Chapter 69

At first, I thought he was a madman.

I mean, I thought he was Frederick mk2.

“No, but that’s my thing in the first place?”

Naturally, it was absurd for them to forcibly collect things that I sold or gave away.

Of course, given the nature of the Gallery, there were countless anonymous requests for handshakes.

– Oh, is he a madman?

– The soldier just randomly beat people, so don’t interfere with him, lol.

– Fron is done for.

Ugh, damn it, now I have nowhere to go.

Fron was an isolated region.

Mountains behind and the Forest of Monsters ahead.

It meant that coming in was not free, and going out was not free either.

– Duke’s Proxy) They haven’t paid taxes for a long time. They are just taking what they deserve.

“Is this a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude?”

Are they really using that region to throw a banquet or something?

But surprisingly, no.

Count Mark had a slightly different take than I did.

Count Mark was a crazy purist.

– Duke’s Proxy) But violence is an abuse of power.

– Duke’s Proxy) Law will punish them.

Ugh, damn that strict punishment.

I mean, they’ll probably just let it slide again.

I mean, a strong punishment (1-day suspension).

It’s just how those high-ranking folks are.

– Duke’s Proxy) Let’s strip them of their qualifications.

Huh?

What do you mean?

“Eh?”

The tax collector had considerable power among the ranks.

They often had backers and were in cahoots with the nobles.

So I just assumed it would be brushed aside, but qualifications stripped?

– Duke’s Proxy) Additionally, they will incur a fine of 10,000 mana pills for damages, and an investigation will follow.

Ugh, I didn’t expect it to go that far.

I’m really stressed now.

– Author) Wow, thank you.

– Duke’s Proxy) I just did what the law required.

He was indeed a law-obsessed madman.

He was different from Frederick.

No, he was different to the point of being problematic.

If Frederick were a mindless dictator, the people would probably have already cut him down.

– Too much law-law, but he’s not bad, I guess.

– I’ve never seen the Duke’s Proxy splurge while working in his own castle.

– Last time he punished himself for a mistake, I thought he was really insane.

He didn’t seem to have a bad reputation.

“I should look him up.”

Naturally, curiosity arose.

I pulled up the activity record of the relevant nickname and was promptly plunged into the depths.

[Collection of Posts by the Duke’s Proxy]

One day ago / 07:00) Record, start of work.

One day ago / 23:00) Record, end of work.

Two days ago / 07:00) Record, start of work.

Two days ago / 23:00) Record, end of work.

.

.

A few months ago / 16:00) Record, appointed as Duke’s Proxy.

“Wow, insane.”

Working a crazy 16-hour shift every single day.

And sleeping from exactly 23:30 to waking at 6:30, that’s the sleep schedule.

[n months ago / Title: What should I do?]

Author: What does it mean to have a nickname?

“Uh, what’s this?”

Then, I stumbled upon his first post in the Gallery.

It was a post from when he wasn’t yet the Duke’s Proxy.

What on earth did he write, I wondered, and when I peeked in, the content was a sight to behold.

[n months ago / Title: What should I do?]

Author: What does it mean to have a nickname?

Duke Isaac held the Crown Prince’s hand.

The situation in the North kept getting worse.

All kinds of crimes were happening,

Monsters were attacking more frequently,

And the officials were preoccupied with lining their pockets.

What’s the problem?

Why aren’t the laws being followed?

Someone needs to step up and enforce the law.

[Recommended 0] [Not Recommended 5]

– Hey, are you drinking?

– Clean your feet before sleeping.

– Yeah… Law sounds good, but if you follow it, you’ll starve; who will enforce it?

– Author) What does that mean?

– I have to keep an eye on it by myself, and if everyone breaks the law, I’ll just end up starving, haha.

– Did you just come from another world? Are you questioning the obvious here?

– Author) Hmm… I see that now.

– What do you mean?

– Author) So if everyone follows the law, everyone gets to live better, right?

“That’s the starting point, damn it.”

Nobody follows the law.

Then just rise to the top rank and make everyone follow it.

I guess he thought that was the way to save the crumbling North.

– Duke’s Proxy) Thanks for the support, but I’d appreciate it if you could avoid excessive interference.

So, that loud voice is 100% sincere.

His behavior—no luxury, even missing meals while working—is proof of that.

“But if the law itself is wrong, isn’t it all meaningless?”

In the end, even if I came out like this, it would be pointless if people didn’t cooperate.

So I made up my mind.

“Yippee!”

Flump

I threw myself onto the bed and pulled out some snacks.

Then I opened the Gallery and started re-reading the posts from a week ago.

“Does it concern me?”

In fact, the tax collector who committed violence was punished, and Gallum didn’t die.

If anything went beyond that, it would be internal meddling.

While it was annoying for them to take my things, even if they took thousands or tens of thousands, it wouldn’t greatly damage my points.

It wasn’t like they intended to use it for themselves; they wanted to use it for the development of the territory…

“By the way.”

At that moment, something poked me.

Turning around, I found Penny, who had gotten closer, staring at me while holding a fairy tale book.

“I read this fairy tale book too! Do you have any other books?”

Her eyes were brimming with anticipation.

Maybe she liked fairy tale books because she had just come in from outside?

If I were on a “food-sleep” routine, Penny was on a “food-sleep-fairy tale book” routine.

‘Wait a minute, what if I tried selling fairy tale books?’

While picking out a fairy tale book for Penny, I absentmindedly thought about giving it a shot.

