Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: 12. Second Anime Plan (5)
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After finishing my discussion with Kaya about the Knight King—no, the Hero King now—who we had just been talking about.
Returning to the recording site, I was met with a scene I never could have imagined.
It was none other than Serika and Kaisel, who had just wrapped up recording, chatting away with looks of pure delight on their faces.
Of course, the fact that those two were talking was surprising enough, but it wasn't a bad thing by any means.
Just... there was one tiny issue.
Namely.
"Ho ho. So, to sum up what the young lady is saying, it means that Lord Raguna completed the script for Eli and Hamel's Disappearance in just one day."
"Yes. I was right there watching it happen, and I couldn't believe my eyes. Who in the world would believe it? The story of Eli and Hamel's Disappearance that moved the entire empire to tears was just a single day's work for Raguna."
"Hmm. As expected, Lord Raguna truly is the empire's greatest genius. Splendid. A creator of Mecha God Chronicle has to handle at least this much as a baseline. Are there any other episodes about Lord Raguna you'd like to share?"
"Oh, come to think of it, when we were producing episode 15 of Mecha God Chronicle, there was this one thing that—"
"....."
Those two were currently deep in conversation about behind-the-scenes stories from Eli and Hamel's Disappearance and Mecha God Chronicle.
If some other guy had asked Serika questions like that, I would've thought nine times out of ten, That bastard's hiding some dirty intentions toward Serika.
But if that guy was Kaisel, things were a bit different.
Why?
Because, unlike others, Kaisel was the real deal.
Having lived more than a decade as an otaku in both my past life and this one, I could tell.
If Kaisel had been born on Earth, that guy would've been a full-blown, diehard otaku for sure.
"Oh, you know about episode 15 of Mecha God Chronicle? That's the one where Luke dies due to the rampaging Unit Zero, right? Around the 14:37 mark, the agitation track suddenly starts playing, and exactly two minutes and thirty seconds later, it fades out. What that means is—"
"....."
See?
Even Serika, who had recently started voice acting and was turning into an otaku herself, looked a little taken aback by Kaisel's fervor.
Even if I dragged Riccardo here, he'd probably react the same way I was.
Of course, Riccardo and Kaisel were both steeped in madness, in a similar vein.
But while Riccardo wielded fake madness, Kaisel's was the genuine article.
It was like how even Marik, who usually armored himself in fake madness, was shocked by the boss's real madness when he sacrificed a god as an offering.
Anyway, in this world, there's no such thing as a harmless otaku who lives and breathes anime.
And so, Serika, Kaisel, and I ended up having a fun chat about animation.
And at the end of it...
"I've felt this for a while now, but... Raguna, you and I really click. In the kingdom, all I have around me are idiots who can't even memorize the size, structure, or detailed specs of Unit Zero."
"....."
Kaisel muttered that toward the sky with a voice like he was lamenting something.
"Though we weren't born on the same day, through our bond with Eli and Hamel's Disappearance and Mecha God Chronicle, we've become like brothers. From now on, I'll drop the formalities with you. Feel free to do the same. We're practically sworn brothers already."
"...Uh, honestly, that feels a bit heavy, but..."
"....."
"...Nah. Sure, let's do it. Friend."
And just like that, half-willingly and half-unwillingly, Kaisel and I became otaku buddies.
Well, since I was already childhood friends with Serika, the duke's daughter, it wasn't all that new anyway.
Once we were friends, Kaisel approached me with a somewhat awkward expression.
"Ahem, Raguna. To celebrate us becoming best buddies like this, there's something I want to show you. I haven't shown it to anyone until now, but you definitely deserve to see it."
"...Something you want to show me?"
Honestly, I wasn't interested, and I didn't want to see it.
But strictly speaking, I had no right to refuse, so I ended up being forced to check out whatever Kaisel had been hiding.
But.
"Huh, this is..."
I took what Kaisel handed me and ended up making a pretty shocked face.
"It's a manga. And one based on Mecha God Chronicle, no less..."
That's right.
