"Lord Edward, dinner is ready."
The maid's voice called from outside the room.
Durin, who had just emerged from the workshop, paused for a moment before striding quickly down the stairs.
The castle's only maid, Winry, was an orphan taken in by the previous Baron Edward. Having grown up in the castle, she possessed immense loyalty to the family and a deep sense of worry for Durin, her childhood friend.
After all, he had gone from being the family's greatest hope to its biggest disappointment after returning from the Tower of Mages. It was easy to imagine how terrible his state of mind had been.
Determined to care for her master until he emerged from his depression, Winry had done everything she possibly could. She acted as a proxy lord, handled the estate's affairs, negotiated with other nobles, and took care of Durin's daily needs. If not for Winry managing the castle after the old Baron's death, the Edward family would have likely collapsed long ago.
For the current Durin, Winry was the only light in the darkness. She was the one person who gave his boring new life a little bit of meaning.
He rushed down from the tower, not even out of breath, and leaned against the wall. "I'm here. Thank you for your hard work, Winry."
"Ah, it's no trouble. It's my duty…"
A strange expression crossed her face. To Winry, the Durin of recent days was like a completely different person. He was willing to listen to her talk about trivial matters and had become much more outgoing. While he still ignored the castle's official business, he no longer locked himself in his room all day.
Although the change was drastic, she was simply happy her master was recovering. She focused on performing her duties as a maid flawlessly, without a hint of laziness.
On the other side, Durin looked at the prim and proper, golden-haired girl before him and felt his spirits lift. The gloom in his heart was swept away, and he almost forgot he was in a world without computers or phones. He started to think that maybe, just maybe, this life wasn't so bad after all.
As a former anime fan, Durin was an unapologetic sucker for blondes and maids. With both elements combined perfectly in Winry, he couldn't imagine a more blissful place.
Ah, if only she had beast ears. A golden-haired girl with beast ears… hehehe…
Winry, long accustomed to Durin zoning out into this lecherous state, simply rubbed her forehead in resignation. "Lord Edward," she said, cutting through his daydream, "I have rejected the banquet invitation that arrived from the Grand Duke of the South, just as you instructed. However, he is clearly displeased. I fear our lives may become quite difficult for a while."
"Let him be. In the end, even a Grand Duke has no right to boss around another noble."
"But Lord Edward, the debt your father left behind…"
It was true. The old Baron Edward had accumulated massive debts to pay for the education of Durin and his younger brother, Al. If Durin had graduated from the Tower of Mages and become an official Imperial Magus, the debt could have been repaid with public funds. But with Durin's expulsion, the Edward family no longer had the means to repay it.
"The Grand Duke has always held you in high regard, Lord Edward. If you were willing…"
"Impossible!" Durin cut her off before she could finish. "The relationship between the four territories and the Imperial Capital is tense right now. With the new king ascending the throne, conflict is inevitable. Choosing a side at this moment is like rolling the dice and waiting to die. I may have been called a genius who became an Archmage faster than anyone in history, but in the face of war, I'm just a disposable pawn."
Durin knew his own worth. Gaining a Grand Duke's favor seemed wonderful on the surface, but the underlying risks were enormous. If it were just him, it might be fine, but if he acted in his capacity as Baron Edward, the entire family would be implicated in the aftermath.
Understanding his resolve, Winry nodded helplessly and sighed. "But what about the debt? The harvests on our lands haven't been good these past few years, and with the economic decline in the South, we'll soon be unable to even pay the retainers' commissions."
She was right. Since the old Baron's death, the family's finances had gone from bad to worse. While powerful noble families had vast private fortunes, a fringe family like the Edwards, with no connection to the formal aristocratic social circles, had no such thing. If Winry said they were out of money, it meant they were truly on the brink of collapse.
Durin, who had been walking forward, suddenly stopped. "Winry," he asked, "what options do we have to get through this crisis?"
Taken aback by his directness, Winry thought for a moment. "Besides siding with the Grand Duke, perhaps Lord Al, who joined the army many years ago, might have a solution. But honestly, I would rather you leave this castle right now, Lord Edward. If you leave, even if the creditors come to collect, it would be difficult for them to find you if you lived under an assumed name…"
Durin replied calmly, "You're wrong, Winry. Relying on others is a bad habit, and running away is not a solution. First, just tell me, how much do we owe?"
"With interest, we owe more than fifty thousand gold coins… But after daily expenses, the House of Edward has less than two thousand gold left. We couldn't repay it even if we sold the castle and our lands…"
Winry's expression was grim. Durin understood her anxiety and thought for a moment.
Based on this world's economy, even if he wrote a bestseller novel, he would be lucky to earn a four-figure sum in gold. As for other options…
Looks like I have no choice but to start the anime project.
Since it was an industry no one had ever explored in this world, Durin was confident he could achieve absolute success in the initial commercial battle—assuming, of course, that the anime he produced was actually popular.
With that, Durin suddenly spun around and, to the maid's complete surprise, ran back in the direction he came from.
…
For the next several days, Durin reverted to his old self, hiding in his room without taking a single step outside. He locked himself away, and Winry only saw him at mealtimes. The moment he finished eating, he would rush back to his room without a second's delay.
Finally, on the fifth day, a completely exhausted Durin emerged, clutching a thick stack of manuscripts. He staggered toward Winry, who had been waiting faithfully outside his door. "W-Winry… water… I need some water."
"Right away, my lord!"
Fearing the stress of the debt had caused him to relapse, Winry didn't dare mention the topic again. She silently supported him as they walked to the living room.
Gulp, gulp, gulp~
After downing two full pitchers of water, Durin let out a long sigh of relief, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Hahaha! I finally finished the scripts!"
That's right. For five days, Durin had wracked his memory, writing out the scripts for several anime series. To prevent himself from forgetting any details, he also created outlines for every isekai anime he could remember. It was a good thing paper wasn't too expensive in this world, or the cost of the manuscripts alone would have been a huge expense.
"Scripts?"
Confused, Winry instinctively glanced at the papers spread out on the table. The moment she did, she found it hard to look away.
In this world, thanks to paper and printing technology, books were not a scarce resource, and literacy was common even among the general populace. So, Winry could easily read the large, title-like font on the manuscripts.
On top of the thickest stack, it was clearly written: Fullmetal Alchemist: Season One (Live-Action Adaptation) - Postponed due to lack of props.
And next to it, on a much smaller stack of paper, sat another document: Proposal for the Live-Action Anime Adaptation of 'KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!' Season One.