Ch.123Chapter 123 – Rampage

“Why is everyone making that expression?”

In the cave where silence had been lingering for a long time, Issac Adler’s suddenly relaxed voice begins to echo.

“Don’t tell me you thought I would just accept your proposal without question?”

“……”

“Hmph. Wake up from your dream.”

As he mutters this with a mischievous smile while walking in front of them with his hands behind his back, Sharlotte and Lestrade’s gazes grow increasingly cold.

“Um, why are there three marriage registration forms…?”

“Can you handle the consequences of your actions?”

While Watson mumbles in confusion from behind them, Lestrade, standing next to Sharlotte, speaks with intense killing intent.

“You will surely regret this, Issac Adler.”

“…Why is that?”

“If what you say is true, soon all the supernatural beings in the world will come after you.”

“Hmm, that’s probably right.”

Adler quietly nods in agreement.

“The only person who can offset that Curse by your side would be me, who bears the opposite Curse, wouldn’t it?”

“Ah…..”

“So if you value your life, you should rather beg me to…”

But Lestrade, who had been confidently continuing her words while looking at him, trails off.

“……….”

This was because Sharlotte Holmes, standing right beside her, was glaring at her with wide eyes.

“Ahem.”

Lestrade deliberately avoids the slightly unhinged gaze that had taken on the color of Adler’s hair right in front of her.

“You should rather beg me to marry you.”

“…Officer.”

“Ms. Holmes. Sometimes people need to know when to yield.”

After hesitating briefly, she begins to speak to Sharlotte with a determined expression.

“At this point, I’m the only one who can handle Issac Adler.”

“…Don’t talk nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense, Ms. Holmes. It’s the truth that you so cherish.”

“No, it’s not.”

However, Sharlotte denies this with a fierce voice.

“…I can solve supernatural phenomena. That’s what modern detectives do for a living, so I’m actually more suitable.”

“It’s better to eliminate the source than to risk the dangers that would arise.”

“Then I’ll hire you as a security guard for our newlywed home. We’ll hold the ceremony within a week, so quit your police job…”

“How did the conversation turn in that direction?”

Upon hearing the officer’s question, Sharlotte quietly lowers her head.

“…Because.”

“Pardon?”

“Because I love him!!!”

She suddenly raises her voice and shouts.

“And Issac Adler, isn’t it the same for you too!?”

“…….”

“Do you think I can’t notice my mana in your eyes just because you’re wearing colored contacts?”

After saying that much and catching her breath, a trembling voice begins to escape from her lips.

“Mr. Adler, let’s get married…”

“…….”

“Whatever the officer can do for you, I can do too.”

Hearing this, Adler quietly withdraws his smile.

“I’ll handle the supernatural beings. I’m also cursed to be unsatisfied with anything other than mysteries, so let’s say we cancel out each other’s Curses.”

“………”

“I’ll handle the housework, earning money, and raising children all by myself. Don’t you want to see the child that would come from the meeting of London’s finest genes?”

As she mutters this, even bending her pride, she begins to quietly bite her lip while looking at Adler, who was staring down at her.

“Don’t look at me like that…”

“………”

“You like me too, don’t you? Several times more than that officer you’re dating by force.”

“…Miss Holmes.”

Lestrade, who heard this, glared at Sharlotte and was about to say something, but Adler’s statement was one step faster.

“That’s exactly why I chose this outcome.”

Sharlotte quietly stops speaking upon hearing this.

“If I married you or the officer, we’d certainly be happy for about a year.”

“…Leave the officer out of this.”

“Yes, let’s say that’s the case.”

Adler, who had somehow regained his smile, slowly begins to walk toward Sharlotte.

“…Anyway, if I accepted the proposal, we would certainly be happy.”

“Then we should get married.”

“But then the world would end.”

Hearing this, Sharlotte’s face begins to turn pale.

“Did you know that the period when supernatural phenomena began to surge worldwide coincides with when I started my public activities?”

“That’s just a coincidence.”

“Is it also a coincidence that Gil the Reaper, the French phantom thief, the mad scientist, and even the demon hound of the Baskerville family are all drawn to me?”

“Yes. It’s all coincidence.”

Issac Adler, who had reached out his hand, gently caresses her cheek.

“…Unfortunately, it’s not a coincidence.”

“………”

“Just by my continued existence, this world will be invaded by things that shouldn’t exist.”

“That’s not true…”

“Don’t deny it. You of all people shouldn’t turn away from the truth, Sharlotte Holmes.”

Hot liquid begins to flow down his hand.

