Chapter 16: Prepare For The Future (1)

The news began to spread rapidly from the very next day.

Beyond the Amelia Kingdom, to the entire world.

Initially, many were skeptical, and not a few dismissed it as outright fraud.

However, as numerous institutions successively released verification results confirming the claims of the Rosenfeld Energy Research Institute, such voices died down.

Once it became clear that a new energy source had emerged, countries around the world swiftly moved to transition from mana stones to Mayu.

It was a natural phenomenon.

Why would anyone insist on mana stones when Mayu was vastly superior in efficiency, and being a liquid unlike the solid mana stones, it was far easier to store and transport, as well as apply to various magical devices?

It was a major transformation, not an exaggeration to call it an energy revolution, just as Alan had said.

‘Even when the world transitioned from coal to oil in my previous life, I don’t think it was to this extent……’

As the energy revolution progressed rapidly, the price of mana stones naturally plummeted, and my short position on futures, when the expiration date arrived.

‘How many zeros is that……’

Yielded an enormous rate of return.

The energy revolution also brought significant changes to the international political landscape.

First, the Phrygia Continent.

The Phrygia Continent, located south of the Eos Continent, had long been one of the poorest regions in the world due to unfavorable climatic conditions.

But now, Phrygia would become one of the wealthiest.

It had been revealed that Phrygia was, it turned out, teeming with Mayu.

Like the Middle East in my previous life.

And the Eos Continent…

Though they didn’t know it themselves, the people of the Eos Continent, like the people of Phrygia, also benefited greatly.

‘It’s because the possibility of the war between Poila and Davia escalating into a continental war has virtually disappeared.’

The reason the Bransia Empire, the Duranden Empire, and other nations became involved in the war between the two countries,

Whether willingly or unwillingly, leading to a continental war was solely because the Valentia region, straddling the border of both countries, was the most important strategic point of the current era as the best mana stone production area.

However, as Mayu became the new trend, the importance of the Valentia region, along with the status of mana stones, plummeted.

There was no longer any reason to intervene in the war between Poila and Davia.

This could be seen just by the fact that the two empires, which had been loudly voicing their opinions on the war as if they would join in at any moment, had drastically reduced their related statements as if by prior agreement.

Their attention had now shifted to the Phrygia Continent, which had become the new strategic key point.

If the Valentia region was the goose that laid golden eggs in the age of mana stones, then the Phrygia Continent was the goose that laid golden eggs in the age of Mayu.

Rather than getting involved in a troublesome war, it was far more beneficial to focus that time and effort on diplomacy with the nations of the Phrygia Continent.

They poured all their efforts into Phrygia, to the extent that it could be called a diplomatic war, out of the thought that they needed to secure even a little more Mayu more stably than their rivals.

Because of this, Poila and Davia were completely left out in the cold.

And a continental war, in effect, did not happen.

Finally, Amelia.

The Amelia Kingdom was, by far, the biggest beneficiary of the energy revolution.

This was because it was where the technologies to utilize Mayu as an energy source and to drill for it in large quantities were both developed.

Amelia, which had hitherto been merely a remote frontier, instantly became the center and key nation of the energy revolution, drawing attention from all over the world.

The timing was also good.

The concept of patents transcending nationality had begun to emerge, and the first international convention for the international protection of patents had been signed just a few years prior.

If the energy revolution had occurred before that, Amelia might not have gained much benefit.

Other countries would have stolen and used the technology without paying fair compensation.

But because it happened after the international convention had somewhat established itself, Amelia was able to reap enormous profits from technology patents.

Naturally…

All Amelia citizens, regardless of age, gender, or status, rejoiced at this fact.

Except for me.

It was a perfect plan.

A plan utilizing future knowledge, one that couldn’t fail.

Indeed, that future knowledge became reality.

So my plan should have succeeded too.

It should have succeeded……

‘Who would have thought such a huge variable would pop up!!’

Although this world is the world of a novel, it’s natural that not only the events from the novel occur.

Many things that weren’t in the novel happen in this world.

In fact, such things happen more often.

