The Show Must Go On

......

Ugh... What if I get seasick?

We got that seasickness medicine before we left port, didn't we?

We did. I already took some. I really hope it works...

I'd better have some too.

We're finally on our way, to the playhouse beyond the sea.

I heard a famous director from that very same playhouse is visiting our country right now.

His next work will be set here, so he's gathering references.

I would love to be involved. Maybe they'll need local actors?

That would be wonderful.

Wouldn't it, Lokido?

I don't really care. I'm good with anything, as long as I can work with you two.

Just think, I wouldn't have to be an actor if you had chosen a better job.

Yeah, yeah.

Across all the years, I have only thought of you. Only ever of you.

And I as well...

O, cruel fate! To tear these two "apard"...

Argh, sorry. I bit my tongue.

Are you three actors?

He is. We're working to become stagehands. We can fill space on stage if needed, though.

I've been watching you practice. You, the beastfolk, you've got something special to you. I work in the theater myself. When we disembark, come to my playhouse.

I want to see more of your acting.

Did...did you just get an offer?!

That was the famous director! I saw him talking with his retinue before we got on board! That's him!

I can't believe it, Lokido! This is your chance!

Weird to think there are people out there who like my acting aside from you two.

I keep telling you, you have talent! Do you think we've been lying to you this whole time or something?

Of course not, but... You're kinder than most. That's all.

Now I'm getting excited! You HAVE to seize this chance!

A beast like that, standing on our director's stage?

Take your comedy act and hit the road.

Hey, has anyone seen my necklace? It's the last memento I have of my wife.

I haven't seen it. Did you lose it?

You think someone stole it?!

No, we can't say that for sure.

I thought I left it in my room, but it's not there anymore. I may have dropped it somewhere.

Have you seen it?

No, I don't know anything about it.

I'll keep my eyes open. If it's around here, I'll see it.

Hey, this necklace...

Isn't this the director's?

What was it doing on Lokido's bed?

...What is this, Lokido? I thought you said you didn't know anything about this.

I-It's the truth. I'm telling the truth.

Then what is it doing here?!

This is why I hate humans!

I should go to the theater...

No, I can't join the rehearsal.

Not until I get that line right...

Maybe I'll go take a walk around Unigan. Try to get my thoughts in order...

(I offer this, my life entire, for the sake of one and all.) (Tone, inflection, breathing, the pauses, the volume. What am I calculating wrong?)

(Does it sound too artificial? Am I not giving it enough?) (He told me my artifice was getting in the way, but it's the only way I have to deliver this line.) (I can't simply change the way I feel, not after so long...)

(Damn it. It keeps circling in my head, over and over...)

'Scuse me.

Ah...a beast...

You dropped your hanky.

Don't touch me!

......

Hm?

Hello.

Yeah...

(Wonder if he'd be able to say it right.)

(No, he's no actor. This is acting. And I'm a better actor than he is. I have to be.)

You know, back at the theater the other day, there was...uh...

The theatre? Ah, when you came to view our rehearsal. Yes. Did something catch your eye?

No...forget it. You wouldn't answer me straight if I asked, anyway.

...?

See ya.

Yes...

(He's faced the same kind of scorn and discrimination I have, but he doesn't hate the humans like I do.) (...Freak.)

(Is that the kind of man I have to be on stage? Is that what I need to play this role?)

Maybe if I watch him, I can see what I'm missing. It looks like he went toward the Karek Swampland...

Sniffle...sob...

You're safe now.

There you are! Do you know how much I worried?!

Sniffle... Daddy...

You...Lokido! I know you! The beastblood! What did you do to my son?!

Calm down, okay? I just drove away some monsters.

Yeah! They were going to attack me, but he fought them off and saved me.

Hah! A likely story...

(Not a word of thanks for the man who saved his child's life.)

(But if the brat had died, I'm sure he would be calling for Lokido's head...) (I don't understand how he keeps saying he wants to protect humans when they treat him like this.)

Come on! We're leaving!

Thanks, Mr. Lokido...

Some would say there's a point beyond which consideration for others becomes simple spinelessness.

Thought I felt someone watching. So it was you, huh.

Do you feel nothing, having such accusations laid against you? Or are you simply burying it within?

Nah. I'm no actor. I feel what I feel.

...Answer my question.

