Chapter 38: Side: ”God of Detective Novels and Prolific Writing.”
Lady Es seemed like she was planning to stick around for a bit longer because she broached a new topic.
“Oh, and I enjoyed reading the novels written by the students you taught, Author! It looks like you have a talent for teaching as well as writing? You’re just so perfect, it’s making me jealous!”
“It’s not because I taught them well. The students learned on their own.”
And yeah, this was true. I wasn’t a real author, and I definitely lacked any real teaching abilities. All I did was provide a guideline called ‘work.’ So it turns out, the students were basically self-taught.
“You’re so humble. How can someone be so perfect?”
“Too kind of you.”
Although she said it like she was complimenting me, the playful glint in her eyes said she was just teasing. But, hey, it didn’t feel too bad.
“Just to clarify, I don’t only read books written by you or your students. Thanks to you, the literary world has really stepped up its game, and there are now plenty of interesting works to read! It’s just that I’ve been so busy lately that I hardly have time to read….”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Totally! I have a mountain of books piling up in my study. By the way, Author, have you read ‘Valley of Jealousy’ by Ryanne?”
“Of course! The delicate psychological descriptions and the intense, escalating events created quite a delightful novel.”
“Exactly! I have no clue why it’s not more popular!”
We had a pretty good taste sync going on, so we could chew the fat about literature all day long. Having her know my true identity made the conversation flow even smoother.
“So, I’m thinking about maybe providing some support, although I’m not really a prince anymore, I still have royal blood! It feels a bit odd to just sponsor someone like I’m dipping my toes in the water.”
“I see.”
“How do you feel about that, Author Homer?”
“I believe supporting talented literary artists is a good thing.”
“Doesn’t that make you feel jealous?”
“Pardon?”
“I mean, I was your first patron. If someone who confessed to me started confessing to another, I might feel a bit jealous!”
With a shy grin, Lady Es leaned forward slightly, her innocent charm contrasting with her playful demeanor. Honestly, she looked incredibly noble! That kind of class can’t just be dimmed by a cheeky attitude. It’s a special kind of charisma—like something she was born with.
“Supporting someone and confessing love are completely different matters. I think the more support an artist receives, the better.”
“Look at you, no monopoly mindset at all!”
“If I planned to monopolize art, the market would be flooded with thousands of works written by me by now.”
This was true too.
From the first day I started plagiarizing “Don Quixote” up till now, I’ve been working to help advance the literature of ‘this era’ just a step further.
If I was in it just for fame, I would’ve cranked out more works. Most would’ve been overwhelmed by ‘Homer’s’ stuff, overshadowed to the point they wouldn’t even get a glance, leaving other writers completely lost about what they should be writing.
That’s why I kept the names ‘Homer’ and ‘Herodotus’ distinct. Homer’s and Herodotus’s directions had to be clearly different, after all.
“That’s quite an exciting yet terrifying story.”
“You could have filled bookstores with only Homer’s works!”
“Hehe, I thought you were just being humble, but now I see you’re a good deal arrogant too, Author!”
“It’s not a matter of humility. This is simply a matter of possibility.”
In my study, I had a magic-engineering safe that looked just like the ones used by the ‘Kindersley Publishing House.’
Inside were manuscripts that had plagiarized novels from my ‘previous life’— So if I had set aside my pride as a translation author and localized those novels, it would’ve been totally feasible!
Though honestly, I didn’t really want to actually do that.
I had no intention of wrecking the literary world.
“So, what about it? Our great author, who could fill bookstores with ‘Homer’s Special Collection,’ are you preparing your next masterpiece?”
“Yes. Actually, I do have a new novel in the works.”
“Oh, really? What kind of novel is it?!”
Her eyes sparkled as she leaned forward, her expression bubbling with anticipation.
“I’m thinking of writing a mystery novel.”
“A mystery novel? You’re already writing— Oh, under Homer’s name?”
“Yes. This time, I’m planning to write a mystery novel involving religion.”
The decision to publish that novel came about after the recent incident of ‘Why Did You Kill Holmes?’— in other words, just a few days ago.
* * *
The simultaneous serialization of the two masterpieces, ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and ‘Arsène Lupin,’ along with a [‘Sherlock Holmes X Arsène Lupin’ Fan Fiction Contest], had recently sent an electrifying ripple through the Empire regarding ‘mystery novels.’
