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Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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SSS-CLASS HUNTER WHO DIES TO LIVE

Chapter 191: Prima Donna (3)

The Black Dragon Witch and the Paladin were in perfect harmony, as if they had never been at odds.

"King of Death. Let us participate in this performance too."

"I may have given up on composing a long time ago, but my head is full of musical scores. I'll incorporate the music of our world. Just imagining it is exciting...."

Why are these people so enthusiastic?

Their eyes are sparkling.

It feels strange to see them like this.

"Your music is quite excellent too, but if you appoint me as the music director... no, the assistant director, it will be even better."

"Then I'll take charge of the scenario. Since it's a dance drama, should I say a director rather than a scriptwriter? The chief director? Hmm. It's a new art, so we probably need a new title."

"Huff."

I took a deep breath to calm myself.

Somehow, I managed to calm down.

Though my head was still buzzing.

"Alright. Your help will certainly elevate the level of the performance. After all, it will be a cultural heritage that enriches the lives of the Earth Spirit Tribe children...."

"Right."

The Black Dragon Witch smiled faintly.

It was a smile like the watercolor hues of a sunset.

"I like that aspect of you."

"Me?"

Was she about to bombard me with compliments again?

I looked at the Black Dragon Witch with eyes full of suspicion.

Then she chuckled.

"You always set the answer first and then reap the benefits. Always."

"What do you mean?"

"It means setting up a flag first and then gathering sand. It seems a bit risky from the sidelines, but well, I guess your soulmate will handle it well enough."

Her words were cryptic.

Seeing my expression, the Black Dragon Witch laughed again.

"Let's decide on the name of your guild."

"Good idea."

The Paladin chimed in.

"Names are important."

"Hmm, if I remember correctly, there are only a handful of art guilds registered in the City of Ascension. About thirty jazz performance guilds?"

"There are 26. One chamber orchestra and 11 string quartets. Including the guilds that have ceased operations, it doesn't exceed fifty in total. Most of their members are enrolled in multiple guilds."

"It really is a pitiful number..."

The Black Dragon Witch sighed.

"Do you have any good name ideas?"

"Well..."

Ah.

"How about [Raviel] for the troupe? It seems to fit perfectly."

"Hmm. Nothing comes to mind..."

"Coming up with a name is always hard."

"How about Black Dragon?"

"No good. How about Order Watch?"

Wait. Did they just smoothly ignore my suggestion?

It was so natural that I almost didn't realize I was being ignored.

"The sound of Raviel is really nice..."

"If you keep that up, we might end up with [Kim Gong-Ja] as the name."

"Let's seriously consider the name."

The three of us brainstormed together.

Several suggestions came up: Tomorrow, Sound of Ink, Babel, Aura....

"This won't do."

As the naming discussion seemed endless, the Black Dragon Witch made a decision.

"At times like this, it's customary to derive the name from the founders. Let's combine the names of the Black Dragon Witch, the Paladin, and the King of Death into something impressive."

"Is that possible?"

"Yes. We can base it on the language used by the King of Death. He's the founder, so we should show him this much consideration."

The Black Dragon Witch inquired about the language of my hometown.

We each spoke Ukrainian, Venezuelan, and Korean, but it was translated automatically by the power of the tower.

We had to ask and confirm with each other to understand how each other's aliases sounded.

"Okay."

After hearing my explanation, the Black Dragon Witch nodded.

"Take [Heuk] from Black Dragon Witch, [Gi] from Paladin, and [Sa] from King of Death, and you get [Heukgisa], which sounds exactly like [Black Knight]. Simple."

*The three Korean syllables form heukgisa, normally written “Black Knight.” The troupe later writes the final syllable with the Hanja 死, “death,” because it came from King of Death.

"Wow."

My knees went weak with embarrassment.

"Black Dragon Witch. Hey, Black Dragon Witch."

I tapped the shoulder of my comrade and close friend, feeling a thrill down my spine.

"Can you see my hand?"

"…I can see it fine. Why?"

"It's all twisted and bent right now. Can you straighten it for me?"

