The Workshop Master, who was short on brains, had no choice but to sulkily go back and draw the Magical Girl costume designs himself.
As a former concept artist, this was Angell's area of expertise.
Aside from a few "minor issues"—like the costume's structure defying the laws of physics, making it impossible to figure out how to put on, and uncomfortable even once it was on, or the fact that no normal person would dress like this—it was gorgeous to look at.
"It's so pretty! Can the heroine wear something like this?"
Enlise gazed at the design and spoke with sparkling eyes.
Seeing her reaction, Angell said, "What do you think? Want to play the heroine?"
"..." Enlise studied the design for a moment, hesitating, but in the end she shook her head. "I don't think I can do it."
Enlise already knew what an "actress" did.
Last time, when Angell found out that Enlise had never seen a movie, he bought three tickets and invited her and her friends to go watch one. Speaking of which, that gave Angell even more confidence in the success of the Little Witch movie. There were hardly any suitable films for little girls in this era, and after searching for ages, he had found only one comedy that seemed appropriate.
Enlise had said she didn't need to go, but she'd actually enjoyed the movie quite a bit. After she got back, though, she refused to take part in the film.
"I don't want to become someone else," Enlise said.
"You wouldn't become someone else. You'd be playing someone else," Angell explained. "But if you don't want to do it, that's fine. Whatever you want to do, you can do."
Enlise's little face instantly turned red.
She seemed to have mistaken Angell's words for praise.
In fact, Angell had merely been stating an objective fact.
Angell had given Enlise the costume design because she could operate the Alchemy Machine.
The machine gave her the following ratings:
[Enlise] [Sewing]: A [Forging]: A [Design]: A [Planting]: A ... [Notes]: Every skill is at zero proficiency. Was this kid just taken out of the box?
"Of course. Unlike an old woman like you," Angell said pointedly to the Alchemy Machine.
Angell felt as if he'd just hit the jackpot.
Although none of Enlise's skills had reached the highest rank of S, having an SR-Rank employee with A in every skill this early on was far more useful than an SSR he couldn't put to work yet.
Especially in a management game.
Enlise's stats meant that no matter what talent the machine needed, Angell could put her in the role.
Best of all, this employee had been given to him for free.
If this Alchemy Workshop were a game, its designers would be outrageously generous. If Angell had set it up himself, he'd have handed out an SR-Rank card with a nice-looking level but no practical use, then made players rely on endless draws for everything else.
That said, drawing cards in the real world was much harder.
Angell had posted a recruitment notice at the employment agency, but every candidate he'd seen so far had been N-Rank. Even an R-Rank was a rare find.
That made Enlise all the more precious.
Enlise carried the costume design and the materials Angell had prepared over to the Alchemy Machine. She followed the instructions and began operating it, and the machine actually started working.
The rumbling noise did sound a lot like it was swearing at her, though.
Maybe he really did need to find an alchemist to repair the machine, oil it up, and give it a library.
Angell thought this without much sincerity.
While Enlise worked on the clothes, he studied the "Ceremonial Magic Wand."
Fortunately, the wand's alchemical array was still embedded in the machine, so there was no need to operate it separately. All Angell had to do was add the corresponding incantations to the wand's various spells. In the end, he also made a locating spell permanent.
The locating spell was a troublesome compound spell, generally used to track down important objects.
But Angell knew a mage with obsessive cleanliness. That compulsive neat freak had placed locating marks on everything in his home, so when it was time to clean, all he needed was a Cleaning spell to clear away every last bit of clutter at once.
He'd heard that quite a few witches did the same thing.
That gave Angell an idea. Using the locating spell, he anchored the clothes to various parts of the body, adding copious amounts of light and special effects as he worked.
The result was more or less: "Moon Prism Power! Make up—"
(As if the normal way of putting them on would even work!)
And since the skirt was anchored to the body, it had an absolute antigravity effect. Even a miniskirt wouldn't risk flashing anyone.
"Oh, right. I should add some storage space, too, and put the transformation outfit in it."
Angell muttered to himself, feeling that he was being very considerate of little girls.
And so, as Angell busied himself, time slipped quietly by.
One day in mid-July, Sir Mandela finally arrived in Cecilia City with his team and filming equipment. He didn't even have time to rest before beginning auditions for the leading roles at Angell's suggestion.
Although Sir Mandela had brought a professional acting team, there weren't many suitable child actors. So the little girls playing the leads were chosen directly from the students at Cecilia City's Charity School.
