"But there's no harm in trying. Even if it fails... we'll just switch to a frontal assault on the main battlefield, which was our original plan anyway."
Theus slowly nodded.
Indeed, the plan did not seem particularly risky.
What? You said failure might cause Pollution to descend?
That would not be much of a problem either. After all, Pollution would descend upon the Empire, not Castel.
Besides, Castel had extensive experience dealing with Pollution. If Pollution descended upon the Empire, it would be a nuisance; if it descended upon Castel, it would be fuel.
However, Theus thought of another issue. "Wait, Nini. No matter how wild or historical your novels are, they can only reach people who can read, right?"
That was right. The Empire had a population of sixty million.
But when it came to the literate population... the situation was far from optimistic.
The Candlelight Society's doctrine was founded on sealing away knowledge and danger, and the nobles had little interest in universal education.
As a result, the Empire's literacy rate was extremely low.
Why were the Empire's clergy more susceptible to corruption by Nini's wild histories? One easily overlooked reason was that they were likely the only literate people in their regions.
Knowledge did not circulate freely within the Empire. It had practically become an accessory of power.
"As for that..." Nini's expression turned subtle. "The Empire's literacy rate really was pitifully low before, but recently, it has inexplicably skyrocketed."
"Skyrocketed?"
"That's right. There are no statistics, but I estimate that the Empire's literate population has increased at least tenfold. Tenfold in such a short time! I investigated through various channels, and apparently many of those literate people recently heard a strange whisper in their dreams."
Theus said, "...What did the whisper say? Did it tempt them