Ch.335Mosque’s Ana-chan

* * *

“Going to the mosque might be dangerous.”

“Why is that?”

The Iranian official’s warning seems credible, but I wonder why exactly.

“There are Islamic worshippers with anti-Roman sentiments at the mosque due to the recent Greek invasion.”

Oh, anti-Roman Muslims? Are they similar to those Iraqis who tried to assassinate me?

If anything, that makes me even more curious.

This area is the Niavaran Palace complex.

It’s currently used by the Pahlavi dynasty for various purposes—residence, diplomacy, imperial affairs, and so on.

Well, I shouldn’t just see the palace.

It would be fitting to visit a mosque as well to properly experience this country.

“Hmm, that makes me even more interested.”

“Your Majesty, that absolutely must not happen.”

Our Zhukov, quick to catch on, desperately tries to stop me.

Don’t worry. It’s not what you think.

Though obstructing the Tsar’s path is a serious crime…

“Come now, I’m just visiting a mosque. If we want to make Iran a pro-Roman country, we should do at least this much. They need to know I can embrace all Iranians, even those who oppose Rome.”

After all, I am the Tsar.

As the Roman Emperor, as an emperor leading the world, I must know how to embrace them all.

So I’ll repair the diplomatic relations that Greece ruined, and help the Iranian people by personally getting involved.

“At the very least, let us go ahead of you.”

That won’t do.

I may be immortal, but you are not.

I understand the feelings of men like Zhukov and Ungern.

Even though I’m invincible, they have their duties as subjects. It’s rather sweet how they’re prepared to die for a woman who can’t die.

But there’s such a thing as efficiency.

It’s better if I go first.

And that’s not all. Look at the situation carefully.

We’re barely managing to convince the Iranians that “we’re nice!” In this situation, putting soldiers in front would only provoke them.

“It would be problematic if soldiers went first. Walk with the officials. It would be better if I directly met with the Iranians alongside the Iraqis.”

I’ll visit the mosque with those who regard me as Allah.

The Muslims at the mosque will probably be quite angry.

That’s precisely why I’m going.

Rome has come to embrace Muslims. We are absolutely not your enemy. To prove this, I’ll naturally visit the Imamzadeh Saleh Mosque while touring Tehran.

It’s truly a grand plan.

If something actually happens, I could even confirm a “positive” response rather than just considering it.

The White Army generals are looking at me strangely, but what can they do if I’ve decided?

This is simply the Tsar sacrificing herself to advance the world a little more.

“We can’t help but worry.”

Ungern, Zhukov, and Drozdovsky are very concerned, but shouldn’t they have sensed by now, after fighting alongside me, that I’m invincible and their hovering is merely annoying?

Of course, I understand their position as subjects if I really think about it, but still.

Right now, there’s no other way.

Above all, I need to keep Greece in check with this.

“You bastards, the Tsar almost died dozens of times because of you!” Giving them that burden is enough.

“Why wouldn’t I understand your feelings? But right now, there’s no better method. Don’t you agree?”

I’m saying this is the best approach right now.

“That may be so, but this isn’t right.”

“This is something only I can do in this world. What emperor would try to win people’s hearts this way?”

Failure means death, success means becoming a god.

I absolutely cannot fail—I’m practically divine—and if I can gain everyone’s trust with a single action, there’s nothing better.

“Well then, let’s go to this mosque or whatever it is.”

I’m actually quite a deep thinker, you know.

The Middle East is perfect for using my abilities.

* * *

Niavaran Palace

The family of Pahlavi II had a candid conversation about the Tsar, following the events earlier that day at the royal complex of Niavaran Palace.

Given the historic significance of the Roman Emperor’s personal visit, the royal family couldn’t simply let this pass.

They needed to seriously consider the Tsar’s proposal.

“What is the Tsar’s party doing now?”

I heard they were roaming around Tehran with their followers during the day, but I’m not sure what they’re doing with the other half of their time.

