Novelist Running Through Time - Chapter 75

TL: KSD

Every time someone unfamiliar enters the Baker family’s detective agency, they find themselves at a loss, enveloped in the dense smoke of burning actinidia wood filling the room.

Especially, when the strong feline instinct running in the blood of the British meets the actinidia wood, somewhat embarrassing situations occur—like losing one’s composure as a gentleman or lady and rolling on the floor with laughter,

Fortunately, John Watson, being a gentleman of honor and also having a close friendship with the eccentric owner of this office, made it a practice to open the door wide before entering, to let out the smoke of the actinidia wood.

The typical gentleman of the British Empire, namely a lion among felines, and not just any lion but a Barbary lion, John Watson was worried that the smoke from the actinidia wood might permeate his meticulously groomed mane, which he took two hours each day to care for. Amidst his concerns, an irritable voice rang out sharply from inside the office.

「Damn it! Watson! You again?」

「That’s my line, Holmes.」

Watson, limping due to a physical scar left from the Afghan War, and on the other hand, walking with dignity through skilled use of his cane, looked down at the peculiar owner of the detective agency with a commanding presence.

「Sherlock, Holmes.」

「…Ahem!」

The full name called by his close friend made the British Shorthair’s adorably ears droop.

If one were to say that this cat, holding its tail taut with tension and pouting its lips, was London’s greatest detective, the enthusiastic followers who had not encountered the real deal, that is, the numerous citizens of London, would doubt their eyes.

However, Watson knew all too well to be easily swayed by that pitiful appearance, just how much of a peculiar cat Sherlock Holmes was and how much he needed to change.

Watson advised firmly, looking down.

「I’ve told you how many times to quit the actinidia wood!」

「…37 times?」

Correct. And all the more irritating for it.

Watson slammed the desk. Bang!

「I keep telling you! Actinidia wood is closer to opium than tobacco! Please listen when a doctor speaks!」

「Alright, I surrender. I’ll try to hold off for a while. Anyway, what brings you here, my friend?」

Watson knew too well that “for a while” meant no more than a couple of days, but all he could do today was to sigh with worry and place a letter on the desk.

「It’s a case.」

「Finally!」

Holmes, who was on the verge of going mad with boredom, snatched the letter with feline agility…」

“There…”

The room of the pop culture and arts research club was immersed in reading.

It was because Gu Yu-na had threatened me with a glare sharper than a knife to read her novel.

Thus, while being forced to deeply engage in reading the novel, Min Hyo-chan cautiously raised his hand.

“…I have a question.”

Gu Yu-na, monitoring her reader with fiery eyes, allowed the question.

“What is it?”

The sharp question of the pink-haired rapper, Min Hyo-chan.

“Why is it a cat?”

“…”

Gu Yu-na did not answer.

As the silence stretched, Min Hyo-chan grew anxious.

Suddenly, a proverb flashed through his mind. Of course, the source was an internet community. The phrase, piercing the essence of art history, went as follows:

“Art has always been dominated by the wealthy.”

“Nobility, millionaires, and those suspiciously wealthy…”

“Cats are cute, aren’t they?”

“What…!?”

“Aren’t cats cute?”

Gu Yu-na looked at Min Hyo-chan, who was startled and jolting, as if he were strange. Moon In-seop sitting next to him did the same.

Min Hyo-chan belatedly made an excuse.

“Ah, ah! Right! Cats! Cute!”

As Min Hyo-chan awkwardly scrambled, Moon In-seop and Gu Yu-na naturally began a conversation.

After all, it’s not rare for art pieces to transform humans into animals.

It’s probably only those steeped in internet memes who would mistake an author for a furry enthusiast simply because the protagonist of their novel is a cat.

Eventually, Min Hyo-chan, sighing in relief and criticizing himself, noticed Gu Yu-na’s yellow furry blanket.

‘Could it really be…?!’

Leaving the increasingly troubled Min Hyo-chan behind, Moon In-seop asked Gu Yu-na.

“Is it perhaps expressing nationality?”

“Yes. The British are lions. The French, chickens. The Germans, Dobermans…”

“It’s rare but a classical way of expression. But why is the protagonist a cat? The animal that represents England is the lion.”

“Then the protagonist should be a lion too.”

“But?”

“Lions aren’t cute.”

“What?”

“Write what you want to write.”

