episode_0003

As Don Quixote sold like hotcakes, the scale of pirated copies of Don Quixote also grew.

Now, it went beyond simply plagiarizing Don Quixote’s plot, to the point of writing a bizarre story with Don Quixote as the main character, calling it Part 2 of Don Quixote.

The market was flooded with tinderboxes that showed less respect for the original work than did the previous hate films.

In the end, I had no choice but to abort my plan to slowly release Don Quixote Part 2 to the market. If we leave it like this, Don Quixote’s name will be polluted like being splashed in shit.

I visited the publisher with the manuscript of Part 2 of Don Quixote.

It is a small publishing company called ‘Kindersley’ that published the first part of Don Quixote. Thanks to Don Quixote’s popularity, it has now become so large that it is difficult to use the modifier ‘small’.

“Writer!”

“Ah, yes. president. The size of the publishing company has grown considerably?”

“It’s all thanks to the author! Don’t stand here like this, hurry inside─.”

Because I had contacted him in advance to say he would come, the owner was there to meet me in advance.

Dorling Kindersley.

She was a female businesswoman who inherited and ran a publishing company called Kindersley at a young age. He was also a fairly discerning editor.

It was she who took charge of reviewing the first part of Don Quixote, which I wrote based on the ‘original work’.

She led me into the living room, and as soon as the door to the living room closed, her eyes sparkled and she raised her voice. Saying something similar to my older brother Eric.

“Don Quixote is a god! This era… No, it is worthy of being called a literary work that will go down in history!”

That’s because you’re plagiarizing a literary work that remains in history.

“Fan letters are even arriving from the Margrave’s domain on the border! Oh, you can rest assured that all fan letters that have arrived to the author are stored in our magic safe! It’s the only top-of-the-line model even in our publishing company!”

“Wouldn’t it be better to use such a safe to store unpublished manuscripts or valuables? ?”

“Fans’ affection for author Homer is the most precious commodity!”

That’s true, but why is it you, the editor, saying that and not me, the writer?

Is it normal for editors to become so overly immersed in their work? Well, it’s not like I don’t understand it because it’s ‘Don Quixote’ and not another work.

Because masterpieces in themselves have the power to immerse people in them.

“Yes, whatever. Please give me the fan letter. It looks like I have something to store in that safe.”

“… Yes?”

“Maybe I came here because I was bored? They also put all the royalties into the account.”

“No way─.”

I took out a thick paper bag from my pocket and handed it to Dorling.

Dorling accepted the envelope with trembling hands.

“This, this is what I think… Is it… ?”

“This is the manuscript of Part 2 of Don Quixote.”

“Huheook─.”

“… Boss?”

Dorling fell down helplessly, holding the manuscript in his arms.

I thought he was overdoing it, but he seemed really shocked and fainted. Even while fainting, his face was smiling.

“Boss, wake up. Mr. Dorling.”

“Huh—! Ah, I guess I had a dream. Oh my, I had a dream that the manuscript for Part 2 of Don Quixote is already out… .”

“It’s not a dream.”

I pointed to the paper bag in Dorling’s arms.

Then Dorling, who understood the situation correctly this time, screamed in joy.

“Aaagh—!”

“Ugh.”

Is it a passive thing that people in this world scream when they are startled?

No, that was the original world as well. really.

“Huhahuha… . Hey, this contains the manuscript for Part 2 of Don Quixote, right?”

“Yes. Please be careful not to let it leak before official publication.”

“Of course! Until the official publication, all employees will be confined to eat, sleep, and sleep inside the company building!”

“There’s no need to go that far… .”

Without realizing it, I was overcome by the force and my voice became quiet.

It’s scary to have a boss who says he’s going to lock up all his employees in the company.

“If the employees can read this manuscript as quickly as possible, they will be satisfied even if they are imprisoned!”

“No way.”

“Hehe… If you don’t think so, would you like to bet?”

“… I feel like I’m going to lose for some reason, so I’ll decline.”

“Hehe.”

The sight of Dorling spinning in place and looking at the envelope containing the manuscript… He seemed like a person in love.

I am proud to say that I love literature, but I don’t think I can do that.

