Chapter 619: The Contest(2)
Chapter 619: The Contest(2)
There is a saying: primitive man was not less intelligent; he was simply uneducated.
There are stories of parents living primitive lives while their child becomes an aircraft carrier pilot. It is said that the child occasionally visits their hometown dressed in a fine suit.
In this way, human intelligence, when viewed broadly, is no different from that of primitive man. It is merely divided into extremes by the progress of civilization.
Furthermore, a life of abundance likely played a role. If you look at famous philosophers, most were wealthy men of means.
Therefore, it is best not to assume that people of the past were less intelligent than those of the modern era.
This was a thought I held even before I reincarnated, and nothing has changed since.
However, perhaps I had grown a bit arrogant after my continuous streak of success.
[A novel that recently appeared in the Xenon Contest is becoming a hot topic. The Knight Walking Toward Destruction. As the title suggests, this work depicts what each race does in a world approaching its end...]
[The knight is not described in any detail. He is simply a knight wearing thick iron armor and a helmet. No one knows if he is a Human, Elf, Demon, Beastkin, or Dwarf. Not a single detail of his physique is mentioned, stimulating the readers' imagination.]
[The world-building is a literal chaotic mess. The sky pours rain incessantly, and the dead rise again, showing that the natural order has been broken. Those who maintain their sanity, like the knight, are called "Walkers," while those who have lost their reason are referred to as ordinary Undead.]
A work I had planned to write after Blood and Iron had appeared in the contest. It felt like I’d been robbed in broad daylight, my original material snatched away right before my eyes.
Blood and Iron followed Earth's history exactly, so there was no reason to be arrogant there, but Xenon Biography was the problem.
Because of the unexpected and massive success of Xenon Biography, I had assumed that this world lacked literature or creative power.
That was, quite literally, a mistake. My scale of experience was simply larger; there are plenty of races, like Elves and Demons, who have lived far longer than I have.
Moreover, there is no reason for them to lack imagination. It was just that not many people wrote books; there is an abundance of material to stimulate the imagination.
Starting from the Demon War that broke out 3,000 years ago to the Race War 300 years ago. The seas, which are deemed unknown, and the undeveloped forests.
Finally, the ancient kingdom where the truth is buried—the Kingdom of Gerios. Material is scattered everywhere.
[The Knight Walking Toward Destruction (hereafter Ruination Knight) is joined by many other excellent works, but among them, Ruination Knight is gaining the most overwhelming popularity.]
[However, due to the highly provocative subject matter of "destruction," there is significant backlash from the Church. The world ending implies, in other words, that the gods have been defeated.]
[The publisher, including Xenon, has not issued a response. Furthermore, voices are rising stating that, like Xenon Biography, a novel should be viewed as a novel...]
The Knight Walking Toward Destruction, or Ruination Knight for short, garnered interest that, with a bit of exaggeration, rivaled Xenon Biography.
Other works were certainly interesting, but because of the subject matter, they naturally received less attention.
The writing style and readability were also flawless. The author chose easy-to-understand words over difficult ones and knew exactly where to cut the narrative.
What stood out most was the atmosphere. The constant downpour from the sky was one thing, but the atmosphere described was no joke.
If Cherry’s style was impressive for being unexpectedly warm and emotional, Ruination Knight was the exact opposite.
It was gloomy and dry, yet that seemed to represent the protagonist's state of mind. It was simply good.
"I should have just released it earlier..."
That made me even more dejected. It was a subject I had designated for my next work, so I felt a bit depressed that someone had suddenly snatched it away.
It wasn't that I hadn't had similar experiences in my previous life. But back then, I just licked my lips and moved on due to time constraints.
The case is a bit different now. In culinary terms, it felt like someone had preempted a secret sauce I thought only I knew.
The blow to the arrogance that had unknowingly settled in was so fatal that a wave of disillusionment washed over me.
"Are you perhaps jealous right now?"
Marie asked me as I lay on the bed. Seeing the hint of a smile on her face, it seemed my appearance was a bit amusing to her.
I let out a deep sigh at her question and turned over. As I did, Marie's beautiful face came into view.
Since it was before sleep, we were relying only on the light of a lantern. Even so, her snow-white beauty could not be hidden.
"It's not jealousy, but... it feels like something I naturally thought was mine was taken right in front of my eyes?"
"Like, 'I liked that person first'?"
"Is it... similar? Anyway, it's something like that."
Marie burst into a girlish laugh at my answer. Then, she reached out and gently touched my face.
"How unexpected. I thought you would just coolly move past it. You have these cute sides to you sometimes. So, what are you going to do?"
"What can I do? I have to watch. I can't exactly take it back, claiming I thought of it first, can I? I don't want to do that anyway."
the material had already waved goodbye and crossed the river. I could write it faster, but then there would be no point in holding the contest.
