Crowdfunding (3)

Some time later.

After finishing all the urgent tasks that had piled up, I immediately rushed to the bank, putting everything else aside.

Because I had heard the terrible news from Serika that the crowdfunding had been completed in just one day.

To be honest, I couldn’t believe it at all.

Of course, this was called crowdfunding in name only, but in reality, it was no different from a scam where nothing would be returned to those who poured in money.

Also, I had only made a trailer and had no intention whatsoever of actually making a sequel to “Sky of Destiny”.

So what kind of crazy people poured money into this kind of crowdfunding?

Are the bastards who donated to me people from UNICEF who have donating as a hobby?

Unable to hide my bewilderment, I immediately asked a bank employee to check the balance in my account and-

“…Huh?”

I tilted my head in confusion.

Hmm… So…

How many zeros are there?

How many times… no, how many tens of times has it increased compared to the last time I checked my balance?

I rubbed my eyes and checked the account balance several times again, but.

Of course, my eyes were perfectly normal, and the numbers printed on the account showed no sign of changing.

As I was staring at my account balance with my mouth wide open.

Serika, standing next to me, opened her mouth in a somewhat proud tone.

“Heheh, Ragna. It seems I’ve been of great help to you this time. Don’t you think?”

“…Help? What help?”

“The crowdfunding plan document you had left on your desk. Do you remember?”

The crowdfunding plan document… Could it be that?

If this crowdfunding ended in failure as per my plan.

The document I had scribbled carelessly to prepare for a situation where people who had put money into the crowdfunding might make a fuss saying it was a scam?

But why?

“Father said that if things continued like this, your planned crowdfunding could fail, and he needed a means to persuade the nobles. So I told Father all the contents of that plan document. Father was able to successfully persuade the nobles using that. How about that, I did well, right?”

“…..”

I see, so that’s how it was.

The reason why this scammy scam that should have ended in failure could achieve such great success was because of that.

And unfortunately.

It seems the unfairness I had to suffer didn’t end there.

“Hand it over.”

“…Pardon?”

As soon as he saw me enter the Imperial Palace, the Emperor abruptly held out his hand and blurted out those words.

“…What are you referring to?”

“Don’t play dumb. You went to the bank and checked your account balance, right? Then you should know very well who’s the number one investor in the crowdfunding right now?”

“…..”

That’s right.

As I confirmed earlier, a truly astronomical amount of money had accumulated in my account due to the crowdfunding, and.

A considerable portion of that was the amount deposited by the Emperor.

“Well, it’s only natural that I rank first in this crowdfunding. So I meant that I’d like to receive in advance the special benefit given only to those who rank within the top 7 sponsors.”

“…By special benefit, you don’t mean-“

“Yes, it’s exactly as you expect.”

The Emperor opened his mouth with a sly smile towards me.

“That magic sword used by the Hero King in “Sky of Destiny”. Hand it over quickly. Right now.”

“…..”

The Emperor spoke to me in a very confident tone, as if he were collecting money from a savings club, and.

Unfortunately, unable to find any way to refute the Emperor’s words, I had to present him with that sword that had been used as a sample for the original drawing and then shoved into a corner of the workroom.

“Ooh, so this is the very sword that the Hero King himself used!”

The Emperor touched the sword here and there with a very ecstatic look, then suddenly turned his head towards me.

“By the way, does this sword have a name? No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think the name of this sword ever came up in “Sky of Destiny”.”

“No. I didn’t particularly set a name for the sword.”

Because in the settings of “Sky of Destiny”, the Hero King, unlike other heroes, was a person like a weapon master who handled countless diverse weapons, and.

Therefore, he didn’t give names to each of the numerous weapons he handled.

“Hmm, then I should give this sword a name.”

The Emperor nodded his head as if he understood something from my words, then carefully stroked the blade of the sword and said.

“Ea. From now on, the name of this sword will be ‘Ea’. It’s the name of the water goddess, the Hero King’s mother who appears in mythology. How about it, my naming skills aren’t too bad, right?”

“…..”

Excuse me? What did you say?

That name is, umm….

