Chapter 75
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Intermission: Paradox-Level Military Expert (1)
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Before setting off on the trip.
I kindly hung a sign on the door that read, "Shh, away on vacation," just in case the mongrel came sniffing around the empty house.
Then I headed to the Troupe Leader's office with Historie.
"Whoa, what's that?"
"Ah— you mean this?"
Is that so.
She doesn't know what it is.
This is—
"A travel backpack. Don't worry about it, Master."
"I see. You're packing quite a bit for a short trip."
Before I could even deliver my line, Tin Can had already bowed politely to the Troupe Leader like she'd completed some coming-of-age rite.
I ended up missing my chance to brag.
The classic reaction when modern gear like this shows up is supposed to be, "Ooh! What on earth is this?! How can such an exquisitely crafted bag be made from this new material? Amazing!"
But the Troupe Leader, seemingly lacking any flair for dramatics, merely glanced at it before resuming packing her own luggage.
What a shame.
After a short wait.
"Welcome, Your Highness."
"Am I a bit late? Shall we depart?"
The Second Prince Eisen arrived at the Troupe Leader's office without ceremony, dressed lightly with his secretary carrying a small bag.
His cheerful declaration of immediate departure made me miss the perfect moment to show off my suitcase— essential for long trips, made from sturdy yet lightweight PC material, with secure locks and sized perfectly for carry-on.
"Kim Yul, were you thinking something foolish again?"
"Ugh..."
I'll prove the worth of my 440,000 won today, no matter what.
.
.
.
Quite some time ago, when I first came up to the imperial capital, I'd traveled by train.
So naturally, I assumed we'd head to the station.
But...
"This is...?"
"I've heard from Serephin that you've entered a rift before. Indeed, this is a rift."
Guided by the prince and his guards, we arrived somewhere deep underground in the imperial capital.
An intricately crafted magic circle was engraved on the floor.
And above it loomed a rift, exuding an ominous aura as it tore through space with its gaping maw.
My expression must have soured.
"The space inside a rift is disconnected from reality. But the entry and exit points are always the same, so we use them under strict control for limited transport."
The Troupe Leader added explanations for me.
As if to prove it was safe.
The Second Prince shoved his secretary into the rift first, then strode in confidently before being swallowed up.
"Fascinating."
Next, Tin Can slipped in smoothly.
"You wouldn't happen to be..."
"No way."
It felt like the Troupe Leader might blurt out "chicken?", so I stepped into the rift with as much bravado as I could muster.
The same disorienting sensation as before.
My vision flipped completely, immersing me in an alien feeling.
"The air really is stale."
Lifting my head at Historie's dry remark from the pro air sommelier.
"Ooh."
Unlike the barren wasteland where I'd been dumped alone last time, we now arrived at what looked like a proper outpost base.
"You've arrived, Your Highness!"
"All clear on duty!"
The soldiers and mages guarding the rift greeted us politely, and I caught the prince waving them off casually, no need for formalities.
"I never like this place every time we come. Historie, you feel it too?"
"Yes. The mana density in the air is extremely low. I can definitely see why it's hard to cast spells here."
The magic master and her apprentice chatted amiably.
Hmm.
It felt like my grad student had become a slave in another lab.
Now I understood a bit of what advisors feel.
Memories surfaced of my super-smart master's student gaslighting me with treats, insisting no one appreciates a quick master's and I should go all the way to PhD.
"Tin Can."
"Yes."
"Do you like me or magic more?"
It was just a joke.
"Naturally, Kim Yul is priority zero in my life."
Her serious reply left me speechless, staring blankly at Historie's face.
"A-alright. Save the lovey-dovey for later—we've still got a long way to go, right?"
Hmm.
Probably because I'm her creator.
Like a robot's three laws or something...
Shaking off the hollow feeling, I hurried after the group as they started moving.
Exiting the long rift passage brought us to a seaside town.
Unfortunately, the night's bottom hadn't turned white, nor had a train stopped at the signal tower.
"I feel alive again, Kim Yul."
Tin Can's furrowed brow finally relaxed.
For a layman like me who can't sense mana, it was just like walking through Seoul during a bad sandstorm.
But seeing the Troupe Leader take deep breaths too, it must be poison for mages.
Doesn't the Hero party have a mage?
"They usually prepare scrolls in advance or memorize spells over days outside the rift."
"Memorize?"
"It's fully embodying a spell and engraving it precisely into your body. Here, look."
The Troupe Leader rolled up her robe sleeve to reveal her forearm.
There was a bizarre, geometric yet metaphysical pattern glowing faintly blue.
Not Celtic tattoos—what the heck is that.
Not my type. Nor middle-aged married women.
Anyway.
Leaving Tin Can and the Troupe Leader to geek out over magic again, I took a deep breath.
"Haa..."
This briny sea scent.
Shivering with the sensation of claiming this dockside fish market like my own world.
