Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Julius Caesar, and Then?
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Julius Caesar, and then?
The dragons existed even before the heavens and earth had separated, before light came into being, before even the dawn had arrived.
They were the creations of the goddess, born to silently observe countless lives over vast ages and, at times, fulfill their role as mediators.
That was the great dragon, and the noble dragon who had inherited that great bloodline pure and true...
"Why! Whyyy! Why is it already over?!"
Was acting like a brat again today.
"What's with all the racket—"
The commotion in the shared lobby of the apartment building drew the residents' heads peeking out in protest against the noise.
But the moment they spotted Esthea with her horns and tail sprouting, they slammed their doors shut and fell silent as if nothing had happened.
After all, if they so much as offended that noble and great being by mistake, calamity would befall their entire families.
But unconcerned by the gazes of such lowly humans,
Esthea thrashed her tail against the floor repeatedly, leaping up without even growing taller and dangling from Kim Yul's collar like a pendant.
She growled menacingly at Kim Yul.
"Is it that hard to serialize up to 500 chapters? Who shoves a 150-chapter ending down our throats?!"
It was a tale that would have made the 21st-century literary giant from Incheon—who had crafted an immortal masterpiece with 98 main chapters and 103 including side stories—click his tongue in dismay.
But Esthea was utterly shameless about it.
From the start, her sense of time differed from humans', so in a way, it was only natural.
A human lifetime was, if exaggerated just a bit, a mere instant to her.
Yet instead of spinning that instant into the finest, most detailed fodder, he wrapped it up so sloppily!
"If Caesar died, you could've at least written about his son! What about Caesarion? Or even Octavianus!"
Kim Yul flinched slightly at the mention of Octavianus, but Esthea ignored his reaction and kept shaking his body vigorously.
In the end...
"Grrr!"
"Esthea. Let's have a more mature conversation. This way of communicating isn't right."
Historie, catching the desperate plea in his eyes, slipped her hands under Esthea's armpits and hoisted her up.
.
.
.
After a while, once Esthea had finally calmed down from her tantrum and stopped acting like a child...
"So, why that ending?"
She looked ready to turn Kim Yul into roast Yul on the spot if his answer didn't satisfy her.
"It has a very profound meaning."
Judging that rational communication with the brat was now possible, Kim Yul's tongue began to move eerily.
Emulating Hermes' Persuasion.
And Cicero's Eloquence.
"All humans must die."
Having scored a hit once with plagiarized famous lines, he started right off with more plagiarism.
"Caesar struggled his entire life to dismantle the Republic, but he realized that task would never be fulfilled in his lifetime. So he cleverly turned the extremists' jealousy to his advantage—"
Something utterly unnecessary in genre fiction.
Lecturing on the author's motivations and thematic intent, and in the end...
"Gah—"
"I don't care about that stuff!"
He collapsed after taking a direct tail strike to the side from the furious Esthea.
"Esthea? Shall I write a little epilogue for you later?"
Seizing the opening, Historie jumped in to prove her literary sensibilities.
"But... Historie's stuff tastes a bit off compared to Kim Yul's novels."
"...Pardon?"
She froze solid from the shock of being treated like low-grade fodder.
One with her tail.
One with her tongue.
True to her greatness as a dragon, she subdued two at once in an instant.
"Next time! A long one! Even longer!"
Esthea boldly declared her "rightful rights as a reader."
.
.
.
Having vented her frustration, she trudged back to her lair, her heart heavy with sorrow over her favorite novel's premature end.
"Strange..."
She recalled the earlier events.
A dragon's mind was inherently the most perfect, unshakable by any magic.
And she'd never before intervened so actively in human affairs.
Yet...
Strangely, when facing Kim Yul and Historie, she felt an ease like dealing with her own kind.
She might have even been persuaded if she'd let her guard down for a moment.
Kim Yul's words brimmed with magic.
A terrifying magic that made you want to yield to him just by listening.
Was there something special about it?
Esthea's curiosity began to perk up bit by bit.
That was when Historie first awakened to the emotion called "betrayal," her CPU heating up with overclocking sensations.
"Oh my, what brings such a noble guest to this humble place?"
The Saintess, who had been reading the ultra-explicit Cleopatra side story that Kim Yul wrote to buy her silence—far too risqué for newspaper serialization—greeted her visitor.
"...Feels like you got the phrasing backwards."
"Ahaha! That was my best shot at a joke. Duke Berthus, whatever possessed you to grace the church with your presence? I thought you weren't a believer in the Goddess Church."
Of course, Roselin knew full well why Duke Berthus had rushed to her like his pants were on fire.
Ever since attending the banquet at Kim Yul's request,
Roselin had unleashed her entire intelligence network to scrape together every scrap of info on Duke Berthus.
Her conclusion from the fragments was singular.
Duke Berthus was brewing something deeply sinister.
Of course...
Roselin had no intention of meddling in that plot.
Extremely speaking,
If the Empire plunged into chaos and Kim Yul came running to her for shelter?
