Animation Producer in a Fantasy World

Thus, nearly two months had passed since Ragna’s new work “Sky of Destiny” began airing throughout the Empire.

And during those nearly two months, “My Struggle,” operated by Hikardo, had grown to almost twice its original size.

As a result, Hikardo’s power, which commanded “My Struggle,” had become incomparably stronger than before.

The frustrated ronin who had simply failed the art school entrance exam in the past was already long gone.

The person here now was just a big shot among big shots, who controlled the largest organization in the Empire with one hand.

However, unlike ordinary people, Hikardo had not lost his original intentions.

In other words, he hadn’t forgotten why he had formed the organization “My Struggle” and what he had intended to do through this organization.

So, roughly speaking, what Hikardo was currently doing was.

“…Is everyone seated?”

A voice full of charisma befitting the leader of an organization with tens of thousands of members, seemingly overflowing with intimidation.

At that voice, even the nobles attending this meeting unconsciously flinched.

“Good. Then it seems everyone who should attend has arrived, so let’s begin.”

Saying that, Hikardo stood up on the platform, clenched his fists, and said:

“Now, let’s officially begin the debate on who exactly is the true heroine of ‘Sky of Destiny’!”

Clap clap clap.

With Hikardo’s words, everyone present burst into enthusiastic applause.

That’s right.

The Heroine Grand Cup.

It was a time-honored traditional game that “My Struggle” had been holding since the airing of “Machine God Chronicles,” and at the same time, it was a real battle of honor for one’s favorite heroine.

And the debate over who exactly was the true heroine of the work couldn’t be avoided for “Sky of Destiny” either.

Although there was less controversy because “Machine God Chronicles” had already concluded and Ragna had created individual endings for each heroine.

Regarding “Sky of Destiny,” which is currently airing to great acclaim, there was an intense debate going on about who the true heroine was.

Anyway, as soon as the debate started, the first person to speak was none other than Deneb, the young duke of the Grünewald ducal family.

“I’ll get straight to the point. To be honest, I think today’s debate is really insignificant and unnecessary.”

“Hmm, why do you think so?”

“Well, because it’s as good as decided that the true heroine of ‘Sky of Destiny’ is Sein, Yuri’s classmate.”

Deneb said in a somewhat haughty voice.

“We don’t need to look far, Sein is already like a life-saving benefactor who saved the protagonist Yuri’s life in episode 1 of ‘Sky of Destiny’. Moreover, she’s helping the incredibly inexperienced magician Yuri to navigate through the Full Moon Ritual. If such a Sein isn’t the true heroine, who else could be called a heroine?”

Deneb’s words were so logical that they made listeners nod their heads involuntarily.

A true heroine is not simply a trophy-like existence by the protagonist’s side, but a reliable partner who goes through hardships and adversities together.

In that sense, it was no exaggeration to say that there was no partner more suitable for Yuri than Sein.

But.

“Listening to this, it’s really an absurd claim in itself.”

“Haa?”

At that moment, a man sitting opposite Deneb, his face hidden by a black hood, opened his mouth, openly mocking Deneb’s words.

The man known by the nickname “Kaiser” among the members of “My Struggle”.

No one knows exactly who he is, but a man who has limited edition goods in piles that even ordinary nobles find difficult to obtain.

It was Kaisel.

“You’re concluding she’s the true heroine just because she saved his life? It’s ridiculous. If we’re going by that logic, isn’t there one more woman who fits the role of true heroine even better?”

“…What did you say?”

“The life-saving benefactor who has saved the life of Yuri, a half-baked magician who knew nothing about the Full Moon Ritual, countless times. At the same time, isn’t that knight who always fights devotedly to save Yuri’s life the true heroine of this work?”

“Huh, I thought you were going to say something, but it was just nonsense not worth listening to.”

Deneb opened his mouth with a sneer at Kaisel’s words.

“Isn’t the reason that knight saves Yuri’s life none other than to win the Full Moon Ritual and fulfill her own wish? In other words, she’s not saving Yuri out of any feelings for him, but for her own selfish reasons. How can such a woman be called the true heroine?”

“Kuk! If you’re going to argue like that, Sein also saved Yuri’s life to cooperate with him and win the ritual-”

“No, that and this are different stories.”

Deneb cut off Kaisel’s words midway and said.

“Sein saving Yuri’s life in episode 1 happened before Yuri even participated in the ritual. In other words, you could say Sein saved Yuri’s life with purely innocent intentions. It’s really absurd to put the actions of these two people on the same level. I’m starting to doubt if you’ve been watching the anime properly.”

Kaisel trembled at Deneb’s words, but.

Unfortunately, there was not a single thing wrong with Deneb’s words, so there was no room for rebuttal.

