In response to Alyssa's excitement, Du Lin simply replied silently: "Of course, I already have an idea for the script. The only problem is the actors. At the moment, I don't have enough actors. Can I go to your Adventurer's Guild in the North to find actors?"
"Of course there is no problem with that. I will gather the adventurers together in the name of the guild."
After clarifying the situation, Du Lin nodded and said, "Then I will go back and work on the script first. Can you stay here for a few days? I plan to go to the North with you to investigate the filming location and other issues after the script is ready. The sooner the actors audition, the better."
"Of course, the Adventurer's Guild will still be able to operate normally even without the Guild Master."
Although Alyssa acted as if it was a matter of course when she said this, the head of the Southern Territory Guild beside her showed a subtle expression.
... ... ...
In the past few days, the reputation of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World" has spread throughout the southern border at an almost explosive rate. Almost every businessman who passed through Northrick and had the opportunity to watch a movie would ostentatiously post the promotional flyers of the Northrick Cinema on his carriage to highlight his own uniqueness.
Therefore, during this period of time, movies were not only well-known in Northrick, but also spread at a viral rate outside of Northrick, causing countless listeners who could only listen to the traveling merchants' boasting to beat their chests and stamp their feet, wishing they could open a portal to Northrick to watch this thing called movies at a sky-high price.
In just a few days, "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World" completely set off a trend in Northrick. The plot of the movie became a topic of conversation among young people and adventurers after dinner. Even some noble wizards who were willing to condescend to watch the movie began to practice fireball at home. Merchants took the opportunity to launch the same props and weapons as in the movie. The clothes worn by the protagonists have even appeared in imitations in many clothing stores. These so-called peripherals began to be invented by the people of this world without any guidance.
In this environment, the one that made the most money was undoubtedly Lawrence's Monster Shop. His monsters, which were originally for appreciation, were sold out in just a few days. The speed at which customers snapped up the monsters was even more terrifying than the speed at which customers snatched up food in the cafeteria. This monster shop owner who had never experienced money falling from the sky in his life had a happy and painful smile on his face these days. The happiness was of course that he made money, but the pain was that the monsters he cherished and raised had changed owners one after another, and he would never have the chance to see them again. However, this was much better than the previous situation when he was almost on the verge of bankruptcy.
In short, this new form of performance, film, began to spread with the broadcast of the movie "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World", and like a highly contagious virus, it attracted all the people who were interested and not interested in the movie as if there was a magnetic force between each other.
... ... ...
The carriage slowly drove into the streets of Northrick.
In the carriage, a blonde girl in a nun's uniform looked around. Her big watery eyes reflected the scenery of the city. As expected, the girl heard similar remarks on the street.
"Did you go to see 'KonoSuba: God's Blessing for a Wonderful World' yesterday? Let's go together today!"
"What are you doing? You've already seen it three times, aren't you tired of fighting for tickets?"
"Now that the Northrick Grand Theater... .. the theaters have expanded, it's not that hard to grab tickets anymore. And don't you think the story is interesting and the heroines are cute?! I won't get tired of watching it even if I watch it ten times!!!"
This kind of talk about the movie had been spreading between towns since a few days ago. No matter which town the girl went to, the first thing she heard was about the movie and "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World".
To be honest, this kind of experience is something the girl has never had before. As the only daughter of the Grand Duke of the South, Daphne has always lived a simple yet complicated life. Simple means that there is almost nothing superfluous in the life of aristocrats, and complicated means that there are too many things in the life of aristocrats that are impossible to understand, whether it is basic etiquette, interpersonal communication, or practice as a transcendent, everything is so boring and lacks color.
That is why Daphne tried her best to escape from the Duke's castle on her sixteenth birthday. With the help of the guards, she saw for the first time the world that she had only heard of in rumors before. The outside world did not disappoint her expectations. Every day there were all kinds of new things attracting her attention, and movies naturally entered her ears.
However, after she learned about the movie, she did not show any interest, because in her opinion, the so-called movie is nothing more than an alternative stage play after all. The opera-style performance did not have any appeal to Daphne, who could enjoy her own stage play in the Duke's Castle. Instead, it made her so sleepy that she just wanted to sleep. To her, the reason why these people were so interested was simply because they had too little experience and could not even find abstract art interesting.
But even so, Daphne finally came to this town where movies are said to exist. After all, when something keeps ringing around in your ears, you might actually try it out of annoyance.
