Chapter 28
Translator: True Detective
The Truth of Comics Gradually Revealed
The time when The Saintess's visit to the Empire entered its countdown.
The period when Noel and Clara had just completed the new culture called 'comics' after much hardship.
Although Imperial Princess Lydia had been in a slightly marginalized state, she was working hard to assist Noel as a patron in her own way.
Specifically, what kind of effort was it?
"Is there truly not a single publisher willing to boldy equip themselves with printing facilities to produce a new book?"
It was diligently making preliminary preparations so that comics could spread widely.
No matter how good a work is, it is ultimately meaningless if people do not read it.
Only when there are people who recognize and acknowledge it does it truly become a work.
Therefore, for the comic they created with such effort to properly establish itself instead of ending as an empty echo, it had to be printed as books and spread in large quantities.
To that end, she was in the middle of looking for a place to invest in the appropriate facilities for printing 'comic books', but... it was not easy.
"My goodness! To think the Empire's publishers would all be places so lacking in challenging spirit."
Because there was no place stepping up to do it.
At first, they approached her, enticed by the name Homer, but upon being told they would have to publish something they could not even understand—comics or whatever it was—they shook their heads.
A book made of pictures?
It would be a different story if it was just adding a few illustrations, but this required manufacturing a completely new printing press from scratch.
It meant they could not do it without equipping dedicated facilities, and there was no publisher willing to bear that burden.
Imperial Princess Lydia sighed at the attitude of such publishers.
However, that was from the Imperial Princess's perspective.
From the publishers' point of view, it was true that this was something they could absolutely not readily step up for.
No matter how much name value the author Homer possessed, no meant no.
To equip dedicated printing facilities that did not just cost a penny or two for something they had never heard of or seen before in their lives, comics or whatever it was...
And what if the comic book or whatever ended up being ignored by the public after doing so?
They would go completely bankrupt.
It might be different if they were fully compensated for the loss, but that was not the case, was it?
Investment naturally had to be cautious.
No matter how great Homer's prestige currently was in the publishing industry, equipping separate printing facilities was no ordinary task.
It was a matter of squandering both money and time.
But if they failed, they would not even be able to recover their principal.
Because it could not be converted into facilities for printing other regular books either.
That is what 'dedicated' means.
Due to the limitations of technology, the printing press could not print text and pictures that freely...
Ultimately, in this frustrating situation, Imperial Princess Lydia...
"It cannot be helped. To think they do not know how to eat a given opportunity."
Saying she would run herself because she was frustrated, she decided to step up personally.
"It actually turned out well. It would be better to establish a publishing company taking this opportunity."
Imperial Princess Lydia decided to just establish a publishing company for her ultimate favorite and handle both promotion and sales independently.
The publishing company established through the joint investment of Imperial Princess Lydia, Noel, and Clara was precisely 'Iliad'.
It was named after an ancient word meaning epic poem.
A publishing company born solely for the author Homer and his works.
Concurrently, it was scheduled to also develop and sell the 'goods' proposed by Noel, but right now comics were urgent, so that was a story for later.
Raking in money like a rake by selling goods like the diary used by the protagonist Enya in The Diary Inside My Heart was also important, but the dissemination of comics took higher priority.
"Actually, making comic books and selling them well is important, but there is something more important for comics to establish themselves well."
"Pardon? What is that?"
Imperial Princess Lydia, who had been establishing strategies while enjoying her first-ever task, wondering what kind of promotional strategy she should devise.
She widened her eyes at Noel's remark that she was missing something important.
To such Imperial Princess Lydia, Noel spoke as if declaring.
"That is none other than──."
Leak prevention.
How much did comics suffer from leaks even in the modern era?
The crazy act of leaking it from the bindery and distributing it on the internet before its official release happened openly.
Not just once or twice, but every week.
Considering there were cases where leaked copies floated around the internet and caused an uproar even before it came out in the magazine, this could not be ignored.
Until now, fortunately, there had never been a major problem due to pre-leaks of novels, but comics were different.
A soft attitude like, 'It has been fine so far, so it will be fine in the future too,' was rat poison.
Unlike novels, comics had the difference of text and pictures, so they were bound to be more vulnerable and sensitive to leaks.
To prevent that as much as possible, Noel proposed various ideas and above all, preached the importance of a command tower.
"No matter how much the original author appeals, I cannot stand the sight of a publishing company making me burst with frustration with a passive response."
With that single thought, Noel strongly appealed that they needed to choose an editor-in-chief well.
The problem was who possessed both ability and suited their tastes.
And the one who came to bear this glorious duty of waging war against leaks after the discussion was...
"I wonder if I can do well... Why me in the first place?"
"Someone said that even when it comes to eating meat, a person who has tried it before knows how to eat it well. Since you have experience leaking a draft without my permission, I thought you would know the heart of a leaker well and prevent it."
"Ugh...! Th-That, I am truly sorry about that. I did not do it on purpose, it was because I was not in my right mind due to the lingering emotions of the work... You said you would forgive me if I read the debut works of playwrights and summarized them..."
