Chapter 76: The Castle Covered in Ice and Snow
After the auditions at the Snowflake Troupe concluded and all the auditionees returned to their rehearsals, a map of the southern border of the empire was prominently displayed on the table in the second-floor room of the Edward Studio.
Durin spared no effort for this new movie. Immediately after selecting the actors, he began scouting for filming locations.
Although the selection of magicians for the film was nearly finalized, Durin remained cautious about casting the seven heroes. He wasn't sure if the individuals summoned by General Wilhelm would meet his requirements.
Before conducting interviews with the knights, Durin needed to address the issue of filming locations.
Due to the lengthy plot of "Fate Zero" and its inability to be adapted into a single series for now, Durin decided to split it into multiple parts. According to his plan, he intended to divide the story into three parts: from the beginning to the gathering of the heroes before attacking the Great Sea Demon, the battle with the Great Sea Demon until Kiritsugu's past memories, and Kiritsugu's past memories until the final conclusion.
This division would maintain suspense and allow for suitable pauses in the narrative. Moreover, Durin needed to conclude the first part of the story before the appearance of the Great Sea Demon. Otherwise, he would struggle to depict such a terrifying deity, especially without knowing where to find it.
After making these decisions, Durin quickly marked most of the scenes required for the plot on the map. Locations that were not yet determined were highlighted conspicuously in the script.
Ultimately, the two locations still pending for the filming of the first chapter of "Fate Zero" were the Einzbern family castle, situated in a forest perpetually covered in ice and snow, and the underground structure where Caster resided.
The former posed a challenge due to the requirement for perpetual ice and snow coverage, especially given the current spring season in the empire. Finding such a location during this time of year would prove difficult, even in a region with minimal seasonal variations.
As for the latter, Durin already had a rough idea. He had previously visited a similar location while filming "Goblin Slayer" in the City of Water. Another trip there would suffice for the filming of those scenes.
So, the current issue once again revolves around the challenge of finding a structure similar to the Einzbern Castle.
With this problem in mind, just before auditioning the individuals brought by Wilhelm, Durin gathered all the staff from Edward Studios currently at Edward's Tavern and openly asked, "Does anyone know of a place in this world where there's a snow-covered forest? Preferably with a castle inside..."
"Snow-covered? Forest? Castle?"
Most people looked puzzled at this. After all, individuals like Zat and Daphne had never ventured beyond the southern border, so how would they know of such a specific location?
In contrast, Beldia and Saiki were lost in thought. These two individuals, having survived outside the Northern Region in the Chaos Domain, were now pondering if there were similar places in their memories. Beldia was the first to speak up: "The time and climate beyond the Northern Region are completely different from those in the Empire. Even though the Empire is currently experiencing warm spring, most places in the Chaos Domain are still covered in ice and snow. So, if Director Durin doesn't mind filming in the Chaos Domain, I have a recommended location."
"Is that so? Just to clarify, how dangerous is it there?"
Even Durin seemed a bit nervous upon hearing that the only suitable filming location was in the Chaos Domain. After all, the areas beyond the Northern Region were still largely unexplored by current human capabilities, hence the name "Chaos."
Upon hearing Durin's question, Beldia, after a brief moment of contemplation, replied: "If it were before, I would have definitely said extremely dangerous. But now, due to the demise of the necromancer who controlled me, that place has become one of the few safe zones in the Chaos Domain."
"What do you mean? Wait, are you saying the place you mentioned is..."
To Durin's surprise, Beldia simply smiled and said, "That's right. I'm referring to the place where I was once imprisoned, the castle where the necromancer who controlled me resided."
"..."
After a moment, Durin, who had snapped out of his surprise from Beldia's sudden revelation, glanced at the Headless Knight, who seemed indifferent to his own past experiences.
Then, with a furrowed brow, Durin confirmed once again, "Are you sure it's safe?"
In response, Beldia calmly replied, "Because the necromancer who controlled me was one of the most dangerous beings even in the Chaos Domain, most creatures and undead beyond the Northern Region would not easily approach that castle. I suspect that even now, news of the necromancer's sudden demise may not have spread. In this situation, as long as we don't deliberately provoke anything, safety should be quite assured."
Understanding Beldia's point, Durin carefully considered and then incorporated the mentioned location into the script.
Soon, as he looked at the mostly finalized shooting locations, Durin realized that the only thing missing for the filming of the "Fate Zero" movie was the selection of the individuals summoned as Heroic Spirits by the magicians.
"Has General Wilhelm arrived?"
Upon hearing Durin's question, Wiz responded first, "General Wilhelm and his men have been waiting downstairs for quite some time. In fact, due to the long wait, they even went to the cinema across the street to watch a movie together with their entourage."
"..."
Realizing that he had kept them waiting for so long, Durin showed a wry smile and quickly descended the stairs.
As Wiz had mentioned, General Wilhelm and his assorted group of knights had been waiting here for quite some time.
"Apologies for the delay. So, you all know what you're here for, right? Let's start the auditions straight away."
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