He puffed out his chest with pride.
It was true. Van’s concentration of artists made it easy to prepare backdrops and other stage props. And with the steady growth of the industry due to “a certain reason,” production had been split between cities: news and variety shows in the capital, Parnam, and dramas, educational programs, and hero shows in Van.
Ivan snapped his fingers.
“Well, rather than jabber on about it here, it’d be easier to show you the set itself. They should be shooting nearby right now.”
With that, he led Lombard, Yomi, and Margarita through the streets.
As they walked, the bright, colorful roofs caught their attention. Some were painted in such toxic-looking shades that one might expect to find poisonous mushrooms of the same color, but the townsfolk didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.
“Those are some rather...unique houses,” Lombard said, choosing his words carefully so as not to offend the local lord.
Ivan, clearly used to such comments, threw back his head and laughed.
“Many of the residents here are artists. They’re free to paint their houses however they please. Not all of Van looks like this though. There are protected districts the country maintains in their original states for filming.”
“So the old streets were deliberately preserved?”
“Yes. His Majesty’s idea. According to him, ‘They’ll have historical value one day, but even now they’re useful for shooting period dramas.’”
Souma had likely been thinking of places like Himeji Castle or Uzumasa, which were also used as filming locations. As a former military city, Van and many of its surrounding towns and villages still had streets in the old style, making them perfect backdrops for chivalric romances.
Hearing this, Lombard crossed his arms thoughtfully. “We could learn from his philosophy of using things to their fullest potential.”
“I wonder what we have in our own country,” Yomi mused.
“I suppose we have a lot of untouched dungeons. I’ve always thought of them as nuisances, but...if we took a page from Sir Souma’s book, perhaps we could turn them into some sort of national project.”
“Hee hee, you’re right.”
As the two of them continued walking and talking...
“Hold on!”
Suddenly, a woman’s voice rang out. Yomi flinched at the sudden noise, but Ivan waved it off with a casual gesture.
“Oh, don’t mind that. I told you, didn’t I? They’re filming nearby.”
He pointed towards two women in frilly, lorelei-style outfits—though theirs were fitted for mobility, clearly designed for intense action scenes.
Facing them was a walrus beastman dressed in a thorn-covered punk rocker outfit.
One of the women, a feline beastman, pointed accusingly at him. “Phantom Thief Todoashikan! Up to no good again, I see! We’ll punish you!”
Her partner, a human woman, nodded firmly.
“Yes! For love, we fight. Let’s go, Pure Honey!”
“Right, Pure Bunny!”
They struck a dramatic pose.
“The soldiers of love—Honey Bunny—have arrived!!!”
Pure Honey, the feline beastman in a yellow costume, kept her finger trained on the walrus as she declared, “Phantom Thief Todoashikan! How dare you turn all the crepes at the children’s favorite crepe shop into fried squid! I mean, sure, I love fried squid, but I’ve had enough of your nonsense!”
Pure Bunny, dressed in a white costume, shifted into a fighting stance.
“Sweet foods enrich the heart. Heaven may forgive your crimes, but we won’t! We’ll fight for as long as children have dreams. Until our last drop of blood has dried!”
“How cheeky! Get them, Demonbeast Gesogeson!”
Todoashikan’s unnecessarily handsome baritone boomed as a massive bipedal squid—clearly someone in a costume—lurched into view from behind him.
“Geeesogeson!”
Shouting its own name, the squid swung two tentacles like whips. (The other six merely swayed awkwardly in time with the actor’s movements.)
Honey and Bunny dodged, then slammed their palms into Gesogeson’s torso in perfect unison.
““Hahhhh!””
“Geso?!”
The sharp impact sent Gesogeson reeling backwards, stumbling into Todoashikan. The two toppled over in a heap.
“Wha?! G-Get off me, Gesogeson!”
“Ge... Gesogeso...”
Gesogeson struggled to rise, but his mostly immobile tentacles tangled around Todoashikan, pinning them both down.
The panic looked so genuine that it was hard to tell whether this was a blooper or a deliberate bit of slapstick, but Honey and Bunny weren’t about to waste the chance.
“U-Um... Th-This is our chance, Honey!”
“I know, Bunny! Ready? One, two...!”
““Pure Heart Stick!!!””
They each drew a short rod adorned with ribbons and heart motifs, pointing their rods at the fallen villains.
““Honey Bunny—Pure Heart Finale!!!””
With their unified shout, a shower of glowing hearts burst from their sticks, swirling around Todoashikan and Gesogeson.
“Grr! Retreat!”
Todoashikan scrambled free and fled the scene. Gesogeson, however, was left flailing in the storm of hearts, crying “Gesogesooon!” before vanishing completely.
When the last heart faded, only a fried squid on a plate remained. Apparently, it had been transformed into a monster...at least according to the show’s plot. (The fried squid, incidentally, was eaten by the crew once filming wrapped.)
With peace restored, Honey and Bunny high-fived triumphantly.
“Cut!” came a voice from off to the side. The shoot was officially over. Staff members hurried in to congratulate the two heroines, and even Todoashikan, who’d dramatically “fled” moments earlier, was among them, looking completely relaxed.
Lombard and Yomi could only stare. The strange yet charming scene had unfolded so abruptly that they’d stopped thinking altogether—and before they knew it, they’d watched the entire performance from start to finish.
Snapping back to his senses, Lombard looked at Ivan.
“Um, Sir Ivan, what in the world was that just now?”
“As you saw, they were filming a broadcast program—a new heroine show for girls called They Are Honey Bunny: Pure MAX!!!”
“You mean it’s specifically aimed at young girls?”
“Yes. The program I star in, Charge! Silvan, was well received, but its content was aimed at boys. That led to requests for a cute heroine series targeted at girls. His Majesty approved the idea, and put this project together.”