Four days had passed since the duel.
“It’s time to recruit the Sage.”
“What?”
“Now that we’ve entered the Hero Department, we need to form a hero party. We already found a wizard, so it’s time to recruit a sage, don’t you think?”
Leon raised an eyebrow at Allen’s sudden declaration.
It took him about three seconds to understand what Allen meant.
It wasn’t the first time Allen had said something nonsensical, so Leon quickly caught on to the meaning behind his words.
“Are you trying to make a movie at the academy?”
“Bingo.”
Is there a sanctuary? YES.
Do you have actors? YES.
Do you have capital? YES.
Is there demand? YES.
This is a perfect movie setup.
Allen’s obsession with filmmaking, which took up 50%, or more accurately, over 80% of his mind when excluding basic bodily functions, always left Leon puzzled.
“Still, only a priest can make movies… Ah, right.”
As seen with the influence of John Armstrong, the medium of film had the power to shape people’s perceptions.
Thus, the state granted the exclusive rights to make films to priests, who were appointed by the state, thereby controlling culture by holding onto the priests’ personnel rights.
Recruiting a hero party, planning a film, and even contracting with merchants or the magic tower for broadcasting were all monopolized by the priests.
Therefore, normally, a mere student wouldn’t be able to make a movie just because they wanted to.
Normally.
A few years ago, Allen had been appointed as a priest for his contribution to the empire’s prestige by making John Armstrong a hit.
Though it was primarily a pretext to assign agents for his protection, the position wasn’t just for show, and Allen could legally make movies in the sanctuary.
“Do you have a filming location?”
“I do.”
Though Hetaero Academy primarily trained soldiers and other elite professions, it also trained actors.
Of course, the essence of a hero was that of a soldier.
However, in a time where full-scale wars were restrained by the gods, proxy battles in the sanctuaries played a crucial role in diplomatic dominance between nations.
In essence, soldiers were akin to money-eating entities in times of peace for nations.
Thus, nations often sent them out on missions abroad to gain diplomatic leverage or earn money, rather than allowing them to waste resources internally.
Naturally, nations preferred heroes who were useful for propaganda over those who were simply strong but lacking in other areas.
This wasn’t limited to just heroes.
Wizards from the Magic Tower, knights, court magicians, and even civil officials found it advantageous in evaluations if they could be used as actors for propaganda.
In this sense, it wasn’t strange that the academy rented out sets to students.
Perhaps Hetaero Academy was not only the world’s top military academy but also the world’s top arts and entertainment academy.
Allen waved a piece of paper in front of Leon.
It was a club application form.
“The principal said there’s no problem filming within the academy. But there’s another issue. They said they can’t rent the set to an individual. Something about ‘criminals’… but when I didn’t understand, they told me I could form a club and they’d approve it.”
“Aha.”
Leon quickly grasped the meaning behind Allen’s crude explanation.
The principal probably said ‘corporation’ not ‘criminals.’
The sanctuary used as a set couldn’t be rented out to just anyone.
It was a sacred area created through the prayers of three archbishop-level figures over the course of several months.
Renting such a place to a mere individual was beyond the principal’s authority.
After all, the sanctuaries were granted to Hetaero Academy by the temple for the purpose of educating future talent, so even though Allen was the top student in the Hero Department, it wasn’t something that could be easily rented to him.
Normally, you would need to borrow the name of a guild, temple, or some organization to film, but how could a mere student pull that off so easily?
However, forming a club as a legal entity might make it possible.
Wait. Even if we make a club, that’s not the end of it… We’ll need an advisor professor, a sponsor, a priest…’
The steps of administrative procedures quickly flashed through the head of the excellent administrator, Leon.
As he massaged his temples, feeling the headache from the numerous procedures, Allen stood before him with a sly smile.
Even though he realized at the age of eight, after falling down the stairs, that the empire he lived in was the setting of a romance novel he had read in his past life, he didn’t consider himself special.
After all, the original work was purely a romance piece, a heartwarming story without any world-shattering disasters or dramatic love affairs that could destabilize the empire.
There was no status window to explain his reincarnation or system forcing him into certain actions. His mission in this world was simply to live a slow, peaceful life.
Being the third son of a baron, he didn’t have to risk his life in a dangerous succession struggle, and he was content to live a satisfactory life, even if it meant following in his father’s footsteps as a housekeeper for another noble family.
However, life has its twists and turns, and it just so happened that he had the talent of a seer.
His decent writing skills and ability to predict the future based on history made him an exceptional seer.
Of course, it was just a matter of having a deep interest in history from his past life and using the principle that history repeats itself to write about the future of this world. But either way, he had the talent of foresight.
The Foresight Department was a place with endless possibilities after graduation. You could become a seer, a strategist, or even an archaeologist.
Although Nikolai wanted to live a slow life, he wasn’t the type to turn down a chance for success. So, he enrolled in the Foresight Department at Hetairo Academy.
There, he managed to maintain an average position. Among ordinary people, he was an elite, but among elites, he was perfectly average. He enjoyed his academy life from this comfortable middle ground.
That day, he was sitting in the classroom, chatting with the friends he had made in just a week.
“Did you hear? Someone named Allen from the Hero Department got dragged off by the disciplinary committee.”
