"Sometimes things aren't as complicated,
You just need to look.
Not from the pages of a book.
But from all the experience that you took."
I.
"Wait a second!" I shouted as King started proceeding backstage.
"King" I shouted again. People started looking at me weirdly but then, they won't remember this tomorrow. No need to hold back. He froze for a while, but he eventually turned.
"Who is it?" He said looking at me. I took off my hood and his expression cleared up.
"Yoo! It's Jean! Alex prepare a table for us." King immediately said.
The man named Alex is a tall muscular man. He has a bald head and eyes of a person who has gone to war. Alex cleared a table near the stage. He seems to have moved it a bit further from the other tables. But maybe I am just imagining things.
"So, what brings you here my dear friend?" King asked merrily.
I told King everything. Both the predicament Mystica is currently experiencing and how Sina's Inn is like a ghost town. King listened intently the whole time but never commented a single word.
"Alex, get me some booze will you? Oh." King looked at me.
"Jean do you want any?"
"No thanks I'm good." Mystica would probably smell me if I went home drunk.
As soon as the drink arrived, King chugged it down in one go. He then made a satisfied sound and dropped the empty beer mug on the table.
"Jean, listen here okay." His smile suddenly became a stern and serious face.
"Who do you think you are to make those requests?" I was shocked by the sudden change in King's voice.
"You must have had the wrong idea when I went my way and became friendly with you this morning. Let me clarify things for you." The look in his eyes changed altogether, they glared at me as if he would kill me the moment I did something stupid.
"We are both Entertainers you and I. That's the only reason why I sympathize with you; because we share the same fate. But never, ever, dare command me like that.��
"It's not a command King, it's a request. If you could jus –"
"Jean."
"Yes?"
"I don't know if you've got a screw loose or if you're just stupid."
"We."
"Are."
"In."
"A."
"Death."
"Game."
"One wrong move and you're as good as dead in this world. Do you even know how long it took me to build up my reputation with these amnesia-brained baboons? I worked hard to be where I am currently standing. I worked hard because I'll get murdered the second my name falls from a safe spot on our ranking system. Yet here you are, talking me into giving away some of my customers?"
Everything King said makes sense. I feel like a bucket of cold water got thrown on my face. I want to apologize right away but King still had things to say.
"Jean, that's like saying you want me dead. Without my customers I won't have people to entertain. Without that, my ranking will fall. So is it okay for me to die while your girlfriend prospers? Bullshit. Pity doesn't apply on us. We need to survive." King stood up, not waiting for any response.
"Don't force your burden on others. If you can't do anything on your own then you're just as useless as a pile of dog shit." He placed his hand on my shoulder and said a single word.
"Out."
II.
The streets felt colder that night. As I went back to the inn, my body felt heavier than usual. The things said by King took their toll because they made sense.
"Maybe I should just leave the inn." I told myself.
"That is the most logical answer." Sei suddenly spouted.
"This isn't something I want to be supported on." I told Sei.
"Master. I only said that it is logical. I didn't say that I agreed with you."
"Oi Sei, are you tricking me right now?"
"I am not. Your idiocy is just contagious master." I let her comment slide for now, after all she is supporting me.
"What should I do then?"
"Answer."
"Use the fertility worm you found the other day. Turn it into an undead worker. That will greatly increase the rate of growth of our plants in the yard. If we leave Miss Mystica with enough resources, she can survive even without customers. Then we can leave."
I never thought of that as an option. The choice is actually reasonable but, because I focused so much on hands-on teaching, I forgot the fact that I could just give her what she needs and leave.
"Thanks Sei." I said happily.
"Do your best master oh and…"
"Yes what is it Sei?"
"Next time, use the subconscious skill if you wish to speak to me in public, people in the streets are looking at you weirdly." I looked around and people were giving me disgusted looks, like I'm some kind of plague. For a person with a hundred and fifty points on intelligence, I can be really dumb.
After my conversation with Sei, I hurried straight to the backyard of the inn. I took out the remains of the worm from my inventory and placed it gently on the ground.
"Alright then." I said, rolling up my sleeves.
"Rise."
III.
"WHAAAAT!"
That is the voice that woke me up. It's only my third day on this world and yet, I can recognize her voice quite well already.
"WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?" God, it feels as if Mystica is right beside me with how loud she is.
"What's cranking her up so early." I said as I left my bed and went looking for her. Only one thing can possibly give her that reaction. My little worker probably did its job well after I gave it instructions last night. It's strange that I can talk to a worm but hey, at least I know that it understands my commands.
