Chapter 21: The Name That Reached Even the Capital (1)
Chapter 21: The Name That Reached Even the Capital (1)
(21/225)
The escort procession, which had been expected to take at least a month and possibly up to a month and a half, arrived near the capital of Colses in just twenty-five days and was now waiting to enter the city.
Because they had arrived earlier than the scheduled date, the escort sent a messenger ahead to Marquis Hasrak—the family with whom they were to formally meet—before entering the city.
“Yaaawn… this is boring.”
“I didn’t think it would take this long. Sitting around like this makes me restless.”
As they waited for the messenger to return, those standing by failed to hide their boredom, yawning or stretching.
Meanwhile, Jinseo was watching a drama saved on his smartphone.
It was a drama he usually watched one episode a day when he couldn’t sleep, and since it suited his tastes fairly well, he was already watching the tenth episode out of twenty.
“Why can’t you say you love me? Say it! Say I’m your woman! And that you’re my man!”
“I want to say it too! But we can’t deny reality…”
The content of the drama itself was the very definition of a typical Korean drama.
Most of the familiar clichés had been used, and since it focused on love and conflict between a man and a woman, Jinseo had found it boring when he watched the first episode.
However, from Jinseo’s perspective, the Francia Continent was a world with extremely few forms of entertainment.
Because of that, even a drama he would have ignored back in Korea felt unexpectedly fresh when watched here.
“Jinseo, what are you watching?”
The one who suddenly leaned over his shoulder was Fedora.
“Ah, it’s a drama.”
Jinseo paused the video and held the smartphone screen close to Fedora’s face.
“A drama?”
“How should I explain it… For now, just watch.”
“The images inside… they’re moving?”
“Could you check whether you can understand what they’re saying clearly?”
Since they had been able to communicate verbally ever since he first arrived on the Francia Continent, Jinseo wanted to confirm whether she could also understand the voices of actors speaking Korean.
“Wait… I can hear their voices too? What exactly is this?”
“It would take quite a while to explain in detail. For now, you can understand what they’re saying, right?”
“Y-yes, I can.”
When Fedora nodded, Jinseo resumed the drama and explained things in a way that was easy for her to understand.
He glossed over the more complicated parts, but there was no real issue.
That was because, without even realizing it, she had become completely absorbed in the drama.
Even so, she reacted to each scene as it appeared.
“Th-that! Over there—does that kind of clothing… normally exist there?”
Fedora’s face flushed slightly as she carefully examined the skirt length of the woman opposing the female lead.
“They’re eating snacks there too!”
She raised her voice as she pointed at the scene where the arguing man and woman ate tteokbokki with stiff expressions.
To Jinseo, it was nothing more than a drama, but to her, every image displayed on the screen was something mysterious.
“That building the man just entered—wasn’t that a cathedral? Has the Heirem Church spread to your country as well?”
When Jinseo quietly shook his head with a smile in response, disappointment was clear on Fedora’s face.
Even so, she couldn’t take her eyes off the screen and stayed focused until the episode ended.
Perhaps due to the excitement of encountering something new, Fedora’s face was flushed.
“So… in your country, you create performances like this and use special magic so that many people can watch them?”
“Strictly speaking, dramas are different from plays. But since there’s no concept of dramas here, it’ll probably be easier for you to understand it that way.”
“I was wondering how people fit inside such a small metal plate. But even after understanding it… it’s still amazing.”
Holding the smartphone with both hands, Fedora turned it this way and that, unable to stop marveling.
I was expecting a bigger reaction, Jinseo thought, but maybe this is normal in a world where magic and divine power exist.
If something can’t be explained, they can just accept it as magic or the will of the gods.
Jinseo himself had readily accepted the existence of monsters, magic, and divine power that did not exist in his original world.
That was largely because he already had some familiarity with fantasy worlds through various forms of media.
At first, being in a place where such things truly existed had excited him, but as time passed, his reactions became no different from Fedora’s now.
“There’s another episode. Would you like to keep watching?”
“It wasn’t over?”
“No, but…”
Jinseo glanced casually at the escort members gathered around Oswald’s carriage.
Everyone looks bored. This would be the perfect time to watch something together.
His gaze shifted to the large TV he had upgraded but had not turned on even once.
Should I try turning it on? The cardinal’s reaction earlier suggested it wouldn’t be a problem. Since dramas are long, a movie would be better.
