Goddess Kaleidoscope

End of this chapter

After finishing two classes, Lude took advantage of the break to return to the faculty office, intending to ask Servis how the study went.

The original story of Romeo and Juliet is not long, and Ludwig's version, based on his memory, could not possibly be exactly the same word for word. Furthermore, due to localization needs, some plot points, characters, and settings were altered, so Ludwig's version is somewhat shorter than the original.

So Lude figured that two classes plus a break between classes, ninety minutes in total, should be enough time for Servis to read the entire script.

To Lud's surprise, when he returned to his office, he found Servis and Aina chatting happily, laughing and talking as if they had suddenly become best friends who could talk about anything.

"What the hell? What happened in the hour and a half I was gone?"

Upon hearing the noise, Servis turned around and saw Ludwig had returned. She quickly stood up and bowed deeply to him, her attitude even more respectful than before.

"You're back, High Priest. I've just finished reading the script, and the whole story is absolutely wonderful beyond imagination! But precisely because it's so fantastic, I must cautiously ask you again: are you really going to entrust such an excellent script to our troupe for performance?"

"Of course! After all, I am a priest, not an actor. Good scripts should naturally be given to excellent professionals, so that they are not wasted."

"Your words are truly too kind to us. To be honest, after reading your masterpiece, I feel excited and thrilled, but even more so, I am filled with trepidation. I must tell you frankly that although our Rainbow Circus is confident in its abilities, we are certainly not a top-tier troupe. Therefore, more than the joy of receiving a good script, I am afraid that I am not worthy of such an excellent work."

“You are too modest, Miss Servis. I am a priest, a servant who bows down to serve the goddess, so I believe this is the will of the gods, and your arrival is not a coincidence. I am even more certain of this after watching your performance the night before last, and I should give you the script.”

Lude's words were full of charlatanism, attributing everything to "the will of the goddess," which sounded grand and quite impressive.

But in reality, Lude's true intention was to take advantage of the Rainbow Circus's small size and clean background. This would make it easier for him to inject capital and control it after acquisition. However, he couldn't say such blunt truths to her face, otherwise, if Servis had even the slightest bit of backbone, she would have stormed off in anger.

Seeing this, Aina also stepped forward to help persuade Servis.

While Lude was leaving for his office to attend class, Aina's relationship with Servis warmed up quickly.

On one hand, Aina knew that Lude needed to take over the Rainbow Circus, so she deliberately praised Lude to Servis, which inadvertently caused the other party to misunderstand and learn that Lude had more excellent scripts.

So, in order to latch onto this hidden literary giant's powerful backer, the worldly-wise Servis took the initiative to get close to Aina. Naturally, the two of them became quite friendly over time.

In this atmosphere of mutual consent, everything became easier to discuss. In addition to providing scripts for the Rainbow Circus, Lude also invested 500 gold coins, becoming the circus's backer and effectively buying it outright. This money would be used to recruit staff and upgrade equipment.

Servis was flattered by Lud's investment. She had thought it would be good enough to get the script for free, but she never expected that Lud would also generously invest a large sum of money in their circus.

Five hundred gold coins is no small sum. Servis felt that she wouldn't be worth that much even if she sold herself. Lude had only taken half of the circus from her and promised in the contract that he would provide them with exclusive scripts in the future. Therefore, while she was grateful, she couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.

When both parties were preparing to sign the contract, in the spirit of reciprocating kindness, Servis intended to "join the church on the spot," be baptized and become a member of the Lude Church of Medicine God, and swear to the goddess as a believer that she would never break her faith, in order to show her sincerity.

It is important to know that "gods" do exist in this world, so most mortals are very cautious when swearing oaths to gods, fearing that they will really have to die a terrible death if they break their oaths.

However, Ludwig dissuaded Servis from this idea, insisting that only a written contract was necessary, and that joining the church and taking a poisonous oath were unnecessary.

“Miss Servis, I understand your intention, but faith is something that should be taken seriously, and I don’t want you to be too hasty.”

