The next day, Gallolie and the Blackwood Elves departed from Norland. Before they left, Joshua handed them a whole bunch of Norland’s local specialities.
In the end, World’s Singers concluded in a satisfactory manner. The only unfortunate incident was Saintess Herolia’s somewhat bad performance in the finals. Furthermore, after the competition ended, Joshua had not seen her again in Norland.
As she had sneaked out from the Nation of the Holy Church, she most definitely did not have the freedom of mobility that the Flower of Farucci had.
“Now that the World’s Singers has ended, should we find new programs to replace it?”
Joshua was currently sitting in Norland National Theater’s manager office. Like the theater itself, the office was decorated extremely luxuriously. Even the originium crystals used for illumination were gold plated.
Suddenly, a knocking sound came from the door. After Joshua said “come in,” Sir Weissenasche entered the room.
“Your... Your Highness Joshua,” Sir Weissenasche seemed to have ran here; he was panting and sweat covered his forehead.
“Calm yourself first. Sir Weissenasche, exactly what happened? Don’t tell me that our construction team ended up collapsing a portion of the theater?”
Joshua was not fond of the way Norland National Theater was decorated. Because of that, he had Sir Weissenasche be in charge of renovation to transform the theater from a fine arts museum to a television station.
“I’ve hired the best craftsmen from the Construction Association. Many among them have participated in the construction of the Sage Towers. It’s just that...” Sir Weissenasche started to pant as he continued to speak. He pointed his finger to the door, “There are many people outside Norland National Theater that wish to see you.”
“See me? Although I have plans to recruit new talent for Norland National Theater, I’ve not yet posted the announcements.”
Although Joshua was the creator of the magic network and movies, he kept a much lower profile in Norland when compared to Ynor and Tylene.
Right now, Ynor and Tylene would have to put on disguises when walking on the street. Otherwise, they will soon be recognized by others and cause major disturbances.
As Joshua had only played ‘minor roles’ in the movies, his popularity cannot compare with theirs.
“Furthermore, I am currently too busy to see them. You can tell them to return.” This was the decision Joshua came to after pondering for a moment.
“The people outside... are the envoys from Norland’s various major corporations and nobles.”
Sir Weissenasche could be said to be a ‘communication expert’ in Norland. Even if the noble lords do not know him, their wives were all familiar with the gentleman from Farucci.
As such, Sir Weissenasche practically knew all the grand existences that had stayed in Norland for some time. And today, half of all the nobles studying in Norland and major merchants that came to Norland to conduct businesses were outside.
They’ve either come personally or have sent envoys delivering their letters.
“I’ve interacted with them earlier. Your Highness Joshua, if you refuse to see them, it might end up affecting your reputation in multiple countries,” said Sir Weissenasche in an uncertain manner.
“Was the power of the ‘Beauty and the Demon’ advertisement too strong?”
Joshua was immediately able to guess the reason why the nobles and merchants came to see him. Although the owner of the Klia Trading Company Fritt would most definitely conceal the details about everything related to the advertisement if he was even slightly business-smart, it was simply impossible to hide the information that Klia Trading Company’s alchemic shop has increased their sales by multiple folds because of the advertisement.
Having witnessed the terrifying power of advertisement, it was only natural that the other merchants and trading companies would not be able to sit idly.
Once the cake’s packaging was opened and the fragrant smell of cream spilled out, the rats would no longer be able to stay in the sewers.
Furthermore, in order to compete with rivals, sending letters would be too ineffective of a method to convey their thoughts. It was much better to dispatch people to personally negotiate with Joshua. Or, better yet, they could personally come to seek a meeting with Joshua.
“I saw that there are countless people outside the door. If you jump out from the window, you should be able to escape them. There’s an alley behind.”
The considerate mage lady Ciri has already planned out an escape route for Joshua. She even started opening the french windows behind Joshua.
“Ciri... this is the third floor,” Joshua said to Ciri in a helpless manner.
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll be able to catch you.”
Ciri showed off her arm muscles. How could those slender arms possibly be able to catch a grown man jumping out from the third floor?
