Even after rubbing my[1] eyes, the person yelling was still Park Deok-Gu. I was surprised to see him here, but seeing him yelling with clenched fists was even more surprising.

“The people are the owner of the empire! Think about it! Who has the sovereign power of the empire?!” Park Deok-Gu yelled.

“It’s His Majesty of course,” someone replied.

“That’s not true! That’s definitely not true! The empire only exists because of all of you! It’s the people that should have the sovereign power! All power should come from the people for the country to be a righteous one! Even if His Majesty has great power, what can he do if you’re all not here?!” he continued.

“Y-You’re… right! Indeed!” someone agreed.

‘What’s going on…’

The person cheering in the crowd was also someone I could recognize.

‘Mr. Ahn Ki-Mo?’

On the outside, he looked like an ordinary citizen, but if you removed the illusionary magic around him, you could tell it was him. It wasn’t just him that I saw. I started seeing the Blue Guild’s staff members as well. They were uplifting the atmosphere by shouting.

“From the beginning, the Benigoa Goddess said that everyone living on this continent is equal! Think carefully, my dear people! Is this empire—that’s living under the protection of the goddess really fair? Think again! I’m a stupid guy, and I almost let my loving family experience poverty and hunger!” he explained.

“Oh, dear…”

“That’s unfortunate…”

“We were considered lucky if could eat corn porridge! The thieves living in the imperial castle are having parties while drinking alcohol and eating meat every day! Do you really think that’s fair?!” he continued.

“You’re right!”

“Politics for the people and by the people! That’s what this land needs right now. To obtain what we want, we need educated people! We need to remind the self-proclaimed nobles who despise us that the empire belongs to the people!” he added.

“You’re right!” the people yelled.

“Of course, I’m right! We need to fight for it! They need to realize that even though we’re stupid, we can do something for the empire!” Park Deok-Gu shouted.

“W-What should we do?” someone asked.

“Whatever you can do! First, take a copy of this book! Our hyung-nim; no, a person who shares the same views as us wrote it himself!” he said.

“But… isn’t this considered treason against the imperial family?”

“Treason against the imperial family? The members of the imperial family are the ones who have committed treason against the Benigoa Goddess! Are you saying that we’re not even allowed to read this kind of book? How can this be considered treason when we don’t have any weapons, and it’s not like we’re talking badly about the emperor in front of his face? The empire belongs to the people and to the goddess, not to the emperor! Can you consider a country normal when they won’t even allow us to read a book? If you think that’s normal, then run to the lord right now and reveal my sin! I’ll gladly sacrifice myself for democracy!” he explained.

“L-Long live democracy!”

“Long live the fighter of democracy!”

“My name is Barkdeku! Barkdeku, the fighter of democracy!”[2]

I had to leave my post for a long time, and I obviously had no time to explore the world. I had to be cautious whenever I was investigating Saladan, as well as the masked man and woman. I had to be discreet about it. I couldn’t help but feel as though the world had changed when I saw this situation unfolding in front of me. From the old to the young, everyone was holding a book. And all of a sudden, I could hear an old man talking.

“Are you a foreigner?”

“Ah… yes,” I replied.

“I heard that there’s no king or emperor in the place the foreigners are from. Is that true?” he asked.

“T-That’s true…” I stuttered.

“So a place like that does exist. Ah, try reading this book,” he offered.

The book I accepted was pretty small and seeing that it was small enough to fit inside a pocket, they had definitely thought about censorship. Below the title, “Sacred Democracy,” an unfamiliar author’s name was written on it.

‘Oscar?’

I had no idea who Oscar was, but as Mr. Deok-Gu had mentioned, I was sure the author was Mr. Ki-Young. When I opened the book, I saw a page filled with a lot of words.

[The people should be able to actively participate in imperial law. The human rights of the denizens must be guaranteed. The laws and the procedures of implementing the laws must be applied equally to all denizens. Human rights and equality are “basic rights” that denizens should enjoy. According to the will of the Benigoa Goddess, equality is not only for the empire but for all human beings living on this continent.]

‘Huh…’

[The empire must maintain a welfare system that guarantees minimum livelihood for its people. The above is the contract signed by the empire and its people. The empire isn’t being maintained based on vested interests but by the contract between the empire and its people. The people need to be aware of this. The sovereignty of the empire belongs to the people, and all the power comes from the people. We have to keep reminding ourselves of that fact.]

I felt like I had heard this from somewhere. He had included the logic of political scientists and was changing the people’s thoughts on politics. I could tell he was using the Benigoa Goddess’ doctrine, which said that all people under the goddess were equal as a shield.

‘It’s definitely Mr. Ki-Young’s work.’

I could see his personality based on how he had written the book. As I turned the pages, I realized that the information I was reading was worth reading. The Vatican, which was another vested interest in the empire, was described separately from the empire. A lot of information was written in this book, but it only had one meaning.

