[「Fate’s Sky」Episode 14, The Girl’s True Identity Revealed… Could She Actually Be the Knight King of Richard Kingdom?!]
[Director Ragnar’s New Work, 「Fate’s Sky」Episode 14… Depicting the Knight King as a Woman Sparks Quite the Controversy…]
[Fairy Tale Version Says ‘Male,’ But in the Anime, It’s ‘Female?’ Is This Even Right?!]
[An Anonymous History Professor from the Academy: “Personally, I Think Changing the Gender of Mythical or Fairy Tale Figures Shouldn’t Be an Issue.”]
[Viewers Split Over the Knight King’s Gender: “This is Historical Distortion!” VS “It’s Just an Anime; Freedom of Expression Shouldn’t Be an Issue.”]
“Hahahaha.”
A few mornings after the broadcast of 「Fate’s Sky」Episode 14…
I smirked creepily while reading the massive headlines plastered across the morning newspaper.
Look at this.
No matter which paper you check, it’s all about 「Fate’s Sky.」
Of course, this isn’t exactly surprising.
After all, whenever 「Fate’s Sky」airs, they always go wild publishing articles about the unfolding storylines, hidden foreshadowing, or unresolved plot threads for days afterward.
It’s hard to even tell if these papers are reporting on empire news or just serving as a setting guide for 「Fate’s Sky.」 Do we really need more words?
But today’s morning edition was a bit different.
Instead of mindless praise for 「Fate’s Sky,」 the newspapers were filled with cautious criticism regarding the recent developments.
Though I suspect that if the publishers weren’t so scared of the empire’s massive fanbase for 「Fate’s Sky,」 their criticisms would be far sharper.
Still, not for long.
Be honest now—what else do you have to write about these days?
Could you possibly ignore the shocking revelation that the Knight King was depicted as a woman in the anime?
Really? No way.
Absolutely not.
Soon enough, those newspapers will unleash their fury over the Knight King being portrayed as female, tearing apart 「Fate’s Sky」even further.
If the media keeps pouring out critiques, public opinion will undoubtedly shift.
Even though she wasn’t their own nation’s hero, some people will still feel uneasy about changing the gender of someone historically male.
Once public opinion turns against me, the Imperial Household won’t be able to ignore the citizens’ voices, no matter how rigid the class system is.
And by now, the Richard Kingdom must be in chaos, right?
It wouldn’t be strange if their citizens swarmed together demanding to cut off cultural exchanges with the empire immediately.
What happens next goes without saying.
Like something out of 21st-century Korea, they’ll probably hold a press conference where someone says, “I apologize for this incident caused by my poor judgment,” or “I’ll step down from my position as director and repay everyone with better anime later.”
Then, once public sentiment calms down a few years later, they’ll release new goods based on previously made anime and leech money off people like mosquitoes.
Just as I was smirking in relief while enjoying the newspaper criticizing me…
“Guh, Director! Director!”
BAM!
Karlreya burst into my room, panting heavily, clutching a newspaper in her hand.
“The newspaper… you’ve seen the newspaper, right? Could it be… did you plan all this? Holy crap, I was wondering why you weren’t responding to any of this, but you were planning this all along?”
“Huh?”
For a moment, I couldn’t understand what Karlreya was talking about.
Plan?
What did I plan?
All I planned was to quit being an anime director and go home.
She handed me a newspaper article, looking at me expectantly.
It wasn’t from the empire—it was from the Richard Kingdom.
Fresh-off-the-press morning edition.
And the content inside?
[Knight King… What If They Were Actually Female?]
[Royal Historian: “There’s No Clear Evidence the Knight King Was Male… Premature Criticism of 「Fate’s Sky」Should Stop.”]
[A Royal Official: “While the Knight King was male in fairy tales, there’s a possibility they were female in real history.”]
“Wha…?”
Oh come on.
What is THIS?!
“Your Majesty, what if we take this opportunity to officially declare the Knight King was actually female? On a national level, we could announce the possibility that the Knight King was female.”
