Chapter 96
In fact, in Fantasy Land, Martial Arts Land, the real world, East and West, and throughout all ages, criticism and satire aimed at the power structure have always been literature’s foundation.
Was it only literature?
The bottom trio of the real world’s academic caste.
If history and philosophy, which stand shoulder to shoulder with literature, want to do that, criticism and satire are of course basic requirements.
And if you end up bullying the weak and fawning on the strong, you can never truly elevate the bold spirit of literature, history, and philosophy.
Standing up to Joseon’s flail master, the iron-mace sovereign Yi Bang-won’s swagger, he would even boldly write into the Veritable Records, “Make sure the historian never finds out about this.”
If he shouted, “For God’s sake, stop that bullshit already!”?
You had to have the guts to answer back with, “If God does not write straight, then above God is Heaven,” almost like a taijiquan counter, to qualify as the original history department’s swagger.
Philosophy goes without saying.
Diogenes, the ancient Greek staff master, was so skilled with staff techniques that, because he was hungry, he staged a midday outdoor public show of rubbing a cudgel.
And even if the Emperor of Mankind, Heavenly Demon Iskandar, were to stomp his Heavenly Demon Overlord Step right in front of him, he could snap back, “You’re kicking up dust, so get lost.”
Of course, Kim Yul wasn’t that much of a macho man.
In the first place, Napoleon wasn’t even directly involved in that scientific experiment that reduced Louis XVI’s resistance to zero, so there wasn’t any detailed description.
Rather, in a story that unfolded at a brisk pace, the focus was on how the young Napoleon established himself in the army.
After taking leave, he went to Corsica and formed a volunteer force.
But after that volunteer force refused to heed his command and he suffered his first failure, the conflict with Paoli, a local notable of Corsica,
and his return to France.
“This brings back memories.”
As the Emperor read Kim Yul’s novel, he felt genuine interest.
By now, having unified the petty kingdoms and founded an empire, his past deeds were all strewn with victory and glory.
The Emperor himself had also risen to this position after enduring countless hardships and failures.
So unlike ordinary novels that unfold with nothing but unconditional glorification of the protagonist, Kim Yul’s novel carried a rather unique resonance.
Besides that.
In the first place, whether the act of setting a king’s neck on the guillotine and conducting a superconductivity experiment would stir his emotions,
the answer was “No.”
After all, the Emperor of the empire had also built his blood-soaked authority by gathering the heads of those he called kings during the war of unification.
“A guillotine, huh. It looks like a rather efficient means of execution.”
It did give him some inspiration, though in a slightly different direction.
After all, physics theory produced a weighty resonance that transcended historical settings.
There was the minor issue that, by being “observed,” the guillotine had escaped its quantum superposition and moved one step closer to reality.
The Emperor’s impression was only that much.
Even the Second Prince, armed with the mindset of “Instead of wasting your talent on a novel, you should be serving me,” could be said to be worrying about the political repercussions that might reach Kim Yul.
But the one sharpening a knife against Kim Yul wasn’t the Emperor, nor the Second Prince.
He was the Empire’s rightful heir apparent, first in line,
the First Prince, who had unknowingly been properly stung by the term “tiger father, dog son” in “Two Heroes.”
.
.
.
Around the time the Second Prince, unable to withstand Kim Yul’s deft tongue, failed once again to conscript him by force,
the First Prince, as expected of someone born a bit earlier, made a more political move.
First of all.
“Duke Schnaisen. There are a few parts of your business that I find somewhat concerning.”
“…….”
He grabbed the publisher’s president’s father by the hair.
Of course, Duke Schnaisen responded to that rough treatment by acting meek in front and snorting dismissively behind his back.
A move worthy of a master of dealing with people and ruling, indeed.
The First Prince’s next attack also landed a rather painful blow on Kim Yul.
* * *
“A field trip to the Demon Realm... you mean?”
“That’s right, Hero.”
Up until I answered the call from that utterly dubious public agency called the Hero Support Agency,
I thought it would be some kind of ceremony to award Hero activity funds, or maybe subsidies, or something like that.
Is the Demon Realm some kind of walking route for the mutt next door?
You’re telling me to go on a field trip there? I went there last time, and it looked pretty ominous.
“It clearly says in the contract that for three years after being appointed Hero, I am not obligated to be deployed to the Demon Realm.”
By the book.
Let’s do it by the book!
In response to my resistance, the official in charge at the Hero Support Agency gazed steadily at me with a kind expression, as if he could live without laws.
“Of course, the obligation is as stated. But Hero, the Demon Realm is a complicated place. Shouldn’t you get familiar with the terrain and internal customs in advance so you can carry out your duties smoothly in the future?”
It was so reasonable that it was hard to argue against.
