Ch.11Chapter 11 – Declaration of War

“How did you get here, Miss Holmes?”

As I tried to calm my bewilderment while asking the question, Holmes, who had been looking around, walked forward and spoke.

“I’m planning to enroll in this academy.”

“…You?”

“Since the mysteries I need to solve are coming from here, it makes sense for me to come.”

Holmes’s gray eyes fixed on me. Somehow, they seemed to see through everything. As I stared back without avoiding her gaze, she suddenly turned her attention to Professor Moriarty.

“You must really like sugar?”

Then she asked with a slight smile.

“You clean your room so frequently and thoroughly that it might be considered obsessive, yet there’s a lot of sugar powder scattered around.”

Hearing this, Moriarty made an interested expression and spoke.

“Not everyone who enjoys cleaning is obsessive-compulsive, student.”

“That’s true. But it seems too perfect to be just a hobby.”

Holmes ran her finger across the sofa where the headmaster had collapsed with a hole in his head a few days ago, then tilted her head and muttered.

“You’ve cleaned so thoroughly that even if someone died here, there wouldn’t be any evidence left. I must have been mistaken.”

Then she looked at Professor Moriarty and me with a smile in her eyes.

“I understand. Mild paranoid personality disorder and delusions are among the early symptoms of mana addiction.”

“They’re also chronic afflictions of detectives. Aren’t you being a bit too aggressive over a light joke?”

Moriarty leaned forward with her chin resting on her hand and began whispering to Holmes in a low voice.

“Judging by your fingernails and the area around your eyes, you seem to enjoy experimenting with mana stones. While mana stones are an excellent energy source that could change human history, continuous contact causes mana addiction.”

“You don’t need to advise me. I hear it constantly from my roommate.”

“I’m saying this because you already seem halfway gone. If you continue experimenting without taking care of yourself, even those brilliant eyes of yours will become disoriented.”

Moriarty took out a sugar cube from her shirt pocket—who knows when she had hidden it there—and offered it to Holmes with a gentle smile.

“If you have nothing to do in your spare time, why not eat sugar like me?”

“For the advancement of rhetoric, I’ll decline.”

“You’re quite interesting, though not as much as my assistant.”

After being so clearly rejected, Moriarty popped the sugar cube into her own mouth and said this while chewing.

“Have you considered becoming a graduate student like Adler?”

“I have no intention of participating in the slavery system that was legal in the 19th century.”

“Ah! Hahaha…”

Professor Moriarty burst into laughter, then suddenly asked me in a low voice.

“Is that child the ‘Holmes’ you mentioned before?”

“Ah, well, about that.”

Come to think of it, on my first day in this world, I unintentionally spoiled Moriarty’s life by mentioning “Sherlock Holmes.”

And as her “arch-nemesis” no less.

“You quenched my thirst, and now you’ve brought me a sweet drink.”

“………”

“I’m starting to think I can’t live without you.”

That comment would have been quite pleasing if she weren’t the final boss and my supervising professor.

Since that poker face with its subtle smile has never once faltered, I really can’t tell if her words are sincere or not.

‘Anyway, what should I do about this?’

This situation is quite dangerous, even though I’m trying not to show it.

Sharlotte Holmes, who in the original game wouldn’t set foot in this academy until a year later, has now appeared here.

“So, are you a first-year student now?”

“Actually, I haven’t enrolled yet. Things got a bit complicated, so I’m currently an outsider, but I’ll be a student here from next semester.”

To make matters worse, I’ve even met Professor Moriarty, who should have left the academy by now. This is truly an unprecedented situation where I can’t predict what will happen next.

“But I don’t sense any mana from you. How did you get into this academy without being able to use mana?”

“A recommendation letter from the Queen of Bohemia and subtle pressure from the man who is essentially the British government are sufficient.”

“Are you admitting to me that you gained admission through improper means?”

“An improper admission that achieved the highest score ever on the entrance test? That doesn’t seem right.”

Watching these two geniuses engage in a sharp battle of wits while smiling makes me break out in a cold sweat.

I need to resolve this situation before it escalates further.

“Miss Holmes, unfortunately, recruitment just ended.”

As I interjected at an opportune moment, both turned their attention to me.

“So…”

“That’s strange. ‘Red’ mana is extremely rare, and there shouldn’t be anyone in London who can manifest it.”

In the midst of this, Holmes moved right in front of me and showed her right hand.

“Except for me.”

Then, a burning red mana began to rise from her hand.

‘What’s this?’

Could Holmes be a Vampire? Did the crazy story department add background settings without my knowledge?

More importantly, she shouldn’t be a mana user, right?

“Miss Holmes. You shouldn’t impersonate a mana user by hiding mana stone powder between your fingers.”

