Chapter 100
The common sense of Fantasy Land, whose worldview was a little off, and
the common sense of modern-day Kim Yul often clashed.
Usually, Historié served as the first filter.
Of course, Historié was also biased toward information generated from a modern perspective, so it wasn't perfect.
- Kim Yul, if you write something like this, Rozelyn might punch a hole through your solar plexus.
At the very least, it was quite effective at filtering out descriptions that went too far.
And the publisher's editors served as the second filter.
Guildford from his days at Truth Daily was the most textbook example.
Within the bounds of not ruining historical accuracy, as Kim Yul wanted.
It was he who helped by suggesting the most suitable substitute expressions possible so that the Caesar story could naturally blend into Fantasy Land's moral values.
But now.
"Mm! This is fine today too!"
The second filter had been riddled with holes.
Of course, Chloe couldn't simply be dismissed as incompetent. In fact, her efforts accounted for a large share of Novelpia's smooth sailing.
But as is obvious from the relationship between Oda, Yukda, and Sipda, the stronger the original author was, the less sway the editorial department had.
When Chloe's advice, with a batting average of around .200, tried to land a timely hit, the remaining 80 percent of baggage she'd built up usually reduced her to an 'agyagyak' machine.
So.
Over three days, Novelpia ran the scene where Napoleon ruthlessly suppressed the royalist demonstrators and seized the lofty rank of Army Lieutenant General.
And.
This immediately sparked a 'Napoleon/controversy' battleground in the salons.
"Such an overwhelming troop disparity. At first glance it's cruel, but by making an example of them, didn't he actually reduce the damage? Isn't that an efficient strategy?"
"In the middle of the city, they were less enemy soldiers than a group mixed with ordinary citizens who merely had political grievances. Can shedding their blood really be called efficient?"
"No, no. Let's apply this to reality. Suppose the politically dissatisfied citizens were not ordinary citizens but also had mages mixed in. How would you stop that?"
There was also discussion about tactics in urban warfare.
"With the revolution already on the verge of collapsing into anarchy and possibly going off the rails, Napoleon made a nation-saving decision to preserve the revolutionary spirit."
"After all, didn't Napoleon becoming emperor already come up in Beethoven? Based on the narrative so far, isn't this less for the revolution than a calculated move to seize power by exploiting the chaos of the revolution?"
The discussion even extended to Napoleon's own motives.
In truth, in a novel that hadn't even reached chapter 30 yet, discussing the depth of a character was usually premature.
But once it became glaringly obvious that it shared the same spacetime as the author's earlier work, 'Beethoven,'
there were enough clues scattered around to infer the motives behind the characters' actions.
A hero pursuing revolution?
Was it an attempt to minimize sacrifice for the sake of revolution, for the greater good?
A power-hungry ambitious man?
Or was the revolutionary cause merely a means, with citizens' lives unnecessary to his path of tyranny?
Coincidentally, author Ulysses had left the narration open in a neutral way so it could be interpreted from any angle.
After all, multifaceted character design had already been well shown in the author's penultimate work, 'The Tale of Two Heroes.'
The salon literati, along with Napoleon's character and whether the values mentioned in the story—liberty, equality, fraternity—were to be taken seriously, launched earnest debates.
They kicked off countless arguments before the main story had even gotten underway.
Of course, there was a behind-the-scenes story: since the author hadn't majored in Western history, it had been an extremely difficult task to add a clear interpretation while preserving historical accuracy.
But such personal circumstances of an author who transcended spacetime really ought never to have been made public.
It seemed the flames of that argument wouldn't die down for a while.
* * *
Literature is always liable to be interpreted differently depending on how the reader chooses to enjoy it.
A prime example was Yi San, the scientific monarch's grandson.
Having been deeply influenced by his grandfather, he developed such a strong desire to enjoy texts that could be interpreted scientifically.
Didn't he commit the bizarre act known as the Literary Style Rectification, censoring texts?
Of course, the Emperor of the Empire wasn't the type to attach much significance to literary works.
"I'd like to keep at least one daring fellow like that by my side."
He had simply focused on the fact that, in an emergency of sorts, the man had made a bold decision that fit the situation.
Just like the Northern Grand Duke, who once plotted treason with Duke Vertus and is now living as quietly as a mouse to avoid the fallout.
