leonardwarren Chapter 31 "Party"
Chapter 31 "Party"
The system kept popping up.
[Consumed 3 points of mana, consumed 3 points of mana...]
[Remaining Temporary Mana: 31]
[You have completed your inaugural speech and have earned 300 Authority Points!]
Your authority has been enhanced.
Your charm has increased.
Your passion has increased.
Your health has improved slightly.
[Your followers have increased! You currently have 322 peripheral followers and 4 core members.]
After a while, another line popped up:
[You've checked in for 8 consecutive days! Congratulations! Your tenure has surpassed 3% of your predecessors!]
I already told you not to pad the word count anymore!
But then again, I've only been in this world for eight days... It feels like an eternity.
Winston sat in his office, exhausted yet excited, repeatedly checking the properties on the panel.
Actually, he was more interested in seeing what the newspapers said about him, but those high-quality articles wouldn't be published until tomorrow morning at the earliest.
The swiping system is one of the few forms of entertainment in this world without mobile phones.
"Three hundred authority points, that's a generous amount. I'll save these for later and add them when I suddenly need to use a skill."
"My management skill has increased to 12, which is a proficiency bonus from doing a lot of reports. Besides that, my authority is 20, my charisma is 25... Wow, my passion has increased to 60!"
"Does that mean I'm only now truly getting my act together?"
"Even my health has recovered to 75... So, my previous sub-health condition probably referred to depression? Oh well, that makes sense. Aside from protagonists who are orphans in a web novel, who wouldn't become depressed after suddenly transmigrating?"
That's how Winston convinced himself.
He flipped through it again and again, feeling increasingly better, until a black gull, pretending to be a decorative object, flapped its wings and flew to his side:
[To claim you've offered your soul to an ancient god in a world ruled by them—that's incredibly audacious! If you don't succeed, who will?]
Winston did mention this in his speech.
This is another important reason why he won the battle: he explained his fainting at the inauguration ceremony as offering his soul to the Queen and then receiving a divine oracle. He was a genius!
However, the world is never short of geniuses.
Others don't use it not because they didn't think of it, but because they dared not.
Winston had considered this and never mentioned that he was making it up, and the fanatical Martin Grayling believed him! He even had a feeling that he'd known all along. The spokespeople and reporters had no choice but to believe; living under the shadow of Queen Victoria's glory, they always felt that anyone who didn't believe would be doomed...
They didn't know that they wouldn't actually die; if anyone was to die, it would be Winston first.
"You have to be tough on yourself," Winston replied calmly. "I'm already in this position, why should I be conservative in life? I won't go to heaven after I die anyway."
There is no heaven in parallel universes. The phrase "going to heaven" here actually means returning to the time before the time travel, and it also means that one will be killed by the ancient gods sooner or later, so one might as well live a more unrestrained life.
v1888 tilted its head, pretending to peek at the system panel:
[Your rationality is still 75... I feel like your sanity has dropped?]
Winston: "Call me the master of success."
"Knock knock knock".
A knock on the door interrupted the self-introduction of the self-help guru.
It was the maid, Eileen.
She had also heard about Winston's interview and speech, and her expression became somewhat subtle.
"...Prime Minister, your tea has been sweetened with sugar and milk as you requested."
The blonde woman bent down, smoothed a stray hair behind her ear with one hand, and deftly placed the delicate teacup next to Winston's black eagle figurine.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the circular watermark on the carpet had disappeared.
That's true, how often does tea spill from a teacup?
"Scotland Field has sent a telegram saying that Inspector Angus will be coming to see you shortly. Before leaving Downing Street, Mr. Grayling left a letter for me to pass on to you, 'Please take the time to read and reply as soon as possible.'"
Winston took an unremarkable envelope from Eileen.
Who sent this?
He took a knife from the drawer, cut open the envelope, and Eileen tactfully withdrew during the process.
The letter contained only one sentence:
"You should come back to see us."
Below this line of text is a neat red clay seal, depicting a scale and a lily.
Normally, this stamp should be placed on the seal of the envelope, but for some reason, the sender chose to hide their identity from those who cannot see the contents of the letter.
v1888 flapped its wings and asked in bewilderment:
Who is this? Their tone is quite arrogant; don't they know they're facing the Prime Minister?
Winston stared intently at the words, his fingers unconsciously tracing the seal. After a long while, he finally spoke:
"It's a 'political party'."
v1888 didn't understand: [What kind of pie? Is it edible?]
"If you keep using bilingual puns, I'll shove your head down the toilet," Winston said. "A 'party' is a 'party,' and you should remember I'm a party leader, right?"
【Oh!】v1888 suddenly realized, 【The Public Order Party! That little party you belong to! That makes sense. You've been Prime Minister for so long, they should at least show some appreciation. But what does this letter mean? Are they angry because you didn't reserve a cabinet position for one of your own?】
"But your becoming Prime Minister was a result of a trade-off. If you think about it, those positions weren't for just anyone. What's there to be angry about... Hey, Winston? What's wrong?"
"I have a bad feeling about this."
Winston rubbed his temples and said, "Wait, I'm a little confused. Let me sort this out."
He inherited the original owner's memories, which now seemed to have fragmented and were flashing through his mind without leaving any trace.
"This Public Order Party... seems more complicated than it appears." He told v1888, "'I' am their leader, but right now I can't recall the names of any of the party members, nor do I remember how I interacted with them."
"What's even stranger is that I was completely unaware of this until this letter reached me!!"
Amidst surprise and lingering fear, Winston once again deeply felt that this was a world where supernatural forces existed.
An anomaly may be lurking right beside you, yet you remain oblivious.
v1888 also realized the seriousness of the problem: "If you don't remember them at all, how are you going to see them? The letter has already been delivered to you; delaying it might cause trouble..."
"I know where I'm going. This is the weirdest place."
Winston said,
"My gut feeling tells me that if I want to meet people from a 'party,' I should go out at night."
And one common sense that everyone in this country believes in is that you should never go out at night!