I Became A Playwright In Medieval Fantasy

A few days later, disguised as Phantom, I headed to the Wanderbühne’s tent.

“It is an honor to meet you, Phantom, the candidate of the pen! I am Fluffy, the leader of the Wanderbühne traveling troupe!”

“I know. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, leader.”

A beastman woman hopped up onto a small chair, likely used to boost her height, her bunny ears twitching, revealing her cute buck teeth.

Stretching out her hand for a handshake, she cheerfully asked,

“So, what brings someone like you to visit a mere beastman like me? Wanderbühne is just a wandering group specializing in trivial puppet shows!”

“Trivial puppet shows? You’re too modest, leader. The quality of Wanderbühne’s plays is worthy of being considered the best on the continent, don’t you think?”

“Hehe, thank you for the compliment! Of course, we take pride in our work as well!”

Fluffy adjusted the brim of her silk hat with a cute gesture, her eyes gleaming.

“But I, Fluffy, am the manager of a troupe. I must act modestly, or humans will dislike me! After all, our troupe is mostly composed of creatures that are unpleasant to look at!”

She had a point there.

Though Fluffy was adorable, she was a small beastman, weak in strength, and often discriminated against for her size. Most of the troupe members were species that human society didn’t welcome, such as orcs, lizardmen, and arachne.

Despite having highly praised puppeteers, they had yet to settle down anywhere, probably because of this.

While people might welcome a wandering troupe passing through town, they’d most likely frown upon the idea of them settling down permanently, treating them as an eyesore.

“Now, let’s get back to the main point! Why would the great Phantom want to meet me?”

“Why would a playwright want to meet the leader of a troupe? Naturally, I want to create a work together.”

“Huh? A work, you say?”

Fluffy tilted her head curiously, twirling the crystal on her staff with an enigmatic look.

“We’re just a wandering troupe that performs short one-act plays! We can’t perform the kind of multi-hour scripts that the great Phantom writes!”

“That’s fine. I’m looking for a puppet show in Wanderbühne’s style.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“These are designs for the giant puppets I’d like to have created for our collaboration. Don’t worry about the cost; I’ll cover it.”

Using royal funds from the credit card ring, of course.

Mumbling that to myself, I handed over the design sketches I had scribbled in the dormitory.

The new production that would be performed as a birthday gift for Prince Wolfgang, titled The Cthulhu Mythos.

A rough sketch of the “Great Old One,” an ancient evil deity worshipped by heretical cults before the rise of the Celestial Church.

“Oh. A horror play based on a fictional ancient demon? That’s certainly interesting, but why choose such a bizarre theme? It doesn’t quite match the style I’ve heard about from the great Phantom!”

“I’m an experimental writer. Let’s just say I felt inspired to try something new.”

In reality, many readers end up disappointed when they actually read Lovecraft’s works, finding them less scary than his reputation suggests.

This is because the general public’s sense of fear differs greatly from Howard Lovecraft’s concept of horror.