Chapter 15 – On the Meaning of Fairies

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The European world... No, the Anglo-American world is truly bizarre.

I put down the newspapers Bentley had brought to boast about officially becoming the president.

"As expected... It's amazing."

"Haha. Isn't it much better than selling less than expected?"

"Well, that's true."

Bentley made a playful comment, and I had no choice but to play along.

It was burdensome, but isn't this all for the sake of making a living? So, making good money was more important than anything else.

"Thanks to this, our sales in America have tripled... no, quadrupled. This should cover the sales that would have gone to weekly magazines for the time being."

"But that won't last forever, will it? Do you have any plans?"

"Of course. Though not as talented as you, we've secured a reasonably talented writer. You can look forward to it."

"Oh. May I hear the name?"

"Certainly."

And when I heard the name Abraham Stoker from Bentley's mouth, I couldn't help but be greatly surprised.

The author of Dracula? My junior? Wow, I couldn't believe it.

"He originally worked as a theater critic but decided to delve deeper into research and was inspired to submit a manuscript after reading your work. It's a completely different style from yours, but it has a majestic tone that psychologically pressures the reader."

"That's great. I like such writing too. What about others?"

"Among established authors, Thomas Hardy and Henry James have agreed to serialize in our monthly magazine."

"That's... incredible."

I said, genuinely impressed.

Thomas Hardy is a representative of Victorian realism. His notable work is Tess of the d'Urbervilles1. In Korea, he is more famous for Far from the Madding Crowd, which is a genre of... well, a melodramatic revenge tale?

It's a soap opera, but one that is exceptionally well-written.

Henry James, whose full name is Henry James Jr., is one of the pioneers of the Gothic horror genre. If Bram Stoker is the successor of creature horror like Mary Shelley, Henry James focuses on psychological and emotional descriptions, leading to writers like Lovecraft later on.

Just the fact that they both appeared in the same work and created the archetype of the 'haunted house' cliché speaks volumes.

Both authors might be known only to a few in modern Korea, but in the UK, they are highly acclaimed literary giants.

So how could I not feel a sense of greed?

"Can I get a copy of the first editions of their works?"

"Of course. I'll make sure you receive everything our publishing house releases."

Excellent.

I nodded in satisfaction. Getting hold of first editions would significantly increase their value someday.

Seeing my bookshelf fill up with such collections is immensely satisfying.

Yes, having this kind of extra income makes writing from the past worthwhile.

"How about the weekly magazine? It can't be called a magazine if it only features my writing."

"For the time being, we plan to include overseas novels from countries like the US. Or we could bundle in some of the novels we've had for a while but didn't perform well."

"Hmm."

That would indeed give the magazine some variety. It might seem like overpackaging, but that's inevitable.

After all, Japanese light novels often serialize killer titles alongside less popular comics to maintain a specific reader base.

Looking at it this way, Bentley seems quite capable as a manager, if not as a publisher, which is reassuring.

After all, the stability of the publishing house allows the writer to focus on their work without worry.

But...

"By the way, do you have any thoughts on writing essays or papers instead of novels?"

"What?"

What kind of nonsense is this?

I blinked at Bentley.

"Do you mean a literary paper?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that."

I sighed in relief.

As a Korean, I did graduate from university, but it was in public administration, not English literature.

Even my current work is sometimes criticized for being too straightforward and juvenile.

"So what then? Pedagogy?"

Since I write children's literature, this seemed the most likely.

Not that I had any intention of writing in that field. My knowledge of education was limited to watching Dr. Oh Eun-young's broadcasts.

I thought I could just politely decline... so I asked casually.

"No, it's about Theosophy."

Excuse me? What?

"What is that?"

"You don't know?"

"Should I?"

I genuinely asked, having no idea.

Of course, I wasn't entirely ignorant. To be precise, I knew the name.

Despite everything, I used to be a commander, a master, a trainer, a guide, and a teacher in my side job.

It was often mentioned in those contexts.

Theosophy.

A religious philosophy that tries to understand the mysteries of the universe and nature academically rather than attributing them to the divine.

It might sound grand, but in simpler terms, it's just occult settings fandom.

But what? A paper? Is that even a field where one can write a paper?

Bentley quickly waved his hands as if to calm me down.

"Oh, of course, you don't have to know it. It's just a gathering of people who are somewhat eccentric or quirky, looking into the origins of religions, thoughts, and cultures. I just thought you might be knowledgeable about it since you often use names derived from Germanic, Celtic, or Greek mythology in your work."

"My knowledge is mostly self-taught. It's not very accurate."

To begin with, even calling it self-taught is a stretch. More than half of it was naturally picked up through subculture or learned from Paraguay Wiki.

