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The former hero Sherlock Holmes and the British naval commander Horatio Nelson were not contemporaries, but as someone who lived in a very recent period, Holmes would surely have considered Nelson one of his country’s greatest commanders.

So, among the many historical warships that briefly flashed through Jeongjae’s mind, it was no coincidence that the name of the genius admiral who had frustrated Napoleon was firmly stuck there.

“By the way, what on earth is she planning…”

It’s an ambitious project to create a gigantic ironclad ship measuring 50 meters long and 10 meters wide with a two-story structure. There will be ten gun ports, five on each side. People in this world are so unfamiliar with the concept of ‘cannon ships’ that they will see it as an overwhelmingly large number.

Of course, from Jeongjae’s perspective, even without sails, a ship with ten gun ports resembling a battleship is not a large number. However, the bizarre caliber of the battlefield cannons sufficiently explains why Jenis could not place any more gun turrets on her ship.

When Jeongjae studied the history of the Warring States in Caprice, the emergence of cannons was treated in an ambiguous manner, seeming important yet not particularly significant.

In history books, the introduction of cannons was depicted as a critical moment that allowed powerful noble families or kingdom-level forces to subdue minor rebel forces. In other words, as gun emplacements began to be deployed, simple rebels or peasant armies who couldn’t utilize magical armor couldn’t endure amidst the great powers of the continent, resulting in a transition from a situation reminiscent of the Spring and Autumn period to a Warring States period dominated by a few strong nations.

But that’s all. Contrarily to Earth’s history, the dense infantry formations gained overwhelming defensive prowess against cannon fire, and as a result, lords and generals no longer felt it was worth studying cannons as a tactical option. Thus, small-caliber cannons were either discarded or stored away for eventual use against potential uprisings, and those that barely survived to the present were the enormous siege cannons created solely to use larger projectiles during sieges.

The number of cannons unofficially stockpiled at the Empire’s military warehouse is in the dozens. It was precisely for this reason that Jeongjae could easily receive and utilize cannons from Caprice.

However, the royal family only officially maintained two pieces of artillery. They were dragon killer-class siege cannons. With a bore diameter of 60 cm, moving them onto the battlefield requires at least six horses, and these dreadful weapons were made for testing performance as anti-aircraft weapons to be used in emergencies.

Of course, the fact that these dragon killer siege cannons were not mobilized for the Northern Expeditionary Force made it clear they were failures. Even if fired, it was highly likely they wouldn’t deal a meaningful blow to a dragon, aiming was difficult, and maintaining and transporting such cumbersome iron masses was far too troublesome for Walter, who wasn’t obsessed with cannonry.

Yet Jenis had made the horrifying and terrible decision to take the cannons rotting in this very warehouse and even produce eight more identical ones to mount onto the ironclad ship.

The weight of the projectiles or iron balls for such cannons is unbearable for a human. Jenis had noted a small memo that suggested “upgrading the ship’s artillery from front-mounted to rear-mounted,” acknowledging the difficulties of loading, but even that wouldn’t solve the issue…

“Ah, well, I guess she’s smarter than me. She must have thought about it well.”

After a brief moment of contemplation, Jeongjae decided that unlike Walter, who had poked and prodded at this strange plan, he didn’t need to dwell on the matter any longer. He wasn’t a military expert, and he was even less of an expert on shipbuilding.

However, he felt he could offer a piece of advice uniquely suited to him and consider Jenis’s thoughts.

Jeongjae took out a small piece of paper, swiftly jotted down a brief message, and activated the magic circle for short-sending spells.

This magic was designed to extremely simplify teleportation and only send short ‘messages.’ Any ordinary magician wouldn’t even think about using it without a mana device in Eramenia, but since Jeongjae had an excess of mana from not engaging in combat lately, it was an entertaining spell for him to try.

The short message he sent to Jenis read:

‘You are not proficient enough to lift a ship and use the Van Fleet scroll on your own yet.’

These gigantic cannons were obviously intended as weapons against the kraken. It was a grand plan to truly use the ‘dragon killer’ for dragon-hunting.

If fired at close range, the dragon killer cannons could inflict fatal damage upon a kraken; however, considering that Jenis directly participated in the defense of Harriet’s Territory…

It was hard to believe that she would design such a massive cannon without keeping in mind the infinite bombardment magic created by Jeongjae. However, how would it be possible for Jenis to handle it with her current skills? The Van Fleet spell was a powerful magic that even Jeongjae struggled to maintain for more than a few minutes.

