The Ideal(?) World of Theater

Huh? What's this?

Grrr! Your cowardly ways disgust me, Aldo the Hero!

Aaah! Please, save me!

Muahahaha! It's either your life or your sister's! The choice is yours, Beast King!

If I were you, I'd make up my mind quickly. Or do you not care if she gets hurt?

Leave Altena out of this! What should I do...

Will I have to lose this battle...

Heh heh heh! Once I'm done with you, it's her turn anyway!

Ahhh!

This is strangely familiar. Where have I seen that before?

Ah, I see. They're staging a play.

Only... Am I not kind of...out of character in their version?

Is this the kind of reputation I have among beast children?

Won't hurt to ask.

Director! I don't wanna be the loser!

Of course not. Nobody likes that.

Aldo won in real life! So why can't he in the play? I want to win the battle!

Stop being selfish! You want His Majesty the Beast King to die?!

N-No, that'd be really bad too...

Hey, kids. Can I help you?

Gah! It's Aldo!

The real Aldo!

Sorry to interrupt your rehearsal, but it looked like you were having some problems?

Kinda... Our play is about the battle between His Majesty the Beast King and, umm...you.

But we don't agree on how the battle should end.

Ah, the battle with Guildna...

I'm playing you, Aldo! I'm the evil hero!

And I'm playing His Majesty the Beast King!

I'm playing Altena. That boy over there is our director.

All right. I have some questions about this play...

Sure, fire away!

I'm not trying to be critical here, but there's this one thing about my character's personality... I couldn't help noticing it was a little different.

Different how?

How to put it... He was totally despicable.

Okay, I agree his persona may not be entirely accurate.

But theater is art! Forget realism, it's all about creativity and dramatism!

O-Okay... If you say so.

I might have gone too far with my liberal interpretation, though. We're stuck with the script.

Do you think the play is boring?

You didn't like it?

No, it's fine! I just wanted to point out that one tiny inaccuracy...

It's unbecoming of an adult to be so fussy about some children's play.

Huh? Guildna?!

It's His Majesty! What an honor!

Big brother!

You dummy! You're only his sister in the play!

I was trying to help so they could play my character closer to the original...

The children can figure it out on their own. Don't spoil their fun, Aldo.

......

Hmm... Here we have His Majesty the Beast King and Aldo, in the flesh!

What a sight! My muses are whispering to me!

That's good I guess?

Can I ask you to assist me with something?

What exactly?

Perhaps.

You're being rude! You can't just ask a favor of His Majesty!

Yeah, you should apologize!

It's fine. What can I do for you?

You see, we're stuck. We can't decide how the play should end. Do we have Aldo win? Or the Beast King? We're not looking for historical accuracy with this.

So what do you want us to do?

Show me how you fight! I want to see it with my own eyes. That's guaranteed to give me the inspiration I need to finish the play!

I can do that. What do you say, Guildna?

One would have to be heartless to turn down such a simple request from innocent children.

Awesome! Let's do this at Gabaraki!

How cool is that? We'll see His Majesty in a real duel!

And Aldo, too!

We're going to get going. See you at Gabaraki!

I didn't expect you to be so willing to play along.

As I already said, I don't mind if it's for the kids.

You can be a nice guy. Okay, let's join them!

What do you want me to do? Do I just pick a random monster to battle?

Let me choose one for you. What have we got here... There's one!

Let's see which one of you fights with more flourish and style! Go!

That's what the challenge is about? Showy fighting styles?

Heh. Do you lack confidence?

Ugh... Of course not!

I'll be cheering for you, Your Majesty!

Show us some sick moves, Aldo!

Shall we begin?

Right!

So, what did you think?

You were both totally cool!

Yeah, but that means it's a draw.

What do you say, Director?

It was pretty good. But...

Not exactly what you wanted?

It was stylish all right. I can definitely use it for reference in my plays. But it wasn't the kind of battle that would keep you on the edge of your seat.

You're not easy to please, huh.

Battles with run-of-the-mill monsters can only provide that much entertainment, I'm afraid.

In that case...we need a more challenging opponent!

A foe that will push you to the limits, making for a thrilling, heated battle!

You're asking us to get in a dangerous situation for the sake of your play?

Art requires sacrifices! And you'll be immortalized in my play. I'll find you a more worthy opponent, not a weakling like the one you dispatched before.

Wait, don't do anything crazy! Guildna, we've got to stop him from getting into trouble!

