บท 98: Kent's acting (2)
"Make him pay extra for every minute!"
"I doubt that will even put a dent into his wallet but we can do that."
"Not even a dent?"
"The account linked to his card contains... a fortune. Honestly, he could even afford some of our premium packages with that much money."
"Must be nice to be coddled by your father."
"Don't be bitter."
I sigh and head for one of the employee VR capsules. I spawn into an empty theater with only the stage being lit up. Various stage props are placed on stage as they form the illusion that you are looking into a renaissance styled living room. Kent is just sitting there gazing at an empty seat before him with a complicated look on his face.
I slither past the rows and rows of empty seats and ascend the stage. Kent tears his gaze from the chair and looks over at me.
"You really take the form of a snake, huh."
"It's for experimental purposes so pay it no heed. Rather, what's all this?"
"Oh, this? The AI said I could shape room to my liking so I tried to recreate something a little more complex. It's the stage where I once participated in the play 'the pitiful daughter'."
Oh gods, here comes the sob story. I'm really not in the mood to listen to this so I try to switch subjects.
"What did you want to meet me for?"
"I would like to tell you my life story. I'd be very grateful if you took the time to listen."
Change of subject failed spectacularly.
"You know that I am not a psychiatrist so telling me about your life will serve little purpose."
Should I also mention how expensive that's going to be? No, if Navi says his bank account contains a fortune he will likely not care about the money spent.
"I'm fine even if you just listen."
"That's fine then."
Why do I have to endure this! I don't want to hear about that prick's pompous life! But what can I do, he's a paying customer.
"I do not wish to bore you with the inconsequential accounts of my early years so I'll start with when I entered school.
"My father never expected anything from me and always allowed me to do what I felt was fun. In school I quickly found myself drawn to art in all its shapes and forms. I learned to paint, sing, dance, sculpt, write poems, and many more things.
"As I grew older and sought to deepen my studies I came across an after-studies club at my school. The club was named the club of fine arts. I found myself drawn to those last two words and looked into the club.
"The club aimed to help the members acquire a skill called fine arts that enabled the use of any and all artistic skills. I immediately joined and every day I spent in that club was pure bliss. We often put on plays since we could display many other artistic skills at once during a single play.
"Everything was great and I even met a nice girl. We both enjoyed the fine arts and grew closer. This here is the stage of our last play together.
"They found no one willing to play the female lead role so I volunteered and got dressed up as a female. My vacancy for the lead male role was then taken up by that girl who dressed was dressed up as a man.
"The entire play was rather comical but the audience loved it. I thought that if things would continue the way they were I could be happy. But after that night everything changed.
"The girl I'd grown to like turned out to be the daughter of one of my father's enemies. All the interest she had expressed in me and the fine arts had been a ruse to get close enough to me to ascertain if I had become a sanguine swordsman. I hadn't become one at the time so her suspicions about me were all lifted.
"My father killed the girl and all his enemies. Then he decided that the danger for my life had passed and I would become a sanguine swordsman. But as you can see I have little to no talent to be one."
"I have listened to your life story. Anything else?"
He looks a little confused at my impassive face.
"Any comment on what I just told you?"
"You are lucky that your father didn't blame you for growing to like the daughter of his enemy."
"What kind of father would ever do that? I couldn't have known that she was faking her interests!"
Mine would have done so without a doubt. But of course, you wouldn't understand that.
<Jade, cool down. No need to get so worked up over the past.>
I'm trying my hardest here to not snap at him, you know! What does he even want me to say? That he had it bad? If he wants people to pity him and tell him how hard he's had it then he can go to a hostess bar.
"Do you think I can do it?"
"Do what?"
"Become a real sanguine swordsman."
"Do you want to become one?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you keep hoping that you will be unable to make it and that your father will just learn to live with it you will never be able to muster the determination to change who you are."
"Change who I am?"
"At the moment you are an artist at heart and your skills are made to support that. You lack the fierce and savage temperament to ignite your blood and enjoy spilling it. That doesn't mean that you can't become a strong sanguine swordsman but your path will be a lot more convoluted than that of others. If you don't want that, you will have to change who you are."
"So there is a way without needing to change myself?"
The excitement in his voice is hard to miss.
"I don't know. There might be, there might not be such a path. You will have to decide where you place your hopes and if you are willing to fight for them."
<Let me write that down in my book of motivational quotes. I didn't know you had it in you to say such things. I'll get right to making a promotional campaign for you as a new motivational coach.>
Don't you dare!
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