The First Theater

"Leo! Settle down!" I raised my hand as if I was aimed a gun by a policeman. I tried to calm Leo down before he does anything rash. I've seen what magic could do. Marlon, the Magus who brought me here, had the capabilities to shoot out terrifying fireballs. The effects of magic could potentially be devastating. I knew that I could die if Leo decided to activate his wand.

"Answer me! What dark magic did you use to trap that person in there?" Leo wasn't convinced. His face was sharp although a bit flushed from drinking alcohol.

I walked slowly towards my laptop while Leo was still aiming his wand at me.

"Hey! Did I say you can move?" Leo warned.

I continued my walk anyway. I needed to show him something. Finally, I reach the laptop and I hurriedly connected the camera I was carrying to the laptop.

"Leo, look!" I pointed at the screen again to show him another video. It was of Leo's story time with me back in the tavern.

"That's.....me?" Leo was perplexed after seeing himself on the screen.

"Yes, that's you! You see, my job involves capturing reality and then creating a story out of it. You know that strange device I was carrying? That was used to record you telling The Boy And The Grakos from before! The person you just saw was also the same. That was just a recording of himself that a filmmaker captured!" I tried explaining the concept of capturing a video as simple as I can. Even then, I still found myself using some foreign terminologies that I'm not sure Leo or people of this world would be able to understand.

"I...see....so that person from before....was just a....what did you say...a 'recording'? I didn't know there was such a device in this world. There are some magic crystals in the capital that could show something happening far away but seeing past events? That's amazing." Leo muttered. At this point, he had already lowered down the wand.

"Yes! Although there are some filmmakers that specialize in recording reality as it is, my job is to create stories from these recordings. The footage that I just showed you were also like that! We call it a film." I replied. I'm actually still using English to communicate with him right now. Marlon's language spell was the one doing the translation. I'm not exactly sure if some words were translated correctly or not.

"That's...that's incredible! I must show this to someone else! Can I invite people from the tavern to watch?" Leo had gotten excited all of the sudden. After making sure I was not a demon or a dark magic user, it seemed he was intrigued about the technology presented before him.

"Sure...but there aren't enough seats..." I replied. "That won't be a problem! There are more seats inside we can bring out!" Leo replied right away. He then hurriedly walked back to the tavern and entered.

I was left alone outside. I contemplated whether I should just run away right now after almost being murdered by a Magus, but I decided against it. This could be my chance to gauge the townpeople's interest in films. I changed the video file showing on the projector back to Yojimbo again. Of course, I also rewinded the film back the film to the beginning.

After a while, Leo stepped out of the tavern with only five people following him. They were carrying similar leather uniform that the soldiers I've met in the forest were wearing but I haven't seen their faces.

"Brandon...I managed to only persuade five of my friends. The rest of the people there didn't believe what I said....they thought I was drunk. Fuckers." Leo seemed angry that people rejected him. It was understandable though. If someone barged into the tavern and started to tell a crazy story, you would just think he was drunk off his ass.

"Is this the foreigner? Why did you bring us outside? Leo, I think you drank a bit too much...." One of the soldiers said. He was a blonde-haired male with squinted eyes.

"C'mon Ren you gotta believe me this time! You won't believe what you're about to witness!" Leo started to defend his idea of getting them out of the tavern.

"What are those...things?" Another person was pointing at the projector and the laptop next to it. He was also quite curious about what it was.

"Leo, tell them to set up the chairs. I'll start the film soon." I told Leo. I was in the middle of setting up the film again. Although the real reason I called out to him was that I didn't want to explain everything again to Leo's friends.

Leo's friends had already borrowed some seats from the tavern so they quickly set it up in front of the projector screen. Leo and the others then sat down in their respective seats and the film started rolling again.

As the credits were rolling at the start of the film, Leo turned to his friends. "You will about to see someone on the screen in front of you. But fret not, he is not currently trapped inside that screen, but rather everything you are about to see has already occurred in the past!" Leo explained.

One of Leo's friends sighed. "What is this? It's just a bunch of names...Leo, you owe me my free time in the tavern. Buy me some drinks tomorrow"

"Ssshhh! It's starting!" Leo said.

The first scene of Yojimbo that Leo had seen before started again. The Ronin threw the stick up into the air and walked in the direction of the fallen stick. The whole film then started to unfold after that.

Throughout the film, I witnessed a lot of shocked and thrilled reactions from Leo and his friends. They were shocked at the scenes were unfolding before them and they were thrilled because the story itself was highly engaging and they seemed to like the main character. Finally, the film ended. There were a couple seconds of silence after the projector screen showed nothing but black again.

"....That was incredible!" Leo shouted.

"What was the main character's name? Sanjuro? He was a formidable warrior! I hope to be like him one day" One of Leo's friends also said with glee.

"I want to see more!" Another of Leo's friends also said.

As I saw their various reactions, something struck me. This was this world's first ever theater showing! And I just realized that perhaps I can make money out of this! Previously, I was already thinking on how to make money in this foreign world to fund my next project. But I forgot that I should just continue to make money the way other filmmakers have done for a century, by showing their films to an audience. I decided to capitalize on this idea. This will be this world's first ever theater.

As I was thinking about the idea, Leo called out to me. "Brandon, can you show us more?"

I stood up from my chair and walked in front of where they were seated to announce something.

"My friends, I will show you more every night! This was the first time I've shown a film about the people of this continent so you had the privileged of a private free showing! I will open my business here in the town square again tomorrow. Although I will show the same film again tomorrow so that more people can see it. Please bring your friends with you! I will consider a discount if you invite more people!" I suddenly turned into a salesman.

"I see! So this was your business! That was incredibly entertaining! I will tell everyone and bring more people tomorrow!" Leo's friend said.

"Me too! I have to return to my home now. I will bring my kids with me tomorrow!" Another person said.

After a while, Leo's five friends returned to the tavern and some went home after that. Leo stuck around for a bit.

"This film business is a novel idea my friend, but you will need the permission of the mayor to conduct business here," Leo advised me to meet the mayor and get a business permit. Truth be told, I didn't expect this country to be so organized in terms of business that I need a business permit. Perhaps I have underestimated some things.

" What a coincidence, I was invited to meet your master, Magus Marlon, who is also the mayor's sister tomorrow. I will ask for an audience with the mayor so I can get the permit. Thank you, Leo! I hope you come tomorrow" I told Leo.

"I will come with more people tomorrow! I can't wait to see that warrior in action again!" Leo left the square. I was finally alone again.

I packed up everything inside my van again. Suddenly, I felt a vibration from my phone inside my pocket. I opened my phone and the origin of the vibration was the mysterious app.

"5 Heart Points Gained! Due to the film shown not being the creation of the user, 90% of the heart points have been deducted. 0.5 Heart Points Gained!"

Did I receive some heart points?