“What? After only one week since enrollment?”
“Yeah. He’s the first person to land in detention this year.”
“Now that I think about it, wasn’t that guy, Allen, also the one who had the first duel?”
“Probably the same guy.”
“Wow. Typical delinquent of the Price family. So, why did he get caught this time?”
“I heard he broke into the faculty office and tried to steal confidential documents. When they dragged him away, he was shouting about needing to find someone named Chunsik.”
“Who’s Chunsik?”
“No idea. That’s what the disciplinary committee is trying to find out.”
Sergei, listening to his friends’ conversation, had to struggle to keep from spitting out the milk he was drinking.
From what he could tell, Allen was definitely one of those “returnees.”
It would’ve been stranger if nobody realized it, with Allen flaunting it so blatantly.
If, by any small chance, that guy really was a native of this world, then it could only be explained as a glitch in human evolution, an error that built up over thousands of years of genetic coding.
Either way, as a cautious man, Nikolai decided Allen was someone best avoided.
As Nikolai listened to the conversation, he added the name Allen to his personal blacklist, underlined it, and marked it with stars. He was determined never to get involved with Allen for the rest of his life.
Just then, a blinding light hit his eyes, causing him to squint.
His last memory had been grabbing the doorknob to his apartment after school.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself tied up in his own room.
‘Ah.’
The first thought that crossed his mind upon seeing Allen standing in front of him, holding a scrap of paper, was regret. Regret for having triggered the flag.
“Oh, you finally wake up.”
Allen spoke the familiar line as soon as he noticed Nikolai was conscious.
Nikolai struggled to stop himself from reacting to the cliché line.
He didn’t know why Allen had kidnapped him, but he was certain it was connected to his past life.
So, whatever questions Allen threw at him, Nikolai resolved to play dumb.
But unfortunately, Nikolai was just an ordinary guy.
In both his past life and current life, he wasn’t a soldier, an agent, an actor, or a diplomat.
No matter how hard he tried to compose his expression, there was no way he could hide it from a veteran like Allen.
With his fingers on Nikolai’s wrist, Allen asked a question.
“Are you a reincarnator?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
Nikolai’s voice and body betrayed him.
His voice was calm, but his pulse wasn’t.
Right. He’s lying.
“Congratulations. From now on, you’re our film club’s Prophet(seer). And since you’re a reincarnator, you can also double as our Sage.”
“What?”
“Oh, would this be more familiar to you? You’re now our director and scriptwriter.”
“What???”
Nikolai was thrown into a state of confusion by the unilateral declaration, devoid of context or explanation.
Regardless, Allen took a photo of Nikolai and filled out the club application form.
Nikolai racked his brain to escape this situation.
What could be Allen’s reason for resorting to such extreme measures to make a movie?
In a reincarnation story, when someone acts in a way that defies common sense, it often indicates the influence of a system or prophecy at play.
Most systems tend to impose quests with death or similar penalties.
“Okay, this must be it.”
This explained Allen’s irrational behavior.
Moreover, this fact could be a card to bring Nikolai and Allen to the negotiation table.
He moistened his dry lips and began to speak.
“You said Allen, right? Is there a reason I must play the sage?”
“Because I can’t make the movie I want without you.”
Good.
Allen’s answer gave Nikolai assurance.
He quickly began weighing his options.
On one side of the scale was Nikolai’s screenplay; on the other was Allen’s penalty.
“Is the movie really that precious to you?”
“Of course. It’s worth trading my life for.”
He placed Allen’s life on the penalty side of the scale.
The scale tilted toward life.
For everyone, life outweighs all other values.
In other words, Nikolai was now holding Allen’s lifeline.
It was time to balance the scales.
On the opposite side of life, he could propose any condition as long as it wasn’t lethal.
Initially, he considered a lifetime’s worth of wealth or something equivalent, but quickly dismissed that thought.
Allen was the foster brother of the prince of the Parma Empire.
The Parma Empire remained a hegemonic power even until the climax of the romance original, and Leon Parma was likely to become emperor without any changes.
In other words, Allen was like an investment that could skyrocket in value.
If he demanded too much from Allen, there was a chance it would backfire on him.
Calculating future value, it would be much more beneficial to frame it as an intangible debt now and get it back later.
However, for him to claim that debt, both parties needed to be on equal footing, or at least Nikolai needed to hold a slight advantage.
Nikolai sought to increase his value in this relationship just a bit.
He aimed for a slight edge, but without crossing into hostility.
“What happens if I refuse? You’re not going to try to kill me, are you?”
“No, why would I do something like that? I’d just be disappointed.”
“Then, on the contrary, are you able to provide what I want?”
“Well, it depends on what you want, but I’m generally willing to provide most things.”
“Is that so? Then what would be the cost of resolving your penalty?”
“???”
“..??”
An awkward silence enveloped the two.
Breaking that silence was Nikolai’s question.
“Uh… was it not because of a system?”
“What’s that?”
Was it too hard to bear the pitying gaze that Allen directed at him?
Tied to the chair, Nikolai twisted his entire body.
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Thanks for the chapter~
If somebody do something weird in fantasy world it mostly system fault.
But rarely it not and that person is just weird🤣🤣
Thank for the chapter