“They’re touring Tehran, including Golestan Palace, and providing food and various necessities to our Iranian people.”

“We’re not beggars, why would they do that?”

The queen apparently disapproves, but Pahlavi II shook his head.

Currently, Tehran’s situation wasn’t actually good.

For one thing, supplies in Tehran had significantly decreased.

The deteriorated relationship with the Roman Treaty meant Roman goods weren’t coming in, which was a major factor.

The embargo due to oil nationalization, plus the Greek invasion.

It was difficult to stop the Greek army with outdated military equipment.

“Well, everyone knows that Tehran’s supply situation has worsened due to our relationship with the Roman Treaty. The Greek army has made things even worse.”

That must be what concerned her.

If the Tsar wants to achieve her goals, she’ll have to be mindful of Pahlavi’s position.

“So, will you accept the Tsar’s proposal?”

“What choice do I have but to accept? Is this Tsar an ordinary one? She’s the Emperor of Byzantium, which has finally continued its lineage after being destroyed by the Turks.”

The Ottomans also claimed to be the Roman Kingdom, but that was only to incorporate the existing Byzantine privileged class. Isn’t it strange for the country that destroyed Byzantium to claim to be Rome?

Even modern Turkey, successor to the Ottoman Empire, has officially declared they don’t succeed Byzantium, while the Tsar has united Europe again to create a new Rome, the Roman Treaty.

With such status, she personally came to Iran to apologize and is even helping the citizens—how much is she lowering herself?

If we don’t respond positively after all that, Iran might disappear from the map.

I only delayed accepting for a day because it wouldn’t have been good to snatch it up right there.

“Oil nationalization was a mistake. America had already established the Middle East as the Roman Treaty’s front yard, so we should have maintained ties with the Roman Treaty instead. What were they thinking?”

Mosaddegh, who was recently ousted. That bastard took the drastic measure of nationalizing oil along with Iraq, giving Greece a pretext to invade with their so-called Hellenistic army.

Fortunately, Iran suffered less damage than Iraq, but the damage reached the capital, so the situation can’t be considered good.

“Would establishing an Islamic-Hellenistic Federation be right?”

Islamic-Hellenistic Federation.

Essentially a proposal to rebuild the ancient Hellenistic Empire.

But since the Middle East is now Islamic, they added Islam to create the Islamic-Hellenistic Federation.

There couldn’t be a stranger hybrid, but establishing a Hellenistic Federation wouldn’t be bad.

“After hearing that proposal, if we establish the federation, we’ll receive protection from the Roman Treaty. That wouldn’t be bad. Above all, there would be no interference in our internal affairs, and they’d provide reform funds. We need to examine this carefully.”

“Examine what?”

Let’s look at this in detail.

The Tsar has offered financial support. What should we make of this?

At the very least, it means something will happen during my reign.

The Tsar wants to support that.

“Think about it. They say the Tsar can see the future. Why would such a person offer me generous support? What does this mean? Perhaps without the Tsar’s help, we—the Iranian Empire—might collapse?”

I can’t be certain, but at minimum it suggests that my reforms will fail and Iran’s situation will deteriorate.

Of course, they could just be giving us money to swallow us up, but has the Tsar ever harmed the world so far?

She united Europe to forge peace. She made China and Japan peaceful too.

So it doesn’t seem likely that the Tsar would harm Iran.

“Above all, aren’t the Iraqis praising her as Allah?”

“Isn’t that intimidation?”

Intimidation? If it were intimidation, they wouldn’t all be following her like half-crazed devotees.

They seemed to be following her sincerely.

If it were intimidation, they would have found a way to escape at some point, but that wasn’t the case.

“Look at that large procession coming from Iraq to Iran. That’s beyond the scope of intimidation. Does it make sense for them to follow across borders?”

What’s certain is that she’s no ordinary person.

