Chapter: 360
Everything that exists in the world has the potential to belong to someone else someday.
Thus, I had believed that it was impossible to completely own anything.
But it existed.
A way to completely possess something.
“…Ahaha!!”
Auria burst into laughter as she gazed at the completely irreparable torn painting that no one could ever acquire again.
The sense of fulfillment that soared within her was incomparable to when she first acquired the painting.
The regret of having torn apart the picture, which had cost quite a hefty price, was nothing compared to that fulfillment.
By tearing the painting herself, Auria had obtained the ‘end’ of it.
No one could take that from her, no matter what they did.
That was, undeniably, complete ownership.
“It’s perfect…!!”
The joy, the exhilaration, the thrill.
Auria, feeling both the sensation her father said was like her soul trembling and what her companions told her about being born for this, could not help but fall into it instantly.
“More, more…!”
She wanted to attain another ‘end’!
Auria, who had never realized until now that she was this greedy, picked up other items in the room to satisfy her desires.
The shining plates shattered and beautiful clothes were torn apart by Auria’s hands, seeking the ‘end.’
Her destructive spree continued until everything in the room was destroyed.
“…Oh no, has everything already fallen apart? Hmm, I still feel like I need more to break; maybe I should go buy some.”
Feeling unsatisfied, Auria expressed her disappointment.
Just as she was considering stepping outside to find more things to destroy,
“…Wait a moment.”
Suddenly, a thought brushed through her mind.
“…Does it necessarily have to be an object?”
Auria stared blankly at the remnants of the items that had met their ‘end’ due to her actions.
While they might have held significant value to others, they were things she could easily replace if she desired.
“…Things like these are simple enough to acquire.”
Auria had recently realized that things easily obtained held little value.
The ‘end’ of things was easy to attain.
Thus, she pondered.
If she felt this much fulfillment from the ‘end’ of something easily obtainable,
Then what about the ‘end’ of something more challenging, something valuable?
Yes, for instance, just like her father had told her.
“Auria, remember this: no object is more precious than a person.”
What kind of sensation would accompany the ‘end’ of someone more valuable than an object?
“…Ahaha, I’m curious now.”
With that dangerous and tempting notion, Auria’s body trembled.
She longed to rush outside immediately to satisfy that curiosity.
“…Ah, no. I must resist.”
Despite that, Auria decided to suppress the impulse.
“…That would be too bad.”
Because acting on that impulse would conflict with the ethics that humans possessed.
Was she really that moral of a person?
“Getting caught for doing something like that would be disastrous…”
Of course, she wasn’t.
It was merely a rational decision based on knowing what could happen if she recklessly committed such acts.
Thus, Auria had no intention of giving up.
“So let’s think of a way to acquire it without being caught…”
The more difficult something was to obtain, the more valuable it was.
Then, how sweet would be the reward at the end of such efforts?
Imagining it, Auria smiled.
*
The man who was the owner of the Golden Troupe and Auria’s adoptive father was in a great mood these days.
It was because his most cherished adopted daughter, Auria, had recently been smiling more often.
He was delighted to see Auria, who usually didn’t smile that much unless on stage, change, and he grew curious about the reason behind it, asking her.
“Auria, you seem to be smiling a lot recently. Is something good happening?”
“Is that so? Hehe, actually, I’ve picked up a new hobby lately.”
“A new hobby? Not collecting things?”
“I’ve stopped that lately. Thinking about it, something you can buy with money doesn’t seem all that valuable. So, most of the money I’ve earned recently is spent on helping the city’s vagrants.”
“Wow, you’re helping the vagrants in the city? How did you come to think of that?”
The man was delighted to hear Auria’s words.
The only thing he had felt disappointed about was Auria’s tendency to waste money.
He had been worrying about how to address her obsession with collecting items so strangely, yet she seemed to be fixing it all by herself.
Moreover, that money she used on buying items was now used to help others.
Feeling prouder than ever, the man listened to Auria’s response with a smile.
“Well, you’ve always said that people are more precious than objects, right? So, when I think about how those precious people die in places I can’t see, it just feels too wasteful… so unfortunate.”
“Indeed, the truly precious thing is people. However, Auria, while it’s good to be generous to the unfortunate, try not to give too much. Rewards that come without effort can be toxic for people.”
“Hehe, yes. I know well. I’m already right at the brink of starvation without money or sick people who are dying because they can’t get medicine. I’m only helping those kinds of people; there’s no reason for me to assist anyone else.”
