And so, the crowdfunding campaign related to the sequel of Fate’s Sky finally came to an end.
Over the past few days, a horrifying event had driven the royal families and nobles across the entire continent into a frenzy. That madness had now finally drawn to a close.
And amidst that whirlwind of madness, Kaizel, the man who successfully achieved his goal, let out a sardonic smile.
“Kukuku… I’ve done it. I’ve finally succeeded!”
Kaizel clenched his fists tightly as he spoke.
“In the final results of this crowdfunding campaign, our royal family secured second place. And with that, there is no one in existence who can stand in the way of our royal family obtaining the Holy Sword of the Knight King!”
That was right.
This crowdfunding campaign for the sequel of Fate’s Sky adopted an extremely ruthless system where rankings were determined based on the amount of money invested. Only those who reached a certain rank would be granted a special privilege.
Among these privileges were rights such as having one’s name included in the ending credits or attending a private screening of the sequel to Fate’s Sky before its official release. However, the most coveted privilege was none other than the right to obtain replicas of the weapons and ritual artifacts used by the heroes in Fate’s Sky.
In the past, Baron Ragnar Terison had sold various limited-edition goods related to his animated works whenever he concluded a series, so this might not have seemed unusual. But this time, his act of granting replicas of the ritual artifacts as a special privilege was somewhat different from what he had done in the past.
Because these replicas of the ritual artifacts were not mass-produced items intended for sale; they were ultra-rare items, each being the only one of its kind in the world.
Of course, since they were not originally created with the intention of being sold, they did not possess various functions like the replica of the Book of Life and d*ath. But to the many nobles who coveted the ritual artifacts—especially the royal families of various countries—such facts were not particularly important.
Because, from the perspective of the royal families, this was a matter concerning the dignity of their nations.
For example, Chris, the spear-wielding soldier in Fate’s Sky, could be considered a representative great hero of the Federation.
Now imagine if the replica of his divine spear, ‘Arladwa,’ ended up in the hands of another country instead of the Federation. For the Federation, this would undoubtedly be akin to a nightmare.
The sole replica of the weapon used by the hero representing their own country would fall into the hands of another nation—not due to some unforeseen circumstance, but simply because they lacked enough money!
Naturally, the royal families of each country could not possibly endure such humiliation.
Thus, they gritted their teeth and began throwing absurd amounts of money in an attempt to secure the weapons of the heroes representing their respective nations. After an incredibly fierce bloodbath, Kaizel managed to secure second place in the crowdfunding rankings, just behind the Imperial Household of the Empire.
Of course, this came at a cost, requiring not only the royal budget but also Kaizel’s personal fortune to be drained. Yet, there was not a trace of regret on Kaizel’s face.
Because, in exchange for that cost, Kaizel had obtained the thing he so desperately desired.
“This… this is the very Holy Sword wielded by the Knight King hundreds of years ago…”
Strictly speaking, the item currently in Kaizel’s hands wasn’t the real thing but rather a replica of the Holy Sword wielded by the Knight King, a character from Fate’s Sky. But such trivial facts were entirely irrelevant to Kaizel.
To him, the only fact that mattered was that the item belonging to his favorite character—the Knight King from Fate’s Sky—had finally fallen into his possession.
“Hmm… Everything is good, but it’s slightly disappointing that it doesn’t come with special functions like the replica of the Book of Life and d*ath.”
In the past, Ragnar’s limited edition replica of the Book of Life and d*ath had features like the ability to cast minor curses by writing someone’s name or summon customizable spirits. However, the replica of the Holy Sword was merely a sword that faithfully recreated its appearance from the animation, without any extraordinary abilities.
Of course, there’s a saying that “the ultimate tuning is leaving it stock,” so this state wasn’t entirely bad. Still, Kaizel, who wanted to replicate the Holy Sword used by the Knight King in Fate’s Sky as closely as possible, decided to take drastic measures.
“…So, I’ve decided to gather all the master craftsmen and mages within the kingdom to modify this Holy Sword. First, I plan to definitely add the function that makes the blade transparent and the feature where the blade glows golden. If possible, I’d also like to add a function that emits a beam from the sword. What do you think, Ragnar?”
“…Do as you please. Just go ahead.”