But Daphne didn't have any high expectations. She just wanted to witness with her own eyes how boring this thing called a movie would be.
Chapter 41: Movie Fans
Chapter 41
The movie is really interesting! This is Daphne's only feeling after watching "KonoSuba: A Wonderful World" at the Northrick Cinema.
As the only daughter of the Grand Duke of the South, Daphne, who had lived in the Duke's castle since childhood, had long been tired of watching singing and dancing stage plays. Although the girl had enjoyed watching that kind of puppet-like art when she was young, she was no longer willing to watch any form of opera or stage play at banquets when she grew up. In other words, instead of watching these, she would rather spend time reading the knight novels brought back by the guards from outside.
The reason is very simple. The characters in stage plays often seem unreal. No matter how good the acting skills of the actors are, the audience knows that they are always acting and playing a fake role. In comparison, although the story of the novel lacks expressiveness, readers can often easily empathize with it and firmly believe that the story in the novel really happened somewhere.
Therefore, after learning about the movie, Daphne immediately preconceivedly regarded it as some type of stage play, and believed that it was a boring performance that combined all the shortcomings of a stage play.
However, when she actually bought the movie ticket and watched the film, the girl finally realized that the face-slapping segment that humans are destined to be unable to escape has also befallen her this time.
Completely contrary to Daphne's idea, movies and stage plays are almost things from different dimensions. Compared with stage plays that are so fake that you will fall asleep while watching them, movies are so real that they are like a projection of another world.
Daphne, who had always sneered at drama, saw such a "real" performance for the first time! Or if it wasn't for the cast list at the end, Daphne wouldn't have been able to associate this movie with the word performance!
After watching the movie, Daphne even had the illusion that the protagonist and his companions were still in a village at this moment performing simple but fun adventurer missions, and as long as you become an adventurer, you might meet them.
In the end, Daphne could no longer distinguish the difference between fantasy and reality, or rather, she would rather believe that everything presented in the movie was the real world, and these funny characters really existed somewhere in the world.
Compared to a stage play which is clearly a fake performance, this thing called a movie is like projecting a real world, making the audience involuntarily believe that everything that happens in the movie actually exists somewhere in this world.
Anyway, after watching "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World" and laughing so hard that her stomach ached because the story was so interesting, Daphne finally calmed down and looked at the long list of names on the cast list and murmured, "I didn't expect that movies would be so interesting. I also want to participate in it..."
After hearing her words, the guard who had been sitting next to the girl and watched the entire movie with her, a woman wearing a cloak to cover her face, quickly said, "Miss, I don't want you to have any contact with this crew."
"??Why?"
In response to Daphne's confusion, the guard simply replied silently: "Although ordinary people cannot tell which effects in the movie are real and which are fake, any extraordinary person with a certain level of ability can understand how amazing the effects of the filming process are. Whether it is those fourth-level and fifth-level magic or the actors themselves, they are not simple guys."
"To be specific, I don't think I'll be in any danger with your protection."
Daphne's words can be said to be quite in favor of the guard beside her, but after hearing these words, the woman showed a difficult expression, and then said helplessly: "No, although I might have thought so before watching the movie, but when I saw the skills displayed by the headless knight in the movie just now, I was sure that it was probably the legendary headless knight himself! In front of such a monster, even I don't have the confidence to protect the young lady!"
Obviously, compared to ordinary people who can only watch the movie for fun, only those who are truly capable can understand how amazing the production team of this movie is. And in fact, this is indeed the case. Not to mention Durin, the youngest great magician, the two undeads Beldia and Wiz alone are not something a normal crew could find.
"The Headless Horseman? I was thinking about this when I was watching the movie. Is the so-called Headless Horseman really an unforgivable demon? According to the legend, wasn't he once a blessed soldier who rushed to the front line to kill the enemy? In the end, he was hated by everyone just because he became an undead. This is too cruel..."
Daphne's words were extremely outrageous. If anyone in the church heard her declaration, they would probably label her an accomplice of the devil on the spot. Of course, Daphne had such a view because she grew up in the South, a land where the influence of the church was the weakest.
The guard who heard this obviously didn't know how to respond, and finally said helplessly: "Miss, you are still traveling in this land as a priestess. If the church knew that you defended the Dullahan in the name of a priestess, I'm afraid you would be burned at the stake..."
