Thanks to the skill of Ria and the other High Elves, a large building was constructed at the foot of Village Five. Inside, roughly a hundred chairs were arranged comfortably in a spacious hall. The room was three stories high, and as if to emphasize the verticality, private booths lined the second and third floors. Architecturally, it resembled an opera house.
However, a massive screen stood at the front, contradicting that old-world aesthetic. In short, this building was a movie theater. It was the result of our efforts to create a proper facility for viewing the stories stored within the ancient crystals.
One feature, somewhat unusual for a cinema, was a sunken pit located directly in front of the screen. This was a vital addition. The stories recorded in the crystals used an archaic language, meaning they had to be translated into modern speech for the audience to understand. We had rejected subtitles because not everyone was literate, so we decided to have people provide a live dub of the lines in synchronization with the footage.
Personally, I thought one or two people—perhaps a man and a woman—would be sufficient, but the Civil Official Girls were far more ambitious. They recruited stage actors and people with particularly resonant voices, held auditions, and assigned specific voice actors to every character. These performers needed a place to work, and that was the purpose of the pit in front of the screen. They would project their voices toward the audience from there. To keep perfectly in sync, they were trained to memorize the timing without looking at the screen during the performance.
I worried about whether they could pull it off. There was also the matter of volume. While they had a bit of magical assistance, projecting their voices across such a large space was no easy feat. Still, the cast was highly motivated, so I decided to leave it to them. For the time being, however, I made sure to select footage with fewer characters to keep the translation work manageable.
Since the theater's seating was limited, we also built a waiting room, though we hadn't yet installed any food or beverage stalls. I didn't want to commit until I saw how the public received these crystal screenings. Once we had a better idea of the reception, we would decide on the menu. Personally, I associated movies with popcorn and drinks, but since these weren't exactly "movies" in the traditional sense, I didn't want to force it. I preferred to choose snacks that wouldn't make too much noise during the show.
The first special performance was held at this theater. The audience consisted of the residents of the Village of the Great Tree, including myself, and various representatives from Village Five chosen by Yoko. Additionally, the Demon King, Beezel, Yuri, and the Academy Director were in attendance.
I wondered if the Academy Director should really be here. Didn't she have work to do? She simply told me she’d be fine thanks to the short-distance teleportation gate. If she was confident, I wasn't going to press the issue.
And so, the screening began. The story was a "boy meets girl" tale, though the romance wasn't particularly heavy. It followed a boy and a girl who met by chance and grew closer through a series of mysterious experiences. They were separated at the end, but the final shot provided a surprise reunion. I hadn't seen all the footage in the crystals yet, but this one was my personal favorite. I sat through the special screening specifically to gauge the reaction.
The voice acting was excellent. There was also the added layer of sound—it turned out an orchestra had been prepared as well. The original crystals did have audio and background music, but because the volume had to be lowered so as not to drown out the live actors, the music became inaudible. The orchestra was there to compensate. While the original audio was lost, the result was quite good. Perhaps it was the impact of the large screen, but the combined power of the voices and the music was truly overwhelming.
Personally, I enjoyed it. As for the others...
The room was filled with an ambiguous buzzing. It was hard to tell if they were impressed or confused, which was a bit worrying. On a whim, we decided to hold a second performance an hour later. Interestingly, almost everyone stayed to watch it again, which suggested they were at least curious.
Apparently, many of them hadn't known how to process it the first time. Unlike a play, film transitions happen in an instant, making the story's pace feel incredibly fast. I supposed they just needed time to get used to the medium.
A few days later, the Civil Official Girls approached me.
"We need you to help translate another title immediately."
It seemed the reception had been positive after all. Word of mouth had spread, and the theater was now being swarmed by curious onlookers. Under the circumstances, I agreed to help with one more title, but I planned to hand the rest of the translation work over to the Boxes after that. I also told them to proceed with the food and beverage facilities. It looked like we could expect a decent profit there.
Kuro returned to the village.
It had been about ten days since he left. Defying almost everyone’s expectations, Kuro had actually succeeded in his diet. He looked lean and sharp, possessing a dignified air that was almost uncharacteristic of him. Even Yuki did a double-take when she saw him.
I was genuinely impressed. I felt a bit guilty for assuming he would fail. He must have worked incredibly hard. I had truly thought he was doomed the moment I heard he had packed miso for his trip.
Kuro walked up to me and... immediately started acting like a huge puppy, begging for affection.
"What is it, Kuro?"
It seemed that while his solo journey had been fun at the start, he had spent most of the time feeling desperately lonely. He only stayed away because he was terrified that coming home early would make him a laughingstock.
"I see. You did well, Kuro. You really did."
I gave him plenty of praise, though I warned him to maintain a balance of moderate eating and regular exercise from now on. I wanted to keep pampering him, but he was covered in trail dust, and if he stayed like that, Ann would be furious. I told him to go take a bath.
Ann approached me then. She noted that since the dusty Kuro had been rubbing all over me, I was just as dirty as he was.
"Understood. Kuro, we're taking a bath together. Let's go."
As we headed off, I spotted Fracia looking around.
"Fracia, Kuro is right here. You don't need to go looking for him anymore."
Village Head: "Wouldn't a movie narrator—you know, someone who explains a silent film in an entertaining way—have been enough?" Civil Official: "We don't have anyone with that kind of specialized skill."
Village Head: "I wonder... for this event, is 'performance' or 'screening' the right word?" Civil Official: "Does it really matter which one we use?"
Ann: "To think... I actually lost... the bet..." (Her professional composure had completely shattered.)
Granmaria: "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Kudel: "Granmaria always takes the contrarian position when it comes to gambling, doesn't she?"
Village Head: "One fried shrimp moves from my plate to Granmaria's."
Lu: "One piece of fried chicken moves from my plate to Granmaria's."
Tia: "O-One hamburger steak moves from my plate to Granmaria's... I can't believe I bet my main dish. I need to reflect on my life choices."
Corone: "Tia-sama's style is to bet everything on the favorites, after all."