Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Julius Caesar (5)
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My goal was simple.
Within the reach of Historie's long-term memory, meticulously fine-tune the prompts to embed as much perfect knowledge into my mind as possible upon rebirth.
But...
"Let me introduce myself again. I am Historie, the ultimate beauty, serving my master Julius, from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult—"
"Stop. It's not Julius, it's Kim Yul. At least Ulysses..."
Was my greed too much?
Even nailing down the concept was proving quite difficult.
And then there was the issue.
The data contamination was far worse than I'd imagined.
"Which bastard stuffed martial arts web novels into the LLM without any copyright awareness..."
Of course, I could roughly guess who the culprit was.
My advisor, probably.
He was a hardcore martial arts nut.
Respected in academic circles, sure.
But in other aspects, he had some very human flaws.
No, not some—a lot.
This wasn't me badmouthing my advisor just because I was his grad student. I was simply stating the facts plainly.
Evidence?
[Cheonhagunrim 1-58 vols (Complete).txt]
[Tablet_IN_HeavenlyMartialAcademy_1_22.txt]
...
[Mukbit Lady 1-44 vols (Complete).txt]
[OneSidedDevotion_897_finale.txt]
A whopping 72 files worth of massive data proved it.
I decisively deleted the files.
Anyway.
For the time being, I needed to agonize over Historie's prompts and rigorously verify that no weird data like this slipped in and messed her up.
Just now, Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?
I had no interest in some irrational entity like that popping up in my lab as a weird woman who believed in it.
She could believe she was King Arthur, and I'd maybe tolerate that.
"I am Historie, a detective. And—"
"Stop."
It would take...
a bit longer.
"Defeated, huh."
Caesar gave a wry smile as he received the final verdict.
He'd anticipated it wouldn't go smoothly, but even after being convicted in court, for the tribune to personally slam on the brakes?
And the justification was absurd.
Illegality for Roman citizens to compete on equal footing with Greeks?
This country was rotten to the core...
Sulla.
That barbaric brute clutching and shaking power however he pleased was eating away at the homeland Caesar loved so dearly.
"Still, I gained something."
Though he couldn't fully expose the Sulla faction's corruption in those two indictments,
- Caesar is the hope of the populares!
- He's the god who will restore Rome sullied by Sulla!
It was enough to rally his supporters.
Of course, for now, he'd have to leave Rome briefly to fend off political attacks.
But when he returned,
his position would be even more solid.
"Haa..."
The Empire's freshman congressman,
Asterik set aside the newspaper he was reading and sank into thought.
It had been a year since he'd jumped into politics, frustrated with the Empire's aristocratic dominance.
But...
The political world was nothing like he'd imagined.
Very, very different.
Populares, Optimates.
Factions galore, yet filled with hypocrites prioritizing their own rice bowls over the nation's future.
That's why.
Caesar's actions in the novel resonated strangely with him.
Of course...
Coldly judging, even with Sulla dead, singling out a Sulla-faction congressman still clinging to vested interests was a misstep.
Like poking the nose of a tiger with sharp teeth left.
But.
The motivation for acting that way was clear.
Pay the price of ruffling current powers-that-be feathers,
gain the image of a righteous politician?
Long-term, definitely a win.
Even losing in court left a stain on the opponent.
When he returned, it would surely bear fruit.
A politician's instinct, you could say.
"Whew."
He opened the cabinet and stared at the documents he kept hidden.
Records from the smuggling scandal that rocked the capital two years ago.
From Berthus Duke, the real power not hyperbolically speaking, and upper senators, to various nobles and even mid-level populares congressmen—all connected in a chain.
Could he reveal this?
A judgment staking his political life.
No, possibly his actual life.
But.
- ...eating away at the homeland Caesar loved so dearly.
Still.
Asterik loved the Empire and its people.
The dusty document envelope glowed in the sunlight.
A week had passed since the Hero Serephin and Esthea assault incident.
Historie the TA... calling her that felt a bit off.
Anyway, progress on prompting had been made.
And in the meantime, I'd rooted out all sorts of comics and erotic stories hidden in the server.
Heh heh heh.
"Extra! Extra! Massive political scandal breaks!"
"Truth Newspaper, one please."
After buying Truth Newspaper from one of the rowdily hawking stands,
I followed my new routine—
morning power jog followed by newspaper reading.
Truth be told, Gilford would probably give me one if I asked...
But buying it myself counts me in the daily readership.
In an era where one reader counts.
A bit chilly, but unavoidable.
And on top of that.
After being pestered by Roselin and Esthea in various ways, and hearing Serephin's story,
I acutely realized how little I knew about this fantasy world.
So I started studying current events.
Like Truth Newspaper's org chart, this world's papers cover four main beats.
First, politics.
Empire evoked emperor dictatorship, but with the Five Regents system, there was even a parliament.
Similar to a British system with strong crown influence.
Current largest party in parliament, the ruling party, naturally the Emperor faction.
Well, they had a fancy name, but too complicated—Emperor faction it was.
Following: Nobles faction, Populares faction.
Plus minor parties...
And finally, the Make the World Tree Verdantly Verdant Party, nicknamed the Sepu Party.
...Yup, the tree-hugger club I imagined.
[Sepu Party's Mirein congresswoman (374 years old) spouts "Short-lived species!" human-hating ravings again today...]
Roughly...
Articles like that daily.
Next, international.
As you'd expect.
Besides the Empire, plenty of other countries.
Governments varied: constitutional monarchies like the Empire balancing emperor and parliament, pure republics, absolutist dictatorships.
And farther off, a cliché pureblood elf nation built around the World Tree.
Even in potential hostility with the Empire, yet the Sepu Party... tree-huggers hold seats here. Beats me how.
Dunno about other continents, but eight countries on this one where I stood.
Too headache to memorize names.
Not planning to go political or become a war hero.
Empire's biggest anyway, so unless something major, Empire citizen...
Ah, genes twitching suddenly. Revolution itch bad.
...Anyway, planning to live as Empire Extra A.
Then Demon Realm desk.
Like big bro Serephin, Hero exploits and Demon Realm info pages.
Mostly...
not successes, obituaries.
Where, how they got wiped out.
Stuff like that.
Thus I learned anew: Demon Realm far harsher than imagined.
Porter Academy kicking me out made sense now.
...Tossed in skill-less, I'd probably die in under five minutes.
Finally.
Matching combined politics, international, and Demon Realm volume: literature desk.
Where my novels run.
Recapping this much already headachy.
Input crucial.
Novel later at home with Historie.
Flip, flip—
Skimming the paper, gauging today's world trends.
And.
"...What the hell is this?"
[Massive scandal exposed in lower house... Politics in growing pains?]
[Three days ago, freshman lower house congressman Asterik presented the 'Asterik List,' sending shockwaves through politics. Our reporting reveals over thirty congressmen and nobles linked to corruption on the list, though facts remain unconfirmed...]
[...Public thrilled by exposé, even calling it 'Caesar's Reincarnation' citing literature. ...]
[*Editor's note: Caesar refers to Julius Caesar, protagonist of 'The Fallen Noble Excels at Politics' serialized in our paper...]
"Putting novel viral marketing in a political article...?"
Good buzz or bad fire?
21st-century Korean instinct?
...Bad fire?