Angell recommended only one girl.
"No wonder Lord Angell picked her!" Sir Mandela praised. "She has real star potential!"
"...You don't have to force yourself to praise her just because of me. If you don't think she's suitable—"
"No! I mean it from the bottom of my heart." Sir Mandela was so excited he was practically ready to burst, and he really did seem sincere. "Just look at her. She's the kind of girl audiences will love!"
"Is that so?" Angell looked over skeptically.
Nearby, Enlise was happily running toward her friends.
"Maya, this outfit looks perfect on you!"
"Yeah, it's gorgeous," Liti added with a smile.
"Really? Hehe." Maya bashfully tugged at her skirt and flashed a big, carefree grin.
She just... seemed so silly.
Could this little airhead really handle the lead role? She looked like she could mess everything up at any moment. Angell couldn't help worrying.
But among Enlise's friends, she was the only one who had accepted the invitation.
As for the "real Little Witch" Angell had had his eye on, Liti had flatly refused Enlise's invitation. She had even politely asked her mother to bring over a basket of pastries as an apology.
"Mr. Angell must have noticed our family's bloodline, right? But... I'm sorry. That's exactly why we have no intention of putting ourselves in the public eye," Liti's mother had said. "Besides, my daughter is rather shy, so she wouldn't be suitable."
While her mother spoke, Liti hid behind her skirt, looking terrified.
They'd made their position that clear, so there was no way Angell could press them.
In the end, Maya was the only one who agreed.
After all, the only people who went into show business were a bunch of idiots.
(This prejudice was Angell's personal sweeping generalization and had nothing to do with the author or any other group of characters.)
With that thought, Angell was able to let the matter go completely.
Whether Sir Mandela was just trying to butter Angell up or Maya really was that talented, after one round of auditions, Maya landed the lead role.
The other child actors were selected through the Charity School's usual sign-up process. Since there weren't many children suitable for acting, the selection went smoothly, without too much ridiculous drama.
The real commotion came from the casting of "Mary Sue (X) the Witch Cecilia."
Word had spread that it was a major production and that the role itself was especially appealing. Apparently, when Sir Mandela held auditions back home, the actresses under his management had already fought among themselves once. Then, after he arrived in Cecilia City, the local lords somehow got wind of it and started recommending their own candidates, kicking off another round of squabbling. It was a wonder Sir Mandela could hold out. In the end, he managed to come up with a result that left everyone more or less satisfied.
—By the end, Angell still had no idea what the character was even supposed to do. He didn't care, anyway.
He could only marvel that Mary Sue really lived up to her name. Even casting her had caused such a storm.
Under these circumstances, filming finally began on Magical Girl☆(crossed out) Angell (crossed out) Maya.
*
There wasn't much to say about the filming process.
At least, as far as Angell was concerned, there wasn't much to say.
He'd initially wanted to offer some tips based on the "advanced experience" he'd brought from another world. But once he arrived on set, he found there weren't many opportunities for him to speak up.
First of all, damn those wretched film cameras!
The things looked impressive, but until the film was developed, no one except the cinematographer had any idea what they'd captured. Even if Angell wanted to offer suggestions, he couldn't say much without knowing how the shots had turned out.
On top of that, film was incredibly expensive.
Half the cost of making a movie went toward film. Reshoots were simply out of the question! Every retake doubled the expense, so not a single frame could be wasted! That cost was passed on to the actors.
At least while Angell was on set, he watched Maya repeat the same action more than ten times without filming. They didn't start rolling until the director was confident that she could deliver a steady performance.
Fortunately, being a bit dim had its advantages.
Maya was obviously used to being criticized, so she didn't mind doing the same thing over and over. She stubbornly stuck it out to the end.
Angell was the one who started feeling bad for her.
"I think that's good enough!" It was only an advertisement. As long as the wand looked cool, that was all that mattered. He really didn't care if her face stayed blank.
"Mr. Angell, you're such a kind man," Sir Mandela praised.
Then he politely but firmly escorted Angell off the set.
Angell: ...
Fine! You all do your best. He'd already read the script, anyway, and it was pretty interesting.
At this rate, even if the camera work wasn't perfect, the final result wouldn't be too bad.
Angell tried to reassure himself.
*
Without Angell's help, filming went more and more smoothly.
That wasn't just Sir Mandela's opinion. The entire crew felt the same way, especially Director Peter, who thought he'd hit the jackpot.
