Ch.111Chapter 111 – Kidnapping

On the night I received marriage proposals from three women in a row.

“…Oh my.”

“………”

“Who do we have here.”

As I secretly visited the Diogenes Club accompanied only by Celestia Moran as my bodyguard, a cold chill and an icy voice greet me.

“…I haven’t even entered the guest waiting room yet. Is it appropriate to speak so loudly?”

“Today, the Diogenes Club is not a social venue.”

Microny Holmes sits at the desk in the center of the club, wearing her usual smile that somehow feels eerily chilling.

– Swish…

As she slowly raises her hand to signal, the people sitting inside the Diogenes Club reading newspapers simultaneously begin to emit killing intent.

“…Hmm.”

It’s exactly like the situation when I first met her.

“Dad, should I kill them all?”

“…Wait.”

But what’s different this time is that Celestia Moran is beside me, concealing a small air gun in her bosom.

“I came here today to talk.”

– Fidget…

And actually, inside my clothes, the Vampire Countess who has transformed into a cat doll is also fidgeting around.

To be honest, rather than me bringing her, she forcibly followed me and slipped inside my clothes.

Still, since even Moran, who specializes in detecting others’ presence, hasn’t noticed her existence, she’ll surely be helpful.

“For someone who claims to have come for a conversation, you seem to have made quite thorough preparations.”

“…What do you mean?”

“The daughter of Afghanistan’s hero, the war machine Colonel Sebastian Moran, and even the Vampire Countess who nearly devoured London… You know I’d be justified in attacking you first, don’t you?”

But after hearing Microny’s next words, such thoughts completely vanished.

“…You’re truly impressive.”

“What do you mean?”

“However, I truly didn’t come here to fight.”

It didn’t feel good to have all my forces instantly identified, but I couldn’t back down either.

I don’t know why her demeanor has returned to how it was when we first met, despite the slave seal I placed on her.

If necessary, I could subdue her using the seal, and even in the worst-case scenario, I was confident I could escape with my guards.

“Then why?”

“…I came to seek your advice.”

But to achieve the ultimate reason I came here, what happens next is crucial.

“My advice?”

“…Yes.”

“Of all people, you?”

As I addressed her with the utmost respect, she quietly tilted her head.

“…Please.”

The reason I’m being so respectful to Microny Holmes is because her role in the game is none other than “plot consultant.”

In the game, although she doesn’t provide clues about cases that stump the protagonist like in the original “Sherlock Holmes series,” she instead gives hints about future developments.

And her hints, analyzed with eyes that see through everything, prove their worth in situations like this when the game’s progression is blocked.

Of course, to receive the best advice, one’s affinity with Microny Holmes must be at its maximum.

“I’d like advice about my current situation.”

That’s why I had built a relationship with her beforehand.

Although the current atmosphere feels somewhat uneasy, I have to take a chance based on the affinity I’ve built so far.

“Can you help me?”

“Hehe…”

As I asked in a low voice with such thoughts in mind, she covered her mouth and began to smile.

“…No.”

But the next moment, she opened her eyes calmly and answered seriously.

“Why should I?”

“……..”

“It’s bothersome, so would you please leave now?”

And then silence fell.

‘…This is troublesome.’

After all the effort building this relationship, it’s starting to crumble at such a critical moment.

Should I activate the seal I placed on her stomach now and just get the advice I need before leaving?

“……..”

I briefly considered it but quickly dismissed the thought.

Wasn’t it said that for a detective, intuition is both the most important thing and the thing one should least trust?

Although I’m not a detective, my intuition is somehow telling me that I shouldn’t do that.

‘…What should I do then?’

“Why? Did you suddenly feel like feeding a fish you’ve already caught?”

‘Why is she suddenly acting like this?’

As I was sweating nervously and quietly trying to figure out why Microny Holmes was being so serious, a system message appeared before me.

[Microny Holmes is upset with you.]

The message gently shook and tapped my shoulder before flying next to Microny, spinning around to deliver the message.

“I’m sorry, but I’m already full.”

[She’s quite upset with you.]

Only then could I roughly understand what was happening.

“…So please leave quickly.”

I see, she’s upset because I haven’t visited her in a long time, Miss Microny.

