Chapter 7 - A Changing World

"—The moment has come for these doors to be opened!"

(...So impressive.)

(Araumi Troupe, Otome Production...... Big-name companies and hidden talent alike—this lineup is seriously no joke.)

Wooow! That was super amazing too!

Yeah...! Honestly, any of these troupes could win and it wouldn't be surprising.

Indeed. Every troupe here is exceptionally skilled.

However—next up is the group everyone's calling the favorite to win. We can expect even more from them.

.....That's Asahi-san's group.......

Hm? What's going on? The theater suddenly.......

"—Hmm, I just can't find them anywhere!"

Oh...! Asahi-san is coming from the audience...!

"Are you the one?! Are you my soulmate!?"

Huh? M-Me?!

"Or perhaps... could it be you with those strong arms?!"

M-Me?!

"Hmm, doesn't seem right either...... After searching this long and still nothing—where in the world could my princess be?"

.....Fufu. What a perfect way to grab everyone's attention.

(I see, so Asahi-san is playing a prince searching for his destined princess.)

(I caught glimpses of their practice sessions, but this is the first time seeing it all together.)

(What direction will this show take... I can't wait to find out.)

"Why, oh why, can't I find my princess even after looking everywhere?"

"Oh no! Maybe she's being held captive by an evil dragon......?! I need to save her!"

"Prince, Prince! Do you even know what your princess is like?"

"Of course I do! My princess is someone who will embrace me with the deepest, most boundless love!"

"Boundless love...... Kinda wishy-washy if you ask me."

"...Do you think my princess is really out there?"

"Hm. What brings you to that question?"

"Long ago, the nanny who raised me said that someday someone who loves me deeply would appear, and I've believed that ever since, but......"

"I'm a prince, but I'm stupid and useless..... Would anyone really love someone like me?"

"Oh... that's it. I get it now."

"Rather than seeking to be loved, I should choose to love others instead."

"And if I spend my life with someone I want to be with..... and nurture that love together with them....."

"Anyone could be my princess."

............

(I can feel it.)

(The warmth spreading through the prince's heart—I can feel it too.)

...Asahi-san really is something else.

Indeed. The supporting cast was exceptional too. The script and direction were so skillful, I found myself completely drawn in.

Yeah..........

But—

We're not planning to lose though, right?

Hey, don't steal my line!

Consider it payback! All actors hunger for the best lines, after all.

Ehehe ♪ Looks like everyone's getting super fired up!

Yeah. After all—we're about to put on the greatest show ever.

So let's show everyone what we've got.

This is the new and improved Wonderlands x Showtime!

Yep! Let's do this~!

Let's make everyone smile from ear to ear! Won-won~~~~

Wonderhoyyyy!

(.....Hmm. Finally the last one coming up.)

(None of the troupes were bad, but..... they all felt pretty predictable.)

(Only one who caught my attention was Asahi Genbu. He has such a wide range of acting skills, he single-handedly raised the bar for the entire performance.)

(...Seems like he's the only one who'd be useful.)

"Big bro, big bro! I wanna hear that story again!"

"Of course. You really do love that story, don't you Emily?"

......Hm?

(Aah...... So the last one is Kamishiro-kun's troupe.)

(Let’s see what they’ve got up their sleeve this time.)

This is it...!

(Even during joint practice, their performance was already pretty impressive, but—)

(That confidence they all have. They're definitely going to pull off "something" special.)

(Just what kind of show will they put on.....!)

"—Once upon a time, there lived a brave prince and a kind princess."

"The prince overcame many trials to rescue the princess who had been captured by the demon king, and—"

"Successfully defeat the demon king."

"Princess! I have defeated the demon king and come to rescue you!"

"Oh, my prince...! My beloved! With you, I could go anywhere!"

"Thus the two found love and lived in bliss for all their days. Happily ever after."

"—And now we move beyond that. This is the story of what comes after "happily ever after".

(Let's do this—!!)

"Hah...... How did things end up this way?"

"I love Heart dearly, yet every time we meet we become hostile with each other, or I end up saying something cruel to her......."

"No... I know the reason. It's because my duties as prince keep me far too busy."

"Heart understands this, which is why she tries to help me...... But I......"

"Wait—I'm sure if we communicate properly, we might be able to work things out."

"Both people and nations thrive through cooperation. And if they love each other, even more so!"

"Right! Once I'm done with work, I'll go see Heart and we'll have a proper heart-to-heart!"

".....Hah. Still bursting with energy, I see."

"But this is troublesome. I need him to hand over the throne to his younger brother soon."

"It seems I have no choice—I'll have to use that method."

"Heart, let's sit down and really talk this through—ugh!"

"Wh-What's wrong, Bless?"

"T...Talk..... this...... thr....."

"—Right! I'm calling it quits for the day!"

"Huh...? But weren't you supposed to meet with the neighboring kingdom's ambassador about mediation.....?"

"Stuff like that won't fix the bad blood between nations anyway, right? I'd rather go have fun with Heart!"

"Bless! Something strange is happening in the mountains. They say there are black clouds swirling around."

Everyone's worried, so maybe we should send someone to investigate....."

"If they're just worried, leave them be. Caring about every little thing like that will only wear you out."

"You only need to act like you're hearing the people out."

Huh?

"No matter how much we think about "making everyone happy" or "reducing suffering for even one person", those people won't even try to understand our efforts anyway."

"They butter us up only when we create rules that benefit them, but otherwise they just complain. There's no need to break our backs for people like that."

Ah...........

"Something's not right..... Sure, this version of Bless is spending time with me. But......"