“Hmm, I can see you’re managing wisely, even without my reminder. So, have you taken helping people as your new hobby?”
“No, my hobby is something else.”
With a smile that reflected her enjoyment at just thinking about it, Auria answered the man’s question.
“I’ve recently developed an interest in playwriting. I’m learning a bit from the playwright associated with the troupe.”
“Oh, playwriting! That sounds like a wonderful hobby.”
In simple terms, playwriting referred to the script and stories used in theater.
Auria was an actress on the stage, and it would only be natural to rejoice at the thought of such an actress taking an interest in the script, so the man asked Auria with a smile.
“I’m curious about what aspect of playwriting has drawn your interest.”
“Well, I wanted to try writing a tragedy.”
“Oh, a tragedy, is it?”
“Hehe, is that a bit strange? When I said that, the playwright had a similar reaction as well. They said that most women my age prefer comedies, so it was interesting.”
“Well, everyone has their individual tastes, so that’s alright. Besides, I enjoy tragedies too. There’s a catharsis you can’t find in comedies.”
With the man nodding as if he understood, Auria smiled brightly in response.
“Yes, that’s true. Anyway, it’s time to start preparing for the stage, so I’ll get up now.”
“Oh, has the time passed so quickly? I look forward to a good song today as well.”
With the man expressing his anticipation, Auria left with a slight smile.
Then she walked toward the theater, humming a tune.
“Tragedies are nice. But the reason I want to write a tragedy is that I can decide the ‘end’ of the characters at the playwright’s whim~.”
The content of the tragedy Auria was currently writing went like this:
There was a woman in a troupe who loved dancing more than anything.
This woman loved dancing so much that she always arrived early at the theater and practiced her dance on stage from the morning.
But one day…
Reciting the details of her tragedy in her mind, Auria continued to hum her tune slowly.
“And even if they said they were looking forward to a good song, I won’t be singing on stage today~.”
But as she continued her melody, it abruptly ended just as she neared the theater.
A loud crash followed by a scream echoed from somewhere.
Stopping her humming, Auria rushed into the theater, where the screams rang out.
“AAAAH!! My leg, my leg…!!!”
“Get that out of the way! What are you doing! Hurry!”
Inside the theater, chaos erupted as a woman screamed under a fallen chandelier on stage while others rushed to save her.
Auria paused for a moment, observing the frenzied scene before stepping back outside.
Soon, the news spread that the scheduled performance had been canceled due to the unfortunate accident.
*
Auria headed to visit her fellow actress who had suffered in the accident.
Knock, knock—arriving at her house, Auria tapped on the door.
But receiving no response, she opened the unlocked door and entered.
Worried about what to do if no one was home, she breathed a sigh of relief to find her companion inside.
Sitting next to her fellow actress, Auria spoke.
“…Senpai, that was quite a disaster, wasn’t it? Who would have thought something like that would happen? A chandelier falling on stage out of the blue—though you hurt your leg, you were really lucky to survive that, considering you could have been killed. I was shocked myself.”
“…….”
“That chandelier—someone must have loosened its fixture. Even someone merely dancing on stage could have caused it to fall. It seems they never figured out who did it.”
Gently stroking the woman lying on the bed, Auria struggled to suppress an impending smile.
“Hehe, I mean, no one could imagine that the best actress in the troupe would do something like that.”
“…….”
“Hey, listen to this. I was writing a play recently about a woman who loves dancing so much that she goes around saying she was born to dance, and the story ends with her getting crushed by a chandelier on stage. But you know what? Today I changed the ending. The woman who should have been crushed by the chandelier survived.”
“…….”
“Haha, I’m not blaming you, so don’t worry. Thinking about it, I find the new ending much better. A woman who loves to dance so much that she can no longer dance becomes so distraught that she commits suicide; now that’s much more dramatic, right? So, I figured I would change it to her hanging herself in despair…”
“…….”
“Wow, I got the suicide part right, but looking at it now, I realize I still have a long way to go as a playwright. I mean, with a hurt leg, she wouldn’t be able to hang herself, would she? And besides, let’s talk about poisons… That’s good too. Dying beautifully certainly feels like something an actress would do. After all, a bit of unexpectedness makes it fun.”
“…….”
“Thanks to you, it turned out to be a much, much better ‘end’ than I had imagined. Thank you, senpai.”
With the deceased actress before her, Auria smiled brightly.
As she pondered what to create for her next work.
One was not enough for her to feel fully satisfied.
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