What? Morrigan is the goddess of war? Not the goddess of betrayal and treachery?

"But why a paper? Do you publish that in your magazine? I've occasionally seen literary reviews, but..."

"No, it's not for the magazine. To put it bluntly..."

My editor sighed deeply, looking troubled.

"Some universities and academic associations have requested that you write a paper on fairies and spiritual beings that actually exist in the British Isles."

"What?"

Oh.

Did I hear that right?

Let's go back to the beginning.

Why did I choose "fairies" as the subject for a book to show to children, of all things?

The answer is simple.

"Because it was the best-selling theme of this era."

It was similar to how Hunter stories were all the rage in Korean web novels and how Isekai stories flooded Japanese light novels.

In this era in England, fairies were a trend.

To put it simply, it was fairy tales. Peter Pan would be the most representative example, but it hadn't been released yet.

Trends reflect the tendencies of society.

Hunter stories became popular in Korea due to the fantasy of quick riches and meritocracy, while Isekai stories gained traction in Japan because they stimulated an inner desire to escape from a suffocating reality.

Likewise, the popularity of fairy tales in England represented a social trend.

First, let's think about how the English perceived fairies.

They accepted fairies as avatars of nature, metaphors, or something similar.

This was likely due to the strong influence of Greek mythology.

In Greece, fairies were the main entities of animism and spirit worship.

So why did the English yearn for these fairies, in other words, for nature?

"That's obviously because of the Industrial Revolution."

As I felt in London last time, in a city where it was hard to see even one tree and difficult to catch a glimpse of a clear blue sky, citizens naturally harbored a longing and romanticism for nature.

And this soon converged into a single symbol, which was "fairies."

To compare it to the Korean situation, it's like Seoul citizens tired from work going hiking on weekends, and London citizens felt the same while reading fairy tales.

Of course, I didn't calculate all this when I first wrote a fairy story. Initially, I just chose it because it was a convenient theme to show to children.

But now, it's different.

As an author selling my work, if I didn't analyze and dig into why my writing sold well, I'd soon be left behind.

At least, that's what I thought, so I tried to analyze the market in my own way.

However... it seemed that my analysis was far from sufficient.

I really had no idea how seriously adults of this era took fairies.

"This one is a request from Westminster University. This one is from the American Theosophical Society. And this is from Central Hindu University."

"Oh my, these people aren't doing their research."

"Ha, haha. For them, this might be research. Probably."

Most of them were universities or societies I didn't know, but there were a few famous ones I somewhat recognized.

Was Theosophy really this popular?

"By the way, if I submit an article, how much would the manuscript fee be?"

"Well, it varies, but in the case of Westminster University..."

The amount Bentley mentioned was too significant to ignore.

Huh, I was tempted.

Moreover, listening to the story, this famous university wanted my cultural perspective as an author on the fantasy species "fairies."

Ah, this would be hard to refuse.

And it wasn't particularly difficult. Ultimately, what they wanted was...

"I have a setting note that summarizes some useful references. I'll give it to you, so you can edit and send it to them."

"What?! Why are you only telling me about such a treasure now?!"

"Well, it's just a rough notebook, nothing like a treasure."

It's not even an Encyclopedia Dramatica of relative or absolute common sense.

Come to think of it, didn't that author often get mistaken for a zoologist after writing animal stories?

I broadly categorized the requests I received into three.

Cases that demanded my work without payment or seemed insincere, I completely rejected.

For those that seemed sincere or offered decent payment, I decided to send a summarized version of the necessary parts from my setting notes.

For places that required a high level of cultural reflection, I planned to write a response after receiving some opinions.

Ultimately, it meant I would make my wiki available to the setting enthusiasts.

This issue was settled with that!

More importantly, what caught my eye was Bentley, who brought this matter to me.

Even though I'm a public-friendly author... or rather, because of that, academic work didn't suit me at all.

Despite this, he brought such work.

That means...

"Bentley."

"Yes? Yes, author."

"Is the monthly magazine looking bleak?"

"Ah... hahaha."

Bentley smiled bitterly. It meant I hit the mark.

"Compared to new writers, the expenses are a bit high to bring in famous established authors."

He shrugged his shoulders as he said that.

"But without that level of investment, it's hard to guarantee profits right now."

"Sigh, that's correct."

Just as I thought. I nodded.

After all, having killer content can determine the level of the platform.

I remember hearing something similar reason to why certain stories are never concluded.

In that case, it was just as well.

I had something I could offer.

"Then, Bentley, are there still any spots left in the monthly publication?"

"What? Well, we have things secured for next month, but after that, we'll need to make some adjustments."

"Perfect."

"What do you mean...?"

I smiled broadly as I spoke.

"Then, shall we talk about a new project?"