This trend spanned across magazine serializations and published novels alike.
Though it was both delightful and a little disappointing for me, the two mystery novels I had saved up were a bit too ‘genre-strict.’ In plain terms, they lacked diversity. I had brought along the paradigm of almost perfect mystery novels way in advance, so I guess it wasn’t shocking.
Naturally, there was still potential for a solution.
“If I could borrow the power of the gods, it could be sorted out… but that’s also complicated.”
If the problem was that clichés were overly standardized, a solution would be to fling out even more clichés! The easiest option would hence be to borrow the power of the ‘god of mystery novels.’
None other than Agatha Christie, the mystery novel queen with over two billion books sold who made it into the Guinness Book of World Records!
However, there was a snag.
“I don’t really know Agatha Christie’s novels all that well….”
It would flat-out be impossible for me to plagiarize her works. In my previous life, I had been a translation author.
But I never had a chance to translate any of Agatha Christie’s novels on a professional level.
You see, her works never entered public domain.
“Well, I’ve read them in both original and translation forms, so I could put on a bit of an act, but it’s still kind of fuzzy.”
The reason I could plagiarize the novels from my past life wasn’t just because I had read them a bunch of times.
More prominently, it came from my history of translating those pieces.
So if you asked me to rewrite something I’ve translated before, I might faceplant a bit, but I could restore that memory to write something along the same lines.
To translate a novel, it involves research, digging into cultural backgrounds, reading papers, and writing sentences over and over until you become familiar with the work.
If you don’t study a piece deeply enough to where it feels second nature, you can’t get anywhere as a ‘translation author.’
And since Agatha Christie’s novels were ones I couldn’t formally translate, that meant plagiarism was totally off the table.
I’d made several attempts, but I still didn’t nail the ‘feel.’ In fact, the most crucial aspect of translation work was this ‘feel.’
That razor-sharp instinct that lets a narrative flow effortlessly from your fingertips.
“I need a novel that expands the territory of mystery novels─.”
Thinking hard, I mulled over this for ages. A flurry of titles whirled through my mind only to vanish. Short stories, microfiction, sci-fi, crime, special-setting mysteries─.
Suddenly, one title stuck like glue. It jumped out in my head and rolled off my tongue.
“Father Brown….”
* * *
“So, I’m planning to consult Cardinal Garnier for advice on writing this new novel.”
“I see. A detective novel with a clergyman as the protagonist…”
Perhaps it was because he was a clergyman— Cardinal Garnier looked especially reverent, even while deep in thought. Hands clasped together, his gentle smile had a peaceful aura.
Soon, Cardinal Garnier nodded and responded to my proposal.
“Yes, I’ll help you. I’m not sure how much help I can be, but if I can assist Venerable Homer, that should count as service to the Lord as well.”
“Thank you, Cardinal.”
“And these days, most detective novels feature protagonists with rather quirky traits.”
“Pardon?”
“Addicts, thieves… The kids over at the orphanage admire and follow these so-called ‘righteous’ characters, which has worried me a bit. The Savior said forgiving sinners is akin to saving oneself, yet those types of mystery novels tend to lean heavily on the revenge side. I doubt they’re very good for teaching kids.”
“Love the sinner, hate the sin, right?”
“That’s a lovely saying. Who came up with that?”
“…I think I stumbled across it in a letter.”
“You seem to know a lot of good quotes.”
“Yeah, well…”
Turns out it was a saying that didn’t exist in this world. Did I ever write it in a story? No idea.
“In that vein, I’m happy to help in any way I can. If a detective novel with a clergyman as the main character trends, maybe our kids will show a little more interest in clergymen.”
“Definitely, thank you. So first—”
There were loads of things I wanted to ask the Cardinal about. But naturally, the first question had to be this:
“—Can you tell me about your experience hearing confessions?”
“Oh dear, I apologize. The seal of confession cannot be broken under any circumstances. Not even if the Savior Himself were to ask, I must ask for your understanding.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to pry into the confessions themselves. It would be clearer if you read the manuscript first.”
I pulled out a manuscript titled [Father Brown] from my bag and handed it to Cardinal Garnier. Thus, the interview with the Cardinal began.
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