Ch.107Chapter 107 – Last Resort

“Everyone, you shouldn’t fight in a hospital.”

“………”

“It’s common sense.”

Issac Adler, who had squeezed himself between the disheveled Celestia Moran and Lestrade, separates them while breaking into a cold sweat.

“Mean sister, did you hear that?”

“Haah…”

Of course, these two women who would one day fight over the position of second-in-command of London’s power structure wouldn’t be subdued by Adler’s physical strength, but surprisingly, they backed away as soon as Adler stepped between them, even before he could exert any force.

“No fighting allowed.”

“……..”

The two girls’ cold gazes cross each other for a moment.

“Inspector. Please calm down. I’ll go with you…”

As the atmosphere grew tense again, Adler hurriedly tried to walk away with Lestrade.

“…Daddy.”

“……..!”

Adler froze quietly at the monotone voice coming from behind him—Moran’s voice that somehow resembled Professor Moriarty’s.

“You have somewhere else to go first.”

However, Celestia Moran just looked up at Adler with innocent eyes and extended her hand.

“Daddy…?”

“…Officer. I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

Issac Adler hurriedly tried to explain to Lestrade, who was now staring at him with a serious expression.

“It’s just what she calls me. As you know, she’s the child I’m raising…”

“Are you going to abandon me again?”

“…Oh my.”

When Moran waddled over to his side, took his hand, and stared up at him with that question, he gave up on explaining and made a face of resignation.

“”……….”

And then began a slightly awkward silence.

“…Well, as Miss Moran said, I do have somewhere I need to go.”

“………”

“I’ll stop by there first and then accompany you. Is that alright?”

After sighing deeply, Adler finally broke the silence and quietly began to walk forward.

“Mean sister.”

A tiny voice, as small as her stature, came from beside Lestrade as she was about to follow Adler.

“Be careful on your way home at night.”

Lestrade turned her head to find Moran baring her teeth and emitting a killing intent incomparably stronger than when Adler had been present, which made her chuckle.

“And if you touch my daddy, I’ll kill you before you even have time to be careful.”

“…Hmm.”

Of course, the same could be said for Zia Lestrade herself.

“You speak so cutely, little one.”

– Grinding teeth…

“You’re so short that I only heard half of what you said.”

For walking ahead of the two women with bloodshot eyes, Issac Adler had to throw himself into breaking up another commotion in the hallway just seconds later.

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“Was your business about meeting a patient in this hospital?”

“…I have someone I need to meet personally.”

As Adler, walking uncomfortably between the two women, stopped in front of a hospital room, Lestrade quietly tilted her head and asked.

“Officer, would you mind waiting outside for a moment?”

Surprisingly, she nodded in agreement after staring at Adler who had made this request.

“Thank you.”

“What about me, Daddy?”

“…Miss Moran, you can come in.”

Adler, who was about to quietly enter the room, flinched slightly at Moran’s question before taking her hand and walking in together.

– Creeak…

Fortunately, the two entered the hospital room quietly without incident.

“…So it’s you.”

As they moved forward, a visitor sitting in a chair at the head of the hospital bed, who had been hanging his head, spoke in a low voice.

“Mr. Nathan Garideb. I’m sorry about the complications with your request.”

“………”

“We certainly didn’t expect such terrible things to be happening at the mansion.”

“…I have nothing to say about that either.”

Nathan Garideb, who had been quietly looking at his sister Neria Garideb lying motionless in the bed wearing a hospital gown, nodded with a pale face in response to Adler’s apology.

“But who is that child beside you?”

“She’s one of our people. You can rest assured.”

“Then, may I ask what will happen to the request I entrusted to you? If there’s any breach of contract…”

“Don’t worry.”

When he looked at Adler with trembling eyes and asked the question, Adler answered with a smile.

“The plan will proceed without a hitch.”

“Does that mean…”

“In fact, it’s practically over already. Now that your mother, Dr. Frankenstein, has been arrested, she won’t live much longer.”

“……..”

“She’ll probably die before she can even be discharged. There’s no one to recharge her life essence. Isn’t this the perfect crime? Haha.”

Upon hearing those words, Nathan Garideb hung his head again.

“…So, how do you feel?”

After quietly looking down at him, Adler asked his client in a quiet voice.

“How does it feel to be free from your insufferable mother and sister?”

The client, Nathan Garideb, who flinched momentarily at those words, began to mutter in a trembling voice.

“It feels amazing…”

“………”

“It’s like finally shaking off parasites that were living inside my body. It feels incredibly refreshing.”

In his eyes, facing the conclusion of the case, there was no longer any trace of the hesitation he had shown when first entering the back alley hideout.

“…I should have done this sooner. Hehe. Hehehehe.”

All that could be felt was an eerie aura that had completely darkened, tainted by the darkness in an instant through a single choice.

“The cleanup will be thorough, right? I want to cut ties with you people now.”

“Of course. No matter how thoroughly the police investigate this case, they won’t find any connection to you. Also, since no one actually committed murder, even if someone were to discover the truth, you would avoid punishment or moral condemnation.”