Stating the obvious as usual, Aldo? *sigh*

And you, little ones, go back home. It's not safe for you here with monsters wandering around.

If Your Majesty says so...

We'll go back to the village at once!

Now, let's see where our young theater enthusiast has gone off to.

There he is!

Uhh...it's getting really scary...but I need to find a strong monster.

Eek!

No, I must be brave! I won't back down. The end result will make it worth it. I'm not afraid of you, monster! Come over here, you ugly thing!

Courage is a noble trait, but is only too easily confused with foolish recklessness.

He found what he was after. That monster's no joke!

It's not native to this area. Must have come here looking for food. Half-crazed with hunger, it's far more dangerous.

Well, let's teach it that in these parts, the food fights back!

I'll attract its attention. Be ready to strike when it's distracted!

Right!

It's safe now.

I...I...

No need to be afraid any more. Let's go back to your village. Your friends must have been worried!

I can't believe it! The answer was so simple!

...Huh?

......

Why didn't I think of it sooner? The whole premise was wrong. A battle between Aldo and the Beast King? Wrong, there's no need for that! I'll rewrite the script from scratch.

Um...are you okay, kid?

This is it! A real breakthrough! A tale of the Beast King and Aldo joining forces!

I'm glad you've found the answer you had been seeking.

And that's the right direction to go, in my opinion!

Thank you so much for your help! And apologies for getting carried away and causing you trouble.

It's all good, as long as you learn from your mistakes.

Yeah. Think twice before you do something like that again, okay?

Okay!

It's time to go back.

Your Majesty, you saved our friend. Thank you!

I'm sure you helped too, Aldo!

Fortunately, it all ended well.

I don't see the little director anywhere.

He went straight home as soon as he returned to the village.

He inconvenienced His Majesty and now won't even come out to apologize.

It's all right, he already did.

Sorry to keep you waiting! I finished it! The new script!

Ah, that's what you were up to. Well done!

I owe it entirely to you. I only got this idea thanks to seeing you fight hand in hand.

We happened to share the same goal at that particular point in time...

I'd like to thank you, and invite you to be the first to see my new play!

That's nice of you. I'll be happy to see it.

But we haven't seen the new script yet.

Yeah, we'll need some time to practice it first.

Nah, you'll be fine! I believe in you.

I guess we'll give it a go!

I'm up for it!

I'll get everything ready. It won't be long!

Sure, no problem.

I'm curious to see what he's come up with.

You're finished, Beast King!

You're a foe to be reckoned with, but you underestimate me!

Dear Brother! Brave Aldo! Please cease this fighting!

Alas, Altena. Peace between humans and beasts is impossible to achieve.

Indeed, and that's why I shall slay you today!

Victory shall be mine, foolish human!

Nooo!

Graaaaaargh!

What happened?

......

......

......

B-Brother?

I am no longer your brother.

Huh?

I'm neither the Beast King nor Aldo. Your pure wish for peace has given me a new life as the...

Beast...

Human!

My name henceforth is Algina!

What is this?!

Just...why?!

What exactly are you, Algina?

I am the human hero Aldo fused with the majestic king of beasts. Representing both races, I shall bring peace to the world.

What a glorious idea!

First of all, I'll become king of all humans and beasts and create a splendid new beast kingdom.

Hold on! That's not in the script! Algina is supposed to become a mediator, not king of anything!

You need to have a king to rule the people! I added that to the script myself. Just play along, why do you have to argue?

Grrr... In that case, I'll play Algina!

Forget it! I'm Algina!

No, I am!

I am!

Stop fighting!

H-Hey! Stop it! Just follow the script!

Ugh, whatever. You two knock yourselves out. Let's just skip to the end.

Um, okay... Algina became a hero to both humans and beasts... He brought peace to the world and everyone lived happily ever after.

......

......

E-Excuse me...

It was a good performance, despite some difficulties at the end. I liked it.

For an amateur performance, it was very well done.

Hurray! They liked it, they liked it!

That's great! But make those two dummies stop fighting already!

Ah, right, I forgot about them!

Something tells me these resolute kids will make it big one day.

If the young director persists, I do not doubt he will reach fame one day.

I don't know how I feel about Algina... But it would sure be nice if one day our races could peacefully coexist.

Such a day will certainly come, if both sides continue to make an effort.

I dunno about that...

Something wrong?

The name Algina is terrible. It makes me cringe.

Haha! Now you're the fussy one!

......