Bringing Culture to a Different World

Chapter 50: Release

The next day.

Melina had just taken Ynor through the enrollment procedures of a magic academy before she brought him to the entrance of Weissenasche Theater.

It was almost noon, and the scene at the entrance of Weissenasche Theater was completely different from yesterday as a large number of carriages lined up one after another on the street before the entrance.

Young mages in wizard robes were standing together on the stairs at the gate of the theater, seemingly waiting for something.

Melina even recognized visitors from other countries based on their clothing.

The reason all of them had gathered there was a massive poster hanging by the entrance of Weissenasche Theater.

Melina’s eyes were instantly attracted by the “Beauty and the Demon” poster.

There was no such thing as a poster in this world. The most were signboards made by a store using wooden boards. Yet, this “signboard” before Weissenasche Theater had totally broken Norland’s perception—the world’s even—of a signboard.

It was not a simple signboard with a few words on it, rather it was a complete image. The scene of the beauty and the demon dancing in gorgeous clothing within a magnificent hall was perfectly captured and presented in the poster.

The moment the poster appeared in Norland, it was destined that everyone who passed by Weissenasche Theater would stop and look.

Melina was no exception. She had pulled Ynor up Weissenasche Theater’s stairs, driven by her raging curiosity. Only then did she suddenly realize that the girl embracing the demon was like Ynor who was next to her. More accurately, she was Belle whom Melina had met in the village earlier.

Ynor’s hair was silver now, while Belle had flax-colored hair and a vastly different appearance from Ynor’s…

That almost made Melina forgot that her adopted child was previously named Belle.

Just as Melina was about to ask Ynor about it, two tall women stood in front of them and spoke in a language that was not Norland’s common tongue. Instead, they were speaking the language of Ishtar, the Land of Frost.

When she was younger, Melina and her husband had traveled all across the world, so she understood a little of every known language. This time, she clearly understood what the two Ishtarian young ladies were talking about.

“Stop crying Agatha. Didn’t you kill many demons back when you were in the army? Why didn’t I see you crying then?”

“But… But… this demon’s innocent.”

“It’s just a play… No, the Norlanders seem to be calling this new performance a movie.”

Melina walked past the two Ishtarian girls and stopped before the entrance of Weissenasche Theater. As the entire entrance had been blocked by the crowd, the efforts of a few attendants to maintain some semblance of order proved to be futile.

That many people?! Melina had been in the mercantile business for so long and been to several stage plays when she was still well-to-do, but she had never seen the entrance of a theater hall being blocked by a crowd like that before.

“Welcome, Madam.”

Joshua walked out of the crowd.

This time around, Joshua had underestimated the promotional effect of the poster. On Earth, he could see a poster almost every step he took. It was all too common, dated even.

However, this was the first time such a thing had appeared in this world. Driven by curiosity, many young mages were attracted by it.

After they finished viewing “Beauty and the Demon”, while fully satisfying their curiosity, the movie had also touched them and brought them much fun, turning it into a topic when they chatted with their friends.

In the world where newspapers were simply just a conceptual item, the best form of publicity was through the word of mouth.

In the morning, there were only a few people in the Weissenasche Theater lobby, but by noon, the number of visitors increased exponentially as some of the visitors had already watched it in the morning, and had brought their friends to watch it the second time.

“Joshua… is this what you meant?”

Melina had plenty of questions to ask Joshua, but she had no idea where to start.

“It was the same thing I told you last night. If you are still doubtful, go and watch the movie. After that, it will be time for you and me to talk about our cooperation.”

Joshua asked an attendant to lead Melina and Ynor to the VIP seats. Even when the tickets for the entire theater had already been sold out, there were still a few VIP seats that were reserved for certain people.

With the attendant leading the way, Melina came to the VIP seating area of the Weissenasche Theater’s performance hall.

This was a separate room at the highest point of the entire performance hall, and sitting on the sofa in the room would allow anyone in it a clear view of the huge screen on the hall.

“Sit down, Ynor. It seems like I can only go along with Joshua’s intentions.”

Melina noticed the unease of her adoptive child, and she patted the seat beside her as she used the same comforting tone she always used to relieve the stress from Ynor.

Ynor sat on the other sofa as the entire hall turned dark. During that, Melina could still hear whispers from the rows beneath.

“Why isn’t there a stage?”

“That background wall is too far forward…”

“Do you know which troupe is performing?”

“Shut up, this performance needs no troupes.”

How does one do a performance without a troupe? The whispers Melina heard was also the question she had in her heart, but what appeared on the screen immediately put it to rest.

“A long, long time ago, there was a cursed demon prince, whose half of the blood flowing him was human.

A specter under the Duke of Bones narrated the background of the story, and following the moving images on the screen, the audience was instantly introduced to the world Joshua had constructed.

Following that was a place that Melina could not be more familiar, the village by the edge of the mountains. The heroine of the story, Belle, who was Ynor sitting next to her, slowly walked out, as she sang along with the villagers to tell the audience what sort of girl Belle was.

“How could those farmers in those hovels give birth to such a beautiful girl?”

“Beautiful, but I still think Miss Gallolie is much more attractive…”

The whisperings immediately disappeared amidst the chorus by Belle and the villagers, and following the advancement of the story, many had simply forgotten to talk to their friends anymore.

When the story of the movie gradually unfolded, those who had believed that the ‘Flower of Farucci’ was the most beautiful lady in the world, had begun to have second thoughts.

That was because the legendary ‘Flower of Farucci’ was indeed beautiful, but for most, she was simply too distant a persona. Too distant that no one knew what her true personality was, and they only knew her through the various characters she played who wore a mysterious veil, making her seemingly untouchable.

But Belle was different, although she was a screen apart, she seemed approachable, and she was an ordinary girl living in a village… Until the point where she put on the gorgeous dress and started dancing with the demon prince in the hall.

Some of the younger folks in the crowd had their heartstrings plucked.

“Is Farlow the Clock a familiar? I want to know how to summon it.”

“Hey… that’s a demonic servant, but I do want that teacup.”

The focus of the ladies was completely different. The other highlight of ‘Beauty and the Demon’ was, of course, the speaking furniture.

Even though the watching experience differed from person to person in the audience, but when the final sequence of the movie unfolded, the sounds of sobs rang out across the hall.

Joshua was seating on the other VIP seat and he watched the response of the audience below. Their reaction made him very satisfied, and without a doubt, ‘Beauty and the Demon’ was a resounding success. A month from today, nay, a year from today, this movie will be the talk of Norland!