Servis was quite surprised to see that Lud was actually preventing her from joining the church. After all, other sects went to great lengths to recruit people, and she had never seen a priest like Lud who advised people to think twice. Aina, who was standing to the side, was also getting a little anxious and kept giving Lud the look she was about to give.

But Ludwig insisted, citing "the will of the goddess" as his reason, which made Aina shake her head behind Servis and mouth words to Ludwig.

"I didn't! I didn't!"

In fact, the main reason why Ludwig did not want Servis to be baptized was because he had other considerations and plans.

In a sense, Pine Tree Village is currently at a state of religious saturation. The Medicine God is undoubtedly the most popular, with 90% of the villagers being baptized believers. The God of Love and Desire, who ranks second, has about 70% of the villagers as followers. The least popular is the later God of War, with less than 10% of the villagers being followers, and these are mostly the lowest-level casual believers.

It's easy to see from the coverage of these believers that there is a significant overlap between Aina's and Shanis's followers.

This is all thanks to the "Pantheon" concept that Lud had previously introduced, which subtly influenced a large number of villagers to become "Double-pushing DD," thus avoiding potential religious conflicts.

Ludd observed that once believers accepted the concept of the pantheon and no longer felt guilty or conflicted due to wavering, the faith produced was not divided in two and distributed among different gods, but rather each was counted separately, and the total output could be doubled without any problem.

Therefore, following this line of thought, even if the number of villagers in Pine Village does not increase, Lud can increase the total number of believers by increasing the number of gods, which is equivalent to increasing his own strength.

However, creating a god is not a simple matter. Even though Lud's prestige among the villagers was at its peak, it was not as simple as him pointing at any random cat or dog and getting the villagers to accept it as a god.

Based on Lud's experience over the past year, among the three most basic elements of creating a god, the choice of the divine position is crucial. It should be as close as possible to the identity and needs of the target believers in order to be more attractive.

This explains why the Cult of War, one of the world's top religious sects, suffered a setback in Pine Tree Village. The vast majority of farmers harbored a deep-seated aversion to war, especially the older generation who had experienced forced conscription by lords. They even harbored a hidden resentment and fear towards the God of War, Feigolai.

In view of this, in Lud's "second phase of god-making plan", the god positions of several preliminary plans all emphasize "down-to-earth"! They cater to the basic desires of mortals and are very close to the lives of ordinary people.

Of course! The most important point is that none of these less popular divine positions are currently sought after by any deity. What Lude needs to do now is like registering a trademark.

Lude's refusal to let Servis join the Cult of Medicine God was because he hoped to plant a "seed" of the God of Art in her!

“Miss Servis, do you remember the question you asked me yesterday when we were talking? You had just finished talking about the divine realm and asked if there was a god of art since all things are protected by gods. In my opinion, when you asked that question, the god of art who resides in the divine realm had probably already received a call from the mortal world.”

"High Priest, I... don't quite understand what you mean..."

"Haha! Actually, many problems don't need to be overcomplicated. Miss Servis, when I first met you, I sensed a unique quality in you. I didn't quite understand it at first, but it wasn't until you asked that question yesterday that I finally realized that you may have received divine revelation and favor, but you just haven't realized it yet."

"Divine revelation and favor?"

"Yes, among this vast multitude of beings, most mortals are like lost lambs, needing the guidance of a shepherd to find the ultimate destination of their faith. But people like you and me can receive revelation from the divine realm and become aware of the existence of gods. Miss Servis, perhaps you haven't realized yet that you are actually special!"

After being swayed by Lud's rambling and convoluted explanations, Servis was already feeling a little dizzy. But when Lud said she was a "special being," she suddenly felt an indescribable excitement and joy.

After all, in this life, anyone who is unwilling to be a nobody will hope to be a special person and become a lucky one favored by fate.

Looking at the emotional Servis, Ludd saw what appeared to be nascent energy flickering between her brows. Ludd knew he had succeeded; he had successfully implanted the concept of the "God of Art" into Servis's mind, and this was the seed of faith.

In Lud's original plan to create gods, the second phase of gods did not actually include a god of art, since the believers in the village were mostly farmers, and art was too distant for them, nor was it a necessity of life. It was the appearance of Servis that made Lud decide to temporarily add a "god of art".

