Surviving as a Plagiarist in Another World

[“Now, I will give you the answer to my question. The Party seeks power solely for the sake of power itself. We have no interest in the welfare of others. We are only interested in power, pure power. You will soon understand what pure power means.”]

[“We know that no one takes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means. It is the end.”]

No one takes power with the intention of giving it up.

However, at this very moment in Harren, the person who had seized power was using that power to relinquish it. In a way, this was an opportunity. A final chance to prevent anyone from ever seizing power “to seize power” again.

And the conclusion reached by the intellectuals of Harren—bureaucrats who followed the Lazy King—was as follows.

“Republicanism cannot be an alternative! Even if we give the rights of this land completely to the people, as this book 1984 says, they will not become their own masters!”

1984 is a book about totalitarian dictatorship.

At the same time, the regime of Oceania in 1984, which was closer to a “dictatorship state” than any other country, was a form of one-party dictatorship where democracy had been taken to an extreme.

All the citizens lost the ability to criticize and entrusted their fate entirely to one party, one nation, and the Party, under the guise of the unified will of the people, kept repeating “dumbing down,” thus completely separating politics from the will of the “minority individuals.”

Therefore, republicanism, which aims to make the citizens—who have lost the ability to criticize—the masters of this land and their own masters, could not be an alternative.

Power that relies solely on power corrodes itself. Hence, power must have some kind of benchmark. A benchmark that is regulated by law, reviewed through statistical methodologies, and enforced through administration.

“However, the old system, where a small number of parliamentary aristocrats monopolize power, is also unacceptable!”

“We cannot be the masters of Harren!”

But—no matter what benchmark is chosen, it will eventually “decay.”

The accumulated evils (積弊) of those who exercise power over an outdated system will refuse to acknowledge the changes in the world, and as a result, they will use power to maintain their hold on power and collapse the noble nation of Harren.

The elitism of the minority could not be a long-term solution.

Thus, the conclusion reached by the “followers of the Lazy King” in Harren was this.

“We will make His Majesty’s authority eternal and immortal. May He become the true master of this land, who will be rooted in the future, so that no one will dare to claim to be His ‘descendant’ and attempt to seize power again!”

“Huh, is… is that really the proper way? Making me the ‘Big Brother who doesn’t control’? It feels like I’m being deceived…”

The Lazy King.

Making this great king, who does nothing, the eternal and immortal master. If this “land of Harren” can only belong to the individual called “Descendant of the Dragon,” then it would be better to forever serve just one master, rendering the divinity of the “Descendant of the Dragon” useless.

However, this would mean ruling without actually governing.

This was an extension of the existing constitutional monarchy—yet…

“Your Majesty! Please be our eternal master! Become the Eternal King!”

It was about attributing the authority once guaranteed to the “Descendant of the Dragon” in the old constitutional monarchy to this lazy “Eternal King.” Even if the Lazy King were to die, no one would dare to usurp power merely because they inherited the “dragon’s blood.”

The king would never descend from the throne, ruling as their master forever.

Thus, it would make it clear that all “authority” came from the “Eternal King.”

[Big Brother is Watching You.]

“Then we shall serve with all our might, breaking our bones and crushing our flesh! We will enrich and prosper Your Majesty’s nation, making it eternally great!”

And the actual ‘authority’ is exercised by the royal bureaucrats.

They oversee all administration, create or abolish administrative laws based on existing statistical methodologies.

When selecting bureaucrats, only their abilities are prioritized, and no other criteria are considered.

Should anyone prioritize something other than ability—such as lineage, connections, or influence—they are deemed to challenge the authority of the Lazy King and are charged with treason.

Thus, it is clearly stated that all ‘authority’ can only be exercised by proving one’s ability.

[“In philosophy, religion, ethics, or politics, 2+2 can become 5, but when designing guns or airplanes, it must be 4.”]

“If we wield the law for any purpose other than the prosperity and peace of the Harren people, may the noble citizens of Harren judge us! May Your Majesty place axes in the hands of the Harren people, so they may execute us by beheading!”