If we're gonna talk about burying our feelings, what about you?

When that propmaker got in your face, you didn't say a word to defend yourself. You just let him bark.

Yes, but my reasons are different! I don't engage with them because I have no faith in humanity, and they consistently disappoint me all the same. I didn't defend myself because there was no point to it. What ACTUALLY happened doesn't MATTER to them.

Aha. Your shell's finally cracking. This is how you really are, eh? If I looked like I was doing fine back there, it's because...mm. Because getting that kid home safe was all that mattered. That's all.

......?!

The kid was safe. That's all that matters to me. I don't care if his dad got upset, so long as nobody got hurt.

As long as I can make that happen, I don't mind getting yelled at. Would prefer not to be, but it is what it is.

You... How can you just...

Damn it. Damn it all!

Hey, we're not done talking...

...So here I am, huh.

...What is this, Lokido? I thought you said you didn't know anything about this.

I-It's the truth. I'm telling the truth.

Then what is it doing here?!

It wasn't me!

Of course it wasn't! You would never do this.

Is someone trying to set you up?!

The director's assistant was giving you some nasty looks earlier. Maybe it was him.

But we don't have any proof. All the suspicion will fall on Lokido, and if that happens...

There's no chance of him hiring you. That must be what he was after.

Damn it... This is why I hate humans!

Everyone's on high alert now. It would be hard to sneak the necklace back into the director's room.

I'll hide the necklace in my room. Then I'll make a huge fuss about someone trying to set me up.

Let me be the one to go hide it. That way Lokido will be the least suspicious out of all of us.

What are you two saying?

If they look into it, they'll see there was no way we could have had the time to steal it ourselves.

But if suspicion falls on you, with your parentage, they won't bother doing a proper investigation. As much as I hate to say it, we all know it's true.

But then they'll spend the whole investigation treating you two like common criminals!

Getting you your big chance is all that matters. As long as we make that happen, we can handle a little bit of suspicion.

Lokido. Don't you want to be an actor? Imagine standing up on that stage, with your name in lights.

I... I...

Why did it have to be him, of all people... Calling them back to mind like that. Why is he the one...who can say things like that from his heart?

Hey. Are you okay?

What do you want?

You seemed unstable. Didn't want you doing anything drastic.

Hah. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I can't do a damn thing. I can't say a single line right, and now I have no future on stage.

There's nothing left for me... No hope. Nothing.

You said you wanted to succeed as an actor, right?

I don't know anything about the theater. But what's succeeding mean? Standing up on that stage with your name in lights?

Lokido. Don't you want to be an actor? Imagine standing up on that stage, with your name in lights.

You're doing it again. Why does it have to be you, of all people, talking like them?

Who's them?

I guess...I might as well answer.

Yes. I want to be an actor. I want to stand on the greatest stage in the land, and see my name bathed in brilliant light.

Do you have a problem with that?

Uh, no...

But now, I'm tripping over one line. And because of that, I'm being cut from the cast. All because I can't pretend I don't despise them.

And what's wrong with that?!

Didn't say anything was. But you've gotten this far in life, how is this any different to what you've done before?

I've never played a role that required me to like humans before.

Really? Aren't you playing it every day of your life?

Well, that's...

I saw that look on your face before, when that woman called you sweet.

If they knew how I really felt, she wouldn't have said that. It...threw me, a little.

Figured that was it. No one but me saw that, though.

The rest of 'em all bought it. Your acting is just that good.

Hmph, of course.

What an actor feels inside shouldn't matter one whit to his performance. Show an audience what they expect, smile and nod as they think you should, and they'll convince themselves for you...

You don't have to make yourself believe it. If it's too hard, just crib off of someone else with the right reaction. Whatever you feel inside doesn't matter.

If you can find a good role model, copy them without shame! Good actors borrow, great actors steal!

I don't think I can act like that.

...It shouldn't matter, but it does.

It mattered back then... And it matters now.

(I couldn't stop my emotions from hampering my performance.) (Even in a play, I can't conceive of giving my life for the sake of another...for a stranger.) (I thought I could paper it over with my artifice...but I can't.)

I know what I have to do.

Think you can do it?

I WILL do it. Because I'm an actor.

Lokido. Have you straightened yourself out?

Yes, sir. I can do it. Please, allow me to show you.

