Animation Producer in a Fantasy World

In fact, most people watching “Sky of Destiny” didn’t care much about the fact that the Knight King’s gender was female.

Or more precisely, the majority were armed with a mindset of “What does that have to do with me?”

In a way, this was only natural.

To be honest, how many people watching animations care about “useless” things like historical accuracy or historical truth?

Of course, if the world where Ragna made the animation was Earth, the story would have been very different.

Probably Ragna’s animation wouldn’t be suspended from airing, but it’s certain that it would have been quite controversial on internet communities and such.

However, the world Ragna is currently living in is not Earth, but a fantasy world where most people have pre-modern mindsets.

Honestly, from their perspective, isn’t it enough to just watch and enjoy the animation without thinking?

Well, it’s not that the Empire’s citizens or the citizens of the Rihart Kingdom had absolutely no interest in the fact that the Knight King appeared as a woman in “Sky of Destiny”.

So, roughly in this direction.

“Hey, are you there? Ivan?”

“Hmm? What brings you to our unit? Hans?”

“Don’t play dumb. Quickly hand over the ‘Sky of Destiny’ recording artifact you borrowed last time.”

“Oh my. It’s only been three days since I borrowed it, already?”

“Only three days? As much as three whole days have passed. In this damned great forest where there’s nothing else to enjoy besides animation, isn’t it a big deal that I lent you such a precious item for three days?”

That’s right.

Until about a year ago, the relationship between the Empire and the Rihart Kingdom was beyond bad, it could be called the worst.

Accordingly, the citizens of both sides did not hesitate to see each other as enemies.

But just recently, due to the so-called ‘Machine God Descent’ incident that occurred in the great forest, the relationship between the two countries rapidly improved.

Of course, Ragna had just controlled the Machine God to achieve his personal desire to promote the animation and implement giant mechs in reality.

From the perspective of the kingdom’s soldiers, regardless of the purpose, the fact that the Machine God saved their lives was true, so they couldn’t help but feel favorable towards the Machine God and the Empire side.

Anyway, triggered by that incident and the spread of animation, the soldiers and non-commissioned officers of the two countries stationed in the great forest rapidly became closer.

As a result, they became close enough to casually go back and forth between each other’s units and lend animation recording artifacts.

Of course, no matter how much their relationship improved, a relationship that had been like enemies for hundreds of years couldn’t turn into a relationship as close as the Three Sworn Brothers of Guan and Zhang overnight.

“By the way, if three days have passed, you must have watched episode 14 of ‘Sky of Destiny’ by now, right? What did you think?”

“Ah, I instantly understood why you were insisting that everyone from the kingdom must watch episode 14. I couldn’t believe it, but to think the identity of the knight Yuri summoned was actually the Knight King! Really, it’s the first time I got goosebumps like that while watching an anime.”

“Right? It was worth watching, wasn’t it?”

Chuckling like that, Hans, the sergeant from the Empire, suddenly shows Ivan, the corporal from the kingdom, a sinister smile.

“By the way, don’t you have anything to say to me?”

“Anything to say? What do you mean? If you’re talking about thanks for lending me the recording artifact, didn’t I say I’d treat you on payday?”

“No, not that, I mean what do you think about the fact that the identity of the hero summoned by the protagonist Yuri was the Knight King?”

“…? I just said it, didn’t I? I said I was very happy to see the Knight King, whom I had only seen in fairy tales as a child, appear in an animation like this-”

“Hey, the Knight King, the hero of the kingdom, was summoned by Yuri, an academy cadet from the Empire. Then, couldn’t this be interpreted in this way?”

“…What interpretation?”

“The Knight King was a hero who existed in the past and at the same time was the king of a country, but now she’s in a position no different from Yuri’s servant. And Yuri can be said to be the master of such a Knight King at the current point.”

Certainly, up to that point, it wasn’t wrong.

Because in the setting of “Sky of Destiny”, the master and the summoned hero certainly had such a relationship.

That’s why even though the Knight King was the king of a country, she’s using honorific language to a mere academy cadet like Yuri, isn’t she?

“The fact that Yuri, an Imperial, has the Knight King as a servant… couldn’t it be interpreted to mean that the Empire is superior to the kingdom? Then, isn’t your kingdom no different from a colony of our Empire now?”

“Wh-What did you say?”

For a moment, Ivan opened his mouth wide at that refreshingly novel interpretation.

This is crazy.

How does the Knight King being Yuri’s servant connect to the interpretation that the kingdom is a colony of the Empire?

At those nonsensical words with no logic or evidence, the kingdom’s soldier had to taste a feeling of being dumbfounded.

“…No, that’s just a setting in the animation and doesn’t affect the relationship between the two countries in reality-”

“You can’t refute it, can you? If Yuri used the forced command right and ordered ‘harm yourself’, even the Knight King would die instantly, right? Right?”