Monitoring and auditing this cabinet is the People’s Assembly, a restructured version of the previous parliament.

They are elected according to the will of the Harren people and create civil and criminal laws, enabling Harren’s citizens to judge themselves and the bureaucrats.

They follow only the people’s will, handling processes transparently and fairly according to proper procedures.

Thus, it is clearly stated that all ‘justice’ is judged solely by the people’s will.

[“You are listening to your story. You are with yourself, and you will continue to be with yourself.”]

“Your Majesty─!!! Proclaim the ‘Eternal Pact’ that will overwrite the ‘Ancient Covenant’─!!!”

After that, numerous other opinions emerged—on the judicial system for legal rulings, and on transparency in the press so all citizens could objectively assess their situation.

This was the separation of powers.

The greater the power, the more thoroughly transparent it must be and the more it must be monitored by more people.

It was a system where powers were divided and separated, each power monitoring the others.

It was a monarchy where all power clearly originated from the ‘Eternal King,’ ensuring that no one could combine or misuse that power again.

Of course, even this was not an ideal system.

Each power might endlessly conflict and drag each other down. Or conversely, one power might grow disproportionately large due to changing times and devour the others.

But it would never be the worst system.

For now, that was enough.

And even the Lazy King himself─.

“…So, does this really mean I don’t have to work?”

“Just reign over us, Your Majesty!”

“…Sigh, fine.”

He was satisfied with the fact that he wouldn’t have to work.

Of course, until the new system stabilized, he would have to use the ‘Power of the Dragon’ and work tirelessly like an ox─, but once it was stabilized, it seemed it could somehow keep running on its own.

After all, the descendants of dragons had long lifespans. Thinking of it as a retirement plan, it wasn’t impossible.

And so.

As the master of all Harren people, the Lazy King exercised the noblest authority granted to the descendants of dragons.

“…I, Clement Lemang, King of the Harren Kingdom and the rightful lord of all Harren people, hereby make this pledge.”

The name of that authority.

“Forever, I will remain your lazy master!”

It was a promise.

Now, even in death, the Lazy King had become entangled with the Kingdom of Harren.

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.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Sigh, because of you, I’ve had so much work recently that I feel like I’m going to die! I want to quit being king!”

“Why is that my fault? It’s because Your Majesty loves the people of Harren so much.”

“Sigh…”

“By the way, you say you’re busy, but don’t you come here too often?”

“It’s my job to visit you. There’s no one in Harren with as much knowledge as you.”

“I’m not sure how I can be of help.”

“Hah, are you speaking sincerely?”

“It’s difficult for an unwise person to help a wise person. I’m just telling you what I know.”

“That ‘knowledge’ you speak of is knowledge that even scholars in Harren don’t know, though.”

“Haha…”

There were a few things the Lazy King struggled with, so I added a few words.

I simply shared a bit of miscellaneous knowledge I had read in books about future policies, economics, geoeconomics, behavioral economics, psychology, social thought history, policy studies, administration, social theory, and the associated critiques, problems, and side effects.

However, all I knew were the contents from the books, and I had no idea whether they were truly useful or if the information written in those books had valid references or was reliable.

I wasn’t the type to read non-fiction critically.

Books often distort information depending on the author’s ideology or philosophy, after all. So, I was just irresponsibly throwing out information without any real basis.

It was entirely up to the Lazy King’s abilities to assess the practicality of that information and formulate policies.

“How about you join the cabinet instead?”

“That seems difficult.”

“Yeah, that would be the case. You are from the Empire, after all.”

“Oh, it’s not for that reason… I need to urgently return to the Empire.”

“Hmm? What’s going on?”

“My older brother is getting married.”

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I sent the manuscript of 1984 to Sion, and a few weeks later, I received a reply from him.

[Lord, the wedding of Lord Eric is scheduled.]

[You must return by the day before the wedding.]

A lot of time had passed since I was reincarnated into this world.

My older brother, who used to be the boy who made a fuss, calling Don Quixote a god, was now getting married.