[43.4] Reika Finds Her New Niche

The next day, I arrived back at the art museum where Felix was pacing back and forth.

I strolled over to him while confidently holding my outfit, "Are you feeling nervous, Felix?"

He looked at me with a pout, "W-What if this doesn't work?! What will I do!? If this doesn't work out then my entire plan is ruined! All my hard work will be for nothing!"

I put my things down and rubbed his shoulders to placate him, "If this doesn't work, we will just have to think about doing something else."

He looked at me with puppy dog eyes, "How can you be so confident?"

I gave him a wink, "Because I have faith in our abilities."

Seeing that I was still confident, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Zephyr strolled in behind me holding the drum that was larger than his body. He peeked out from it triumphantly and held it out, "It will work solely due to my drum skills!"

Felix's anxious expression turned into a smile, "You're right. How could I ever be nervous?"

Zephyr nodded smugly, "Exactly! So stop freaking out. These people may be uncultured, but they can understand talent when they hear my drum."

Felix laughed and helped Zephyr take his drum to the stage. After I put on my costume, I joined them and tapped my foot on the newly built stage.

I whistled in admiration, "Wow. I didn't think it would be this good of quality since it was made so fast."

Felix smiled with pride, "Don't underestimate the power of money. It's just as powerful as magic."

I let out a sigh and mumbled to myself, "Maybe even more powerful than that."

Cyrus walked into the stage yard followed by Caldwell. He leaned onto the stage and raised his head to smile at me, "Are you nervous?"

I shrugged, "Meh. Not really."

Felix shivered, "Well I'm nervous. Do you think enough people will show up?"

Cyrus shrugged, "We will find out soon enough."

I stepped behind the curtain with Zephyr as Felix scurried to the front of the museum to stare anxiously at the door.

As I was fixing my hair, I heard a growing commotion coming from the stage area. Zephyr motioned toward me and pulled me to the curtain. We both peeked our heads out to see a crowd starting to gather.

It wasn't very large, but the crowd had far more people than I thought would come.

I suddenly felt my blood chill, "I-I guess we really were successful pulling them in."

Zephyr pulled away and grabbed his warrior paint. He smeared it across his face, "Today we fight our biggest battle."

He reached over and smeared face paint on me.

I looked at him in irritation. "This better be safe for skin."

He snickered egotistically, "Safe for my skin."

I rolled my eyes and started to take off my shoes and put on the ankle bracelets full of bells.

Zephyr watched me, "Do you think you'll nail the finale?"

I pursed my lips insecurely, "I don't know. I was thinking I would have more traction with bare feet than slippers."

He looked at my toes and turned up his nose, "Disgusting."

I flicked his forehead.

"OW!"

I stuck out my tongue, "Brat."

He jumped on me and started flicking my forehead, "How do you like it!?"

"Get off!"

As we rolled around on the ground flicking each other, Felix suddenly pushed the curtain and rushed backstage.

"Reika. Zephyr. Are you ready-" He paused to watch us, "Um…"

I pushed Zephyr off and stood up, fixing my hair and outfit. I cleared my throat, "What's up?"

Zephyr held out his middle finger at me.

I held out mine in return.

Felix looked between the two of us and spoke up timidly, "U-Um… Are you two ready to start? We actually have quite the crowd."

I looked at Zephyr, "Ready?"

He nodded firmly, "Ready!"

Felix went back to the front of the curtain and cleared his throat, "Welcome everyone to our first performance art exhibit. Today we have Reika Marlow and Zephyr performing their piece: The Last Fairy. Please enjoy!"

He went to the side and pulled the curtain, revealing Zephyr and me who were already in position.

I took the Natarajasana pose.

Following the same routine as when I was on the street, I created the pretend fairy which flapped around me as Zephyr carefully timed his drum beats. Then, I concentrated on imagining that the fairy would suddenly be pounced on and ripped apart by a dragon made of smoke.

I danced around the dragon, pretending as if it was chasing after me next. To get away from the dragon, I would jump from ice step to ice step, creating it as I went.

Each move I made went naturally along with the drum beat and the flow of the attacks.

The dragon made of smoke flew around me as I coordinated the attacks to match where I was jumping.

My breathing picked up as I forced myself to focus.

I jumped onto the dragon, landing on its back which was now solidified to hold my weight. I rode on the dragon with difficulty and directed it back towards the stage.

A cold sweat broke across my forehead.

Riding on the dragon proved far too difficult for me to do, so I landed on the stage and changed tactics.

Okay.

I need to focus.

…Almost done!

The dragon danced around the crowd before finally turning back to face me.

And… Now!

As the dragon charged toward me, I used my ice to surround the dragon and force it to harden.

Before everyone's eyes, the dragon chasing me became a statue made of ice. They were so shocked to see such a magnificent show, they all broke out into a cheer.

Zephyr bellowed out on stage, "And just like that, the dragon was defeated!"

He smacked the drum a few more times, signaling the end of the show.

The crowd erupted into applause as Zephyr and I both bowed. Felix walked on stage clapping and spoke to the audience, "If you enjoyed this performance art piece, please come again next week! If you would like to get involved or learn how to perform, please find one of our workers to discuss it. Until then, please enjoy the rest of the exhibits, and please come again!"