As Min Hyo-chan’s misunderstanding deepened, a brief thought crossed Moon In-seop’s mind.

Of course, a brain that had been gaslighted for nearly 10 years couldn’t possibly function normally.

1. Does it make sense to force a setting just because you like cats? -X

2. Oh! Yu-na chose a cat as the protagonist because she likes cats! -O

“…I see!”

Gu Yu-na slightly lifted the corners of her mouth in satisfaction, and Min Hyo-chan was frustrated. In this damn club of three people, only one is sane. It doesn’t make sense. He missed Kim Byul Sunbae.

With that sentiment, Min Hyo-chan asked in a gruff voice.

“Hey, so is the title ‘Meow Meow Holmes’?”

Gu Yu-na shook her head from side to side.

“Then what is it?”

Surprisingly, the title sounded quite impressive to Min Hyo-chan.

“The Automaton Murder Case.”

Side EP–Automaton Murder Case

It’s rare for anyone to think of automatons as human. Still, in America, where people with dark skin are not even treated as human, it’s unlikely that machines capable of talking, thinking, and feeling emotions would be considered human.

In that sense, Lady Rosa Luxemburg of Kent was as eccentric as Holmes. At least, that’s how it appeared to Watson.

「He was my lover!」

How could one love a machine?

From Watson’s perspective, possessing the typical British gentleman’s qualities of splendid mane, honorable mindset, and conservative political views, it was incomprehensible to understand Lady Rosa Luxemburg.

But perhaps eccentrics understand each other somewhere. Holmes, puffing away at his damned actinidia wood pipe, gently took Lady Rosa Luxemburg’s hand and patted it.

「Calm down, madam. Of course, it’s regrettable that your husband was harmed…」

「He’s not my husband. My husband died a long time ago.」

「…Oh, I see. My apologies.」

Watson could somewhat understand this part. It was not uncommon in the world of nobility to have lovers while being married. Moreover, it wasn’t something to be criticized for a widow to have a lover.

The problem was that the lover was a machine.

Even now, in a room of the large mansion, the ‘beloved lover’s’ corpse lay. It was a human-shaped automaton made of gears and steel.

It didn’t look much different from the automatons working in factories with their creaking movements, but its face was unique if anything.

Though uncertain of the material, it had a mask that looked almost human. It had the face with the majestic mane of a lion.

Watson felt a discomfort at the sight of something non-human mimicking a human, but he maintained his dignity in front of the mourning family.

Holmes asked.

「Have you reported this to the police?」

Lady Rosa Luxemburg, with a voice mixed with tears, appealed.

「The police… The police didn’t help me. Those heartless scoundrels, colder than the machine, just laughed at me, saying it wasn’t a murder case.」

「My goodness…」

「Detective! Please find the villain who killed my lover!」

Holmes quietly stood up. It was about 8 p.m. by then. As the sun set and darkness fell over the large mansion, the eyes of the cat detective flashed penetratingly through the dark.

「Don’t worry, madam.」

Watson often felt a sort of thrill, if one could call it that, whenever he encountered moments like this. It was when his quirky, irritable, rebellious, and rude friend emitted a clear light of rationality that easily covered all his faults. Perhaps Watson’s pursuit of Holmes’ company was driven by an impulse similar to a moth drawn to such light.

「Because, once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.」

「That statement is…!」

「I will take on this case.」

* * *

“Ahahaha!”

The office of drama writer Lim Song-i is by no means small. Not because she has amassed a considerable fortune as a popular drama writer, but because being a drama writer is not a solo occupation.

Her assistant writers contributed to the conversation with satisfied smiles.

“You’ve done a proper homage to Sherlock Holmes.”

“The automaton is quite fresh. Inserting an SF-like setting into 19th century England… It’s an utterly unimaginable idea?”

“Ji-hye, it’s not exactly new, there’s already a genre called steampunk. But still, this is a very fresh style.”

“Ugh. Could you please not nitpick everything?”

While Lim Song-i and her assistant writers were discussing back and forth about “The Automaton Murder Case,” Gu Yu-na, who was at the very ‘center’ of this discussion and receiving much adoration, bluntly asked.

“…Is it okay? I mean, in terms of being a detective story.”

Lim Song-i smiled slyly.