The more cannons there are, and the larger the bore size, the harder it becomes to maintain that magic. The likelihood of Jenis being able to stably operate five gigantic 60-cm cannons is zero. If such capabilities existed, there would have been no need to struggle to tow the ship; one could simply drop the Manhattan spell in the center of the Demon King’s Territory…

At any rate, it was clear that Jenis’s plans were serious military secrets, so Jeongjae made sure to restore her designs to their original form, or even better, in case of any unexpected intruders.

Surely, it wouldn’t have been the case that Jeongjae’s office had been invaded by some strange being, but recently he had a strange feeling that someone had been coming and going frequently.

“Am I being too paranoid…”

Jeongjae murmured as he shoved the well-sealed documents into the drawer and locked it. There were no issues with the security magic circles, and suspicious traces… probably none. But why did he feel so uneasy every single day?

Today, as part of his routine, Jeongjae slowly made his way toward the armory. On days when there were no administrative duties, Jeongjae generally spent his time either strolling around or descending into the basement.

The volumes of records left by Sherlock Holmes were certainly not small, but Jeongjae had already read the English documents many times over.

No matter how much he read, there were many intriguing aspects. Particularly striking were the traces of Holmes’s efforts to explore the principles of the Moriarty Machine and the parts where he despaired due to his failures, as well as moments where his humanity occasionally shined through.

Among the records left by Sherlock Holmes, there was this passage:

‘The air here is clear, but I now realize how much I loved the smoky air of London. Professor Van Helsing is a good friend, but among those I opened my heart to, none is missed more than my friend Watson. How would he record and remember my last moves in Europe, considering I thought I had long since perished?’

In the past, Jeongjae had thought that the excuse Holmes provided for not revealing he was alive after appearing before Watson in ‘The Adventure of the Empty House’ was quite bothersome.

According to the contents of the novels known to be written by Arthur Conan Doyle, Holmes claimed that after Moriarty’s death he had to conceal his survival due to ongoing issues with Moriarty’s remaining followers. He argued that he held back for years because he feared the honest Watson would not be able to lie convincingly if he learned of his existence.

But if he truly considered Holmes a friend, how cruel of a response and excuse could that be? Watson, despite not easily showing his own wounds, could not hide that he had been hurt at that point. He merely thought, ‘If it’s Holmes, he could do that.’

However, as he continued reading Holmes’s personal records, he began to view that part differently.

Sherlock Holmes was a person of much greater sensitivity than he appeared. Aside from the detailed accounts of methods to combat the Demon King’s Army and the tumultuous state of contemporary warfare, there were far too many personal reflections and journals he had left behind.

Holmes missed his old friends, and he didn’t hide his thoughts that if he were to find a way to reunite with them, he would wish to return at any moment.

Sometimes, he meticulously wrote about how he would approach returning to London, what kind of excuses he would give, and how he could reunite with his friend. There were plans to sneak into Watson’s home disguised as a patient to surprise him, and he also contemplated secretly contacting the press to announce his return through an article without informing Watson.

Yet at the end of all this deliberation, there came a bitter monologue questioning whether it was really like him to have such fantasies without knowing how to return or if such a thing even existed.

Jeongjae couldn’t help but overlap his own figure with that of the great detective from a century ago.

“What on earth… have I done…”

As Jeongjae rummaged once again through Sherlock Holmes’s diary deep in the basement, he quietly muttered while returning the book to the shelf. Even a detective notoriously known for being antisocial had left traces of such worry.

He had left behind records filled with concerns for those around him who would be saddened by his death.

Did he brazenly push forward the notion of ‘Does it not matter if I die?’ to those who hold him dear in this world? Had he said such a thing?

Due to his own confusion and pain, had he not pushed something far too cruel onto others? Was it not so?

The thousands of words of concern from those worried about him became a solid edifice, and the record of a Victorian-era British citizen from a century ago placed the final brick upon it, giving flight to his heart. Perhaps Jeongjae thought he might find a reason to cherish his life in this world. If there were those who might shed tears before his death, it felt like he still had a reason to live.

“I must live. If I am that important of a person, I must live.”

Jeongjae gently stroked the glass casing over the Moriarty Machine.

