Chapter 1015: White God Festival Noon ⑨

【The 2nd Popularity Contest’ final votes and the voting for the Afterword Section has started. See the Activity Report for details.】

The voting period is from 2021/12/24 to 2021/12/31.

Hearing that Magnawell-san had a transaction with Alice to get a special clone, I asked a question that came to my mind.

[Would it be alright if I ask about that transaction you had with Alice?]

[I don’t mind…… I mean, I don’t know what that fellow’s up to, but I too was a little surprised about our transaction. It all started a few days ago…… Shalltear came to visit my abode and told me “Give me your heart”.]

[Eh? H- Heart?]

[Umu, to be precise, her objective seems to be the “Dragon Core” within my heart.]

Fumu, I don’t remember hearing this terminology before, but if Magnawell-san himself was surprised, I think it’s safe to say that this dragon core is pretty rare.

[Ummm, what is this Dragon Core?]

[The heart of a Dragon circulates magic power throughout its body along with their blood, refining their body, and over the course of many years, that magic power gradually gathers into a small crystal. That is a Dragon Core, but few people have ever seen it. Dragon Cores exist only in the heart of a High Ancient Dragon that has lived for over 10,000 years.]

[A crystal that takes many months and years to form…… However, is it really alright to make a transaction using this crystal that formed in someone’s heart?]

[That isn’t a problem at all. Rather, that Dragon Core really is just a small crystal. Even the Dragon Cores of colossal-sized Dragons, those that are over 100m in length, a Dragon Core the size of 1cm is already considered big enough. If Shalltear went to the trouble of asking me for a deal, it must mean that she needs a Dragon Core of a certain size. Being that I’m the largest and among the oldest Dragons, I’ll inevitably have the biggest Dragon Core in the world.]

Hmmm, I could tell that this would be something outrageous. What in the world is Alice planning to do with such a thing?

[Dragon Cores are extremely dense magic crystals, and if handled carelessly, they can be extremely dangerous…… but well, I’m sure Shalltear won’t have any problem making use of them.]

[I don’t see any problem with Magnawell-san handing her something like that…… but hearing you handing her your heart sounds kinda strange.]

[That isn’t a problem. In fact, handing her my heart isn’t detrimental to me at all. It’s not that I’m saying that hearts can be easily regenerated, and it would take me years to form a Dragon Core again…… but you see, in the first place, Dragon Cores doesn’t provide us Dragons any benefit. Dragon Cores are high-density magic crystals, so it’s dangerous to dispose of them carelessly, but it’s not like the existence of a Dragon Core within our bodies had any negative effects, so we just ignore them.]

This is something that isn’t something surprising, but Magnawell-san is basically immortal. Also, it seems like that Dragon Core isn’t something that Magnawell-san needs…… So it certainly would be a good deal for Magnawell-san if he were to trade that for a special clone.

[In fact, this clone is magnificent. It’s linked to my main body, so the amount of magic power it holds is almost the same as the main body. I’m still getting used to operating it, so its actual fighting power is probably about 70% of that of my main body, but it’s still amazing. Operating it at the same time as my main body is a little difficult due to the output problem, but it isn’t that inconvenient. Moreover, surprisingly, as my main body grows, my clone also grows with it…… Hmmm, I have no idea what kind of technology she used to make this, but this definitely is amazing.]

[I see, I guess it’s easier for Magnawell-san to act when you have that clone for it.]

[Umu. It’s much easier to move around without having to worry too much about where I walk. Best of all, I can eat and drink in this clone. With my main body like that, even though eating and drinking aren’t essential, it was a little depressing not to be able to enjoy their taste. But with this body, I can enjoy eating and drinking without any problem, and the sake I drank after a long time was really delicious.]

Indeed, with the size of Magnawell-san’s main body, it seems like he could swallow a small mountain whole…… I feel like no matter how much food he consumes, it would never be enough.

In addition to that, there were probably many other things that he couldn’t enjoy because he was too big. Being too big to shop or read a book was also a problem.

[Thanks to this, unbecoming of my age, I got a little excited. It was impossible for me to go around the festival like this before, so I was just going around the festival a few distance away from the guests’ seats. However, exchanging this just for a Dragon Core makes me feel apologetic to Shalltear.]

“”

[I’m glad to hear that. However, I wonder what Alice is planning to do with that amazing-sounding thing? From what I’ve heard, she had never asked for it, right?]

[That’s right…… According to what I’ve heard, she had been trying to make some kind of transaction with the other members of the Six Kings. I heard that she also came to Megiddo’s place and told him “Give me your horn”.]

[……Magnawell-san’s Dragon Core and Megiddo-san’s horn? Is she planning to make the world’s most powerful weapon?]

[I don’t know. I’ve always had a hard time understanding what that fellow is thinking.]

Well, at least, from Magnawell-san’s point of view, he was very happy with their transactions, so that isn’t a problem…… but seriously, what is Alice doing?

It would be great if she isn’t doing anything strange…… No…… “I guess it would be faster if I just ask her directly huh”.

