Chapter 529: Attention Seeker(2)
Chapter 529: Attention Seeker(2)
I thought someone had finally seen through Hitler’s true nature, but it turned out to be nothing more than a bid for attention.
After looking into it, I found out he was a former master who once dominated the literary world. Mari informed me that he had fallen into obscurity after the release of Xenon Biography.
To be honest, I felt a bit deflated. I’d been excited, thinking that the various hints and foreshadowing I’d scattered throughout the story had finally taken root.
Instead, it was essentially the equivalent of someone shitposting on a community board, and I couldn't hide my disappointment.
[Hitler may be ascetic, but he is far from dignified. He is somewhat impulsive and lacks planning.]
[Drunk on victory, the people fail to see through his true nature.]
[War is where a person's true nature is revealed. Hitler's wickedness will surely rise to the surface.]
The only silver lining was that his posts weren't just mindless drivel. Thanks to his instigation, a trend of analyzing Hitler’s true nature slowly began to emerge.
Unlike the agitators, critics began to slowly point out Hitler’s flaws.
They started with the oppression of the Jews and moved on to his ideology, which was steeped in eugenics.
Furthermore, they noted his headstrong, unilateral style of power—the perfect recipe for a 'tyrant.'
[Even if Hitler makes mistakes, won't he realize them soon enough?]
[Growth is about gradually making up for one's shortcomings and realizing what is wrong.]
[Wasn't Xenon Biography written in that same vein? It is premature to blindly condemn him as a tyrant.]
However, the backlash was equally strong. Perhaps because of the image established in Xenon Biography, many firmly believed that Hitler would also grow as a person.
They argued that Hitler would come to his senses and contribute to world peace (...), and that he would save the Jews just as the Demon Tribe had been saved.
Of course, that wasn't going to happen. While a regular son of a bitch might turn over a new leaf, a great son of a bitch remains a great son of a bitch.
I didn't say a word and simply watched the spectacle unfold.
‘It’s a bit awkward for me to step in.’
Part of it was to avoid major spoilers, but it was also because the author who made the first post was playing a very clever game of tug-of-war.
One might ask if he wasn't afraid of divine punishment, but the gods only hand down direct punishment when they themselves are mocked or insulted.
Otherwise, as seen in the Fallen Cardinal incident, someone deeply connected to demon worshippers would have to offer a prayer.
If it’s hard to understand, it’s easiest to think of it as being similar to Greco-Roman mythology. Gods who interfere in the mortal world whenever they’re bored.
The difference, however, is that unlike those gods who interfere at every whim, the gods here care immensely about having a proper justification.
‘It’s not like this person insulted a god.’
Cleverly, he didn't doubt the existence of the gods or undermine their authority; he purely mentioned the dangers within the work itself.
This was a very well-played game of tug-of-war; from North's perspective, he had set up a solid insurance policy.
If divine punishment didn't fall, that was good, and even if the gods wanted to strike him down, it would be difficult.
‘After all, even Cardinal Bark was fine despite being right there in the Papal Court.’
The fallen cardinal, Bark, is a perfect example. Even though he was a high-ranking member of the demon worshippers, he managed to masquerade as a clergyman without issue.
I’m not entirely sure how that was possible, but it shows that the power of the gods isn't absolute.
More accurately, it should be seen as there being restrictions on their intervention in the mortal world.
This meant that simply disparaging my work was far from enough to warrant divine punishment for North.
‘And he’s not wrong, either.’
Ultimately, the biggest reason was that North wasn't wrong.
If the gods issued a punishment and it was later revealed that his words were true, the repercussions would be enormous.
Naturally, my reputation would plummet, and furthermore, there was a high probability that the person who carried out the punishment would be condemned.
For now, the best course of action was to stay quiet and just keep releasing the books. Since the next volume covered the Invasion of Poland anyway, I could let this slide as no big deal.
‘Looking at it this way, they’re more merciful and kind than the gods of Earth.’
If it had been the Greco-Roman gods, notorious for their terrible tempers, they wouldn't have stopped at a warning—they would have dragged him away personally.
Justification? The crime of disparaging my work without any basis would have been more than enough. Even if it were the truth.
The previous Ascetic Incident happened because they grew impatient and messed things up, but relatively speaking, they were indeed kind.
‘But there are so few gods compared to other mythologies.’
It was a question that crossed my mind occasionally. Usually, mythologies feature a wide variety of gods, but this world only had three.
If there were five, I might understand, but three was just too few.
To manage their respective domains more easily, there should be more gods, yet the number was uniquely small.
‘Or is it that Earth has an abnormally high number?’
That could be it. Moreover, objectively speaking, this world is smaller in size than Earth.
Also, crucially, since the world is clearly divided by 'race' rather than ethnicity, it would be natural for there to be fewer gods.
Since only Luminous, Mora, and finally Hirt appeared in all the mythological texts I’d found so far, I assumed it just varied from planet to planet.
‘Well, it’s not something I need to worry about.’
I’m not a transcendent being, so there’s no need to dwell on such things. I just need to do my job.
Therefore...
"Let's go find him right now! How can you just leave someone who's spouting such nonsense alone?"
I had to start by calming down Cecile, who was furious over what was essentially a leak disguised as a rumor. I barely managed to restrain her as she huffed and puffed in a fit of rage.
When North dropped his prophetic spoilers, many people were enraged, and Cecile was among them.
As you know, she is currently deeply immersed in the story of the persecuted Jews. And the leader of that persecution is Hitler.
