"You're here. I thought you wouldn't be coming today."
"I got held up by a few things. Is there anything… we need to discuss today?"
Flipping through the script in his hand, each page covered in scribbles, Sheikh Zubayr gave a wry smile and shook his head. "We've been discussing this for eleven days already. I can't update the script at this pace."
These past days, Sheikh Zubayr often discussed the Zubayr Theater's plays with Victor Wang whenever he came to watch a performance. Though Victor Wang lacked professional training, thanks to his broad experience and ability to view things from multiple angles, he had provided quite a number of useful suggestions.
This also meant that coming here so regularly really was too eye-catching… Perhaps he should reduce the frequency… Feeling a bit awkward, Victor Wang said, "It feels like I blinked and suddenly eleven days passed."
"I get it. You've kept coming despite being busy. I suppose you're gathering material, right? I've heard great writers will live in certain places to observe the culture and experience local customs, sometimes staying for half a year or more. I didn't see you during the first half of the show, so I thought you'd finished gathering material in just eleven days. Looks like your progress isn't that great?"
…A misunderstanding?
Then… does that mean I can keep coming to watch Nilou dance every day?
No—no! I'm here for legitimate business!
"Ahem… more or less," Victor Wang answered vaguely.
"But the stage is going to be renovated over the next two days. We won't have any performances during that time. I'm not sure if that affects your writing."
"It's… fine."
A thin layer of sweat formed on Victor Wang's back. It seemed his legitimate business had run into some complications.
The Zubayr Theater was not doing well financially. The repairs to the tree hole in the ceiling—an actual safety hazard—and the entire stage renovation had been made possible thanks to Dunyarzad's funding. The Sabzeruz Festival was also successfully held only because of her support.
As expected of a rich young lady, Dunyarzad did have money, but she was doing all this behind her family's back, and the total mora she could use was limited. In the end, she even had to sell her own dress to raise funds. Dehya also sold her claymore to help fill the remaining deficit.
Victor Wang had originally planned to find an excuse to donate a sum of money to the Zubayr troupe—to preserve Dunyarzad's dress—cough, no, to show his sincerity to the Dendro Archon, since Nahida would occasionally use Katheryne's body to visit the Grand Bazaar and experience the festival's atmosphere.
But apparently, without him noticing, the renovation had already begun. After all, Dunyarzad didn't interact with the troupe only at night, while he only had nights free to come.
Which meant that… he really had just been coming to watch Nilou dance every day…
"Come to think of it, I heard about a festival before coming to Sumeru. A critically important celebration commemorating the Dendro Archon's birthday… yet it was gradually abandoned by the people?"
"You mean the Sabzeruz Festival. That's a long story—"
"I actually already know the general details." Cutting off Sheikh Zubayr's incoming monologue, Victor Wang continued, "I also heard that the Grand Bazaar is the only place that still preserves the tradition of celebrating the Sabzeruz Festival every year."
"That's right. Don't tell me you're also interested in the Sabzeruz Festival?"
"Exactly. Watching the Sabzeruz Festival is part of my creative research. It'll help me understand Sumeru's culture, arts, and the Flower Goddess and the Dendro Archon. I'm also very interested in the Lesser Lord Kusanali, so I wanted to visit the Grand Bazaar."
"I see." Sheikh Zubayr became even more convinced by Victor Wang's explanation.
"But I also heard that because the Akademiya doesn't support it, the festival has become rather shabby in past years, with the festive atmosphere fading bit by bit… But what I want to see is a grand Sabzeruz Festival."
"You really have dug up a lot of information… Even without the Akademiya's support, the Grand Bazaar insists on holding the festival every year. But how can the Bazaar alone compare with the full backing of a nation? It's natural for it to be shabby. Only this year do we have that rich young lady contributing a large sum, so things might be livelier."
Victor Wang brought up his real purpose. "That's exactly it. I also want to contribute some money to the Sabzeruz Festival."
Upon hearing this, Sheikh Zubayr looked him up and down, nodded, and said, "A good deed, definitely a good deed."
"Can I transfer the funds through you?"
"Don't look at me like that. I'm too busy with theater matters. Nilou is the one coordinating this year's Sabzeruz Festival arrangements in her spare time. When that rich young lady donated, she also went to Nilou."
"I thought it was you…"
"No. The troupe is small, and everyone has multiple roles. Embarrassing as it is to say, I'm actually the busiest—writing scripts, running the theater, composing, choreographing, designing the stage, supervising movements… all of that is my job. I'll call Nilou over. You two can discuss it."
Sheikh Zubayr left and entered the backstage area. A short while later, Nilou walked over.
"Mr. Victor, Mr. Zubayr already told me what you're planning. Have you thought it through? This isn't an impulse purchase, right?"
"No. I'm very clear-minded," Victor Wang affirmed. "I want to see a festival that's as lively as possible."
"In that case, since it's for the Lesser Lord Kusanali, we won't refuse your kindness."
Saying this, Nilou handed him a slip of paper with the bank account details. Victor Wang took it, glanced at it, and tucked it into his pocket.
Then the two stared at each other.
One was hesitating over how much to give.
The other was hesitating over how much to tell him—or whether she should say anything at all. After all, any amount was goodwill, but if she stated a number he couldn't meet, it would be awkward.
Though she had bright crimson hair, Nilou's eyes were a pale lake-green—clear and jewel-like, bright and glistening, exceptionally beautiful. And right now, those eyes held a faint trace of worry, giving her an especially unique charm.
Under her gaze, Victor Wang couldn't take it anymore and asked first, "How much funding are you still short of at the moment?"
"You're not planning to fill the whole gap yourself, are you?"
"Just tell me the number. I'll do what I can."
"…Actually, the Grand Bazaar itself is manageable. But if we want the Sabzeruz Festival to be larger, we have to prepare setups outside the Bazaar as well, so the festive atmosphere can spread outward. The more funding we have, the farther we can expand. Dunyarzad… wants to decorate all the way from Sumeru City's port to the area below the Akademiya. But even using the most basic decorations, we're still short by five million mora."
"Five million mora? I can manage that. Then… see you tomorrow—no, the day after tomorrow. If anything comes up, we can talk again then. I'll go make the transfer now."
"Thank you so much!"
Leaving the Grand Bazaar, standing before the bank counter, Victor Wang hesitated for a moment—
and transferred twenty million mora into Nilou's account.
===BREAK===
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