“A short film for ‘Beauty and the Demon?’”
The girl from the Nation of Frost, Sansa, immediately noticed the words spoken by Gallolie in the ‘television.’
She immediately placed down the alchemic merchandise she was holding in her hand and, in a short few seconds, came up to Joshua and Prophet.
“...”
Prophet quietly moved several steps toward Joshua. She was not fond of being too close to others. Sansa’s sudden arrival had clearly exceeded Prophet’s range of tolerance.
That said, it was not only Sansa. When the few remaining customers in the shop heard Sansa’s voice, they all lifted up their heads. When they saw an all-new television was installed into the Klia Alchemic Shop, they, like Sansa, all rushed over.
The guests completely failed to notice that there was a petite little girl. By the time Prophet realized what had just happened, the ‘television screen’ was blocked by over a dozen people.
Many of them were Klia Trading Company’s staffs too.
Due to her being too small, the pitiful Prophet was pushed away by the crowd. When she raised her head, a human wall had obstructed her field of vision. She was unable to see the television at all.
“Do you need my help? Like... picking you up?” Joshua walked over to Prophet and asked in a probing manner.
“No need.”
Prophet coldly refused Joshua’s offer.
Perhaps provoked by Joshua’s words, Prophet walked over to the crowd of humans surrounding the television and tried to force her way inside and find a good spot to watch the television.
But, right when Prophet reached the edge of the crowd, a major commotion sounded from outside the Klia Alchemic Shop.
The entire Alchemic Marketplace was in a frenzy. Or perhaps... it would be better stated that all the fans of ‘Beauty and the Demon’ in Norland were in a frenzy.
“Damn it! The Icesoul Tavern is full too! It’s impossible to cram inside!”
“The Lizardtail Shop is also packed full... Where else could we find ‘televisions’ in the Alchemic Marketplace?!”
Through his exceptional hearing, Joshua could clearly hear the hubbub from the Alchemic Marketplace outside. A large quantity of people were inquiring about which shops had the arcanotech device called ‘television’ installed in them.
“I think you’ve underestimated the fans of ‘Beauty and the Demon.’”
Ciri stopped her conversation with her elder sister. She carried a little wooden stool over to Joshua. Standning on the stool, Ciri was able to see the television even though she was outside the crowd surrounding the wall.
“I didn’t expect that they’ll be... this frantic.” Joshua took a glance at the Alchemic Marketplace outside the Klia Alchemic Shop.
The scene outside made Joshua think of those zombie movies. Like zombies, the people outside were roaming all around trying to find ‘televisions.’ Once they found one, they would immediately pounce at it with total disregard for anything else.
“It’s Belle and the Demon Prince’s reunion. Furthermore, this is the only occasion. I believe that if you are to take that short film out for sale, people will be willing to buy it too.”
As a fan of the movie herself, Ciri gave a very pertinent declaration.
“I forgot to have Gallolie inform them that the shop film will be broadcasted again.”
Joshua suddenly realized his slip-up after hearing Ciri’s words.
The world he’s living in was a world where ‘televisions’ appeared only a week ago... To the people of this world, the arcanotech device called ‘television’ was a technological product from centuries into the future.
Furthermore, the things broadcasted on the ‘televisions’ would be forever gone. ‘Reruns,”re-broadcast’ and ‘video sites’ were conveniences that have not yet appeared.
Upon thinking of those things, Joshua was suddenly able to understand the commotion outside.
Perhaps, the mages thought that they would only have a single opportunity to witness Belle and the Demon Prince living together in happiness.
By the time Joshua realized all this and was planning to make an announcement on the Mage Forum that the short film will be re-broadcasted later, it was already too late.
A mage outside discovered that there was a ‘television’ inside the Klia Alchemic Shop. Like a virus, the discovery spread rapidly throughout the zombies.
The very next moment, over a dozen mages rushed into the shop.
Naturally, the person who ended up suffering the most from the sudden influx of mages was Prophet.
With her small frame, Prophet had managed to squeeze herself into a crack between the crowd. But, the sudden influx of more people caused the crowd to shove and squeeze into one another even more. During the scuffle, Prophet was pushed away by a fully grown man.
Just like that, Prophet was pushed out of the crowd again. During the process, she even lost her balance and nearly fell to the ground. Fortunately Joshua saw her falling and caught her.
“Are you alright?” asked Joshua.
“I... underestimated the strength of humans moving in masses.”
Prophet’s voice remained as dull as ever. But, Joshua could see that there were tears at the corner of her eyes. Nevertheless, her face remained expressionless. One cannot see a look of grievance on her at all.
Prophet noticed Joshua was looking at the tears at the corner of her eyes. Without changing her expression in the slightest, she wiped away the tears, “This is this body’s instinctive reaction.”
“Do you need me to lift you up?”
The mage lady standing on the wooden stool offered the same proposal as Joshua did earlier.
This time around, Prophet hesitated for a moment. In no time, her rationality defeated her competitive spirit. She ended up nodding her head.
Ciri grabbed the little girl’s waist with her hands and, with strength enough to grapple a bear onto the ground, effortlessly lifted Prophet into the air.
“You seemed to be looking forward to the short film?”
Prophet did not bother to pay attention to the shameful situation she was in. With an expressionless look, she asked Ciri who stood behind her.
“That’s because I read the spoilers. Because of that, my yearning isn’t that high. But, that’s different for the other fans of ‘Beauty and the Demon,’ they’ve waited for this day for a very long time,” answered Ciri.
“Waited? For what?”
Prophet was unable to understand why there would suddenly be this many people gathered in this alchemic shop. They seemed to all be here to watch that short film...
“The reunion of the Demon Prince and Belle, of course,” Ciri continued to patiently explain to the little girl. This mage lady seemed to be exceptionally patient toward children.
“For two fictional characters...” As Prophet sighed emotionally, a new scene appeared on the wall.
There were tens of mages standing in the Klia Alchemic Shop.
The Demon Prince portrayed by Zenarth and Belle portrayed by Ynor appeared on the projection screen.
They were in a field. Belle was placing a floral garland on the demon prince’s head. The human girl and the demon prince were looking at each other emotionally in the flower-filled field.
When the scene of happiness appeared on the ‘television screen,’ Prophet could hear cheers and screams sounding through the entire Klia Alchemic Shop.