“The boss seems to have this job as his calling.”

“Do you think so? In fact, until a few months ago, I thought a lot about just selling the business and moving to the countryside… .”

Dorling kissed the envelope of the manuscript and looked at me.

“The moment I encountered the author’s ‘Don Quixote’, I realized that I had been running a publishing company all this time to receive the honor of presenting this great work to the world. Don Quixote is my Bible, and the author is my saint.”

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration… .”

“Sounds like an exaggeration?”

Dorling fiddled with a few items on the desk, then walked over to the bookshelf, holding a paper bag.

When I pulled a book from the bookshelf, the wall opened with the sound of something spinning, revealing a safe hidden inside.

It was truly a romantic device, like something out of a gothic novel.

Even the safe inside had a sci-fi appearance with a sparkling blue light. I think that’s the ‘magic safe’ the president was bragging about earlier.

The president put his hand on the safe and sang the password.

“Let’s dream a dream that cannot be achieved, fight an enemy that cannot be defeated, love that cannot be formed, endure pain that cannot be endured, and catch a star in the sky that cannot be caught.”

“A line from Don Quixote… .”

The inside of the magic safe was much larger than the size of the safe seen from the outside. Inside was an envelope full of letters.

The president, who stood next to the safe, smiled brightly and introduced the contents of the safe.

“Those are all fan letters sent to the author.”

“… There are a lot.”

“Even now, it is being sent from all over the world. If you think about the time it takes to distribute a book… I think that in just one week, the amount accumulated so far will be double that accumulated. Still, do you think what I said was an exaggeration?”

“I’m getting a little scared.”

“Is the book you wrote being treated as a Bible?”

“No… .”

I pointed to the paper bag still in the president’s hand and let out a heartless laugh.

The first part of Don Quixote has been released and this is the level of excitement.

“If the second part of Don Quixote is released to the market, its influence will be incomparable to when there is only part 1.”

If so, at a time when the excitement of Part 1 of Don Quixote has not cooled down yet.

If Part 2, which contains the ending of Don Quixote, is released.

“That makes me really scared… .”

What on earth will happen?

I can’t even imagine the result.

I just laughed.

And looking at me like that, Dorling’s face flushed. She looks like an exalted woman who can’t bear it any longer.

“This is the work the author says so… Well, I can look forward to it, right? Is it okay if my heart is pounding? I’m salivating right now because I want to tear open this bag and see the flesh inside… .”

“If possible, please do it after I return.”

“When are you going? Don’t you have other things to do?”

“Haha─.”

That’s a very pleasant congratulatory message.

I bowed my head in greeting and left the living room. The sound of heavy breathing was heard through the thick wooden door beyond the living room door.

Anyway, he is an unusual person.

.

.

.

A nuclear bomb fell on the capital.

It was a nuclear bomb named Don Quixote Part 2.

“Give me a copy of Don Quixote Part 2!”

“Well, let’s not cut in line! Ugh, don’t push!”

The second part of the ‘real’ Don Quixote, printed by Don Quixote’s publisher, was published, not the random counterfeit pirated copies that were floating around in the market.

People rushed to buy Don Quixote.

Among them were servants sent by noble families and nobles who walked in disguise. It was proof that Don Quixote’s influence was so great that nobles, who were the embodiment of Bosinism, went out of their way to read the book just a few hours early.

Soon, one by one, people who succeeded in making purchases escaped the crowd, and the capital city became even more chaotic.

“I went this far before buying it, but the ending is a mess! I’m going to put a lot of shit on the publisher.”

But something even more bizarre happened after that.

People who were reading Don Quixote started giggling and laughing, but by the time they closed the book, they were whimpering and crying.

In the capital’s square, which would normally be noisy with people talking, only the soft laughter and cries of people holding books in their hands could be heard.

At first glance, it seemed like there was an infectious disease going around that was turning people crazy.

Similar things were happening all over the empire.

“Let’s commemorate Don Quixote! Let us all go crazy for Don Quixote, who lived a crazy life and then died with his senses! Let us all dream!”

Don Quixote unleashed a poison on the empire: the extreme poison of overindulgence.

There was no antidote.