episode_0069

『“Comrades are souls that are connected to each other in an unbreakable bond! Gula, you have abandoned your soul mate.”

-It’s a shame that the greedy Lee Min-gi wants to have everything!!!』

“Greed’s Gull This guy is a villain, but he’s not all that hateable.”

“It’s not just him! Honestly, the ending of Jealous Invidia was kind of sad.”

“Invidia treated humans like toys, but in the end, she was a being that was jealous of even humans’ imperfections.”

The fans of in the Empire have been celebrating every day with joy recently.

It was an unbelievable miracle that volumes 5 and 6 were released at the same time, but people couldn’t stop talking about volumes 7 and 8 because they were also released at the same time.

I was particularly engrossed in the narrative that made the character, who clearly appeared as a villain, seem attractive.

Moreover, since the story was now running towards its conclusion, the secrets that had been unfolding until then were revealed one by one, making people excited.

“The ancient empire of Achaemenid fell overnight because of a genie in a flask.”

“Where on earth did this ancient empire called Achaemenid exist?”

“Isn’t that just a fictional country that was created? Didn’t the author indicate it separately at the beginning of the work?”

“Everything that appears in the work is fictional.”

When the man pointed to the writing on the cover of the comic book he was holding and spoke, everyone around him laughed.

“Do you believe that? This work is definitely based on real things.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, there’s a rumor going around that the Imperial Linkage shown here was actually done by the black magicians.”

“What?!”

“The black magic organization that His Highness the Crown Prince stopped last time tried to sacrifice the citizens of the capital.”

“Ah! Now that I think about it, His Highness the Crown Prince’s right hand man is like that… .”

People recalled the image of the crown prince performing a triumphal procession on the main street of the capital.

The figure, with one arm made of steel, looked exactly like the main character in .

People of the world had already started calling him the ‘Iron Prince’ after seeing his appearance.

The old derogatory term ‘rags’ had long since disappeared, and his popularity was at its peak as a hero who had thwarted the plans of a villain who threatened the empire.

In particular, the soldiers who had gone with him to subdue the Abyss Cult went beyond praising the Crown Prince to the point of blind faith.

Among them, one young soldier almost lost his life to a snake, but barely survived thanks to the crown prince’s instructions. He later volunteered to become a member of the imperial guard.

Unlike the spirit soldiers, only the most elite ones could apply, so the young soldier Chrome went to a swordsmanship school at his own expense and trained his physical strength.

“You really work hard.”

“Of course. I want to become a soldier who protects the crown prince as soon as possible.”

Chrome, who had only been learning for about a month and now had no opponents to compete with except for his instructor in the swordsmanship academy, answered brightly, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Chrome lost one of his arms to the serpent, but he did not panic. The image of the Crown Prince ordering the soldiers to guard the area was vivid in his mind.

Chrome, who had seen such a heroic figure with his own eyes, had no other thought than to repay the favor by staying by the crown prince’s side from that day on.

He concentrated again and swung his sword, hoping that one day he would become an imperial guard and see the crown prince again.

***

“Popularity vote… Please choose your 5 favorite characters and write them down.”

The princess looked at the ballot paper and held a quill pen in one hand, thinking for a long time.

This time, as soon as she received the new copy of that Jorge had brought her, she read it all and found a small note attached to the last page of the book.

The princess hurriedly checked, thinking it was a lottery ticket like before.

She was disappointed that she didn’t have the Imperial Certified Alchemist’s Pocket Watch goods, so if other limited edition goods came out, she planned to do whatever it took to get them.

But contrary to her expectations, the note was actually a piece of paper with the name Popular Vote Ticket.

On the back, there was a request to vote for your favorite characters from from 1st to 5th place.

This made Iolin fall into deep thought.

‘They’re saying they’ll send a limited edition figure to those who participated in the popularity poll through a raffle?’

That wasn’t all. It said that if a character ranked in the top 3 in the popularity poll, a special figure of that character would be released.

Voting was now a very important issue.

‘Personally, I think King Brandon and Kimbali should definitely be included.’

The characters that captured Iolin’s taste are King Brandon, the great general of the empire, and Kimbali, the rose alchemist.

Those two were clearly villains by the world’s standards.

They were people with their own beliefs.

Iolin was even more impressed because he realized a lot while watching the two of them.

『“Is it inhumane to kill someone with alchemy? Is it okay to kill someone with a sword? Or are you not prepared to kill thousands of people?”

“That’s….”

“Don’t take your eyes off death. Look at the people you kill clearly and don’t forget them. They won’t forget you either.”』

Kimbali, the Rose Alchemist, is clearly twisted, but he does not glorify his actions.

