The Prettiest Girl in the City

After returning from the Guard Room, Joshua went back to his horribly cluttered room.

He could deal with cleaning up later. Joshua walked over to the relatively tidy bookshelf in his room and took out a book titled World History.

The book had been written by humans and recorded the development of human civilization in another world. This Demon Prince seemed quite interested in human civilization as well.

What surprised Joshua was that the book was written in English...

Joshua turned to look at a mirror on the table. The Chaos Demon reflected in it looked almost exactly like he had on Earth.

That reminded Joshua of the theory of parallel worlds. Perhaps this Demon Prince was himself from another world... After all, even their names were identical.

Still, the fact that World History was written in English helped Joshua tremendously. He needed to know how far human civilization in this world had developed and what its political environment was like.

If it was some ancient feudal monarchy, then showing films to commoners who could barely read would probably be meaningless.

"Council of Seven? May the radiance of magic illuminate all of Nolan?"

Joshua read through the modern history recorded in the book and let out a slight sigh of relief.

Human civilization in this other world was more democratic than Joshua had imagined. Though it was not a modern democratic republic, it had a system similar to a parliamentary republic.

Simply put, human society in this world had also achieved "equality for all." This equality had not been achieved through institutions or revolution, but was determined by the magic-filled world itself.

The human world was astonishingly rich in magical elements. Even farmers at the very bottom of society could basically cast fireball spells. It was truly a world where everyone was a mage.

As a result, status in human society was determined by "knowledge decides everything." The more magical knowledge one possessed, the higher one's social standing. In a social system like this, there really could not be many illiterates.

However, this was only the situation in Several Countries that dominated the human world. There were also quite a few nations with centralized monarchies and systems based on the divine right of kings.

Just like Earth, this world was vast beyond measure. The number of countries could not be counted on one's fingers.

The country closest to the Demon Realm was Nolan, one of the nations where magical civilization had developed most prosperously.

Joshua decided that the first stop for his film's release would be this country filled with mages from top to bottom.

All that remained was choosing a script. Joshua bore the heavy responsibility of making humans stop hating demons and changing their view of demons as evil beings. To accomplish that, Joshua did not think it would be too difficult. He merely had to make humans worship demons.

This worship did not mean holding some Evil Ritual to summon demons and becoming followers of an evil god. What Joshua meant was... making demons into idols.

To save their race from the brink of extinction, the demons had decided to step forward and become idols!

Something like that...

To create a positive image for demons, Joshua had currently come up with two workable scripts. The first was Beauty and the Beast, and the second was Léon: The Professional.

Joshua did not think Beauty and the Beast required much explanation. The story was absolutely a household classic. Some people might find it childish, but that was only because nearly everyone had heard it in childhood. That once again proved how widely this beautiful fairy tale had spread through human civilization, rivaling any story written by the two great fairy-tale masters, Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm.

Léon: The Professional was one of Joshua's favorite films. It told the story of a professional assassin and a little girl. The topic of an older man and a loli, one that would never change throughout human history, had without question made the Female Lead, Natalie Portman, and the Male Lead, Jean Reno, Joshua's childhood goddess and god.

What the two scripts had in common was that they could make the audience fall in love with the "beast" and the "assassin." So long as those two figures were replaced with demons and adapted slightly, there would be no sense of incongruity at all.

Joshua had no idea yet where to find actors for Léon: The Professional, but he already had one candidate in mind for Beauty and the Beast.

So, regrettably, Léon: The Professional, the film that had practically defined Joshua's early aesthetic sense, would have to wait a while before filming could begin. Joshua decided to make Beauty and the Beast first.

"Servant, go summon Zennas."

Joshua spoke to the Water Elemental Servant who had been standing by the door.

This Water Elemental had no mind of her own and served as a messenger, somewhat like a pigeon. After giving Joshua a slight bow, she went to carry out her task.

Joshua also began working on the script.

Ever since coming to this world, Joshua had discovered that his memory had become terrifyingly clear. Whether they were memories from Earth or memories belonging to the Demon Prince, all of them were stored in his mind, waiting for him to "retrieve" them at any time.

Joshua could even clearly remember the patterns on the back of a seven-spotted ladybug he had caught when he was ten.

Joshua had read the original English version of Beauty and the Beast, as well as Disney's animated adaptation, which was also the most widely circulated version. He remembered every detail of the story perfectly.

He only needed to write out the broad framework and flesh it out with the main details.

Joshua picked up a stack of White Paper. These sheets had originally been used by the Demon Prince to draw strange design sketches, while the writing tool was a charcoal pencil, the one Joshua was most familiar with.

Joshua wrote the title Beauty and the Demon on the first sheet of White Paper, and the floor of his room began to tremble slightly.

"Your Highness, what did you summon me for?"

Zennas had arrived much faster than Joshua had expected. He stood at the entrance to Joshua's room without stepping inside. A huge mess of scattered papers covered the floor, and the flames winding around Zennas might easily set them ablaze.

"Zennas, how is your acting?"

Joshua looked at the Sin Demon and asked.

"Acting?" Zennas seemed unable to understand the term Joshua had used.

"Simply put, can you deceive humans?"

Joshua phrased it in a way the demon could understand.

"Of course, Your Highness... It is a required course for every demon. Though I am far inferior to succubi and imps, I can still deceive a few foolish, ignorant humans."

Zennas's mind did not seem nearly as brutish as his appearance.

Deception was a required course for every demon? Did that mean every demon was an actor? Treating fraud as a racial talent... It would be such a waste if you did not become politicians.

"Good. Stand there and do not move."

Joshua gauged Zennas's proportions and began sketching concept art on the script.

As a Sin Demon, Zennas's head easily reminded Joshua of Leomon from Digimon. As long as he did not put on such a savage expression or breathe fire, he actually seemed like a rather gentle big cat.

That was only if the terrifying scales covering Zennas's body and the magma flowing through the gaps between them did not exist. Just the pale green flames wrapped around him were enough to make Joshua think no one would want to pet this big cat.

Still, that was not a problem. Joshua had originally worked as a game designer, so drawing concept art was no challenge for him. In no time, he sketched Zennas in an exquisite formal suit, both majestic and fierce in appearance.

"Zennas, will the clothes on your body catch fire?" As Joshua drew, he suddenly noticed that the demon's clothing resembled primitive animal hide, merely covering the most essential parts of his body.

If he wanted Zennas to wear the formal suit from the design sketch, he would at least need him to put away the flames around his body.

"They will not, Your Highness. I can control the temperature of the flames on my body," Zennas said.

That was certainly convenient. Since he did not need to worry about the clothes catching fire, Joshua could start designing the costume. There was also another important matter: finding Belle, the Female Lead of Beauty and the Demon.

Human women were unlikely to work. A slightly timid human woman would probably faint in terror while acting opposite Zennas, while a braver Female Mage would likely hurl a Flame Burst right into Zennas's face.

Joshua needed to guarantee the safety of the actors under his command during filming, so he should choose female demons instead.

"Zennas, I have a task for you."

Joshua took out another sheet of paper and quickly wrote a notice, then stamped it with a mark representing his identity.

"Please give your orders." Zennas gave a slight bow and waited for Joshua's command.

"Go find me the prettiest girl in the city."

Joshua said.