"Haha, although I believe in the Holy Light, I have no interest in an old and pedantic institution like the Church. Compared to the God of Light advocated by the Church, I think Miss Aqua in the story is more godlike. And I just noticed that the director of this movie is Baron Durin. I remember meeting him once at a family banquet when I was a child. I don't think he will do anything bad to me."
“… … .”
Unable to evaluate his young lady who always spoke without any sense of logic, the guard was ultimately unable to stop her from wanting to meet the film production team, so he could only slowly stand up and say, "Then young lady, please let me follow you closely during the meeting. Otherwise, if anything happens to you, I won't be able to explain to the Duke."
"Haha, I knew you would agree. Now let's go meet the owner of this cinema. By the way, don't inform father. I don't want this interesting trip to end like this."
"Yes, as you wish, Miss..."
As the guard looked exhausted, Daphne stood up with a smile and said as if she suddenly remembered something: "By the way, please book another movie ticket for me. I want to watch the movie again tomorrow."
"Well, can I order another one for myself? To be honest, I find it a little strange myself. This movie is completely different from the stage plays I watched in the castle before. I just wanted to sleep after watching the stage plays before, but I want to watch this movie again."
"Haha, of course you can."
Unexpectedly, this stubborn guard of hers would say such a thing. Daphne couldn't help but smile and looked at the posters around the cinema again, revealing a curious and expectant smile.
Chapter 42 The Influence of Movies
Chapter 42
A new pub has opened across the street from the former Northrick Theatre, now the Northrick Cinema. Of course, it is not actually accurate to call it a pub. To be precise, it should be the headquarters of Edward Studios.
Of course, the real headquarters is on the second floor, and the first floor is just an ordinary tavern on the surface.
This piece of land was the property of the Banier family before it was bought by Dulin to open a tavern. After hearing that Dulin was looking for a place to be the headquarters of the studio, the other party gave this Feng Shui treasure land to Dulin without hesitation. After all, with countless people coming and going in the Northrick Cinema every day, the land prices on this street have skyrocketed at a terrifying price. It is almost impossible to buy the house directly opposite the Northrick Cinema under normal circumstances.
This shows how much importance Banier attaches to maintaining his relationship with Durin. In fact, his choice was quite correct. Because of his choice, Durin finally decided to have long-term cooperation with the Northrick Cinema, and the future chain industry will basically expand based on the Northrick Cinema.
In short, after getting the store, Du Lin quickly transformed the first floor of the headquarters into an ordinary pub, which was usually used to accommodate guests coming out of the cinema. In this way, he could get feedback from the audience at the first time. Just like the so-called film review wall, all the thoughts of the audience who watched "KonoSuba: God's Blessing for a Better World" would be heard by Du Lin at the first time.
And because of the occasional appearances by actors like Zataya, the popularity of this tavern, thanks to its geographical advantage opposite the cinema, quickly became the most popular hotel in Northrick, far exceeding Durin's expectations.
Of course, there is another reason why it has become so popular now, and that is that the managers of this tavern are none other than Beldia and Wiz!
That's right, after having enough of the fighting and killing on the run, this undead duo naturally hoped to live a simple and peaceful life. Although when Durin first asked them to run the hotel, the two were a little overwhelmed, but when they really started doing this business, they unexpectedly found that they were doing quite well.
Wiz, who was a high-level magician during his lifetime, had a certain control over business, at least he would never make mistakes in calculations. She was also unexpectedly popular as a poster girl because of her good looks.
Although Beldia does not have a human appearance and the aura of death on him makes him not the type that people can easily approach, since the people coming out of the cinema are all fans of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World", when they first saw Beldia, they did not regard him as a scary monster. Instead, they rushed up excitedly and wanted to interact with the big boss in the movie.
That's right, due to the existence of the fan filter, these audiences did not regard the other party as a scary monster at all. On the contrary, because the Headless Knight's behavior in the film was in line with the spirit of chivalry, these audiences liked him very much. Therefore, after seeing the real person offline, they could not control their fan behavior at all. The Headless Knight, who had never enjoyed such treatment before, was distressed for a while before he got used to this state.
Now the tavern run by two undead has become the signature of the Northrick Cinema. Basically everyone has to experience it. After all, when you come to the cinema to watch a movie, you can come out and see the big boss in the movie pouring wine for you. That experience is truly an imperial enjoyment.
Especially since the real identity of this big boss is a super powerful person beyond level 6. If you knew it, you can brag about it for a year or half a year, although most people don't know it.
