Chapter 46: Jules Verne

< Chapter 46: Jules Verne – 4 >Hans and Johann.

The two, who each received the name ‘Johannes,’ had an exceptionally persistent and ill-fated friendship.

Specifically, due to their predecessors’ connection, they were inevitably deeply entwined.

In simple terms, Hans’s father, a wealthy merchant, had brought in Johann’s father, a poor nobleman, as his ‘legal advisor.’

This was to participate in a national project that required a noble title to even get a foot in the door.

For Johann’s father, who was on the verge of renouncing his noble title at the Ministry of Heraldry, it was a lifeline.

In truth, Hans’s father had chosen him simply because he thought he could rent the title at a low cost.

What Hans’s father did not foresee was:

– “…Excuse me? Our Johannes Merchant Guild has been appointed to supply materials for the Imperial Capital’s maintenance project?”

Johann’s father had an extraordinary ability as a ‘legal advisor.’ Initially, it was just to raise the merchant guild’s prestige by attaching its name to an imperial project, but somehow they ended up taking on a crucial role.

The project was spearheaded by the Emperor of that time─who had since abdicated─with the full might of the imperial household behind it.

In truth, the Johannes Merchant Guild at that time didn’t have the capacity to handle such a large project. Nonetheless, as merchants, once they secured a significant contract, there was no way to back out.

They had to find a way to push the project through to success. Current capacity and resources were secondary concerns.

High risk, high return. They would either fail to fulfill the contract and have the guild seized by the imperial family, or somehow complete it and make the guild’s name known throughout the empire.

Thus, with the help of Johann’s father, Hans’s father utilized every conceivable extra-legal and illegal means to fulfill the contract successfully.

They succeeded in transforming from a mid-sized to a giant merchant guild.

– “Haha! Thank you! This is all thanks to you, Advisor!”

– “You have worked hard as well, Guild Master.”

Thus, the two became inseparable partners. They even promised to split the guild’s name, ‘Johannes,’ and give it to their firstborn sons. Johann was born first, followed by Hans. That was the agreement.

The persistent bond between the two began in this way.

“Today will finally be my victory.”

“Ha! We shall see to whom the Lord smiles.”

“Tsk, tsk, give up your stubbornness. Haven’t you learned anything from losing the duel?”

“It’s you who should stop being so unreasonable! After all, haven’t I won more duels overall?”

“That’s only because you grew faster when we were young. Haven’t I won more recently? It’s a bit pathetic for a man to cling to childhood glories.”

“You’re the one refusing to acknowledge the truth, acting unreasonably! How shameful!”

Even with the ‘Homer’ writer in front of them, their reactions were no different from usual. Given that they caused a ruckus by challenging each other to duels even at an award ceremony, this was unsurprising.

Watching them, Homer─, Ed, laughed lightly and introduced himself.

“Yes, yes. Nice to meet you. You must have heard from the Herodotus writer, but I’m Homer. He had urgent business, so I came in his place.”

“It’s an honor to be called by you, Homer.”

“Yes. Did you both bring your works?”

The two, as if they had been waiting, took out their respective works from their bags. Thus began their private little contest.

* * *

Johan’s novel was close to a ‘historical novel.’ To express the theme of adventure, he set his work against the backdrop of an ancient era when most maps were still unknown, writing a biographical piece about an adventurer’s guild.

It seemed as if he had referenced Don Quixote, or perhaps a literal ‘travelogue’ rather than a novel.

Hans’ novel was a typical ‘revenge story.’ The protagonist, preparing for revenge while wandering through various countries and territories, left a strong impression.

It appeared to draw deep inspiration from The Count of Monte Cristo, with occasional fantasy elements reminiscent of the Conan saga.

The distinct feature was the lack of ‘detective novel’ elements.

Both had clearly tried to avoid the usual detective novel atmosphere to tackle the new theme of ‘adventure novels.’

I placed the manuscripts on the desk with a smile, looking at the two who were watching me with tense expressions.

“Both are good. Each has a clear style that made it enjoyable to read.”

“Yes!”

“Since the genres of the two novels are so different, it’s hard to compare them directly… You’ve heard from Herodotus, right? We’re thinking of doing a ‘planned publication.’”

“Yes!”

