Chapter 154: Preparing for the Frost Film Festival!
The more beautiful the imagination, the harsher the reality.
To prepare for the Frost Film Festival, Edward decided to have four films start shooting simultaneously in different locations. On paper, this seemed like a perfect plan to maximize efficiency and produce multiple movies at once.
However, once the plan was put into action, Edward quickly realized what a nightmare it actually was.
His "good day" ended the moment he woke up. He didn't even have time to brush his teeth or wash his face before he was forced to start preparing for the filming process of Steins;Gate.
But before he could even finish, word came from Chase's side—just one day after the official start of filming for KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!, problems had already arisen.
As a result, Edward had to temporarily abandon his own work and travel to southern territory's Nosrick to handle various filming issues. These included, but were not limited to: actors causing trouble, a small-scale strike led by Aya, magical blockages in the filming equipment due to the icy environment, Viz's summoned ghost going berserk and disturbing the entire city…
By the time he resolved everything, the entire day had already passed. Edward returned exhausted to the Imperial Mage Academy, hoping for some rest, only to be suddenly ambushed by Ska.
As it turned out, the Magitech creation known as television still lacked quality assurance. Numerous defects had appeared, and only the most professional arcane alchemist—namely, Edward himself—could fix them.
Thus, he was forced to pull an all-nighter repairing the malfunctioning televisions. Stacking over thirty enhancement buffs on himself, he finally managed to finish all the repairs.
And then… he realized the sun had risen.
Before he even had a chance to rest, Gebrun and the rest of the Steins;Gate cast arrived, right on time, ready to begin filming as scheduled.
Despite the blood seeping from the corners of his eyes from sheer exhaustion, Edward clenched his teeth, nodded, and grabbed his equipment, heading to the pre-arranged filming location—the clubroom at the Imperial Mage Academy.
After a chaotic round of setup and final adjustments, Edward took a deep breath and shouted:
"Actors ready! All departments set! Now, Steins;Gate: The Butterfly's Flap of Fate officially begins filming!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Edward staggered, feeling his spiritual energy reaching its absolute limit.
With the filming of The Garden of Sinners still ahead of him, he didn't even have the strength left to force a bitter smile.
<+>
Eastern Territory, the Coastal Arkans City
Edward had visited Arkans City once before while filming Fate/Zero. Due to the various remnants left behind from the shoot, the city had since become a popular tourist destination for the southern territory imperial citizens.
Although there were no cinemas in the Eastern Territory yet, the sudden influx of visitors had made the people of Arkans City more aware of the concept of movies.
Some were so fascinated that they traveled to the southern territory just to experience the highly popular films for themselves.
A portion of these Easterners, after becoming completely enamored with movies, didn't even bother returning home—they simply settled down in the southern territory permanently.
And this time, Edward had come to this city once again, primarily for the filming of The Garden of Sinners: Chapter 5 - Paradox Spiral.
As previously mentioned, Edward had filmed the first four chapters of The Garden of Sinners in one go, but he only released three of them. This was a precaution—keeping one in reserve just in case of unexpected issues, much like stockpiling a draft.
Now, he was here to film Chapter 5 - Paradox Spiral.
The reason for choosing Arkans City in the Eastern Territory was simple: the towering skyscraper featured in Paradox Spiral could only be found in such a prosperous coastal city.
This world was vast and boundless. Across the sea lay numerous non-human races, including but not limited to elves, dwarves, goblins, merfolk, giants… and even the legendary dragon race.
By comparison, the continent where humans resided had only a single neighboring Beastkin Kingdom, with scattered minor nations composed mostly of demi-human species. The biodiversity was rather limited.
Thanks to its thriving maritime trade, the Eastern Territory was the most developed region within the empire, closely resembling a modern city.
The fact that Fate/Zero was filmed here before was evidence enough—Arkans City had already incorporated some modernized elements into its landscapes, making the shooting process much smoother.
Upon arriving in Arkans City, Edward immediately headed to the filming site, where the crew was already waiting for him.
He had previously neglected to introduce the production team of The Garden of Sinners. This team consisted of carefully selected members from various theater troupes in the southern territory.
Each of them had gained ample experience from working on Fate/Zero, which was why filming The Garden of Sinners had gone so smoothly.
The lead actors portraying Ryougi Shiki and Kokutou Mikiya were also the stars of Butterfly Dream Troupe, one of the most renowned theater troupes in the southern territory, once rivaling the famed Snow Flower Troupe.
Thanks to Chase maintaining a good relationship with them and having their contact information, Edward had successfully recruited this outstanding troupe into his ranks.
At this moment, in addition to the Butterfly Dream Troupe troupe and the rest of the production team, Arch Mage Rosa and Professor Streige had also arrived on set.
The two of them were staring in astonishment at the elaborate setup along the eastern coastline, confusion evident in their expressions as they asked:
"What's going on over there? Are you filming something?"
"I don't recall The Garden of Sinners having any scenes that require a seaside location."
Hearing this, Edward calmly replied, "That's not for The Garden of Sinners."
"Then what is it for?"
Edward merely smiled in response. "Do you remember the final scene of Fate/Zero's first chapter?"
"The final scene? Wait, that—"
Before Arch Mage Rosa and Streige could finish their thoughts, a massive and terrifying shadow suddenly emerged from the distant sea.
At the same time, the numerous structures set up along the coastline simultaneously activated, forming an enormous barrier that enclosed everything inside.
Though ordinary people's perceptions were completely blocked, as Grand Mages and Arch Mage, Edward, Rosa, and Streige could still pierce through the veil with their vast magical power and witness everything inside.
"This… could it really be… a genuine eldritch god? How was such a thing even summoned?"
Even a grand Arch Mage like Rosa was visibly shaken.
But Edward simply chuckled and said, "Edward Film Studio, as the finest film studio, naturally has some rather special staff members. Isn't that only to be expected?"
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind paying $5 each month to read till the latest chapter, please go to my
Latest Post In Patreon:
Link to the chapter: