Gokou Ruri secretly snuck into the auditorium of Soubu High School.
Because some guests also brought their children to the Founders' Festival, the appearance of Gokou Ruri, a delicious little girl smelling of chocolate, did not attract the attention of the Student Council members.
It was Yuigahama Yui who discovered her and pulled the girl to her side—as a Magic Club member who participated in the Founders' Festival preparations, she, like Asakura, had also received a staff badge, allowing her to legitimately attend the banquet.
With her accompanying Gokou Ruri, the latter would not be subjected to others' suspicion.
On the stage, the play starring Asakura and Yukinoshita Yukino was steadily progressing its storyline.
To be fair, both of their acting skills were a bit subtle—one could tell from Yukinoshita Haruno's half-smile—but both Asakura and Yukino were quite reliable people.
At the same time, the strength of Asagumo Chihaya, who served as narrator, supporting actress, and villager NPC, was also trustworthy.
So, even if their acting skills were slightly lacking, the actors' lines were fluent and their movements were crisp, plus the script itself was very good.
It was simple and straightforward yet quite interesting, encompassing many intriguing elements in a not-so-long text, making it an excellent work that naturally provided a very good overall viewing experience.
"Next, the princess played by Yukinoshita will swing down from that prop balcony with a rope and elope with the prince."
Yanami Anna, who had wandered over to their side at some point, spoiled the plot.
"Anna-chan, there are people here who haven't seen it yet, you can't reveal the story content in advance."
Yuigahama Yui said with a wry smile.
Gokou Ruri disdainfully moved a little distance away from the other person who was gorging herself, then looked at the stage: "Did they really build a balcony?"
"It's a prop, a prop. It looks real from the front, but the back is all painted. Yukinoshita is just standing on a crude wooden board. If you could see it from the back, it would be very clear. See how the balcony railing blocks her legs? That way, it won't give it away."
Yanami Anna explained: "Actually, the original setting was much simpler, but after getting more budget, the drama club members rushed to build this balcony scene overnight. Isn't that amazing!"
"One night?"
Gokou Ruri looked in surprise at the magnificent fake balcony on the stage.
As a DIY expert who hand-made her own Cosplay props, she naturally knew that making various props and setting up stage backgrounds was not as simple as it looked.
Precisely because of this, being able to rush out something like this overnight could indeed be considered quite impressive.
However, she couldn't help but worry: "But for something rushed out like this, will the quality be good?"
"The drama club members said, 'Anyway, it's just a one-time thing; it'll be useless after the performance,' so it should be fine, right?"
Yanami also said with some uncertainty.
"Um—"
Suddenly, Yuigahama Yui asked with a somewhat troubled expression: "Am I seeing things? Is that set shaking a bit?"
No sooner had she spoken than, amidst the audience's exclamations, the 'balcony' broke in the middle, and the girl who had been standing on it, reciting her lines loudly, fell down unprepared.
[Cat]!"
Gokou Ruri pointed towards the stage, then ran into the shadows herself.
Yanami Anna subconsciously looked over there, only to find that the girl's figure had already disappeared, but in a corner she hadn't noticed, a small Kuroneko had already darted into the backstage, using the cover of shadows.
On the stage.
The moment Yukinoshita Yukino screamed and fell, her body instinctively adjusted its posture and landed steadily on the ground.
Asakura, with a surprised expression, withdrew his Scale, which he had originally intended to use to catch the girl.
Because the Scale was hard, he had initially been afraid that the girl would be fine falling on the stage but might get hurt falling on the Scale.
Now, that problem was solved.
Yukino saw Asakura's gaze and subconsciously touched her head, the familiar sensation causing her mind to buzz into confusion—a pair of fluffy cat ears had grown on her head again, and there was even a long, slender cat tail behind her.
"Princess… you've been cursed by the Kuroneko Witch!"
Asakura abruptly spoke lines not in the script.
Yukino paused for a moment, then realized that the audience below the stage didn't seem to notice anything amiss; they were just curious about her suddenly appearing cat ears and tail, thinking it was part of the performance.
"Hahahaha, that's right, it was all my—Kuroneko's—plan! The pure princess has been defiled by the power of shadows; now I shall execute the night's revenge!"
Gokou Ruri, who had climbed to the top of the fake balcony at some point, shouted loudly.
The spotlight instantly shone on her shrine, and combined with the girl's usual gothic black long dress, she unexpectedly had a villainous demeanor.
The audience, who had initially been somewhat disinterested, were drawn in by this sudden super development, and after the initial shock, they all looked forward to the subsequent story development.
Asakura also did not disappoint their expectations.
With Yukinoshita Yukino's fall from the balcony as the turning point, what was originally just a simple story of a prince and princess, after Gokou Ruri's timely intervention, and with Asakura's pushing and helping, began to move towards a hero fighting a witch, turning into a grand and tumultuous adventure...
During this, Asakura also shared some special 'juggling' acts, such as throwing and catching a dozen fireballs with bare hands, a levitation Magic trick that made Yukino lie flat in mid-air, conjuring a magical Ford antique car from under a huge curtain, and using a flute to make a rope rise like a snake leading to the final battleground…
As for the final battle, rather than a fight, it was more like a dance.
Gokou Ruri fully stretched her soft and beautiful body, brought forth by the Magic [Cat], performing graceful movements like a national-level gymnast, creating a strong contrast with the prince who only used simple and crude Magic to attract attention.
Although the story plot couldn't withstand scrutiny, the wonderful performance could definitely be called a visual feast, so much so that when the prince in the story finally defeated the Kuroneko Witch and the cursed symbols (cat ears and tail) on the princess disappeared, regretful sounds still came from the audience below the stage.
When all was settled and all members came out to bow to the audience, the vast majority of the audience also gave Asakura and his group a very warm round of applause—undoubtedly, aside from Gotō Hitori's overpowered "God Knows—" it was the most popular performance of the day.