The Beginning Is in Prison (3)
At this time, Portmus Publishing was famous as the largest publishing house in Glacia Kingdom. Operating like a full-fledged corporation, it held a complete monopoly over the kingdom’s reading market. And because it held that market so tightly, Portmus Publishing didn’t limit itself to literary masterpieces. It had its fingers in every field imaginable, including grimoires and magical texts.
“Sir, that submitted manuscript has arrived.”
“Hmph. It’s probably just another romance novel written by some woman.”
Hugo Frandel, president of Portmus Publishing, was utterly sick of female submissions. And for good reason. Ever since romance novels had exploded in popularity, the market had been flooded with manuscripts scribbled with every possible delusion—tales of princes falling for commoners, thinly veiled retellings of the recent prince’s scandal, and so on. Most came from commoner women, but even some brainless noble daughters sent in manuscripts so poorly written that one had to question their intelligence.
“Thanks to that idiot prince and his scandal, we were just about to ride the wave, but every submission is so predictable. At best they’re plagiarized, or—wait, what’s this? There Is No Defeat in My Hero’s Party? Have you read this, Jerry?”
“Not yet, sir, but the attached plot summary suggests a story where humanity keeps losing to the Demon King until a hero suddenly appears—”
“Enough with the spoilers. Let me read it myself.”
Hugo had assumed it would be the usual tale of a hero crushing the Demon King. But it wasn’t.
It was the story of the very first hero—the one who had once dominated an entire era and established humanity’s foothold—reincarnating into a corrupt modern age. The protagonist would purge the decadent, hero-in-name-only figure and become a true hero himself, expanding humanity’s domain. It was a hero’s epic with real weight.
“Oh… Oh ho.”
It wasn’t the stale, predictable story of a hero simply defeating a Demon King. The protagonist was the reincarnated founding hero, and the era he returned to was one where humanity had suffered defeat after defeat, driven into a corner of the continent by the Demon King’s forces. It took the classic hero-versus-Demon King formula and elevated it.
This is actually pretty good.
Before he knew it, Hugo Frandel had stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and kept reading. Of course, in this modern era where the Demon King no longer existed, it might seem like pure fantasy. But to the public who knew the ancient history of heroes and Demon Kings, this would be incredibly compelling. The immersion was excellent too. It was on a completely different level from the trashy noblewoman revenge story he’d read just yesterday.
But then—
The hero Ras’s fist, filled with humanity’s resentment, caved in the face of the succubus who had been draining men’s vitality only moments before.
Caved in. Caved in.
Yes, he had caved in the succubus’s face. So where was the rest? Why did the manuscript end here?
“Huh? What the hell?”
“Sir?”
“There’s nothing after the hero Ras punches the succubus in the face! What is this? It feels like you stopped right in the middle of blowing your nose!”
The scene where the hero smashed the face of the vile succubus—who sucked men’s life force, corrupted human women into her kind, and committed every depravity imaginable—had felt so satisfying. And then it just… stopped.
“W-well, it appears the submitter matched the exact 40,000-character limit for submissions.”
They stopped exactly at 40,000 characters? Whoever this was, they had a real talent for leaving people hanging. His heart was practically pounding.
“Damn it! Who submitted this?”
“The name is Milene, sir.”
At his secretary’s words, the president tilted his head. The name sounded familiar.
“It’s similar to that noble daughter who was thrown in prison over the prince’s love scandal. Wait, that’s not important. Contact her immediately! Tell her we’ll publish it right away!”
“B-but sir, you’re making this decision after reading just one chapter?”
Was that even a question right now? After decades in the publishing industry, Hugo’s gut was screaming at him. This was going to be a massive hit. Even if this Milene really was the imprisoned noble daughter and had written it from behind bars, they had to secure a contract no matter what.
Frustrated, Hugo handed the manuscript to his secretary. This was the kind of work that needed to be shown to the editors immediately.
“Read it yourself if you want! The structure is perfect! She seems to be a commoner woman, but tell her we’ll provide full support for serialization and generous manuscript fees until completion. We need to sign her!”
What might have been dismissed as generic mass-market fiction in the original world had perfectly aligned with this world’s setting and interests, catching Hugo’s sharp eye. And so, at this very moment, the hero’s party novel written by Milene began its journey into the world.
The hero's party novel written by Milene has begun to make its way into the world.
“Fuck—did that damn prince go on some trip and die or something?”
He should have shown up by now. If he was late, I could slowly win over this guard uncle and secure a decent place to stay for the time being. No news is good news, but this much silence was starting to worry me.
Then suddenly the guard came running in a panic.
“Miss! Miss! Big news!”
“Did something happen to the king on his way back?”
If that bastard died, I had no idea how Sophia would react. The king needed to return quickly so he could at least release me from this already-finished incident.
“No, that’s not it! Portmus Publishing wants to meet with you! They said they don’t need anything else—they want to publish it right away!”
“My work?”
“Yes! Your story, miss!”
It actually worked? The manuscript I’d stayed up all night writing under the pressure of hitting the submission limit actually got accepted? Honestly, in my current state, I wouldn’t have even tried something like that. This was a bit unexpected.
