Chapter 151: The Audition for New Actors
"A new movie?"
Seeing the student council president and vice president struggling to contain their excitement, Durin calmly said, "The sequels to Fate/Zero and The Garden of Sinners will be released on schedule, but right now I'm working on a new film. I need your help to recruit enough actors."
"Oh, leave that to me!" The blonde president responded enthusiastically, then quickly added, "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I'm the current student council president of the Imperial Mage Academy and a third-year student in the Department of Special Elements. My name is White Woz."
"Oh, so you're the one who aced the Basic Magic Theory exam when you entered the academy? I've heard about you," Durin remarked.
White smiled sheepishly and replied, "I'm really not a genius. Compared to you, Senior Durin, who broke through to become an Grand Mage while still a student, I'm just a Mid-Tier Mage, so I'm hardly worth mentioning."
"No, no, breaking through to Mid-Tier at your age is impressive enough among regular students."
"No, no, it's really nothing."
As the two of them began to exchange compliments, the black-haired girl beside them quickly interjected, "Alright, let me introduce myself too. I'm the current vice president of the Imperial Mage Academy, a third-year student in the Department of Elemental Magic, Diana Francis. It's an honor to finally meet you, Senior Durin."
"Francis?"
Durin was taken aback upon hearing her surname. As a noble himself, he knew well that the Francis family was one of the rarest and most powerful noble houses in the empire, second only to the four Grand Dukes of the Imperial Capital. They had inherited vast wealth and held significant influence.
If this girl was a descendant of the Francis family, her status would be so high that even the Grand Mage of the Imperial Mage Academy would have to pay her respects.
However, seeming to read Durin's thoughts, Diana calmly said, "The glory of my ancestors isn't something to boast about. I'm more impressed by you, Senior Durin. At such a young age, you've already become a member of the Tower of Mages, holding a position equal to that of the empire's great nobles. You are truly a role model for us all."
"Haha, it's really not a big deal."
Just as another round of mutual compliments was about to start, White quickly spoke up, "So, Senior Durin, you're looking to recruit actors from the student body? As the student council president, I'll fully support you. I'll go post the notice on the school bulletin board right away!"
"I'll go inform the heads of all the departments!" Diana added enthusiastically.
Watching White and Diana, the student council president and vice president, eagerly jump into action, Durin could only smile wryly as he sat down on a nearby sofa.
But before he could relax for even a moment, the other student council members turned their eager eyes toward him, clearly conveying one message:
"Director Durin, what's your new movie about?!"
.....
At the same time Durin began recruiting actors at the Tower of Mages, an amusing incident was unfolding inside the Edward Tavern.
The situation arose when Wiz, once again, made a mess of the bookkeeping, leading to a record-breaking loss for the tavern—over 200 gold coins in just one day.
Upon discovering this, Beldia was furious and immediately grabbed a stool, chasing after Wiz in a fit of rage. After all, these two undead had never really made much money since opening the tavern, and with frequent losses like this, they were only staying afloat thanks to Durin's financial support. The constant mistakes from Wiz were pushing Beldia to the brink of losing his temper completely.
On the other hand, Wiz felt wronged. As she ran from Beldia, she shouted, "Mr. Beldia, please calm down! This really isn't my fault!"
"Calm down? How can I calm down? If we keep losing money like this, we'll both end up being sold off as sword slaves to pay off our debts! Wiz, for heaven's sake, can't you do something right? Other people run taverns to make money, but running one with you is a death sentence!!!"
"But... but..."
Barely dodging another swing from Beldia, Wiz frantically tried to explain herself. In truth, as a high-level lich, she could easily evade attacks from Beldia, an undead of even greater power. The fact that she could do so indicated that Beldia was holding back significantly. Despite his harsh words, Beldia couldn't bring himself to seriously harm her, given their years of surviving together. His outburst was more about venting frustration than causing real damage.
Watching this familiar scene unfold, Saiki had no interest in getting involved. He continued sketching maps at one of the tavern tables. After ensuring his children were taken care of, he had re-registered as an adventurer, planning to start his thrilling journey anew from the lowest porcelain rank.
Zat and Aya, although the actual employees of the tavern, couldn't be bothered to intervene either. They had witnessed this scene countless times before and had long since given up on trying to mediate. The sheer repetition had drained any motivation to step in.