However, Jinseo rarely watched Korean movies, and all the films he had saved were foreign ones.
Most of them were subtitled rather than dubbed, making it unlikely the others would understand them.
They could understand spoken language, but written language did not carry over.
Would foreign languages work the same way as Korean?
He shook his head and abandoned the idea.
If they couldn’t understand it, showing it would only make things worse.
Right—I bought that one in dubbed form by mistake.
Recalling the title, Jinseo went into the food truck.
A moment later, he returned with the remote control and approached Fedora with a slight smile.
“Your Eminence, would you like to watch a movie instead of a drama?”
“A movie?”
“To put it simply, you can think of it as a much better-made drama.”
At the phrase “much better-made,” Fedora’s eyes widened.
“However, I’d like to show it to the others as well.”
Jinseo turned on the large TV attached beside the additional trailer.
“That movie comes out of something that large?”
“It might feel familiar to people of the Francia Continent. But first, just a moment.”
Leaving Fedora behind, Jinseo walked toward Oswald’s carriage.
Oswald was sitting on a stump beside the carriage, yawning exaggeratedly.
This stood in contrast to the escort members, who at least tried to cover their mouths when yawning.
“Yaaawn… this really is boring. You feel the same, don’t you?”
“May I play a movie to pass the time?”
“A movie? What’s that?”
“I’ll show you first rather than explain. Please come this way.”
Jinseo guided Oswald toward the large TV, and those escorting him naturally followed.
“Hmm? It was black before. Why is there a picture now?”
“I’ll explain later. For now, I’ll start it.”
The moment Jinseo pressed the play button,
the escort members widened their eyes and rushed toward the screen.
“W-what is that?”
“L-look at that metal plate! There are people inside it!”
The movie Jinseo had chosen was a fantasy film depicting an expedition to save the world.
The first film of the trilogy was screened amid constant admiration.
Oswald and the escort members gathered around the table and watched in silence.
Since Jinseo had seen it many times, he did not watch along and instead prepared an early lunch inside the food truck.
Food that paired well with a movie usually meant popcorn and soda.
Without the ingredients for popcorn, he substituted it with gimbap that was easy to hold.
Everyone held a roll of gimbap in one hand and a can of soda in the other, unable to look away from the screen.
When the messenger returned, the lord insisted on hearing the report only after the movie ended.
Even the messenger, who had been confused at first, soon became absorbed.
Two hours passed quietly, and the movie moved toward its climax.
“It’s over. I’ll play the next one another time.”
As the credits began to roll, Jinseo turned off the TV.
Even so, no one spoke for a while.
Then, one by one, voices began to rise, and the atmosphere grew lively.
“To witness a performance staged on such a grand scale… truly astonishing.”
“The scene showing the battlefield from the sky left a strong impression on me. Traditional plays could never show something like that.”
Oswald and Aston spoke as they recalled scenes still vivid in their minds.
Aston clenched his fist as he remembered the cavalry clash.
“That magic the wizard used was impressive. It looked exactly like how it would appear in a real battle.”
Meanwhile, the mages from Doren Mage Tower discussed the magic scenes enthusiastically.
Watching them, Jinseo felt as though he were seeing students analyzing a science fiction film.
I thought they’d be more curious about how the TV worked.
At some point, the mysterious items Jinseo brought were simply accepted as things created by incomprehensible magic.
Just as Jinseo accepted magic itself despite not understanding its processes.
“I want to see the elves from the movie.”
“I’d rather see dwarves.”
Some of the escort members gestured vividly as they spoke.
Jinseo couldn’t help but smile.
The very races he once thought he might encounter here were considered mysterious even by the people of this world.
“It was very different from the drama, but the movie was interesting too,” Fedora said calmly. “But I still prefer dramas. The movie showed things I could imagine, but the drama showed a world beyond imagination.”
“For me, the Francia Continent itself is an unknown world,” Jinseo replied.
Later, when Fedora mentioned wanting to visit Jinseo’s homeland, he consulted the AI internally.
AI, is it possible to take someone from here to my world?
{– In principle, transporting living beings other than the owner between worlds is prohibited. –}
“It’s not possible right now,” Jinseo said.
“That’s unfortunate.”
Fedora looked genuinely disappointed as she glanced at the food truck.