Chapter 17
The firewood crackled as Melina sat by the fireplace and watched the dancing flames. The warmth from the fireplace dispelled the cold and moisture from her body, reminding her of the fact that she was still alive.
Melina was too old to be cheering and celebrating like the young ones. She continued to live on even after her family had been torn apart, just to see through her husband’s last wish. She was already prepared for her miserable life to end in the Demonic Realm, yet she survived.
Not only did she survive, but the gods also gave her a new goal, a new reason to live.
“Belle, I’m going to the city the day after tomorrow.”
Melina turned to the young girl sitting on the other side of the fireplace. Ynor was holding a book and reading it while sitting in front of the fire.
There were no precious items like books in the village, and that book was part of the only goods that Melina had left.
If that merchant could accept Ynor’s true identity, Joshua did not mind letting Ynor live on with her.
“Perhaps I can develop a demon summoning business in the future.”
Joshua did not think that there was anything sinister or evil with the ritual of demon summoning since everyone just had to fulfill their end of the contract. Plus, in modern terms, they were no different than business partners.
Perhaps it was the price of life required for the ritual that led to its infamy.
In reality, human life was of no use to demons, though. They could not eat it or use it to strengthen themselves. They would prefer for it to be replaced with something much more practical… like gold or currency. Those were much more useful.
“A business?”
Ciri lost count of the number of times she had heard Joshua spout some bizarre terminology.
“It is something like the Demonic Cartel, the Demonic Agency, or the Demonic Yoruzuya or whatnot. Maybe it can drive the economy in both the Demonic and Human Realms. Then, I can promote it using “A summoning circle will solve all of your problems.” as a catchphrase. Well… it’s just an idea.”
It was just something Joshua had envisioned, and his vision depended on the premise of humans trusting demons.
In order to reach that goal, Joshua would need plenty of time, but the first step now was to shoot the movie first.
At present, the only plotline left was Belle singing along with the villagers during the day. However, it was already evening in the Human Realm, so Joshua had to wait until the next day to continue shooting.
“Time to check out the other shooting spot.”
The next scene was in the all-important castle, and the Royal Castle in the Demonic Realm was simply too far away. Hence, before he had started filming, he identified a more suitable castle via the map of the Demonic Realm.
Whether the owner of the castle would allow Joshua to use it as a shooting location was still a question, and it was one that Joshua needed to resolve immediately.