Knowing that the Imperial Knight Commander would be traveling to the southern border with the Imperial General in the next few days, Leah showed a confused expression, and the ahoge on her head jumped. Not knowing who gave the assembly call, he immediately grabbed his weapon and rushed to the training ground. Then, a familiar face appeared in front of her.
"Uh, Lord Knight? And Lord General? Why did you come back so soon?"
In response to Leah's confusion, a certain Knight Commander simply showed a helpless expression and stepped aside to let General Wilhelm speak first.
Although the confused Leah wanted to inquire about the situation, she knew that she had to abide by the discipline when her two superiors came back, so she returned to the team immediately and gathered together the knights who had heard the assembly call and were rushing over while putting on their pants.
Soon, seeing that all the knights had gathered at the training ground, General Wilhelm nodded and slowly walked forward.
Just as the knights present were curious about what astonishing event the most powerful and prestigious general in the history of the empire was going to announce here, some people gradually began to whisper.
"What do you think the General has called us together for?"
"I don't know, but I remember that the general went to the southern border some time ago because of the relationship between the Empire and the Orc Kingdom. From the looks of it, is it possible that the war is really about to begin?"
"Really? Is it finally time for me to make a name for myself?"
"No, I heard that orcs are born with special powers. Even a sword master of the human race would have a hard time gaining any advantage against a fully armed orc warrior. Rather than making achievements, you should first consider whether you can survive the war..."
All kinds of whispers suddenly spread across the training ground.
In response, Wilhelm, whose expression remained calm, just stood still on the high platform in front of the training ground. Then, facing the expectant yet slightly fearful eyes of the knights, he silently said: "I know that you are all elite knights of the empire, and you have the courage to sacrifice your lives for the empire, so..."
"Is it coming?" "War?!" "Orc Kingdom?" "Make achievements!" "Return home and get married!!" "Return home and get married after making achievements!"
When Wilhelm said this, the knights present had already thought about all the possibilities of what would happen next. Some were even thinking about how they would return home in glory after achieving great success and becoming generals...
In response, General Wilhelm, whose expression was a little stiff, coughed twice and spoke slowly, trying to make sure his words were as clear as possible: "Is there anyone among you who is good at acting?"
"... ..."
“????”
The knights, who had never expected that General Wilhelm's words would not only be roundabout but also make a U-turn, were stunned at this moment.
Chapter 74: Emiya Kiritsugu's Selection
Chapter 74
When Leah led a group of knights carefully selected by General Wilhelm to the southern teleportation array, she was still a little at a loss as to what was going on. After all, ordinary soldiers were not qualified to use the large teleportation array. But General Wilhelm seemed very anxious at the moment, so she had to suppress her curiosity and silently followed the entourage to the southern border where Leah had never been before.
"Why on earth did the General call us here? And he even opened a large teleportation array for us?!"
A handsome knight who was good at using dual guns beside her asked the indifferent Leah, and Leah knew that the other party wanted to get close to her. After all, with her looks in the military, it was natural that she would be admired by people around her. Of course, Leah had never thought about this. For her, dedicating the rest of her life to the battlefield was what she wanted.
Therefore, without any unnecessary emotion, Liya simply replied indifferently to the words of the spearman: "I don't know, but since it is the general's request, it must be an urgent matter."
"Eh? Is it an emergency?"
The knight thought about it and proposed a possibility: "I have heard that there are traces of headless knights and liches in the southern border. Could it be that they called us there this time to deal with these dangerous undead?"
"The Undead?!"
All of a sudden, even Leah seemed anxious. After all, she was born in the North and knew very well the dangers of such a terrifying existence as the undead. However, she was not really afraid of the abilities of the undead. Instead, she was excited that she finally had the opportunity to establish military merits for the empire.
In recent years, due to the powerful deterrent force formed by the increasing number of great sages in the empire, the number of wars between the empire and its neighboring countries has become less and less. So nowadays, the empire's army is used for deterrence at best, but a group of idlers at worst. Even Knight Commander Wycliffe was promoted not for his merits on the battlefield, but because he cleared the monsters on the main transportation routes in the four borders of the empire.
In this situation, it is not just Leah. Most members of the Imperial Knights actually have a sense of grievance that they want to make achievements on the battlefield but cannot succeed. After all, those who can join the Knights are the most elite in the Imperial Army. However, they can only be treated as vases without any actual constructive role. This is indeed a very cruel thing for these young people who join the army because they want to succeed.
Therefore, when they learned that they might be going to defeat the extremely terrifying undead, most people, including Leah, suddenly became excited, and a hint of anticipation appeared in their hearts.
Soon, as the light of the teleportation array gradually faded, when this large group of knights arrived in Northrick in batches, the sky had already darkened.
Realizing that he had wasted too much time, General Wilhelm quickly gathered everyone together, and then walked towards the most lively building in Northrick in the distance. In less than a moment, he arrived at the scene, Edward Tavern opposite Northrick.
“Oh, isn’t this Wilhelm? Are you back so soon?”
As the door of the tavern slowly opened, the Dullahan greeted General Wilhelm in a dashing manner, and the latter nodded and said, "Yes, I used my authority as a general to open a large teleportation array, so where is Director Durin?"
"Oh, he's upstairs. He's been auditioning all day and seems quite satisfied."
"That's good."
Soon, as the Dullahan turned around and left again, except for General Wilhelm and the other two who knew the inside story, the other knights were all furious at this moment!
"No... Undead?!!!"
"Headless Knight?!!"
"OMG... "
"The general was greeting the Dullahan just now, wasn't he? Am I really dazzled?"
"... ..."
At this moment, a large group of knights could not believe what was happening before their eyes. To them, what had just happened was even more unbelievable than seeing Teletubbies and Aliens drinking tea and chatting together.
Likewise, General Wilhelm couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed. After all, he was in such a hurry that he suddenly realized that he had forgotten to think about how to explain the undead to these guys.
"Perform... perform, General, the Dullahan was just performing, wasn't he?!" In this awkward scene, Leah was the first to speak up: "That's why you asked us if we can perform before you called us here, isn't it?"
Wilhelm did not expect that the girl who was promoted by Knight Commander Wycliffe would find a good excuse for herself immediately. He nodded quickly and said, "No... That's right, the Dullahan just now was just an act, so don't worry. I called you here this time because I hope you can represent our army in a performance."
Suddenly, a large amount of riots subsided, and General Wilhelm also remembered the girl named Leah. Leah didn't know that her instinctive inference made her successfully gain a good impression in the heart of the imperial general.
... ... .
The second floor of Edward Studios.
Seeing that the man in front of him had already memorized his lines, Du Lin smiled and said, "I have already written your lines on that piece of paper. Please start."
Hearing his words, the man standing in the distance slowly adjusted his expression and spoke:
"What is this? So twisted? So dirty? Is this really the child of Kotomine Risho? Hahahaha, impossible, no way! What is this, could it be that my father gave birth to a dog? Hahahaha..."
In just a few minutes of performance, the actor who auditioned perfectly portrayed Kotomine Kirei's temperament, which is a chaotic mixture of good and evil, and both good and evil.
Compared with other stage play actors, the performance of the members of the Snow Flower Troupe is so different from theirs that it is no wonder that even Vanir praised this troupe.
"Okay, you passed, but remember to have a happier expression next time you act. Uh, I don't know what happier is? Anyway, just smile a little more disgustingly."
Hearing Du Lin's words, the actor who played Kotomine Kirei was a little overwhelmed, but after realizing that he had been selected, he nodded slightly and turned away. He looked nothing like the villain he had just played, and he seemed to have a very cold personality. One could not help but sigh at the terrifying existence of acting skills.
On the other hand, looking at the already fully filled cast list, Du Lin couldn't help but sigh that the Snow Flower Theater was indeed the top and most powerful stage drama troupe in the South. While each member had very strong personal acting skills, the majority of the cast were men, which was completely different from other troupes with a large number of female protagonists and very artificial acting skills. It could be said that it completely met the requirements of the movie that Du Lin wanted to shoot.
Of course, even so, it is impossible for everyone in a stage play troupe to be a natural film performer. Some actors who cannot abandon the traditional performance style of stage plays cannot be passed no matter how kind Du Lin is. After being disappointed, those actors who failed to pass naturally went to their troupe manager Chase to vent their dissatisfaction.
"That director doesn't understand what acting is, Mr. Chase. You know I've performed countless times in the troupe, and I've performed all over the South. But that director not only doesn't understand what emotional catharsis is, he doesn't even recognize my singing voice that you praised back then!"
As for the former rising star of the troupe in front of him, Chase just silently took the script of the role chosen by the other party, named Emiya Kiritsugu, and then said, "Have you read the story script distributed before your performance?"
"The script of the story? What's the point? With my ability, I can perfectly restore the role even without reading the script. What's more, I have performed countless scripts. Even Mr. Chase's script, I can perfectly control it!"
Seeing the young man's arrogant and confident words, Chase helplessly took out the script of the first chapter of "Fate Zero" that Du Lin had just distributed to everyone, and then said, "Since you haven't seen it, there's nothing much to say. I know you have a great talent for stage plays, but unfortunately, the era now is called movies."
"Uh, Mr. Chase?"
"If you want to stay here, finish reading this first."
The young man didn't expect the other party to say such a thing. He showed a surprised expression and also seemed very disdainful.
