Chapter 2252: The Story of Vincent Taylor

Chapter 2252: Chapter 2252: The Story of Vincent Taylor

"What’s going to be performed next here?"

Shard asked curiously. Tickets purchased here don’t come with physical copies, and the stage set doesn’t provide much indication.

"I’m not sure either."

The Priest said, having previously investigated Vincent Taylor, and knowing his appearance, he was now looking around for him.

"Priest, you’re too inefficient doing it this way, come with me, I’ll take you to find him."

Saying this, he pulled the Priest towards a small side door in the courtyard, intending to go backstage.

"Detective, do you know people here?"

"Of course I know them, though not particularly well."

A few minutes later.

"Oh, look who it is? Hamilton Detective, how do you have the time to visit us? Little Hank at the door didn’t make you buy a ticket again, did he?"

The backstage of the troupe shouldn’t normally allow outsiders to enter, but the man at the door had seen Shard before, and after letting Shard and Priest Augustus in, immediately fetched Mrs. Marian, the troupe leader.

A woman in a red dress, but with an apron over it, warmly welcomed Shard. Shard shook his head indicating the tickets were no issue, then introduced Priest Augustus as his friend, before stating his purpose:

"I’m investigating a tricky case."

Mrs. Marian nodded knowingly, inviting Shard and Priest Augustus upstairs to talk. The courtyard was divided in half by a wooden wall, with a low two-story building on the backstage side. At the moment, actors on the first floor were hastily putting on makeup and getting dressed, and it seemed the upcoming performance was a story about a Hunter, a Princess, and Dwarves. Shard saw a troubled-looking man meticulously painting a red apple black to show it was poisoned.

Mrs. Marian led Shard and Priest Augustus through the crowd, and upon reaching the second floor, they found it relatively quiet. Although people were handling stage props here, they found a space away from the others by the window corner.

From this window, you could directly see the audience seats downstairs. Priest Augustus reached out to close the window, and Shard then said:

"Is there a Vincent Taylor in the Jasmine Opera Troupe?"

Mrs. Marian nodded with some surprise:

"Yes, are you here to find him? He’s a tall and thin young man, working odd jobs for me. Did he cause trouble? I knew that such outsiders coming to our Tobesk would surely stir up problems. Besides, he always seems off to me; last time the troupe lost two damaged chairs, maybe he stole them, you know these outsiders often sneak around."

Then she addressed the main point:

"Taylor has been particularly off lately. Since this spring, our troupe hasn’t performed Carsonrickian plays, and he says I’m ignorant and overly cautious because I’m a woman, obstructing cultural exchange between the two nations, claiming that people like me are making the cultural tensions irreconcilable."

Priest Augustus asked:

"Didn’t you dismiss him?"

"I just thought he’d had a few too many drinks, so I didn’t take it to heart. But later, I did have the troupe put on a few Carsonrickian plays, and it turned out okay, so I didn’t hold it against him. I’m not one to ignore others’ remarks."

Mrs. Marian said with a certain pride, and Shard sensed that she might have been deeply influenced by "Prejudice":

"How is his usual behavior?"

"Usually? Oh, Hamilton Detective~ You are Tobesk’s famous detective, with notable figures like Duke Galina favoring you. Since you think he’s problematic, he must be problematic. I always hear him spouting wise words; honestly, no one knows what he truly thinks."

Not only is imagining someone worse than they are "Prejudice," but having overly positive thoughts about someone due to personal experience and social background is also "Prejudice." It’s a narrow and arbitrary view, just like now.

Shard had to interrupt her description, asking in more detail:

"I mean, does Mr. Taylor, while working here, often discuss issues like conflicts between foreigners, outsiders, men, and women with extreme views?"

Mrs. Marian immediately nodded:

"Yes, especially in these past few weeks. Whenever someone is willing to speak with him, he never hesitates to share his opinions. Initially, everyone was annoyed, but he would endlessly express his views, and if someone ignored him, he would smugly claim that person was too cowardly to argue with him. But..."

She frowned in thought, probably recalling the entire affair:

"But truthfully, some of the things he says make sense, at least more sense than those newspaper commentators. So while everyone is somewhat irritated by him, no one has said he should be driven away."

"What sensible things has he said?"

Priest Augustus inquired, estimating that the priest was still evaluating whether this person was beyond help.

