Chapter 31

The Power of Comics That Even the Empire Fell For

Finding an excellent creator and dumping the cumbersome hat of Homer onto them.

Noel had not yet given up on that goal.

Although her mind was gradually changing these days, Noel still heavily thought that she wanted to enjoy creation only as a hobby and return to the position of a reader to just enjoy stories.

After making the world capable of self-producing dopamine, she would choose a successor, pass down the hat of Homer, and gloriously retire.

She would fully enjoy cultural life and leisurely enjoy the rest of her life.

This was Noel's plan, and although Clara was the top priority candidate, there was nothing bad about having many candidates.

So, taking them in as disciples was a bit much, but she also kept her connection with the Adapter Trio from before, feeling like they were assistant writers.

Honestly, one needs to know something to take in a disciple.

Even if she could work together with them, Noel was terrible at teaching.

She had similarly received offers to be an instructor in her past life but declined all of them.

Noel was not the type who could systematically teach something to others.

It might be different for doing well on her own through her own effort, but teaching others so they could do well was really...

Anyway, due to such a relationship, she was also placing considerable expectations on Anna, whom she had taken in as a personal attendant.

Seeing her by chance while passing by, although the person herself said it was just a doodle, Noel saw the potential.

She didn't know if she would reach the level of inheriting the name of Homer, but...

Thinking that she seemed like she would grow enough to draw fun comics someday.

So she decided to approach her with the feeling of being somewhat like a patron as well.

Even if that expectation was wrong, Noel didn't really have anything to lose, so she made her a personal attendant feeling like she was making a long-term investment in stocks.

Naturally, there were some questioning voices regarding this choice.

Anna Moore.

It was certain she didn't lack the ability to aspire to be a regular personal attendant.

Still, since there were other candidates who fit the so-called 'status', there was bound to be talk about Noel's decision to choose Anna.

Of course, there was no one who would openly talk back to Noel's decision.

She chose the person she was going to use, so what could they do?

In a way, that was meddling, and there was no one in the Grace Viscountcy who would meddle like that.

However, if it was someone not from the Viscountcy, the story became a bit different.

"A commoner as a personal attendant...? I know there are also daughters of Baronies among the maids, so why make such a decision?"

To these words from Clara, Noel replied.

"Someone said it doesn't matter if it's a black cat or a white cat as long as it catches mice well. Whether she is a commoner or a Baron's daughter, wouldn't it not matter as long as she doesn't lack the ability?"

In the original work, Clara had particularly crossed the line after her mentality crumbled severely over the fact that she had fallen behind a mere commoner she had looked down upon.

Thinking that if she fixed her habit of looking down on commoners a bit taking this opportunity, her mentality might be shaken a little less even if she met the childhood friend heroine at the academy, she spoke to Clara as if trying hard to persuade her.

"Hmm... Ability comes first rather than status or birth? That is a statement I can empathize with to some extent."

And Clara nodded at Noel's words.

If it had been someone who knew Clara normally... to be exact, the Clara of the past, they would have been astonished.

It was astonishing enough for her, who had adhered to the attitude that lineage took precedence over ability according to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Count Vence family's tradition, to act like this, flipping her palm at a single word from Noel.

Of course, there were two reasons for this.

Because it was a 'friend's' word, not just anyone else's.

And Clara had only shown speech and behavior discriminatory of status in order to look good to her father in accordance with the family's basic stance, but in her true heart, she couldn't care less.

Because in Clara's eyes, without distinguishing between commoners and nobles, they all looked equally incompetent and half-baked.

So if her friend Noel said she liked a white cat, Clara prioritized the white cat, and if she said she liked a black cat, it didn't matter if she prioritized the black cat either.

Naturally, if they found out about this fact at home, they would hate it.

But so what?

Receiving the praise and recognition of Count Vence, her father, was already gradually becoming a matter of no importance in Clara's heart.

Noel was more important than the family corner that treated her like an abandoned child simply for the reason of being a daughter even though she had done nothing wrong.

And she was full of thoughts about the comic Noel created.

"I am sure The Saintess will also like it if she sees the comic, right?"

The masterpiece she gave birth to together with Noel.

At Clara's tone that seemed to contain the certainty that there was no one in this world who would dislike it, Noel let out a small laugh.

"Of course."

Considering the charm of comics and how terrifying their power was, worrying that someone might say it wasn't good was almost a truly useless worry.

Rather, worrying whether The Saintess would become too engrossed in the comic would probably be a more productive concern.

When Noel thought about how much witch-hunting comics suffered in her past life due to their ripple effect and popularity, she was not worried at all about whether The Saintess would like the comic she received as a gift, or whether the people of the world would accept comics.

If comics made money, there was no way merchants would stay still.

They would definitely smack artists with wads of cash, hire them, and whip them to draw comics.

Thinking about spending the remaining winter until entering the academy while enjoying the comics born like that, Noel couldn't stop smiling brightly.

Of course, the situation did not roll exactly as Noel expected.

"By any chance... could you create a comic like that where all races, including beastmen and dwarves, achieve harmony?"

It was because The Saintess, who intuited the power of comics, made a strange request.

"Seeing this... I have a thought that perhaps we can achieve harmony among races through comics."