“What?!?”
The king of Richard Kingdom blinked in disbelief.
Is this guy insane?
He was already feeling like he was betraying his ancestors every time he saw the Knight King in 「Fate’s Sky.」
Yet here this prince was, completely ignoring his father’s feelings, going beyond being obsessed with anime and now suggesting historical distortion?
As a king, this was truly maddening.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—the prince had the kingdom’s best interests at heart.
Because instead of spouting otaku nonsense to persuade him, Kaizel simply handed the king a newspaper.
“What is this?”
“It’s an article from the Silgea Federation recently. Take a look.”
[The Recent Rise in Empire Tourism Among Citizens… All Thanks to 「Fate’s Sky」?]
[People Traveling to the Empire to Follow the Footsteps of the Great Hero Chris Increases by Over 50%!]
[Travel Routes Featuring Key Scenes from 「Fate’s Sky」Are Becoming Extremely Popular.]
That’s right.
It was an article stating that travel to the empire from the federation had skyrocketed thanks to 「Fate’s Sky.」
Because when Ragnar created the anime, he used real locations within the empire for the backgrounds.
Sure, Ragnar only did this because he didn’t want to redraw everything, but regardless…
Foreigners were flocking to the empire to see the places featured in the anime, much like how Earth’s anime fans do pilgrimage tours.
Anyway, the empire was currently experiencing an unprecedented economic boom, all thanks to 「Fate’s Sky.」
“Right now, the empire is raking in massive profits through tourism marketing tied to 「Fate’s Sky.」 After all, otaku—no, anime fans—are willing to sell not just their money but their souls for their favorite characters. We should use this too.”
“Hmm… Explain yourself.”
Realizing his son wasn’t spouting nonsense, the king asked seriously.
“As Your Majesty knows, the most popular character in 「Fate’s Sky」is the Knight King. In fact, they’re practically the backbone of the entire show.”
Technically, the Knight King was neck-and-neck in popularity with Yuri’s classmate Saint, but…
Kaizel ignored that inconvenient truth and continued.
“And now, with the Knight King’s identity revealed in 「Fate’s Sky」Episode 14, there’s quite the controversy. However, at the same time…”
“Interest and curiosity in the Knight King have never been higher. A crisis can often become an opportunity.”
Kaizel nodded at the king’s words.
“What if… purely hypothetically… word spread across the continent that the Knight King was ‘actually female?’ And what if there were some convincing evidence backing it up?”
“Perhaps… perhaps people from all over the continent might visit our kingdom. Maybe even more than those visiting the empire.”
And the money generated from this influx of tourists would greatly help the perpetually cash-strapped Richard Kingdom.
It was an absolutely brilliant idea that would benefit the kingdom in every possible way…
…except for one small drawback.
“To alter history… To remake our kingdom’s hero as female in an anime, and now twist history itself?”
Kaizel tilted his head in genuine confusion.
“So what? If future generations depicted me as a cute girl in anime, I’d be thrilled.”
…Don’t you think THAT makes YOU abnormal, son?
In the end, after much deliberation, the king agreed to allow only speculative articles suggesting the possibility that the Knight King might have been female.
Thus…
[Ancient Tomb Mural of a Woman Discovered… Could It Be the Knight King?]
[Anonymous Political Scientist Awarded Knighthood (Female, 29) Claims: “Ragnar Terison Must Have Planned All This.”]
[Not “Historical Distortion” but “Truth Unveiled”—How Far Ahead Did Baron Ragnar Terison Plan When Creating This Anime?]
“…”
Just moments ago, the newspapers were busy criticizing Ragnar, but now they’ve done a complete 180.
All my perfect plans were ruined because of that bastard Kaizel.
So now, there’s only one option left for Ragnar.
“Is it finally time to bring out the Hero King?”
The progenitor of the empire and the peak of all heroes: the Hero King.
Even if the Hero King—a mere academy student—ends up losing an arm in some ridiculous scene, will anyone defend me?
