The sky looked extremely gloomy. It seemed as if a downpour was on the horizon.
Horse hooves stepped on a weed-covered ground. Ear-piercing explosions resembling thunders sounded.
The ground was trembling. A newly bloomed flower was trampled upon by a horse’s hoof.
The demon prince Zenarth was holding Belle’s hand and running on the open field. As they fled, Belle looked behind in alarm and fear.
Seven fully-armed knights were chasing after them with swords in their hands!
While fleeing, Belle stepped onto a rock and tumbled onto the ground. Zenarth immediately stopped and ran over to support Belle.
But, right at this moment, a giant net covered Zenarth... Zenarth roared and attempted to struggle free. Unfortunately, the knights had caught up to them and surrounded them.
“Belle... run away!”
With a roar, Zenarth charged toward the seven knights. Using his sharp claws, he knocked over a knight together with his horse. But, another knight shot forth chains and restricted Zenarth’s hands.
Seeing this, Belle shouted ‘I can’t leave you behind!’
Zenarth shouted for Belle to escape again. Furthermore, he was continuously losing ground against the seven knights.
Belle took a couple steps back and said ‘Wait for me.’ Then, by herself, she ran into the forest.
Staggeringly, she ran through the weed-covered forest. Right when she was about to collapse from exhaustion, she saw the road outside the forest.
When Belle ran out of the forest with excitement, she discovered a shop called ‘Klia Alchemic Shop’ on the side of the road.
Seemingly for the sake of attracting customers, the shop’s signboard was engraved with illumination inscription runes.
Desperate and weary, Belle pushed open the shop’s door. Uneasily, she entered the shop... The manager of the shop was standing right in the middle.
“Another lost customer? Do you need a cup of milk to warm your body?”
The manager’s voice sounded very comforting. The shop itself was also arranged in a very warm and comforting manner. Running in the damp forest for so long, Belle was finally able to feel warmth.
“My sweetheart... he’s captured by a group of knights!”
Belle did not linger for the warmth of the shop. The only thing in her mind was to find people to rescue the demon prince.
Leaning against a table, the shop manager asked, “In other words, dear customer, you need to defeat that group of knights?”
Belle had wanted to ask the shop manager to rescue the demon prince. But, it seemed like the shop manager had the means that would allow her to defeat those knights. Without hesitating, Belle immediately nodded her head.
“Very well,” The shop manager spread open his hands. Suddenly, the entire shop started shining. A large quantity of alchemic goods appeared behind the shop manager. It was as if the shop had turned into an enormous arsenal.
“Go ahead and choose a couple, Miss Customer. I guarantee that they will help you defeat those scoundrel knights,” said the manager.
Belle was then recommended a whole bunch of alchemic goods with ‘offensive capabilities.’ After the recommendation was over, Belle ended up being armed to the teeth. It was like Belle was a female version of Rambo. Of course, an extremely beautiful ‘Rambo.’
When a woman was both beautiful and a capable fighter, no men would be able to defeat her.
“Let me mention it ahead of time. This thing here is something that only rank two mages could use. Miss Customer, may I know what your mage rank might be?” Asked the shop manager while holding a scarlet-colored originium crystal.
“Rank three!”
“Very well. Thank you for your patronage.”
With a smile, the manager handed the scarlet originium crystal to Belle. Belle dropped a bag of gold coins on the table. Then, with a whole bunch of alchemic artifacts, she ran back into the forest.
The seven knights had captured Zenarth. The unconscious demon prince was tied to a tree.
The knights seemed to be discussing among themselves how to handle the demon. But, their discussion was soon interrupted by a scarlet originium crystal.
Dazzling light filled the entire forest. When the knights’ vision was obstructed by the light, in a condition where they cannot fight back, Belle raised the iron hammer in her hand. The iron hammer started emitting the bright light of magic. The next moment, the hammer smashed onto a knight’s helmet and sent it flying.
The pitiful knight fell unconscious on the ground. The remaining six knights immediately reacted to what just happened.
Belle took out a dagger from her backpack and tossed it onto the ground. Thunderclaps and lightning started wreaking havoc from the ground. The knights were all stunned by the lightning, unable to move.
A knight gathered all of his strength and tossed his sword toward Belle. Belle took out a hexagonal originium crystal magic shield and effortlessly blocked the incoming sword.
Following that came a not-at-all-bloody massacre. In a situation where the knights cannot fight back, Belle used the iron hammer to take down all the knights.
In the end, with a magnificent explosion, Belle rescued her sweetheart. The entire time, like a real cool girl, Belle walked away without turning around to look at the explosion.[1]
“CUT!”
Shouted Joshua who was controlling the Day Banshee filming group from the sidelines the entire time. After the explosion died out, the knight armors that were completely beaten by ‘Belle’ seemed to not be able to reassemble anymore.
“That Miss Belle... is she not a bit too... fierce?”
Fritt was watching the entire filming process. When he saw Belle pick up an iron hammer inscribed with ‘heavy’ runes to send a knight’s helmet flying, cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
The impression of the Belle in the short film was completely different from the impression he had of her.
“Fierce? That’s the impression most fans had of Belle. She came from a village. She’s a young lady that dares to love and hate. She is not a princess nurtured in a castle’s greenhouse.”
As a fan of the original ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and the director for this version, he possessed a much deeper understanding of the character Belle compared to Fritt.
In fact, Joshua felt that if any girl’s sweetheart was captured by a bunch of strangers, they would most likely pick up knives and seek out those kidnappers.
“Why are you looking at me?” Ciri noticed Joshua looking at her.
“Nothing.”
Joshua looked away. He turned his gaze to the artisans that were extinguishing the fire remnants with their Water System magic.
“I believe I’ve not made any mistake with the introduction of your alchemic shop’s artifacts, right?”
Regretfully, Joshua lacked talented actors badly. Even though he could seek to borrow one or two actors from Sir Weissenasche, he ended up taking the role of the shop manager personally.
“Yes, everything was correct... It’s just that...”
Fritt took a glance at the mess that remains of the forest and the completely messed up knight armors. He couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat flowing out from his forehead again.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Belle was unable to carry too many alchemic artifacts, Fritt suspects that the girl dancing gracefully with the demon prince in that castle would’ve destroy the entire forest!
“The practical effects of those items are simply... too frightening.”
“Mister Fritt, you mean to say that you want to have a reshoot?” asked Joshua.
“No, there’s no need!” Fritt immediately shook his head, “I am extremely satisfied. Only with this would we be able to advertise our products properly.”
“Then, all that’s left would be for this short film advertisement to appear before the crowd?”
Joshua took out the ‘originium crystal’ that contained the recording from earlier. But, right at this moment, he received a message.
The sender’s name was ‘Prophet.’ She was one of the envoys that came from the Demon Realm to study in Norland... She was also the most wise and farsighted demon among the envoys.
The message she sent Joshua was very simple... It said...
‘Your Highness! I wish to learn programming!’
[1] Check out ‘Cool Guys Don’t Look At Explosions’ by ‘The Lonely Island’.