Merchandise? Let's Head to Fortmus
The welcome from Yugo and Jerry was unusually enthusiastic. Everyone seemed to be in a celebratory mood. Well, since these two knew the truth about me, they must have already heard about the Hero thing.
“Hahahahaha! Congratulations! Hero!”
Just as I suspected, Yugo already knew. From his perspective, the goose that laid golden eggs had turned out to be a golden goose that laid golden eggs. Once I was officially appointed as the Hero, every possible honor and fortune would follow me.
But still. This was a bit much.
I was only a reserve Hero. If I had to put it in modern terms, it was like getting provisional acceptance to a university department. In other words, unless the two princes suddenly dropped dead, I would remain an eternal reserve Hero forever.
I waved my hand dismissively at the overly excited Yugo.
“No, no. I’m just the reserve Hero. Please don’t hype me up like that.”
“Isn’t a reserve Hero still a Hero? Besides, you’re the one who wrote the perfect novel to unite the nation. You deserve to be treated as a Hero. Hahaha!”
“By the way, what brings you here today?”
It was only natural to ask why I’d come. The reason I’d shown up today was because of the Sword Saint. Honestly, I was the one who needed to ask for a favor here, but judging by his current reaction, it looked like Yugo would agree to anything I wanted.
“Um… well, I do have some business today.”
“What kind of business?”
“You must have heard about the Sword Saint.”
“Oh, of course I have. Wasn’t it in the newspapers that he’s even been put in charge of military training?”
That was right. News about Decaron had already spread throughout the capital. He seemed quite dissatisfied that he was being welcomed more warmly in the kingdom than in the empire, but whatever. In any case, this incident could lead to contact between the kingdom and the empire.
If I told them everything, Fortmus might refuse to help, and the royal family could get dragged in. Or they might think I was being too extreme. But there was no helping it. Because of that so-called master of mine, any contact with the empire would never be friendly.
According to the original story, they were supposed to clash anyway. Right now the board wasn’t set for Holy Sword diplomacy, so getting entangled with the empire would be a huge hassle. If it were Heintz, he’d probably say let’s destroy the empire first. But if an episode where we fight the empire before even facing the Demon King gets moved up, that would be problematic. And if it turns out for the worst, it would be a disaster.
“So I suddenly had an idea. Why not use this connection to publish my novels in the empire?”
“Hmm…”
“Would that be difficult?”
Before Yugo could answer, Jerry spoke up.
“The president has been thinking it’s about time to expand overseas. But I never imagined you’d target the empire first, Author. The empire’s population is several times larger than ours, so the market is huge, but there’s the relationship with Glacia to consider.”
If we were launching overseas, I see. Yugo must have had another country in mind. In the current situation, if he were to pick a country for publication, it would probably be the Hero’s nation.
“Yeah. The president was probably thinking of the Hero’s country instead of the empire, right?”
“Yes. We had our eyes on the small nation east of the empire, the Koran Principality. Publishing in two countries at once would be too much of a burden right now.”
That would certainly be the safer choice. To ride the current wave, handing it over to the so-called Hero’s nation, the Koran Principality, would be better. But this was essentially propaganda.
“On the contrary, since this is an opportunity to connect with the empire through the Sword Saint, we should publish there. If even the people of the empire become obsessed with my novels, wouldn’t they naturally become more favorable toward Glacia? The novels themselves could become a symbol of friendship between Glacia and the empire.”
“Now that you put it that way, it does make sense.”
Whether it made sense or not, this gamble had to succeed. The appearance of the Sword Saint had accelerated contact between the empire and the kingdom too quickly. This was still before the Demon King had revealed himself. Since the situation wasn’t ripe enough for Schwald’s idiotic Holy Sword diplomacy to work, we had to prevent the empire from targeting the kingdom until the Demon King appeared on the surface.
Even if I told them everything and the king accepted it, humiliating diplomacy was impossible. In the end, novels were the answer.
“Propaganda about the Hero in the empire as well… Not a bad idea. Let’s give it a try.”
“You accepted surprisingly easily.”
Was this the ‘power’ of being the reserve Hero?
But it seemed there was something else. Yugo and Jerry were exchanging glances. What were they plotting without me?
“Actually, we were thinking of holding a large-scale fan signing event this time. Jerry and I were discussing it…”
“You need me for it, I suppose.”
Well, we’d already done one, so I wasn’t sure how meaningful it would be. At this point, I didn’t really care. It felt like… we’d already held one fan signing, and the people’s reaction had been positive. The audience had been palace staff—at minimum, children of nobles. If we held a big public fan signing this time, that would be good too.
“Yes. Ultimately it’s up to you, Author. Actually, we have several other plans prepared besides this.”
“Several?”
“After the previous palace incident, you’ve gained a nickname. The so-called Beautiful Author.”
It was true that Milene was undeniably beautiful. The kind of appearance that would make even married men or those with girlfriends naturally turn their heads on the street. It wasn’t something that could be hidden with a wig or glasses. The impromptu fan signing at the palace must have left quite an impression on the staff. Sales had skyrocketed afterward, after all.
Then… these guys couldn’t possibly be…
I narrowed my eyes and glared at the two of them.
“You’re not thinking of using my appearance, are you?”
“To be honest, it’s not entirely absent from our thoughts, so we were planning to ask for your permission. Highlighting the Beautiful Author angle would be very effective.”
Yeah, it sounded plausible, but the more I heard, the more it seemed like they were making the scale way too big. Still, at least they weren’t trying to use the fact that I was the ‘Hero,’ so that was a relief.