Serious-senpai : [Finally, the Afterword Section! Wait, Author-san, what the heck is with that absurdity!? Thinking that it’s something extra, you say this is just for fun!?]

? ? ? : [Well, it’s not like you’d win anything from this contest anyway.]

Serious-senpai : [No, no, this is the only section I’ve appeared in, you know…… Even when I’ve appeared three times in the main story, saying that they’re not including me in the main story votes…… A- Are you kidding me……]

? ? ? : [……Just in terms of popularity, Serious-senpai is seriously a cheat after all.]

【Result Announcement】Second Popularity Contest ~ ~ Block C, Block D & Block E ~ ~

Thank you very much for all the votes in Block C, D & E of the Popularity Contest.

Without further ado, here are the results everyone had been waiting for…… the Top 5 finalists!

~ ~ ~ ~ Block C ~ ~ ~ ~

Total Number of Votes : 1888

1st place : Kuromueina – 557 votes

The Main Heroine showed her mettle and took 1st place in Block C! I hope she will do her best in the final votes to make up for her loss in the first popularity contest.

2nd place : Ein – 444 votes

To be honest, I was surprised here. Of course, I knew she was a popular character, but I was still surprised that she came in 2nd place, beating out Makina, who I personally think would be the contest’s dark horse.

3rd place : Makina (Eden) – 323 votes

She regrettably got 3rd place, but she still got over 300 votes, showing a great leap forward from the first popularity contest. In this way, I feel that Block C was a pretty close race.

4th place : Shea – 122 votes

The God of Disasters, Shea did very well, considering that she doesn’t appear that much in the novel.

5th place : Caraway – 118 votes

The 5th and final spot goes to Caraway! She is the precious cat-eared character after all, so I hope she does well.

【General Comments for Block C】

This was a very close race, with not much difference in the number of votes between the 1st to 3rd place. The 6th place, Mamonaka Alyssa, who narrowly missed out on the finals, also received 103 votes, so it was really a block that could have been turned upside down by a small margin.

But in the end, Kuro, the Main Heroine, shows her determination and wins the match.

~ ~ ~ ~ Block D ~ ~ ~ ~

Total Number of Votes : 1826

1st place : Illness (Pandemonium) – 1059 votes

She really is strong! An overwhelming victory with more than majority of the votes, reminiscent of Block A’s Isis. Is Illness the one that would be competing with Isis in the final votes?

2nd place : Sieglinde – 276 votes

Showing strenuous efforts, Sieglinde came in 2nd place. She’s a stable favorite, but as expected, she couldn’t fare well against Illness.

3rd place : Ozma – 164 votes

The 3rd place goes to Ozma, the precious nice middle-aged guy, and is the second male character to enter the finals after Kaito.

4th place : Elise (Phantom) – 109 votes

Being that she was also an extremely precious tsundere, I had the impression that she had a certain amount of popularity.

5th place : Vier – 105 votes

Vier was only 4 votes behind Elise, and she had competed very well with her, overtaking and being overtaken in the voting process.

【General Comments for Block D】

This block reminds me of Block A, with Illness alone jumping out to win the vote right from the beginning. In fact, I think she is the only character who would be able to compete with the top ranks of the first popularity contest among the characters who entered the second popularity contest for the first time.

Those below 5th really were only a few votes apart, with Rosemary, Lillie and Polaris exhibiting a somewhat good match.

~ ~ ~ ~ Block E ~ ~ ~ ~

Total Number of Votes : 1688

1st place : Lunamaria – 395 votes

The winner of the chaotic Block E is Lunamaria! This block was a really close race and the votes were split towards the different characters, so I think it’s safe to say she attained a dazzling victory.

2nd place : Lillywood Yggdrasil – 368 votes

Although she was narrowly defeated by Lunamaria, Lillywood still received a stable number of votes and made it to the finals.

3rd place : Nebula – 303 votes

For a fairly new character, she had competed fairly well. With only a few chapters under her belt, I wouldn’t be surprised if she were to become a favorite to win by the time we do the 3rd popularity contest.

4th place : Freabell Nidzveld – 219 votes

Another character from the after story that made it to the finals. She’s a cool anego character, and I personally like her a lot.

5th place : Neun (Kujou Hikari) – 174 votes

Neun, the First Hero, came in at 5th place. It may be due to the fact there was an in-depth look about Hapti in a recent chapter.

【General Comments for Block E】

This was the block where the winner was the most unpredictable due to the absence of extremely popular characters, and it was a very close race among the 1st to 5th place. Regarding those below 5th place, Magnawell, Spica, and Theta also received a good number of votes.

In this block, two new characters have acquired a ranking and advanced to the final voting, so I have high expectations for their performance. I think this ranking shows how popular Lunamaria is, considering that she isn’t Kaito’s lover yet.

And that ends the preliminary blocks.

As for the final votes and the Afterword Section, I’m planning to start the voting at the time of today’s chapter update.

Popularity Contest’s Final Votes and Afterword Section here.