Since she firmly believes that Hitler will eventually come to his senses and save the Jews, she couldn't help but be livid when such words were being tossed around.
"Calm down, Noona. If I step in to stop him, it'll only make public opinion worse."
And since he’s right, there’s nothing I can really say. I swallowed those words down.
Unaware of my wicked(?) thoughts, Cecile spoke to me in a tone that suggested she couldn't contain her anger.
"Aren't you angry? He's painting the history of your world with all sorts of conspiracies."
It's not a conspiracy; it's historical fact. In fact, Hitler isn't just a son of a bitch; he's a great son of a bitch.
My mouth itched to spoil it for her right then and there, but I exercised patience once again.
I wanted to avoid spoilers for Cecile more than anyone else.
As everyone knows, the reason was to see her 'delicious' reaction. There was no grander reason than that.
Of course, to prevent any unexpected independent action, I had to tell her at least a bit of the truth.
Besides, I had a very appropriate justification, so persuading Cecile wasn't difficult.
"If I step in personally to stop him, it'll be no different from the Jin and Lily incident. I told you back then, too. Until the later parts are released, an opinion is just an opinion."
"But still..."
"And what he said is actually right. Hitler isn't as good a person as you think, Noona."
"Hitler isn't a good person?"
"Yeah. So, it's like this..."
Just as I had done with others, I taught Cecile about a 'glimpse' of Hitler's nature.
When I did, her bright red eyes went wide with shock. It was such a cute reaction that I almost hugged her.
Afterward, she began to shift her gaze around as if she were extremely flustered. At the same time, she even started to stutter.
"T-That can't be... Hitler was a villain...? T-Then what about the Jews? What happens to the Jews?"
"Unfortunately, it'll be exactly as you're imagining."
"Ah..."
Cecile slumped at my confirmation. I scratched my cheek and waited quietly for her to compose herself.
After about ten seconds had passed, she wore a bitter, bitter smile, as if she had realized something.
Then, in a self-deprecating voice that sounded almost like a lament, she spoke.
"...I suppose it's not much different from when Savior once labeled the Demon Tribe as demons and slaughtered them. It's much the same."
"..."
"It must be so hard not to have a country to protect you. You said that later, a Jewish nation called Israel would be established? I can understand that, since Helium went through a similar process."
It seemed she had reached a rational conclusion despite the shock of learning Hitler was actually a villain.
In fact, since the Demon Tribe had experienced a similar history, she could empathize even more.
The fact that a nation had directly led the massacre was similar, and the discrimination they faced on an ethnic or racial level was also similar.
However, the fact remained that the Demon Tribe had lived an even bleaker life than the Jews.
While the Jews gained a degree of sympathy after World War II, the Demon Tribe had received no such thing.
Just then, as if she were thinking something similar, Cecile tossed a cautious question my way.
"Did the Jews continue to live under discrimination like the Demon Tribe afterward? Was Israel semi-forcibly isolated like Helium?"
"No. Although they cause trouble occasionally, they are strictly recognized as a nation. The same goes for the citizens within it."
"I'm a bit jealous of that. We were treated like demons until Xenon Biography appeared..."
I couldn't say anything. It had only been two years since the Demon Tribe had been saved.
I could understand her pain, but I couldn't truly empathize with it. The best I could do was offer silent comfort.
The bigger problem here was the Holocaust. An ethnic cleansing several times worse than when Savior slaughtered the Demon Tribe was about to take place.
‘I wonder how angry she’ll be then.’
Not just Cecile, but everyone would be tearing Hitler apart. Hitler is the quintessential, irreplaceable evil.
Anyway, while the atmosphere had plummeted so sharply that no one could easily speak, Cecile slowly raised her head.
Her red eyes looked a bit watery. It seemed she had been caught up in her emotions while thinking about the life of the Demon Tribe, which was even more miserable than that of the Jews.
She roughly wiped away the moisture with her hand and spoke in a voice that sounded like she was on the verge of tears.
"So, are you just going to leave that person alone? Setting aside the fact that he's right, you don't know what might happen if you just keep ignoring him."
"Hmm..."
I thought about it for a moment, then shrugged and replied as if it didn't matter much.
"Honestly, I think it's fine to leave him be. Of course, I won't just ignore him blindly; I'll keep an eye on him. If he starts insulting me personally instead of my work, I'll stop him immediately."
"Will that be okay?"
"It doesn't matter."
Words are free. But the key is whether or not one can take responsibility for the situation those words create.
"I'm also curious to see if he can endure it as well as I did."
Go ahead and get a real taste of a prophetic post. I'll even throw in a bit of that 'Why is this real?' feeling I had to endure.
Of course, to do that, I had to hurry up and release my backlog all at once.
As soon as the man named North dropped his spoilers, I released the next volume, Blood and Iron Vol. 15, without delay.
To add context, it hadn't even been three days since Vol. 14 was released. There wasn't even time to make edits in between.
[North was right! Hitler was not a good man, just as everyone thought!]
[Is the insight of a master who once ruled the literary world truly different?]
[Consequently, the eyes of countless people turned toward North. However, he himself has not left his house...]
Naturally, the expected results followed.
[Why has even the land of civilians turned into a battlefield? Where has the noble combat gone, leaving only battles vibrating with the scent of blood and screams?]
[Military force directed even toward civilians.]
[There is no such thing as a safe place. Combat is taking place everywhere.]
The Invasion of Poland delivered a cultural shock of a different kind.