I thought no one would be interested, as everyone was busy just trying to eat and survive…

I started to think it might actually sell well.

“Here’s the next volume.”

“I’ll read it well!”

Once I handed her the next fairy tale book, Penny quickly grabbed it and dashed to her room.

“But registering it directly to the marketplace feels a bit off.”

It would be nice to have someone to gauge the reactions first.

And luckily, I had such people.

My diligent unpaid slaves, the Paddacks.

[Admin Chat]

(Head of the Gallery registered ‘Fairy Tale Book’!)

Full-Peel Elf: What’s up with the fairy tale book?

I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: Food?

Head of the Gallery*: It’s a simple storybook with a short narrative.

Head of the Gallery*: If you have time, please read it and leave a review.

What if the response isn’t too good?

“Well, if it doesn’t sell, it doesn’t sell.”

If I don’t put it up in the marketplace, then it’s fine.

I started it with a light heart anyway, so I gifted it to the two without any big expectations.

“Hmmm…”

In the quiet audience room.

Erzebet, sitting beside the throne next to the refrigerator, was staring intently at something.

What she held in her hand was a fairy tale book, without a doubt.

“Head of the Gallery, you sent me something strange again.”

Erzebet’s eyes narrowed.

It was a book, but a peculiar book.

Compared to the ones she usually saw, the exterior was curiously unusual.

A sturdy cover with perfect finishing.

The inner pages were glossy and soft to the touch, making one wonder if such materials even existed.

And what about these illustrations?

“A fluffy art style… cute.”

The rough medieval paper didn’t really do justice to the delicate drawings.

Besides, it was hard to find a painter with such skill.

“Was there a painter with such talent?”

Having seen various masterpieces and works of art, she found this art style to be refreshing.

Curiosity and intrigue flared up within her.

After contemplating for a moment, Erzebet slowly began to open the cover of the book.

What on earth could be inside?

[Buy some matches. Please buy some matches.]

“!”

And the moment she glanced at the first page, Erzebet’s eyes went wide like a rabbit.

*

A day had passed since I gave the fairy tale book.

“It’s about time to send back some reviews.”

If the response was something like, “It’s pretty good,” I planned to put it in the marketplace.

After all, these fairy tales had evolved through many adaptations and interpretations, becoming classics even to modern times, right?

However, the responses I received were unexpected.

[Admin Chat]

Full-Peel Elf: This… this…

A Paddack suddenly made a strange noise.

“Oh, they read it all?”

I was about to happily type in the chat when I saw it.

Full-Peel Elf: You bad Head of the Gallery! Heartless Head of the Gallery! Are you really a Head of the Gallery??

Head of the Gallery*: ?

As Full-Peel Elf began to vent her anger at me, she suddenly started crying.

Full-Peel Elf: How could you tell such a cruel story about a little girl like that…

Full-Peel Elf: (speechless… Elf Con)

Full-Peel Elf: I thought she would end happily in the end! Change the story right now, you wicked administrator!!!

Head of the Gallery*: ???

The fairy tale was only a short span that didn’t even cover two A4 pages without illustrations.

I thought, “Surely not,” but I never expected them to get that immersed in such a short story.

It seemed that fairy tales held considerable power in this medieval world, where all literature had been cut off since the apocalypse.

Head of the Gallery*: Tag I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire) What about you?

I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: .

Head of the Gallery*: Hello?

I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: (lying on the audience room floor, crying)

I Will Not Die Even If I Am a Vampire: (a vampire con in a box, curled up and sobbing)

That too was quite a lot.

“This is a hit, huh?”

This was beyond the reaction I had hoped for.

This… will definitely sell!

Now that its effects had been proven, I had no time to hesitate.

“But what should I buy?”

However, I was stumped about which fairy tale to pick.

But as always, the shop had the answer.

[Category – Fairy Tales/Best Sellers]

[3 Random Books] – 30P

“This is it.”

Randomly recommending a book through the system.

I didn’t have to ponder hard.

Without much thought, I placed a bulk order and registered them all in the marketplace.

[New items have been added to the market!]

Little did I know what kind of incident this would lead to.

*

As darkness fell deeper that night.

In the Duke’s office of the Adrian Northern Territory, a soldier entered holding a book.

“Lord Mark, here are the books you requested.”

“Yeah, just leave them there.”

“Yes!”

Thud, three books were stacked on the corner of the office desk.

Duke Mark’s Deputy looked at them with a peculiar expression.

“So, these are the books that the Head of the Gallery released into the marketplace.”

I heard there were two fairy tale books and one bestseller.

Mark examined the books with indifferent eyes to confirm.

“Well, the illustrations are decent…”

Particularly, the Match Girl boasted a perfect quality just as rumored.

He even thought he wanted to read it if he found the time.

However, the book that caught his attention wasn’t a fairy tale book.

“Hm, what’s this?”

A book lying at the very bottom.

It looked strangely rough and had a red cover.

“I need to read this to check if it’s a dangerous book.”

Mark was on guard against the Head of the Gallery.

One gesture from the Head of the Gallery could shake the foundations of the nation.

At least, he was not pleased with everything falling into one person’s hands.

Mark slowly took in the book with his eyes.

“Huh.”

He was about to ascertain whether this was a dangerous book or indeed a celebrated literary work that was praised by the world.

Mark slowly turned the first page.

“Hmm, what a unique title.”

And then he saw the title that came into his view.

[Imperialism Theory]

This was the bestseller published in 1917.