A bottle of alchemic chemical slid out of the hand of a completely stupefied mage.
The sound of glass shattering reverberated throughout the entire Klia Alchemic Shop. Together, it also shattered the strange silence from before.
“Belle took down that knight on her own?”
“It’s more than one knight!”
As it was a short film, the battle was extremely brief. In less than a minute, Belle defeated the seven knights with the alchemic artifacts she purchased.
When she supported her lover out of a blaze of flame, the entire alchemic shop grew silent again. But, this time around, the silence only lasted for a short while before it was completely drowned in a tide of applause.
Joshua could see that some people were so emotional that they’re hugging each other... Although it was only a small commercial, it had managed to move the hearts of the audiences. In other words, Joshua succeeded.
Ciri placed Prophet back on the ground. She took a glance at the surrounding crowd, “So, will these people start asking the shop to ‘take their money’ now?”
“It will take a while for popularity and reputation to accumulate. Besides, television had managed to attract enough customers for this shop.”
Joshua does not possess extravagant hopes that a single commercial would allow the Klia Trading Company to defeat all its rivals. But, with how strong of a response the crowd had through the short film, Joshua believed that they will definitely not be satisfied.
At this moment, the scene on the screen gradually darkened. For the time being, Joshua does not have sufficient programs for the ‘television station’ to broadcast twenty-four hours straight. That was also what Joshua planned to work on next.
“If you all wish to purchase anything, you can use this purchasing agreement. It’s free.”
Joshua handed a sheepskin engraved with the Klia Trading Company’s crest to Prophet.
“Your Highness, the people from the Klia Trading Company seemed to be searching for you,” Prophet already managed to capture the crucial information in the noisy shop.
Fritt, the manager of the Klia Trading Company hurriedly walked down the stairs the moment the commercial ended. He seemed to be searching for Joshua.
From the shining look on his face, he must’ve personally experienced the success of the commercial.
“He seemed to be trying to invite Your Highness to participate in a banquet,” Prophet continued, “Your Highness, this would be a great opportunity for you to broaden your connections.”
“Eh... I’ll trouble you all with that task then. Fritt knows you all are my envoys.”
Joshua had no intention to participate in a banquet. Out of nowhere, he took out a top hat and placed it on his head. Then, together with Ciri, he passed through the crowd.
While the entire Klia Alchemic Shop was in a state of excitement and celebration, Joshua and Ciri quietly disappeared from the store.
“You don’t want a free meal?”
Following Joshua, Ciri took a glance at the Alchemic Marketplace. At this moment, a festive atmosphere filled the entire Alchemic Marketplace.
Most definitely, this was caused by the fans of the ‘Beauty and the Demon’ celebrating the revival of the Demon Prince.
“Ciri, I don’t mind if you want to go. As for me, I have something more important to take care of,” Joshua casually waved his hand to call a carriage and entered it. Then, he waved his hand to bid farewell to Prophet and her students standing outside the carriage door.
“Something more important?”
Ciri ignored the first half of what Joshua said and followed him into the carriage.
“Witnessing the birth of a new musical genre,” said Joshua.
.........
A shabby tavern at a nook of the Squirrel Street.
The short film for ‘Beauty and the Demon’ had just ended not long ago. The customers in the tavern were still immersed in the happiness from witnessing the reunion of Belle and the Demon Prince.
But, in an alley outside the tavern, Holme was standing in a dark corner with a bruises-covered face. Two robust orcs were standing before him.
Holme had only managed to stand back up with his swaying body when an orc waved his fist and struck him on the stomach... The punch sent Holme’s gastric acid up through his throat. He once again lost equilibrium and fell onto the sewage-covered ground.
“Damn it... didn’t I already return the silver coins I owe you all?” Using his elbow, Holme lifted up his upper body to look at the two orcs that were cracking their knuckles.
“To be exact, you still owe a silver coin,” a small statured goblin walked out from behind the two orcs. He stared at the sewage-covered Holme with his tiny eyes, “Furthermore, you’ve owe us that silver coin for thirty-seven days now. Holme, you’re someone that has appeared on the television. You’re already famous. Say, shouldn’t you take care of your old friends?”
When he heard the goblin calling him ‘famous,’ Holme bit down on his already bloodied lip. He clenched his fists.
But, the next moment, he seemed to have thought of something. The strength disappeared from his tightly clenched fists and his gaze turned dark.
“I... am not famous,” Holme’s voice was slightly begging, “Because of that, please give me some more time for the silver coin. I... will definitely...”
Before Holme could finish, an orc kicked him in the stomach.
“Kid... so you actually had some self-knowledge. But, since you’ve borrowed the silver coin for thirty-seven days now, you’ll have to pay back two gold coins,” The goblin sounded like he was looking forward to something, “I know that a useless human like you had no ability to repay your debt. Aren’t you taking care of an infant girl? It just happens that my employer needs that little fellow...”
When Holme heard the goblin mentioning the infant girl, he suddenly outstretched his hand and grabbed one of the orc’s leg... His action completely enraged that orc. The orc let out a low roar, raised his other leg and was about to smash it down on Holme’s stomach.
But, the next instant, pure white-colored magic bloomed in the dark alley, illuminating it. The orc found himself being grabbed by an invisible hand. Unable to resist, he was crushed onto a wall.
“In this country, purchasing infants is an absolute taboo, isn’t that right everyone?”
A voice... came from the end of the alley. The goblin turned his head around in alarm. There were two humans standing there... One of the humans was holding a staff that was emitting a faint light.
The orc next to the goblin roared. He pulled out a short blade from his clothes and charged into the two humans.
But, the human holding the staff only flicked her finger. With that, the over two meters tall orc was lifted into the air by magic. Then, with an elegant arc, the orc was sent flying to the other side of the alley.
At this moment, the goblin realized the disparity between their strength. Being cowardly in nature, the goblin leaped into Norland’s sewer without any hesitation. He escaped.
At this moment, Holme had gradually regained consciousness. He wiped the sewer ooze on his face and raised his head. With the illumination of the moonlight, he saw the figure before him.
“If you’re laying here, you wouldn’t be able to participate in the next round of competition.”
Pure white Runes of Order appeared from Joshua’s hand. Using Mage Hand, he supported the sewage-covered human up.