Panda
(Well, I brought him out here, but...)

Chisa
Monsieur Madeleine. I spent 19 years in prison. For stealing bread. Later I committed theft again and was sentenced to life. Now I am an escapee...

Panda
...Hey, could you stop reciting lines?

Chisa
This is my only chance to become Jean Valjean fishing.

Panda
Don't just naturally pull out your script... Wait, what's that? It's completely black.

Chisa
Oh, yeah. I kept writing notes on it, and it ended up like this.

Panda
(...Notes written on top of notes, over and over again. I can hardly tell what's readable and what's not...)

Panda
Can you even read this?

Chisa
Hmm, rather than reading it, it's more like remembering what I wrote at the time.

Panda
How hard are you working... Oh, I got a bite!

Chisa
Yeah. I'm the lead, so.

Chisa
...But I don't feel like I'm getting any better.

Panda
Ah, damn, it got away. But you've been saying that for a while now.

Chisa
The Boss says this is my growth mindset as an actor.

Panda
...Isn't that true?

Chisa
But if that's the case...

Panda
Hey, let's stop talking about the play! We're here to fish now!

Panda
(I thought she seemed different from her usual self when I invited her, but I didn't expect it to be this bad...)

Panda
(But this is where I, as a childhood friend, need to show my skills!)

Panda
It's our day off, so let's enjoy fishing more.

Panda
Besides, if you keep thinking about the play, the fish will sense your tension and run aw—

Chisa
I caught one.

Panda
You actually caught one!

Chisa
I'm not really tense or anything.

Panda
Huh?

Chisa
It's like blending into nature, I guess. It's the same thing.

Panda
Wait, so you were reciting those lines almost unconsciously?

Chisa
I think so?

Panda
Even though they were so full of emotion!?

Chisa
Were they that emotional?

Panda
...

Panda
(...I get it. When you're really in character, you sometimes say lines without realizing it)

Panda
(But that's because you're so focused that you're immersed... While fishing too... Is this actually Sassu's natural state?)

Panda
(Hmm, if that's the case, maybe choosing fishing was a mistake...)

Panda
(No, no, I can't give up yet)

Chisa
Ah, I caught another one.

Panda
Don't keep catching fish while I'm over here worrying...

Panda
By the way, in your mind, is Jean Valjean the kind of character who would recite stage lines while fishing?

Chisa
Huh? ...Hmm, I wonder. I think he does fish, and maybe he also appears on stage sometimes?

Panda
Really?

Chisa
Madeleine-era Jean Valjean seems like he'd have trouble saying no.

Panda
Ah, you mean when he becomes the mayor.

Chisa
I think if they asked him to participate in a festival play, he would.

Panda
Like "Monsieur Madeleine! Won't you perform in our play?" I can see him agreeing if children asked him.

Chisa
Exactly.

Panda
But doing it while fishing would be different, right?

Chisa
You think so?

Panda
I mean, during the Madeleine era, I don't really picture him doing outdoor activities.

Chisa
Maybe it happened in parts that weren't mentioned. Like after he moved to Paris.

Panda
I don't know about that...

Panda
"Whether I'm beaten with your father's stick and found cold on Plumet Street the next morning, or become part of the rotting garbage in the Seine at Saint-Cloud a year later, what does it matter!"

Panda
...Since there's a line like that, the river doesn't seem very clean. There probably aren't even any fishing spots, right? There's no sea in Paris either.

Chisa
Montreuil-sur-Mer, where Madeleine was mayor, also seems to be a bit away from the sea.

Chisa
Sur-Mer means "on the sea" in French, which is strange. It's kind of odd, isn't it?

Panda
Huh, is that so?

Panda
(Sassu really did her research...)

Chisa
I wonder if he went to the sea to fish. Did he know the sea, or didn't he?

Panda
Don't keep catching fish while you're talking... You really are amazing, Sassu. I'm not having any luck at all.

Chisa
...Everyone keeps saying I'm amazing, amazing. But how do you determine what's amazing?

Panda
Huh?

Chisa
You, Shizuka, Kathrina, everyone said it. That I shouldn't give up on being a Dai Star even if I'm not Jean Valjean.

Chisa
I think Shizuka's Marius, Kathrina's Javert, and your Éponine are all wonderful.

Chisa
But only I get called amazing... It's like Jean Valjean is the only special one... I don't like it.

Panda
...Maybe you're just not hearing it? We regularly compliment each other when we do good performances.

Chisa
...I'm going home.

Panda
Huh? What? Hey!

Panda
Are you seriously going home...?

Panda
Sassu...

Panda
...

Panda
...

Panda
(...Ah!)

Panda
(I messed up... I'm just an idiot who thought I understood Sassu...)

Panda
...Sigh.

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Pub: 20 Aug 2025 14:13 UTC

Views: 3