field of art is really shabby... Can you think of a good name?”

“Not really,” I said with a shrug.

Oh.

“Wait. How about Troupe Raviel? It sounds perfect.”

“

Hmm

, I can’t really think of a good name...”

“Choosing a name is actually quite difficult.”

“What about Black Dragon?”

“That’s lame. What about Order Watch?”

Wow, did they just completely ignore my input? It seemed so natural for them that I almost didn’t even notice I was being ignored. I pouted. “

The sound of Raviel

sounds pretty good to me...”

“If you keep doing that, we’ll name the guild Troupe Kim Gong-Ja.”

“Come on, guys. Let’s be serious for a second here.”

The three of us put our heads together and pondered. Several proposals were made. Tomorrow, Silence, Babel, Aura...

As the naming meeting seemed to drag on endlessly, the Black Witch finally concluded, “This won’t work. In cases like this, the standard move is to use the names of the founding members. Black Dragon Master, Paladin, and Death King. Let’s make something that sounds legitimate using all our names.”

“Can we do that?”

“Yes, you can use your language as the base, Death King. You’re the founder, so you should have this much.”

The Black Witch asked me various questions about the language of my homeland. The three of us spoke Ukrainian, Spanish, and Korean respectively. We needed to ask each other what our titles actually sounded like. Thankfully, the Tower had the ability to translate what we said automatically.

After hearing my explanation, the Black Witch nodded. “Good. Let’s use ‘Black’ from Black Dragon, 'Paladin’ from Paladin, and ‘King’ from Death King. We can call the guild the Black Paladin King[1].”

I felt numb as a chill ran down my spine. I tapped my colleague and best friend on the shoulder and told her, “Black Dragon Master, take a look at my hands.”

“Okay, why?”

“That name sounds so cringe that I can’t unclench my fists anymore[2]. Please have mercy on my hands.”

“Oh. Well, that shouldn’t be an issue.”

The Black Witch grabbed my fingers and bent them in the opposite direction.

“

Aaaaaaah!

”

“Are you good now?”

“Hell no!” I jumped up. “What kind of troupe’s name is Black Paladin King? It sounds embarrassing!”

“Your title is Death King. The king of death. I’m really sorry to say this, but are you still capable of feeling embarrassed?”

“You’re the last one to talk, Black Dragon Master!”

“Don’t say it like that! Your tone makes it sound weird!” The Black Witch grabbed me by the collar. “Do you have a death wish?”

“You’re the one who started this, Black Dragon Master!”

“Stop talking! Besides, my title is translated as Queen to British people, not Master![3]”

“

Ah

, so you’re the Black Dragon Queen, not the Black Dragon Master. Goooood for you. So it can be abbreviated to BDQ[4]? Hey, are you gonna deliver me fried chicken if I place an order?”

“Okay, fine, then it’s decided. The name of the guild will be Troupe Kim Gong-Ja.”

“Black Paladin King sounds so cool,” I exclaimed. “The name alone makes it sound sophisticated. It’s really catchy, so I believe that there is no better candidate for the name of a troupe. Just as expected from you, Black Dragon Master. Not only is your guild the best in the Tower, but you have the best ideas for names.

Black Paladin King. Good. Let’s go with the Black Paladin King.”

“You could have yielded sooner.”

The Paladin offered a strangely bitter smile as she watched us bicker. Her merfolk tail softly rippled on the surface of the bathtub water. “You guys get along really well... It’s surprising.”

This was the beginning of Troupe Black Paladin King. I served as the guild leader, while the Black Witch and the Paladin were going to be my assistant guild leaders. The Rank 2, 3, and 7 Hunters had joined forces to create a guild. What an unprecedented legendary combination.

It’s an art guild, of all things.

The corners of my mouth went up. There would probably be an uproar once the guild was officially announced. I, too, was starting to have fun.

“I wonder how people will react,” I said in a quiet voice.

The Black Witch grinned like a mischievous child. Even though she looked like an old vampire, the impish smile suited her. “Right? I guarantee a lot of people will flip out. Oh, let’s keep this a secret from the other Hunters too. Let’s invite Old Man Sword Star when we hold our first performance later. I wonder how he’ll react.”

Suddenly, I wanted to see the Black Witch smiling the same way in her actual body. I didn’t know why, but I thought her smile would be wonderful.

I smiled back. “Good. That’s a good idea.”

We talked all night about the next performance,

Raviel and Kekerukker

. Following the Black Witch’s suggestion that the title was too bland, we changed the name of the performance to

Silver Heart

.

“The main character must be the Duke of Ivansia. There’s only one way we can get the ball rolling with this play. Rather than introducing multiple side characters, let’s depict her psychological changes through the choreography.”

“We’ll need to portray the moment she falls in love in a very dramatical way. Let’s use the ballroom as the stage background and place tons of fresh white flowers on the floor, then have the actors dance on them.”

The Black Witch clapped. “

Oh

, that would be so pretty!”

We were all very excited. Several empty bottles of wine were lying around us. Despite being in the middle of a meeting, we didn’t shy away from drinking.

“

Hmm.

The moment she falls in love, the flowers that the duke steps on will change from white to red. One, two, three flowers... Like red stepping stones on a white sea. The Death King will only step on the flowers that have turned red and use them to cross the sea to the duke.”

