The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

More precisely, Liszt was setting out to create a stage play in the form of a spoken drama, akin to the style of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and "Romeo and Juliet."

Of course, he didn't know much about this kind of stage play.

He had never watched a complete stage play.

But that did not prevent him from creating an entirely new stage play in this world. He didn't need highly sophisticated art forms or rich plot content—just to pioneer the theatrical form of stage plays. Once stage plays became popular, surely novelists would craft genuinely good works.

Even more so.

Liszt simply needed to adapt one or two classic Knight's Novels to create a stage play. Besides, according to the Smoke Mission hint, Artknow Veil Mask itself possessed artistic aptitude; what it lacked was merely inspiration. Adapting stage plays could be left to her.

"Avril, I plan to acquire your comedy troupe and help you create an entirely new form of drama plays. Your group will move to Fresh Flower Town and perform mainly for the residents of my domain. As long as you rehearse classic plays, I will recommend that you go perform in larger cities."

The members of the comedy troupe were all freemen and lived quite a challenging life, mostly being relatives of one another.

With Liszt willing to purchase, there was no reason for Avril and her family to disagree. Moreover, the idea of brand-new stage plays deeply attracted Avril: "Lord Landlord, Avril is very willing to perform stage plays for you. I just don't know if they will be popular."

"Don't worry about whether it will be welcomed or not. Once I acquire your troupe, I will set a basic salary according to the standard of workshops in the domain. Afterward, the earnings from each performance will be shared... My expectation for you isn't to make money but to study art."

Whether stage plays could make money depended on whether this artistic form could gain recognition.

But, even if stage plays became popular, the troupe's performance times and frequency were limited; thus, making substantial money was difficult. Liszt had a vast number of industries under him and did not need to rely on stage plays to earn money.

His investment in stage plays was partly to complete a mission and partly for promotion.

He was even willing to continue despite potential losses.

Upon receiving Liszt's affirmative response, Avril was overjoyed and immediately asked Liszt how to rehearse the stage play.

"I have already told you about the form of the stage play. You might still be confused, but you have plenty of time to explore. I'll recommend two Knight's Novels for you, 'Varcey Knight's Loyalty Song' and 'Sir Pierrot of Grand Ambitions.' Simplify them, distill the main stories, and then adapt them to the stage."

These two Knight's Novels didn't have many battle scenes and were in a realistic style, which made them easy to adapt.

Most crucially, their themes were very wholesome.

'Varcey Knight's Loyalty Song' can be understood from its title as a story that describes the loyal protection offered by a knight of the domain to his Lord Landlord; 'Sir Pierrot of Grand Ambitions' depicts how a commoner, through bravery and following his Lord Landlord, eventually becomes a glittering Noble Honored Knight.

Without a doubt, these are stories that plebeians enjoy and nobles appreciate.

"Avril, quickly rehearse a rough story, and when the time comes, I will guide you on which parts have problems, and you can then make corrections," said Liszt in order to finish the task promptly, setting a deadline, "Within three days, I want to see 'Varcey's Song' brought to the stage."

"Lord Landlord, is three days too short? I—I don't know if I can do well."

"Then let me give you a bit more guidance. The story of 'Varcey' is quite simple—bandits arrive in the domain, the Lord Landlord gets injured, and Varcey loyally protects him. He performs extraordinarily, defeating the bandits and securing the safety of the domain, therefore, the Lord Landlord rewards him greatly. You just need to capture the main storyline, add a bit of dialogue, and do some simple action imitation."

"Then I'll give it a try."

"Go ahead."

...

Avril's comedy troupe was renamed "Black Horse Island Drama Troupe," and they began to diligently choreograph "Varcey Knight's Loyalty Song."

Liszt, along with Chris Truth, went to Black Horse Island to select a site for the Mage Tower. Experience new stories with empiren/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Magicians typically build their towers in secluded places to conduct their research on Truth undisturbed. However, Chris could no longer live apart from the town, so she chose a site on the edge of the port town to build her Mage Tower.

Additionally, the port town, the new castle, and the Mage Tower were arranged in a triangular formation.

Chris did not have a say in the architectural style of the tower because Liszt proposed an entirely new style—arched doors, floor-to-ceiling windows, and large pillars.

It also featured separate stairwells and a plumbing system with its own water tower.

The design was five stories high, with a circular structure, and each floor had four rooms besides the stairwell. Calling it a Mage Tower was a bit of a misnomer—it was actually more like an apartment building. Liszt planned to continue adding such towers in the future to train more magicians or magic scholars.

He did not like the madness of magicians when they studied Truth, but exploring magic power and magic arrays was a worthy research direction for the future.

It was entirely possible to industrialize magic.

Of course, this idea was not yet feasible, as Chris was not even willing to take on a magic apprentice, let alone train a large number of scholars to research magic. Besides, magicians posed a high level of danger. To realize the industrialization of magic, one must first gain complete control over the land.

Only the Dou Qi of knights could contain the threat of magic.

"The requirements are clear, you need to complete the Mage Tower design as soon as possible. Once it's approved by Her Excellency Chris and me, construction shall start immediately," Liszt commanded Jomaya Bangtu.

This architect with a tarnished record had been conscientious since arriving on Black Horse Island and had caused no further trouble. Having arrived early, he had extensive research experience with rubber, bricks, glass, and was temporarily serving as the chief architect of the land. Architects among the new serfs still struggled with the language and needed to adapt to the building style.

"Lord Landlord, please rest assured, we will perfect the design of the Mage Tower!"

Liszt then turned to Chris and said, "The Mage Tower will be built according to your preferences. Do not hesitate to make any requests." That being said, since he had established the architectural tone of the tower, Chris did not have the heart to overturn it and build the Mage Tower she envisioned.

Besides, Liszt's plan was indeed quite appealing.

A Mage Tower in the neoclassical style would certainly be more aesthetically pleasing and practical.

…

Three days later.

Liszt had returned to Fresh Flower Town, and the Black Horse Island Drama Troupe's performance of "Varcey" had officially debuted in the castle's manor, with only the town's officials as the audience.

The stage was primitive, the content of the drama even more so, and the actors' performances were incredibly poor.

The fifteen-minute "Varcey" came to an embarrassing close. To call it a drama was a stretch; it was more like a farce. Liszt was left speechless, realizing that these comedians had no idea how to perform a stage play.

Nevertheless.

When he summoned the Smoke Mission, he couldn't help but smile happily.

"Task completed, reward: Loki's new spell—Levitation Spell."