Sherlock Holmes was not a professional scientist, but he was not entirely devoid of scientific knowledge either. To acquire the knowledge necessary for investigation, Holmes obtained numerous chemical insights and conducted his own research. Traces of his belief that he could redesign Moriarty’s machine based on the mana theory he researched in this world were discovered here and there.

Yet, despite also reaching a considerable level of mana knowledge, Jeongjae could see that in the end, Holmes had failed to even identify the operational principles of the Moriarty Machine, let alone redesign it. Most of his research yielded such outcomes.

‘Then, could it be that the brain I took pride in as the only rival of the Napoleon of the criminal world did not even measure up to half of his? Is the fact that I could eliminate Moriarty’s influence in London just a pure coincidence? Can I not even follow in parallel to the remarkable accomplishments he achieved in a short time because my talents differ from his, or is it because his abilities are vastly superior to mine?’

The lofty and eccentric detective, who seemed as though he would never bow his pride to anyone, felt a serious inferiority complex toward his life-long rival simply because he could not solve this riddle.

And Jeongjae, who couldn’t think of a way to store mana in mechanical devices no matter how hard he racked his brains, empathized with his pain.

“I can’t just dismantle this…”

Had there been a replica or spare device regarding this apparatus, Jeongjae would not have hesitated to disassemble it for research. But Moriarty, who had been momentarily allied with Holmes, did not seem to have aimed to create anything beyond the Moriarty Machine, concerned that Sherlock Holmes would dismantle and research his own devices beforehand.

In retrospect, it was a reasonable judgment. Ultimately, Holmes succeeded in driving Moriarty from the central Empire with a grand scheme of massive battleships spread across the Empire’s periphery.

Despite using such methods, Holmes didn’t harbor a strong desire for it, but he excused it in his diary as a necessary choice for self-defense. The ‘Holy Sword’ chose Simon Harriet as the hero and expelled Moriarty. Out of jealousy over this fact, Moriarty conducted behind-the-scenes maneuvers to topple Holmes from his position as hero, and it was this very Moriarty who broke the alliance first, according to Holmes’s records.

Jeongjae realized this was not a justification intended for anyone else but rather a personal diary for his own collection, so he believed that Holmes had no particular reason to lie. If the purpose had been to justify his history, he would have written it not in English but in the common language of the Audrich Empire.

And within those records, there was one more intriguing fact left regarding the Moriarty Machine. This apparatus was originally developed for the purpose of ‘hunting Dracula.’

Holmes and Van Helsing had even made attempts to use the contraption in actual combat against Dracula a couple of times. The device was shaped like a coffin to output stored holy power while simultaneously pushing Dracula into the coffin to confine him within a ‘holy power box’ and turn him to ashes.

Moriarty cooperated actively with this plan during his hostile days toward Dracula, but after Van Helsing’s strong memories of battling Dracula during his Earth days, he underestimated Dracula’s power, leading to a failed outcome.

Thus, it explains why Dracula was aware of this device being hidden in Harriet Castle and showed considerable interest in it. After all, how could anyone not be concerned about a weapon created with the sole intent of killing them, which had almost succeeded in doing so, remaining somewhere alive?

Then, the question left for Jeongjae was why hadn’t a more powerful assault struck Harriet’s Territory?

Dracula was clearly a member of the Demon King’s Army. If this device was that significant, why could Dracula, who is presumed to have been involved with the Demon King’s Army for a long time, not execute a stronger landing operation against Harriet’s Territory?

Was the Demon King’s landing battle fought without Dracula’s awareness? While it was indeed a threatening assault, it felt rather anticlimactic to say that it was a campaign by the Demon King conscious of the ‘Moriarty Machine.’ Even though it seemed impossible with dragons, if even five wyverns had caught Jeongjae’s attention in the air, he might have opted to flee with his people to Harker Count’s Territory, abandoning the domain.

Of course, it might be impossible to permanently integrate Harriet’s Territory into the Demon King’s Territory, but they could have seized the castle and had enough time to search for the machine before Jeongjae’s counterattack. Simply sending a few hundred ships alongside the kraken sounded like nothing more than a strategic miscalculation. Or was it hinting at another seed of discord within the Demon King’s Army?

Jeongjae felt a tangle in his mind. However, one thing was clear to him. The cohesion of the Demon King’s Army had never been solid. In order for humanity, which is overwhelmingly outnumbered and disadvantaged in mobilization, to overcome this crisis, it was essential to exploit this weakness.

 

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