Black Robe's Fury

The movie editing was completed in mid-November.

From the time Angell had launched the project, it had taken nearly half a year.

"For such a major production to take so little time is simply a miracle," Branch President Hume praised.

Angell could only say, "Heh-heh."

In Angell's expectations, a low-budget movie should have taken only three months to complete. But since the technology of this era had not reached that level, he could only compromise.

Still, Angell had not been idle during that time.

Besides producing merchandise, he had led the Rune Apprentices in creating more than a dozen Rune Games, expanding the game libraries of the Game Tables and Mana Base Stations. The Game Table business had now spread across the entire Eastern Territory. Not only could they be found in major cities, but even some small towns had them.

What pleased Angell most was the popularity of a new game called Treasure Thief.

The game involved avoiding an Evil Dragon and stealing its treasure from a maze.

The gameplay was nothing new to Angell. He could immediately name countless similar games. But the Rune Core for this game had been written entirely without Angell's involvement, independently by Silverleaf and his senior from Mage Tower. This meant that the Rune Apprentices had finally begun to develop independently, without needing Angell to handle every detail himself.

Caught up in the joy of these gains, Angell had nearly forgotten that he had made a movie.

Sir Mandela did write letters and send telegrams from time to time to report the progress, but Angell found the exaggerated flattery unbearable. He usually used them to prop up a table leg as soon as they arrived, never bothering to read them carefully.

In the end, Angell learned that his movie had been released through the Newspaper.

Without any warning.

It was an ordinary Wednesday morning, and the weather was gloomy.

If there was anything unusual, it was that Angell, a night owl, had woken up at six in the morning and had been unable to fall asleep again.

Angell tossed and turned in bed for nearly an hour and read half a novel. Only after confirming that he truly could not sleep did he wash up briefly, put on slippers and a bathrobe, and head to the restaurant.

At this hour, most of the "staff" in the restaurant were Receptionist Cats.

Only they had to rise early to clean the Workshop and prepare for opening, so they kept regular hours. The Rune Apprentices had schedules similar to Angell's, and most of them were still asleep.

As one of the stupid humans, Angell had nothing to talk about with a group of meowing cats. He looked around and finally found several humanoid creatures in the restaurant.

"Huh? Mr. Angell, you're up so early?" Silverleaf was very surprised to see Angell.

Considerately, he brought Angell a large ham-and-cheese omelet, Angell's favorite.

But Angell had no appetite. He only asked for a cup of black tea and sipped at it slowly.

"...Didn't you get up early too?" Angell said sluggishly. His gaze swept across the other Rune Apprentices beside Silverleaf, all with heavy dark circles under their eyes. Then he suddenly realized. "Don't tell me you stayed up all night?"

"I'm more energetic at night," Silverleaf said with a smile.

"You're the only one like that, aren't you?" Angell shot an envious glance at Silverleaf's radiant face.

That was the advantage of Succubi—their racial talent.

Angell said to the other Rune Apprentices, "Don't think you can keep going just because you have Energy Potions. Those potions can't save your hair."

The Rune Apprentices immediately looked horrified.

Silverleaf did not know whether to laugh or cry.

He had wanted to say something, but then a Maine Coon came rushing into the Cafeteria.

"News! Big news! Maya is selling like crazy, meow—"

"What's selling like crazy?" Angell asked without much interest.

Cats always made a fuss over the smallest things. Their joys and sorrows were not shared by stupid humans.

"Selling like crazy! Maya is selling like crazy, meow!"

The Maine Coon dumped a pile of Newspapers onto Angell's table.

Angell frowned at the stack.

Magic Gear did not specifically subscribe to Newspapers, but Thornmoon had a Newspaper Boy deliver one copy of every Newspaper to Magic Gear each day to report on the promotion of the Game Tables—and to seek praise.

But today, the Game Tables were clearly not the focus of the Newspapers.

Calico jumped onto Angell's table. While pushing away the face of the loudly shouting Maine Coon in disgust, he picked up a Newspaper, skimmed it, and reported to Angell, "Boss, your movie's box office exploded, meow! It made several million on the first day alone, meow!"

Only several million?

Angell immediately thought disdainfully.

After all, in Angell's memories, the term "box office" was usually followed by units in the hundreds of millions. Even terrible movies seemed to make tens of millions!

Then Angell finally processed what the cat had said. "Movie?... Has Magical Girl☆Maya finally been released?"

He took the Newspaper Calico handed him and looked it over.

Sure enough, the front-page headline was printed in red:

[Magical Girl☆Maya Earns 3.65 Million Gold on Its Opening Day! Magic Gear Redefines Action Movies!]