At this request, Noel...

"Hmm... let's give it a try."

Unlike usual, she readily accepted.

There were two reasons.

Because getting along well with other races was also something Noel desired, even if it was just for her 'ultimate favorite'.

The other reason was...

It was because she thought she would just lay out the storyboard and throw it to Clara, and she would take care of it on her own.

And that was also ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠true.

Clara was falling deeper and deeper into the charm of comics.

Since it was none other than Noel's request, and the client was The Saintess, there was no reason to refuse.

Rather,

She was rejoicing inwardly like this.

Because the days she struggled to create a comic together with her friend Noel were a precious memory to Clara that she wouldn't trade for anything.

If she could increase those shining memories, she was willing to step up.

Decisively, Noel...

"If you can't avoid it, you should enjoy it."

Her initial whining had disappeared, and she was in a state of beginning to accept her situation before she knew it.

Like clothes getting wet in a drizzle, even if she tried to avoid it, the same things repeated and she got completely soaked, so one could say she eventually gave up and decided to get hit by the rain.

Even the psychological brakes—like cleaning up the aftermath or wondering if her mother would be greatly angered after causing trouble for the family—were... useless now.

After properly tasting the joy of creation for the first time in a while during the process of making and propagating comics this time, she had pulled out those brakes without realizing it.

She also had the Imperial Princess as backing... so she figured the patron would handle the aftermath even if something happened.

There was also the great cause of racial harmony requested by The Saintess.

She decided to properly indulge in the hobby of dyeing the world with dopamine for once.

Noel, who had twisted her entire body saying she wanted to stop eating the bread of writing.

They say it's comfortable when you give up...

Of course, she herself thought she had revised her strategy to 'If I can't avoid being boiled down, then completely releasing all the dopamine I can release quickly and retiring early is the only answer,' but wouldn't some people call that a mental victory?

───────────────

Facing the unavoidable fate, Noel was mentally victo──.

No, while she was revising her strategy, The Saintess, who had visited the Empire to discuss improving awareness of the Fog Disease, was...

"Haa, I dreamt of a comic again today..."

Unable to escape from the comic fever.

Comics.

The comic she first encountered after coming to the Empire was enough to entirely steal The Saintess's heart.

Saintess Irina, who was always faithful and pious, to the point where even if she dreamt, she would dream about faith.

Such a person was encountering comics through her dreams ever since she saw them.

It is said that in the era when TVs only showed black-and-white images, people also dreamt in black and white.

They had been dreaming in color perfectly fine, but due to the influence of TV, even their dreams changed to black and white.

And then, as color TVs became widespread, it is said that colors emerged again in people's dreams.

That research was the truth.

One could tell just by looking at Saintess Irina.

Because the breadth of her thinking expanded through comics, even when she dreamt, she came to have dreams related to comics.

Even if the content of the dream itself was about giving mass or related to faith, the way that dream was expressed felt like the comic The Elf and the Woodcutter.

It wasn't just The Saintess who was like this.

Others who had encountered comics were also experiencing similar symptoms, intoxicated by that intensity.

When comic books fully began to be sold to the world next week, the entire Empire would probably have a similar experience.

Imagining that, Irina suddenly had a thought.

Then even children who couldn't read well would learn the Bible through comics, and if they got a taste for it and kept reading comics, wouldn't they eventually end up studying letters as well?

Since the church was also striving to eradicate the illiteracy rate on the continent, this seemed like quite a good idea.

Comics ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ultimately had dialogue and text too.

If they didn't know letters well, it would be difficult to read properly, and there would be people who would try to study the letters they lacked just to properly read the fun comics.

Thinking about the comic fever she was currently experiencing, Irina judged that comics sufficiently possessed that much power.

In reality, The Saintess wasn't the only one who had this thought.

The higher-ups of the Empire were also realizing the ripple effect of the culture called comics and were thinking they could use this in various ways.

It was much better to use as propaganda than any ordinary novel or play, and just like Irina, it was the perfect medium for educational purposes like eradicating illiteracy.

However, there was a problem.

The only person in this world who could properly handle such comics right now was Noel.

The country immediately called upon artists and told them to draw comics regarding illiteracy eradication and healthcare, but...

The results were so utterly unsatisfactory that if Noel saw them, she would naturally blurt out those words.

There was a reason for this; they couldn't exquisitely divide the panels to fit the allocated pages, and the drawings as well... it was somewhat questionable to call them a comic, to the point of wondering whether it was a comic or an illustration.

Just drawing pretty pictures well didn't make it a comic.

It was similar to how telling someone who wrote novels well to write a poem would inevitably leave them bewildered.

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention.

Eventually, as time passed, the artists would probably be able to figure it out on their own since they had the ability.

However, the world had no mind to leisurely wait for that self-development.

According to its necessity, the new culture 'comic' was selected as something similar to a national project from the start.

Mass production of comic artists capable of drawing comics.

This was also something Noel desired, and to that end, she was ready to generously unleash whatever she knew about comics at least.

Of course, with the thought of wanting to suck the honey, putting Clara at the forefront.

Then,

"It is said that business is done with other people's money. Should I take this opportunity to seek my own self-interest with the country's money too?"

Her mind changed.