After all, as he said just now, he considered himself to be a very good stage actor, so even if it was the words of the theater manager, he didn't think there was any need for him to listen. Or he said that he had not felt that the theater manager was someone worthy of his respect for a long time. After all, if it weren't for Chess's unique approach, Snow Flower's status in the stage play world should have been higher.
Seeing that this young man, whom he had originally been optimistic about, had no intention of challenging him again, Chase sighed slightly, then handed the "Fate Zero" script in his hand to the other party, and slowly took the script for the character named Kiritsugu Emiya from the other party.
On the other side, the young man couldn't help but reveal a surprised expression. After all, the man in front of him, who had always served the troupe silently and had never performed on stage, was actually walking towards the audition team at this moment.
"Can I try it?"
Following Chase's words, all the Snow Flower members present showed surprised expressions. After all, everyone knew that Chase was only the manager and scriptwriter of the troupe and had never performed in any play.
But what did he just say? Is this manager going to perform as well
All of a sudden, all kinds of discussions were heard in the room. A lovely woman with beautiful silver hair looked at the man in the distance who hadn't shown this expression for a long time, and slowly raised the corners of her mouth.
In response, Du Lin, who had long wanted the troupe manager to try out a role, smiled and nodded, waving his hand and saying, "Of course, let's get started."
Chase is going to perform the last scene in "Fate Zero", which is the scene after the end of the Holy Grail War where the dying Emiya Kiritsugu talks to his adopted son under the moonlight.
Of course, since the story script provided by Du Lin only has the first chapter, most of the subsequent plots need to be filled in by the performers themselves. This is the same for all the actors present, which is also the reason why some actors are too lazy to read the story script.
As the manager of the troupe, Chase, who had been watching the actors' performances, naturally knew this, so at the first moment, he even covered up the lines in the character's script and began the performance with full devotion.
“…When I was very young, I dreamed of becoming a partner of justice.”
As soon as the words came out, there was a moment of silence. The actors who originally wanted to laugh at the manager now had expressions of disbelief on their faces, and Chase's performance continued.
"Well, it's a bit regrettable. Being a hero also has a time limit. It's hard to achieve once you become an adult. I wish I had realized this earlier."
... ...
"Yeah, there's really nothing we can do about it."
... ...
"Yes, ah—then I can rest easy."
... ...
Although there are few lines in this scene, anyone who is familiar with movies knows that this performance is actually a real test of acting skills such as facial expressions and body language, and Chase's performance can be described as perfect.
At this moment, he seemed like a person who had truly experienced many storms, various traumas, and finally returned to silence. He seemed like he had really turned into an idealist who once pursued illusory and impossible goals, and finally fell on the road of pursuit.
Therefore, after Chase's performance, everyone in the room applauded him, especially the silver-haired beauty who had been staring at Chase from the beginning. While she was applauding, tears even appeared in her eyes.
"Great performance, Mr. Chase. I thought you were just the manager of this troupe, but I didn't expect you to have the acting skills to be qualified for this position. I even feel that you are more suitable for performing on stage than some of the actors in your troupe."
Hearing Du Lin's praise, Chase didn't say anything. He just asked silently: "Did I pass?"
"Of course, congratulations on passing. Then, please take a rest."
Du Lin seemed very happy when he said this. After all, his vision was correct. The manager of the Snow Flower Troupe did have a talent for performance. Although he didn't know why he was willing to work behind the scenes of the troupe instead of performing on stage, at least for now, he had indeed become the candidate for Emiya Kiritsugu who met Du Lin's requirements.
When Chase returned to his original seat, the young man who had been complaining about this and that just now was now reading the script that Chase had just given him.
Judging from his constantly changing expression, it is obvious that he has been completely attracted by this extraordinary and imaginative story called "Fate Zero".
Chapter 75: The Orc Prophet's Reply
Chapter 75
When General Wilhelm returned to the imperial capital to look for someone at Durin's request, Juno, the orc spy who had been secretly following him, received a reply from the Orc Kingdom on the night after watching the new movie "Goblin Slayer".
Looking at the owl perched on the windowsill, Juno's expression changed instantly. She quickly threw away all her guesses about "Goblin Slayer" and immediately took down the mailbox on the owl's feet and opened it.
What came into Juno's sight was a handwriting that was very unfamiliar to her, but precisely because it was unfamiliar, Juno immediately realized who was replying the letter. Without a doubt, it was the only great sage prophet in the Orc Kingdom.
[Black Blade Juno, I am the Kingdom's Prophet. After reading your letter this time, I was shocked, so I wrote this reply as soon as possible.]
[There are some things that can only be understood by fellow magicians, so I cannot explain them to you in detail. However, I must explain your next action strategy to you as soon as possible. Of course, before that, I need you to know some knowledge that even I don't know very well.]