In short, under this circumstance, the fact that Edward Studio was opened on the second floor of the tavern was inevitably leaked out. After all, not only did Ayazat and his gang of actors go to the second floor every day, but even Banir came here to visit from time to time. Anyone with normal skills could see the problem with this tavern.
However, with two top-level undead guarding and Durin himself being a great magician, no one dared to do anything. Even if some magicians wanted to check out the situation on the second floor, a retired big boss would use the terrifying intuition of a super-sixth-level swordsman to interrupt the opponent's spell with a righteous elbow strike, and then easily throw him into the nearby Street of Pleasure through the back door.
After this kind of thing happens too often, anyone with a little bit of common sense will no longer do anything tricky. In other words, for true fans, just being able to see the actors appear in real life is an extremely pleasant thing.
... ...
On the second floor of the tavern in Edward Studio, when Du Lin wrote the last word with his pen, he breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.
Although there were all kinds of noise coming from the pub downstairs, Durin, as a great magician, could still easily block out these unnecessary noises. For a real great magician, you can still sit down and enter a meditative state even in the vegetable market.
This is the essential difference in human talent, and this is also the most fundamental reason why the number of great magicians is much smaller than that of high-level magicians.
After stretching his muscles a little, Du Lin sorted out the script of the new movie in his hand and put it away carefully. Then he walked to the window and admired the grand scene at the entrance of the cinema opposite.
It has been about a week since the premiere of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing for a Better World". In this short week, the emerging industry called film has become rapidly popular, and the money-making effect brought by the new industry has also increased at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Especially because Du Lin originally targeted ordinary people as the audience, the news of this movie has spread farther and farther these days. Even people from the surrounding villages and nearby towns often come from far away just to take a look at what kind of magical thing this movie is. Those who have seen it are all possessed and unable to control themselves. As for then... then, they also became unable to control themselves.
In short, with the support of such a large group of audiences, the box office of "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World" quickly broke through the mark of one thousand gold coins, and this growth rate will not decline in the next few months, but will only get higher and higher, because at present there are still a large number of local residents in Northrick who have not watched the movie. This part of potential audiences will be captured little by little by the rising public opinion in the following period of time, and finally slowly become new audiences.
The most important thing is that the Adventurer's Guild and the Northrick Cinema have decided to promote the film. The purpose of this is naturally to expand the industry and expand the audience's coverage from Northrick to the entire southern territory. By then, millions of people in the southern territory will become the audience of the movie!
By that time, the wealth brought by movies will be far more than the current thousands.
As for the Southern Territory Adventurer's Guild, which has obtained the agency rights, their thinking is also very clear. Next, they will contact the theaters in all the towns in the Southern Territory little by little, asking whether they are willing to show the movie. If they agree, it would be the best, and everyone can make money together. If they refuse, they have already prepared for the response, which is the open-air screening that Du Lin mentioned before.
It can be said that the move of open-air broadcasting is almost equivalent to breaking off relations with local forces. After all, movies as a form of entertainment will directly lead to a sharp decline in the audience of original stage plays and operas. If they cannot change in line with the trend of the times, then these old industries will face a devastating blow.
The conflicts and frictions that would arise from this would be numerous just by imagining it, so the Adventurer's Guild does not want to do this unless it is absolutely necessary. However, if they are ultimately unable to convince those old theaters, then for the benefit of the Adventurer's Guild, they would not mind doing so. After all, everything is for the benefit.
You are hindering my development, so I'm sorry, please go to hell.
It's that simple.
Although it sounds a bit cruel, it is the fact. In this war without the smoke of gunpowder, being kind to the enemy is being cruel to yourself, and no one will give in at all.
Chapter 43: Goblin Slayer
Chapter 43
When Durin walked down from the second floor, the tavern was already packed with people. This tavern, which could barely accommodate forty or fifty people, was extremely crowded at this moment, and the tall figure of the headless knight was easily captured by Durin.
At this moment, the other party is diligently completing the work of a clerk. Although the tavern has now recruited new waiters, the undead knight seems to like the feeling of being a bartender. Standing at the bar is a dazzling sight.
For those guests who have watched "KonoSuba: God's Blessing for a Wonderful World", drinking the wine handed to you by the Headless Horseman in the bar is like seeing a real Gundam handing you a balloon in an amusement park.