“Hmm…”

“And even if you wanted to meet us again, you wouldn’t be able to find us. As per our contract, you’ll forget even my identity within a few days.”

As Adler continued his kind explanation, Garideb nodded with a satisfied smile.

“But… what about the payment? I can’t give you anything right now since the mansion is under investigation…”

“Ah, that’s not a problem.”

When he asked with a troubled expression, Adler gently stroked Neria Garideb’s cheek and answered.

“…I’ve already received it.”

And then came a brief silence.

“…So I really did make a deal with the devil?”

“If you really want to know the details, I won’t stop you…”

“No, that’s fine.”

Nathan rose vigorously from his seat, shook hands briefly with Adler, and concluded as he walked out of the room.

“Let’s never meet again.”

With those final words, the door closed, and silence began to fill the hospital room.

“…Daddy, I feel sorry for that child.”

“Huh?”

“Do, do we really need to kill her…”

Moran, who had been sadly looking at Neria Garideb left alone, muttered without thinking and then hurriedly covered her mouth.

“………”

She then looked nervously at Adler who was looking down at her, and muttered with a pale expression.

“I’m sorry, Daddy…”

– Swoosh…

“…Eek?”

When Adler reached out his hand toward her, Moran closed her eyes tightly and let out a small cry.

“…….?”

But instead of feeling a sharp pain on her cheek, she felt a gentle warmth on her head, and looked up at Adler who was holding her arm with a puzzled expression.

“…The one to pity isn’t her, but the client who just left.”

“……..”

“He doesn’t know that he’s the doctor’s test subject, and he won’t be receiving the madness treatment serum that the doctor extracted from his sister while he sleeps anymore.”

Adler, gently stroking Moran’s head, whispered in her ear with a kind expression.

“He’ll probably regret today’s actions bitterly within a few months. Well, by then it will be too late…”

“Ah…”

“Shh.”

Adler gently placed his finger on Moran’s lips as her eyes widened at his words, and shifted his gaze to Neria Garideb lying in the bed.

“Isn’t that right, Miss Garideb?”

“………”

“…I knew you were awake from the beginning.”

As the woman in the bed turned pale, Adler whispered in her ear with a voice tinged with amusement.

“By the way, you’re lucky. Thanks to consistently consuming me over the past few days, your empty life essence has been fully charged with my blood.”

“……..!”

“…Originally, I was going to kill you somewhere no one would know about, just to avoid future trouble.”

Then, glancing at Moran who was blinking beside him, Adler muttered.

“My daughter says she feels sorry for you.”

“…Ugh.”

“So, disappear from London. If you don’t, I’ll have no choice but to kill you.”

After saying this and gently pinching Moran’s soft cheek, Adler took something out from his pocket.

“…It’s not an inheritance, but a small gift.”

He placed a check with an amount sufficient for a woman to live alone for decades in front of her, and stood up.

“Neria Garideb died here today, so live the rest of your life freely.”

“……uh.”

“Goodbye then.”

Leaving behind Neria Garideb, who had finally broken down into quiet tears, he quietly left the room with Moran.

“Uwuuuuu…..”

This is the official conclusion of the case of “The Three Garidebs” as published by Watson later.

Of course, information about how organized attempts to kidnap Issac Adler suddenly decreased significantly after this incident, or rumors about an unidentified girl’s silhouette being spotted at the window where Adler was on stormy nights, were not included in that record.

Those in the know called that shadow, which only Issac Adler seemed unaware of, “Adler’s Guardian.”

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[Probability of being kidnapped: 40% -> 15%]

[Probability of being stalked: 100%]

“…Huh.”

Issac Adler closed the door of the hospital room with a puzzled expression as he faced these seemingly contradictory probabilities.

“………?”

He quietly tilted his head as he saw Lestrade walking toward him covered in dust, somehow from the direction of the window rather than from in front of the door.

“…Did you climb the wall outside the window to eavesdrop on our conversation?”

“………”

“How much did you hear?”

Finally, as he asked her with an incredulous expression, Adler gave a bitter smile when he saw Lestrade’s eyes full of disappointment and disgust.

“Well, I can guess.”

“Issac Adler.”

“What did you expect? This is the kind of person your boyfriend is, Officer.”

As he watched her approach with an atmosphere as cold as her hair and eye color, Lestrade took something out from her pocket and handed it to him.

“What’s this?”

“…Sign it.”

“Is this an investigation consent form?”

Adler muttered as he took out a pen from his pocket.

“Even so, you won’t be able to arrest me for this case. There’s no physical evidence or victims left………?”

His voice trailed off as his eyes widened in surprise.

“…I realized that my abilities alone aren’t enough to protect London from you.”

After watching him quietly, Lestrade pointed to the corner of the paper she had handed him and spoke in a calm voice.

“So, I need to use my last resort.”

As she urged him to sign with a cold voice and gesture, Adler’s thoughts froze.

“But this is…”

“Let’s get married.”

“…Pardon?”

What Zia Lestrade had handed him wasn’t an investigation consent form at all, but a marriage registration form that already had her signature on it.