The Black Witch stood up. “That’s it. We have to try this right now! I love this idea so much! ”

“Can we really? There is no flower shop nearby.”

“We can just teleport and pick some. Let’s go!”

The Black Witch and I entered the Paladin’s bathtub and held each other’s hands, teleporting... somewhere. We didn’t know where we were going, but it didn’t matter. Anywhere that had blooming white flowers was good.

We measured the foot of the mountain and traced the scent of the flowers. Under the night sky, fragrant yellow flowers were spread over the valley. On the mountain ridges, there were purple flowers, but we were looking strictly for white ones. The night air kept making us laugh for no reason.

I feel good.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

I couldn’t control the laughter bubbling from my throat because of how drunk I was.

“Are you guys aware that we’re flying in the sky in a bathtub right now?”

“Instead of a flying carpet, we have a flying bathtub. Humans originate from the sea after all...”

“You’re out of your mind...”

“We’re so drunk. This is a problem. When people from the Tower see this...”

We landed in a flower field. When we looked down, all we saw were white flowers in full bloom. As soon as we landed on the flower field, the Black Witch quickly climbed out of the bathtub and took off her shoes. “This place will do, Death King!”

“

Haha,

” the Paladin giggled.

“You laugh like a jester, Paladin!”

She smiled, as if she couldn’t help herself. “Yeah I do.”

After a moment she raised her callused hands, then dropped them slowly. The Paladin remained expressionless as her fingertips touched the air.

━━━━♪.

Alluring sounds stirred the night air.

━━♪, ━━━♪.

She tapped the air as if playing an invisible piano. The petals of the flowers around her trembled. Every time her long fingers touched the air, her aura vibrated in the night sky.

“I knew it! You haven’t become rusty yet!” the Black Witch laughed boisterously.

“Be quiet.”

“Seriously, your lover is too possessive.”

“Why are you still talking?”

The melody became more intense. The sound of the piano drowned out the Black Witch’s voice. Our chatter subsided and only the Black Witch’s laughter could be heard over the melody.

“Idiot! It’s been so long since you played Libertango!”

The Black Witch stepped on a white flower with her bare feet, turning the petals black upon having contact with them.

━━♪, ━━♪, ━━━━♪.

The Paladin’s hands stirred the night sky. The Black Witch’s small toenails scratched the petals. The hurt flowers released black paint, colored aura, as if they were bleeding. The Black Witch’s dance followed the Paladin’s melody. Every hand gesture from Paladin guided the Black Witch into the next step. Soon, her black footprints dotted the white flower field.

“Death King!”

I was laughing like a fool. “It’s so pretty...”

“You’re silly!”

“I like white...”

“Ah, you idiot, slow down the tempo!” the Black Witch snapped at the Paladin.

“Be quiet.”

Our laughter, music, and footsteps melted away. Sometimes they were connected, other times they were not. We were like three children drawing dots of the night sky on white paper. The Paladin was humming.

“I love our Tower!” the Black Witch laughed, intoxicated by the dance. “I wish it showed up a little earlier. Maybe my father would still be alive if that were the case...”

“I like our Tower too,” I said.

“Don’t be late, Death King.”

The scent of black flowers was dizzying.

“Never be late.”

“Right.”

“We can live a good life, right?”

“Yes.”

“I want to be happy forever...”

“Me too. Let’s be friends forever.”

“Let’s!”

“Everything will be fine.”

The Black Witch grabbed my hand. “Let’s dance, Gong-Ja.”

If life was a game, perhaps our purpose was to find playmates.

We spun around as we danced. The white land that the Black Witch stepped on was now painted black. The petals that I crushed under my feet turned red, very red. Black and red ripples were left behind on the path we danced on, turning the white flower garden into a mix of black and red.

━━━♪.

The Paladin continued playing her melody and hummed in a quiet voice, “Lascia ch’io pianga mia cruda sorte, e che sospiri la libertà... E che sospiri la libertà...”

The Tower decided not to translate the lyrics to the Paladin’s song. They just let it become one with the night air. It felt as if the three of us were alone in the dead of night. We bewitched the white flowers and they bewitched us back until we collapsed on the bed of flowers.

It wasn’t until broad daylight that I woke up. The sunlight was dazzling. The Paladin lay in the bathtub, her gills fluttering, while the Black Witch was fast asleep with her nose buried in the flower field. These were the most classic endings of completely wasted drunkards.

“

Ugh...

” I stood up, clutching my aching head. Sonia was watching me. “

Huh

?”

—Mr. Kekerukker.

She sounded serious.

“What? Why...? Wow, it feels as if someone is poking my brain with a stick. Was the wine that bad?”

—I want to perform in the next play myself.

I looked up at Sonia. An unlabeled desire lurked in her blue eyes.

—I want to live just like you—no, like all of you.

1. This is a wordplay on the character's Korean names. One syllable from each of their names has been used to create the name. Literally, the name is Black Knight(흑기사). Some changes have been made for a smoother flow. ☜

2. This makes more sense in Korean. What Gong-Ja is actually saying here is that his hands curled in on themselves, a result of the high amount of cringe he just suffered through. ☜

3. The Black Witch seems to be comparing herself to the symbolic figure of the queen in the UK. ☜

4. Gong-Ja is talking about the Korean fried chicken brand named BBQ. Their fried chicken is really good. ☜