“…..”

“Oh, come to think of it, the Knight King has become a body that can’t live without the food Yuri gives her. Kuhehe… The Knight King, dependent on a man for housing, meals, and magic power. Even the famous Lady Knight King was just a woman who couldn’t live without a man-”

“I’ll kill you, you bastard!”

Certainly, the relationship between the Empire and the kingdom had improved compared to the past.

The citizens of both countries could also have conversations with each other without hesitation.

But as a price for that, incidents of Imperial people scratching the insides of kingdom people using the Knight King occurred frequently.

And so.

“Ahem. First, I’ve heard that our citizens are causing trouble by saying somewhat rude things to the kingdom’s people. I would like to offer a sincere apology to the kingdom side for that.”

Saying that, the Emperor bowed his head towards the King of the Rihart Kingdom existing beyond the communication artifact screen.

After cultural exchanges between the two countries began in earnest, the leaders of both countries had secretly established a hotline to communicate with each other.
And currently, the two had become close enough to casually exchange everyday conversations and jokes.

“Haha, it’s nothing. To be honest, I don’t think there’s any problem with such commotion occurring at all.”

The King spoke to the Emperor with a good-natured smile.

“Because these incidents can be seen as evidence that the relationship between the citizens of the two countries has recovered to the point where they can casually exchange everyday conversations. Isn’t that right?”

“…Hoho. I’m truly grateful that you think that way. Thanks to that, I feel relieved.”

The Emperor opened his mouth with a somewhat relieved expression.

“Anyway, even though the illiteracy rate has decreased and the education level of citizens has improved thanks to the animation made by Count Ragna, such incidents still occur. Why don’t they understand that even if it’s true, they should refrain from saying words that can hurt others’ feelings…”

The Emperor clicked his tongue as he said that.

But hearing those words from the Emperor, the King’s eyes grew cold.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty. What exactly did you just say?”

“Ah, it was a soliloquy, but did you hear it? However, no matter how I think about it, I don’t remember saying anything wrong?”

The Emperor opened his mouth with a somewhat awkward-looking smile.

“Isn’t it a strict fact that in ‘Sky of Destiny’, the Knight King has become no different from Yuri’s subordinate? No, it seems she even harbors some kind of affection beyond just being a subordinate? Hoho, in that sense, couldn’t those two be said to have an ideal master-servant relationship?”

The Emperor was very cleverly only talking about developments related to “Sky of Destiny”, but.

To the King’s ears, the Emperor’s words sounded like nothing but “So your kingdom is dog food compared to our Empire. You’d have nothing to say even if you became a cultural colony tomorrow.”

However, that doesn’t mean the King had nothing to say.

“Hmm, come to think of it, all the magicians appearing in ‘Sky of Destiny’ are Imperial citizens. Well, it’s natural since the Full Moon Ritual is an event happening in the Empire’s capital, but still.”

“…Hmm? What on earth are you talking about? If you’re thinking of changing the subject-”

“But you know, Your Majesty. All the magicians are Imperial citizens, but… why isn’t there a single hero from the Empire among the summoned heroes? Huh?”

“…!”

At the King’s bitter retort, the Emperor widened his eyes.

In fact, the Emperor had also been inwardly fuming at the fact that no hero from the Empire appeared in “Sky of Destiny”.

But the King’s words were facts themselves, so there was no way to refute them.

‘Ragna, you damned bastard! Does that guy have no patriotism towards his own country?’

In the end, all that came out were curses towards Ragna, who could be called the root cause of this whole situation.

“My, this is strange. Surely ‘Sky of Destiny’ is an animation produced by Count Ragna, an Imperial citizen, but why don’t any heroes from the Empire appear in the anime? Could it be… Did Count Ragna think that heroes from the Empire had no charm or weren’t strong? Hmm, this might warrant reasonable suspicion…?”

Tremble.

The Emperor’s hand trembles at the King’s words.

In the end, the Emperor, his eyes rolling with anger, finally blurted out words that shouldn’t have been said.

“…Loser.”

“…Excuse me? What did you just say?”

“I said loser anyway. A loser who pledges loyalty just because an academy cadet she met just a week ago gave her some food!”

“A loser? The Knight King is pledging loyalty to a half-wit like Yuri based on chivalry! And the loser would be someone like the protagonist Yuri. A parasitic guy who, despite having no ability, just happens to summon one good hero and leeches off the Knight King!”

“…..”

“…..”

And Ragna and Kaya, who had been called to this place as parties involved in this incident, quietly watched their argument and then quietly closed the door and left.

To think that not young girls but old middle-aged men would so casually throw around the word ‘loser’.

Ragna didn’t have the confidence to endure this mess gaki reversed world sober.