Peter was a seasoned director.
He had been making movies since the Iron Puppet Production Studio was founded. He'd directed more than twenty films so far and had quite a reputation in the industry.
But there were two kinds of directors.
One kind was controlling. Whether they were working with actors or a script, everything was just a tool for their own expression. They kept everything in their hands and wouldn't tolerate anything going off course.
The other kind was more easygoing. They filmed the script exactly as the screenwriter had written it, without even changing the camera angles.
Neither was inherently better than the other. The former certainly relied heavily on personal talent, but the latter, by following the script and sticking to the plan, could bring out the best in the writing and the actors' performances—and still create a masterpiece. That took skill, too.
Director Peter was the latter kind.
He was easygoing and unassuming, and he'd accept any script. Yet no matter what he worked on, he always managed to maintain a certain standard. He was one of the Iron Puppet Production Studio's dependable mainstays.
But even the most unassuming person, after spending years in the industry and building up a long list of works, wanted at least one masterpiece to prove himself. Peter had been waiting for his chance.
Peter thought that chance had finally come!
In truth, before he arrived in Cecilia City, Peter hadn't thought much of the film.
Like all arrogant Xiesse People, Peter considered the ancient city of Cecilia a remote backwater, probably little more than a relic of the Magic Era. There was no way people there could understand movies.
He hadn't turned down the job only because Sir Mandela was his boss.
Besides, Peter knew that when Sir Mandela took on a custom film like this, it was usually because the "client" had serious clout or was paying too much for him to refuse. That was why he'd pick the most obedient director he could find, to avoid any trouble.
And Peter was the most obedient director around.
So Peter had treated the trip to Cecilia City as a vacation. He'd enjoy the scenery in the ancient city, film the incomprehensible movie according to plan, then consider the job done.
He wasn't the only one who thought that way. Everyone else who knew about the project felt the same.
Back in Xiesse, people had even whispered, "Mandela must be having financial problems. That's why he keeps going to the countryside, trying to get some unsophisticated country bumpkin to invest in his new film." "But how could those country folk make a good movie?" "Mandela's getting old. I guess his judgment's finally gone, too!"
But when Peter arrived in Cecilia City and saw the film's screenwriter, he got excited.
Allen Kirk!
This famous author was writing the screenplay!
A year earlier, Peter had caught a distant glimpse of him at an industry banquet. He'd heard several major production studios were bidding on the rights to the author's best-known work. They'd offered as much as thirty thousand gold coins and still hadn't closed the deal. Peter couldn't believe he'd gotten the chance to direct a film written by Allen Kirk before anyone else! He almost thought he was dreaming.
Then Peter saw just how enormous the film's backing was.
Cecilia City Hall + the Magic Association + the Eastern Territory's Department of Education—what kind of dream team was this?!
Whatever location they needed, they could get it. Whatever caliber of extras they needed, they could get them, too. This sort of VIP treatment was unthinkable back in Xiesse!
Never mind a Mage Tower. Would Xiesse really let them use City Hall?
Would the mayor agree to a cameo?!
Could the Magic Association's employees really be genuine?!
They could even use real demons as villains—the investor's Black Robe Mage summoned a whole group when Peter said he needed two Slimes. But after that, Peter never dared mention it again. He was afraid the Black Robe might actually summon a Demon King for him.
Then there was the film's enormous budget.
Rumors had already been circulating back in Xiesse. After all, Sir Mandela had picked his best employees and brought along the last of their filming equipment. People had wondered just how much money he'd found.
But that alone had only told Peter that his boss took the project seriously. He hadn't known how the other side felt.
That was, until Director Peter got his hands on the batch of Magic Items the client had provided.
They were all real!
The little girls could actually transform with a wave of their Magic Wands!
The Broom could really fly through the sky!
Whatever special effects they needed, they could just ask the Alchemy Workshop's master. The next day, they'd have the real thing. If necessary, they could even bring in actual mages to help!
Peter had never worked on such an extravagant film in his life.
He remembered his last big-budget movie, which had cost hundreds of thousands of gold coins. They'd only hired two Mage Consultants, and both had acted like they had their noses in the air. Ask them three questions, and they'd get impatient.
By comparison, this film had three spell consultants just for the script!
Peter thought that if he couldn't shoot the magic scenes well, he might as well die to atone for it.
And speaking of the shots, there was one more thing that amazed Peter most of all: the investor, Mr. Angell, had actually provided a storyboard!