“It has a mystery novel vibe to it. You seem to have a talent for detective stories more than I thought?”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. This is a special setting mystery, isn’t it? It’s a good variation. You don’t need to complicate the trick too much to give something fresh to the readers. And nowadays, this kind of thing is in trend, right? Like ‘The Miracles of the Namiya General Store’ or ‘Lonely Castle in the Mirror’…”

Of course, comparing Gu Yu-na’s work to those was a stretch, but “The Automaton Murder Case” had its own distinctive charm and fresh setting, making its mark as a special setting mystery.

Still, as a veteran mystery genre writer feeling somewhat unsatisfied, Lim Song-i was smacking her lips when Gu Yu-na unusually hesitated before asking a question.

“Um, excuse me…”

Just the fact that she fidgeted with her fingers before speaking was enough to make the adults burst into laughter, calling it cute—a privilege unique to that age group.

As the assistant writers around Gu Yu-na made a fuss and fawned over her, she asked Lim Song-i with a serious expression.

“Sherlock Holmes… Is it okay to make such an overt parody?”

For Gu Yu-na, who found it difficult to create human characters, this was the best she could do.

But legal issues could complicate matters.

Moreover, the boundaries between homage, parody, and plagiarism are indeed vague.

However, Lim Song-i saw it as merely a cute concern.

“Haha, legally, there’s no problem. Sherlock Holmes is a work whose copyright has expired.”

“But, still…”

“Are you worried about being accused of plagiarism?”

Gu Yu-na, startled, nodded her head.

To reassure her, Lim Song-i thought for a moment before giving an example.

“Well… First off, Sherlock Holmes is a character that many authors have already drawn upon. So, you don’t have to worry about accusations of plagiarism.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Authors like Maurice Leblanc and Umberto Eco have referenced Sherlock a lot, and not just in novels. Disney and Nintendo have also created many characters inspired by Sherlock, some even using the name Sherlock Holmes directly.”

Sherlock Holmes.

He is no longer just a character in a novel.

“Sherlock Holmes has become a genre unto itself. He’s become a character inseparable from the detective genre. So, anyone who accuses your novel of plagiarizing Sherlock Holmes would first have to contend with the long history of detective fiction, wouldn’t they?”

“Then, that’s a relief…”

Gu Yu-na sighed in cautious relief.

Lim Song-i looked at her with affection yet couldn’t suppress a sense of disappointment within herself.

She didn’t mention it to Gu Yu-na, but ‘The Automaton Murder Case’ felt a bit too juvenile.

Yes, it carried an atmosphere akin to children’s literature.

At best, it was adolescent literature. It felt like something that would hang in a middle or high school library with a ‘Must-Read Books for Teenagers’ tag.

Of course, that’s not a bad thing.

If adult literature is superior to children’s literature, does that mean ‘The Little Prince’ is less literary than the ‘adult’ books that fill the bookstores?

It’s just that Lim Song-i had expected Gu Yu-na to show a bit more maturity in her writing.

After all, she was a friend of Moon In-seop.

The sharp tone Gu Yu-na had shown in the Baekhak Entertainment reception room reminded Lim Song-i of Moon In-seop she had seen on TV.

So she had hoped to see the second Moon In-seop in Gu Yu-na…

Well, it’s not strange for a middle schooler to write stories appropriate for her age.

Rather, isn’t it remarkable that a middle schooler wrote something of this level?

With that thought to ease the slight disappointment, Lim Song-i continued reading ‘The Automaton Murder Case.’

As Lim Song-i anticipated, ‘The Automaton Murder Case’ followed the conventions of mystery fiction with a lively tone.

A cat detective and his lion assistant investigated the secrets behind the Automaton Murder Case throughout 19th century London.

Sometimes they faced sarcasm for making a fuss over a mere broken machine, and at times, automatons working in factories shed tears and thanked Holmes for investigating the death of a comrade.

The exaggerated characters and contrasting character traits felt like reading a well-crafted fairy tale at times.

As Lim Song-i’s assessment of the novel gradually improved,

At some point, the novel revealed its darker side.

And added two letters in front of the genre ‘fairy tale.’

‘Cruel.’

* * *

「The German army… The German army filled the horizon.」

「In our deeply dug trenches, those damned automatons, those goddamn fucking pieces of metal, stormed in, roamed every corner of the trenches, and chopped off my comrades’ heads with entrenching tools.」

「Detective sir, do not be fooled. Those things, they’re not human.」

*****

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