“The equality of all men is—”

“The Benigoa Goddess’ will. That’s it! That’s what Mr. Oscar is trying to tell us! You’re quick to catch on, bro… Mr. H-Hyun-Sung? W-Why are you…” Park Deok-Gu stuttered.

The big man looked surprised.

“Mr. Barkdeku, let’s talk for a moment,” I suggested with a bitter smile.

***

‘This will definitely work.’

When considering the fact that 99.9 percent of people were believers of Benigoa, it would be strange if this didn’t work. I exaggerated a sentence that only appeared a few times in the holy book and interpreted it politically. And since I mixed religion with politics, this book would definitely gain momentum. Of course, the book had some flaws since Lee Ki-Young wrote it in a hurry, but the people wouldn’t care about the flaws.

Men under the goddess were all equal. The weight and sweetness this sentence carried would be so charming that the people wouldn’t be able to resist it. In addition, it may even look really sweet to ordinary clerics.

When I slowly closed the book while sitting in front of the bonfire, I saw Mr. Deok-Gu and Mr. Ki-Mo looking at me. The crackling sound the wood gave off sounded nice, but I had to bring this up.

“Could you explain this to me?” I asked.

Of course, I was curious about what happened today, but they also wanted an explanation.

“Wait, before talking about that, I think I need to say something first… What were you doing here, Guild Master bro?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“It’s a personal business I must take care of. I’ll explain the details once it has been taken care of, but just know that it’s related to the black mages,” I answered.

“Did you receive a request from the Vatican or the imperial family?” he asked.

“You can think of it that way. Then, Mr. Deok-Gu…” I replied.

“Well, I’m just running errands for our hyung-nim. This is the twelfth time already. He told me to start working from the place farthest from the capital and work slowly… You know Miss Lee Ji-Hye, right? I received a special order to distribute this book in places she told me to go to! Interestingly, I haven’t seen a noble or a knight while I was doing this work. Isn’t that right, Mr. Ahn Ki-Mo?” Park Deok-Gu explained.

“Yes, he’s right. Since the forces are focused in the eastern region, the west side has been pretty calm. By the way, Guild Master, it has been a while since we saw you,” Ahn Ki-Mo said.

“It’s because I have been focused on my work…” I answered.

“I heard that it has been a while since you returned to the castle,” Ahn Ki-Mo added.

“It turned out that way. There was something I had to deal with during my work… I was actually about to return, but I ran into you two. Was it… Mr. Ki-Young who wrote the book?” I questioned.

“To be exact, he didn’t write it all by himself… Miss Ji-Hye helped him. I think Miss Hee-Young has been visiting the castle often and helping them as well. Well, what does it matter? By the way, hyung-nim has been looking for you… Has it been so long since you two saw each other?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“Yes, it’s… been a while,” I muttered.

“Hyung-nim has been looking for you a lot…. Tsk,” Park Deok-Gu mentioned.

“Is that so?” I asked.

“Yes, of course! It seemed like things aren’t going well in the castle because he didn’t look so good. To be honest, I think he’s angry every day. He would pout with that particular expression whenever he’s a little mad, and I feel bad for Ha-Yan noonim because she seemed to be walking on eggshells around him. That’s why I came all the way out here and pretended to be Barkdeku, the fighter of democracy,” Park Deok-Gu described.

“He seemed to be in a bad mood?” I asked.

“Yes, I definitely got that feeling from him,” Park Deok-Gu replied.

“Then, this book…”

“He wrote this book out of frustration,” Park Deok-Gu answered.

“Ugh…”

‘It’s understandable…’

I couldn’t help but think that way, as I didn’t pay that much attention to him after leaving him with that task. I thought Mr. Ki-Young would be able to complete that task and that he was the only one who could control the first princess. However, it would be rather strange if he weren’t exhausted. After all, the Charlotte I knew was a competent empress, while Charlia was a hopeless fool. There were things I had to handle, so I had no choice, but I still had to take responsibility for my mistake. Mr. Ki-Young was usually a really trustworthy person, but I knew very well that from time to time, he would complain like this. Since we had spent a lot of time together, I had an idea about the kind of person Lee Ki-Young was. It would be strange if I still had no idea, as he had shown the same reaction during Jo Hye-Jin’s case and in other trivial cases as well.

‘He’s expressing his dissatisfaction.’

When I thought about what Mr. Deok-Gu had said, it was safe to assume that Mr. Ki-Young was using this method to complain.

‘I didn’t consider it…’

All I thought was that we still had a lot of time; I didn’t think about the anxiety Lee Ki-Young would feel and the reduction of his political influence. The issue was that what he had done was too big and radical for it to be considered a simple complaint. There was a saying that the country and home must be at peace. I was so focused on my work outside that I had become careless about what was going on inside.

‘Wh-What should I do?’

I had no choice but to think if I should get him a gift.

1. Kim Hyun-Sung’s POV ☜

2. In case it wasn’t clear, this is Park Deok-Gu, but he’s saying it differently. ☜