“Using my appearance is certainly one method…”
“If you dislike it, we’re also considering a relatively light option—a combined edition of volumes one and two with your autograph.”
Hmm. A signed combined edition didn’t sound bad. That much was fine. Honestly, if someone was a fan of my novels, they’d buy the collector’s edition anyway. In my previous life, whenever a favorite novel got a combined or limited edition, I would immediately buy several copies.
But at this point, one question naturally came to mind, didn’t it?
“I’m genuinely curious what the not-light options are.”
“We’re considering applying magic tools. For example, a giant portrait engraved with your likeness. Or carving magic stones into your appearance, things like that.”
Ah. So that was it. There was that too.
Wait. But wasn’t this one problem? Wasn’t this basically merchandise?
Did I really have to go that far?
“No, no. No matter what, that seems a bit too much.”
“Hmm, then let’s take that part slowly. We’re still just in the discussion stage. If we start, there will be advance payment issues as well.”
“Ah, I understand.”
Even if it wasn’t decided yet, they were going to continue the discussion. As long as money was guaranteed, I didn’t mind. Still, with something like this, I should play hard to get at least once or twice. After all, merchandise was something completely new in my life.
If I said “What do you mean, goods?” here, they probably wouldn’t understand. Right now, Yugo and Jerry were essentially on the verge of creating merchandise culture thanks to the Beautiful Author.
“Well then, let’s go with the combined edition. What about the fan signing? It’s only right to take care of the readers, after all.”
“The president is correct. Especially now that Author K’s hero and villain stories have that kind of vibe. If we do it now, the citizens are only talking about your Hero selection novel and the villain novel.”
“When the tide comes in, go all the way up the mountain, huh?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Well, it wasn’t bad. Making money was always welcome. But with the Demon King story coming up, I wasn’t sure if this was the right time.
“Why do you look like that?”
“I’m just wondering if holding a fan signing during a Demon King crisis might seem a bit strange.”
At my words, Yugo put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. His expression was that of someone tasting the bitterness of life.
“Humans are creatures who, precisely at times like these, throw themselves even more passionately into something. You could even call it doing business using the Demon King. The more the Demon King’s existence pressures us, the more necessary the Hero becomes, and novels featuring that Hero will sell even better.”
“So it’s something the citizens need as well.”
“That’s right. While fulfilling a need, we also make a profit. Besides, the Hero is practically confirmed to be Prince Heintz, isn’t he? If the author of novels that give strength to the people holds a fan signing event, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call you the Saintess who united the kingdom.”
“Hmm, I understand. Then let’s hold the fan signing as well.”
It felt like I was being tricked, but if it meant making money, it wasn’t bad. Besides, they called me a Saintess. Originally Milene was a Saintess. Couldn’t this count as fulfilling that role in its own way?
Around this time, Prince Schwald was in the worst mood he had ever experienced in his life. He felt he had never tasted such humiliation before.
Look around. Look at the soldiers lined up around the First Prince’s palace. There was no doubt this was meant to confine him.
And not many days later, a knight from the Royal Guard came to see him.
“What the hell is going on? Why am I being investigated?”
“Because you punished the Duke’s daughter at the social gathering without any proper investigation. This is a reinvestigation regarding that matter.”
“No, it was just something between students. And I’m a prince!”
The knight snorted at those words. For a moment, Schwald felt blood rush to his head, but he endured it. Once he got past this hurdle, he could use the power of the royal family and the Holperts to punish bastards like this.
But this rude knight continued to commit further rudeness.
“Since it was a conclusion reached between students, isn’t there a problem? And since Your Highness is involved, a more thorough investigation is necessary, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I-If that’s the case, I’ll cooperate with the investigation, but it should be done properly at the court…”
“Who knows if there are spies of Your Highness and Lady Sophia in the court? Therefore, the Sun of the Kingdom has personally entrusted this investigation to our Royal Guard.”
Entrusted directly to the Royal Guard. What that implied was that the royal family itself was investigating this matter. If even the slightest manipulation was discovered, Schwald might not only lose his chance at becoming Crown Prince but could even be expelled from the palace entirely.
In the first place, the incident of Milene’s punishment had nothing to do with Schwald even if Sophia had manipulated it, since she had done it for love. But this was becoming troublesome.
“You’re going to torture a prince?”
“No. Your Highness and Lady Sophia don’t need to do anything. You simply cannot leave the palace until the investigation results are out.”
“Tsk.”
What’s more, this knight bastard hadn’t let go of the book in his hands the entire time. A member of the Royal Guard holding a book instead of a sword. And he was still looking at the book instead of at the prince. Just what book was that? It looked like the cover was wrapped in leather.
“By the way, what is that thing you’ve been holding since earlier? Don’t tell me you’ve already investigated me or something?”
“It’s nothing Your Highness needs to concern yourself with.”
Nothing to concern himself with? When the man’s eyes were clearly fixed on the book? It was definitely something written to slander him and Sophia. Something that would frame him, the future king.
“The fact that you’re treating that as more important than me right now means it must be related to me or Sophia!”
“It’s nothing. And this matter was personally ordered by His Majesty the King to Prince Heintz. We are merely the Royal Guard carrying out that order. So please cooperate.”
As the knight spoke, he subtly moved the arm holding the book behind his back. And Schwald grew furious. He focused his anger on the fact that his younger brother’s name had come up, regardless of it being their father the king’s order.
“So you bastards were Heintz’s lackeys after all!”
“In any case, that is the situation, so please cooperate.”
With those words, the knight left. Schwald never realized that what was in the knight’s hand was a novel. He was simply filled with rage.