"Yes, I forgave you. That is why I am giving you a promotion, am I not? The editor-in-chief of the Iliad Publishing Company created by the Imperial Princess. Is that not a huge deal? I believe you will do well, Teacher Sophie. Since you have leaked before, I think you will also understand the psychology of leakers well and respond accordingly."
"Awoo... Th-The Imperial Princess also freely gifted the binding copy to The Saintess──."
"Is showing the draft the same as the sample printed out ahead of its release after all the finalizing work is done?"
"Ughhh... I am reflecting on my actions..."
It was Sophie Ember.
The day for Noel to leave for the academy had also entered its countdown now.
Since enrollment was next spring, only two seasons, autumn and winter, remained.
Then the role of Sophie Ember, who was called for preliminary studies, would naturally end as well, and if things went well, her employment could continue as Noah's tutor.
Or she would have to find a job teaching the daughter of another noble family or a wealthy family.
So Noel had stepped up for Sophie Ember, whose future could be seen as unstable in a way.
Deciding to give her a job change from a tutor to an editor.
Of course, it was not 100 percent out of goodwill.
It was because she judged that Sophie was still relatively easy to handle.
An editor was an existence like an absolutely necessary shackle to an author.
She acknowledged the necessity, but a shackle was a shackle in the end.
Meaning they were a frustrating and annoying existence.
So Noel recommended Sophie Ember, thinking that if she was going to have one, a shackle that was even a little easier to handle would be better.
Clara said whatever was fine, and Imperial Princess Lydia agreed as there was also the loyalty of having shared the draft in the past, resulting in Sophie Ember being decided as the first editor-in-chief of Iliad Publishing Company.
In reality, someone of Sophie Ember's caliber would be able to do it sufficiently.
Her eye for seeing works was okay, she had been with Noel since before she made her debut, and it was also true that she had given useful feedback since the time Noel was writing the draft for The Bridges of Imperium Town.
As things turned out this way, the blunder of leaking also became a know-how to properly prevent other leakers from appearing, knowing the path of a snake like a snake.
Due to such a relationship, it was resolved to put a hat of authority on Sophie Ember, telling her to respond well to leaks that severed the pulse, which in a way could inflict a more profound blow than illegal copying.
The Iliad Publishing Company launched like that.
It was stating the obvious, but establishing a single company was not something that could be done so quickly in general.
But how did they equip everything down to the printing facilities in such a short period of time?
The magic that made that unordinary thing possible was none other than power and wealth.
The moment she caught onto the lukewarm reactions of the other publishers, Imperial Princess Lydia was painting a picture in her head.
Because she had been thinking since a long time ago that she wanted to establish a publishing company and operate it to push her ultimate favorite someday.
Judging that the moment to execute it had come, the Imperial Princess executed what she had planned beforehand.
Even though it progressed as fast as roasting beans on a lightning bolt, in reality, she had been preparing it from before, which was why it progressed this quickly.
She got an estimate, quickly acquired a struggling publisher she had her eye on under the condition of succession of employment, infused money into the outdated printing facilities to overhaul them, and even custom-made a printing press capable of printing comic books.
And the Imperial Family's help was also present in all these matters.
Of course, the Emperor did not unconditionally say yes to everything and help at the request of his cute daughter.
He was an Emperor who did not know what comics were, but he knew The Elf and the Woodcutter.
Since his daughter said it was because she wanted to show the comic version of The Elf and the Woodcutter when The Saintess arrived, he judged it was not a bad thing.
"It is a good opportunity to propagate the excellent literature of the Empire."
The Emperor was also well aware that the reason The Saintess was visiting the Empire right now was due to the Fog Disease, that is, The Diary Inside My Heart.
Like the saying to row when the water comes in, taking this opportunity, the Emperor intended to widely inform the continent of the Empire's excellence in the manner of the Empire's literature level that even The Saintess admired.
To that end, he provided 'a slight convenience' within the line of not causing problems for what his daughter was doing.
Thanks to that, the Iliad Publishing Company was established at a speed that made one wonder if it was okay to be this fast.
Naturally, there was some talk among the ministers regarding this.
No matter how good the intention was, the process had to be good as well.
They understood that enhancing national prestige was good and that timing was important, but it was skepticism about whether it was worth creating a bad precedent by proceeding with the procedures in such a slipshod manner.
"Then we just need to verify it."
As if telling them to stop nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking over something that had already happened, the Emperor spoke like this.
"I heard that comic book or whatever has also just come out, so let us verify it together with the meaning of checking beforehand to see if there are any problems."
The Emperor and the ministers ending up having a reading session like that.
After this comic reading session, a minister of the Imperial Arts Academy, which was in charge of the Empire's cultural promotion, spoke.
"There has never been a time when it is as sad as today that the days I have lived are overwhelmingly more than the days I have left to live. Homer... to think I have to leave for my wife's side without being able to fully enjoy all the new things she will create in the future. Sigh, I was born too early. Where has the me who enjoyed growing old gone? Have I ever envied youth this much...?"
Saying his entire life was a loss because he could not enjoy this fun thing.
Asking what on earth the bastards who claimed to do art in the Empire had been doing all this time without even thinking of creating something like this.
It was to the point where the subsidy distributed as a development fund felt like a waste.
2,515 words
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