Fishing with Sherlock Holmes

This story will be added to the paid section on July 25, with a 10,000-word update that day~

After suffering a serious illness, Billy recovered his memories from his previous life. At the same time, he received a reward that was eighteen years overdue.

He gained the ability to fish. But right now, he's just a penniless orphan with no job in the Victorian era. What can he do with this ability, sell the fish he catches? He doesn't even have a fishhook.

After finally finding a discarded hook and fishing line, Billy uses scraps of fish entrails as bait and eagerly waits for a tasty catch. But what he reels in is a piece of jewelry!

Holmes has just learned that all the jewelry was thrown into the Thames to weigh down the body of a criminal who was made to walk to shore. "??? You can fish up jewelry?"

After Holmes discovers his fishing skill, Billy happily becomes his sidekick. But it seems his fishing ability has gone awry. He hasn't caught a single fish, only all sorts of random things.

Finding murder weapons thrown away by killers and bodies dumped in the river is one thing, but how can he fish up Holmes's clay pipe?

Holmes, whose favorite clay pipe has suddenly disappeared: ...

P.S. See my completed story of the same type, "Holmes's Sorcerer," in my profile.

1. 1v1, HE, chapters prepared in advance. Updates daily from launch, except at noon each day, with a noon update on the day it goes behind the paywall.

2. Holmes is based on the original. The setting is semi-alternate history, and anything that differs from the original or actual history is an alternate setting.

3. I've tried to read plenty of books on the relevant subjects, but I'm not an expert. If you spot any mistakes, just consider them alternate-setting details. OTZ

Please check out my upcoming stories, "Building a Nation with Holmes" and "Brave Little Owl, Save Your Keeper." If you're interested, please add them to your favorites~

"Building a Nation with Holmes": Norman transmigrates into a chaotic, alternate medieval world. The lords of this era rule independently and exploit the common people at will. Every so often, crusaders on their way east or bandits looking to rob them come along, too.

Norman is an ordinary young lord who has just inherited his father's territory after his father died. When he hears that crusaders are about to pass through his lands and will demand all his food and most of his gold and silver unless he wants to be robbed, his vision goes black.

Luckily, a golden finger System appears just then. But the System makes him draw characters to determine what kind of golden finger he'll receive.

Norman, who's always been unlucky, gets a bad feeling.

Looking at the tall, thin man with the name Sherlock Holmes floating above his head, Norman's vision goes black.

Sure enough, he drew a detective System. But how is a detective System supposed to help him fight the crusaders? Is he supposed to help them solve crimes? He'll be captured before he can solve anything!

Sherlock Holmes, the character drawn from the System, smiles faintly. "As a detective, the most important thing is exceptional combat ability. That's how you subdue all kinds of vicious criminals."

But isn't it a little late to start training now?!

Then Norman sees the crossbow plans Holmes has drawn.

Norman: ...

"Sometimes, when you don't have a suitable weapon, you have to make one yourself."

Norman suddenly sees the light.

A detective needs to know how to ride all kinds of transportation, so they can escape or chase down suspects. But now, that means he can ride into battle! A detective needs excellent tracking skills to avoid being easily spotted by suspects. That'll be perfect for leading everyone behind enemy lines to launch a surprise attack!

A detective needs exceptional forensic skills to tell whether a victim was poisoned, murdered, or died of an illness. This will let Norman learn about common diseases and basic medicine, as well as gain all kinds of knowledge about poisons!

A detective needs excellent crime-scene investigation skills to find traces left by suspects and uncover all kinds of information about them. Norman can use those skills to track down prey and evade enemies, hunting for food for himself and his people.

There are no useless Systems, only useless people!

Looking at his prosperous territory, Norman nods with satisfaction.

The only trouble is that he sometimes has to satisfy his teacher Sherlock Holmes's urge to solve crimes. Holmes even complains, "The criminals in this era are far too crude. The poison they use most often is arsenic, they make no effort to hide the traces they leave behind when they kill, and they even keep the murder weapons in their own homes."

Norman: ...

"Brave Little Owl, Save Your Keeper": A demonic fungus, evolved from ordinary fungi, has appeared. It can bond with dying animals, giving them abilities that come from the same type of fungus. People with this condition are called demonic fungus symbiotes.

Jixue is a demonic fungus symbiote, an eagle owl bonded with a beefsteak fungus. The fungus's illusion magic lets him hide himself with ease, making him the perfect courier for delivering important items for his keeper.

His keeper is named An Muxue. He's an ordinary yellow demonic fungus symbiote whose only ability is resisting fungal and bacterial infections, but he's a renowned demonic fungus cultivator. He's developed all kinds of healing fungi, such as the shiitake demonic fungus that boosts physical strength, the enoki demonic fungus that suppresses harmful fungi and improves resistance, and the oyster mushroom demonic fungus that converts toxins into oyster mushrooms and expels them from the body.

But this wonderful keeper is dead, because no one trusted him and someone coveted his abilities. By the time the crazed Jixue finds him, he's already dead.

But Jixue is reborn, back to the day his keeper first found him. He has to change everything. He'll make sure everyone loves his keeper!

But why does something seem off?

"Muxue, can I borrow your owl? He's more useful than my team members."

"Muxue, you spend all your time researching and don't have time to look after your owl. Why not give him to me?"

"Muxue, I promise I'll take good care of Jixue!"

An Muxue: ...

An Muxue sneers and wraps his arms around the owl, who has suddenly transformed into a human. He looks at the fruiting bodies growing on his owl and narrows his eyes dangerously. "You've grown mushrooms. Who are you trying to attract, Jixue?"

Jixue, suddenly chilled to the bone: "No one!"

An Muxue, now even angrier: ...

Theme: When you run with all your might, the whole world makes way for you