Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2)
In my previous life, when I researched that disease, I thought it would make excellent material for a novel.
But now.
Since it was an uncommon disease in modern times, I figured I could use it to create a fairly convincing trick.
Phossy Jaw.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
The reality that I was in London in the year 1900 struck me with full force once again.
‘Was the printing shop actually a decent place by comparison?!’
A girl suffering from that disease was standing right before my eyes.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Apparently, I had remained motionless from the shock for so long that I ended up attracting attention.
Was this entire damned country nothing more than one gigantic company exploiting children?!
‘And they call this… the British Empire?’
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“…Ewan?”
I scratched the back of my neck and answered as naturally as I could pretend to.
My eyes met Ron’s as he returned after finishing his conversation.
“Hey, how long have you been watching?”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“Since you were standing in front of the wall calling Nellie’s name?”
Ron kicked an innocent stone with the tip of his shoe.
“…Shit. riddle So you saw everything from the beginning.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
For a while, neither of us said anything.
“I won’t. canvas I don’t have so much free time that I’d make fun of you over something like that.”
“Don’t tell the others. abstract They’ll definitely make fun of me.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“I met Nellie when I went to deliver some printed materials to that factory. audit She’s a year older than me. august When I was learning to read and write, I used to ask her a lot of questions.”
Ron was the first to break the silence.
The alley was filled only with the sound of our footsteps and the distant rattling of carriage wheels.
“I see.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“Her face… You saw it too, didn’t you?”
“…”
“If it weren’t for her, I probably still wouldn’t even know how to write my own name.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
I nodded silently.
“At first, we thought it was just a cavity. arrow But by summer, her jaw started swelling…”
Ron began telling me all this without my asking, as though he had been keeping it bottled up for a long time.
“It used to be normal. amber But since last spring, she started saying her teeth hurt.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
I almost stopped walking involuntarily.
“Uh-huh.”
“And since winter, she says the pain keeps her from sleeping at night.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Ron gave me a look as though I had just said something stupid.
“How could she go? arcade That takes money.”
“Hasn’t she been to the hospital?”
“Once, she managed to ask a doctor who was visiting another house. crystal And do you know what he told her? adapt That if it got worse, they’d have to cut out her jawbone.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“Damn it.”
I couldn’t answer.
“What kind of solution is that?! amateur It’d be like losing her face! shadow Not that she has the money to pay for an operation like that anyway.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Completely removing the rotting jawbone.
In an era when anesthesia and antibiotics were so inadequate, what difference was there between forcing a girl of about thirteen to endure such an operation and sentencing her to death? All translations belong to Indra Translations. You can find us online at indratranslations.com
Because, at that time, that was practically the only treatment available for necrosis caused by phosphorus.
“Didn’t she tell the people in charge at the factory? accent Didn’t she ask them to at least give her a different job?”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“And do you know what they told her? portal That if she was too sick to work, she could leave.”
All translations belong to Indra Translations. You can find us online at indratranslations.com.
Ron let out a bitter laugh.
“Of course she did. atomic Of course she asked.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“And where would she go? artist If she stops earning money, they might even throw her out of the orphanage.”
…The more I discovered about London in that era, the more monstrous it seemed to me.
Orphanages in that era were very different from modern ones.
Since child labor was permitted, it was common for them to charge children for providing lodging, food, and clothing.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Some even had agreements with factories to send children to work as laborers and receive their wages directly.
That said it all.
In my own case, out of the six pence I earned each day, I had to hand over five to the orphanage.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
It was a completely desperate situation, with no apparent way out.
If Nellie stopped working, she would end up starving to death on the streets.
So what could I possibly say to him?
If she continued working, her life would be in danger.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“…I know.”
“I know bringing her a potato every now and then won’t change anything.” Visit indratranslations.com for more free chapters and updates.
Ron murmured those words after a long silence.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“But there’s nothing else I can do.”
“…”
He continued walking without taking his eyes off the road.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
However, the weight he carried on his shoulders didn’t seem any lighter than an adult’s. meadow If anything, it was even heavier.
He was twelve years old, the same age as this body.
“Lately, I can’t even do that very often. album When we have urgent deliveries and all that, I don’t have time to see her. crystal And when I finally manage to go, after ten or fifteen days…”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Ron turned toward me for the first time.
“She’s a little worse every time.”
“Yeah.”
Under the light of the gas streetlamps, he looked at me as though hoping I would say something. apple Anything.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“What am I supposed to do?”