"Okay. That's easy enough."

The Black Dragon Witch grabbed my fingers and twisted them in the opposite direction.

"Aaaaack!?"

"Done?"

"It's fucking awful!"

I jumped up.

"Who names a troupe Black Knight? It's embarrassing! It's humiliating!"

"King of Death. Your alias is King of Death. [King of Death], you know. I'm sorry to say, but do you still have any face left to lose?"

"No, [Black Dragon Master], you shouldn't be saying that to me!"

"Don't translate it into English!"

The Black Dragon Witch grabbed my collar.

"Do you want to die!?"

"You started it, Black Dragon Witch!"

"Don't do it if I say don't! And to the English speakers, my alias is translated to Queen, not Master!"

"Ah, so you're not Black Dragon Master but Black Dragon Queen. Must be nice. Is the abbreviation BDQ? Sounds like a name that would deliver chicken in 30 minutes."

"Fine. I get it. We'll go with [Kim Gong-Ja]."

"Black Knight sounds cool."

I admired it.

"Just listening to it feels sophisticated. It rolls off the tongue. There can't be a better candidate for a troupe name. Black Dragon Witch, you're the best. Not only is your guild the best, but your naming sense is unmatched. Black Knight, it's good. Let's go with that."

"Should've surrendered earlier."

Watching our petty quarrel, the Paladin had a bittersweet smile.

The mermaid's tail gently rippled in the water of the bathtub.

"They really get along well.... It's quite fascinating."

The Black Knight Troupe, written 黑騎死, with its final character meaning death.

I will be the guild leader, and the Black Dragon Witch and the Paladin will be the deputy leaders.

It's an unprecedented luxurious lineup with the second, third, and seventh-ranked members collaborating.

'And with a lineup like this, it was an arts guild of all things.'

My lips curled up.

Once the guild officially launches, it's going to cause a stir.

I was starting to find this quite interesting.

"I'm curious about how people will react."

"Right? Isn’t it exciting?"

The Black Dragon Witch grinned like a mischievous child.

Even with the face of an aged vampire, her playful smile suited her.

"I guarantee people are going to lose their minds. Ah, and of course we're keeping it secret from the others. Let's invite old man Sword Saint to the premiere. Seriously, what kind of face will he make?"

Suddenly, I wanted to see the Black Dragon Witch with her original face wearing the same smile.

For some reason, I thought that smile would be incredibly cool.

"Alright."

I smiled too.

"That's good."

We talked all night about the next performance.

The play was decided to be [Raviel and Kekerkker].

Following the Black Dragon Witch's argument that Kekerkker sounded too odd, the performance's name was changed to [Silver Heart].

"The protagonist must definitely be Duchess Ivansia. There's no room for disagreement. Let's not focus on casting characters but instead express Duchess Ivansia's psychological changes through choreography."

"The moment of falling in love must be depicted dramatically. We'll use [The Ballroom] as the stage background. We'll cover the stage with countless white live flowers, and let the actors dance on them."

"Ah. That will be beautiful!"

Everyone was excited.

Around us, several empty bottles of wine were rolling about.

We had been drinking while planning.

"Hmm. The moment Duchess Ivansia falls in love, the flowers crushed under her feet will turn from white to red. One flower, two flowers, three flowers... and thus, a red stepping stone path will be laid upon a white sea. The King of Death will only step on the flowers that have turned red, stepping on them, crossing over to Duchess Ivansia."

The Black Dragon Witch stood up.

"This won't do. It's too good. Let's test it right now!"

"Is it okay without a flower shop here?"

"Just teleport and fetch them. Let's go!"

The Black Dragon Witch and I entered the Paladin's bathtub and held each other's hands. The three of us teleported somewhere. We didn't know where we were headed. It didn't matter.

Somewhere, where white flowers seemed likely to bloom.

We teleported, gauging the slopes of mountains and following the scent of flowers. It was night. The flowers under the night sky were fragrant. There were valleys where yellow flowers bloomed and hillsides full of purple flowers. We set out in search of only white flowers, our laughter lost in the night air.

