The Plagiarist

Lorry had expected more, but after venting with a low growl, Miles merely shut his mouth, his expression grim.

He could see that Miles was struggling to hold himself back, yet seemed unwilling to disparage someone behind his back, even someone he had fallen out with.

Mr. Miles really is a kindhearted man. Unfortunately, the kinder people are, the more easily they get hurt... An idea struck Lorry, and he deliberately asked:

"What's wrong, Mr. Miles? Did the two of you have a disagreement?

"He seemed quite nice to me, not someone who would be difficult to get along with. Could there have been some misunderstanding?"

He had exchanged a few words with Alyosha at the salon.

Those words proved to be the last straw. Miles could no longer contain the emotions he had forcibly suppressed, and he sneered:

"That's because you were fooled by his act!

"Frankly, if Alyosha hadn't chosen to become a writer, he would undoubtedly have become the finest stage actor in Backlund!

"His gentlemanly manners, his grace-it's all a facade. He...

"He's nothing but a despicable thief!"

Thanks. That one caught me in the crossfire... As a Beyonder of the Marauder Pathway, Lorry silently grumbled to himself and adopted an attentive posture.

As everyone knew, once the floodgates opened, they were hard to close.

Without any further prompting from Lorry, Miles launched into an account of the past. "Lab was the one who brought Alyosha into the profession."

"Lab was the previous tenant of your house."

He paused briefly to explain, then continued, "Since he and I were close, I gradually became friends with Alyosha too."

"I can swear to the Goddess that both Lab and I gave him a great deal of help throughout his career."

"But that man... he actually got us drunk and plagiarized our manuscripts!"

"At the time, Lab and I were each working on a detective novel. But when we submitted them to a publisher, they were rejected on the grounds that they didn't accept plagiarized work."

"We wrote back asking why. Only then did we learn that Alyosha had published a new book half a month earlier, with a plot almost identical to our manuscripts!"

No wonder Mr. Miles reacted so strongly when I asked him to help mail my manuscript. So that was why...

He really is a despicable little... er, a despicable plagiarist...

Filled with righteous indignation, Lorry said:

"And you just let him steal the fruits of your labor?

"You should sue him."

Miles looked grief-stricken and furious, his teeth grinding audibly. "Of course we sued him! But we had no direct evidence to support our accusations, so we lost."

"After all, Alyosha's new book had been published first."

"And he was very cunning. He only plagiarized the main plot. The names, places, and other elements were his own, and he even added a few extra twists."

"Even our lawyer advised us not to waste any more energy on it. Lab and I couldn't stomach it, but we lost the second hearing too."

"Lab couldn't take the blow and chose to leave Backlund."

"And with all my enthusiasm exhausted, I decided never to write detective novels again. I started writing suspense and horror instead."

After recounting his ordeal in a dispirited voice, he said bitterly:

"I also tried exposing the truth to other writers, but they didn't believe Alyosha would do such a thing. Instead, they thought I was jealous of him.

"Several old friends distanced themselves from me over this.

"Thank you, Raven.

"I feel much better after telling you."

He sighed and said quietly, "I don't expect you to believe it. After all, Alyosha puts on a very convincing act."

"But you must be wary of him. Don't let him get his hands on your manuscripts..."

Before Miles could finish, Lorry interrupted him with a soft chuckle:

"I believe you, Mr. Miles.

"When you told me how well Young Roselle was doing a while ago, I could tell you were genuinely happy for me.

"So I believe you wouldn't be jealous of a friend's success. You'd be happy for him instead. This must be true."

Miles pressed his lips tightly together, looking as though he was about to lose control and burst into tears.

After a long silence, he murmured another word of thanks, then immediately turned to look out the window. Silence returned to the carriage.

64 Iris Street, Hillston District.

They stepped out of the carriage one after the other. Still dispirited, Miles gave Lorry a slight nod in farewell and headed toward his house.

Just then, Lorry's voice rang out from the darkness behind him. "Mr. Miles, are you really going to let this go?"

"Yes. Losing a manuscript was worth it to see someone's true colors."

Without turning around, Miles shook his head gently. His steps faltered for an instant, and he said quietly, "Raven, don't dwell on this either."

"Without evidence... pursuing it won't do any good. I told you all this mainly to warn you to be careful of him."

"Continuing to pursue this will only hurt us."

He turned and looked intently at Lorry, his gaze filled with concern.

Lorry shrugged and smiled.

"Don't worry. I never do anything I'm not confident about.

"See you tomorrow, Mr. Miles."

Once home, Lorry immediately stored his Mystical Items separately, then filled the bathtub with warm water and settled comfortably into it.

As he relaxed in the bath, he thought about Mr. Miles's predicament.

His neighbor and fellow writer had been genuinely good to him.

Whether helping him contact an underground publisher or persuading the deputy editor-in-chief to publish Young Roselle, Miles had played a crucial role.

If he hadn't known about the plagiarism, that would have been one thing.

Now that he knew, he felt obliged to do something.

Good people couldn't always be the ones staring down a gun barrel.

"But how should I help?"

Only Lorry's head remained above the water, his eyes flickering thoughtfully.

Financial compensation?

That would be easy.

With my Marauder abilities, once I find out where Alyosha lives, leaving him even a single coin would mean my skills aren't up to scratch.

But from their interactions over this period, he had noticed that Miles wasn't particularly eager for money. His attitude was essentially that having enough to get by was sufficient.

He cared more about his career-or rather, his work.

Lorry suddenly slapped his thigh as inspiration struck.

"Why not try clearing Mr. Miles's name?

"Something an ordinary person can't do isn't necessarily beyond a Beyonder. I can name at least three approaches without even thinking.

"Good. That's what I'll do."

"I should repay people's kindness as soon as possible, in case... it becomes too late." He pressed his lips together, once again remembering the old man from Koyar Village.

The next day was Friday.

Lorry selected a burial plot of the highest standard for the old man in an East Borough cemetery. After paying his respects, he headed toward the apartment at 198 Neeson Street.

As agreed, he intended to tell Inspector Gana the exact location. But as soon as he opened the mailbox, he saw a postmarked envelope.

The date showed that it had been delivered yesterday morning, and the sender was listed as Gana.

Did he hear about Baron Percival's suicide and write specifically to tell me...? Lorry instinctively guessed as he opened the envelope.

His gaze swept over the letter.

His eyes abruptly froze.

The chief of Inspector Gana's police precinct, who had been close to the New Party, had died in the line of duty yesterday while leading an operation against a gang.