While Joshua felt that he would most likely be fine jumping out the third floor with his Chaos Demon body, but...
“If I am to flee now, it’ll be equivalent to offending over half of all of the merchants and nobles of Norland. Furthermore, they’re from nations all over the world. It’s quite possible that many of them could become cooperative partners,” said Joshua.
“Then are you planning to hold a banquet on the spot? I seem to remember that you’re not fond of that sort of social interactions since you’ll be hiding in some corner drinking fruit juice every time,” Ciri had discovered with her sharp observations that Joshua was not fond of the banquets held by nobles.
“Indeed, I’m not quite fond of them. But, if they are to come to discuss with me one by one, I’m not opposed to it. Unfortunately for today, I’ll have to tactfully decline them using a relatively hard-lined method.”
Joshua took a glance at the clock hanging on the wall. When the time was about to approach noon, Joshua stood up from his chair and started walking toward the door.
“Hard-lined method? Your Highness Joshua, if you’re not fond of participating in banquets, I can do it on your behalf.”
Sir Weissenasche found a handkerchief and began to wipe the sweat on his forehead. He was afraid that Joshua would do something drastic.
“Rest assured, I will definitely not anger any of them.”
Joshua tidied up his clothes and began walking toward Norland National Theater’s main lounge together with Ciri.
“This...” Sir Weissenasche couldn’t think of a method of refusal that would be happily accepted by the merchants and nobles outside.
While he was thinking, Joshua and Ciri had walked over to the door. Once they push open the door, Joshua would be greeted by nobles and merchants from all over the world.
Joshua grabbed the door handle. Before pushing open the door, he gave an answer to Sir Weissenasche, “I’ll let those nobles and merchants know that I... am not someone that they can see at any time they want. To put it briefly, I’ll have them realize my status in Norland. I’ll have them know that I am not some slightly lucky commoner.”
Sir Weissenasche stood there stunned as he heard those words. By the time he broke free from the stunned state, Joshua had already pushed open the door and walked out to the gloriously decorated main lounge.
Sure enough, things happened according to Sir Weissenasche’s forecast. The nobles and merchants waiting in the lounge immediately swarmed at Joshua like a bunch of rats that smelled cream.
Unfortunately, before they could even offer their greetings, Sir Weissenasche saw that they all stood completely still all of a sudden.
The merchants and nobles that were approaching Joshua seemed to have seen something terrifying and were all standing where they were, afraid to approach Joshua.
Sir Weissenasche turned his gaze to Norland National Theater’s entrance. Immediately, he realized why those nobles and merchants were so terrified.
Three robed figures appeared at the entrance. When they started walking toward Joshua, the nobles and merchants respectfully moved aside. The entire crowd split open between Joshua and those three individuals.
Sages! Sir Weissenasche recognized their identities. They were people that stood at the apex of Norland. They were also the world’s most powerful mages!
The three powerful beings slowly walked over to Joshua. Joshua smiled to welcome their arrival.
“Welcome to Norland Television Station. Allow me to mention, you three have arrived ten minutes late.” Joshua’s voice clearly resonated in the ears of everyone present.
To the nobles and merchants, they were hearing the young man openly denouncing the three Sages for their mistakes!
If the Sages of Norland were willing to pay a visit to any of their banquets, even if they were to show up a couple hours late, none of them would dare to voice any complaint.
“You should blame Croshere for this. I thought he’s not coming today,” Gray Mage glanced at Yellow Mage standing beside him.
“I already told you that I’m coming yesterday! Lursk, I’m only here to see you disgrace yourself before Norland’s public!”
The two powerful Sages showed no regard for their surroundings and began to argue. Standing beside them, Purple Mage started yawning in a bored manner. Then, she took a glance at the surroundings.
“Are these audiences that you’ve called over?”
“Audiences?” Joshua smiled as he ran his eyes across the nobles and merchants, “Everyone, if you’re free, how about staying around to listen to Gray Mage’s course as audience members?”
The nobles and merchants were silent as they nodded their heads. A portion of them were people that must show respect toward the Sages of Norland. As for the others, they were people that felt honored to be able to personally listen to a lecture from a Sage.
