industrial lord

Chapter 572 Nice Drama

The level of competition in the arena today is not high, mainly to eliminate unqualified contestants, and those with titles and long-established reputations are just there for the taking, mainly targeting outsiders.

The examiners were staff members from the local arena. One of them just routinely hit a stone a few times and let him pass. The next thing to be tested was a tin can.

The armor on this tin can is just passing grade, but the quality of the sword is not good. It looks like it has some historical value.

Frederick was chatting with the bald man, and frowned when he saw the tin can come on stage.

Competition in the ring is different from competition on the battlefield.

On the battlefield, the enemies are basically in front of you, and there are comrades around you, so the limited field of view of the helmet is not a big problem.

However, there is a large space for movement in the ring, the opponent's range of movement is wider, and the vision requirement is higher.

Anyone wearing a bucket-sized helmet in the ring is either a fool or a master.

This tin can guy should not be a fool. The examiner saw the gap under his helmet and stabbed it with a sword. The broken sword in the tin can guy's hand, which was better than the iron stick but limited, only stabbed it, and the sword in the examiner's hand flew five steps away.

Frederick's eyes narrowed suddenly, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, he called Aleppo and told him to buy the tin can to win, the same one thousand gold coins for each game.

The bald man asked curiously, "Sir, are you optimistic about the contestant wearing full body armor?"

Frederick said: "If you have some spare money, you can invest it, but investment is risky. What I say may not be right. If you lose money, it's none of my business."

The bald man thought that he would definitely not waste a large sum of money, and thinking of the miracles he had witnessed along the way, he was sure that this sum would not be a loss, so he said: "Then I will invest all the money I have spent on wine in the past year. If I lose money, the worst that can happen is that I can just drink water."

These small businessmen have a budget for their annual expenses. The amount of business capital, daily household expenses, how much to spend on drinking and entertainment, etc., have all been decided in the previous year.

Many people place bets for fun, but gambling is gambling after all.

If you only spend the money on drinking and entertainment occasionally, and lose it all, everyone will laugh at you for being unlucky. When they see you drinking water while drinking, they can buy you a drink.

If you use business capital or family expenses to gamble, even if you win, people will think that your character is beginning to deteriorate and you are not worthy of close friends.

Oyster seller Davranche in Weissenberg
He is the most typical example. He spent all his father's inheritance on eating, drinking, having fun and playing cards, and became a recognized prodigal son in the whole city.

He was sent away by his brother, under the pretext of going out to explore the world, but in reality it was a form of exile.

But now he has become rich by selling oysters and other seafood, and his reputation has improved. Not only has he become a model of the prodigal son, but his story has also been put on the stage.

Frederick heard the bald man mention that there was a small civic theater nearby, with only about a hundred seats. Out of curiosity, he went to take a look, and happened to see this play.

Normally guests come on foot, but today a carriage suddenly stopped in front of the door, and the boss thought it was someone's housekeeper looking for the actress.

The theater is indeed not big. It is actually just a yard with a stage inside, several rows of chairs on the open space, and a shed above to protect against wind and rain.

Frederick asked Aleppo to buy tickets and invited the servants, grooms and others who came out with him today to come in and watch the show, and he would treat them all.

The theater tickets are quite cheap, but the drinks and snacks are much more expensive than outside.

Frederick asked Aleppo to give him a gold coin and let everyone eat and drink as they pleased. Today was not Sunday, so there were not many guests in the theater during the day. The performers on the stage were newcomers in the troupe, and the leading actors would appear in the evening when there were more people.

A dozen or so spectators were sitting in the front row. Frederick sat in the middle of the second to last row. With his eyesight and hearing, it didn't matter if he sat far away.

The boss had a good eye for people. He could tell that this customer was either rich or noble, and that he had come in on a whim to kill time. He respectfully presented the script of today's play.

The playbook is a loose-leaf book held together with clips. Each page has the name of the play, the number of acts, and a synopsis of each act.

Frederick took a look and saw that the name of the play currently being performed was taken from an ancient story of the prodigal son in the Kingdom of Sardinia. It had a history of thousands of years, and the locals knew the theme at a glance.

The play consists of four acts. The first act is about how the protagonist of the Gaul Kingdom squanders his family fortune in a life of debauchery and is then sent to a ship by his family. At the beginning of the second act, the protagonist sees how rich people eat oysters at sea and determines to make a lot of money, but his first business venture seems to have failed. In the third act, the protagonist gets help from a noble person and his business gets better and better. The fourth act is a happy reunion with a glorious return home.

Frederick had a sense of déjà vu for the first two scenes. When he saw that the background was the city of Weissenburg, he remembered that he seemed to have heard of such a person, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

The play was two and a half hours long, and the actors' performance was barely up to par. Frederick watched it very seriously, as if he was listening to a report in a meeting.

He thinks the play is very good and can resonate with ordinary audiences.

The protagonist's wasteful behavior in the first act has happened in many places, whether it is seen with one's own eyes or heard from others, those behaviors can always be found in similar places in the play.

In the second act, the male protagonist's determination to make a lot of money has happened to many people. Many viewers felt like they were looking in the mirror, and then the failure of his first business venture made them feel that they were acting out themselves.

The protagonist's business quickly improved after he received help from a noble person in the third act. The traditional deus ex machina technique was used. The audience thought it would be great if they also had help from a noble person, but Frederick was a little dissatisfied with this part.

At the beginning of the last scene, the hero disguised himself as a beggar and returned to his hometown, which triggered a series of jokes. In the end, his true identity was revealed and he was humiliated. The audience enjoyed it very much, and many people fantasized about how nice it would be if such a thing happened to themselves.

When Frederick saw this, he noticed an important point: there was no place for the God of Light in the play.

As the actors took their bows, Frederick asked Aleppo, "What do I have to do tonight?"

Aleppe immediately replied: "No special plans today."

Frederick asked his boss, who had been sitting in the back, "Who is the writer of this play? Is he in the city?"

He knew at first glance that the play was not written by anyone from the Principality of Wessen because there were no advertisements inserted.

The boss immediately replied: "The screenwriter is Mr. Ludovico, an official of the city of Fira and a great poet."

"He often travels to various places. I heard that he recently came to Milan with other officials from Fira to attend the Grand Duke's 80th birthday celebration."

Frederick was a little surprised because he had read a collection of his poems when he was learning Sardinian. It was love poems written in popular language, some of which were quite humorous.

He said to Aleppo: "Invite Ludovico to come to my house, and I will be free whenever he is free."

This was the first time Aleppo had seen Frederick invite guests, and he promised to do it.

(End of this chapter)