What Kaisel had shown me was a doujinshi of Mecha God Chronicle.
"As you know, our kingdom has had a hugely developed manga scene for ages, and I'm a huge fan myself."
Kaisel said that while scratching his head.
"But with Mecha God Chronicle you produced becoming such a massive hit across the kingdom, people started drawing tons of manga based on it. So I figured I'd draw one myself, packed with my own tastes."
"...Hmm."
I flipped through the doujinshi Kaisel had drawn.
Doujinshi already? I figured it'd happen eventually, but this is faster than I expected.
This was probably possible because the Richard Kingdom already had such a booming manga market.
The art quality's pretty solid too. Might not be a bad idea to officially sell these at the festival later...
As I got lost in thought while looking at the doujinshi, Kaisel watched me with an anxious expression.
"Um... are you mad by any chance?"
"Hm?"
"It looked like you were upset that we drew manga based on Mecha God Chronicle without permission from you, the original creator. If that's the case, I'll sincerely apologize to you."
He bowed his head toward me.
"Just in case, all the profits from manga based on Mecha God Chronicle have been held by the kingdom. If you want, I can hand every bit of it over to—"
"No, that's not necessary."
But I flatly refused Kaisel's offer.
"You can draw manga based on Mecha God Chronicle, and make money off it too. I promise I won't interfere at all, as long as it's not some massive commercial venture."
"I-Is that really true?"
Kaisel stared at me wide-eyed, like he couldn't believe it.
But allowing manga artists to profit from doujinshi wasn't a big loss for me at all.
Why?
Because those doujinshi bring in new fans to the anime, and some of those new fans go on to draw their own doujinshi, creating a virtuous cycle of growth.
In fact, in Japan, the works that maintained popularity for 10 or 20 years with steady fan influx were often the ones where the creators generously allowed secondary creations.
So here, rather than blocking doujinshi, it made sense to encourage it like this.
Because ultimately, that would be the foundation for raking in even more profits from Mecha God Chronicle.
Once I generously approved the Mecha God Chronicle doujinshi boom in the Richard Kingdom, Kaisel looked deeply moved as he pressed the doujinshi into my hands.
"Thank you so much. It's nothing special, but this is my gift to you. As I said, it's a Mecha God Chronicle manga I drew, stuffed full of my tastes. If you ever visit the Richard Kingdom, I'll show you every single manga I've drawn, without holding any back."
"....."
With those words, Kaisel left with a relieved expression.
Serika, who was standing beside me, eyed the doujinshi in my hand with obvious curiosity.
"Hey, Raguna."
"Yeah?"
"Mind if I take a look? A Mecha God Chronicle doujinshi drawn by His Highness the Prince? Now I'm dying to know."
At Serika's request, I handed her the doujinshi.
And then.
"...Huh?"
Serika, who had been seriously perusing Kaisel's doujinshi, tilted her head in utter confusion.
"What the heck is this?"
"What's wrong? Something off?"
"No, it's not a problem, it's just..."
Serika stared at the doujinshi in her hands with a look of complete bafflement.
"You said this was definitely a doujinshi based on Mecha God Chronicle, right?"
"Yeah, that's what he said."
"Then why doesn't Kai, the protagonist of Mecha God Chronicle, appear anywhere in this? It's just Saya and Eirin from start to finish."
"....."
"For starters, Saya and Eirin weren't even that close in Mecha God Chronicle. But here, they're like super tight best friends? Isn't this a total setting collapse?"
Serika muttered that in the most serious tone imaginable.
Unfortunately, hearing her words made me instantly realize exactly what kind of doujinshi Kaisel had created.
Kaisel, you bastard...
I never imagined "packed with my tastes" meant this.
Doujinshi are all about that flavor, sure, but isn't Kaisel way ahead of his time?
No matter how you slice it, this feels about a hundred years too early for the people of this fantasy world.
Did I just unwittingly unleash a beast from the abyss into the kingdom's doujin scene?
Maybe I should ban doujinshi activities right now before it's too late?
I fell into some serious deliberation.