As the Fontinalia Festival opened, the drama competition associated also began. The various theater troupes in Fontaine had long known about the competition, and seeing it as a rare opportunity, everyone was eager and preparing to participate.
In the original drama competition, three troupes were the most popular among the public and were considered the most likely to win the Furina award.
They were: the Opera Epiclese Troupe, the Entropy Reversal Theater Troupe, and the Flame-Chaser Theater Troupe.
The leader of the Opera Epiclese Troupe is Thao, who is said to be a mortal enemy of Terva, the leader of the Entropy Reversal Theater Troupe, in terms of drama. The relationship between Kevin Kaslana, leader of the Flame-Chaser Theater Troupe and Terva is similarly not good.
The competition between the three troupes was intense. With all three competing in the same category this time, the three leaders even took to the stage themselves, which was quite capable of attracting people's attention.
The Opera Epiclese Troupe performed "Thus Spoke Slicapo" starring Thao, which told a moving story; the Entropy Reversal Theater Troupe performed "Yang's Sit-ups" starring Terva; the Flame-Chaser Theater Troupe brought the play "Why Do Birds Fly?" which was full of philosophy and thought-provoking.
The three plays were like gods fighting, leaving absolutely no chance for other troupes.
Furina did not miss a single play; she also joined the judging panel to participate in the selection.
In the end, after multiple rounds of evaluation by Furina, the professional group, the media, and the public, the Opera Epiclese Troupe's "Thus Spoke Slicapo" ultimately took the crown.
When the Steambird Press interviewed Thao and asked what he wanted to say to his old rival Terva, Thao left behind this famous quote —
"Terva may have lost this competition, but he still has me, doesn't he? I can completely act as his guide in drama, right? Mr. Terva will definitely have a chance to defeat our troupe in the future."
...
Meanwhile, the Luofu Theater Troupe won the championship in another category. They would stage the final showdown with the Opera Epiclese Troupe to determine the winner of the "furina award."
The ultimate PK between these two troupes was a highlight of the entire Fontinalia Festival. The Opera Epiclese, which was already full for every performance, was even more packed for this one.
After discussing, Furina finally agreed to increase the number of audience seats, provided that safety was ensured.
The leader of the Luofu Theater Troupe is named Jing Yuan, who is currently quite old and about to retire. It is said that the successor to the troupe leader is named Fu Xuan, who has always been striving to make progress, but for the sake of her progress and tempering, Jing Yuan has just been giving her empty promises.
"Fu Xuan, after this competition is over, I will hand over the position of troupe leader to you." Jing Yuan said leisurely.
Fu Xuan was anxious. "Jing Yuan! You must keep your word this time!"
...
Time soon arrived for the ultimate showdown.
On this day, Erinnyes Island was exceptionally lively. After adding seats, tens of thousands of spectators walked into the Opera Epiclese. Both troupes had arrived early to wait for their turn. This competition was destined to be recorded in the annals of Fontaine's drama.
Furina did not sit in her exclusive seat but sat at the judges' table closer to the stage. She was the head of this judging panel and many ideas were put forward by Rina.
The ultimate PK would be divided into two projects: preparing a performance within 30 minutes based on the play given by the judges, and performing, as well as drawing lots for elements and improvising a new drama based on those elements.
During the performance, the judging panel would design various unexpected situations to test their ability to adapt on the spot. Finally, the winner of the furina award would be decided based on the combined scores of the two projects.
This competition format had been kept secret from everyone until now and had just been announced to the public.
Such rules were a pure test of the troupes' true strength.
At this moment, both Thao and Jing Yuan were deep in thought, considering how to increase their chances of winning.
Soon, the performance officially began, with the Luofu Theater Troupe performing first. The play they performed was an original script prepared in advance by the judging panel, ensuring there was no possibility of prior practice.
After receiving the script, Jing Yuan immediately led the actors to start studying it. Due to the tight schedule, the actors could only rely more on their own improvisation on the spot.
However...
The difficulty of this competition lay not only in the fact that the play had to be improvised on the spot, but the judging panel also added trouble to them from time to time.
For example...
"Why did this stage suddenly collapse!"
"Why is the ceiling leaking, hey?"
"What? You say you want to increase the chances for Lady Furina to appear? The script is already arranged, how can we do this?"
There were constant problems during the performance, and the air was filled with the sounds of the Luofu Theater Troupe members whispering complaints and roasting. Clearly, these were all methods prepared in advance by the judging panel to make things difficult for them.
Thao watched this scene and couldn't help but shudder. "Fortunately, they are acting as guinea pigs... so we won't be caught off guard."
Luofu Theater Troupe leader Jing Yuan commented on this. "The judging panel is like this. The Luofu Theater Troupe just needs to focus on the performance, the judging panel has a lot more to consider."
Fortunately, as an established theater troupe in Fontaine, the Luofu Theater Troupe had solid enough internal quality and completed the performance without any danger.
Although Thao of the Opera Epiclese Troupe knew about the judging panel's methods, the malice they endured from the judging panel during their performance was not reduced at all, and the judging panel even changed the way they pranked them, so they were not much different from the Luofu Theater Troupe.
Furina: Thao, didn't expect that, did you? I, Furina, am a cut above!
Rina: Although I am happy that Furina adopted my suggestion, this is the first time I've seen such a shameless person...
It is worth mentioning that the blond Traveler and the man in black, who happened to be traveling in Fontaine to attend the Fontinalia Festival, also joined the Opera Epiclese Troupe. They helped out inside, which could be considered part of their sightseeing.
...
After a long time, both competition projects ended.
After fierce arguments among the judging panel, the Opera Epiclese Troupe ultimately came out on top and won the final victory.
This also symbolized that the Opera Epiclese Troupe would ascend to the pinnacle of Fontaine's drama world.
At the awards ceremony, Furina, as the award presenter, personally presented the furina award to the Opera Epiclese Troupe. The blond Traveler and the man in black also attended the awards ceremony as members of the Opera Epiclese Troupe.
In the end, a group of people left behind a precious photo.
In that photo sent to Furina's hands, Furina drew a red-eyed girl who was floating above the ground and looking at her with a gentle smile on her face. She hoped that one day in the future, this red-eyed girl could truly have her own body and stand really beside her...
Rina saw a wonderful drama competition and Furina's performance on stage was also very good, so Rina naturally revealed a rare smile.
And this gentle smile of hers belonged only to Furina.
When the Fontinalia Festival arrives five hundred years later, the group photo of another blond Traveler, the little white sprite and Furina at the awards ceremony will increase the gold content of this photo by several levels.
Of course, that is a story for a long time later.
...
After ten days of enthusiastic atmosphere, the Fontinalia Festival also came to an end amidst Furina's speech.
Happy times are always short. Furina and the people gradually walked out of the festival atmosphere and gradually returned to normal life.
"Other Me, did you have fun this time?"
'Humph, by my standards, it was barely satisfactory.'
Some time passed and it seems something happened at Fontaine Research Institute...