“Excellent, very excellent…. This quality is well worth the money poured in…! Now I’m looking forward to it. How the Hero King will play an active role wielding this sword in the sequel to “Sky of Destiny”…! Isn’t that right, Count!”

“…Huh? Ah, actually, about that….”

For a moment, I hesitated whether I should tell him how the Hero King would appear in the sequel to “Sky of Destiny”, but.

Seeing the Emperor enjoying himself like a child while swinging the sword, I kept my mouth shut to protect that pure innocence.

“…So when do you plan to produce the sequel to “Sky of Destiny”.”

After playing with the sword for quite a while, the Emperor, now seemingly a bit calmer, asked me in a somewhat composed tone.

“…I’ve already told you. I had a work I was planning as a follow-up. I think I’ll only be able to start producing the sequel to “Sky of Destiny” after completing that work, probably.”

“Yes, I’ve already heard from Kaya. You were planning to produce the next work as a mecha show like “Machine God Chronicles”, right?”

As if somewhat dissatisfied with my answer, the Emperor spoke with his eyes narrowed.

“Well, the production of animations is your prerogative, so I can’t say anything to you about that either. However, separately from that, there’s one thing I’d like to ask of you.”

“…A request, you say?”

“Yes, a request.”

Saying so, the Emperor let out a sigh.

“Recently, there have been considerable complaints regarding the animations you’ve made.”

“…Complaints, you say?”

“Yes. Especially the parents of Academy students have been making these complaints to me. After watching your animations, there’s been a large increase in children who suddenly claim they can see black lines in their eyes, or that Shinigami or Outer Gods like ‘Black Goat’ have taken residence in their left arm. It’s really an absurd quibble in itself.”

The Emperor spoke while clicking his tongue as if something was very displeasing, but.

“…..”

Hearing those words, I felt something like ‘guilt’ for quite a long time.

Because I knew that not only children but even grown adults were committing acts like creating ‘self-setting notebooks’ despite their age.

In that sense, their claims weren’t entirely groundless.

Then perhaps… Have I become the main culprit for spreading ‘that disease’ in this world?

Because of me alone, have numerous children come to produce dark histories that they’ll kick their blankets over far in the future?

Hmm….

That’s a bit….

I’m really very sorry….

Meanwhile, not knowing what I was thinking inside, the Emperor spoke in a nonchalant tone.

“I have no desire to interfere with your animation production. But just this once, I’d like to ask you. To shut their mouths, could you produce a cute animation targeting young children, like “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel”?”

“…An animation targeting young children?”

“Yes. It’s just for show, so there’s no need to make it long. Just make a theatrical version like you did with “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel”. If you don’t want to make it, I’ll somehow crush those guys, so don’t feel too burdened.”

The Emperor said so while waving his hand as if shooing away flies, but.

I decided to accept that proposal because I felt extreme guilt hearing the Emperor’s words.

Also, since I had been producing only dark animations lately.

It wouldn’t be a bad thing to make one cute theatrical animation as a way of returning to my roots.

And if it’s an animation targeting young children.

There was just the right theme for that.

“Oh, have you already come up with a good idea? As expected, you have it all planned out. So, what kind of animation are you thinking of making?”

“Like I did with “The Disappearance of Elli and Hamel”, I’m thinking of producing an animation related to spirits.”

“…Spirits?”

One day, seven young children fall into the spirit world due to an unexpected accident.

But in that spirit world, the children meet spirits that can be called their partners.

And the children overcome the approaching crises by evolving their spirits using mysterious magical tools.

Well, I guess that’s roughly the story.

“…Spirits evolve through magical tools? As far as I know, spirits originally evolve from lower spirits to higher spirits without such things?”

The Emperor frowned as if he couldn’t understand my explanation at all, but.

I didn’t have the confidence to explain any further than this.

So, that evolution and this evolution are very different things?

It’s like when a cute baby dinosaur comes to its senses and becomes a dinosaur with only bones left, or has its whole body modified into a machine, something like that.

How should I explain this…?

“…Hmm. I don’t really understand. So, what are you thinking of naming this work?”

Well, the name of that work was already decided, more or less.

“The adventure of spirits… I’ll call it ‘Spirit Adventure’.”