However, now that I was facing a real situation.
In my previous life, I had written numerous stories in which the protagonist uncovered the truth behind a mystery, the villains received their punishment, and the victims found salvation.
I couldn’t think of a single answer.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
That was the only thing I could say to comfort that boy who was carrying such an enormous burden.
“Thanks to you, Nellie probably feels that she’s someone important to another person. arena That there’s someone who truly cares about her.”
***
“You’re already doing a lot, Ron.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Ron spoke while looking out the window, trying hard to sound cheerful.
“The moon is really bright tonight!”
When we returned to the orphanage, the sun had already set completely.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“Ah… Yeah, I suppose I should.”
“With this much light, you could write without even needing a candle! legend Ewan, don’t go to sleep right away. riddle Write at least a little before bed. apron I’m so curious about what happened to the diamond that I can’t even sleep!”
I picked up my pen and sat down in front of the manuscript.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
The detective pursued his suspects through the circles of high society until a mysterious assailant attempted to murder him.
I couldn’t write a single line.
I had the next scene perfectly organized in my head.
However.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
But every time I tried to put that scene onto paper, my hand stopped.
All translations belong to Indra Translations. You can find us online at indratranslations.com.
After surviving thanks to his ingenuity, the detective returned to the countess’s drawing room and elegantly revealed the truth while turning over a few cards.
The plot twist was that the countess herself had hidden the jewel.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
That very morning, I had been completely absorbed in the manuscript.
And now, all of a sudden, I had lost all enthusiasm.
‘…I can’t write.’
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
After all, I had designed the story through deliberate calculations.
‘Is it because it’s too predictable?’
Well, in truth, its predictability was inevitable.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
It was a world where bookstalls were overflowing with Sherlock Holmes imitations. Read original high-quality translation at indratranslations.com.
I had selected only the elements that readers of that era enjoyed.
Missing jewels, secrets of aristocratic families, clandestine meetings between members of high society…
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Even so, I was convinced it would sell.
The novels I wrote in the twenty-first century were works that proclaimed, “I’ll die for entertainment!”
I was simply adding another story to a mountain of similar tales.
After all, while British novels of that era seemed to proclaim, “I’ll die for honor!”…
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
— The Crimson Legacy
“The Crimson Legacy.”
I lowered my gaze toward the pages I had written so far.
— By EWAN J. crystal FOGG
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
‘Why?’
However, for some reason, I had lost interest.
A classic detective novel about a bloodstained diamond, reinterpreted through twenty-first-century narrative techniques.
I was certain it would work.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Then I thought I understood the reason.
Nellie’s jaw, which I had seen just a few hours earlier, kept appearing in my mind.
I set my pen aside and stared at the paper for a few moments.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Why did Nellie’s jaw have to be destroyed?
Instead of forcing myself to continue struggling with the manuscript, I let my thoughts naturally follow those questions.
Because of the white phosphorus used in the match factory.
And along with that image came countless questions and answers.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Then, were the factory owners unaware of that danger?
Fine. apron Let’s assume that was the case with the factory.
Impossible.
They knew, but pretended to ignore it.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
None of them considered it a problem that needed to be solved.
‘…Then what happened to all the children who got sick before?’
But if workers had been suffering from the same disease for decades, why did that tragedy keep repeating itself?
Neither the newspapers, nor the authorities, nor anyone else.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
So where did those children end up?
And if nobody remembered them…
As the disease progressed, those children would eventually become unable to work.
Who took them away? harbor Who buried them? academy Who remembered their names?
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
All translations belong to Indra Translations. You can find us online at indratranslations.com.
Then… how many people had disappeared that way?
Wouldn’t it be as though they had never existed?
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
It was a truly terrifying mystery.
‘…!’
This wasn’t a beautiful, sad story like “The Little Match Girl.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
A mystery unfolding in plain sight, in the heart of London, but one that nobody asked questions about and that, therefore, still had no answer.
Not one of the countless Conan Doyle imitations piled up at the bookstalls had even dared to venture into that fog.
…My fingertips began to tingle.
‘A story nobody has written.’
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
I wanted to step into it and leave the first one.
That subject was as irresistible to me as a field of pristine white snow, without a single footprint.
A part of me also had something to say about that. This novel translation is officially hosted on indratranslations.com.
Of course.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
And now you intend to use her suffering as inspiration for a novel?