Because even in the eyes of Kaisel, who claimed to be a die-hard fan of the girl… that is, the Knight King, the Knight King’s current attitude towards Yuri was excessively businesslike and stiff.

‘Such an ignorant fool… Does he not even know the simple fact that once such a character starts falling for the protagonist, it makes people go even crazier?’

But that doesn’t mean Kaisel had nothing to rebut against Deneb’s words.

As the art of war states, a great general fights by making a place advantageous to himself the battlefield.

Then couldn’t Kaisel also engage in debate by making a theme advantageous to himself the subject of conversation?

“…Huh, I’ll admit it. The fact that Sein saved Yuri’s life without any ulterior motives, unlike the girl.”

“Hmm, you may not have an eye for women, but you’re a man who knows how to admit his mistakes readily. Then, shall we get a signature stating that Sein is the true heroine of ‘Sky of Destiny’-”

“But that’s only when comparing those two from the perspective of ‘life-saving benefactor’. If we look at it from the perspective of ‘rapport’ between the protagonist and heroine, I think the story is somewhat different.”

“…What? Rapport?”

“That’s right. Ladies and gentlemen present here, what do you think a true heroine of an anime is? Aren’t they beings who go beyond the level of being the protagonist’s partner, and are like companions walking together on the journey called life?”

Nod.

Certainly, that wasn’t wrong.

Wasn’t it because they always fought alongside Kai, overcoming trials and adversities together, that Eileen and Saya received enormous support as heroines in “Machine God Chronicles”?

“In episode 7 of ‘Sky of Destiny’, there’s a scene where protagonist Yuri and the girl witness each other’s past in a dream. And even without exchanging a single word, they come to understand and empathize with each other’s circumstances through each other’s past.”

“…In contrast, Yuri and Sein are not only not sharing any rapport, but are just repeating extremely businesslike conversations about how to continue the fight. Between a woman who has already shared rapport deep in her heart, and a woman who only talks about fight-related matters as a mere colleague, which one is the heroine? Isn’t it too obvious?”

And at those words, Deneb’s face suddenly contorted.

“Ha! Ridiculous! Even so, that girl is nothing more than a corpse that has been dead for a long time. Moreover, if you think about it, that girl is just a young woman in appearance, but her actual age is probably older than most elves. Are grandmothers considered heroines these days?”

“In the flashback scene of episode 7, it shows that the girl’s mental and physical growth was stopped by magic! In other words, if we only consider physical age, the girl is much younger than Sein!”

“Physical age, that’s laughable. No matter how you use such left-field methods, it doesn’t change the fact that that girl is much older than Sein!”

Thus, the Grand Cup, which had started in the form of a debate, had suddenly turned into a marketplace where people were fighting, claiming that the heroine they were pushing was the real one.

While the two groups, divided into the girl faction and the Sein faction, were snarling and fighting, insisting that only their claim was right.

“…..”

Evangeline, who would normally have participated in the debate more passionately than anyone else, left the building with a somewhat gloomy expression.

The reason was simple.

Because she was the voice actress for Yuri’s junior ‘Karin’, whom no one in this place cared about.

“…It’s too pathetic. I thought there would be at least one person claiming Karin was a heroine…”

Even Chloe from “Machine God Chronicles”, who had been cursed so much throughout the anime’s airing, had people pushing her as a heroine.

Was Karin from “Sky of Destiny” just like air, beyond the level of not being mentioned?

Just as Evangeline was unconsciously sighing while looking up at the sky.

Pat.

Someone put their hand on her head and comforted her in a kind voice.

“Don’t be too disappointed. It’s not over until it’s over.”

“…Director.”

It was Ragna, who had come to watch the Heroine Grand Cup following Evangeline out of boredom.

“This is actually a secret, but I’m thinking of making a spin-off after the main story… that is, after the TV anime is completely finished. In other words, you could call it a route where Karin becomes the heroine.”

“…!”

“When that time comes, Karin will also be able to proudly enter that debate as one of the heroines. So have patience until then.”

At that moment, Evangeline’s eyes lit up at Ragna’s words.

“I see…! A story where Karin appears as a heroine…! Since Karin is an ordinary girl who knows nothing about things like the Full Moon Ritual, it must surely be a story full of happiness and love, right? And the ending will be a happy one. Isn’t that right?”

“…..”

But Ragna turned his head slightly at Evangeline’s question.

Well.

It’s not happiness and love, but it’s certainly a story full of bloodshed and violence.

Decisively, Karin’s last line in that route was planned to be “At this rate, am I going to send grandma up?”.
Hmm, but is this line correct?
It feels like something is different somehow….

Anyway, sometimes it’s better not to know certain kinds of truths.

So Ragna decided to keep his mouth shut for Evangeline’s sake.

That was Ragna’s warm consideration towards Evangeline.