When Peter first got his hands on it, he assumed it was another case of an amateur trying to tell a professional how to do his job. But after reading it, he realized the man was a total professional. The way he controlled each shot was astonishing.
True, Angell had only drawn storyboards for the magic scenes, like the girls' transformations and the use of their Ultimate Skills, due to the time constraints. But that alone had been enough to leave Peter stunned.
(Angell: Obviously. How many years of development had the film industry in my previous life gone through?)
The only flaw he could find was that Mr. Angell didn't seem very familiar with cameras—which struck Peter as a little contradictory—because many of the pans and angles he'd suggested were impossible with the cameras available at the time.
"Are they really impossible?" Allen asked as they discussed the script. "Lord Angell is a mage, isn't he? Why not consider whether those angles might be achievable from a mage's perspective?"
Allen's words gave Director Peter a great deal to think about.
After discussing it with the mages, they discovered that some of those shots really could be achieved with spells.
Although there were things they couldn't do, the Mage Consultants said, "Could it be because Lord Angell is an Intermediate Mage? Let's go back and think it over carefully, and see if there's another way!"
During filming, they also seemed to have grown very interested in the camera.
"So those mages are actually pretty easy to talk to!" Peter said.
He couldn't help looking forward to filming at the Mage Tower.
--This was another thing Peter had been looking forward to. As someone with no talent for magic, he'd somehow gotten the chance to enter a Mage Tower. Just thinking about it made him excited.
Peter couldn't help saying to the cameraman, "I wonder what we'll see at the Mage Tower tomorrow."
"Huh? Oh," the cameraman replied distractedly.
Peter studied the face of the cameraman, his partner of many years, and noticed something was off. "You've been really out of it lately. Are you still having nightmares?"
"A little." The cameraman rubbed his eyes, then asked Peter, "What about you? Weren't you having nightmares a while ago, too?"
"...I haven't had any lately." But they hadn't exactly been good dreams, either. He couldn't remember them when he woke, yet the discomfort clung to him like the chill of winter, impossible to shake off.
Thinking of his nighttime dreams, Peter felt a chill run through him.
If there was anything about coming to Cecilia City that had seemed off to him, it was these strange dreams.
Ever since filming had begun, Peter had kept having bad dreams.
The cameraman, meanwhile, had it even worse than the director.
But if they were being honest about the reason, both of them had a vague idea.
"...Maybe the movie's tone is too gloomy?" the cameraman said. "There were several shots this afternoon that gave me the creeps... I didn't feel this uncomfortable even when we filmed that award-winning horror movie."
"But Allen specifically chose those shots," Peter said with a frown.
"But going by the script, it's clearly a cheerful story!" The cameraman pressed his fingers to his brow. "Did something get messed up somewhere?"
"I don't think so. Both Mr. Angell and Mr. Allen seem to know a lot about shots. Especially Mr. Allen. After seeing Mr. Angell's storyboard, he made extensive changes to it. That means they wanted this effect, right?" Peter said. "Besides, the plot holds together."
"Exactly! It's just a few differences in atmosphere, but they completely change the story's core, turning a feel-good comedy into a tragic tale that hints at something ominous. I've never seen such skillful use of cinematic language! Even those shots that seem fine make me think about the ominous hints later on, and then I'm sure to have nightmares! In that sense, it really is a masterpiece!"
"...Maybe that's what Mr. Angell wanted? He is a Black Robe, after all."
"Terrifying Black Robes!"
The cameraman shrugged and walked away, looking irritated.
Peter picked up the cheerful script and read it through again, then recalled what he'd filmed.
He liked this story.
He understood the dark symbolism that came later, and admired it.
But couldn't the tone be a little brighter?
He might be a bit of a simpleton, but what he liked best were stories full of hope!
"I'm going with you to the Mage Tower tomorrow."
Silverleaf was saying this to Mira and Gru.
His two classmates looked at him in surprise.
Mira was especially uneasy. "Didn't you keep saying before that you didn't need to?"
Gru, however, breathed a sigh of relief. "I also think you should come with us! As Chief Student, you deserve a better opportunity than we do! It'd be such a waste not to give it a try."
"The Magic Gear is already really good," Mira muttered.
"Anyway, we're just going to take a look. It's not like we're saying we'll join the Mage Tower right away."
"But..."
Silverleaf listened quietly to his two classmates arguing, his hand resting on the expensive invitation in his pocket.