*Alert: You've earned 500 exp points.*
*Alert: You have reached Level 2. 10 bonus status points are given to you as reward.*
"Wait, how did I level up this time?" I said to myself.
I quickly made my way outside only to find people in the same state as Mystica. Even I am taken aback by what is before me. There are trees on our backyard. In the duration of a single night, the seeds have grown as tall as Mystica. That's not all, the plants in the middle of the yard are already bearing fruits and vegetables! In a single night, plants matured completely, and the trees almost achieved full growth.
"That's one scary worm." I told myself. But this still doesn't answer why I gained experience points. I better ask Sei.
"Subconscious." I activated the skill remembering what Sei told me last night about using it when speaking with her in public.
"Sei."
"Yes master?"
"How did I gain experience points this time?"
"Answer."
"The worm and the tress are owned by you. Therefore, any entertainment people find through your properties count as you own experience points. If you noticed, King himself is not what the audience applauds, rather it is the things which he produces through magic."
"Ohh. So that means, if I make a garden in the front yard, I can gain experience if people find it beautiful?"
"Yes master."
"That's good to hear. Okay, let's try and come up with a proper strategy then!"
"For what master?"
"For the method on how we could compete with King!"
"As you wish."
The discussion and strategizing took us hours. As soon as I lifted the skill, my head already hurt and my stomach grumbled non - stop. So I decided to assist Mystica. The sooner she finishes, the sooner we can cook breakfast.
"Good Morning Mystica!" I said as I went near her. Right now she is already collecting fruits and vegetables merrily.
"Hehe these are all mine~" She sang.
"Hey you shouldn't pluck everything at once." I finally entered her sight. Aa soon as I did, Mystica furrowed her brows as if unsure what to make of me.
"Am I supposed to know you?" I almost forgot, the haze affected her again. This is a bit hard getting used to.
"That's rude. I'm Jean, your loyal employee and the one who helped you plant all those."
It took a while before I could get Mystica to at least recognize me. I helped her in gathering fruits and vegetables and assisted her in cooking. I made her remember me bit by bit until she finally had a better image of me.
After breakfast, I decided to explain the whole strategy to Mystica. This is the perfect place to talk about things like this. If we go hungry, we can just get food on the table.
The plan is simple. We will not compete in an area where King is good at which is, hands - on entertainment. During daytime, he gathers people by going to the marketplace and performing some tricks. This makes people remember him and entices those who forgot him. Night time is more problematic, it's like he completely dominates the town seeing how many people go to his inn just to be entertained.
"We cannot win during the night and we have no means of gathering crowds during the day."
"You're just saying we're hopeless!" Mystica sulked at the idea, refusing to accept what I just said.
"Calm down." I told her.
"How can I calm down when my future looks more and more like I'll be a beggar in the streets?" She replied.
*Sigh*
"There is a way." I said. With this, Mystica toned down to listen.
"King completely dominates the night. That much is certain. But! We have a chance during the day!" I built up momentum by pausing for a while.
"He needs to gather audience during the day correct?"
"Yes." Mystica answered.
"So what if we take advantage of that?" I said, grinning.
"Huh?"
"After his performance, people are always in a lively mood. Adding to their amusement is not a difficult feat within that duration. So this is what we'll do. We will attract the people who are on their way home."
"Huh? How will we do that?"
"By creating a garden park!"
…
…
…
"A What?"
"A garden park! It's an aesthetic place which a person can enter for free and stay there for as long as the person wishes!"
"Jean, how exactly will that help us if people can enter for free?" Mystica replied. Nice, she's hooked to my idea.
"If people keep flocking in on our garden park every day, we are sure to attract some customers. But that's not all. We will offer people the opportunity to be residents of the inn!"
"Huh?" Mystica asked again, puzzled.
"We will set up some rules and guidelines. Here is the list." I handed out a piece of paper to Mystica, with all the proposed rules written there.
1. Residents will pay a fixed rate per month of 1 gold coin.
2. If a potential resident has a house, this can be used as the method of payment. The resident is then able to live a whole lifetime at Sina's Inn, free of charge.
3. If a house is used for payment, the land will immediately be converted to one suitable for farming.
4. Residents will be given food at a cheaper rate. They may also choose to work for the inn or any of the farmland owned by the inn.
"Jean, this is…" Mystica did not finish her sentence so I went up to her and patted her shoulder.
"If King already owns the moon, then let's conquer the sun."