Ch.329Northern Allah

# The Alleged Allah

“Allah. Are you truly Allah?”

“The one true God Allah lives!”

“To claim the Russian Tsar is the one true God is absurd!”

BANG!

This time, a second terrorist attack occurred on the way to the capital.

If you ask what the Roman Treaty forces were doing while I was being attacked, the answer is simple.

I deliberately left them behind.

By doing it this way, at least there won’t be any rebellion against the Roman Treaty.

Of course, from the outside, it feels like I’m being attacked unexpectedly while personally distributing supplies in every town and city we pass through.

Since an enemy monarch has personally appeared, it’s a reasonable choice for the Iraqi remnants to take their shot.

A particularly vicious-looking man shot at me.

“He really doesn’t die?”

Once again, this terrorist was left dumbfounded.

Yes. Here I have no choice but to rely on my tanghulu.

After surviving multiple explosions, you get used to it. Unfortunately, Iraq is now divided into three groups.

First, those who worship me as Allah.

“Shoot first, ask questions later!”

Second, those who can’t accept me as Allah and try to terrorize me.

And third, those who remain neutral and just observe.

But regardless of which group they belong to, they’ll eventually have to see me as a god.

Those who need someone to rely on and worship me as a god to receive help have confirmed my divinity through the actions of those who attack me. And those who failed to kill me despite throwing multiple bombs, believing their weapons were defective, are slowly starting to see me as the one true God.

Do you know what’s interesting about this?

As I station troops throughout the region to secure peace and order while helping the Iraqis, those who see me as the one true God have started to follow me.

“Allahu Akbar!” “The one true God is with us!”

This is making me feel a bit guilty.

“Hahaha! Even these Arabs are following Your Majesty.”

No, that’s unfair to say about me.

“Hmm, this is really weighing on my conscience.”

This time I feel particularly guilty. Just because I can’t die, they’re treating me like Allah?

“Why should you feel guilty? After all, haven’t you become their savior, Your Majesty?”

Is this right? This isn’t the image of Islam I’m familiar with.

Have I become too accustomed to the beheading, bomb-throwing Islamic fundamentalists?

“No. I am not Allah.”

“But you don’t die, so aren’t you a god?”

Hmm, when they put it that way, I have no response.

“When you put it that way, I have no counter-argument.”

Unexpectedly, the Russian forces of the Roman Treaty, who were supposed to be at war, are now just making a royal progress.

We travel through cities destroyed and devastated by the Greek invaders, caring for affected citizens.

Many Iraqis follow behind me as we head toward Baghdad.

I’m curious how the King of Iraq will react, but whatever.

“Actually, isn’t the Russian Saint the representative of the one true God?”

“She must be either Allah himself or Allah’s representative.”

Ah, this is really weighing on my conscience. But whatever, it’s all or nothing now.

“This seems like a plot hole. Isn’t this going too far?”

“It’s because the Greek forces went on a rampage. I heard Baghdad has fallen too. In such a desperate situation, isn’t it natural for people to believe when an immortal being appears?”

“Did you say Baghdad?”

So Baghdad has finally fallen.

With his skills, Manstein could have held off the Red Roman Army, once the strongest under heaven, even without surrendering or Turkish military support.

Then again, the fact that the Greek forces won proves how incompetent the Iraqi army was. I wonder what happened to Baghdad.

“What’s the current state of Baghdad?”

I doubt the Greeks would have left Baghdad intact.

From what I’ve seen, they’ve probably destroyed everything in sight.

It’s amusing how the Greeks are genuinely destructive while we clean up after them, as if following a script. These helpful fellows are taking the blame for us!

“Baghdad is currently being looted by Greek forces.”

“How unfortunate. What was the situation in Iraq before the Greeks arrived?”

That’s important.

The extent of damage caused by Greece will determine how much we need to take care of Iraq.

If I’m going to be treated as Allah, I might as well use it to my advantage.

“It seems King Faisal was trying to negotiate with the Roman Treaty Organization, but the military held power and restricted the monarchy.”

They restricted the monarchy? Suspicious.

“Hmm. So that happened.”

“Yes. A man named Abdul Karim Qasim is the prime minister of the military regime.”

Ah, the man who destroyed the Kingdom of Iraq.

I know he essentially turned his army around like the Wihwado Retreat and killed the entire royal family. But here, he didn’t kill them.

It could be that he didn’t want to give us a pretext, or perhaps something changed about him in this world.

The king might be allied with Qasim, or Qasim might have just spared their lives.

“So what happened to the king and this Qasim now?”

“The king’s whereabouts are unknown, and Qasim was reportedly shot while resisting the Greeks.”

The king’s whereabouts are unknown, huh.

Hmm, I wonder how things are developing.

“Let’s just play the good guys. Being the righteous ones should work, right?”

The Roman Treaty is extremely good and righteous. But since Greece has gone on a rampage and invaded today’s Iraq and Iran, I will personally take care of you.

This should work out well, right?

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Since Iraqis already see me as Allah, as the one true God, Arabs have no choice but to be pro-Roman.

I am the head of the Roman Treaty after all.

And if they worship the Roman Emperor as the one true God, they will naturally become pro-Roman, and eventually come under the indirect rule of the Roman Treaty, won’t they?

For that, we need to get something out of this. For example, even if we don’t control Baghdad, it would be good to have something in our grasp.

“Your Majesty! The Iraqi royal family has requested to surrender!”

I really am a lucky woman.

* * *

After the end of World War II, the Kingdom of Iraq had been enjoying a sweet deal trading oil with Britain, a member of the Roman Treaty.

However, King Faisal II was excessively pro-Western.

He would buy all sorts of things from the Roman Treaty countries without hesitation, even luxury goods.

