Ch.113Chapter 113 – The Hound of the Baskervilles

The day after Adler’s short letter arrived for the three girls. Inside the train heading to Devonshire, where Baskerville Manor is located.

“Holmes.”

“……..”

“What have you been thinking about so deeply?”

Rachel Watson, who had been on the train with Holmes since early morning, asked her partner who had been lost in thought for hours sitting directly across from her.

“I have an ominous feeling.”

Charlotte replied without even turning her gaze toward her.

“Why suddenly?”

“…Just a hunch.”

As she fell back into thought after answering, Watson looked at her with a curious expression and muttered.

“Wasn’t Miss Sharlotte Holmes the one who despised detectives who rely on hunches more than anyone in the world?”

“……….”

“I never expected to hear such words from you of all people.”

“…What I hate are detectives who have no ability yet run around flaunting baseless hunches.”

Charlotte quietly responded with gleaming eyes.

“At the very least, I’ve determined that someone is secretly watching us from over there. With such solid evidence backing me up, I can afford to mention my hunch.”

“…Oh.”

“Don’t turn around, Watson. There’s no need to let them know we’re aware.”

Charlotte stopped Watson, who had tensed up and was about to look back, then quietly gazed out the window.

“By the way, Devonshire has such an eerie atmosphere even in the morning. London’s streets are gloomy too, but they can’t compare to this place.”

“…Holmes, is this really the time to be so nonchalant?”

As she muttered in a disinterested voice, Watson whispered in a shrinking voice while watching her reaction.

“Being calm is better than acting unnaturally and giving away that we’ve noticed.”

“But what if they’re Professor Moriarty’s subordinates…”

“That’s fine. I can assert with certainty that whoever is watching us now stands completely opposite to her.”

“…What’s your basis for that, my friend?”

When Charlotte spoke dismissively, Watson, filled with curiosity, tried her best to act natural while asking the question.

“Watson. I’ve thought this for a long time, but you should never try acting anywhere.”

“……….”

“If I had to pick the worst liar and actor in London, I would choose Rachel Watson without hesitation.”

“…So, what’s your evidence?”

After being scolded by Charlotte, she muttered timidly in a dejected manner.

“Actually, it’s someone you know very well.”

“What?”

“There’s only one fool in London who wears glasses with a mustache when tailing someone.”

“…Inspector Lestrade?”

“The fact that someone busy with police work took the same early morning train as us is certainly no coincidence.”

As Charlotte said this with a sharp gaze, a figure who had been peeking over a large newspaper in the distance quietly hid their face behind it.

“…Didn’t we agree not to show that we noticed?”

“You’ve already given it away in various ways, so it hardly matters now.”

Silence followed.

“Then did the inspector also… receive that letter?”

“I’m not certain, but I’d have to assume so.”

“Hmm…”

Watson, who had been carefully observing Charlotte’s expression, suddenly spoke with a mischievous look.

“Is that why you’re in a bad mood?”

“……..”

“Because you’re not sure if you’re the chosen one. Right?”

Charlotte’s sharp eyes, which had been looking out the window, were now quietly directed at Watson.

“I’m sorry, but this applies to you too…”

“Huh?”

Just as Watson tilted her head at Charlotte’s meaningful statement—

– Screeeech…

The sound of the train slowing down came from outside.

“Looks like we’ve arrived.”

“…Indeed.”

“Let’s go then, Holmes. I want to settle things with Issac Adler, if only for Neville’s sake.”

Hearing this, Watson stood up and rolled up her sleeves, striding confidently toward the exit.

“……..”

Meanwhile, Charlotte quietly rose from her seat and followed behind her.

“If you’re going to tail someone, you might want to hide the Red Mana Alliance emblem, don’t you think?”

As she was about to step off the train, Charlotte suddenly spoke with darkly gleaming eyes, causing passengers all around to raise their heads.

“Or perhaps you never intended to hide it?”

“”……….””

“It must be hard serving both the master of Romania and the master of London simultaneously.”

As Charlotte said this and stepped off the train, all the passengers in that car were quietly glaring at her.

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“It feels so eerie somehow… Even dawn in London isn’t this gloomy.”

Several dozen minutes later. On a path near the manor.

“This is the kind of atmosphere our detective loves. Once night falls, criminals will be crawling everywhere.”

