(3rd Person POV)
Kaiser activated «Enhanced Senses» — a skill that drew nothing from his Divine Power — and quietly pieced together their situation from the murmurs drifting around him.
The theatre was exactly what it appeared to be, with one notable exception.
It had built a reputation among men looking for a certain kind of entertainment. The draw wasn't the play itself — it was what came after.
The owner of the theatre, a woman named Alina Müller, performed a bonus act of her own once the curtain fell on the main show. She ran this place, and she was its biggest attraction.
Alina was beautiful in a way that commanded a room. Her dancing didn't just entertain — it worked on the imagination, left men leaning forward in their seats like they'd forgotten how to breathe. Even the nobles in the front row had abandoned any pretense of dignity. A few gold coins already lay scattered across the stage floor.
"Not good." Keanu watched with a faint wince. "From the looks of it, this theatre isn't selling anytime soon." He clicked his tongue. "Such a waste of travel..."
"Not entirely." Kaiser's eyes stayed on the stage.
Keanu glanced at him. "Hm? You have a way to get them to sell?"
"No."
"Then what?" Keanu exhaled, disappointed.
"That woman." Kaiser nodded toward the stage. "Forget the theatre. She's a talent Hellfire should have."
Keanu looked again — really looked this time. Under any other circumstances, he might have assumed Kaiser was simply taken with her. But they were deities. They had been around goddesses. A beautiful mortal woman wasn't going to cloud either of their heads.
"You think she'd make a good actress?" Keanu stroked his chin.
"A great one." Kaiser smiled. "The kind that really sells."
As a former God of Wealth, he knew opportunity the moment he saw it. Back on the home world, Hellfire had set the film industry alight — and in the boom that followed, a whole separate market had quietly taken root alongside it. Low-budget adult productions that cost almost nothing to make and pulled in more than most people expected. Not the headline business, but profitable enough that nobody in the know ignored it.
Alina had exactly that quality.
"He-he." Keanu caught on quickly and chuckled. "You're as materialistic as ever, Kaiser. Deity or not."
"If Arthur were here, he'd be thinking the same thin—"
The commotion hit before he could finish.
Three men in white priest robes shoved in from the side of the hall. The tallest one's voice cracked across the room like a whip.
"This is demonic!"
The other two picked it up immediately.
"You sit here and feed your filth while the Lord of Earth watches! Have you no shame?!"
"And you—" one of them jabbed a finger toward the stage, "—you dress yourself in sin and call it performance! You lead men into corruption and call it art! The Lord of Earth condemns this! Every coin thrown is a coin thrown into the pit!"
"Repent! All of you — repent before his judgment reaches this place!"
"Who are they?" Keanu asked, glancing sideways.
The man beside him answered without hesitation. "Priests of the Lord of Earth. Same story as the other faiths — they believe what Lady Müller does is a sin. They make a habit of showing up to these things."
"Ah." Kaiser watched.
The effect was almost immediate. The men who'd been throwing coins — nobles included — shrank back. Hands pulled away. Eyes dropped to the floor. Whatever spell the room had been holding broke apart cleanly.
On stage, Alina had gone still. The performance stopped. She kept her expression composed, but Kaiser caught it anyway — the brief flicker of shame she was working hard to bury beneath the surface. The curtain drew closed before it could show any further.
The hall began to empty.
"I suppose that's that."
"Let's go."
"Damn those priests." Someone nearby ground the words out through his teeth. "I was this close. Why the hell do they even come to these things."
The crowd filtered out one by one until the hall was nearly empty. Keanu and Kaiser remained seated.
They watched the priests leave — chests out, chins up, walking like men who'd just won something.
"Look at them." Keanu's jaw tightened. "They stand up there and shame everyone in the room, then walk out like that. Like they don't see the irony."
Kaiser tapped him on the shoulder. "Let's go."
They rose and moved into the corridor — but didn't head for the exit. Instead, they turned toward the back, in the direction of wherever Lady Müller might be.
They didn't get far before they found the priests again.
Three white robes, planted in the corridor, facing off against a large man in heavy armor. The man's hand rested near the hilt of a sword that looked like it could split a doorframe.
"Come now." The lead priest's voice had shifted — smoother, almost reasonable. "We only want a private word with Lady Müller. To help her see a better path."
"We're even willing to part with some silver for her time," the second one added.
The third started, "Just let her—"
"No." The armored man cut him off flat. "You just spent the last few minutes dragging her name through the dirt in front of a full house. And now you want to see her privately?" He let out a short, disgusted laugh. "You came here to condemn the very thing you're now lining up to buy. You're hypocrites. Every last one of you. Get out."
The lead priest's face went red. "Agustin. Don't test our patience. You may have been an S-Rank Warrior once, but we are priests of the Earth Covenant. Do not think that title protects you."
Agustin's sword cleared its scabbard with a slow, deliberate ring. "Pretty confident. You want to find out right now?"
The priests went still. Then, almost in unison, they took a step back. The lead one ground his teeth, stamped his foot, and jabbed a finger at him. "Hmph. Just you wait." He turned and swept out, the other two falling in behind him.
Kaiser and Keanu stepped past them without a glance.
Agustin was still watching the priests go when he registered the two new arrivals. His hand stayed near his sword. "And you two are?"
"Kaiser." Kaiser nodded at his companion. "This is Keanu."
"Right." Agustin's eyes moved between them. "What do you want? You here to bother my sister like those nuisances?"
"I suppose we are," Kaiser said with a slight smile.
Agustin's expression didn't change. "My sister doesn't do private performances. You heard what I said to the priests. Same answer applies — move along."
"We're not here for a performance," Kaiser said, steering the conversation back. "We have a proposal. One that Lady Müller might actually want to hear."
"Yes," Keanu followed up. "A proposal that would make sure she never has to walk off a stage in shame the way she did today."
Agustin went quiet. Something shifted behind his eyes — not interest exactly, but the door to it cracking open.
"What exactly," he said slowly, "do you mean by that?"
"Have you heard the word 'film' before?" Kaiser asked, still smiling.
Agustin paused. "Film..." His eyes widened. "Isn't that the thing that's been spreading around? The so-called film that's supposed to surpass even theatre in storytelling?"
Kaiser and Keanu exchanged a glance, both smiling.
"Yes," Kaiser said. "And we happen to work for the company that produces them. We're from Hellfire Entertainment. Our boss owns the Eastern Theatre."
Agustin's eyes went wider still. He'd been hearing both names — Hellfire, Eastern Theatre — constantly these past weeks. His merchant friends wouldn't shut up about it. Word had spread so fast and so far that even without setting foot in Eisen City, without seeing the film himself, it was impossible not to know. You'd have to be living under a rock.
"Brother, are those priests giving us trouble aga—"
A face appeared in the gap of the creaking door. Beautiful, cautious — and then still, as her eyes landed on two unfamiliar men.
"Who are they?"
Agustin turned and introduced the two quickly, his tone noticeably more careful than it had been moments ago. A company that produced 'film' wasn't something you spoke to carelessly — not with how much noise Hellfire had been making.
Alina stepped further through the door, studying them both with fresh eyes as her brother filled her in.
"You two are the ones behind The Wizard of Oz?"