Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 343 Unexpected Response

The temporary stage, which was quickly built in less than half an hour, was very simple. In order to accommodate the audience sitting on all four sides of the stadium, even the most basic theater curtain was not raised. There was only a small tent under the stage as a preparation room for the actors before they went on stage.

Most of these actors, hastily assembled by Ash only a month ago, were performing on stage for the first time. The few who had experience had only performed acrobatics in some rural circuses in the southern region.

Ash himself was very familiar with the situation. He was the first to appear on stage as the narrator of the play, wearing a brand new black suit. He stood next to an alchemical loudspeaker in the corner and recited the opening lines of the play with emotion.

"The story takes place in a remote territory of a southern kingdom. The baron, his lord, has a beautiful, intelligent, kind, and brave daughter. This noble lady loves horseback riding and hunting, and often travels through the mountains and forests with her servants..."

The heroine came onto the stage as the narration sounded, and several supporting actors who played attendants also came on stage one after another, drawing their bows and arrows to simulate the scene of aristocratic hunting.

The story became very simple after being adapted by Harvey and Ash - a young and beautiful noble lady was accidentally attacked by a terrifying giant ice bear during a hunt and unfortunately fell off a cliff. She was rescued by a kind-hearted orc living in seclusion in the border mountains and forests, who took good care of her and sent her back home after she recovered from her injuries.

While recuperating from her injuries, the noble lady gradually developed feelings for the brave and kind-hearted half-orc. After returning to her family, she was forced to get engaged by her elders. Yearning for freedom and unwilling to yield, she chose to escape again to find the true love in her heart. However, the noble, claiming that it brought shame to the family, sent a team from the United Church to stop the two from eloping.

During the escape, the orc unfortunately sacrificed himself to protect the lady, and the noble lady was rescued by a distinguished spellcaster who passed by. After killing all the hunters to avenge the orcs, the lady resolutely decided to follow the wizard to live in seclusion in the north, and never return to her hometown that made her heartbroken.

The arrangement of the whole story is simple and easy to understand, and the plot is also changed according to Ash's request from Harvey's "original manuscript" from the tragic ending of the noble lady and the orc both committing suicide for love. In Ash's words - the deeper tragedy should be that the two people who originally loved each other are separated by life and death and will never meet again.

The Church of Luminosity, the villain in the play, and the mysterious spellcaster who appears in the last scene form a sharp contrast through the plot of the story.

Although the actors were assembled at short notice, under Ash's professional coaching and training, the entire performance was not as flawless as Harvey had imagined - there were only a few times when supporting actors forgot their lines or made mistakes in their positioning, but these were perfectly covered up with the guidance of the narration.

The most surprising thing was that the half-orc male protagonist Barron, who was forced to perform, not only memorized his lines quickly and steadily, but also, except for a little nervousness when he first came on stage which caused his body to be slightly stiff, his condition improved as the performance went on, and he did not make any obvious mistakes. He even made up for the mistake of the female lead with his wonderful on-the-spot performance when she was nervous and forgot her lines.

"My beloved, Juliet, escape! Escape from this prison-like place. May you be happy, and even more may you be free..."

When the half-orc hero played by Barron unfortunately sacrificed himself to save the heroine, the audience in the stands stood up, waving their fists in anger, and roared at the church and nobles who played the villains on the stage, regardless of the fact that the lord was also there to watch the performance.

Then a mysterious spellcaster appeared and helped the noble lady eliminate all the villains and avenge the orcs. The stadium was filled with thunderous applause, which made the actor playing the spellcaster so nervous that he almost forgot his lines.

……

giggle!
Tietou, who was off duty with the lord's personal guard because of his rotation, was also sitting in the stands with his wife, watching the play. He straightened up with red eyes, clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth. "Damn the nobles! Damn the church! They truly love each other, why are you trying to stop them? Why are you trying to murder them?"

Dina, his wife, whose belly was already slightly bulging, saw her husband's already rough face flush red. She quickly stroked his broad back to comfort him, "Dear, it's just a play. Calm down, okay?"

The performance on the temporary stage ended, and the actors, led by Ash, returned to the stage, constantly bowing and thanking the audience in the stands on all sides. The audience stood up and responded with even more enthusiastic applause... However, mixed in with the applause were a lot of scolding and cursing, all directed at the villain actors who played the church and the nobility, scaring them so much that they retreated back into the group of actors and dared not show their heads.

When the actor who was giving the thanks turned to the stand where Tietou and his wife were, Tietou stood up suddenly, clenched his fists and muttered as he was about to walk towards the stage. His wife Dina was so scared that she quickly grabbed his big ears and scolded him.

"What are you going to do? Beat up the actors? Look carefully, they are not real church members or southern nobles... What a fool!"

Tietou, whose beloved wife grabbed his ear and used her as leverage, quickly controlled his emotions, but he still couldn't help but yell, "How despicable! How despicable!"

Upon hearing this, many of the people from the surrounding wilderness also echoed the words. They had lived together with the Orcs for many years and were obviously not as repulsive and discriminatory towards them as the people from the southern border. After watching the drama, they were filled with anger and showed even more solidarity with the enemy.

Compared to the indignant comments of the people in the territory about the play, Harvey and the Dragonstone Chamber of Commerce and other guests sitting in the exclusive stands were relatively calm.

"The actor who plays Romeo is actually a half-orc. I didn't expect that they could learn drama performance and recite lines fluently..." Vice President Santos exclaimed in admiration.

President Felix gave a pertinent comment: "Well, the only flaw is that he hasn't received long-term professional theatrical performance training, so his expressions and lines are a bit stiff."

Harvey explained with a smile, "These people were brought in on short notice. Ms. Juliet is the only one with acting experience, but not much. As for the others, hehe... they're just ordinary citizens who rely on temporary jobs to make a living."

If this kind of poorly performed play were put on in the high-end theaters in the South Territory, which only the nobles and wealthy could watch, it would naturally be met with boos and all kinds of disgust. However, in a wasteland territory like the Pioneer Territory where all the people were peasants, it was a rare and unusual entertainment project as one of the few.

Felix pondered for a moment before cautiously saying, "The story is quite fascinating, and the plot is truly gripping... But, with all due respect, the idea of a noblewoman falling in love with a foreign, untouchable person... is truly shocking."

Harvey chuckled and said calmly, "What's the big deal? Could it be more unorthodox than me burning a priest of the Church of Light at the stake? This is the wasteland... President Felix."

When the people in the Longshi Chamber of Commerce heard this, their hearts skipped a beat and they immediately sat up straight without saying a word.

(End of this chapter)