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“Here! This is the latest trend in King of Cards goods from the Empire!”

“Are you sure about the items?”

“Absolutely. I’m Alves, a merchant who survives solely on my credibility!”

In the capital of the Kingdom of Kyle, Verhen, two men were having a hushed conversation in a shady alley.

“I can’t believe it was this hard to get this!”

“It’s really a blessing you managed to get it at all. Right now, the Empire is running low on supplies, so it would take at least months for it to arrive in the kingdom.”

“I heard the rumors too.”

Recently, some kingdoms had kicked up a fuss about banning specific items from the Empire.

– Banned the import of all Somerset Workshop goods, including fairy tale books and comic books.

Rupert’s works sneaking into other countries was reminiscent of the colonization events that took place on Earth in the New World.

Just like diseases carried by strangers spreading to natives without immunity, people were rapidly getting absorbed into works that deviated from their existing culture.

Some nations, taking this seriously, eventually reached the point of banning the sale of items produced in Somerset Workshop.

But,

“Do you have any items?”

“The price has gone up. Monitoring has gotten stricter lately, and it took longer to open new routes…”

“I don’t care! Just hurry and give me the goods!”

Prohibiting items didn’t stop the transactions; instead, it only stimulated underground trading.

And this only increased people’s dissatisfaction.

“Why ban items you can’t even control, just to make prices skyrocket?”

“Exactly! Isn’t it just fattening the pockets of smugglers? I’m the one losing a fortune here while I was importing and selling goods properly!”

“The so-called items supposedly put forth by the kingdom are far too low-quality compared to those from the Empire, so they don’t even sell.”

They weren’t just blindly trying to ban things; it was to promote their own culture, but regrettably, the disparity in quality proved futile.

Moreover, the actions of the Kingdom of Sylvania made things even worse.

“I heard you can watch the Empire’s latest goods, those animations, in Sylvania?”

“What? I thought those were items not even sold outside the Empire?”

“I heard the king of Sylvania struck a deal with Rupert, the author who visited the kingdom.”

Even people from other kingdoms, excluding the Empire, knew about the existence of animations.

Everyone who returned from visiting the Empire couldn’t stop praising them, making rumors spread like wildfire.

“Animations, huh? That’s something I definitely want to see.”

As the unbelievable stories spread about images moving and talking like reality, curiosity among the people only grew.

But items related to animations were strictly controlled in the Empire with the latest technology, prohibiting any external leaks.

Even those engaging in smuggling threw their hands up in surrender when faced with such rigorous management; acquiring them felt like trying to grab the stars.

As the thirst for animations grew, people’s dissatisfaction escalated when Sylvania, the most hostile neighbor to the Empire, announced they would be importing those animations.

“Why is it that Sylvania can get it, but we cannot?”

“Isn’t it because the higher-ups banned Somerset’s goods?”

“I mean, isn’t it absurd that while taxes are collected, we can’t even see such things?”

Although they didn’t openly express their dissatisfaction, when commoners and nobles gathered, it was unavoidable that they found themselves in a situation criticizing the decision to ban Somerset’s goods.

The kingdom’s officials had to take this seriously.

“How could they make such an agreement with the Empire without saying a word?”

“We have never made any agreement with the Empire!”

“There are already rumors across the continent about bringing in Imperial goods and sending talents from our kingdom to the Imperial Academy for study!”

“That’s an agreement with the author Rupert Somerset, not the Empire. The principal parties are quite different!”

“Isn’t that just playing with words?!”

“Then why did the troops and supplies we were promised during the last war only arrive after the fighting was over?”

“That’s… because there was some procedure involved.”

“Isn’t that just playing with words?”

Diplomatic envoys who went to express their anger at Sylvania found themselves returning with their mouths shut like they had swallowed honey.

Sylvania had also accumulated a lot of resentment from its role as a buffer against the Empire.

Especially since while they always said they would support with troops or funds, not suffering direct harm led other nations to back off and watch from a distance.

Thus, the alliance of kingdoms was divided into two broad factions.

Those arguing for a stricter ban on Empire goods and those advocating to accept and learn from those goods to advance their culture.

Rupert wasn’t about to miss the opportunity for division.

“Dear people of the Kingdom of Aramen, I have long desired to visit this beautiful nation!”

“Wowwww!!!”

“This place, where my works drew inspiration, with its rich history and unique culture, truly deserves to be called the cultural capital of the continent!”

Rupert was visiting the Kingdom of Aramen, part of the moderate faction, to hold signings and lectures.

“Of course, the King of Cards was inspired by Aramen culture!”

“Even though he’s from the Empire, he’s a guy with his head on straight.”

“The Empire has no choice but to acknowledge our Aramen’s long history.”

The people of Aramen, with smiles wider than they could hold, clearly delighted by Rupert’s nonstop praise of Aramen during his lecture and signing event.

After finishing the event, Rupert would later come to understand the reason behind it.

“Can you believe the popularity of King of Cards is at this level?”

“Ha… This is even more popular than in the Empire.”

Guiding him was the Chancellor of Aramen, Knaksunamon.

As they walked the streets, Rupert found himself confused about whether this was Duel City or the capital of Aramen, Iroka.

“Shall we have a duel?”

“Sounds good!”

The streets were filled with duels, and though similar, they looked slightly different from the Empire’s, items resembling duel tables were laid out everywhere.

“I shouldn’t say this myself, but our people have long craved recognition from foreign lands.”

“Is that so?”

“They’ve always been treated with deep-rooted disdain since they’re seen as people feeding on nothing but dust.”

The Kingdom of Aramen was one of the oldest nations on the continent.

Thus, they had strong pride in their kingdom and were proud of their culture, but individually, they were always poorly treated in foreign countries, leading to ongoing dissatisfaction.

However, since Rupert’s work, King of Cards, spread across the continent,

“Aramen? I’ve heard that’s the backdrop of King of Cards; I want to go see it!”

“I’ve already been. It was nothing like the rumors suggested.”

“I’ve heard others say the exotic atmosphere is pristine.”

The reason for visiting Aramen, simply because it was said that their backgrounds appeared in King of Cards, began increasing the number of visitors.

As more people visited, the ignorance regarding the Kingdom of Aramen began to diminish, gradually spreading the perception that it was an appealing country.

The Chancellor Knaksunamon was the first to notice this change and took the lead among the moderate faction in accepting the culture from the Empire, just like Sylvania had done, directly inviting Rupert to hold lectures and signings.

From Rupert’s perspective, the more countries like Sylvania increased, the closer he got to fulfilling his promise with the Emperor, so he willingly came.

“Thank goodness I have this time because of Siri.”

Though the Academy was on break, Rupert was busy with serialization and new animation projects, making it difficult for him to visit foreign lands.

However, thanks to Siri, who assisted him, he managed to free up some time.

“Is this your work, Mr. Rupert?”

“Yep, just use white to erase the parts I’ve checked off here.”

At first, Rupert didn’t grasp the extent of Siri’s abilities, so he only assigned simple correction tasks.

Yet, Siri’s capabilities exceeded his expectations.

One day when he had no work, he allowed Siri to take a break, but after playing with Aida, she soon returned to the workshop and began drawing.

Curious about what kind of drawing she was doing, Rupert checked and was astonished to find she was reproducing the serialized manuscript of his work, The Great Treasure.

Using only the completed storyboard stage, she was accurately recreating it as if Rupert himself were drawing.

“I’m learning Mr. Rupert’s drawing style.”

Surprised, Rupert asked how she did it, and Siri simply replied that she had learned.

Of course, she couldn’t replicate it perfectly, but since it was quite similar, he was able to entrust her with finishing work, allowing Rupert some time to visit the Kingdom of Aramen.

“We’d like to send talents to the Art Department of the Imperial Academy where you’re involved, Mr. Rupert.”

“If you make that happen, I will surely nurture talents that will benefit Aramen.”

Rupert responded to Knaksunamon’s proposal.

“I suppose we should increase our garden.”

Though the selection of new students wasn’t finished, he thought that to accept students from Aramen and Sylvania while also selecting the Empire’s talents, the numbers might be tight.

He thought about proposing it to Yustaf, the principal, and it might very well be accepted, but he was a little worried.

“His condition hasn’t been looking good lately.”

When he went to find Yustaf to discuss new student matters, he discovered Yustaf lost in thought.

“Not only the student took from my storage; even the prince too…”

Yustaf muttered to himself, looking as if he had lost a country.