So, I decided to just watch quietly. In truth, I only said this to Marie; I hadn't told Musk or any of my other acquaintances.
The moment I spoke, it could turn into a muddy fight for no reason, and that person would be buried with a 100% probability.
Furthermore, I might gain the image of a tyrant, so it was best to stay quiet for now.
"Have you read it?"
"Of course I did. I wondered if an atmosphere could really be this dark. Are you going to meet them?"
I gave a small nod. Since it was a hit work, I planned to meet the author in person.
Since everyone was required to write down their personal information when participating in the contest, inviting them to the mansion wouldn't be difficult.
I planned to meet the author, talk a bit, and further hear their thoughts on what kind of storyline they intended to follow.
"I should meet them and hear what they have to say. Objectively speaking, it's a somewhat blasphemous story, isn't it? The natural order being broken means the gods aren't doing their job, and the gods not doing their job means they've been defeated."
"True. There's been a lot of talk because of that. Then, are you going to use your influence so the author doesn't feel pressured?"
"For now."
I could be a reliable backer, but in the end, the author has to handle the pressure themselves.
Didn't I also feel skeptical from time to time while writing Xenon Biography? Wondering why things turned out like this when I only wrote it as a hobby.
"The choice ultimately lies with that person. I'm just providing help."
"What if they say they can't do it and dump it on you?"
"I'd have to say thank you, wouldn't I?"
"Naughty boy."
When I answered promptly, Marie chuckled and lightly pinched my cheek. I gently held her hand with both of mine.
It was time to end the pleasant conversation and head to sleep. Marie seemed to read my intention and gave me a soft smile.
"See you in the morning, then."
"Yeah. Have sweet dreams."
"I'm already having one."
How could she pick only such pretty words to say? I lightly kissed Marie's forehead before turning off the lantern.
Another day passed peacefully. A truly happy day, even if a bit lonely.
*
The rules of the contest were very simple. Briefly write down your personal information, then submit the manuscript of the work you want to enter.
However, because verification was needed to prove you wrote it, you had to summarize the overall story. In short, it meant that submission by proxy was absolutely impossible.
One might ask if there could be people who shouldn't have their identities known, and that was true. Occasionally, people in difficult positions did come by.
But it couldn't be helped, as there was a chance a demon worshipper might be mixed in. Just coming to the Maishal Territory would filter them out, but just in case.
Perhaps because of that, very occasionally, high-ranking nobles would visit. Even royalty from small kingdoms had come by.
Of course, if they wanted anonymity, they usually used a pen name instead. Most contest participants were using pen names.
The author of Ruination Knight, whom I had decided to invite to the mansion, was a similar case. However, the author of Ruination Knight was very 'unique.'
"You are definitely the author, right? The one who wrote The Knight Walking Toward Destruction."
"Yes, yes! That's right!"
A man with piercing eyes and a masculine, angular face. A man with deep-set eyes and short-cropped brown hair.
The man was not wearing ordinary clothes but a snow-white outfit, and I knew very well what that outfit signified.
Clothing that only a believer of Luminous, the God of Light and Hope, could wear. In other words, he was a clergyman.
"Your name is..."
"Roman Belluer."
"Yes. Mr. Roman. But your personal information is a bit... unique?"
Ruination Knight is a work that shows the behavioral patterns of the protagonist and each race in a world on the brink of destruction.
On Earth, one might say, "Isn't that a common trope?" but from the perspective of this world, it was a subject matter worthy of shouting "Blasphemy!"
It was surprising enough that a clergyman wrote a book with such a theme, but what was even more surprising was his profession.
"I see you are an Inquisitor serving under Cardinal Kate..."
"...Yes."
"And you are the biological son of the Pope."
I had known he was an Inquisitor, but it was my first time hearing he was the Pope's son. This was information Musk had provided separately.
The current Pope was the man who had been the Grand Inquisitor before Kate. Incidentally, he was also Kate's first martial arts master.
The son of such a man had written a truly blasphemous novel. It was a truly ironic situation.
"Does His Holiness know about this?"
"...He has no idea."
"What if he finds out?"
"He'd probably throw me into a fire for being blasphemous."
In other words, he was completely screwed. But Roman's circumstances were his own, and there was something I couldn't quite understand.
I stared intently at Roman, who was wearing a bitter smile, and asked as if I didn't quite get it.
"Why did you use such a subject? For someone who is a clergyman."
The answer to that question was:
"...I just wrote it as a hobby."
"A hobby?"
"Yes. But I never imagined... it would get this much attention."
"..."
It was like looking at my past self.
'But isn't this guy in a worse spot?'
This man's life was on the line.