She could even... no, house him comfortably in the Holy Kingdom.
However,
Now, for various reasons,
Kim Yul's safety could not be threatened.
For the Goddess Church.
And... for her sake as well.
"Looks like you need a confession, don't you?"
Roselin, smile unwavering, escorted Duke Berthus to the confessional.
"H-Historie?"
"...Please don't call me that."
Hmm.
She's broken.
After Esthea left, I'd left Historie to stew in her despair, where she was devouring everything in sight like a binge-eating rampage to cope.
Understandably so.
Her No. 1 fan, who recognized her literary talent, had slapped her in the face with "You can't write as well as him!"
It felt similar to when I gave up my dream of becoming an alternate history novelist.
Why, heavens!
Why birth Kim Yul, Codecs, Wonmyeong, Ondaright, Budeureopsuki, and countless other alternate history authors!
"So you tripped me into this isekai world."
At least here, I'm a top authority in Earth history academia.
Thinking that, I patted the No. 2's shoulder to cheer her up.
"Stop eating. It'll be at least a month before royalties come in."
"Kim Yul..."
No. 2 glared at me with an expression of ultimate catharsis from her reality.
For now,
Historie's growing pains had to be endured on her own, so I'd leave her be for a bit.
I needed to prepare for the future based on this round's results.
The first newspaper serialization had been quite successful.
Caesar's Dice, which let me divine fortunes,
And the A-rank skill Cicero's Eloquence, barely unlocked by meeting the conditions right before the finale.
...Though it didn't work on the brat.
I chalked it up to dragon racial traits.
Plus the C-rank skill Vercingetorix's Will from the separately published Gallic Chronicle side story,
But since it was a downgrade from Hector's Courage, I'd reserved it as fodder for the next synthesis party.
"Kinda disappointing."
"I'm full now, Kim Yul..."
I couldn't tell the brat this,
But there was another reason I wrapped up the Caesar tale cleanly without dragging it out.
Back during serialization,
[Public Reception: Extremely Positive] [Daily Readers: 4,014]
[Expected Skill Acquisition: [A-rank] Cic■ro's El■quence]
[Must maintain for 1+ month. (Current: 1 day)]
On top of the usual fare I'd seen—
[Raise daily readers above 10,000 to upgrade reward to S-rank skill.]
I'd eyed the chance for better rewards.
But barely defending 4,000 readers until the finale showed 10,000 was still beyond me.
And novels typically see scores trend downward slowly once they hit long-term serialization.
I myself had peaked at 5,400 before readers dropped off day by day, soaking my pillow with tears every night.
"Ahem."
Soothing the old wound briefly.
In other words,
To acquire skills in the ideal form, I needed a blockbuster that hit 10,000+ from the start.
"Shit a brick first. Then you'll get famous."
Or something like that.
...Wasn't it?
Anyway,
Having built recognition with The Fallen Noble Excels at Politics, my next work had to be a mega-hit to launch my popularity into orbit.
Average material wouldn't cut it.
Few historical topics could peak that high.
My natural conclusion was...
"Only the Three Kingdoms."
"But that's a novel, isn't it?"
For nailing the point, I rewarded Historie by sticking a candy in her fuel inlet as a prize.
"Mmmph."
Indeed.
Compared to Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms,
Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms was packed with novelistic embellishments.
Especially the most glorified figure: Lord Guan of the Peach Garden Oath.
Just the beautified feats number plenty.
No beheading Hua Xiong before the wine cooled.
No surrendering to Cao Cao after three conditions.
No receiving Red Hare.
No killing Wen Chou.
No Five Passes and Six Generals, obviously.
No releasing Cao Cao at Huayong Pass.
Got verbally wrecked by Lu Su.
No posthumous grudge yelling "That bastard Yu Meng!"
Historical distortion so severe you could call it Luo Guanzhong's self-insert daughter.
Writing it as a novel would just get dinged for "inaccurate to history."
At least the records improve in one spot:
No incident of flipping the Go board on Hua Tuo mid-concave surgery sans anesthesia, raging "Triple threes!"
Hua Tuo died before Red Cliffs anyway.
Not just Guan Yu.
Liu Bei side characters especially have heavy novelistic hype, but stripping it kills the fun too.
"The Three Kingdoms has too many characters, doesn't it? That's a concern."
Historie, softened by her sugar spike, had a valid point.
Serial novels need a clear protagonist. Who to focus on?
The moment that thought hit,
"That's it...!"
I shouted like Archimedes.
Just tweak the angle.
In the historical Records of the Three Kingdoms, the largest section is Wei Zhi, Wei Kingdom tales—30 volumes, double the 15 of Shu Zhi centered on the big-eared guy.
Chen Shou, born in Shu Han but writing under Sima unification as Western Jin official, subtly favors Wei.
So,
Next work:
Not a double protagonist like Three Kingdoms Heroes with Liu Bei from the novel,
Or Three Kingdoms: Cao Cao with Cao Cao from history.
Split the novel in two entirely.