Meanwhile, Ragnar, who had visited the kingdom both for business and to deliver the Holy Sword to Kaizel, sighed and replied.
Yeah, it’s your Holy Sword that you paid for, so what right do I have to meddle? Whether you make it emit beams or attach healing functions to the scabbard, just do whatever you want.
“Hmm, if the original creator had forbidden me from modifying it, I wouldn’t have done so. But since you’ve given me permission, I can happily begin the work.”
Kaizel nodded while hearing Ragnar’s half-hearted approval.
“Oh, while we’re on the topic, would it be alright if I erected a statue inspired by the face of the Knight King from Fate’s Sky? Of course, I’ll pay you a fair price—it won’t be unauthorized.”
“…Statue?”
That sounds oddly familiar…
Is it a trend among the higher-ups these days to erect statues of anime characters?
Although it was quite surprising news, since there had already been precedent, Ragnar didn’t show much surprise. Unfortunately, however, Kaizel’s planned project seemed far crazier than what the Emperor had done.
“I plan to move the existing statue of the Knight King to another location and replace it with a statue of the Knight King from Fate’s Sky in the square in front of the palace. People will surely love it when a new statue of our kingdom’s representative hero is erected.”
“…What?”
At that moment, Ragnar doubted his own ears upon hearing Kaizel’s words.
So, you’re going to remove the existing statue of the Knight King and replace it with a new one of a female Knight King?
Is this kid really speaking seriously?
“Hmm? But through Fate’s Sky, I realized what true history is.”
“…True history?”
“Yeah. The Knight King was originally a woman but had to pretend to be a man due to various circumstances of the times. Isn’t that common knowledge?”
“…”
Honestly, there was a lot Ragnar wanted to say, but since it was ultimately another country’s matter, even though they were friends, Ragnar decided to keep quiet.
What, does something serious really need to happen?
At worst, wouldn’t it just result in the crown prince of the Kingdom of Richard being replaced? What else could possibly happen?
“So, why did you come here? If it was just to deliver the Holy Sword, there was no need for you to come in person, right?”
“Ah, actually, I need a composer to write music for my next anime project.”
“…Composer?”
Upon hearing Ragnar’s words, Kaizel tilted his head, seemingly confused.
“Aren’t there plenty of skilled composers in the Empire? Why did you bother coming all the way to the kingdom?”
“That’s because the styles of composers in the Empire and the kingdom are very different.”
Before Ragnar introduced the genre of animation to the world, the dominant art form tightly controlled by the Empire was theater and opera.
As a result, the music in the Empire evolved to match the forms of theater and opera, giving listeners a grand and majestic feeling.
On the contrary, the kingdom leaned more towards light-hearted or ballad-based music.
If inserting nursery rhymes or classical music, like in episode 17 of Knight Shin Chronicle’s “Palace Party” scene, borrowing the talents of Imperial musicians wouldn’t have been a bad choice. However, since the songs for the new works he was producing this time weren’t of that kind, he inevitably needed to rely on the musicians of the kingdom.
“I’ve already conceived the basic melody, so all that’s left is to adapt it to current trends. In that sense, do you know any good composers you could introduce me to?”
“That’s not too difficult. Don’t worry, I’ll lend you the most skilled court musician in the kingdom.”
Saying this, Kaizel listened to the melodies of two songs recorded with Serika’s help, marveling at them.
“Hmm, so these are the OSTs for the next work in the Fate’s Sky series? Though I don’t know much about this field, these songs seem really good.”
Well, that was quite natural considering these two songs were legendary masterpieces that remained famous in the anime industry even decades after their release.
Even if the listener was a human from a fantasy world and not an Earthling, it would have been impossible to give a negative review of these songs.
“The song for the theatrical version feels lively, as if it gives you the sensation of flying somewhere, while the song for the next part of Fate’s Sky evokes a nostalgic feeling, like reminiscing about someone.”
Kaizel, who had a sharp sense regarding anything related to fandom, gave this evaluation and hummed the melody repeatedly, clearly taken with the songs.
“So, what are the titles of these songs? I assume you, Ragnar, must have already named them.”
“The title of the first song will be ‘Butterfly,’ and the title of the second song will be…”
Ragnar, inexplicably feeling tears welling up in his chest, quietly opened his mouth.
“…’Seeds of Sadness, Fruits of Happiness.'”