"It's nice."

Laughter kept escaping me, as if I were drunk.

"Do you know we're flying in a bathtub right now?"

"If you upgrade a magic carpet, it naturally becomes a bathtub. People are born from water, after all."

"You're out of your mind..."

"We're drunk. This is a big deal. If the people of the tower see this..."

We landed on a flowerbed.

We lowered our heads toward the white blossoms covering the ground.

As soon as we landed in the flowerbed, the Black Dragon Witch quickly got out of the aquarium and kicked off her shoes.

"This is perfect! King of Death!"

"Haha."

"We've turned into fools, Paladin!"

"Indeed."

With a resigned face and a faint smile, the Paladin raised both hands.

Their callused fingers descended.

Slowly.

Even more slowly...

As her fingertips approached thin air.

The Paladin's face had already become expressionless.

━━━━.

The melody stirred coquettishly through the night sky.

━━, ━━━.

The Paladin's fingertips tapped the air as though invisible piano keys were spread before them.

The petals trembled. Each time the Paladin's long fingers touched the invisible white keys, the Aura of the night sky vibrated.

"You haven't lost your touch!"

"Quiet."

"Your possessiveness about your lover really is something."

"You're even noisier now."

The melody intensified.

The piano sound buried the voices.

The chatter subsided, and only the laughter of the vampire spread over the tune.

"Fool! It's been too long since we played Libertango!"

The Black Dragon Witch stepped on the white flowers with bare feet.

The petals she stepped on turned black.

━━, ━━, ━━━━.

The Paladin's hands stirred the night. The Black Dragon Witch's feet wounded the flowers. Black ink, colored Aura, flowed like blood from the petals scratched by her small toenails.

One melody, one dance move.

One gesture of the hand, one gesture of the foot.

Black footprints spread dot by dot across the white flower field.

"King of Death!"

"Beautiful..."

"You’re such a fool!"

"I like white..."

"Ah, idiot. Too fast!"

"Quiet."

Our laughter, the music, and our footsteps melted together, seeming at once connected and unconnected. We were three children painting dots of the night sky onto a white canvas. The Paladin hummed.

"I love the tower so much!"

The Black Dragon Witch laughed, intoxicated by the dance.

"If only it had existed a little earlier. Then my father could have lived with us..."

"I also love the tower."

"You mustn't be late, King of Death."

The scent of the black flowers was dizzying.

"You must never be late."

"That's right."

"Can we live well?"

"Yes."

"I want to be happy. Forever..."

"We're friends."

"That's right!"

"Everything will turn out well."

"Of course."

The aged hand of the vampire held my fingers.

"Let's dance, Kim Gong-Ja."

If life is just a game, perhaps we were simply looking for someone to play with.

We danced in a circle.

The white flowers trodden by the Black Dragon Witch were painted black.

The petals crushed under my feet turned red, deeply red.

As we danced, black and red ripples formed on the path we took, and the white garden was drenched in black and red.

"━━━."

The Paladin continued playing the piano and quietly began to sing.

Lascia ch'io pianga

mia cruda sorte, e che sospiri

la liberta---.

e che sospiri

la liberta---.

The Tower swallowed the Paladin's song and did not spit it back out.

It was just left in the night air.

We became three people abandoned to the night, wickedly enchanting the white flowers until, bewitched ourselves, we collapsed.

-.......

It was broad daylight when I woke up.

Blinding sunlight.

The Paladin lay in the tank with their gills flapping, while Black Dragon Witch slept motionless with her face buried in the flowerbed. It was the very picture of the sorry end awaiting utterly drunken revelers.

"Uh..."

Holding my throbbing head, I stood up.

Standing quietly in front of me was Ssonia.

"Huh?"

-Kekerkker.

Ssonia's voice was serious.

"What... why...? Wow, my head really hurts. Was the drink bad...?"

-I want to act in the next performance.

I looked up at Ssonia.

Some nameless desire lurked in Ssonia's blue eyes.

-Like you... no.

Ssonia said.

-I want to live like you all.

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