The Age of Madness (3)
The general’s face glowed with a healthy sheen, the result of good meals and proper treatment in Russia. Yet his hardened resolve remained unchanged.
“General Gajda. Austria has agreed to accept you. Have you made your decision?”
“Yes. I will go to Austria.”
“I had intended to send you to Czechia. What a shame.”
This was sincere. Who could have predicted that Czechia would remain Austrian territory? Even Gajda hadn’t expected it, which was why he voiced no particular complaints.
“It is the decision of Britain and France. What can we do? The behavior of the victors is always so predictable.”
“Still, it seems the Austrian Kaiser is quite desperate. He has asked for a mutual defense treaty.”
“From Austria?”
“From what I hear, even the British forces stationed in Austria are preparing to withdraw. They intend to tighten internal control. In other words, if the very power that preserved the monarchy leaves, Austria will be left with nothing.”
An isolated Austria. One could already see the red taste of Anschluss—absorption into Germany. That would allow communist Germany to pump up its weight class.
“There is a high probability that the communists will seize power.”
“Indeed. The imperial family had already lost the people’s support. It was only maintained thanks to victorious Britain. The rise of communism is inevitable.”
It would surely happen. The country was surrounded by reds from every direction. Within Austria itself, such voices would certainly emerge. In that case, Karl would need his own armed force.
“What does Her Imperial Highness desire?”
His quick wits were truly commendable. I didn’t have any grand desires. I simply wanted Gajda to seize control of the Austrian military and block the communists. I had no interest in watching the Balkans turn completely red. The more reds there were to kill, the more exhausted our own army would become. Besides, if the land of the saint were to slaughter them all, what kind of reputation would that earn us? So it was best to let the axis of evil handle some of the dirty work.
“Nothing in particular. From what I see, General Gajda, if you wish to survive in Austria, you must cooperate with the Kaiser. You must become the military power that supports him, making it impossible for the emperor to abandon you.”
“Not a bad idea. That would also resolve the issue of treason. As it happens, someone recently came to see me.”
Yes, I knew. That was precisely why I was so excited. The combination of Gajda and our Adolf Hitler, who had awakened early under my influence. I was incredibly looking forward to this.
“Yes. His name is Adolf Hitler. He is the one recently put in charge of Moscow’s urban planning. Is that acceptable?”
“He seemed to possess a talent for winning people over.”
“I hope he proves helpful in rebuilding Austria. However, communist Germany will likely attempt to occupy Austria by force if necessary.”
Because that was the only way for communist Germany to expand its power. And in doing so, they would join hands with their fellow red friend, Italy.
“I will do everything in my power to stop them.”
“Austria must survive so that our Russia can continue working to contain communism. I leave it in your hands.”
“Understood.”
Not long after, Gajda returned to Austria together with the Czech Legion. And so, the Gajda matter was resolved.
Really. War would have been so much better. If there was no chance of dying anyway, shooting guns on the battlefield would have been a fine form of entertainment. Personally leading the charge in World War II seemed like an excellent idea. Assuming this cheat-like body of mine lasted until then, of course. It would be incredibly useful.
The Tsar who personally fought on the front lines during the Second World War. Wouldn’t the name Anastasia remain recorded in history forever after that? It wasn’t my original name, but it wasn’t a bad form of vicarious satisfaction.
Come to think of it… I wonder how Tesla is doing. Given Russia’s current situation, if that man wants to achieve what he desires, he’ll have to produce electricity like crazy. Will he really go that far? Considering his genius, he’s probably already done it. Well, he’ll manage on his own. That’s outside my area of knowledge. In that ruined world I came from, I had to threaten people just to get electricity running. I’m not an electrical engineer, so I wouldn’t know. I firmly believe that no grading uncles will come to test me on this. There’s no way Nikola Tesla would show up to grade me on electrical engineering.
—Or so I thought, feeling relieved, before I wanted to tear my own hair out.
Because Nikola Tesla had actually come to see me.
Just why had this old man come looking for me? It felt like we were long past the point where he would casually ask me, “What do you think of this?”
“Your Majesty.”
What on earth did he want to say?
“Yes. What is it you wish to discuss?”
I was seriously considering whether I’d have to dredge up the chemistry knowledge I’d absorbed while half-asleep in high school. Surely he didn’t think we were kindred spirits just because I’d mentioned radar before? How should I explain myself? How could I explain it so that future history books would say Anastasia I had never dumped odd jobs on Tesla?
“This land called Russia truly lacks so much. It is so backward that my mind is spinning as sharply as it did in my youth.”
I had no idea what he’d been up to, but the man stood before me with disheveled hair, visibly excited. He kept gesturing with his fingers, grabbing at his own head and spinning them around to enthusiastically demonstrate how his brain was whirring. Why was he acting like this? His expression reminded me of Semyonov, who had fallen deep into Russian patriotism in a completely different sense, and I found myself quite flustered. So the saying that all geniuses are madmen was true.
For now, I had to respond appropriately.
“Ah, yes? And?”
“In my dreams, a rather rugged old man appeared and taught me all sorts of knowledge. Even after waking, the memories remained vivid. This never happened to me in America. I realized that this place—Russia—is where I should lay my bones to rest.”
Wait, who was that old man? Thinking about it would be my loss. The person before me was a true genius, unlike someone like me who had simply brought modern knowledge from the future. Judging from his current reaction, it seemed I could keep making use of him for quite some time.
Right. So. What exactly had brought him to me?
“Thanks to the support of Duke Yusupov, I have been attempting many things recently.”
“Yes, I am aware. And then?”
Yes. I wanted to hear the rest of the story. What did our one-of-a-kind genius, Mr. Tesla, truly desire?
“The problem is that the more ideas I have, the more things I want to try. And that backwardness remains the issue.”