She might be a saint of their religion, if not something close to a deity. As evidence, look at that ageless appearance.

Clearly, that appearance could be called saintly without exaggeration.

Honestly, I can’t fully acknowledge it, but there’s at least plausibility, which explains why the Iraqis followed her.

“Your Majesty! There’s an emergency at Imamzadeh Saleh Mosque!”

Suddenly, strange news arrived.

Imamzadeh Saleh Mosque is in Tehran, isn’t it?

What kind of emergency has suddenly occurred?

“An emergency? What happened?”

“A Muslim attacked the Roman Emperor who was visiting the mosque.”

What? The Roman Emperor? You mean they attacked Tsar Anastasia?

What in the world…

No, before that, this issue needed to be resolved quickly.

I heard the Tsar was attacked several times on her way here, but if such a thing happened at the mosque?

The mere thought was terrifying.

“Damn it! Send troops to the mosque immediately! Capture the attacker! No, first confirm the Tsar’s safety! If something happens, we’re all dead!”

The Roman Treaty might invade if things go wrong.

* * *

As usual, something happened today.

At Imamzadeh Saleh Mosque, I was trying hard to promote Rome.

We are not invaders.

Those Greek bastards invaded by mistake.

We were trying to establish the Islamic-Hellenistic Federation peacefully.

The troops at the border? That was out of concern that Hejaz and Nejd remnants might cross into Iraq and Iran.

I was trying to explain this earnestly to the Muslims.

I even wore a hijab.

But would anyone there say, “Ah, I see. You’re our friends!” Or would they say, “How dare you, die!”?

Even in Russia, it would probably be the latter in this situation.

And of course, I was attacked again.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

Some enraged person started shooting at me with a submachine gun when they heard I was the Russian Tsar.

Do you know what it feels like to be hit with a submachine gun? Greece must have caused quite a commotion for such people to be everywhere.

Fortunately it was me—if it had been Papagos, he would have become a bullet-riddled corpse by now.

But I’m different.

They fired the submachine gun directly at me. Honestly, I’ve been shot so many times that while it’s still very painful, I can endure it.

“Your Majesty!”, “Oh Allah!”, “Damn it! Guards!”

The White Army generals, Iraqi fanatics, and even Iranian officials who followed me all turned pale.

Well, there’s nothing to see.

I’m busy writing history even at this moment.

The undying Russian Tsar!

Even Zhukov seems to have lost his words and remains silent.

The Muslims who were earnestly practicing their religion at the mosque were equally dumbfounded.

I spoke lightly to them:

“Ouch, ouch. That hurts.”

Despite feeling the stinging pain throughout my body, I forced a light smile as if it were nothing.

“I-impossible.”

“How can a person survive after being hit by so many bullets?”

“Even nearby citizens were injured, but the Tsar who was shot directly is unharmed.”

The religious people at the mosque suddenly looked as if they’d had eye enlargement surgery.

Some madman fired at me and hit surrounding Iranians as well.

But I’m fine, and only the Iranian citizens who were shot by the submachine gun died.

“Ah, it’s my fault for not giving faith to everyone.”

“Is it true what those Iraqis said?”

“Could the Russian Tsar really be… A-Allah?”

“Impossible. How could such a thing be?”

Well, now the bait has been thoroughly scattered.

“I was just lucky. I never expected to experience terrorism—it seems this is not a place for me to be.”

This should be enough.

I pretend to be disappointed, withdrawing while giving off the scent that I won’t provoke you.

As I turned my head, the Iraqis who followed me witnessed the sacred scene and couldn’t contain their admiration.

“Oh, she truly is God’s apostle.”

“Look at that beautiful figure. How could she be freed from pain if not for being God’s apostle?”

“How could this be? What have we done to the one true God?”

This much is sufficient.

Let them fully realize who they’ve dared to wrong.

Allah? I prefer that they don’t see me as Allah.

After all, I don’t want to be worshipped by these strange Muslims.