"Huff, huff..... Princess Heart!"

"Wait, you...! Aren't you the fairy who helped Bless save me before?"

"Yeah! I can smell evil magic, so I was helping the prince on his journey to defeat the demon king!"

"So when I smelled something really awful coming from the mountains earlier, I tried to tell the prince, but..."

"The prince smells exactly the same! So I'm thinking maybe he's been cursed by something in the mountains...!"

"What...!? He's cursed...!?"

"Of course, so that's why Bless was acting weird.....! Why didn't I realize this earlier...?"

"No, more importantly—Fairy! How can we break the curse?"

"There's only one way to break it."

"The person who's been cursed has to destroy whatever is causing the curse. In other words—"

"The prince has to go to the mountains and destroy the cursed item!"

(...WonderShow really is incredible.)

(Only four actors. Yet it feels like such a grand story.)

(This must be thanks to Rui-kun's direction.)

(Plus...... Tsukasa-kun and the others have really improved their acting, so I'm excited to see what happens next!)

(...I wonder how Tsukasa-kun will perform that ultimate despair?)

"Phew... I barely made it over that rocky terrain..."

"But wow, who would've thought that Nido guy was actually a bad person! We put him to sleep and left him behind, but we'll have to go back for him later!"

"Mm... yeah....."

(—The scene is coming up soon.)

(It's okay. I've practiced this countless times.)

"We're almost at the cursed flower...! Bless, once we climb over that hill, we'll be at the top!"

"Yeah... Thank you, Heart..."

"...That's right, we're almost there now...... Just a little more and this curse will..."

"Urgh...!"

"Bless?!"

"...Ugh, what a terrible smell! The curse is getting stronger!"

"We're so close to the flower...! Bless!"

(—This is it.)

(Time to throw myself into despair!!)

(If I were to feel despair, it would surely be when I give up on my dreams.)

(But so long as I refuse to abandon my dreams, that moment won't arrive. I'll never fall into despair.)

(Though... there is one way that could happen.)

(What if—)

(What if the "world" itself changed?)

(And no matter how hard I tried fighting against that world, if I remained powerless and helpless—)

.......!

......This place... in front of the station.....?

How did it get so run down—

No... that's right. I remember now.

...Everything changed. Before I even realized it.

This world has turned into a place where people despise one another.

Unforgivable.

......!

All I want is to live peacefully......

Why am I suffering like this?

—That's it, it's all because of them.

Yes... if only they were gone—

..........!

What, you think talking will solve everything? That's nothing but wishful thinking.

Exactly, the real world isn't like that.

They're tormenting me. If only those pests would just begone—

That's right! That way—I'd finally be happy!

You're wrong...!

If we do that, not everyone can be happy. Someone will end up wounded and in tears.

I'm sure everyone can smile together! And to make that happen, I... I'll do a show!"

This is when I bring happiness to everyone!

"Now, the curtain rises! Brave Pegasus shall defend all your dreams!"

A show...? I don't have the time to watch such nonsense.

I'm not so free that I can find joy in make-believe like this. Get lost.

...! Then—!

"A jester's performance! If it'll make you smile, young lady, I'll juggle the whole planet!"

Enough of that—where's somebody who can actually save me?

Those bastards spreading all this suffering need to be beaten down!

.......!

No way...! Not yet! I will keep going!

Until everyone smiles, I'll do this as many times as it takes!!

...hah, hah..........

"—This is a short story of hope."

"People who hate each other can learn to join hands again. Such a small—"

That's enough.

Huh?

All that crap is meaningless.

Having fun for just a moment, laughing a little... What good does doing that over and over do?

It doesn't put food on the table. It doesn't make disease go away.

And still, you flash all this love and hope and sparkly nonsense at us...... It only makes people like me, who have nothing, feel more miserable.

That's not...

Besides... everyone smiling together?

That's the last thing we need.

Those scums who make us suffer don't deserve to smile.

............!!

I'm leaving. Staying here is just a waste of time.

Damn right. I've got to crush every single enemy I can.......

Stay away from me, all of you...........

That kind of thing is all worthless.

...Hey!! Wait!! Where are you going!?

—Please wait!!

...I knew it...

In the end, it was hopeless, wasn't it, Tsukasa-kun...

Emu....

...Truly, such a brutal reality to confront.

Who would have imagined humans could despise one another so deeply.

Ah.........

...There was no such thing as a show that could transcend any and all barriers.

Shows are useless now.

Rui.....!

...No way! No, it's not over yet!

If we give up, it's all over! No one will ever smile again!!

So we have to keep doing shows! That way, surely——

But nobody's watching us anymore...!

Nobody believes in anything anymore, they've all locked themselves away... My voice can't reach them...

...Even so!

Even so, if we give up now, it's all over!

Just us refusing to give up isn't enough!

....!

Without an audience—without people who wants to see them, shows become meaningless.

......Everything has become meaningless.

That can't be...

(No one—needs us anymore?)

That's enough.

(The shows we do, the happiness we bring...... none of it matters?)

All that crap is meaningless.

(Then I.....)

(I'm already—)

Hm?

Huh......?

"......That's enough."

"Thank you, Heart... But I can't do this anymore... There's nothing I can do about it."

"Bless! Come on, Bless! This isn't like you at all!"

"...It's fine. I'm done."

"No matter what I do, people will keep hating each other and the nations will continue fighting."

"I can keep pondering about how to bring peace, keep working toward it...... but in the end, nothing will be different regardless."

"—It's all pointless."

......!

Tsukasa-kun.....?