The Emperor of the Empire already had authority befitting his rank, as well as a sufficiently solid support base, so he wasn't particularly bothered.
The Second Prince, too.
"Ulysses, this fellow really is……!"
It was rough enough to make nitpicking and harassment perfectly possible, but he didn't want to show such an over-sensitive reaction, so he held back.
In Fantasy Land's actual history, too, toppling an immoral king and establishing a new order was a common occurrence.
After all, the Emperor of the Empire himself had gained power by repeatedly doing just that.
.
.
.
But.
"Y-you insolent……!"
He regarded inheriting power as something utterly natural,
and so there were also people who did not want even the slightest blemish on the authority they would inherit.
The First Prince ground his teeth.
Revolution?
Has he lost his mind?
Liberty, equality, fraternity.
In the vast empire that would unfold in the future, in the empire destined to unify this continent, there should be nothing but obedience and loyalty.
Even in an age when one could freely scrawl one's fantasies on scraps of paper, how could such nonsense be roaming around the imperial capital?
Why was Father saying nothing? He could cut off this would-be traitor's head right this instant.
Even the paperwork they had thrown together and submitted as a so-called hero party was absurd.
What on earth is E■■a? Can that even be called a person's name? How could such false paperwork be submitted so brazenly?
Occupation, age, race.
What on earth was the clerk doing, accepting this kind of paperwork when not a single thing was properly written?
Even this Ulysses, this Kim Yul fellow, was suspicious.
What on earth was the immigration inspector doing? Why did he let in such a subversive with no clear hometown or past? He hadn't even been registered at birth in the Empire.
Aide.
The First Prince's cold voice rang out through his office.
The aide swallowed the feeling of, 'Ha, this bastard is at it again,' and, as befitting a top-notch aide, stood beside him with a very cold expression.
"Investigate this subversive's past in as much detail as possible. Find out exactly when he infiltrated the Empire to gnaw at it from within, and whether he has ever published any other subversive works under an alias."
The aide barely caught the curse that was about to spill out, managing to hold it back at the tip of his tongue.
It seemed there must have been some unfortunate accident when the Empress conceived the First Prince.
Otherwise, how could he
think of picking a fight with someone who held the Hero's power in hand, power enough to overturn a nation?
But the aide's job was not to judge, only to obey.
"Understood."
Even knowing that the ship he was on had no helmsman and had not merely run aground, but was charging full speed toward a cliff.
the aide had no choice but to comply.
And he made an entry in his diary.
[The orders are too atrocious to put on record; I can't even bring myself to write them down, but it seems the First Prince's madness is worsening by the day....]
* * *
The aide did his utmost to carry out the passive administrative duties assigned to him as faithfully, and as leisurely, as possible.
If you added in those who had sneaked into the Empire and settled down, those who were originally from the kingdom but didn't register a household because of their resentment toward the Empire, and so on...
To exaggerate a little, about half of the Empire's people had origins that couldn't be identified.
The Empire itself hadn't existed all that long, and the Emperor of the Empire was also its first emperor.
If it had all been glossed over, muddled through, and left as vague as watered-down drivel, that would have been a perfect ending, but.
"Liberty."
"Equality!"
"Very well, comrade. Come in."
"Fraternity?"
"Comrade, I'll give you one more chance."
"Napoleon."
"Josephine."
"Cheese."
"Come on in."
After all, subversive ideas don't arise directly from the source of that ideology; rather, as they spread, new interpretations are layered on top of them and they tend to flourish even more.
Just like the first Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Divine Church, Marx, who spent 34 years chewing mugwort and garlic in the utterly brutal British Empire before finally mastering the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and spreading it across the world.
The 'banner of revolution' Kim Yul had shouted through Beethoven's and Napoleon's mouths had also been exported overseas as a pirate edition at the outrageous price of 0 gold in royalties.
"The name we have adored and cried over! The name we have longed for through the ages! Revolution means a gentle world without kings or nobles, everyone!"
"Waaaah!"
"We knew far too little about revolution!"
"You are truly wonderful, sir!"
Beethoven's cry.
And although Napoleon's tyranny was serialized in the Empire,
in the kingdom bordering the Empire, where culture crossed over through illicit routes,
the spirit of revolution began to surge.