Sherlock Holmes - 4 [Phantom Thief Haxen VS Sherlock Holmes]
The work serialized in a magazine called Mini & Life was a mystery novel that brazenly exploited Sherlock Holmes's fame.
There wasn't anything particularly special about the content. It was mostly about a phantom thief named Reins Haxen toying with the detective Sherlock Holmes. The standout feature was how it cleverly adapted the structure of the "mystery novel" from Sherlock Holmes.
Surprisingly, it wasn't bad as a mystery novel in terms of completion.
"Shouldn't we protest to the magazine? We need to request mediation right away—"
"No, well, honestly, as long as a decent work comes out, that's enough for me…."
My evaluation of this piece was simple.
"This isn't fun."
"Pardon?"
"He's no Maurice Leblanc."
It wasn't fun. Maurice Leblanc, infamous among Sherlockians for his Arsène Lupin series, was still an outstanding writer. In the French-speaking world, Lupin's popularity even surpassed Holmes's. But this Phantom Thief Haxen… honestly, it wasn't on that level. It was influenced by Sherlock Holmes, but there were still many immature aspects.
"How should we handle this…."
Under imperial law, character names—proper nouns—weren't included in the scope of copyright. Not as an exception, but because it wasn't detailed in the first place. There weren't even sufficient precedents yet. So, the empire could punish it if they wanted, to that extent. That would make this a precedent.
But attempting this tightrope walk showed this guy wasn't your average person.
"The author's name… Lionel Balzac?"
Hmm. I liked the name a bit. It was great for tormenting translators. The spelling would be different, of course.
Given how he mimicked the emerging structure of mystery novels to write something like this, he seemed to have real talent.
"Do you know who it is?"
"I've never heard of a family named Balzac. Probably a commoner or using a pen name, right?"
"Yeah. Hmm."
Various keywords swirled in my mind. Sherlock Holmes. Maurice Leblanc. Phantom Thief Haxen. Balzac. Plagiarism and character copyright….
And I decided.
"Alright. I've made up my mind."
"Shall I prepare the lawsuit?"
"No. We need to serialize one more novel in Half and Half."
"…Pardon?"
As a Sherlockian, I had some resistance to publishing that novel for various reasons. But since someone had volunteered as a punching bag, it worked out perfectly.
"I was wondering how to change the character names in this work… but I can just take them as is from here."
A mystery novel riding on Sherlock Holmes's fame, and the great adventure novel that established the archetype of the phantom thief Arsène Lupin. As an English literature major, it was hard to view favorably, but as a reader who loves novels, I couldn't help but feel affection for it.
"Let's show them what a real phantom thief is."
The gentleman phantom thief Arsène Lupin. There would be no more Arsène Lupin ripping off Sherlock Holmes.
Instead—
"Arsène Lupin VS Reins Haxen. Hmm. Sounds pretty good."
Only an Arsène Lupin ripping off Reins Haxen, who ripped off Sherlock Holmes, would remain. It would be quite a spectacle once it serialized.
I wondered if this Lionel guy knew how glorious this was. His character name would be sandwiched between the two most famous characters in mystery novel history!
Future mystery enthusiasts would envy him, calling it a reward.
"Hmm, wouldn't it be better to just punish him? I'm curious why you're going this far, young master."
"Well, it's a genre novel too…."
It was a bit impulsive, but.
"I like the name."
"Lionel, you mean?"
"No. Balzac. It's a name that seems like it'll produce lots of fun works."
"Is that so…?"
Arsène Lupin is a mystery novel and an adventure novel at the same time. Among them, it's an adventure novel mixed with somewhat fantastical and mystical elements. In a way, it was quintessentially French.
"This is funnnn…. Personally, it might even be better than Sherlock Holmes…?"
"Thanks as always."
This novel was also completed with advice from Milli Cleang. Especially since she was a huge fan of the Conan Saga, she absolutely loved the adventure novel Arsène Lupin. She even rated it higher than Sherlock Holmes.
The finished novel was serialized in Half and Half alongside Sherlock Holmes.
