Chapter 39 - Poster
The movie was still playing, so Joshua took advantage of the time to look for Sir Weissenasche outside the screening room and thoroughly clarified how the was theater would operate.
"This is the ticket?"
Joshua held a silver coin in his hand, and the front of the coin had a dark golden pattern on it, while the back had a number "38".
The coin was not Norland's currency, but it was similar to a token found in an arcade hall.
"Yes, Sir. You are holding the ticket for the ordinary seats. There are also tickets for the superior seats and VIP guest seats."
Sir Weissenasche showed two faint gold coins to Joshua, and the difference between these two coins was the color of the patterns on it.
In an era where the printer did not exist, it was undoubtedly more convenient to use a token compared to hand-written paper tickets.
"The price of a normal ticket is generally one silver coin, while the special seats are one gold coin. The VIP seats are generally reserved for audiences that I've personally invited."
Sir Weissenasche's ticket price was considered fair. At least in an economically-developed small country like Norland, normal civilians could fully afford the price of a normal ticket.
"How about the publicity works? Handwritten flyers?"
The leaflet Joshua had obtained from the Norland National Theater was written entirely by hand.
"In the past, we didn't need any publicity at all. The Weissenasche name itself was the best publicity... but lately..."
Sir Weissenasche did not revel in his past glory, instantly returning to face the cold and cruel reality.
So his theater had been surviving on word of mouth all this while? There was a saying in China that good wine did not fear deep alleys, but if there was another tavern right at the door of your alley pulling your customers away, no matter how good your wine was, your patrons would all disappear.
That was the situation Sir Weissenasche was facing now... No, it was much worse. Not only had all of his customers been taken away, but even his "bartenders" had also been poached to the last man by Norland National Theater.
Sir Weissenasche was only left with his theater.
"Publicity is a must."
Word-of-mouth was, of course, important, but if one were to depend on it alone, one would die without knowing it.
"Of course, Sir... I'll hire someone to write the flyers right away."
"Using flyers is just too slow, and I don't think that the National Theater would allow you to simply do that."
Joshua recalled the Weissenasche Theater's recent experience, and he could clearly see that the Norland National Theater was determined to wipe it out from Norland and then reign supreme there.
There was nothing more profitable than an absolute monopoly!
If Sir Weissenasche was to send someone out to distribute flyers now, that person would definitely encounter all kinds of resistance. So, it was a huge question mark if the flyers could be distributed or not.
"Then... Sir, how do we promote it?"
Sir Weissenasche wiped off the sweat on his forehead. Joshua had also noticed that the latter was definitely at a disadvantage in a competition against the Norland National Theater. Yet, flyers were the only promotion method Sir Weissenasche could think of.
"Let's directly go to the posters."
Joshua could make full use of the originium crystal's advantage in infinite magnification. The Weissenasche Theater was originally a magnificent building. By hanging a huge white background on the side of the theater's entrance, they could project the most classic moment of "Beauty and the Demon" on it and then add the name of the movie as well as the list of the performers on it. That was much more useful than any flyer...
Just like the huge posters one could see everywhere in the cities on Earth.
"To... aster?"
Sir Weissenasche did not seem to understand the meaning of the word Joshua had just said.
"No flyers are needed. That white background wall in the hall, while I have no idea what it is made of, I need one that is big enough to stand upright beside your theater's entrance."
"I can prepare that, but I may need two to three days."
Sir Weissenasche glanced at Joshua after he said that and carefully asked, "Is there anything else?"
"No, you can go back and watch it. I think you probably haven't missed too many of the nice parts."
"Yes, Sir."
With Joshua's permission, Sir Weissenasche's hurried back to the performance hall.
Joshua was actually wondering if he should be selling finger foods like popcorn or cola in the theater, but after some consideration, he gave up on the idea. "Beauty and the Demon" was not a popcorn movie, and they were not at a point in time where the movie could start making ancillary income.
What Joshua wanted to do now was to spread the popularity of the movie.
...
Hyrlan sat in her seat, at a loss for words for a long while.
She had indeed been moved to tears by the plot of "Beauty and the Demon", but in addition to being moved, the movie gave Hyrlan something to contemplate on.
Hyrlan was not as naive as Ciri was. Aside from the movie's outstanding storyline, what terrified Hyrlan was the feeling that the movie brought to her.
It had the ability to let her see a "new world". That was something impossible to achieve in any stage play, and Hyrlan had been yearning for such a world.
Hyrlan yearned to participate in the world of "Beauty and the Demon" through some method and help Belle meet the demon much earlier on, or to help the demon drive away the ignorant villagers in the end.
She truly had the urge.
Hyrlan looked at the window of Pong in her vision and remembered the elf Joshua had drawn using her device.
Sylvanas Windrunner—Hyrlan believed that the elf had more than just a name. There had to be an unknown story behind her, and perhaps just like "Beauty and the Demon", it would be an unforgettable story.
Joshua had indeed planned to tell the tale of Sylvanas to the world, but not through the method of "Beauty and the Demon", rather, through the way of Pong.
Thinking of that gave Hyrlan some sort of anticipation, which had no idea came from where. She had read plenty of travel stories in the academy's library and lamented at the experiences of the protagonists in those stories.
However, she had never been so desperate to personally get involved in a story.
"Sis, do you believe that demons could really love humans?"
Ciri's out-of-the-blue question interrupted Hyrlan's thoughts, and the movie had reached the part where Belle and the demon were dancing in the castle hall.
It was a very romantic scene accompanied by music, enough to make anyone a part of the audience to have the urge to "fall in love" right then.
Hyrlan was affected by it, and Ciri was no exception.
"Why the sudden question?"
"No... Nothing. Maybe I'm just overthinking."
Ciri touched the "collar" around her neck. Now that she was alone with Hyrlan, it was the best time for her to tell Hyrlan the truth about her relationship with Joshua and also seek her help. Yet, Ciri hesitated for a bit before she chose to hide the matter.
If she told Hyrlan about it, she would lose her only connection to Joshua...