This is the most crucial communication channel; it can't be left out if it's not strong!

End of this chapter

Having received the script and sponsorship from Ludwig, Servis thought that since it was the off-season for the industry anyway, there was no need for them to rush to Wolfhelm City. They could simply stay in Pine Village for a few more days, select actors from the troupe to complete the rehearsal of "Romeo and Juliet," and have Ludwig, the "original author," help supervise and oversee the production.

Having made up her mind, Servis hurriedly left the school to return to the troupe to make arrangements. She left the script with Ludd for now, as she had some plot and character-related matters to discuss with him further.

It must be said that Servis was very efficient. That evening, the Rainbow Circus performed for the third day as usual. Then, the next morning, the performance tent was transformed into a rehearsal space, and the casting of the actors was also taken care of in the process.

The group members were initially puzzled as to why the group leader suddenly said he wasn't leaving and wanted to stay in this village with its "strong religious atmosphere" for a while longer.

It turned out that Servis had obtained what she considered to be an excellent play script in the local area, and planned to rehearse it in the remote Pine Village to avoid the script being leaked.

Servis's worries were not unfounded; she had learned from past mistakes in this regard. After all, not everyone in this world likes fair competition, just as not everyone has a mother!

The casting process went smoothly. Servis never lets anyone slack off and always has high expectations for her staff. Almost all of the thirty-odd people in the Rainbow Circus have stage experience and solid basic skills.

In the entire Romeo and Juliet, there are only twelve characters with lines. About half of them have significant roles. As long as the remaining extras match the character's image and temperament and don't become stage-frightened and wooden on stage, they are basically fine.

After the roles were cast, Servis, as agreed, sent someone to inform Lud and asked him to bring the script to meet the actors. The troupe members were then surprised to learn that the script and the large sum of sponsorship money had been provided to them by Lud, a priest of the local Medicine God Cult.

After the two sides met, Servis officially revealed the script of "Romeo and Juliet" to her troupe members and read it aloud in front of everyone.

Most of the people here are seasoned professionals in the industry. While not all of them are literate, they at least know their stuff. Therefore, after hearing the script only once, they understood that their team leader had truly struck gold this time!

However, precisely because they were all professionals, after listening to the script once, in addition to giving it enthusiastic applause, they also shared their opinions and suggestions on the plot and setting.

The most pressing question is whether the script can avoid ending with a "tragedy" where both the male and female leads are killed.

The person who asked the question was an older man with a scar on his face. Servis told Lud that the man's name was Cornebo, and he used to work in a famous cabaret company as a senior supporting actor. Later, he was disfigured in an accident and was ruthlessly kicked out of the company. Servis took him in.

Cornelius told Rudd that, based on his years of experience in the industry, while tragedies have a certain audience, most viewers prefer happy endings where lovers are reunited, and that performing tragedies usually involves a certain degree of risk.

He gave Ludwig an example: a few years ago in the Empire, a dance troupe performed a tragic love story called "The Lovestruck Amy," which told the tale of a naive young girl named Amy who was deceived by a scoundrel. The ending was that the girl committed suicide out of love, becoming a vengeful spirit that terrified the scoundrel to death.

But even in this dramatic turn of events, an unexpected incident occurred when the actors took their final bows. A nobleman, completely absorbed in the play, saw the scumbag "resurrected" and even dared to smile and hold the female lead's hand as they went on stage to bow in gratitude. Without thinking, he drew his sword, jumped onto the stage, and cleaved the "scumbag" in two.

Following this incident, although the Empire urgently issued relevant decrees, and the official grand opera house began to prohibit audiences from bringing weapons into the theater, major opera and dance troupes still tried to perform fewer tragedies for safety reasons. Actors playing villains were also living in fear, terrified that one day they might be attacked with razor blades by mentally unstable audience members during a performance.

He died because he was too good at acting?! Who the hell can I complain to?!

However, Lude felt that the problem was not as serious as Cody was worried about, because the entire script of Romeo and Juliet did not actually have a villain or bad guy in the strict sense.

Even Count Paris, who, like the final boss, dueled Romeo at his grave, was just a pitiful man tormented by love.

In fact, when Lude read the original novel, he felt sorry for Paris. He was a young, rich, and charming nobleman, but he fell in love with Juliet, who did not love him, purely because of unrequited love. As a result, he was cheated on and lost his life.

The real culprit behind this series of tragedies is the persistent "hatred" between the two families. And the core message of the entire series lies precisely here: a call for people to embrace love and peace.

If they actually came up with a happy ending, the overall quality would actually drop.

However, Cody's words reminded Lud that the script could indeed be slightly adjusted. Even without changing the tragic ending, the characters could be made more likable, or at least not disliked.

And so, the first rehearsal officially began. Servis specially invited Lud to come and observe, not only hoping he could serve as supervisor, but also to showcase the strength of her team and reassure Lud, her major benefactor.

The rehearsal itself is like a simulation exercise, mainly to help the actors find the feeling of immersing themselves in the role. However, apart from Servis who had carefully read the script, the other actors present had only listened to it once.

However, to Lud's surprise, even with such a limited understanding and without having memorized the lines, they still managed to roughly perform the first act of the script under Servis's guidance and direction, which earned a round of applause from Aina, who had come with Lud.

"Master! They're all so amazing!"

Lude nodded. Although he wasn't a professional actor, he had made a living through acting in his past life, so he could tell that the Rainbow Circus group was definitely skilled.

However, for the final performance to go smoothly, good acting skills alone are far from enough. To make the whole show more perfect, they also need high-quality costumes, props, and sets, as well as excellent background music that can create the atmosphere, which are precisely the Rainbow Circus's weaknesses.

It's important to know that the world's top song and dance troupes typically have around two to three hundred members. Their internal organizational structure is complex and rigorous, including not only the singers and performers on stage, but also a dedicated props team, various support staff, and an entire band.

In contrast, the main reason why the Rainbow Circus is ranked second or third is never because the members are not good enough, but because they have few people. The whole troupe, including Servis herself, only has thirty-seven people. Many members have multiple jobs on weekdays, which they do out of necessity.

Fortunately, most problems can be solved with money, and Mr. Lu currently lacks everything except money!

Thanks to the high profits from selling potions, Lude currently has a very stable source of income; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he's making a fortune every day.

But unlike some misers who treat their earnings like treasures, locking them away in a vault and hiding them carefully, he is neither like some hypocritical religious charlatans who directly give money to the poor to win their hearts and minds and gain their temporary gratitude and faith.

With his industrialist DNA ingrained in his bones, Ludwig unhesitatingly invested large sums of money in infrastructure and education, firmly believing that this was the best way to lead the people out of poverty and into prosperity.

Lude considers himself a man who never hesitates to spend money, but only if the money is worth spending and spent reasonably.

So when Lude proposed sponsoring the Rainbow Circus, he made it clear to Servis that his investment of 500 gold coins was not simply a charitable act. As a major shareholder, he had the right to know about the circus's future operations and the details of how the funds were used.

If the circus runs well and meets his expectations, Lude will continue to provide new scripts and follow-up funding. But if it flops, then don't blame Lude for "cutting his losses in time"!

In front of everyone present, Ludwig repeated his words. He thought these people would be a little disappointed, but most of them looked relieved.

In fact, Lud's open and honest behavior did reassure them. Before this, many members were worried that Lud's funding had ulterior motives, and some even wondered if it was a "reward" that their leader had obtained by selling his body.

Although Rainbow Circus has a small number of members, the internal atmosphere has always been very good. The members and Servis are more like family than employees. Several of the senior members have been there since the previous generation of troupe leaders and have watched Servis grow up.

After explaining his point, Lu De offered some further suggestions, including corrections to the actors' performances and requirements for costumes and props.

Lu De did not have any acting experience, but he served as a police officer for eight years and carried out more than a dozen undercover missions. If an actor has poor acting skills, at most he will be criticized by the audience, and if he doesn't perform well on camera, he can ask the director to do it again.

And every time Lu De “goes on stage,” he has to take the entire scene in one take, and he cannot make the slightest mistake in his acting. If he is even slightly careless, his photo will be posted on the wall!