Edced a bag full of gold s oable and said, “I want to rent you and your house for a few months. This is the deposit. The final payment will be at least twenty times this amount.”

  Saeki looked at the bag of gold in astonishment.

  It tai least two hundred gold s—a fortuhat would take a silver-ranked adve least six months of hard bor to earn.

  “Rent me and my house?”

  Before Saeki could specute further, Edward tinued, “Yes. I am pnning to make a film, and I want to use your house as a shooting location. Also, I want you to py the lead role in the film.”

  “???”

  Being from the Northerory, Saeki had no idea what the word "film" meant.

  Edward had anticipated this, so he quickly expined, allowing the reclusive adveo grasp the cept of films and actors.

  After uanding...

  “Sorry, I ’t do that, Mr. Edward,” Saeki immediately refused.

  Although he g the gold s, which were enough to support him and the children he had taken in for years, he ultimately replied firmly, “I don’t want to get involved in any more trouble. My current situation might attranecessary attention. For the sake of these children...”

  “For the sake of these children, you should do it,” Edward tered. “You haven’t been active as an adventurer for quite some time, right? These s should help cover as you've accumuted. pleting my ission will earn you enough moo live fortably for the rest of your life. No matter how you look at it, you have no reason to refuse.”

  “But I am a monster now—a creature who would be hunted down by the Church if my identity is revealed. If I am gohese children will truly have no oo depend on,” Saeki replied with hesitation.

  Seeing the adventurer's dilemma, Edward suddenly asked, “What if I could offer you a ce to return to human society?”

  “??!”

  “Calm down, Saeki. Things aren’t as bad as you think. Your identity hasn’t been exposed yet, so you still have several choices to make. Right now, you have a choice: either accept my offer, take this money, and gamble on a ce to return to human society, or reject it and tinue living outside town, where you and these children will live in fear, eating bck bread every day. It’s entirely up to you.”

  As Edward spoke, he felt as though his persuasive skills were gettier, making him wonder if he was more of a artist than a director.

  Oher hand, Saeki's hesitation showed that Edward's persuasion was w.

  Saeki gnced around at the children behind him, showing a flicted expression.

  One of the children, a girl around fifteen or sixteen, smiled and said, “Uncle Saeki, don’t worry about us. We all know that you’ve always wao return to your adventurer life, to explore and see every er of the empire, to bee the legendary hero sung about by bards. Now, you’re like a bird with broken wings or a fish out of water. This isn’t the real you.”

  “Nora, you…”

  Saeki was stunned by the words of the girl who had always seemed so obedient.

  At the same time, Edward chimed in, “That’s right. This child is spot on. You became an adventurer because it’s what you wanted, right? You’d rather be known as the mighty, legendary adventurer Saeki than as ‘Saeki, the farmer.’ This isn’t who you are, is it?”

  “……”

  Eventually, Saeki took the bag of gold, which could be sidered his salvation.

  He decided to agree to Edward’s proposal.

  After all, if he didn’t repay his debts soon, he might lose his right to live he town.

  In a way, Edward’s appearance was a godsend, and that was a signifit reason why Saeki agreed to the proposal.

  However, he did not yet realize how much this decision would ge his life.

  <+>

  In the Adventurers' Guild of Winter City, Northerory.

  Because Guild Master Eliza had posted a notice calling for actors aras, the adventurers who had passed the first round of auditions were gathered here.

  Among them were several rookie adventurers from the Southerory, two receptionists from the Adventurers' Guild, and some veteran adventurers from the Northeruild.

  Additionally, Daphne and her bodyguards were present because they had received the notice.

  “Miss, are we really not going back? Sneaking off to the Northerory like this, without a word, will drive the Duke mad,” one of her bodyguards said.

  Unfazed, Daphne replied, “Of course not. I finally passed the audition. How I leave before filming is over?! Even if Father es personally to get me, I won’t give up!”

  Seeing the girl’s determination, the bodyguard gave up trying to persuade her and instead looked at the adventurers.

  Due to the regional differehe adventurers from the Northern and Southerory were waiting in different postures and clearly had different expectations for what was to e.

  “I hought we’d use a teleportation magic circle to e to the Northerory to make a movie! This is my first time using a teleportation circle!”

  “Same here! And what kind of movie will it be this time? Is it a sequel to KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!? Do we have a ce to py the main roles?”

  “Haha, you’re dreaming if you think you be the lead. We’ll be lucky if we’re background characters in the boss fight.”

  The enthusiastic discussions of the rookie adventurers could be heard clearly.

  Seeing this, Daphne, who knew some of the script details, wore a subtle expression, choosing not to reveal the truth to them.

  Soon, as Guild Master Eliza and Edward walked over, the lively atmosphere quieted down.

  Fag the crowd’s eager, skeptical, or apprehensive looks, Edward calmly announced, “Ladies alemen, please quiet down. Soon, Guild Master Eliza will distribute the script and character breakdowns for this movie, and you will be auditioning for roles. Once your roles are assigned and you’ve learned your lines, we will immediately begin shooting!”

  Sinone of these people were professional actors, Edward did not pn to give them several days to prepare.

  He only hem to act as themselves, with the aid of a little suggestion magic.

  Zaztra_Vandesh