"...What kind of action movie is a Magical Girl movie?"

Angell immediately began to question the reporter's professional standards.

Only then did he glance at the Newspaper's name: Liberty Daily. Why did it reek so strongly of democracy and oil?

"This is Xiesse's highest-circulation Newspaper, isn't it?" Silverleaf leaned over as well and said admiringly, "As expected of Mr. Angell! Your very first Movie made the front page of the Trade City's largest Newspaper."

"Is that impressive?" Angell quickly read through the article:

"A uniquely styled Hero movie;

"A hymn to courage;

"Justice and evil untouched by the passing of time;

"A reflection on the restless modern society."

Hmm... Why did that not seem quite right?

This was just a low-budget tokusatsu movie, wasn't it? Even if every Newspaper had mocked it, that would have been understandable. But was it really okay to pile on so much praise? For an advertising movie, this was far too weighty!

Angell thought suspiciously.

He became increasingly doubtful of the formally worded front-page report, wondering whether it was part of Sir Mandela's promotional tactics.

"If only there were reviews with real-time feedback."

At times like this, Angell missed the internet terribly.

He did not understand that people of different eras had different ways of transmitting information.

"Do you mean Reader Letters?" Silverleaf flipped to the Reader Column on the fifth page. "Oh! It seems this Movie really is popular. Even the Reader Letters are discussing it."

Angell immediately checked the Reader Column:

"I attended the Premiere of Magical Girl☆Maya last night! I'm so honored to have been among the first audience members for this masterpiece!"

"I recommend Magical Girl☆Maya to everyone! This is a great Movie you absolutely cannot miss!"

"Ahhh, little Maya is too adorable! I've decided to watch it three times!!!"

"This is the first time I've realized a Hero movie could be filmed this way—I mean Magical Girl☆Maya."

"This Movie has so much depth that I couldn't stop crying."

"Isn't this praise a little too over the top?" Angell got goosebumps all over. "Did Mandela buy Paid Posters?"

"Paid Posters?"

"People paid to hype up the Movie." Angell thought his reasoning made sense. "Logically speaking, wouldn't Reader Letters from last night's Premiere take longer to appear?"

"Not necessarily. Newspaper editors probably select letters related to trending news," Silverleaf said.

Everyone—cats included—thought Angell was being far too modest.

"If it were advertising, he couldn't possibly have bought so many Newspapers, meow!"

Calico stood on the Newspapers, flipping one up for Angell to see.

It was indeed an enormous number of front-page headlines. Nearly every Newspaper on the table had covered the release and box office performance of Magical Girl☆Maya in the most prominent position. If Sir Mandela had truly arranged it, then he had spent a fortune.

And those Newspapers did not merely feature headlines. Many of their pages were filled with lengthy Film Reviews of the Movie.

One of them read:

"Grand yet beautiful visuals allow us to revisit the lovely old dreams of the Magic Era;

"Set against those lovely old dreams is the oppression of this era: busy modern factories and streets, a weary father and resilient mother, a clearly happy family unable to escape the shadows;

"While praising industrial progress, have we forgotten our original intentions?

"Darkness is breeding in the shadows;

"Although little Maya raised her Magic Wand and brought light in the Movie, where is our 'Maya'?"

"What the hell is this?!"

After reading the report, Angell felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over him.

"What's wrong? Isn't this all praise, meow?" Mithril was drawn over as well. It read the article and did not understand Angell's livid expression. "It seems very profound."

"Profound? Profundity is exactly what I don't need!" Angell said with a headache.

Was profundity useful for selling merchandise?

Movies that won praise but not audiences were not unheard of!

They were both superheroes, so why could DC never outsell Marvel?!

What if it was too profound and scared away the children?!

Who would take responsibility for that warehouse full of merchandise?!

"No, I have to go take a look myself." Angell stood up.

"Wait, meow!" Mithril jumped onto Angell's head.

"Mr. Angell..."

Silverleaf wanted to follow, but Angell waved him off. "You stayed up all night. Get some proper rest now!"

Silverleaf could only watch Angell leave the restaurant.

"What should we do with these Newspapers?" the Maine Coon asked regretfully as it flipped through them.

"Let's cut out the parts about the Movie first!" Silverleaf said. "I don't know why Mr. Angell is unhappy, but these are clearly worth commemorating!"

"Meow, meow!" The cats agreed.

Exactly! They were all compliments. How could they not save them?!

"Where are you going to watch it?"

Mithril asked only after they had left the Workshop.

Angell had not even changed out of his pajamas. He had merely thrown a Black Robe over them. "Xiesse."

"How are we getting there?"

Even though Angell knew Teleportation magic, it was only for short distances. Long-distance Teleportation consumed too much Mana. Even an Archmage with spatial attributes had to make preparations in advance.

Naturally, Angell was not foolish enough to use magic himself. "Isn't there a Teleportation Magic Circle between Cecilia and Xiesse?"

"You really are planning to use that," Mithril muttered.

But it did not stop Angell.

After all, Angell had earned quite a bit recently, and the few million gold from the Movie would soon be coming in. He could afford one or two occasional "small luxuries."

Besides, confirming the Movie's situation sooner would allow them to decide the fate of that batch of Magic Wands sooner.

The factory was still producing the accompanying merchandise!

Hopefully the losses won't be too severe!

Mithril, the argumentative cat who had not thought highly of Angell's plan from the start, thought pessimistically.

For a pessimistic Argumentative Cat like Mithril, the Movie selling well was already unbelievable. It did not expect anything more.

Mithril followed Angell to the Teleportation Array in Cecilia City.

The city Teleportation Array was located behind the City Hall Square.

Because such large-scale intercity Teleportation Arrays were only activated during major wars, the building housing the array had been constructed like a spacious outpost.

But after the last combat in the Demon World ended, The King had believed the Demon Race to be completely sealed away. Since Cecilia no longer needed a garrison, he had reclaimed the city's military authority. Now, the Teleportation Outpost was unattended, with only two old soldiers dozing in the guard booth below.

Such defenses naturally could not stop a Black Robe.

Without greeting anyone, Angell entered the central area of the Teleportation Outpost.

There, a massive Magic Circle capable of transporting an entire legion was engraved into the floor. Several Crystal pillars of different colors stood around it, each inscribed with complex Runes.

It was clear that Mayor Owen still remembered to maintain the place from time to time. At least he had not let weeds grow in the center of the Magic Circle.

Angell casually chose a pillar and infused it with Mana.

A magical map immediately unfolded before him.

It was a map of the entire continent. Every city on it displayed a different Rune symbol, which was the key to connecting those cities.

But now, aside from a small number of cities whose Runes were red, most were gray.

Red indicated that the other side's Magic Circle could still be used, but lacked sufficient Mana.

Gray meant that the other side's Magic Circle could not be used, or that there was no Magic Circle there at all. Even supplying Mana would be useless.

Among that mass of gray symbols was Xiesse.

"The Magic Circle of the largest Trade City is broken?" Angell sneered.

"Because they have no use for it anymore, right?" Mithril was not surprised.

The Black Cat, who did not understand human society very well, explained all such changes with "the times have changed."

But Angell did not see it that way.

How could they possibly have no use for it!

This was an instant transportation Magic Circle!

Even if they did not need it to reach Cecilia, did they not need it to travel from the Trade City Xiesse to the Industrial City Sensenata?!

That slow Steam Train could not replace it.

Based on Angell's understanding of Capitalists, they should never have abandoned this magical route.

"Sure enough, there are other forces trying to eliminate magic," Angell muttered.

But such a complicated matter was outside Angell's scope for the moment.

"What now?" Mithril asked. "The Magic Circle on the other side is broken. How are you going to get there?"

"As long as the 'road' remains, it's not a problem. I happen to have a 'puppet' in that city."

As Angell spoke, he placed his hand on the edge of the large Teleportation Magic Circle and murmured several incantations.

Black light immediately spread along the lines of the Teleportation Array. Yet instead of lighting up with Runes like a normally activated Magic Circle, a mass of black mist appeared in the center of the array.

Angell did not hesitate to lead Mithril through the fog.

On the other side of the fog was a luxurious room.

It was decorated in Xiesse's currently fashionable "Third Magic Era retro style." At first glance, it looked like a return to an ancient noble's castle. This was the trend these days: wealthy people sold cheap industrial goods while using expensive handmade items to recreate Magic Era decorations and flaunt their wealth. There was something indescribably absurd about it.

Mithril looked down on it immensely.

"Meow! Who puts a chamber pot by the bed, MeowMeow? Humans are becoming more and more incomprehensible to me."

"Maybe they think it's a vase. Nouveau riche people are all like that."

Angell said coldly.

He was picking up a head from beneath the bed. Standing before the mirror, he attached it to the headless body as though putting on a hat, then twisted the neck a few times to adjust the angle.

If Silverleaf had been there and seen Angell as he was now, he would definitely have cried out in alarm.