"A new work from Herodotus? Instead of wasting time on this, why not upload two episodes of Sherlock Holmes?"
"Right? Of course it'll be fun since it's Herodotus, but I'm dying to know what happens next in Holmes!"
People expressed concerns that Sherlock Holmes serialization might slow down—
"But this is super fun too…?"
"Br-bring the next issue! What happens?!"
Once the Arsène Lupin series officially started serializing, complaints about using that time to do two episodes of Sherlock Holmes vanished. Because the Arsène Lupin series was just as fun as Sherlock Holmes.
In particular, the unique appeal of the phantom thief character and the series' signature eerie yet fantastical atmosphere deeply captivated readers.
"More stuff to read—great! This is the joy of life! So when's the next one? What? A week later?"
"Argh! This is hell!"
People who had been desperately waiting for the next Sherlock Holmes.
Now they had to desperately wait for the next Arsène Lupin too.
It was hell in the truest sense of serialized novels.
"Isn't Herodotus a demon sent by Heaven to test us…?"
"Cutting off the story at such a cliffhanger! How can a human do this?!"
Some even brought up the old street rumor of the "Homerus Saint Theory," claiming Herodotus was an "apostle of the devil" opposing Homerus. Of course, it was so irreverent that no one took it seriously. It just meant their thirst for the "next episode" had grown that much.
Incidents of people trying to raid publishing houses only to be subdued by detectives from the White Rock Detective Agency increased too.
And there was an inevitable issue when famous works serialized simultaneously—
"Arsène Lupin is the true gentleman! He always protects ladies and upholds justice no matter what!"
"Ha! Still a thief at the end of the day, isn't he? Sherlock Holmes is the true hero! He pursues justice and drags criminals to the courtroom!"
It was the "VS game."
Sherlock Holmes VS Arsène Lupin was one of the endless debates that continued even into modern times in my previous life. But in this world, both works were serializing simultaneously. Naturally, Sherlock Holmes and Arsène Lupin became objects of comparison.
"Arsène Lupin is a righteous thief!"
"Where's a righteous thief? Small thief or big thief, a thief's a thief!"
"Better than a druggie hooked on his pipe!"
"Better than a petty crook hooked on crime!"
"Duel!"
"Duel!"
The gentlemanly phantom thief Arsène Lupin, who prioritizes his country and justice. The eccentric but justice-pursuing, cheerful Sherlock Holmes. Debates over which character was better raged endlessly.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this argument filled every tavern, park, street, and shop in the empire all day long.
"Wh-what about Phantom Thief Haxen?"
"Haxen? Oh, that idiot who messed up against Arsène Lupin and caused an accident?"
Phantom Thief Haxen… was rated as a somewhat significant side character in Arsène Lupin. Almost no one remembered Phantom Thief Haxen VS Sherlock Holmes.
And.
"Author! I love you!"
"A man's love is a bit…."
"Haha!"
The president of Half and Half, Ryan, capitalized on the popularity of Sherlock Holmes and Arsène Lupin to mass-produce and sell character merchandise. He benchmarked the exact strategy from The Little Prince. In a way, it might have been even more effective than The Little Prince. After all, the essence of character merchandise appealed to the characters' charm.
"I've sent most of the profits to your account, so please check! You'll be shocked! Haha!"
"Ah, sure."
My wealth increased again. Maybe I could use this to run a publishing support program for aspiring writers. Or even establish an arts foundation. But first—
"Hello. I'm Manny Clever, president of Mini & Life."
"Yes. Author Herodotus."
I planned to meet the author Lionel Balzac once. He seemed to have talent for mimicking structures. I could enroll him in our academy and stuff his head full of novels.
"Hello."
"Who are you…?"
"I'm author Herodotus. This is Lionel Balzac's—"
"I'm sorry! I have no face to show! Please be merciful!"
Eh, not at all what I imagined.
"I needed money! The editor said if I wrote it this way, he'd raise my fee… I'm truly sorry!"
"Hmm?"