The Pamphlet That Forged an Emperor
Napoleon (1) “Is this… real?” The first customer to visit after I opened the shop was Napoleon? The reality was so unbelievable that I couldn’t easily accept it. After all, who was Napoleon? A great man from hundreds of years ago, someone you only read about in textbooks. A person who should have been buried in a coffin countless times over. Yet that historical figure was sitting right in front of me, drinking water in the flesh. It was the kind of situation where believing it would have been stranger than doubting it.
“A fake… right?” Even if he was a fake, he resembled Napoleon’s portraits far too closely. Still, similar-looking people probably existed if you looked hard enough. It wasn’t as if I had ever seen the real Napoleon in person. But that alone couldn’t explain my current circumstances.
Connector of Transcendent Beings
— Napoleon de Bonaparte
“An awakening message, of all things.” Ever since meeting this man, awakening messages had begun appearing before my eyes. More than anything else, there was another decisive reason why I had no choice but to accept this reality as fact.
“Good heavens……”
Outside Seojun’s General Store.
“Hee-hee-hee—!”
“Extra! Extra!”
What unfolded there was early modern Europe. The scenery of 18th-century France.
Assist Napoleon and secure victory in the Siege of Toulon!
“Are you a royalist, or do you support the Revolution?”
Napoleon was the hero who led the French Revolution to victory. Although he would later proclaim himself emperor, the Napoleon before me now was still a revolutionary soldier.
“I support the Revolution.”
“Good.”
Napoleon’s expression relaxed after finishing his ideological verification.
“You appear to be a soldier.”
“Merely a junior officer.”
The conversation with Napoleon allowed me to infer many things. This was before Napoleon fought in wars and rose as a hero. In other words, it was the time when he was still an unknown junior officer. That raised a question.
Assist Napoleon and secure victory in the Siege of Toulon!
“What exactly am I supposed to help with?”
The Siege of Toulon Port was the battle between the revolutionary army and the French royalists over the port city of Toulon. It was also the debut stage where the hero Napoleon first appeared. The 24-year-old unknown revolutionary officer Napoleon recaptured Toulon Port and made a name for himself. From a junior officer, he rose all the way to the rank of brigadier general.
“An absurdly rapid promotion.”
A 24-year-old junior officer becoming a two-star general in one leap? Even if written as a novel, it would be criticized for lacking plausibility. Yet this major event actually happened—thanks to the military genius Napoleon.
The status window was telling me to help that very Napoleon. During the Siege of Toulon Port, the beginning of the Napoleon legend.
“How?”
An E-class appraiser who knew nothing about war or tactics was being told to help Napoleon. No matter how I thought about it, this wasn’t something I could get involved in. Still, I had to do something. Unless I planned to live in 18th-century Europe for the rest of my life.
“Damn it.”
Though I felt lost, I had to assess the situation first.
“Napoleon, what is the situation in Toulon?”
“If you mean the battle at Toulon Port, I did not participate, so I have not heard the detailed developments.”
“?”
What was that supposed to mean? I tilted my head in confusion. The Napoleon I knew had participated in the Siege of Toulon as an artillery commander and achieved tremendous feats. That was how the junior officer Napoleon rose to the rank of general.
“You did not participate?”
“How could a mere supply officer like me join the battle at Toulon?”
Napoleon gave a bitter smile, as if lamenting his own position.
“So this is what a failed worldline means.”
Something had gone wrong.
*
The Napoleon who should have been active as an artillery commander in the Siege of Toulon was stuck as a junior supply officer. History was flowing in a different direction.
“Why didn’t Napoleon become an artillery commander?”
A distortion had occurred somewhere. I needed to find out what it was.
“The opportunity that made Napoleon an artillery commander.”
While handling relics, one naturally learns the detailed biographies of great figures. I knew the turning point that made Napoleon an artillery commander.
“It was a pamphlet.”
Napoleon, who grew up being ignored as the son of a minor noble, was a man desperate for success. One day, while agonizing over how to advance his career, he encountered a group of merchants who supported the royalists. The fierce debate he had with them became a pamphlet.
