Animation Producer in a Fantasy World

To be honest, I had no intention whatsoever of suggesting that Serika try something like voice acting.

Well, that’s because, right?

In modern terms, Serika is close to being the only daughter of a chaebol family, an enormous existence, while I’m no different from the second son of a shitty small company.

In terms of caste, there’s at least a difference between a Brahmin and a Sudra.

Asking such a great woman to do dubbing for an animation is not something a sane person would do.

Honestly, even now, I was about to go crazy with how burdensome it was that Serika was treating me so familiarly over this voice acting issue.

But.

‘No matter how I think about it, her voice is just too good.’

That’s right.

Serika’s voice could be described, with a bit of exaggeration, as the sound of jade beads rolling, and it wouldn’t be an understatement at all.

Of course, since she had never professionally learned acting, there was a lot of awkwardness typical of beginners in her voice.

Even taking that into account, Serika’s voice was incredibly charming.

If she had been born on modern Earth, she could have succeeded with her voice alone, whether she became a voice actor, a VTuber, or someone whispering ASMR on YouTube.

As an animation producer myself, I didn’t want to just leave Serika’s voice alone.

That’s why, come hell or high water, I pretended to be crazy and threw that proposal at her.

“Me, as the nymph’s voice…? Are you joking?”

Serika asked back in a very bewildered voice, but I was dead serious.

“Do you think I would joke about my own work?”

Of course, I was planning to immediately switch to saying it was a joke if our chaebol’s eldest daughter showed even the slightest sign of dislike.

“…..”

Meanwhile, Serika, who had been making a somewhat dazed expression at my words, soon nodded as if she had made some decision.

“…Alright, fine. Since I started this, I’ll cooperate with you too. But first, I’ll need to get permission.”

“…Permission? What permission?”

I instinctively felt an ominous feeling when I heard the word ‘permission’.

It was like a chilling sensation of facing an abyss that shouldn’t be looked into.

“Don’t worry. It probably won’t take long.”

Leaving those words, Serika left the Tersian Barony.

And soon after, she sent me a letter.

Fortunately, there was no mysterious USB or videotape inside, but it still contained content that was truly shocking to me.

The content of the letter was quite long, but to summarize it in one sentence, it was quite simple.

[Father wants to talk to you about the animation. Can you come to the Duke’s mansion?]

“…Damn it.”

If I had known this would happen, I would never have brought it up.

Why is it that sad premonitions are never wrong?

The Grinewald Ducal family, one of the four great ducal families of the empire and considered one of the noblest bloodlines, was located not too far from the Tersian Barony.

That is to say, it was within a distance that could be reached in about two days by carriage.

And that was truly unfortunate news for me.

Because I couldn’t make excuses like ‘It seems I can’t go because the distance is too far.’

‘Shit.’

So I arrived at the Grinewald Duke’s mansion feeling like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Ragna Tersian.”

When I arrived at the duke’s mansion, the duke was sitting in the reception room waiting for me, which was truly an honor.

“…Sorry for making you come all the way here.”

Additionally, next to the duke were Serika and her younger sister Isabel, and.

“…..”

Her brother, Deneb El Grinewald, who had the word ‘disapproval’ written all over his face.

‘Ah.’

At a glance, it was clear that both that gentleman and the duke were extreme Serika-lovers.

Because they had been staring at me with displeased expressions since earlier.

“First, have some tea. We have important matters to discuss.”

“Yes.”

For some reason, I feel like I’ve been dragged to the National Intelligence Service rather than coming as a guest to the duke’s mansion. Is this just my imagination?

As soon as I sat across from the duke and took a sip of tea, a hearing began as if they had been waiting for this moment.

“So. I hear that you’ve been childhood friends with our Serika since you were young?”

“Yes, that’s right. We became friends when I was at the magic tower.”

“Hmm. The magic tower. I see. That was the weak point.”

“…Pardon?”

With that as the start, the duke began to bombard me with all sorts of questions.

“I heard you were a quite promising talent at the magic tower, why did you leave there?”

“Do you have any thoughts of studying magic again even now? Or any intention of becoming the disciple of the Archmage?”

“If you really have no interest in magic, what do you want to do in the future?”

The duke bombarding me with questions as if a father-in-law questioning his son-in-law.