The Second Prince's secretary approached.
"Kim Yul, Historie. Allow me to show you to your lodgings. Troupe Leader, please go see His Highness."
"Sure."
The Troupe Leader was here to work.
Tin Can and I were here to play.
Walking to the lodgings, I chatted with Historie about this and that.
The main topic was my next work, as usual.
It was my biggest headache lately.
"I don't want to do war-centered stories three times in a row, but I can't think of good non-war themes."
"Human history advanced through killing each other, didn't it? If there was a strong leader to suppress even war—like Skynet's rule—"
"Stop."
"Tch."
I quickly stopped Tin Can from sprouting a mustache in her ongoing dream of conquering humanity.
"Themes without politics or war. How about approaching it economically, like the Tulip Bubble?"
Not a bad idea.
"Fine for a short story, but tricky to stretch into a long one. Unless I cover Isaac Newton's life and tie in the South Sea Company."
"Hmm. Your point is valid. In webnovels, Tulip Bubbles or Ponzi schemes work best as one-off episodes."
Definitely felt that writing Joan of Arc and Yi Sun-sin.
Biographical overviews suited serials better and were easier for me to write.
If humans didn't inevitably die...
"Zhuge Liang died too inconclusively. If Sima Yi were the protagonist, he'd accomplish everything before dying—no backlash."
"True."
Not intentional, but oddly, all my subjects' deaths tied into tragedies.
"At this rate, I'm suspicious of your tastes."
"You see me as some wreck-it tagger? I prefer mild-wreck over full wreck."
"Mild-wreck special. Stronger than wreck."
"Hm."
Her irrefutable fact hit my solar plexus, leaving me speechless.
Fortunately, the lodging wasn't far, and we arrived soon.
The moment we opened the door.
"Just as I thought."
"My deduction was correct."
No cozy study.
Instead, an ornate but ultimately medieval-to-early-modern lodging greeted us.
Well...
Not bad, but.
"Battery saving mode it is."
"Tch."
Regrettably, the laptop would stay in ultra-low-power until return.
Ah.
Industrial Revolution, when?
My cousin claim had become academic consensus.
I don't know what cousin relations mean in this primitive fantasy land, but protesting the harsh single room with one bed.
Shedding bloody tears at the room's sorry state, I requested extra bedding and slept on the floor. Next day.
"Tell them... of my death... not...!"
Amid the actor's passionate performance as Yi Sun-sin and the navy troops' awed uproar from cultural shock.
The reenactment of Hero and the Song of the Sea drew to a close.
"The staging has been refined."
"Yeah. The warships are all the ones we saw in the harbor yesterday. Except the turtle ships."
"Can't do anything about turtle ships."
Militarized adaptation, but whatever.
Military content always gets like that.
Still, seeing soldiers stand in resolute applause, it felt like we'd fulfilled the morale-boosting purpose.
Stand up, you too!
Swallowing the nonsense inwardly, I glanced at the Second Prince beside me.
"Still moving. The staging is top-notch... I should increase funding to the troupe."
Our prince at least knew give and take.
.
.
.
After the play.
I didn't sit alone in the audience... but got dragged into an afterparty unexpectedly.
If it were with actors, I'd share drinks with our half-goblin Grodek—whose mom is a goblin.
"Heh, a profound tale, Your Highness."
"Stirs the heart of any sea dog."
Unfortunately, I'd been pulled into a drab, unexciting gathering with the Second Prince and officers.
The seals, steeped in machismo, even excluded the Troupe Leader and Tin Can, turning it into a total boys' club.
This is why land dogs and sea dogs are no good.
Glory to the bluebirds.
"Speaking of, you're the scriptwriter?"
"Ah, yes."
A stern-looking Junker-type officer addressed me gruffly.
"Dramatic tale, but you don't grasp naval combat. Even in fiction or plays, the admiral's flagship charging ahead? Leading just over ten ships against a 200-vessel fleet? Too fanciful. Lacks realism—mind that next time."
Hmm...
Feeling my art and accuracy denied, I failed to keep a straight face.
"Sir Winston, enough. Question realism in heroic feats, and how could miracles happen?"
The prince backed me up, but Winston persisted.
This orangutan-brained general, itching to crash at Gallipoli, kept picking at me.
Hector's Courage tempted me.
"Sir Winston. Such rudeness to my invitee? Read Ulysses' other works—you'll see he understands strategy well."
"Apologies, Your Highness. But that 'Tianzi cannon' introduction and such worry our navy. How could a green kid grasp war's complexities?"
The prince shielding me.
Winston using me as a shield.
Their voices rose heatedly.
Savoring romance-fantasy protagonist vibes, imagining the mongrel's wagging tail for calm.
"Then settle it with a wargame. I wager this young man can beat you."
"Ha! So be it. If I lose, I'll accept Your Highness's naval reforms without complaint."
Pardon?
Me?
Wargame?
That sounds fun.