“And have you not finished selecting your hero party yet? If you don’t submit it soon, the Empire will appoint them at its own discretion—”
“I’ll submit it soon.”
Random party matchmaking was a hard pass.
Then people who really think I’m the Hero will swarm in and shout, “Carry me, please.”
That won’t do.
It was time for the Dragon Resonance I’d been putting off.
.
.
.
But.
Two days, three days, four days.
Even after a week passed.
The yellow mutt I thought might come rumbling over to the mansion any second to throw a tantrum never showed up.
Of course, that happened from time to time.
If it were a normal day, I’d have shouted, “Even better,” and enjoyed the mansion’s peaceful silence.
I have a mission.
To enlighten a gold dragon whose biological reason for existing is questionable, and lead it to contribute to the peace of Fantasy Land.
If that isn’t the Hero’s duty, then what is it?
If not, whatever.
Honestly, even if I just threw in Roseline, who could easily pin Seraphine in an arm-wrestling match, it probably wouldn’t be that dangerous.
If the ominous rumors inside the Demon Realm are true, the more insurance, the better.
Chloe?
That’s just baggage. Honestly, I didn’t even want to take Tin Can with me. Treasure our Tin Can.
“It can’t be helped.”
If it didn’t show up on its own,
there was no choice but to use summoning magic from our side.
I looked at the yellow mutt’s scale, which I still treasured and wore around my neck.
Squeeeze.
I pressed down hard.
In an instant, dazzling light enveloped me.
And then, before long,
Plop──
“Hm?”
Instead of the yellow mutt I’d called for,
a single sheet of paper dropped out.
- I’m busy! If it’s dangerous, press again!
A sheet of paper with words scrawled on it in a rough hand.
More precisely,
it was a map.
* * *
“Mmm, very good indeed!”
Chloe devoured the manuscript Kim Yul had brought, like a yellow mutt gobbling dog food, and showed her approval.
Recently, Chloe had been worried that this strange hero business and all that might cause Kim Yul’s writing activity to shrink a little.
In fact,
Where had all that daring gone, from the days when he used to churn out three or four pieces a day and bring them over?
Now he only brought one piece a day, just the manuscript that would be serialized tomorrow, so it was only natural to worry.
Of course, she didn’t say it outright.
Because when she tried writing under the pen name Erocle, she realized that even writing one piece a day was pretty difficult.
But five pieces!
And the content was quite satisfying, too.
In Chloe’s view,
no matter how she looked at it, the material was a little less appealing than his previous works.
The noble high elf, Yubi.
A state-power-level weather mage, Zhuge Liang.
The eccentric genius musician, Beethoven.
After all, a protagonist’s character is crucial for immersion.
But what about Napoleon?
No matter how much of an inspirational figure he was as he rose all the way to emperor in the opening, he was still just a country bumpkin!
It made me wonder when he’d ever show any truly protagonist-like qualities.
As expected, Kim Yul was different.
Not only did the work portray protagonist Napoleon’s ambition as huge even while he was a low-ranking commander,
he deliberately produced and distributed a political pamphlet called “A Supper at Beaucaire,” and then, on that basis, won the favor of a high-ranking official.
In response to the full backing of a high-ranking official, Robespierre, he took command of the army as an artillery commander in one fell swoop,
and even slipped in a complaint denouncing an incompetent commander, getting him dismissed.
And because it happened to end right there,
it was frustrating not to know whether that action would benefit the protagonist or work against him.
As always, Chloe stared steadily at Kim Yul with sparkling, wide-open eyes.
Because when Kim Yul received that enchanting gaze passed down through High Elf Vision, he would, with a high probability, spoil what came next.
But.
“You’re not busy, are you?”
“What nonsense is that, desuwa? There is no one busier in the imperial capital than this lady!”
Hit right in the sore spot, Chloe got so angry that the tips of her ears turned red.
Kim Yul seized the moment the target sheet began to glow and whispered into her ear, with ‘agyak-agyak’ in the background.
“Come with me somewhere.”
“Wha, wha, where are we going, whaaat.”
Into Chloe’s flailing ear,
“To pay a visit.”
Kim Yul’s explanation, with a lot of the context omitted, sank in.
At that moment.
What? Where are we visiting? No way. Wasn’t he an orphan? I thought he was an orphan. Did he have foster parents or something? No, but weren’t they not that kind of relationship? Why is he saying it so familiarly, so casually?
Chloe’s brain, filled to the brim with all kinds of imaginings, melted down in an instant.
“I, I still can’t accept this, desuwa...!”
A protest that was close to a pout slipped out of Chloe’s mouth, but
perhaps Kim Yul also felt that his explanation had been a little lacking,
“We’re going to the dragon lair.”
he kindly added the destination.
The dragon fear engraved at the genetic level instantly bleached the color from Chloe’s face.