Ch.371The Long-Awaited Figure

“What? What do you mean?”

The representatives blinked in surprise.

Is that really so shocking? Anyway, the point is that even though I’m fine now, we always need to consider the possibility of my death.

Even if they look at me with such disbelief, it’s a problem.

They probably think: The Tsar will always be fine. He’ll always be healthy. He’ll live forever immortal. That’s what they’re thinking.

Is that fair to me or not?

“Honestly, even I don’t know when I’ll die. Though my body is young now, I don’t know when God will take my life. Therefore, we must prepare for the event of my death.”

You chose me as your Tsar. By hook or by crook, you need to prepare for my death.

At the very least, things shouldn’t collapse if I die. I think the Constantinople Treaty Organization should know this too.

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

You still don’t understand even after I’ve explained?

“I am the Tsar you all chose. You need to be certain about this. I may not seem like I’m going to die anytime soon, but honestly, I’m not immortal.”

“That can’t be.”

Did they really think I would live forever?

They should know better. It’s time to face reality.

“I’ve accepted the fate God has given me and fulfilled the mission He bestowed upon me. Honestly, I should have died that day in Yekaterinburg.”

I stared into space with half-dead eyes.

At my words, everyone began to stir.

This is reality, why are they so surprised? If it hadn’t been my fate to die that day, would I be in this situation now?

“Your Majesty, how can you speak such weak words?”

There’s nothing weak about it. It’s simply reality.

“The representatives here—from the State Duma, citizens, workers, the Roman National Party, the Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party, and others—should heed my words. How much longer will God grant me to live? I’m not trying to abdicate for my own benefit or deliberately avoiding media appearances.”

I was trying to lower my presence a bit, so don’t make such a fuss. “Your Majesty!”

My head hurts when you shout like that.

“However, I agree that if I step down now, the Constantinople Treaty Organization could fall into chaos. Poland and Finland might be bound by the treaty, but other ethnic groups like the Cossacks, Mongolians, and Manchus might also break away.”

America may have lost its hegemony over South America, but with North America, Central America, and parts of South America, it’s still a massive fraud of a country. I’ve prepared them well as a safety measure.

On the other hand, let’s say I capture those guys too and ascend as the true Emperor of Humanity. Even then, I need to consider the possibility of my death, when my lifespan ends.

When that time comes, everything will collapse again, and America will become independent. Either way, I can’t help but fear what happens after my death.

“Then, Your Majesty, what should we do?”

When you ask what to do, honestly, I don’t have an answer either.

What should we do? Hmm, ah, yes. The only way is to comfort them.

I can’t just tell the entire nation to cut me some slack.

I cleared my throat a few times and carefully began to speak.

“It’s simple. You need to prepare for the worst and comfort the workers and citizens no matter what happens.”

You need to prevent riots from breaking out.

Even without communism, looking at the current situation, riots seem inevitable one way or another.

“Even so…”

“What do you mean ‘even so’? Such complacency is problematic. Just like those damned French Commune people who said, ‘Oh, our People’s Army will stop all the imperialists!’ and then got hit by nuclear weapons, how can anyone in this room be certain I’ll live forever as the Tsar of Russia? Without me, this country would fall into chaos as if hit by a nuclear bomb. Isn’t that right?”

“We were short-sighted.”

Your thinking was far too limited.

Yes, that’s possible. I wouldn’t believe it either.

A world without Anastasia. How could anyone live in such a world?

I’m everyone’s idol. A Tsar who never ages and always appears energetic. My popularity extends from Western Europe to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

This can’t be helped. I’m not a fool.

I don’t deny reality.

This body’s popularity is tremendous, absolutely tremendous. The invincible plausibility in this world is connected to the existence of Anastasia alone.

But that’s why the chaos after my death is a problem.

Countless troubles will engulf Russia and Europe.

Europe has united solely under my leadership.

Even if Vladimir accepts my abdication, could he handle the Constantinople Treaty Organization?

Vladimir may be a war hero, but things would gradually crumble.

It might somehow be maintained, but Russia wouldn’t have the same authority as now.

“From the beginning, I delegated power to the Duma. It doesn’t look good when I try to abdicate and the Duma gets caught in this situation. Don’t you agree?”

It’s funny, isn’t it? The subjects who once wanted to behead the Tsar now want to strangle the Duma to protect the Tsar’s position.

This isn’t what I wanted.

“Ahem, I apologize.”

It’s a bit much when you bow like that.

I’m in no position to be picky right now.

How old am I now? Somehow I’m already 60 years old. Of course, that’s my birth age—my physical body still looks like it’s in its twenties.

“This is about returning to the past. Of course, I also think that a good ruler should remain in power for a long time.”

I understand that much.

Let’s say there’s a dictator with tremendous capabilities among dictators.

Wouldn’t citizens accept such a dictator even in a democracy? Of course, that’s just a saying—there would still be political checks and balances.

“That’s right. For us, no other Tsar besides Your Majesty…”

“I understand. But even I don’t know how long I’ll live.”

So, stop escaping reality and face it properly.

There’s no immortality in this world.

“So today we need to prepare for what comes after.”

“I’ve already passed the age of sixty.”