His pro-Western stance was similar to actual history, but this Faisal II was even more pro-Western.

The reason was obvious.

“Huff, puff. Ana-chan.”

The term “Ana-chan,” used in Japan, had spread worldwide.

While her full name was Anastasia, sometimes called Ana, Anastasia fans across the East and West called her Ana-chan.

And naturally, Faisal II would shout “Ana-chan” and even bought Ana-chan dolls made by the Ana-dan doll company in Western Japan.

Of course, Arab nationalists like Qasim couldn’t view the king favorably.

After all, the sight of a king giggling while holding a doll of a foreign female monarch was hardly respectable.

That’s not to say Faisal was incompetent at governing.

He had worked to maintain friendly relations with the West so Iraq could benefit from the Roman Treaty, and he avoided getting involved in the Arabian civil war, considering the risk of provoking Turkey.

Rather, by importing advanced culture and trying to reform Iraq, the country was able to develop without being pressured by the Roman Treaty.

But this further provoked the Iraqi military led by Qasim. In a single night, the Iraqi military quietly confined Faisal II’s family to the palace and effectively established military rule.

The reason this wasn’t known to the West was that the Roman Treaty wasn’t interfering in Iraq’s internal affairs, and Qasim himself, concerned about Roman Treaty intervention, didn’t execute Faisal II and the royal family as happened in actual history.

Originally, unable to decide how to treat the royal family, they ended up massacring them impulsively, but here the preparations were more thorough.

“How could you do this?”

“Ask that Russian Tsar doll you’re holding, Your Majesty.”

So after seizing power without killing them, they provoked Britain with oil nationalization while trying to strengthen solidarity among Arab-Middle Eastern countries.

But they moved faster than expected, and as a result, only Iraq and Iran formed an alliance.

If the entire Roman Treaty had come, they might have built unity, but unfortunately, only Greek forces arrived, as if to say, “You’re cut off at the Greek line.”

“We can handle Greece!”

But they thought they could handle Greece.

The Greek forces didn’t seem numerous, and wasn’t Greece considered a weak country in Europe?

So the Iraqi army fought against Greece.

They merely fought back, but the Greek forces, armed with weapons used by the Roman Treaty Organization, were incredibly strong.

The Greeks essentially controlled the air, and their ground forces ransacked cities everywhere.

“The Roman Treaty Organization is coming? The Russian Tsar in person?”

The Iraqi royal family, essentially under house arrest, was preparing to use the royal guard to overthrow the military when they heard about the Greek invasion and news of the Roman Treaty Organization.

“The Greek army is looting and massacring! We must find the Russian Tsar now!”

“The Russian Tsar might be behind this!”

“No, the Russian Tsar wouldn’t do that!”

Even the royal guard, who supported Faisal II, sighed in frustration.

“Your Majesty, you must acknowledge reality. The Tsar is an imperialist who would attack us for national interests.”

Yes, that’s right. Based on the Tsar’s known actions, that’s true.

She’s an imperialist who’s even whitewashing other imperialists. But still.

“Then let me ask you this. Do we have any other way to survive besides seeking out the Tsar now?”

Can anyone else resolve this situation besides the Tsar? No.

“…”

And so they had nothing to say.

At this point, prostrating themselves before the Tsar was their only path to survival.

After all, it was the damned Qasim faction that sought war, not the royal family.

Moreover, the Tsar hadn’t destroyed countries.

After persuading the royal guard and Qasim’s supporters who were monitoring them, Faisal II and his family were able to escape Baghdad when it fell to Greece.

And so he frantically searched for the Russian Tsar.

“Die, imperialist whore!”

BANG!

“Look, I told you I won’t die from something like this.”

He witnessed the Tsar still standing firmly alive despite receiving a hail of bullets from remaining Iraqi soldiers while distributing supplies to citizens.

First of all, she was incredibly young. So young that he might look older than her.

So young that he doubted she was really over 50 years old. Young enough to make him wonder if she might actually be the Tsar’s daughter.

Not only was she young, but look at how she survived that bomb.

‘I told you! The Tsar is truly a god who will lead the Middle East!’

Being a fan of Ana-chan and following her was only natural, wasn’t it?

So he proudly sought asylum with the Tsar.

* * *

Something unexpected happened.

Yes, none other than the Iraqi King Faisal or whatever his name was came to surrender.

He crawled into our camp unarmed, along with his royal guard.

Both I and the Roman Treaty Organization command were dumbfounded.

Just ten minutes ago, Iraqis filled with vengeance against the Roman Treaty were trying to terrorize me before bowing their heads on their own.

And now he comes to me as if moved by something?

“So… surrender?”

“Not surrender, asylum.”

Not surrender but asylum. Were surrender and asylum the same thing?

Should I check the dictionary definition again? As expected, was the king just being held by Qasim?

“Not surrender but asylum?”

Not surrender, he says. Even if he’s different from Qasim, the Iraqi king can’t escape responsibility for this war, can he?

When you think about it, Iraq was the one who made trouble over oil, and King Faisal can’t be considered uninvolved. Even with Qasim there, the king must have approved it ultimately.

I already know the circumstances from what I’ve heard, but I still thought there must be something more since he’s the king.

If he’s really just a simple fan, I guess there’s no need to overthink it?

“Yes. We never intended to fight the Roman Treaty. Those demons in the military staged a coup to prevent me from becoming friendly with the Roman Treaty.”

A coup, he says. To prevent him from becoming friendly with us? If these are Faisal’s own facts, I could believe it.

He is the king after all. He probably wouldn’t lie in front of the Tsar.

“So that happened.”

“Yes. They canceled my pro-Roman policies and meddled with oil as they pleased.”

I see. I understand. And the fact that the king is my devoted fan too.

Perhaps I can use this to my advantage?