Just as I was starting to feel a sense of doubt about why I had to be dragged here and subjected to such an interrogation.

“…Father, please take it easy. Ragna is my childhood friend.”

“That’s right, Dad. Don’t scold Ragna oppa too much! He’s big sister’s friend.”
“…Ahem. I understand, Serika. And Isabel.”

Due to Serika’s intervention, the duke’s hearing came to an abrupt end.

Do you know what the power hierarchy in the Grinewald Ducal family is like?

It seems Serika was 1st, Isabel 2nd, and the duke was merely 3rd.

“I apologize, Ragna. There have been so many strange insects buzzing around our Serika lately. I had no choice but to conduct an ideological verification.”

“…Yes, well. I understand.”

He seems like a clearly insane daughter-obsessed person, so it looks like he’s exercising considerable patience at this level.

“Then let’s get to the main point. You, according to Serika, have created a new genre of art called ‘animation’? That is… pictures that move as if alive?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“And you want our Serika to voice for that animation?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the reason?”

The duke threw a question at me with a quite sharp expression, but I answered with a calm face.

Because I, who had been an untouchable who produced anime as a subcontractor of a subcontractor of a subcontractor in the past, knew all too well what kind of answer to give in this situation.

“Because among all the voices I’ve heard so far, Serika’s voice was the most beautiful.”

For a moment, the duke’s face changed subtly, and Serika’s face turned bright red.

“As an artist, I thought that if I could add Serika’s voice to my work, it could become a masterpiece worthy of going down in history. Surely you weren’t unaware of this fact, Duke?”
“…Ahem. Was that so?”
“I can assure you. The fact that Serika’s voice is far more beautiful than that of any decent actor or singer. As a family member, I can’t help but doubt your discernment if you didn’t even know that.”

This might sound like an insulting statement that treats the duke’s discernment as inferior.

But at this moment, I could clearly see the duke’s mouth twitching.

So… our daughter’s voice is far more beautiful than any renowned actor or singer in the empire?

To the extent that you’re confident the work will become a masterpiece if you add our daughter’s voice?

Ah, of course! Absolutely.

Kid, you’ve got quite an eye, don’t you?

“…Ahem, hmm.”

Seeing that even Deneb’s mouth, who had been looking at me disapprovingly from a distance, was twitching, it seems I had made a statement that perfectly hit their preferences.

“I think your words have merit. And… since Serika herself can be considered an artist, there’s no reason for me to oppose this.”

“Is that so? Then-”

“However, there’s one condition.”

At that moment, the duke began to show the demeanor of a cold-blooded nobleman, not the doting face he had shown until now.

“That animation thing you made. I hear you’ve been letting the children of noble families watch it for free until now?”

“Yes.”

Well, that’s because the animation in this world is something I created to attract the attention of the little brats.

“But I can’t allow that.”

“…Pardon?”

“I can’t allow a work that contains Serika’s efforts to be shown to others for free. The value of someone who inherited the Grinewald bloodline can’t be so cheap.”

The duke said this in a tone that suggested he absolutely wouldn’t yield on this point.

“In that sense, I have one proposal I’d like to make to you.”

“…What is it?”

“How about instead of releasing it for free this time, you charge money for viewing it?”

“…Charge money? You mean I should release my animation to the public for a fee?”

“That’s right. And not just to the children of nobles, but also release the animation to ordinary commoners for a fee. I think there’s enough business potential if you rent several large theaters or opera houses and screen it there.”

Saying this, the duke slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

“If not for this condition, I won’t allow Serika to help you. If you don’t like it, you can give up. I have nothing to lose.”

“Father! Honestly, that’s too unreasonable a condition! Who would pay money to watch an animation!”

At the duke’s words, Serika stood up abruptly from her seat.

It seems she thought the condition set by the duke was something nonsensical.

But.

“Alright.”

“…What?”

“I’ll accept your proposal, Duke. What the hell, let’s give it a try.”

Listening to the duke’s words, I sincerely thought it was worth trying.

The reason was simple.

‘It’s just like making a theatrical animation, right?’

And I also knew how to make a theatrical animation successful.

‘DiXney and Ghibli are gods. And I am invincible.’
Two legendary animation companies that anyone who watches animation on Earth would know.

So, roughly speaking, wouldn’t it be extremely easy if I plagiar… no, benchmark the works of those two companies?