“W-what should I do? I submitted it under your name, uncle, so…”
“I put it under your name, miss.”
What the hell was this crazy old man so proud of? Did I look like someone currently in a position to sign a contract with a publishing house while sitting in prison? Ah, this was all the king’s fault. If he’d come back even a little sooner, this wouldn’t have happened.
“What? Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Well… I could pretend to be your father and go meet them?”
“P-please do that. I can’t meet anyone right now, can I?”
Damn it. At this rate, that king really needed to show up, didn’t he?
“Um, miss.”
“Yes?”
“It seems the president of the publishing company is serious. He said he wants to meet you in person.”
Wait, hold on. That meant my writing had that much impact. Just how low was the literary standard in this era? Or rather, given the world’s setting, was my novel bound to succeed? In that case, it didn’t matter if it was really me or not. Even after signing the contract, I could just submit to other publishers once I got out. And until then, I could stay at this uncle’s house.
It was a perfect plan. In that case, it might be better to reveal my identity here.
“Let’s just tell them it’s me.”
“Miss, are you sure that’s okay?”
“It’s better to take the hit first.”
It really was the better option.
“Ah, I see. Well, that makes sense. But…”
“I’ve made up my mind.”
“Understood. I’ll make the arrangements.”
But a problem arose.
I looked at the two men standing before me and shook my head. From the atmosphere, I could already guess who they were.
“So, uncle. What exactly is going on here?”
“What do you mean? I told them everything, but they still said they wanted to see you.”
This was incredible. Had my novel really made that much of an impression? It was hard to believe.
“Oho. So you really are the young lady of House Holpert.”
“Ah, yes. Hello. Since I’ll be exiled soon anyway, you can just call me Milene.”
“Ah, my apologies for the late introduction. I am Hugo, president of Portmus Publishing.”
“I am Jerry, the president’s assistant. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
I never imagined we would meet like this. I hadn’t just twisted the original story—I’d practically destroyed it. Looking at what that insane author had written, it seemed like she had destroyed her own work. Anyway, I wondered what kind of impact this would have on Milene’s life.
“To think you would come all the way to this prison…”
“A tragic novelist imprisoned in a dungeon, eh?”
“Um… I suppose that’s one way to put it.”
At my words, the man named Hugo pulled out the manuscript I had submitted through the guard uncle. And he was holding it with great care. Who would have thought that a stout man who looked like he’d swindle people for a living would have such strong professional ethics? No, I shouldn’t think that way. The fact that he came all the way to the prison meant he was serious. He might have targeted me if he already knew who I was, but he had said he would provide full support even if I were a commoner.
Anyway, this man named Hugo placed the manuscript in front of me once more.
“I’ll be direct. This is truly an extraordinary work.”
“Extraordinary?”
“Yes. It captures the entire history of heroes and Demon Kings. If it were just that, there would be plenty of mass-market versions. But the founding hero being reborn in an era where the Demon King is overwhelmingly powerful and saving humanity from destruction? This isn’t a simple royal road novel. It’s a work that will overturn the flow of the times.”
He spread both arms wide, his entire body shouting this is fucking awesome!
“Is that so?”
“Glacia Kingdom is a nation that has produced heroes! This novel will undoubtedly remind the people of this long-dormant kingdom what a true hero looks like!”
“Ah.”
So he was making that kind of comparison. But would it really resonate that much?
“However, I am currently serving a prison sentence. Will that be a problem?”
“It’s just the prince’s little love affair, isn’t it?”
Oh? So people in the capital only saw it as the prince’s love scandal? Well, that made sense. Unless someone was live-streaming the royal academy like it was a soap opera, and even if they had seen it, they would probably just point fingers at that girl. Anyone other than young children or girls her age who enjoyed romance stories would see it that way. The novel that hack author Parkuri wrote focused so heavily on the protagonist girl and the prince that the rest of the world was treated like children’s play.
In that case, shouldn’t I raise my price?
“I might even be exiled.”
“Hmm, that doesn’t matter. Even if you are expelled from House Holpert, that doesn’t mean this work ends, does it?”
“Hmm.”
He had a point. If the contract went through, I planned to serialize it. After all, the only talent I had right now was this. And if Portmus provided support, it wouldn’t be too difficult.
“If you need it, we can prepare a workspace for you.”
“Wait, does this work really have that much value?”
“On the contrary, why do you think it doesn’t?”
“Well, isn’t the romance genre booming these days?”
If the market was already saturated like that, wouldn’t it be difficult? No, different genres might have different trends. If only romance was doing well, there wouldn’t be any other genres in the world. Besides, from what Hugo was saying, this world seemed to follow the original setting with existing heroes and saintesses.
But the real problem was my current situation, wasn’t it? Now that I had become Milene, I had no idea how long I would be stuck here, and I was currently a prisoner. Of course, I had brought it upon myself, but honestly, if I hadn’t done this, I never would have connected with a publishing house.
“Romance novels are a dime a dozen. Plus, they only appeal to female readers. It’s time to pioneer a new path.”
“I see. But given my current circumstances… the king must return first before I can even be released.”
In the end, I pointed out the biggest issue. It seemed the publishing side had taken pity on me. Alright then. Time to raise the price for author Milene.