We were just talking with Aldo about training for the battle scene.

You know how there's a big battle in the middle of the show? I'll be helping out with that. I even have some friends who can help.

You sure kept us waiting. I won't accept any understudies for this...Captain.

Clear the stage! Places for the big battle scene!

It's the biggest horde of monsters that's ever been reported.

Tomorrow's battle will decide much...even the fate of this kingdom.

Did you hear? Some soldiers from noble families are giving bribes to get moved to the rear lines.

Bastards! We're nothing but sacrificial pawns to those pampered princelings.

You're a noble too, ain'tcha, sir? What made you sign up for this posting, if you don't mind me askin'? You're not gonna cut and run when things get bad, are ya?

Cap'n wouldn't do that. Right?

My family has disowned me. I am no noble, not anymore.

I asked them to do it, to allow me to join this unit.

What? Why?

To protect the people of this kingdom.

Captain...

You feel the same way, don't you?

Shape up, you louts. We have more important things to do than gossip about the rich and famous.

Guess that's so.

I offer this, my life entire... For the sake of one and all!

(Now comes the scene where the monsters and the soldiers clash... I'll need to put on my best showing!)

For the kingdom!

Raaaaaah!

Push forward! We fight as one!

Yeaaaah!!

Tch...

You're injured. Fall back!

I'm not leaving you alone on the field.

This must be their leader!

Captain! Get out of here!

I won't abandon you!

Then all we can do is...

Strike!!

We...

We did it. We won! We can welcome the new dawn, shoulder to shoulder...

We'll be inspecting the stage soon, you know.

Yes, I know. But please, let me savor the memories of today's rehearsal for just a little longer.

(Life's a funny thing.) (Here I am, making my way as an actor, in a totally different world from the one I grew up in.)

(A world without them...)

Getting you your big chance is all that matters. As long as we make that happen, we can handle a little bit of suspicion.

Lokido. Don't you want to be an actor? Imagine standing up on that stage, with your name in lights.

(Back then, I...)

I... I...

Maybe you were just going along with us at first. But I think something's changed for you as of late.

It feels like you're chasing the dream seriously now.

I...but, I...

Listen, Lokido. When they accuse me of stealing the necklace, you need to be just as surprised as anyone.

They need to see you be suspicious of me, so no one thinks you have anything to do with it.

How am I supposed to do that?!

You don't have to make yourself believe it. If it's too hard, just crib off of someone else with the right reaction. Whatever you feel inside doesn't matter.

If you can find a good role model, copy them without shame! Good actors borrow, great actors steal!

Maybe base your performance off that director's assistant. That would work pretty well, I bet.

I won't do it. How could I just abandon you to that?

Besides, none of this would be happening if I was a human. It's just not right...

Huh?! What was that?!

Storm to port, coming in fast! It's a big one!

Are we going to be okay?

I don't know.

Rocks ahead! All hands, brace for impact!

Ungh... What...?

A survivor! We have a survivor over here!

You're...

A sailor from the ship you were on.

You got lucky, friend. Here, get aboard. There's a merchant vessel nearby that stopped to rescue anyone it could.

My... My friends! Are they on board?!

Were you on a lifeboat?

No... We got taken by surprise.

Sorry to say...but they didn't make it. No one who wasn't in a lifeboat could have ridden out that storm all this time.

You only managed on this barrel because, well...y'know, look at you...

Because...I'm a beast? I survived...just because of that?!

Hey! What are you doing?!

I won't abandon them!

You mean to swim this whole ocean to find them?!

(I wanted to welcome the new dawn, shoulder to shoulder with them...)

What is that?!

Aaargh!

......

Lokido...are you okay? You seem dazed.

You did well today. I feel like you really made a breakthrough.

And what's more, everyone else felt your intensity, and it drew them to greater heights as well.

That last ad-lib, too... "We can welcome the new dawn." That was some fine, fine work.

I...thank you, sir.

I look forward to seeing what you do next.

(I can feel it, myself. I grasped something today...)

The ones who recommended that I become an actor were my friends, a pair studying stagecraft.

I wanted to chase that dream together with the two of them. I owe them so much, after all.

Easy there, son. Shouldn't you be telling this to them directly, then?

Yes... Yes, indeed.

And be sure to tell them how well today's show went, too. I'm sure they'll love to hear it.