Page 27

Page 27

The ranger's hut used to be the place where ranger Hachiken worked and lived. After Hachiken left, it has been empty for a while. Even if Jianye Butler contacted him to come back from Hokkaido, it would be at least ten days or half a month later. It would be no problem to borrow it for a week to shoot a TV show.

When Reiya and Mino mentioned the "forest ranger's cabin", Director Asaka imagined a simple wooden structure: a few dozen square meters, with smoke-blackened windows and some firewood piled inside and outside the door. This is a common building in the forests of mountainous areas, and sometimes it can be used as a place for lost hikers to rest for a night.

But when Asaka actually arrived at the "Forest Ranger's Hut", she discovered that the so-called "hut" was also a Western-style house. Although it was much more low-key than the castle, the three-story building covering hundreds of square meters was also a Nordic retro luxury style, and it was still a mansion that many people (including himself) could not afford even if they worked all their lives.

However, apart from the emotions of being a 'poor man', this place does perfectly fit his impression of a 'magician's retreat'. The single-family house in the dense forest, a little shabby with a sense of history, all exudes mystery.

Chapter 35 Freya

Following the crow step by step, Sakura walked in the dense forest. When she turned around a bush that blocked her view, her vision suddenly became clear.

"Wow, this house is so big!"

"There is such a villa here?" Xiao Ke looked around above her head, somewhat surprised that a foreign-style building would appear so abruptly in the depths of the dense forest.

“It’s just like Alice’s dream garden!”

"Who is Alice?"

"I'm not reading, it's Alice in Wonderland, Alice following the rabbit, ah, I followed the crow." Sakura turned around and looked around, but found that the strange crow had disappeared. It really felt like walking into a story.

"Who said I don't know? It's the one from the British fairy tale. I just didn't react just now. I am a knowledgeable guardian beast!"

"Haha." Sakura smiled perfunctorily. The guardian beast who only watched TV and ate snacks every day.

The garden is beautiful, fence-less, and the flowers that bloom in midsummer are carefully tended (a crew spent a whole day tending to them under the guidance of gardener Mr. Ueki).

Pink and white rice lilies, pale yellow Kew freesias, clusters of orange hanging torch lilies, pale blue Arabian speedwells, and clusters of nameless golden flowers of the cherry blossoms are clustered on the branches, blooming brilliantly.

She took a few steps forward, trying to get a closer look.

"Girl, that's goldenrod, an invasive species from Canada, so it's better not to get close to it."

"Oh, sorry." Sakura then realized that there was someone nearby. The person who spoke was an old man, standing on the balcony and looking at her. She didn't know when he stood there, maybe Sakura was attracted by the flowers and didn't notice.

"I don't blame you, so don't apologize. These flowers are beautiful, so it's not surprising that you're attracted to them. But while Canada goldenrod is not poisonous, its pollen is very strong. It can easily cause allergic reactions in children."

“Will I be allergic to it?”

"Yes, the skin will develop small bumps and it will itch, so it's better to look at it from a distance."

When Sakura heard that small bumps would appear, she quickly took a few steps back. She was most afraid of itching and breaking out in rashes all over her body.

"Some things can only be viewed from a distance. It would be bad if you get too close." The old man was not sure if he was talking to Sakura or to himself, "But sometimes I can't help but get close."

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Sakura asked because the old man's voice was too soft and she couldn't hear clearly.

"No, it's nothing. I'm just talking to myself. When people get old they tend to say strange things."

The great magician who lived in seclusion said this, looking at Sakura as if he was looking at another girl from many years ago. And they were both the continuation of his bloodline.

"If you don't mind, come in and have a cup of tea."

He knew that he shouldn't touch her and that it might bring bad luck to others, but he still wanted to see her. Can the old man's willfulness be forgiven?

The filming finally returned to normal. Mr. Maki, who played Sakura's great-grandfather, was a veteran actor and could handle simple scenes with ease. Sakura, perhaps because she was filming at a friend's house, was much more relaxed and was able to control her emotions and act well.

"You've worked hard. Come and have some watermelon. The watermelon is grown in my own fields."

During the break, when Nobata brought some sliced ​​watermelon, Reiya and Tomoyo started eating right away, and Sakura politely joined in. The other crew members were a little embarrassed, after all, watermelon was not cheap in this era, but after refusing for a while, Director Asaka took the lead and everyone accepted it.

Jianye also placed a can of fine salt next to the watermelon.