Lost in my thoughts, I finally understood the truth from Professor Moriarty’s words.

Holmes, who loved chemical experiments and even published papers in the original work, is a master of mana stone research in this game.

The red mana she’s displaying now must be artificially created using mana stones.

That alone is impressive enough. If she published what she’s doing now as a paper, it would probably turn the academic world upside down.

“That’s strange. The announcement clearly stated that anyone who could use ‘red mana’ would qualify. There was no mention that mana stones couldn’t be used, or that only one person would be selected.”

“You’re absolutely right, Miss Holmes.”

However, I couldn’t put Holmes in the crime consultation club, so I began to refute her words slowly.

“But if expensive mana stones are needed every time you use mana, it would be burdensome even for me.”

“I can bear the cost.”

“But my conscience would be burdened. And the number of recruits is ultimately my decision as the club president.”

Hearing this, Holmes stared at me intently.

“Why are you doing this?”

“…………”

Despite her question, Holmes simply closed her mouth and examined me carefully.

‘Come to think of it, this is the first time I’m seeing her up close.’

When we first met, she was disguised as a nun, and when I briefly saw her at the hospital, I didn’t have time to look at her properly.

But facing her this closely, I can certainly understand why she’s the protagonist.

‘…She’s pretty.’

Aside from looking slightly haggard due to mana addiction from excessive mana stone experiments, she had an appearance that anyone would recognize as beautiful.

Glossy black bob hair. A cool smile on her lips. Quietly shining gray eyes.

And the black detective coat she wore over her uniform, like a trademark.

As a huge fan of the original Sherlock Holmes series, it was hard to take my eyes off her.

“……..?”

After staring at her blankly for a while, I realized that her gaze was directed downward.

“…Miss Holmes?”

Wondering what she was looking at, I was about to ask when Holmes suddenly took my left hand without a word.

“This scar…”

“Ah, you mean this?”

She seemed to be looking at the burn mark I got while saving her during the previous incident.

“My mana circuit was burned. Other areas recovered, but this part couldn’t be helped.”

“……….”

Still holding my hand and examining it from different angles, she asked in a low voice.

“Does this mean you can never use magic with this hand again?”

“It’s a small price to pay for saving London’s genius girl.”

“…….”

Hearing this, Holmes lowered her eyes quietly and was about to say something.

“About that…”

“Miss Holmes. I’d like you to leave now.”

It was at that moment that Moriarty’s voice, who had been resting her chin on her hand, was heard.

“I have important matters to discuss with my assistant, Adler.”

“I see. Then I should be going.”

Holmes finally released my hand quietly and turned away from me.

“…By the way, Mr. Adler.”

As she headed toward the exit, she suddenly asked.

“What exactly is your relationship with that genius professor next to you?”

“That’s…”

“Perhaps you’re with her against your will? If that’s the case…”

“Miss Holmes. You should break the habit of being jealous just because someone you like isn’t your assistant.”

When Professor Moriarty said this with a hint of amusement, Holmes tilted her head and asked.

“You think I like Mr. Adler?”

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t secretly attach a tiny mana receiver to the office doorknob on your way out.”

After saying this, Moriarty snapped her fingers, and the doorknob was engulfed in smoke with a crumbling sound.

“…I’ll admit to that, but I disagree about Mr. Adler. I’m merely curious.”

“I’m sorry, but Adler chose to become ‘mine’ of his own free will.”

“I wonder. A person’s free will can easily be clouded if they’re in a mentally vulnerable state.”

“We even signed a contract recently. He is mine both legally and magically.”

“Could I see the contract? I have a feeling there might be dozens of legally problematic points.”

Holmes and Moriarty’s gazes crossed once again.

“I didn’t expect someone as wise as you to act so irrationally.”

“There are no absolutes in this world. And I’m actually a very emotional person.”

“No, there are absolutes. And I will be that absolute.”

Watching this argument that seemed to have sparked for no apparent reason, Moriarty turned to me and asked.

“Isn’t that right, Adler?”

“……..That’s right.”

After countless considerations in a split second, I finally nodded, and Moriarty looked at me with a slight frown.

“………”

And so did Miss Holmes standing over there.

‘What the hell?’

I don’t know what’s going on, but the silence that has fallen is suffocating.

.

.

.

.

.

“Oh, by the way.”

How much time had passed since then?

“Mr. Adler, you should be careful.”

Holmes, who had been quietly opening the office door to leave, suddenly looked at me and added.

“Miss Lestrade, who was dispatched to the London Police Department, will soon return to the academy.”

Hearing this, my already aching head felt even worse.

[Quest List]

– Don’t Move: Receive a confession from Inspector Lestrade.

“She’ll probably try to beat you to death when she sees you.”

I couldn’t imagine the academy’s strongest fighter blushing and telling me she liked me.