Le Souper de Beaucaire (The Evening Meal at Beaucaire).
A pamphlet that affirmed the legitimacy of the Revolution, arguing that “when royalists and republicans debate, the republicans will ultimately win.” With this pamphlet, Napoleon caught the eye of the revolutionary leadership and was promoted to artillery commander at Toulon. Ironically, after Napoleon later proclaimed himself emperor, he tried with all his might to erase this pamphlet, which became the most banned document of its time……
What created Emperor Napoleon was, ironically, a pamphlet supporting democracy. That was how meaningful the pamphlet was to Napoleon.
Yet……
“A pamphlet? What are you talking about?”
Napoleon knew nothing about the pamphlet.
“Did you not hold a debate in Beaucaire?”
“I stayed in Beaucaire, but I never held any debate.”
“So that was it.”
Only then did I understand where the button had been fastened wrong. The Napoleon of this world had not held a debate in Beaucaire. Therefore, the pamphlet was never created, which resulted in Napoleon never becoming an artillery commander. A single simple pamphlet had caused a massive butterfly effect.
But now that I knew the cause, the solution was simple.
“Napoleon. Would you care to go eat?”
“Eat?”
“Yes, it will soon be evening.”
I just had to make the pamphlet.
Le Souper de Beaucaire.
*
“I really ended up coming here.”
I looked around with curious eyes. Streets lined with Rococo-style buildings. Horse-drawn carriages traveled along the main roads, while gentlemen in suits and noblewomen in wide skirts passed by. This was pre-Victorian era. The scenery of 18th-century early modern France. I felt a strange nostalgia, as if I had stepped onto a movie set.
“Would it not be better to go to a restaurant if we want to eat?”
“A coffeehouse would also be suitable for a light meal and conversation, would it not?”
The place Napoleon and I found was not a restaurant, but a “coffeehouse.” Of course, I had not come to the coffeehouse just for a meal. My goal was, above all, to turn Napoleon into a hero of the revolutionary army. The first step in that plan was to recreate Le Souper de Beaucaire. I needed to make Napoleon debate with royalists.
“Nowhere is it easier to find political fanatics than in a coffeehouse.”
France, a country with so many cafés that it could be called the “Café Kingdom.” The origin of those cafés was precisely the “coffeehouse.” However, the coffeehouses of this era were not simply places that sold coffee. They were gathering spots where philosophers, writers, politicians, and people of all classes freely met to exchange knowledge and ideologies. Coffeehouses, where anyone could come and talk, symbolized equality and republicanism. And being free also meant that all sorts of people gathered there. Artists, philosophers, political fanatics—all mixed together in chaotic debates. Finding citizens who supported the royalists in such a place would not be difficult.
“Bingo.”
Luckily, as soon as we entered, there was a table making a loud fuss.
— What nonsense is this National Convention!? I have never heard of a country without a monarch!
A man with a thick beard was making his argument in a rough voice. He was a typical royalist citizen denying the French Revolution.
“What do you think, Napoleon?”
“About what?”
“That man’s claim.”
Napoleon, who had been stirring his mocha coffee, smiled coldly.
“I have experienced firsthand that an incompetent monarch is worse than having none at all.”
He was referring to Louis XVI. Because of him, France’s economy collapsed, and citizens starved to death, unable to afford bread.
“Ending the civil war as soon as possible and stabilizing the republic is the path France must take.”
Napoleon spoke his thoughts in a calm yet clear voice. That voice reached the ears of the man at the next table who had been defending the royalists. The man stood up and approached Napoleon.
“Did you just say we must stabilize the republic now?”
“That is correct. The current civil war is nothing more than a rebellion.”
As Napoleon presented his argument, a heated debate broke out with the royalist man. Voices rose and ideologies clashed. It was a common sight in any coffeehouse. But for someone, it was also a valuable experience that would change his life.
And that night.
“I wrote down the debate we had today.”
Napoleon had written a single document.
Le Souper de Beaucaire
The pamphlet that would be recorded in history.