Now that I’ve said it, it’s truly miserable. The fact that I’ve aged that much makes me feel quite strange.

How long will I really live?

I don’t fear death at all, but what answer should I give to those who trust and follow me? First, I need to comfort them.

“Is that really true?”

“Yes. So, how long I’ll live… I can’t help but wonder. I have some ideas, but they’ll only be possible after computers develop further. However, we need to accelerate that, at least a little.”

I’ve already extracted some technology related to cryogenic facilities from America, and the most important thing will ultimately be computers.

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you. It’s the Anastasia Project.”

The Anastasia Project.

I had to tell the representatives of each organization about this.

Why am I telling them this? Because you need to help me. To quickly advance computer technology, the Duma, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and even the private sector need to engage in computer development. That’s what I’m saying now.

“When you say the Anastasia Project…”

“It’s what you might call an e-government project.”

I’m not sure if it’s okay to tell people of this era about such things, but they’ll have to figure it out.

If they don’t listen after I’ve explained it like this, there’s nothing I can do.

If you want your Tsar to remain forever, you must accomplish this.

I plan to do what even OGAS couldn’t do properly in the original history.

“E-government, you say?”

“Well, before that, I should explain various things.”

I began my explanation.

Computers and the internet. And how they would change over the decades. I explained everything to them in detail.

The history of computers, computer components, and what we should aim for in the future.

From the central government in Moscow to each local government.

We must continuously research for the development of computers.

There are things Tesla prepared, but it’s uncertain how far they’ll go.

“E-government… if that exists and the foundation is solid, the Duma would just need to assist, right?”

“It would need to embody my personality and knowledge. Everything.”

“Is such a thing really possible?”

“Making it happen is your ultimate goal.”

Honestly, it’s a bit absurd to say this to people who don’t have any knowledge about computers.

But if we pour people into this project, wouldn’t it somehow work out?

If you want me to remain forever, you must help me.

“It would take at least half a century, so then, Your Majesty…”

At least half a century, yes. Honestly, it might take even longer.

If we develop it more intensely than the world I lived in, it might be faster, but anyway.

“It might take two generations to see results. I’ll try to stay alive until then at least.”

“We should make efforts too.”

I convince myself that I can hold out until then at least.

It seems like I won’t actually die anyway.

“So, you need to produce results by then, and local governments need to lead the people.”

“Understood.”

This way, I can be at ease even in the worst case.

“You absolutely must do this. The Tsar desperately needs your strength.”

Your strength is desperately needed.

I bow my head as deeply as possible.

“Then, if by any chance Your Majesty were to meet with misfortune…”

There probably won’t be any misfortune.

At least, that’s the right assumption for now.

What happens later, well, I don’t know yet.

“That won’t happen, but if it did, you would need to comfort the people. This is a request I make as your Tsar.”

As your Tsar, I beg you, help me somehow advance the future.

That’s how I made it appear on the surface.

Somehow, you need to accomplish all this before I die.

“We will certainly do so.”

“The coming era is one of scientific civilization. We’ll need help from the Constantinople Treaty Organization, but isn’t your will the most important?”

Your will determines whether this country develops further or not.

There’s actually a hint of threat in this.

I could actually die. So you need to do well on your own.

If I say it like that and it doesn’t work, I can just say I don’t know and escape in the standard way.

Then, even if just to prevent chaos, they’ll try to comfort the people.

“Leave it to us.”

The urgent fire has already started, so now the question is how to put it out.

* * *

I’ve resolved it initially by pouring water into a somewhat broken jar.

Phew, so the point is that I can’t essentially clean up my identity. This means I’ll have to devise a new method.

How should I handle this?

Anyway, me being deified is a big problem.

It would be a disaster if that god were to die, hmm.

The biggest issue is that I could die.

The path I need to take from now on is a new one. At the very least, I need to think of a new method in preparation for my death.

Ah, yes. But, there isn’t one.

Seriously, there isn’t. This is truly impossible. The recent successes were mostly due to good luck.

For things like science and technology, I just need to somehow manage the engineers and technicians. With this mindset, I’ve developed industrial power and technology.

What will the future be like? I wish I had a dictionary that could show the future.

“What are you trying to do?”

“Ah, I was wondering how to lower my status. Huh? Who are you?”

“It’s been a while.”

What? The person I’ve been waiting for has appeared.

Or is it even a person? A suspicious being has appeared.

I suddenly opened my eyes wide at this strange entity that briefly appeared before me.

Yes, isn’t this the very person who sent me here?

“Wait, you. Where have you been all this time, only to appear now?”

“Wasn’t it strange for me to be in this past, your world, from the beginning?”

“Ha, why are you showing up only now?”

“It seems the issues have grown beyond what can be covered by the abilities I gave you.”

That’s right. I suddenly feel a surge of anger.

“Yes, that’s true. I wish I didn’t have these abilities at all.”

“Then you would have been minced meat long ago.”

“Well, that’s true. So? Are you here to send me back now?”

I spoke strongly, but if he really sends me back, it’s over.

“You can’t go back in the first place. This place has already become your world.”

This place has become my world?

For a moment, not understanding those words, I stared blankly at the old man.