"So sweet!"

Sakura sprinkled a little salt on the watermelon, took a bite, and felt the cool and refreshing juice liberate her whole body.

"Grandpa Jianye, do you need to sprinkle salt on watermelon?"

"My lady doesn't usually have this habit, but there are indeed many people who like to eat this way. There are quite a lot of customers today, so I prepared some salt."

It should be said that most people in this country have this habit, but Lingye's family, whose mother came from Europe, has living habits that are somewhat different from the local ones.

"Don't you sprinkle salt on watermelon when Ling eats it?" Sakura was a little surprised. Her father would always sprinkle some fine salt on watermelon when eating it at home. To her, this was a matter of course.

"Yes, my mother said so too. Sprinkling salt will make the sweetness more prominent. Besides, we sweat a lot in the summer, so it is important to replenish salt." Tomoyo also said so.

Ling Ye felt that she was the odd one out. Perhaps for the people here, eating watermelon without salt was as strange as scrambled eggs with tomatoes without sugar? After hesitating for a moment, Ling Ye also picked up the salt shaker and sprinkled some on her watermelon.

Take one bite.

The watermelon was grown by Mr. Ueki and was indeed very sweet. It felt a little strange to sprinkle it with salt. However, it was actually not bad.

Everyone in the manor was particularly happy that Ling had returned to the main house. Mr. Ueki, who had been busy all day cleaning the flowerbed for the photo shoot, brought over watermelons that had been chilled in the well early in the morning, and Mr. Shinomiya and Mr. Saiba also specially prepared desserts and fruit tea.

For them, after being lost for several months, they finally found their goals and direction. Even though the eldest daughter still lives in Chiba, everyone believes that she will come back one day.

"Rain, build a seven-colored bridge in the sky, 'Rain'!"

A week of filming finally came to an end. With Sakura's lines and the action of knocking the Clow Cards, this is the scene nearing the end. The girl in the story meets her great-grandfather without knowing it.

The old man, who could not reveal his identity, gave the girl a perfect holiday memory. And Sakura gave the old man precious memories. The rainbow that his granddaughter Yuuko had given him in his memory reappeared with the power of the Clow Cards.

"Okay, props team, prepare to sprinkle water!" The assistant director shouted. Just as he was about to give the order, a bean-sized raindrop accidentally fell on his face. The next moment, heavy rain fell from the sky.

It's really raining!

"director?"

"Well, take a three-minute shot, and then call it a day."

The natural scenery is more realistic than water guns. Raindrops hit the leaves and ponds, and ripples evaporate the heat. The assistant came up to hold an umbrella for the camera to protect the camera from getting wet. The photographer hurriedly took some natural and beautiful rain scenes and prepared to stop shooting.

However, three minutes later, before Asaka could give the order to call it a day, the rain stopped.

"Look, it's a rainbow, a real rainbow!"

"What?" Asaka looked up at the sky. It wasn't a computer effect. There really was a seven-colored bridge on the horizon! It was like a story that had come true. "Cameraman, what are you doing? Hurry up and shoot!"

"Ah? Ah, okay, Director."

Asaka looked at the footage in the director's monitor. Under the polarized light lens, the slightly dim background of the sky that had not yet completely cleared up perfectly imprinted the Seven-Colored Bridge on the film.

"Sakura, are you really the Magician Clow?"

Sakura giggled. This was of course a joke from Director Asaka, and neither party took it seriously.

Only Tomoyo knows who the real 'Cardcaptor Sakura' is.

"Is this magic?"

Ling also shook her head. This was not magic to Gaia. It was rainy in midsummer, and there was enough moisture in the sky. Whether it rained or not, it was just like "crying when you want to cry" or "laughing when you want to laugh" to Gaia. It was just a random choice.

Asaka was in a good mood after receiving an unexpected gift from nature, and this episode of "Rainbow of Memories" ended perfectly.

It was a really troubled episode, with the encounter with the Ultra Beast and the inability to find a filming location, but fortunately the result was not bad. He had planned to cut this episode before, but fortunately he didn't give up, and now it seems that this is an episode he is very satisfied with.

"Reiya, thank you very much."

"You're welcome, it's a really nice shoot, I look forward to seeing this episode on TV soon."

"Haha, that's more than a month away. And, believe me, it's more fun to appear on screen yourself. The next episode will be filmed next Tuesday, so please be ready."

"Ah, are you going to let me go on stage already?"