Meanwhile, Winry had already left the tavern to resume her duties managing the affairs of Edward Castle. Helena had also temporarily said her goodbyes, mentioning she would visit her hometown but promised to return when filming for the KonoSuba TV series began.
Daphne and her bodyguard had also departed. They had only been able to sneak away from the Duke's estate for a short while and needed to return promptly. Chase had gone back to his theater troupe to prepare for filming the second chapter of Fate/Zero. He was deeply serious about this project, evidently placing his hopes and dreams once more on the success of the film.
Laetitia hadn't left, but she had secluded herself on the tavern's second floor, not showing any intention of coming down. What she was doing up there remained a mystery.
With the tavern now in this state of relative emptiness, Wiz and Beldia, after realizing they had been chasing each other for quite some time without anyone intervening, awkwardly halted their quarrel.
"So, what happened exactly? Even if Miss Wiz often makes mistakes with the books, how could she possibly mess up this badly?"
Upon hearing Zat's question, Wiz sighed helplessly and explained, "That's exactly why I said it wasn't my fault this time. To avoid making mistakes, I had handed the accounting over to Juno, asking her to manage it. But she suddenly disappeared last night. And since I forgot to double-check, we ended up with a mess where we couldn't reconcile the debts and accounts today, leading to this huge loss..."
"Juno?"
At the mention of Juno, everyone realized that the beastgirl who had recently joined the Edward Tavern had suddenly vanished without a trace. They all began to ask around, but no one, not even Wiz, had any idea where she could have gone.
"I gave her the accounts last night, but she hasn't shown up at all today," Wiz added, sounding worried.
Saiki, concerned, said, "Do you think something might have happened to her?"
Aya, however, dismissed the idea without a second thought, saying, "That's unlikely. This is the Southern Region, not the North. There aren't that many dangers around here. Hey, another drink, please!"
Zat, unimpressed by her nonchalant attitude, grabbed a handful of her hair and tugged, causing Aya to struggle desperately.
Meanwhile, Beldia had finally calmed down and said, "Juno is a beastgirl, after all. She's much stronger than an average person. We probably don't need to worry about her being in danger. If anything, we should be more concerned about whether she's out there causing trouble for others."
"Alright, I'll go into town later and ask around," Zat said, and with that, the group began to disperse.
What they didn't realize was that at that very moment, Juno was holed up in one of the few television taverns in Norsrick, completely absorbed in watching Kara no Kyoukai o the point where she'd lost track of time entirely.
...
Back at the Imperial Mage Academy.
After Durin announced the casting call for his new film, a large number of students eagerly turned up for the auditions. The film's allure was undeniable, with many students keen to be a part of the project.
Another reason for the high turnout was Hohenheim's generous decision to help Durin with publicity. He announced that students who participated in the film would receive academic credits proportional to their hours of work. Faced with the dual temptation of being in a movie and earning credits, most students simply couldn't resist.
As a result, Durin found himself facing a huge crowd of enthusiastic students from various departments. However, he showed no mercy and rigorously tested them against his standards, quickly eliminating nearly ninety percent of the hopefuls.
Though the academy was filled with aspiring mages, few had any real talent for acting, and even fewer had honed any skills in that area. So, apart from a handful of students whom Durin immediately identified as fitting certain roles, most were dismissed outright, not even making the cut for extras.
Yet, even after all this, Durin still hadn't found satisfactory candidates for the film's lead roles. Most students simply didn't meet his requirements.
Just as he was about to give up and go to Chase to ask the Snowflake Troupe for help, there was another knock on the door of the student council office.
Soon, two figures dressed in white lab coats walked through the door.
"Stop it, Clatilis the Thirty-Fourth, stop dragging me around! With the Dark Organization's invasion plans imminent, I can't waste time on other matters!"
"I told you to stop using that ridiculous name, Gebrun, you fool! Do you have any idea how many credits you still need to graduate? If you don't get them, we'll be in the same year next year!"
"Even so, acting is not…"
"Whether you can or can't, you must seize this rare opportunity to earn credits!"
Seeing the energetic and determined figures of the two newcomers, Durin's face lit up with a smile. His director's intuition told him that the people he needed had just arrived!
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