At this point, KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World had entered a new arc.
Princess Alice, who had invited Ren's team after they defeated several Demon King generals, held a grand banquet in their honor. As the party neared its end, she used teleportation magic to transport Ren back to the royal palace, all to spite Darkness.
And who was Ren?
He was widely known among fans as a man with zero shame, even earning titles like "Beast Ren" and "Scumbag Ren" after his duel with Mitsurugi.
Though Ren was actually a decent person deep down, Daniel, like many fans, felt that those nicknames fit Ren's character quite well.
Normally, Ren was definitely a scoundrel, sometimes even downright shameless.
So what would happen when Ren spent time with Princess Alice in the royal palace?
As the saying goes, "Bad company corrupts good manners."
Alice, once an innocent and naive princess, quickly picked up on Ren's bad habits, such as using underhanded tricks during military strategy lessons. Under Ren's influence, Alice even started calling him her sworn older brother, leading to a series of hilarious events that had readers in stitches.
However, despite the laughs, many readers were also a bit upset with Ren. After all, Princess Alice had initially been sweet and innocent, but under Ren's influence, she began to develop her own mischievous side.
"Sigh, this manga is funny, but when you think about it deeply, it's actually kind of sad…" Daniel thought to himself after closing the latest chapter of KonoSuba.
The world in KonoSuba might seem like a lighthearted comedy from the readers' perspective, but if you paid closer attention, it was actually a pretty harsh place.
The cabbage army incident, for example, highlighted how most adventurers were barely better than sentient vegetables. Even the third-ranked adventurer in the country, Mitsurugi, had been easily humiliated and defeated by Ren in an informal duel. If this was the level of the top adventurers, then the world was in rough shape.
Add to that the goddess summoning people from Japan just to fill the ranks of adventurers because no one in their world wanted the job. Even Ren, the main character, had died countless times throughout the series, showing just how dangerous this world was.
"Yeah, the Porter's mangas always seem funny on the surface, but when you really think about it, there's always a hidden layer of horror."
As fans continued to discuss Ren's new work online, Ren himself received news of another award nomination.
While it wasn't as prestigious as the Oscars, it was still a well-known award in the industry.
For example, Felix's Ultraman Nexus had been nominated for five awards, including Best Screenplay, Best TV Show, Best Director, Most Popular Actor, and Best Children's Program.
That was quite an impressive achievement!
When Felix learned that his work had been nominated, he couldn't help but cry tears of joy.
It had been a long, hard road for Felix to finally gain recognition after years in the industry.
In fact, Felix could easily have left Ren's studio and gone solo by now. But he didn't want to.
He felt that staying with Ren allowed him to learn even more. Plus, Ren treated his team well, never taking credit for their work or withholding their earnings.
As a result, several other artists who could have gone independent, like Felix, chose to stay with Ren's studio as well.
Ren didn't mind either. He welcomed them staying, as having reliable talent around was always useful.
After attending the awards ceremony with the winning team, Ren returned to the studio in Poetry City.
"Hey, Felix, what's wrong?"
The next day, when Ren arrived at the studio, he noticed a crowd gathered around Felix, who seemed unusually quiet.
Ren walked over, a smile playing on his lips. "Alright, alright, so he won an award. You all are probably pestering him so much he's feeling down!"
To Ren, Felix's glum demeanor likely had to do with the constant questions and attention he was getting.
Ren had gone through the same thing when he first gained fame.
Everywhere he went, paparazzi followed, asking ridiculous questions. If you didn't answer them, they'd hound you. But if you did, you'd often see your words twisted beyond recognition when they were published.
"Teacher, it's not us bothering Felix," someone said. "We found him like this when we arrived! He won't answer any of our questions!"
Ren was startled. If everyone was telling the truth, then something else was going on with Felix.
Had something happened at home?
Sighing, Ren walked over and patted Felix on the shoulder. "Look, Felix, whatever happened, you have to accept it. People always say the deceased turn into stars in the sky, watching over us. You wouldn't want them to see you this sad—"
Before Ren could finish, Felix cut him off, looking up at him in exasperation. "Teacher, no one died in my family."
"..."
Ren stood there, speechless for a moment, then awkwardly smacked Felix on the back of the head. "Then why do you look so miserable? You just won an award! How do you think that makes everyone else feel, huh?"
"Exactly!"
"Yeah, we didn't win anything!"
The other artists and assistants chimed in, nodding their heads in agreement.
"No... you guys don't understand..." Felix muttered, shaking his head.
"Then tell me what's wrong!" Ren said, annoyed. "What's the point of keeping it all to yourself?"
Felix hesitated, looking around nervously at the group gathered around them. Noticing his discomfort, Ren immediately picked up on the situation. He turned to the crowd of curious onlookers. "Why are you all still hanging around? Don't you have work to do? Go on, get back to your desks! Are your projects all finished already?"
As soon as Ren finished speaking, everyone scattered, disappearing from sight in an instant.
"Now, can you tell me?" Ren asked.
"Yeah..." Felix nodded, then leaned in close to Ren's ear and whispered, "Teacher... what do you do if your girlfriend is pregnant... but the baby isn't yours?"
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