In response, Durin, who didn't want to disturb the other party, turned around and planned to leave through the back door. After all, he had agreed to bring the new movie script to the guild master of the Northern Adventurers' Guild.
However, at this moment, Weiss, who had squeezed out of the crowd, suddenly called him and said softly after approaching, "Mr. Du Lin, someone wants to see you."
"Looking for me? I think I said I wouldn't see anyone during this period of time."
In response to Durin's confusion, Wiz just said quickly: "I am not very clear about this. I heard from Viscount Barnil that the identity of the person who wants to see you, Mr. Durin, is not that simple. You need to show up in person."
"Is your identity not simple?"
This was the first time Du Lin had encountered such a situation. After thinking for a while, he said, "Then let's invite them to the second floor. This can be treated as a business cooperation. If there are similar business cooperation in the future, please notify me first and ask the guests to go to the second floor."
... ... ..
After waiting for a while on the second floor, Du Lin soon waited for the so-called guest. What surprised him was that the guest was a little girl, a little girl with a very special temperament wearing a priest's uniform.
To be honest, when he saw the other party for the first time, Du Lin thought that someone from the church had come to his door. After all, the headless knight and the ghost in the movie were both beings that were expressly persecuted by the church. If a priest suddenly came to see him at this time, it meant that there was a 90% chance that the church was here to cause trouble.
As if she realized Durin's misunderstanding, the girl walking in front quickly said, "You misunderstood, Mr. Durin. I am not a believer in the God of Light. I wear this priest's uniform purely to conceal my identity. Let me introduce myself first. I am Daphne Victor, the daughter of the Duke of the South."
"Oh... Oh! I see, Miss Daphne. To be honest, I was almost ready to do it just now..."
This was not Du Lin's fault. After all, Du Lin was well aware of the horror of religious lunatics. If this was not the southern border, he would have put up a sign saying "Church members and dogs are not allowed" at the entrance of the tavern as soon as the movie was broadcast.
When Durin calmed down, he realized that he seemed to have seen the girl in front of him. It was at a banquet hosted by Archduke Victor a few years ago. Durin, who attended such an occasion only once, saw the girl standing next to Archduke Victor. Although she didn't say a word from beginning to end, this lovely girl with a special temperament always attracted the attention of everyone in the audience.
Of course, thinking back to what he had heard from Roy about the other party running away from home, he suddenly couldn't understand why the other party came to find him at this time.
So, after thinking for a while, Du Lin slowly said to Daphne, who was wiping the cold sweat because of what he had just said, "So, what does Miss Daphne want from me, an ordinary baron?"
Although Du Lin knew that Grand Duke Victor had always wanted to recruit him under his command, he did not think that the Grand Duke's daughter would come with any impure purpose.
After all, as a great magician, he has the natural talent for reading minds. He can roughly understand what kind of person the other person is just by looking through his eyes.
In his eyes, this girl named Daphne was just a blank sheet of paper, a blank sheet of paper that had not been filled with too many colors. To be honest, if her identity was not so special, he would have wanted to recruit her as an actor. After all, such an unpolished jade was quite precious.
After hearing what Du Lin said, Daphne didn't keep it a secret and said directly, "Mr. Du Lin, you are being modest. Although it may be a little abrupt, if possible, I hope to be able to participate in your next movie, Mr. Du Lin."
"Oh, a movie... Pfft! What?! A movie?"
He had never expected that the daughter of a duke would tell him that she wanted to make a movie. Before Du Lin, who felt that this space was suddenly a little unreal, could react, Daphne said quickly, "Yes, Mr. Du Lin, no, Director Du Lin, I had this idea after watching "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Beautiful World". Compared with boring stage plays, this kind of performance that seems to be a deliberate experience of a second life really interests me."
As for the girl who suddenly came close to him, Du Lin didn't know what to say to this inexplicably naive child. He said helplessly: "So that's how it is. It's okay about this, but you still need to go through my assessment."
Unexpectedly, there would be ready-made actors delivered to his door. For Du Lin, what he lacked right now was actors, especially leading actors who could attract him at first sight. Although the Duke's daughter in front of him had obviously never acted in a play and her performance might be immature, Du Lin needed her to play such a role full of immaturity, not to mention that her appearance also met Du Lin's requirements.
Therefore, the two sides hit it off immediately, and Du Lin and Daphne agreed to interview the actors the next day, and the meeting place would be this pub.