[First, regarding the 'movie' you mentioned, I searched the Kingdom Library for a day and a night but could not find anything close to it. Although this is undoubtedly because humans are far better than us in magic research, I can guess the general idea based on your description.]
[So-called movies should be magic props that record certain knowledge and store some images. Therefore, as you said, everything you see should be a record of what really happened in the human empire, rather than a performance told to you by other humans.]
[I think the reason for this is that the humans who created the movie did not want to cause a large amount of panic, and only spread it in the form of entertainment. The purpose may be to make money, or for some purpose we cannot know, or even to misunderstand us, the alien spies. Therefore, the so-called movie is definitely not as simple a performance as it seems. This is my judgment after many years of contact with human magicians. ]
[After knowing this concept, let's look back at everything you have observed. An adventurer saw a god after his death and brought the god to the mortal world. Although I don't have much knowledge about gods, a few days ago, when I was observing the stars at night, I found a meteor falling from the southern sky. ]
[There was once a legend that every star in the sky is the kingdom of a god, so I guess that it might be the product of an experiment by human magicians. They might really have mastered some knowledge that our Orc Empire does not understand at all, and with this knowledge, they have touched the realm of gods.]
[Secondly, you said that there is a high-level magician in the movie who can use explosive magic once a day. I am worried that humans may create many magicians who can use compressed magic to release explosive magic. To be honest, although I am the prophet of the kingdom, my attainments in magic are still far behind those of human magicians. So, on this point, we would rather believe it than not. At least in the short term, I have persuaded His Majesty the King not to rashly go to war with the human race. Even if a war is started, it is necessary to find out the current strength of human magicians.]
[Finally, and most importantly, you said that at the end of the movie, an extremely powerful headless knight appeared, and was then defeated by a group of human adventurers. If this was said by someone else, I would have just laughed it off. But since this information was provided by you, the Kingdom's Black Blade, I must believe the authenticity of this news.]
[The Headless Horseman is an exceptional undead, and a puppet controlled by a terrifying lich. Even in the Human Empire, few people know about this. Our Orc Kingdom once sent a team to the Chaos Realm, during which they encountered the terrifying Headless Horseman. Fortunately, the team was led by the Kingdom's prophet at the time, who used teleportation magic to escape immediately. Even so, the rest of the team were not spared. However, this precious information was left in the memory of successive prophets.]
[So, according to what you said, there are only two possibilities I can make. One, it is indeed the real Headless Horseman. It accidentally left the Chaos Realm and came to the Human Kingdom. It fought a shocking battle with humans and finally fell, leaving behind the video footage called the movie. Two, it is not the real Headless Horseman, but I think this possibility is very small, because even you, as a blood-damaged individual, don’t think you can fight it, so the authenticity of the Headless Horseman is beyond doubt.]
[There is no doubt that humans could not have escaped unscathed in the battle with the Headless Horseman. Even though the movie looks ridiculous and simple, I suspect that it is just a specially processed clip. The real events may have been hidden by those human magicians. If I am right, if the Headless Horseman is not dead, he is probably controlled by human magicians now.]
[After obtaining this epic level of undead, even I cannot speculate on the extent of the human kingdom's strength, but at least one thing is certain, that is, the human kingdom that can defeat the headless horseman must have some terrifying weapons that we cannot understand. If it goes as expected, if our orc kingdom really goes to war with the human empire, such terrifying weapons will catch us off guard on the battlefield.]
[Whether it is the knowledge of God, the mass-produced explosion magic, or the powerful group of adventurers, the current level of mankind has probably grown by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, as a prophet of the kingdom, I can only speculate so far and cannot understand more of the meaning.]
[So, Juno, the spy of the Black Blade, for the future of the Orc Kingdom, you must work hard to find the truth behind the movie that is hidden by human magicians, even if it means sacrificing yourself! Of course, I also know that this is a difficult task, but I have no way to support you. The only thing I can do is to use prophecy magic as much as possible to see through the fragments of the future, so as to judge what the fate of the Orc Kingdom will be in the future.]
[And I believe that if you can really find the knowledge hidden by human magicians, our Orc Kingdom will have an extra bargaining chip in the upcoming war.]
[Finally, movies undoubtedly have producers, so I think your best breakthrough point is this producer]
[However, since he was able to create a movie, a magic that I completely cannot understand, the creator is undoubtedly a powerful human magician, and there are likely to be all kinds of powerful helpers around him. For this reason, you must try to get close to him without revealing your identity, and you must not have any bad thoughts, otherwise, not only will you not be able to explore the secrets, but even your own life will be in danger.]
[May you bring a new dawn to the Orc Kingdom.]