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Chapter 76: Stroke of Brilliance
🕑 Added 2024-03-07 21:29:20 +0000 UTC“Anyone want coffee?”
My words hung in the air inside the greenroom as I looked at all the people in the greenroom.
Silence. Silence. And then they all raised their weapons. A collective, synchronous schwing resounded in the air as their blades swept out of their belts.
The ones closest to me, sitting on the chairs, leapt off the ground and jumped straight at me.
“Well, at least I asked.”
The first one jumped straight at me and swung his knife down. I stepped back and raised my foot. The man tripped over and was about to fall when I grabbed him from the back of his collar.
The second one swung his sword too.
I raised the first one and tossed him on the second one. He crashed into the man and both of them tumbled backwards as if someone had kicked them like a football.
“Really? All this for a mask? Like, don’t you know how annoying kids are! They destroyed mine! Or wait, are you guys angry about the coffee?”
I was lying through my teeth. Something should work! I needed to get more information from them.
“T-t-this bastard!”
“Who is this man?”
Another of them charged straight at me. A knife ready to stab and gorge into my stomach.
Again, I lightly stepped back and dodged. Two more jumped at me from the back.
I weaved and stepped aside again, and their weapons passed by me.
“Did it just go through him!?”
“What the hell?”
I crossed my arms and thought. What could I do to make this situation better? My words were not a panacea, nothing I could say would work here.
A socialite wasn’t a con man, despite the similarities.
“Why isn’t it hitting him!?”
“What in the world is this guy!?”
Hm… What to do… I closed my eyes too, completely lost in thought. There must be something.
This was very fun after a long time. If these people had an interesting ideology uniting them—I could use them for my goals too. There was no need to solve things with a fight.
“He closed his eyes and is fighting!?”
“Someone! Help! Hit! Him!”
“Haah… haah… I can’t swing the sword anymore!”
That’s when a flash of brilliance struck my mind.
I opened my eyes and slapped my palms together. It was an aha moment.
The greenroom had been destroyed completely, the fools wearing green masks were still after my neck.
An hatchet came swinging straight at my neck. I punched the swinger in the face and sent him flying to the ground. At the same time, I dived ahead and rolled behind the rubble left in the room.
Shards of glass had spread everywhere, leather and feathers of the chairs around filled the ground. I scrambled on the ground and dodged the ones still running behind me.
Finally, below a table, I found a notepad. I yanked it out of the ground and stood back up.
“This should work.”
Right in front of me was another of the green masked actors, holding an ax.
“You—”
I swiped his ax before he could raise it. Then, just as fast, I lightly cut his finger and used his blood to write on the notepad.
“Get him!”
A scream resounded from behind. The green-masks who lacked teamwork finally decided to swing all their blades down from all directions.
The attacks, though, never reached me.
I immediately fell to the ground and grabbed my chest.
“AAH! No! I… Lost… this can’t be…!”
My broadway level acting worked as I fell to the ground, stuck my tongue out, and played dead.
All the ones around me stopped in their tracks.
“What happened just now…?”
“Did he just…”
They then looked at the ax-swinger.
“You’re very strong,” one said.
“I didn’t do—”
“Way stronger than we thought. Amazing.”
“No seriously… I didn’t—”
“You can take the credit for this one.”
Hah. Even in playing dead, I helped a person raise their career. How nice of me. This much was owed for the fun these guys were going to provide me with.
They all huddled around me and looked down.
“So…” said the hatchet swinger. The ax-swinger was probably going to avoid saying anything. “What do we do with him?”
“We should tie him up and take him away,” the one who I tossed like a ball said. “That’s the best option.”
Hell yes! That’s exactly what I wanted!
“What if he brought someone with him?”
“Hm… let’s use his clothes to lure the person out.”
Wait wait! This was not what I wanted!
Unfortunately, I had no control over them using me to try and lure Richard out. Or more specifically, using my coat and my mask.
***
Richard sat in the audience as his friend, Ethan, got on stage and clumsily hosted the event.
He could only watch, anxious, but for some reason Ethan never looked his way. His voice and actions were very different from how he usually was.
It was odd, but Richard figured his friend didn’t need much help.
He waited and watched. The stage was then filled with green-masked actors and players who went on their performance.
Richard made extensive mental note of the entire show. If there was any secret communication in the form of the show, then he wanted to be able to decipher it.
Or so he planned to.
When his eyes fell on the small memo stuck on the back of one of the performers. The memo fell off his back and on the stage as the play ended and applause followed.
The people left the seats but Richard waited. Once the lights inside the theater went off, he finally went to the stage and picked up the fallen memo.
Written on it ominously in blood, were words that Richard never expected to see.
[Sorry. Getting kidnapped for an investigation. Will probably need paid leave.
Don’t cut my pay,
Professor of Black Rose]
Richard closed his eyes and stared at the ceiling.
“Sometimes I wonder if he’s smart or seriously stupid…”
***
[A/N: I've been very ill these last few days. I'm still trying to write everyday but please forgive me if the updates are delayed.]