There are people who don’t mind stabbing others with a knife, but become furious even if someone stabs them with a needle.

He was a character who clearly showed that if you take up a sword, you must also be prepared to be stabbed.

Also, King Brandon, the android who appears as the great general of the empire, impressed Iolin in another way.

『“I chose my wife.”』

When Lieutenant Eagle Eye mocks those who live their lives according to a set pattern,

That scene where he acknowledges that but also clearly says that he has made his own choices resonated deeply with Iolin, even if it didn’t resonate with others.

Although she did not choose to be born into the royal family, Iolin now knows full well that she must fulfill her duties as a member of the royal family once she is born.

Looking at King Brandon, I felt like he was somewhat similar to me.

Even he had his own choices within the planned arrangement.

Then I thought, wouldn’t she also be able to choose something for herself?

Of course, she didn’t realize yet that the comic books she started reading for fun and interest were having such a big impact on her.

In her head, she was already happy, imagining the figure of Kimbali with a wicked smile and the figure of King Brandon with his twin swords drawn.

***

“Does it make sense that Lloyd Cavallo is missing! Unite, Flame Alchemists!!!”

“Alex Eldrick said he’d show it off?! Look at this manly figure after awakening. The steel armor figure absolutely has to come out!”

“Why are you picking out dark men as figures! The trend is Windy Rocks, Eagle Eye, and Lustful Luxria!”

In every busy district of the empire, there were always people shouting and urging people to vote.

The character popularity vote has been announced.

There has been a sharp increase in the number of people who encourage people to vote for their favorite characters because they want to see figures of their favorite characters made.

Since they only give you up to 3rd place, it was an action to gather as many votes as possible while worrying that the character you chose might be eliminated.

However, since each person has a distinct favorite character, it is not easy to gather votes no matter how much you promote and advertise.

So there were some who changed course in a completely different direction.

“Okay, then let’s start the regular meeting of the fan club.”

A room with slightly dim lights. The room was decorated with luxurious items.

In the middle was a huge round table.

And the people sitting at that table.

They were all wearing masks. They ranged from ordinary masks to masks of characters from .

“The topic of this meeting is again popularity voting.”

“That’s the only way. This is something the fan club has to decide.”

The Doujinshi Association, a group of nobles who liked comic books, met regularly and held meetings.

Usually, the topic was about what kind of goods should be made within the fan club, or they would discuss content from comic books.

But then this huge event called the popularity vote occurred.

We needed a place to get together and share our opinions.

As expected from a gathering of the most ardent fans of comic books, these people engage in heated discussions to the point of even sweating a little.

Their plan was simple.

They planned to exercise their right to vote by purchasing comic books in bulk without having to resort to soliciting votes from others.

Since I was planning to buy multiple copies anyway to increase my chances of winning limited edition goods, I just need to expand it a little more.

Of course, it would be difficult to influence the trend with just a small quantity, but all of the people gathered here are wealthy nobles who especially do not spare money on comic books.

The odds of the character they wanted being chosen were extremely high.

The question was who to choose, and the selection process was conducted through discussion.

A heated debate that almost resulted in a fist fight because their opinions did not match.

chuck!

However, fortunately, a fight did not break out thanks to the new member Elsawin who had joined the previous time and her unpredictable movements.

After such a long discussion, the character to vote for was finally decided.

“Anyone have any objections to voting for Windy Rocks, Edmund Eldrick, and Prince Shin of the East?”

Since we had already had a heated debate once, everyone was tired and no one opposed it.

but

‘Why on earth is the Prince of the East, Shin, being so pretty?’

Prince Shin of the East, a character who came from the Eastern Continent to find the secret of immortality.

It’s certainly not a character without charm, but I wonder if it’s a character I desperately want a figure of.

‘God must be included.’

Elsawin, a new member who had shown tremendous force while mediating fights between members, pushed forward so strongly that the members had no choice but to watch their reactions and forcefully join in.

The Eastern Prince Shin eventually passed because he felt that if Elzawin used force, no one here would be able to handle it.

‘God must be included.’

Third Prince Edric was extremely satisfied with his opinion being accepted, seemingly oblivious to the complaints of the other members.

He was already very immersed in the character Shin, who was of royal descent similar to himself.

The only thing on his mind was how to decorate the Shin figure and Windy Rocks figure to match.

And when the world was in an uproar over the popularity vote for .

The release of Rupert’s new children’s book, Pinocchio, was announced abruptly.

Again, people had no choice but to line up at each branch on top of Yuren.