My transmigration into this world, my top score in the high civil service examination, the series of events after coming to the Royal Assets Management Bureau – weren’t all of these things not in the novel?

But no matter how many such things happened, I thought the main storyline of the novel would remain unchanged.

I never imagined that something like this would happen, causing this world to flow in a direction different from the novel’s development.

And to think that the cause of it was a single remark I had casually uttered….

“Haa……”

Deep sighs kept escaping me unknowingly.

‘What happens now……’

The continental war did not happen.

The event of the protagonist and sub-protagonist, who participated in it, becoming war heroes and returning triumphantly also did not happen.

Will the events after that also not happen?

Or….

Just as taking a different path midway doesn’t change the destination or significantly alter the overall route, will it flow back along the novel’s developmental course?

Since the title of the novel is <I Will Start a Revolution>, I still believe that, if nothing else, the revolution will happen.

The problem is how the process leading up to it will unfold.

If it flows in a direction very different from the novel, the future knowledge I possess will become useless.

Especially since, as if the entire universe is conspiring to obstruct my escape, situations where the outcome is the complete opposite of my intentions keep repeating.

‘Just in case, I should prepare for the worst-case scenario.’

Perhaps the revolution still happens, but our family is still unable to escape Amelia. Such a situation could occur.

I need a lifeline to grasp then, don’t I?

If anything, this incident has put the Rosenfeld family in even greater danger.

They weren’t very famous before, but due to Mayu, they have become representative bourgeoisie of Amelia.

This means the probability of becoming a target for the revolutionary forces has shot up.

‘I should visit the Foundation Orphanage…’

Foundation Orphanage.

It was no exaggeration to say that it was the place where everything in <I Will Start a Revolution> began.

For one, the protagonist, Aiden, was from the Foundation Orphanage.

The person who got him involved in the revolutionary movement was the orphanage director.

It also produced several other key figures of the revolution.

In short, the Foundation Orphanage was truly a sacred ground of the revolution, a place that, like its name, became the foundation of the revolution.

Therefore, I decided to go to the Foundation Orphanage and try to create a lifeline for the worst-case scenario.

I immediately got dressed.

Since it happened to be Sunday, I thought I’d go right away now that I remembered.

Before that, I went to see my father first.

“Father. You said Rosenfeld Energy is making an enormous amount of money, right?”

“Yes. Royalties are pouring in from countries all over the world, day after day…”

“Since you’ve made a lot of money, how about doing something good for once?”

“……?”

***

Just as there is shade where there is sun, and shadows always exist where there is light.

In the eastern part of Wellington, the capital of the kingdom, there is a vast slum.

‘Matfellon’ is its name.

Ironically, several orphanages were located in that area, also known as the ‘Street of Prostitution’ due to the concentration of dozens of brothels.

‘Foundation Orphanage’ was one of them.

It wasn’t that other orphanages were any different, but the situation at Foundation Orphanage couldn’t be described as good, even with empty words.

The children wore mended discarded clothes, used scavenged discarded items, and studied with discarded books. Due to food shortages, they even made meals from discarded ingredients.

The children would often say self-deprecatingly.

“We are abandoned children, so we can only use abandoned things.”

Foundation Orphanage, which had been like that, was bustling with activity for the first time in a long while.

The faces of the children, who had become so accustomed to poverty and deprivation that even despair had become familiar, were filled with a pure, childlike vitality for the first time in a long time.

A man who appeared like a comet with a large sum of donations and a large quantity of donated goods.

It was thanks to Dominic Rosenfeld.

“I will donate all of these to Foundation Orphanage. In the name of the Rosenfeld family.”

“A-all of this? To our orphanage?”

“Yes. And I plan to continue donating regularly in the future.”

“Wa-wait a moment. Where did you say you were from?”

“The Rosenfeld family. R, O, S, E, N, F, E, L, D. Rosenfeld. Please be sure to remember it.”

“Of course! Of course, I’ll remember! I’ll remember it well!”

Just as Dominic was impressing the name Rosenfeld upon the caregivers, who were moved by the large donation.

“Ah! There he is. The person you were looking for.”

The man Dominic had wanted to meet appeared.