episode_0101

In Chaldea, the capital of the Borus Empire, there was a multi-purpose amphitheater.

In normal times, it was a place where knights’ jousting competitions and swordsmanship competitions were held, but today it is an arena open to the people of the empire for other purposes.

‘agora’

It was also traditional for the all-out battles between the imperial nobility to take place in a circular stadium.

Agora was always popular because it was rare to see nobles and nobles confronting each other in earnest.

The Agora that opened today was a particularly hot topic, and people who got good seats even sold them for money.

“You have to watch this kind of big incident from the front row even if it costs money!”

This agora, which was held over the recent ban on comic books that has been heating up the empire, was of interest to everyone, from commoners to nobles.

That’s why even those who couldn’t enter the circular stadium went crazy trying to see the spectacle by climbing to the rooftops of nearby tall buildings.

‘Damn it, I thought the Crown Prince would be the judge instead of the Emperor.’

Standing on one side of the circular stadium, Count Macbeth, the representative of the Imperial Parents’ Association, looked at those sitting in the judges’ seats and felt slightly uneasy.

-The Crown Prince has reached the age where he can experience practical matters, so let him attend this Agora on Jim’s behalf.

Unlike the three judges, the emperor did not have direct voting rights, but he was responsible for judging right and wrong when disputes arose in the Agora.

However, the fact that the seat was filled by the Crown Prince, who is famous for being close to Rupert, is clearly a disadvantage to Macbeth and the Imperial Parents’ Association.

That wasn’t all.

The Duke of Bluewell was one of the three judges, and it was rumored that he was so close to the Earl of Somerset that he even attended his banquets.

This was bad news, as the Duke of Bluewell would most likely side with Rupert.

However, it was fortunate that the crown prince had no voting rights.

‘It’s not like we were just playing around either.’

Since the imperial family was friendly to Somerset, whether the Emperor or the Crown Prince appeared, it didn’t make much of a difference.

The Duke of Bluewell’s attendance was unexpected, but he would not be able to act rashly if he were to openly support Somerset, as this would expose his own faction to attack.

But the remaining two judges were different.

One of them was Marquis Laius, who was ranked last among the seven noble families. He was a conservative and noble figure, so it was certain that he would unconditionally side with the Imperial Parents’ Association.

Also, the final judge, Marquis Max Damian, one of the Seven Great Nobles of the Empire, was the strong supporter that the Imperial Parents’ Association relied on.

‘If their hatred for Somerset is greater than ours, it will be no less.’

When a large bribe was offered to be a judge, Marquis Damien attended without much hesitation, and it was certain that he would unconditionally take Macbeth’s side.

It would be so, Marquis Damien had ample reason to dislike Rupert and the Uren Group.

It is a secret known only to a few nobles that Marquis Damian is the actual owner of the Vera Merchantship, one of the Seven Great Merchantships of the Empire.

Since Vera Top had been in trouble several times recently due to Yuren Top and Rupert, the Imperial Parents Association would have been happy to take the lead and do the dirty work on their behalf.

‘Besides, since it seems to have nothing to do with this incident, there’s no need to worry about it even if it blatantly takes one side.’

Both the Crown Prince and the Duke of Bluewell are known to have close relationships with Somerset, so it would be counterproductive to come forward directly, but Marquis Max Damien is free from such suspicions, so he will support them without hesitation.

Macbeth glared at Rupert, who stood opposite him with a dry expression.

‘You tried your best, but your efforts were shallow! Let today be the day when the Somerset family disappears.’

It was Macbeth who was making a resolution in his heart.

***

“Now, let’s hold the Agora! Both the defendant and the plaintiff, start taking the oath.”

The Agora finally began with the Crown Prince’s opening declaration.

After Rupert, the defendant, and Macbeth, the plaintiff, took turns taking oaths in the sacred Agora, pledging to tell only the truth, they now entered into a full-scale debate.

“Tell me why the Agora was raised from the beginning of the original Count Macbeth.”

At the prince’s words, Macbeth went to the platform set up in the center of the arena and began to speak.

“Dear citizens of the Empire! Today, the Empire is in great danger.”

He must have prepared quite a bit, for he began to explain, without hesitation, his own logical explanation of why they had summoned Rupert Somerset to the Agora and were trying to ban comic books.

“Children who watched the cartoon started to show violent behavior, swinging sticks!”

-That’s not all. There are many nobles who are suffering because of the exaggerated and distorted depictions in the cartoon… .

Macbeth’s argument was simple.

It was a speech that argued that the empire was falling into chaos and that the distinction between social classes was becoming a mess because of some ‘commoners’ who could not distinguish between reality and fiction because of comic books.

As Macbeth’s turn to speak at length about the evils of comics as if venting his pent-up anger finally came to an end, the audience also began to stir.

“How refreshing! I don’t like how commoners these days just crawl around without knowing what’s going on.”

“It was disgusting how those worms thought they were something just because they could read.”

“It was worth it for Lord Macbeth to be brave. It was so refreshing!”

Those who responded to Macbeth’s speech were mainly the traditional nobles.

They, too, had been taking a lot of flak recently from the commoners and the new aristocracy, so they cheered Macbeth’s speech.

But they were very few in number.

The audience was mostly filled with commoners, and their reaction was extremely cold. And even among the nobles, the new nobles showed a cold reaction to Macbeth’s speech.

“I said it indirectly just now, but isn’t it just that you can’t stand to see the commoners crawling around?”

“That’s what nobles are like! They don’t give up even a single penny of their taxes even when there’s a drought.”

“How long are those people supposed to hold power just because they are older nobles than us?”

But Macbeth paid no attention to the audience’s reaction.

‘It doesn’t matter what those who don’t have voting rights say. The judges will make the decision anyway.’

As long as Rupert could not deal with the logic he had put forward, the victory of the Imperial Parents’ Association was certain.

“Now it is the defendant Rupert Somerset’s turn to speak.”

After Macbeth’s speech, it was Rupert’s turn.

Rupert also moved to the podium in the center of the stadium and began speaking.

“Hello, my name is Rupert, the second son of the Somerset family, a defendant in Agora and creator of comic books.”

In contrast to Macbeth, who had previously shouted so loudly that it was noisy, Rupert had a calm voice.

“First, let me talk about the part where you mentioned the harmful effects of comics.”

After speaking, Rupert turned to Macbeth.

“The Count said that cartoons have a negative effect on people because they can’t tell the difference between reality and fiction. Which part of my cartoon do you think is like that?”

“That’s….”

Macbeth was momentarily speechless at Rupert’s question.

As for the content of the cartoons drawn by Rupert, they were all mainly didactic content, with good triumphing over evil.

The part that I was initially dissatisfied with was the negative portrayal of the nobility, but it seemed too unnecessary to bring that up directly.

“You said that children are violent because they watch cartoons and imitate swordsmanship. So are you saying that the numerous knights currently in the Empire and the military science students studying at the Imperial Academy are having a negative influence on the Empire?”

“What nonsense! You are distorting my argument now!!!”

“Which part is distorted? Isn’t that clearly what the Count said?”

Macbeth realized in an instant that he had been outwitted by Rupert.

If he said the wrong thing now, he could incur the wrath of the Knights, one of the most influential groups in the Empire.

“I will correct that statement. But what do you think of the nobles who are being harmed by the depiction in the manga?!”

Macbeth thought that even if he had to give what he had to give, he should attack in other areas, so this time he pointed out the distorted depiction of the cartoon.

If Rupert answers incorrectly here, then he will end up making enemies of many nobles.

“I think you are referring to the description of the villain ‘Perien’ from The Count of Monte Cristo.”

“That’s right! If you portray the nobles as such shameless people, won’t the commoners who don’t know anything get involved and cause trouble?”

“Are all nobles good?”

“What?”

Rupert turned around in response to Macbeth’s question, this time facing the audience.

“The Count of Monte Cristo features both bad nobles and good nobles.”

-So what would an ordinary person think when reading The Count of Monte Cristo?

Rupert pointed his finger at someone in the audience and continued asking questions.

“Do you want to be a good person or a bad person?”

“Of course he’s a good person.”

“Have you ever read The Count of Monte Cristo?”

“Yes.”

“Then, who do you like more, Count Perriand or Baron Franz?”

Count Perriand, the representative villain of The Count of Monte Cristo, and Baron Franz, a gentlemanly and honest man.

The audience’s choice was naturally Baron Franz. After hearing the audience’s answer, Rupert turned around again and faced Macbeth.

“There is an Eastern proverb that says: A wise man sees only wise people, and a pig sees only pigs.”

Rupert simply looked at Macbeth and spoke without mentioning who he was.

***

“Banning comic books above all else? Well, that’s fine. If it really is harmful to the Empire, I don’t mind not making comic books!”

-But look at this! It’s said to be a popular comic book in the neighboring kingdom of Sylvania!

Rupert said, waving a comic book in his hand so that it would be visible to the audience.

“If the Empire bans comic books, they might come out and say that they are the true masters of comic books! Is this really the way to serve the Empire?”

Actually, that never happened.

The comic book now in Rupert’s hands was a pirated comic book that was said to be circulating in the Kingdom of Sylvania, and had been delivered to him by Esteban Sangdangju.

In the Empire, they were afraid of the royal family and did not dare to clone anything, but Rupert heard that in other countries, there were already clones floating around, knowingly or unknowingly.

‘Can I use this for a moment?’

I thought it would go down well if the false claim was made that the Kingdom of Sylvania, which had particularly bad relations with the Borus Empire, was systematically claiming that comic books were part of their culture.

As expected.

“That’s right! How dare you covet something made by the Empire!”

“Sylvanians are the ones who always claim it’s theirs!”

“Aren’t those Imperial Parents’ Association guys who want to ban comic books actually spies from Sylvania?”

The atmosphere in the arena was so heated that those who wanted to ban comic books were already perceived as traitors to the empire.

‘After all, discussion is just incitement and fabrication!’

Rupert was pleased with the response.