– Step, step…

However, unfortunately, now is not the time to consider her feelings.

If I try to spend time and effort to improve her mood, I feel like my current situation might worsen even more.

So now, it’s appropriate to use the immoral but certain and simple solution that I’ve been reluctant to use.

“What are you doing?”

“…………”

Thinking this, as I quietly approached her desk, Microny Holmes, who had been sitting with a cold expression, quietly tilted her head.

– Click…

Simultaneously, her subordinates, who had been quietly emitting killing intent, began to reach into their clothes with increased hostility.

“Before you regret it, everyone take your hands out of your clothes.”

“…Growl.”

Moran, who had been standing quietly behind me, took out a small air gun from her clothes, and the Vampire Countess fidgeting inside my clothes raised her claws and bared her teeth.

“”………..””

Thus, an atmosphere of impending battle began to circulate in the club.

– Swish…

In that atmosphere, as I slowly extended my hand toward Microny Holmes, everyone’s attention focused on us.

“Hup.”

“…What do you think you’re doing right now?”

In that situation, after taking a deep breath, I wrapped my arms around Microny Holmes’s waist and lifted her up, and her cold voice echoed throughout the room.

“Kidnapping.”

“Didn’t you say you came to talk?”

“…There’s no choice when conversation fails.”

Having shifted her into a princess carry position, I turned my body and quietly began heading toward the exit.

“What are you going to do after kidnapping me?”

“I’m going to train Miss Microny to be mine.”

“………”

“As much as I’ve endured.”

As soon as those words ended, the members pulled out guns from their clothes and aimed at me.

– Crackle…

“”……..!?””

But that was only momentary, as they all dropped their guns from their hands, paralyzed by red sparks.

“…Well done, Countess.”

I had been preparing to draw out as much mana as possible, thinking bloodshed was inevitable, but things seem to have worked out better than expected.

If she had such a terrifying area attack, she should have used it earlier.

– B-but I didn’t do anything…?

“…Of course you’d say that.”

After gently patting the head of the Countess, who was acting tsundere as usual despite clearly having consumed a tremendous amount of power, I began moving toward the exit again with Moran, who had quietly put away the small gun she had drawn.

– N-no, really, it wasn’t me this time…!

“…Dad, there’s an ominous smell coming from this woman.”

There seemed to be many strange comments being made, but once I’d made my decision, there was no turning back.

“Miss Microny.”

London’s guardian, still wearing a cold expression while being forcibly restrained by the seal engraved on her stomach, cradled in my arms.

“…Are you ready to be trained like a dog?”

To escape this impossible situation I’m facing, I absolutely had to subjugate this woman.

“The worst.”

“That’s an excellent answer for someone in your position to be trained.”

It seems the time has come to abandon my indecisive attitude and fully embrace the dark side.

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That dawn,

In Adler’s secret hideout located in a back alley.

“…Do you think you’ll get away with this?”

Microny Holmes, thrown down with one foot chained by a golden shackle in the basement where not a single ray of light enters, begins to look at the boy who kidnapped her with a cold expression.

– Click…

But paying no heed, Issac Adler fastens a collar around her neck engraved with the name ‘Microny Holmes’.

– Swish…

Eventually, as he violently pulls the collar upward and whispers, Microny Holmes, now forced to look up at Adler, bites her lip with a humiliated expression.

“Change into the shabby clothes in the room.”

Adler pokes his seal engraved on her lower abdomen with his foot while pointing to the shabby clothes provided nearby.

“Food and water will be given when you behave well.”

“……..”

“And from now on, call me Master.”

After briefly stroking her disheveled hair, Adler began to move toward the exit and concluded his words.

“…Education will begin tomorrow.”

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[Hey.]

[I’m telling you this because you don’t seem to know…]

But the moment Adler opened the door of the room, a system message urgently appeared beside him.

[…No, it’s nothing.]

“…What?”

[It’s better that you don’t know.]

But after briefly pausing its output, the system suddenly changed its words, causing Adler to tilt his head in confusion before quietly licking his lips and climbing the stairs.

“…….Hehe.”

The low laughter of Microny Holmes, who had been placing her index finger on her lips with gleaming eyes behind him, began to echo in the room, but by then the basement door was already firmly closed.

“…For a curse, this is quite cute.”