“Recently, a writer I know said this: the evaluation of a work should be left entirely to the readers. So, how about deciding the winner through a reader vote this time as well?”

“What?”

“Sounds good!”

Johan asked in bewilderment, while Hans nodded in agreement with my opinion.

This reaction was expected. If the winner were decided by reader votes, Hans’ novel, following the straightforward and popular ‘revenge plot,’ would receive more votes.

Both of them, being readers of Half and Half, would know how the reader voting process worked.

Johan raised his voice belatedly.

“That, that would be a bit disadvantageous for me, wouldn’t it?”

“Ha! Johan, you don’t intend to back out now, do you?”

“I don’t intend to, but the agreement was to have our works evaluated by Homer and Herodotus—.”

“Didn’t they say they would evaluate through a reader vote? Accept it!”

“Both of you, calm down. This reader vote will be a bit different from the last Half and Half.”

“What?”

“I was thinking of introducing a rating system—preference.”

I explained the newly conceived method of reader voting to them. This time, while the readers would still send in their votes via postcards, they could also rate each work. The winner would be decided based on these ratings.

“Like the evaluation of Hamlet’s performance?”

“Similar, but a bit simpler… We’ll use a five-star system, with five stars being the highest score and the number of stars determining the score. If they found it very satisfying, they give five stars; if they thought it was terrible, they give one star. Something like that.”

“Hmm… It certainly seems like a reasonable method.”

If this reader vote succeeded, I planned to have magazines or publishing companies regularly rate works in this way in the future. That would make it easier to find entertaining novels.

I had a plan. A plan to read interesting novels.

The adventure project, including “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” “Fifteen Boys Adrift,” and the historical novel and revenge story written by the two authors, was published together.

The first work to capture the readers’ attention was “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

Considering that “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” was published under the pseudonym ‘Herodotus,’ it meant that Herodotus’ work was gaining more popularity than Homer’s novel.

“20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a masterpiece! Who else could depict the deep sea so fantastically and vividly? Drawing a map of the sea beneath the blue surface is not something any ordinary person can do. The extensive knowledge about the ocean filled in the novel is truly magical. As expected of the author of ‘Sherlock Holmes.’”

“Indeed, I found myself more drawn to ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ than to ‘Fifteen Boys Adrift.’ If I could travel under the sea, I wouldn’t spare any expense.”

“By the way, I’ve heard that among the wizards’ items, there’s a ship that can dive underwater.”

“Is there really something like a submarine?”

“If there’s a locomotive, then there must be a submarine as well.”

“Wow.”

This conversation sparked people’s interest in what was called ‘the latest technology.’ Though ‘The Little Prince’ featured an airplane, the nature of the ‘fairy tale’ genre made it difficult to capture significant interest.

Many people didn’t even know what an airplane was, thinking of it merely as a small airship or balloon.

However, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” was different. The principles of submarines, ocean currents, and the vegetation of the seabed, among other extensive knowledge, made “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” the beginning of ‘scientific novels.’

Furthermore, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” was filled with Jules Verne’s progressive enthusiasm. Thanks to this, people became interested in adventure and technology, leading to a sudden surge in investments in Magi-engineering.

“Please, let me ride that submarine at least once!”

“Uh… it’s still unstable, so it might be a bit dangerous for people to ride. The reason it’s dangerous is because… there’s something called water pressure in the sea…”

However, all the attention was not solely focused on “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” Homer’s new work, “Fifteen Boys Adrift,” also received significant attention. Surprisingly, it was especially popular among older nobles.

“Son, today I’ll read you ‘Fifteen Boys Adrift.’”

“Okay.”

It was more the role of middle-aged individuals to admire the story filled with the innocence and passion of children, rather than teenagers. Thanks to this, children naturally encountered “Fifteen Boys Adrift.”

“I had times full of such passion too. I was so young back then… Thinking back now, I was quite foolish. Hehe… Do you want to hear about my childhood?”

“Dad.”

“Yes, my son.”

“Please read the next page.” Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ NƟvelFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Alright…”

While the Empire was buzzing with excitement over the new works once again, Homer, who had planned all of this, was facing a peculiar guest.

“Nice to meet you. I am Andy, the Duke of Kapeter.”

“Pardon?”

“Feel free to call me Andy.”

“Pardon?”

He was facing a peculiar knight in the attire of a wandering knight.