Because the body Angell was using now belonged to the gold-rimmed-glasses man Silverleaf had encountered in the Mage Tower, the man who had been with Sister Mira.

Angell had rescued Silverleaf then, and incidentally turned everyone there into his puppets.

To a Black Robe, this was perfectly justified revenge.

—They had actually dared to covet a Black Robe's property. Wasn't it only natural that a Black Robe would do this and that to them?!

Mithril recognized him as well.

"Isn't this the toy you caught in the Mage Tower back then? You still haven't killed him?"

"Why would I kill him? I'm a pacifist."

Angell said this as he rubbed hard beneath his eyes. Yet this head's dark circles had also "grown" beneath its eyes, impossible to wipe away no matter what he did.

Angell sighed and gave up struggling. He found a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on the desk and put them on, instantly looking as refined and scholarly as the body's original owner.

"This puppet is very useful. Over the past six months, he's helped me cultivate quite a few useful pieces!"

"I think this is even crueler than killing him, meow!" Mithril remarked.

Angell paid no attention to this Argumentative Cat. After fixing up his appearance, he picked up the bell beside the bed and shook it.

Before long, a servant appeared before Angell.

"John, get me a ticket for the Movie Magical Girl ☆ Maya," Angell ordered as though it were only natural.

"...Master, I'm not John. I'm Tom," the servant replied oddly.

He felt that something was slightly off about his master.

But since the other party was his master and he was merely a servant, he had no right to question him at all.

The servant who called himself Tom could only ask cautiously, "The movie you mean, is it the one you were planning to see with Mr. Rice tonight?"

"Who cares whether it is or not? I want to see it now!" Angell ordered willfully.

"But that movie is extremely popular. It's almost impossible to buy tickets on the spot..."

"Hm? Are you explaining to me how difficult your task is?" Angell propped up his cheek and adjusted his glasses.

The servant shuddered.

"I'll handle it immediately!"

The servant hurried away.

He was a very useful servant. Sure enough, he quickly obtained the movie tickets and even prepared a carriage to take them to the cinema.

"So you're not socially anxious at a time like this!" the black cat said.

"Social anxiety only arises when you need to maintain a certain degree of interaction with people in real-life social situations," Angell said. "If the person you're interacting with doesn't know who you really are, and you don't have to take responsibility for anything you do, then you'll feel like it doesn't matter how you treat them."

Otherwise, why were there so many Argumentative Spirits online?

Angell was not online now, but he was wearing a disguise all the same.

More than ten minutes later, Angell arrived at the cinema entrance in a carriage.

He did not immediately get out of the carriage. Instead, he first took a look outside the cinema.

People.

So many people.

A metropolis like Xiesse truly was different from Cecilia. The crowd outside the theater reminded Angell of the subway entrance during morning commutes in the old days, the sort of place where it felt like you could move without your feet ever touching the ground.

"With this many people, I guess there really is no need to worry about the box office," Mithril said.

"Is that so?" Angell gazed at the posters surrounding the Iron Puppet Cinema.

On them, little Maya was smiling foolishly at everyone, still looking like there was something wrong with her brain.

For the first time, Angell found the smile of that noisy, stupid child somewhat reassuring.

—The heroine looks so stupid. There must be limits to how profound this can get, right?

Angell comforted himself like this and walked into the cinema.

Two hours later.

"Where is that bastard Allen?!" Angell asked through gritted teeth. "I remember that bastard was still wandering all over Cecilia not long ago!"

"He said recently that his deadline had arrived. It seems he temporarily left Cecilia to escape his editor's pursuit," Mithril replied. It was quite satisfied with the movie. "But the movie was good. It looked very interesting, meow."

"What was good about it?!" Angell said. "All I wanted was BaXX Little Magic Fairy, but he nearly turned it into Life of Pi. Even now, he only barely steered it back into HaX Potter, and it's the fifth one! No, it's even worse than the fifth one! Did he think I wouldn't notice that forced twist at the end? He nearly sacrificed the heroine!"

The thought alone sent a chill down Angell's spine.

The HaX Potter series would still be manageable, after all, it could still make plenty of money—though the main problem now was that Angell could not swallow up that much merchandise, and the thought of all that money slipping away made his heart ache—but if it had really been made into Life of Pi, what the hell merchandise would that thing even sell?!

Though he did not know what Allen's thought process had been, fortunately the situation had not turned out too badly and remained within Angell's tolerance! Otherwise, Angell would definitely have turned Allen into his chamber pot!

In short—

"If I ever hire a lunatic like Allen as a screenwriter again, I'm a fucking dog!"