---o---
In the office, Cocolia looked at the plan Vill-V had submitted, the corner of her mouth twitching. She managed a tactful response.
"This... this is certainly a very good idea... I wonder, Li, what is your take on it?"
She turned her hopeful gaze to Fu Li, but did not receive the answer she was looking for.
"Me? I think this plan is perfectly fine. The effect of the performance will be absolutely stunning, won't it?"
With that, Fu Li and Vill-V high-fived, making the corner of Cocolia's eye twitch uncontrollably.
These two... they're absolute madmen...
The performance Vill-V had proposed was indeed highly original and certainly shocking enough, but... it seemed to completely disregard the audience's ability to handle it.
"Sigh... I really can't win with you two. However, a bolt-action rifle is too dangerous. Let's switch it to an old-fashioned smoothbore musket."
Seeing the two of them looking at her with such anticipation, Cocolia exasperatedly picked up the stamp beside her and stamped the proposal with a red seal of approval.
"Yay! No problem! Thank you, Aunt Cocolia!"
"Thank you, Miss Cocolia."
"It's nothing, it's nothing. It is your debut performance, after all."
Seeing the two of them so rarely showing joy like normal children, Cocolia couldn't help but smile as well.
It's just... now my own finale performance seems a bit lackluster. Being surpassed by the children is truly a mother's burden...
But it's a happy burden, nonetheless...
Looking at the fledglings flying in the sky outside her window, Cocolia silently calculated whether she should have the troupe's doctor on standby.
---o---
Time flew by in a flash. In those final ten days, Fu Li was constantly surrounded by a crowd of reluctant children. And by Vill-V's side, a rare gathering of children had also formed.
It was clear that although Vill-V was not very sociable, after several years together, some of the children were still sad to see her go.
But no matter what, a decision made was a decision made. No matter how reluctant they were, the two of them would be leaving after tonight.
The magic troupe's performance had begun. Behind the clamorous music on stage, a backstage Vill-V was wiping down a real smoothbore musket.
Compared to the complex and flashy tricks the other magicians were going to perform, their props were simple to the extreme.
A single gun and two bullets.
And with such simple props, they would deliver the most thrilling and exciting performance of the night to the audience.
"Hah... with this, it will be complete."
Looking at the gun in her hands, Vill-V gently placed a hand on the cold chamber, her slender white fingers stroking the barrel.
Though the barrel was cold, Vill-V felt an excited heat welling up from within her heart.
As Vill-V, her debut had to be magnificent. It had to be the most stunning.
She would use her magic to firmly imprint the name 'Vill-V' into the hearts of the audience.
Just as Vill-V's excitement was building, the music on stage gradually faded, and a hand gently patted her shoulder.
"Alright, Vill-V, it's time to get ready. We're going on."
"Mm, I know, Li."
For her debut performance, even a genius like Vill-V couldn't help but take a sharp breath to calm her anxious heart.
She looked at Fu Li. In his smiling nod, she saw encouragement.
So she returned his smile, reached out, and, under Anna's envious gaze, took his hand. With a fluttering heart, they walked onto the stage behind the curtain.
She held Fu Li's hand and, under Cocolia's gratified gaze, walked step by step onto the stage she had once silently watched from the wings.
She took another microphone from Cocolia's hand. As the curtain slowly rose, the nervousness that had been caught in her throat began to recede like a tide, slowly returning to calm.
By the time the curtain was fully drawn and Vill-V could see every spectator in their seats, a smile with a hint of madness had unknowingly appeared on her lips.
However, compared to her excitement, when the audience saw these two young magicians, a sense of superiority due to their age made them subconsciously look down on the pair.
"What's this? Just two little kids. What could they possibly perform?"
"Exactly! We bought tickets to see Lady Cocolia. What's with these two kids?"
"Sigh, whatever. Let's just treat it as an opening act. At least the two kids are cute."
Among the audience's murmurs, almost no one had high hopes for the two, except for a green-haired woman in a white trench coat, sitting in a corner with a bewitching smile on her lips.
The woman watched Fu Li for a moment, then shifted her gaze to Vill-V, her emerald eyes glittering.
The noise did not last long. In response to the doubt, Vill-V simply picked up her microphone, raised one hand high, and her loud, confident voice echoed throughout the venue.
"Welcome, my dear spectators! What you are about to witness is the debut performance of the future greatest magician of this century, Vill-V! Please prepare your screams and your applause, and watch closely the most dangerous and exciting performance to date!"
As she spoke, Vill-V looked at the stunned audience, her soaring tone dropping low, taking on a hint of mystery and allure.
"In this age of guns and cannons, the human body is as fragile as a thin sheet of paper under their threat. But the performance you see today will shatter that prejudice."
"Allow me to present to you the debut magic performance of the Great Magician Vill-V: catching a cold bullet... with one's mouth."
As Vill-V's words fell, the people below were first stunned, then someone, it's unclear who, started it with a light chuckle.
And that chuckle spread like a virus, quickly infecting the entire audience.
In response, Vill-V simply smiled faintly, then took the long musket Fu Li handed her, cocked it, and aimed it at a wooden target behind her.
The next second, the trigger was pulled. The sound, like a pause button being pressed, silenced the audience's laughter.
They saw white smoke drifting from the muzzle, and on the target, a bullet hole had appeared.
"As you can all see, this is a genuine, old-fashioned smoothbore musket. Its use here today has been approved by the sponsor of this magic show, Duke William."
"And next, my assistant will use this gun... to aim at my head."
After delivering the basic social pleasantries, Vill-V returned the gun and bullet to Fu Li, gave the astonished audience a slight smile, and with exaggerated steps, skipped and hopped over to the target.
Fu Li, for his part, smiled slightly. He poured gunpowder into the muzzle, placed the wadding over it, and then put the bullet and another wad into the barrel before using the ramrod to pack it all down.
Although the smoothbore musket had long been obsolete, this complex loading process made the ladies and gentlemen in the audience extremely anxious.
And when Fu Li aimed the muzzle at Vill-V's head, their smiles were nowhere to be seen. The ladies in the audience couldn't bear to watch and covered their eyes.
Some of the gentlemen who couldn't stand it had already started shouting for them to stop. Some even tried to rush the stage, ignoring the ushers.
However, their actions were too slow and utterly useless.
Smiling at Vill-V, Fu Li pulled the trigger.
With a gunshot that tore through the sky, piercing screams erupted simultaneously.
When the screaming subsided and everyone could see the stage clearly, their eyes widened in utter shock.
There, the little girl from before was smiling. She slowly reached up and, from the gap between her clenched teeth, removed a bullet.
The white smoke still rising from the muzzle proved that the shot just now had not been an illusion.
Someone had actually caught a bullet with their teeth—and it was a little girl, no less.
After a brief, stunned silence, Duke William in the front row took the lead, rising to his feet and applauding. Then, the applause washed over the stage like a tidal wave, a tribute to the debuting performer.
Without a doubt, Vill-V's debut may not have had the largest audience in history, but it was absolutely the most stunning.
This performance was the opening battle of Vill-V's career.
Feeling the tide of cheers, in this moment, Vill-V's pride was immensely satisfied. She was certain, from the bottom of her heart, that she loved being a magician!
Vill-V looked at Fu Li and saw that he was smiling and applauding as well.
That's right. Li is her most important person. Not just an assistant, but family.
Author's Note: The bolt-action rifle from the previous chapter was confiscated by Cocolia and replaced with an old-fashioned musket.
Also, for this performance, you can search for the movie Houdini. He was the greatest escape artist in history, and I feel that Vill-V's magician persona drew a lot of inspiration from him.