Lady Marian thought for a moment:

"He said, now the housing prices in Tobesk are rising year by year, all because of those impoverished outsiders swarming into the city. Therefore, heavy taxes should be imposed on outsiders, and their children should be restricted from studying locally, and they should not be allowed to buy houses here."

But Mr. Taylor himself was an outsider.

"He also said that the Carsonrickians’ ambition to destroy us Tobesk People will never disappear. So every Carsonrickian is bad, and we should strike first. Arresting all foreigners is a bit exaggerated, but we can start by establishing files on every local foreigner and investigating and monitoring their residences at any time."

He probably doesn’t realize how idle City Hall must be to spare so many personnel.

"He also said that the nobles nowadays are earning money lying on the backs of ordinary citizens, and all nobles deserve to die..."

Lady Marian also realized that such words should not be spoken carelessly, so she immediately closed her mouth and shifted the topic:

"He even mentioned you, Hamilton Detective. Of course, I know that when he talked about you, everything he said was fabricated out of his jealousy of your talent."

"What did he say?"

Shard asked with great interest.

"He said Shard Hamilton became famous by clinging to the Duchess, saying you actually have no real skills, your stories were all paid for and written by others, and the cases you appeared in the newspapers were specifically arranged for you by Duke Galina. He claimed that for nobles, killing a few people and arranging a few so-called cases is not difficult at all."

After swiftly finishing this segment, Lady Marian shook her head vigorously:

"That’s why I say nobody likes him, even though he says many sensible things, such words are too harsh. Miss Luisa is our main sponsor; she is a truly noble lady, how could she possibly receive money to write stories for you?"

It seems her "prejudice" against Dorothy overpowers Mr. Taylor’s "prejudice" against Shard.

"Thank you for providing this information, I roughly understand now."

Shard nodded and exchanged a look with Priest Augustus to confirm that the old cleric also had no further questions, then said:

"So is Mr. Taylor here right now? Or where can we find him?"

Lady Marian then smiled and said:

"You came at a convenient time, he’s right here. If you had said you were looking for him earlier, I would have led you straight to him. He’s acting as a temporary actor for the troupe, and he should have already changed into costume, ready to go on stage."

"So Mr. Taylor’s role is...?"

"The Hunter’s follower. In the story, the kind-hearted Hunter wants to let the Princess go, but the follower discovers the traces of the Princess and wants to continue tracking, but still gets brushed off by the Hunter follower... Oh, look, he’s right there."

Lady Marian suddenly raised her hand to point outside the window, and Shard and Priest Augustus both looked over. From their angle, they could just see a young man with a bow on his back, wearing a Deerstalker Hat, dressed in a bright green hunting outfit, stepping onto the stage. Of course, a real Hunter wouldn’t wear such vividly colored clothing.

The audience in the seats thought the play was finally starting, stopped talking and laughing, sat down ready to watch the performance, but upstairs, Priest Augustus confusedly asked:

"I watched this play when I was a kid, since when did it change so that the Hunter’s follower becomes the first actor to appear? I remember it should’ve been the pregnant Queen who appeared first, even if the opening was omitted, it should be the current Queen appearing first."

Lady Marian also noticed something was wrong, but she couldn’t jump out the window to stop it from upstairs. Shard then reached out and opened the window, allowing all three to hear the sounds coming from the stage. Mr. Taylor, wearing the Hunter assistant outfit, cleared his throat and then loudly said:

"Honorable citizens and friends,

We stand at the crossroads of time, facing the grim reality of an impending civil war. Today, we witness scene after scene revealing the Carsonrickians’ ugly and filthy Truth, forcing us to acknowledge a painful reality: the World is splitting into two irreconcilable camps, this is not Prejudice, one of which—clearly not us—is filled with that intimidating lack of democracy and inequality.

In our Hometown, the Draleon Kingdom, loyal people proudly defend..."

"Oh, my God! What’s he up to?"

Lady Marian groaned, holding onto the wall, then almost leaned her body out the window, shouting loudly outside:

"Stop him, don’t let him keep talking nonsense! Taylor, what are you doing? Do you want us all to starve? Oh, for God’s sake, someone go pull him down, don’t let him speak again!"

No matter how powerful the persuasive force of "Prejudice" is, it cannot allow Lady Marian, responsible for the entire opera troupe, to tolerate him delivering such dangerous speech here.