His mind was spinning perfectly. He wanted to lay his bones here. Russia was far too backward. This seemed like it was leading somewhere.
“Russia is sufficient to rotate Mr. Tesla’s brain, but the backward environment is the problem. Is that what you’re saying?”
I could have just said it plainly. Even I could see that Russia was terribly outdated right now. In the world I came from, people had said the same thing often enough.
“Yes.”
“Hmm, very well. So what do you need?”
“I believe we must prepare the generator I will develop and properly establish a full-scale research facility.”
Hmm, yes. So in the end, the crucial issue was funding. The American emperor would probably start pulling back soon as well. If I asked America for help and Tesla succeeded, they would try to take a bite out of it. I had no intention of giving away anything that was mine. Since I had started with a brokenly overpowered map, it was only right that we devoured the talent ourselves. But what about Duke Yusupov’s money?
“What about Duke Yusupov’s investment?”
“The Duke is providing support, but it is somewhat insufficient. He said he is currently planning a new venture, so large investments are difficult at the moment.”
In simple terms, this was “give me money.” If I compared it to school, it was like saying the results were good, so please treat us to a meal. Since he was genuinely working hard, there was no reason not to support him. The question was how to provide that support.
The answer, of course, was to dip into the imperial treasury. In real history, the whereabouts of the Romanov imperial gold bars had been a mystery. We had safely recovered the Romanov gold that had nearly fallen into Soviet hands. Now that it was naturally mine, I could use it however I pleased. Using a little of it for Russia’s development surely wouldn’t upset the late Nicholas II. After all, I had wiped out the Bolsheviks who had killed his entire family. He should be grateful for that, shouldn’t he?
I curled the corners of my lips as if it were no big deal.
“So in the end, it comes down to a funding issue. Very well. I shall provide you with some of the gold bars held by the Romanov imperial family.”
This old man too. Why make such a simple thing so difficult? It was true that Russia currently looked quite impoverished on the surface, even if it only appeared splendid on the outside. But we did have gold bars (which were not my money).
“The imperial gold reserves?”
Why did he look so surprised? I wasn’t the type to cling desperately to money. To be completely honest, it wasn’t my money. That was all. If it had been my own, I probably wouldn’t have released it. It belonged to someone else, and since the dead couldn’t take it with them anyway, this was possible.
“Anyway, I have nowhere to use it right now, and investing some of it won’t make it disappear.”
At my words, Tesla’s eyes sparkled. He clapped his hands in admiration.
“Truly magnificent. That Morgan fellow said my overflowing money was a waste to spend on me, took it back, and left me buried in debt.”
Why was he getting so worked up over that? Since I knew nothing about that side of things, I decided to let it slide. No matter how much he huffed and puffed, his mountain of past debts wouldn’t vanish. Honestly, since Tesla would have to work endlessly here, I was also trying to flatter him a little.
“Since it is being used for the development of the nation, what can we do? In return, you must clearly produce results.”
“Yes.”
In Joseon terms, it was like using the royal privy purse. Since a great deal of money was already being spent on reforming Russia right now, it would be problematic if too much flowed out. So it was best to view this as coming from the imperial family. It was a gamble to invest in trusting only Tesla, but when I considered his achievements, it felt like a sure bet.
While I was at it, how about establishing a company with Tesla as the face?
“Once you produce some results, why don’t we establish a company before others can snatch it away? How about the Romanov Tesla Company?”
The Romanov-Tesla Joint Venture. Hmm. Didn’t that sound rather impressive? In my opinion, this man seemed capable of pumping out an incredible amount until the day he died. I didn’t expect anything more futuristic than real history, but at the very least, I could expect something greater than the Soviet Union.
“Hmm. For me, it is enough to conduct the research I desire with Your Majesty the Tsar’s resources. There is no need to include my name. If you would simply attach my name to it, I would be most grateful.”
“That much is no trouble at all.”
And so Nikola Tesla left, carrying a great quantity of Romanov gold bars. As a bonus, I also slipped some hush money to the bank manager in charge of the gold reserves to keep his mouth shut. I absolutely detested strange misunderstandings. This man truly had no greed. Was it purely a desire for research? If things went well, making his coffin entirely out of gold wouldn’t be impossible.
But aside from Tesla, the various blueprints Hitler had sent were quite amusing. It wasn’t Germania, but he had also submitted an urban plan for Constantinople, which I had never even mentioned. It was titled the “New Byzantium Construction Plan,” proposing to revive the city in a manner similar to its Eastern Roman days while fitting for the twentieth century. I never imagined I would receive something like this from Hitler, but since we had recovered Constantinople, it would become a major city. It wasn’t a bad idea.
Of course, I had no intention of throwing money around recklessly. We had plenty of things to do. When the Second World War broke out, it might be good to squeeze the Axis powers to their very souls and use the reparations to rebuild Constantinople. The resentment of the defeated nations? I could just let Hitler deal with that. Considering that, it seemed unlikely that Hitler would later annex Germany to shoulder the burden of reparations from defeated Germany.
“Well then.”
I turned my head toward the window. The view of Moscow, still deep in reconstruction, filled my sight. I still had a mountain of work to do. I could already see myself earning the title of dutiful daughter for cleaning up all the messes Nicholas II had left behind. But today as well, I planned to work on winning the hearts of the people.
In several cities, I had been able to receive direct recognition as a saint from the enemy and bring them under the White Army. However, although the red stain had been washed from Moscow, that did not prove the people were friendly toward the White Army. In simple terms, it was this: I would go out and serve until the lives of Moscow’s citizens improved. There was no better way to win the people’s hearts than an emperor who personally moved for the sake of the citizens. Since Beragadroit had permitted even this, it should be fine.