I looked across the stage proudly as I struggled to catch my breath. In the crowd, I caught sight of Angie grinning brightly. Behind her were numerous children who all shared her blondish silver hair with Captain Lou who was holding an infant in his arms as he scowled.

I hopped off the stage and walked over to Captain Lou and his army of silver-haired children.

I bent down to speak to Angie, "You came back?"

She nodded with a bright smile, "I did! I cried and broke things until my brother brought me back!!"

I looked up at him to see him seething with rage. The toddler in his arms gurgled as he played with Captain Lou's frown. I snickered at his suffering, "Atta girl."

Angie motioned to her siblings, "They all wanted to come too after I talked about the amazing tricks you do!"

I grinned, "You think it's amazing?"

A boy who looked around 13 spoke shyly, "T-That was really incredible… How long did it take for you to learn that?"

I shrugged, "A year or so. Coming up with the idea is the hard part. The easy part is going through with it."

His eyes lit up, "Do you think I could learn how to do it too?"

I reached out to rub his head, "Definitely. As long as you work hard, anything is possible."

He cheered happily, "I'm going to start practicing!"

"Great! You'll be a world-renowned street performer in no time."

Captain Lou spoke in a seething tone, "Don't encourage that."

I motioned to the young boy, "But look how happy he looks. Shouldn't you be more supportive of your siblings and their dreams?"

Captain Lou clenched his jaw as he glared at me.

Heh. This is extremely satisfying.

I guess his siblings are his weak point.

I overheard someone from the crowd whisper, "Is that Captain Lou? As in, that Captain Lou of the Royal Guards?"

Another whispered, "It is! I had no idea he would come! He's such a staunch opponent of anything demonic, but he's okay with art?"

Another spoke, "Maybe he doesn't think art is related to demons."

"Well if he thinks so, then it must just be a rumor that only demons make art. There's no way he would come to view art if it was truly demonic."

"Hmm… Now that you mention it, I suppose that makes sense."

Fufu.

Who would have ever thought Captain Lou would be such a beneficial background character?

I spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, "I am so honored to have you here, Captain Lou. I'm glad Angie was able to warn me that you were coming so I could ensure everything was in the best shape."

His expression stiffened, "Huh? She did?"

Angie looked at me quizzically but didn't contradict me.

I nodded, "Good thing I could prepare. I shiver to think of what you may have seen otherwise."

His expression twitched.

That's it!

Take the bait!

"I guess I should come more often unannounced." He added with an evil smirk, "That way I can keep an eye on you more closely."

He took the bait!!!

The crowd was astonished when they overheard him say that. They all began to whisper amongst themselves:

"Captain Lou said he will come often!"

"We should also come often then!"

"If I get the chance to talk to him once, I'd be so happy!"

"You know he's an eligible bachelor, right?"

"Oh! Maybe we can bump into each other here and get married!"

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.

How is this man so popular with the women in town?! Can't they tell that he's an arrogant jerk!?

Suddenly I was hit with a bout of exhaustion. As I started to sway, Zephyr caught sight of my strange state and hopped off the stage to hold me upright.

I forced a smile, "Zephyr, can you take me to the office? I need to rest."

He gave a nod, "Fine. I will permit you to lean on my shoulder… But just this once!"

I laughed and leaned on him for support as he led me inside. It felt as though the energy was slowly leaking from my body with each step I took. However, once I saw how many people were inside checking out the exhibits, I felt a bit more energy return to me.

Cyrus noticed Zephyr holding me and carrying me along, so he rushed over to help. He held me gently, "I have her."

Zephyr gave a nod and hopped off to play with his drum again. Cyrus and I both walked into the back office where I collapsed onto the couch with a groan. Cyrus silently started rubbing my back to soothe me, "Tired?"

I let out a loud groan, "Everything hurts!!! Why is it so hard…"

He smirked, "I thought you were a master magician with limitless mana?"

I gave him a pitiful look, "I am, but doing that without a wand is so exhausting! It feels like having to sit down for eight hours to do an entrance exam! It's unbearable!"

He took out a handkerchief to wipe at the paint covering my face, "You did a really good job. I was mesmerized the entire time watching you and I'm sure everyone else was too. I think you succeeded in changing the minds of a few people today."

"Then give me a reward!"

He raised an eyebrow, "What do you want as a reward?"

I pulled him to the couch and forced him to sit down. Then I lay back down on the couch and used his lap as a pillow. I closed my eyes and smiled smugly, "Be my pillow while I take a nap to recover."

He laughed and willingly obliged. He reached down and gently ran his fingers through my hair. I could feel how delicate he was with me and soon started drifting off to sleep.

Ah… So comfortable…

His deep voice was like honey to my ears, "Did you enjoy it?"

My lips gradually curled into a smile, "I did."

I never knew I was capable of such a thing.

"I guess I should have pursued performance art…" I let out a yawn and drifted off to sleep as I mumbled, "I should have… Done that instead…"

Right before I dozed off, I felt a pair of warm, tender lips gently kiss my forehead.

I fell asleep with a warm smile.