Animation Producer in a Fantasy World

Fortunately or unfortunately, Ragna’s title conferment ceremony didn’t take long.

It just ended with the Emperor placing a sword on Ragna’s shoulder in front of the throne.

Simultaneously, the chamberlain standing beside handed Ragna a simple appointment letter, and the ceremony was over.

“…Is this really the end?”

“Why? Did you expect something more grand?”

The Emperor replied with a somewhat indifferent expression.

“There’s no point in doing such useless things when there’s no one around to watch anyway. Instead of worrying about that, focus more on the upcoming ball.”

“…..”

After the somewhat anticlimactic title conferment ceremony ended, a ball was held to celebrate Ragna’s new title.

Well, for something like a ball, I just need to stand around for a bit with my eyes closed and then go home, right?

Ragna thought nonchalantly as he said he would attend the ball, but.

To put it bluntly, that was a misconception.

“Hey, Ragna.”

“…Yeah.”

“How’s this, does it suit me?”

Serika said as she poked her body out from the changing room.

She was currently wearing a black dress that subtly revealed her figure.

A thin belt around her waist emphasized her beautiful curves overall.

Her shoulders were completely exposed, and the upper body was form-fitting, instinctively drawing the attention of people around.

Serika’s silver hair, which looked as if it was made of molten silver and fell to her waist, was tied up to expose her slender, long neckline.

She looked like a completely different person from when she usually wore casual clothes in front of Ragna.

“…..”

Ragna’s gaze was momentarily captivated by Serika’s appearance.

Meanwhile, seeing Ragna’s lack of response, Serika spoke in an anxious voice.

“D-Does it not suit me…? Ahaha, I guess. Maybe a black dress doesn’t go well with my hair color…? It’s not too late, I could ask the maid to bring another dress-”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

Ragna gently shook his head and opened his mouth.

“It suits you well. Very much so.”

“…Really?”

For a moment, Serika’s face brightened.

But that was only for a moment.

“Wait a second. On second thought, these earrings don’t seem to go well with the dress you’re wearing. So wait a little longer.”

Saying that, Serika pushed herself back into the changing room.

“…..”

To be honest, Ragna couldn’t understand Serika’s behavior at all.

With looks like Serika’s, it was obvious that even if she wore a ragged sack picked up from somewhere, it would suit her too well, so why was she spending so much time dressing up?

“No, today isn’t just any other day, it’s an incredibly important day when you received a noble title. As your partner, it’s unthinkable for me to be negligent in my appearance, isn’t it?”

“…..”

After spending a long time dressing up like that, Ragna escorted Serika into the ballroom, where Kaya was already waiting for them.

Kaya was currently wearing a white off-shoulder dress.

Her spotless white arms reflected the light, shining even more dazzlingly.

“Haa, you took so long. You almost arrived late.”

Grab.

Saying that, Kaya stood on Ragna’s left side and gently grasped his arm.

“No, Lady Kaya! Cutting in line is cheating!”

And seeing that scene, Serika also quickly stood on Ragna’s right side and linked arms with him.

An amazing sight of two stunningly beautiful women clinging to the side of the one who could be called the protagonist of today’s party.

At that sight, everyone attending the ball today widened their eyes in surprise.

Because these two women were not just beautiful, but had the noblest bloodlines in the entire Empire.

Those two women were walking through the ballroom with their arms linked on both sides of one man, as if sharing him.

Considering the status of the Imperial Family and the Grünewald Ducal Family in this Empire, it was beyond just surprising – it was something that shouldn’t be possible.

“Huh… It’s truly surprising. Was that rumor about that man having more than just a close relationship with both Her Highness the Imperial Princess and the young lady of the Grünewald Duke really true?”

“No… We don’t know that yet, do we? You know, they might have become close while producing animations together…”

“What nonsense are you talking about? What woman in the world could link arms with a man in a place with so many watching eyes just out of friendship? Don’t you think?”

Just as countless nobles were exchanging numerous whispers while looking at Ragna and the two women.

Ragna unknowingly sighed as he felt the piercing gazes pouring in from all directions.

“Um, Serika. And Lady Kaya. I’m sorry, but could you please move away a bit? There are many watching eyes around, and I’m a bit scared that strange rumors might spread later.”

“I don’t mind. No, rather, I’m by the Director’s side precisely so people will see, so it would be a bit troublesome if you don’t allow it.”

“…Excuse me? What does that mean?”

“A director who produces animations like ‘Machine God Chronicles’ and ‘Book of Life and Death’, unique throughout the entire continent. He’s made enormous profits from anime production, maintains close relationships with powerful figures from various countries like His Highness Kaisel, and crucially, is still unmarried.”

“…..”

“I don’t know for sure, but don’t you think the Director might look like a delicious prey in the eyes of the noble young ladies attending this event? I think if I weren’t by the Director’s side, quite troublesome things would have occurred.”

Ragna kept his mouth shut at Kaya’s very blatant words.

“Well, you don’t need to worry about anything. No matter what, with Lady Kaya and me by your side, those vulgar creatures won’t dare to approach.”

Saying that, Serika tightened her grip on the arm she was holding and opened her mouth.

“In that sense, let’s quickly dance and leave this place. Just the fact that those things might hover around you makes me annoyed. You know how to dance, right?”

“…I know how to dance. Though I’m not good at it.”

Ragna, being the child of a noble, had learned how to dance as part of his education.

Of course, it was just education, so it was something he couldn’t really use in practice.

“It’s okay. It’s my first time dancing with a man too. Let’s consider this practice. Well.”

Saying that, Serika pulled Ragna to the center of the ballroom.

Seeing that, Kaya made a somewhat dissatisfied, sullen expression, but didn’t say anything special, as if there had been some prior agreement.

And so Ragna slowly moved his body following Serika’s lead.

And Serika, leaning her body against Ragna’s chest, whispered to him in a very small voice.

“Hey, Ragna. Do you remember when we first met, by any chance?”

“…When we first met, you mean when we were in the magic tower?”

“Yeah. Back then, you always supplied me with magic power, didn’t you?”

In the past, Ragna and Serika first became aware of each other’s existence in the magic tower.

At that time, Serika was struggling a lot because the amount of magic power she could generate was too little compared to her talent.

So Ragna supplied Serika with magic power to stabilize her condition, and whenever Serika had a hard time, he always stood by her side and offered warm words of comfort.

Although she didn’t express it outwardly, Ragna’s existence was such a great comfort to Serika at that time.

He was that kind of man.

A man who could give Serika a ray of comfort just by being by her side.

“I learned this later, but they say it’s quite difficult to supply magic power between magicians, right? They say it’s only possible if the form and pattern of magic used by both are similar. So the fact that you could supply me with magic power, wasn’t it because our compatibility was actually too good?”

Serika tried to elicit a reaction from Ragna by subtly using such blatant words as ‘compatibility’.

In Serika’s view, this was a chance.

A decisive chance to make progress with Ragna, who rarely came out of his room because he was always busy with work.

If things went well according to her plan, she could instantly close the distance with Ragna on this occasion.

But.

“…Magic power supply?”

Listening to Serika’s words, Ragna showed a strange reaction.

Magic power supply, magic power supply…

This seems like… something that could be used in the plot?

Come to think of it, there was some setting related to magic power supply in ‘that work’ too, but what was it again…?