Walking up the path covered with fallen leaves, Watson cheerfully tried to engage Holmes, who had been silent for a while.

“………”

But Charlotte merely continued walking forward with a sharp expression.

“Hey, are you still upset about that incident?”

Watson, carefully watching her mood, asked in a small voice.

“You don’t need to worry so much. Neville is tight-lipped. So there’s no way Issac Adler would hear about that…”

“…Wait.”

Charlotte raised her hand to cut off Watson’s words and suddenly moved toward a nearby bush.

“…Inspector, since we seem to be heading to the same destination, why don’t you stop this failed attempt at hiding and walk with us?”

As Charlotte looked down at the bush and whispered in a low voice, a head popped out from the quietly rustling bush.

“”………..””

Silence ensued.

“…How did you notice me?”

“Is that even a question?”

“My stealth skills are good enough that even London’s notorious criminals can’t detect me.”

Zia Lestrade removed her mustached glasses and brushed off the leaves stuck to her hair while speaking in an embarrassed voice. Charlotte glanced at her and replied.

“All criminals know very well that the moment they show they’ve noticed you, they’ll be forcibly subdued.”

“………”

“From the moment a criminal comes within visible range, your arrest rate is practically 100%. I don’t understand why you’re so obsessed with stealth skills.”

“…Is that so?”

Zia Lestrade scratched her head with a slightly dejected look after Charlotte’s painful advice.

“Sigh, why would Adler…”

“…….?”

“…Never mind.”

Charlotte, who had been muttering with a displeased voice while looking at her, sighed and began walking forward.

– Step, step…

The three women walked silently along the path.

“By the way, why did Issac Adler call the three of us here?”

When the manor finally became faintly visible in the distance, Zia Lestrade, who had been walking quietly, asked with a puzzled expression.

“What else could it be? More of those ridiculous riddles, I’m sure.”

“…This time is different.”

“Huh?”

Watson, who had been answering with a sigh, turned her head toward Holmes who had muttered beside her.

“It feels like he’s planned something.”

Charlotte’s complexion had darkened even more than when they were on the train.

“As you’ve seen, this area is surrounded by vast wastelands. And there are plenty of bogs where one misstep could mean never returning.”

“So…”

“If a murder were to happen, it would be quite interesting.”

As she muttered in a cynical voice, a brief silence fell.

“…Additionally, there’s something else bothering me.”

“W-what is it…?”

“Before coming here, I did some preliminary research and found a very interesting legend.”

In that silence, Charlotte gazed steadily at the entrance to the manor they had reached and murmured in a low voice.

“About the Curse of the Baskervilles, related to the Hound of Hell.”

Just as she finished speaking, the door leading to the manor slowly began to open.

“””………..”””

The three women, who had been wearing tense expressions due to the eerie atmosphere of the path stretching inside, widened their eyes when they saw the person waiting for them beyond.

“…Welcome.”

A sinister-looking woman dressed as a butler was quietly bowing to greet them.

“Excuse me, but where is Issac Adler?”

While Sharlotte and Watson looked on with wary expressions, Zia Lestrade quietly stepped forward and asked the question.

“We came to meet him.”

– Swish…

At her stern voice, the butler raised her head and quietly reached into her breast pocket.

“Please accept this.”

“…Ah, yes.”

Lestrade, who had been watching sharply and reaching for her own pocket, realized that what the butler had taken out was just a note and relaxed her expression as she began to read its contents.

“…….”

But soon her face turned ashen.

“What’s the matter?”

“…See for yourselves.”

Sharlotte and Watson, who had been looking puzzled behind her, received the letter that Lestrade handed over with a blank expression and began to read.

[I’m sorry. There’s actually no riddle.]

[I just wanted to show you all my vacation home.]

“”………..””

A brief silence followed.

[What? You’re not angry?]

[I knew you all really like me.]

“…Would you like to come inside first?”

The faces of the two women, who had just read the absurd message accompanied by a drawing of a blushing vampire Adler winking cutely, turned as ashen as Lestrade’s.

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Meanwhile, in the endless wasteland.

– The three women have arrived.

“…Is that so?”

Adler, who was crossing the dangerous area that even locals rarely entered with a relaxed expression, smiled in response to his subordinate’s communication in his ear.

“Then first, let them in.”

– Grrrrrr…..

Something with chilling eyes and rough breathing was approaching Adler from the distance, drooling as it came closer.