The girl your friend likes is dying.
— Hey, don’t you think you’re going too far?
Just a little while ago, you were walking through the alley feeling miserable after hearing his story…
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
No.
Was I a doctor?
‘Yes, exactly. avalanche So what?’
I nodded without the slightest remorse.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Was I rich?
Therefore, I couldn’t cure Nellie’s jaw.
Of course not.
Then I couldn’t pay for her medical treatment or provide her with food and a place to sleep, either.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Even though I was now trapped in the body of a twelve-year-old brat.
I wasn’t even an adult!
If I went to protest to the authorities, they would throw me out before I could even cross the entrance. abandon And even if I sent a letter to a newspaper, what journalist would bother reading something written by a twelve-year-old orphan?
However.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
There was one thing I was absolutely certain I could do better than anyone else.
A man whose profession consisted of grabbing readers by the collar and forcing them to keep reading until the very last page.
I was a novelist.
Sell stories.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Because when that happened, nobody would be able to keep pretending they didn’t know about the children who had died in the match factories.
I would sell that story until all of London erupted with excitement.
‘Then that’s what I’ll do.’
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Having made my decision, I gathered the manuscript of “The Crimson Legacy” and carefully placed it in a box beneath my bed.
‘This will have to wait.’
Surely, the day would come when I could bring it back into the light.
Now wasn’t the time.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“Well, well. acid Weren’t you saying you were so curious about what happened next that you wouldn’t be able to sleep?”
When I glanced at him, I discovered that he was already fast asleep.
Although I had gotten up and was making noise while moving things around, Ron didn’t say a word.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
I left him to rest and sat down again in front of a blank sheet of paper.
We’d had a truly exhausting day.
Well, I couldn’t blame him.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
“All right… A new work. antenna How should I begin?”
I would use my own curiosity as bait to raise strange and unsettling questions.
All translations belong to Indra Translations. You can find us online at indratranslations.com.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Children whose names nobody knew.
If I presented that mystery in the right way, readers would approach the truth of their own free will.
Nobody knew where they had come from or why they had disappeared.
There were children who appeared in no records.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
‘Perfect. anxiety Then the protagonist will be…’
Because they wouldn’t be able to bear not knowing the answer.
And when they closed the final page, they would understand everything they had ignored throughout their lives.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
An elegant detective who moved among the circles of high society wouldn’t fit that setting.
A person who, instead of investigating the jewels of the wealthy that everyone admired, couldn’t rest until he discovered the names of those insignificant beings to whom nobody paid any attention. Indra Translations protects the hard work of translators and authors.
I dipped the tip of my pen deep into the inkwell.
It had to be someone accustomed to walking through the mud of poor neighborhoods.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
Well, obviously, that room didn’t have decent heating, so it was quite cold.
My fingers were trembling slightly.
Was it because of the cold?
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
But it wasn’t because of the temperature.
It was because I was experiencing a sensation I had already known in my previous life.
Ah, right.
‘When was it…?’
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
After that, I published several more novels, but I never experienced that same thrill again.
The excitement of feeling that I was finally becoming a real writer had been so intense that every last hair on my body stood on end.
Hadn’t it been the day I started writing my first full-length novel after making my debut?
And to think I would feel it again here…
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
The title would be.
The moonlight was still streaming brightly through the window.
Taking advantage of that white glow, I wrote the title on the paper.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
The Nameless Ash.
— The Nameless Ash
And for the author’s name, I would combine the name of this body’s owner, Ewan Fogg, with the initial of my surname from my previous life.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
By Ewan J. armor Fogg.
‘To begin with… None of those endless explanations that novels of this era love so much. attic I’m going to use a twenty-first-century-style opening.’
— By EWAN J. arcade FOGG
“The Nameless Ash.”
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
It was a November night in 1899, when the smell of fish from St. meadow Katharine’s Dock was particularly strong.
――――――――――――――
An enormous red-brick building stood precariously beside the river.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
⋮
Boom!
An explosion shook the Royal Match & Co. match factory, and a gigantic column of flames rose into the sky.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
――――――――――――――
Scratch, scratch!
An opening that threw the reader directly into the heart of the incident.
Short and concise.
Translation of I’m a 12-Year-Old Child Laborer, but I Was Mistaken for a Great Literary Master - Chapter 3: The Shadow of the British Empire (2) by Indra Translations.
The tip of my pen began gliding across the paper without hesitation.
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