"Yes." Asaka handed a stack of printed paper to Reiya, "This is the script for the next episode. There are still three days left, so please familiarize yourself with it. But don't be stressed, there will be reminders on the set."

Ordinary actors would certainly not receive such treatment, but for the big sponsor, she owes him such a big favor, so even if she has to just recite 1234 on the spot, Asaka will try her best to make up for it in post-production.

Ling also took a look curiously. The parts that required her to perform were already marked with a highlighter. She originally thought that it was her first appearance and she would just play a cameo role like Tomoyo, but she didn't expect there would be so many unexpected things.

"Here, they say I need to use magic. Am I a 'magical girl' too?"

"Yes, according to the setting, they are a family of Clow Reed's bloodline, a branch of the family, and also a magical family in England. They were asked by the family to recover the Clow Cards."

Because in the original setting, Clow Reed was a magician from Britain, so as a relative, Reiya was set to be a magical girl from Britain.

Britain is also considered as Northern Europe in a broad sense, and Ling, who has half Northern European blood, is also acting in her true colors (Nordic generally refers to Denmark, Norway, Sweden and other five countries, but the broad sense of the ten Nordic countries also includes Britain, Ireland, etc.)

"So, my role is to snatch the Clow Cards from Sakura?"

"That's true at first, but don't worry, this character is by no means a villain. Later in the story, her relationship with Sakura will gradually change from confrontation to cooperation and they will become good friends."

Looking at the current plot of "Magical Girl Sakura", there will probably not be a real "villain" in the whole show. Adding a companion who fights against the protagonist and eventually becomes a partner can also add a lot of conflicts and highlights to the plot.

"But there is a problem, which is the name of this new character."

"name?"

"Yes," Asaka explained, "In previous plots, I usually use the real names of the actors for the main characters in the play, which can add some sense of substitution, but this new character is set as a transfer student from the UK, and the name 'Oshima Reiya' is not very suitable."

Of course, she could also force an explanation that it was the name she used when she came to Japan, but Asaka still wanted to ask Reiya's opinion.

"In that case," Ling thought for a moment, "my name in the TV series will be 'Freya'."

"Freya?"

"That's also the eldest daughter's name," explained Jianye, who had been listening. "It's the name given by her mother. Although she usually uses 'Oshima Reiya' when she lives here, her name among her Nordic relatives is 'Freya'."

"I see."

Asaka also understood. Since the parents were of different nationalities, it was not strange to give them two different names according to their respective cultural customs.

"In that case, let's use this name. Hmm, Freya, it's a good name. Speaking of which, this name seems familiar. Is it the name of a mythological figure?"

"It's the name of a Norse goddess, the goddess of beauty and love, as well as the god of magic and war." Jianye answered. He knew everything about the young lady very well. "In Norse legends, Hela rules the underworld and controls the dead, but the souls that died on the battlefield are not under Hela's jurisdiction. Half of the heroic spirits that died on the battlefield were sent to Valhalla by the Valkyries to continue fighting for the gods. The other half were taken by Freya to her own Temple of Sethrumnel to rest in peace."

She guides the souls of those who died heroically in battle back home, allows the souls to rest in peace away from war and suffering, calms resentment and sorrow, and allows the souls to return to their original place.

Chapter 36: Threat from the Dark Universe

"Reiya, try this dress again and see if there's anything else that needs to be changed!"

Tomoyo seemed to be more excited than Ling herself that she would finally be filming. She took out the two magical girl costumes that she had prepared earlier, comparing one with the other. She was a little undecided.

Tomorrow is Reiya's filming day. She has read the script many times. She will appear in about six or seven minutes of scenes, including a fight to recover the Clow Cards - that's right, in the next episode Sakura will suffer her first defeat, and this time the Clow Cards will be taken away by Reiya, no, by Freya who makes her debut.

This will also mark the beginning of the two people's fight for the Clow Cards.

"Nothing needs to be altered, but these clothes are fancier than Sakura's. Isn't that a bit unpleasant?"

Tomoyo's support and the director's bias towards her, blatantly stealing the limelight from the protagonist, felt like they were bullying Sakura.

"It's okay, it's okay, I don't care at all." Sakura, who was also in the room, deliberately added two 'at all' to show that she had no opinion.

It's just the plot of the story. Reiya and Tomoyo are Sakura's only two friends. She hasn't had such friends in all these years, so she cherishes them especially.

"Then let's go over our lines again," said Sakura.