“…You weren’t someone who showed emotions so freely.”

“It’s because of you that I’ve become like this.”

“Ahaha…”

“You made me into someone who can’t live without you, and now you’re telling me to eliminate you with my own hands?”

Sharlotte, grabbing Adler’s hand, shakes her head while gritting her teeth.

“I can’t.”

“No, that’s the only way.”

But Adler whispers to her with a resolute voice.

“In this case, you’ve uncovered the truth. The fact that I am both the cause of this incident and a demon that must disappear from the world.”

“…Don’t tell me.”

“So, it’s your victory.”

“You set up this case to lose from the beginning?”

He slightly avoids Sharlotte’s gaze and mutters.

“…To be precise, it was from the moment you noticed even a bit of my true identity.”

“Then this mystery is invalid. What kind of puzzle-setter assumes defeat from the start?”

“Oh? Surely a detective isn’t trying to cover up a case?”

Their eyes, dyed with each other’s hair colors, cross.

“I’ll charge you as an accomplice, not the main culprit. Just 5 to 10 years, no… if I make a plea deal, it could be much less.”

“No, that would be quite difficult.”

“What?”

“…I’ve already secured the perpetrators and victims of the case who will testify against me.”

Of the two pairs of eyes, Sharlotte’s wavered first.

“The eerie legend of the Baskerville family, it doesn’t end there.”

“……”

“Do you know what the surname of the young man who died at the hands of the evil lady of the manor who made a contract with a demon was?”

“……..!”

It was because Adler was directly mentioning a fact that she had realized long ago but didn’t want to bring up first.

“…It was ‘Mortimer.’ Judging by your expression, you already noticed.”

“……..”

“By the way, that young man had a very cute younger sister.”

After saying this, Adler quietly looks behind him, and Gloria Mortimer, who had been standing quietly next to Helen Baskerville, bows her head.

“A few days after the incident ended, she summoned the demon who had contracted with the lord and became a werewolf herself. For the next 200 years, she hunted the family’s heirs and became the very Curse of the Baskerville family…”

“…So that butler is her.”

“And behind her, as you know, is me.”

Sharlotte, who had been coldly staring at the butler who was glaring at her with fangs bared, quietly opens her mouth.

“So what?”

“What do you mean? Of course I’ll make her confess.”

“………..”

“Of course, I’ll have her identify me as the mastermind. She’s one of the few people who can prove that I’m a demon. All of this is possible thanks to your perfect deduction, Miss Holmes.”

Adler continues speaking calmly while facing her.

“And as for Miss Baskerville… it’s a bit much to say I recruited her.”

“………”

“Since she extremely despises me, she’ll do everything in her power to argue for my guilt.”

Hearing this, Sharlotte quietly lowers her head, and Adler, who begins to gently stroke her hair, starts to whisper in a low voice.

“What do you think? Isn’t it interesting how our roles have been reversed?”

“……….”

“A criminal consultant trying to reveal his own crimes to the world, and a detective trying to hide those crimes… it’s like a novel.”

And then, silence began to flow for a long time.

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“…Mr. Adler.”

After a long silence with her head bowed, a cold voice begins to escape from Sharlotte’s lips.

“So what do you want me to do?”

“…..Pardon?”

“You’ve thought quite a bit, but you missed one very minor possibility that could make all your plans fall apart.”

Realizing that her gaze had darkened incomparably to before, Issac Adler suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

“British Empire Special Life Form Management Act, Article 12, Section 3, provisions on the handling and management of special life forms.”

“………”

“The following species are not guaranteed human status and are to be eliminated immediately upon discovery. Legal protection is only granted if they are the property of the state or an authorized official.”

The corners of Sharlotte’s mouth, who was staring up at him, slowly begin to rise.

“Vampires, Werebeasts, unauthorized artificial life forms, undead, Demon or minions presumed to be derived from demons.”

“…That’s what I’ve been talking about all along?”

Adler looks at her with a puzzled expression and tilts his head.

“With my surrender, our long relationship ends. The British government will execute me as a target for elimination specified in the constitution, and you will be remembered as a hero who drove supernatural beings from the world…”

“…Not being guaranteed human status means I can legally do whatever I want to you.”

He briefly wears a blank expression upon hearing Sharlotte’s continued words.

“As long as ownership is guaranteed.”

“Miss Holmes, if you don’t defeat me, the world is in danger…”

“…How many times do I have to say it, so what?”

In the suddenly reversed atmosphere, Sharlotte begins to push Adler with a dark smile.

“From now on, I’m going to subdue you by force and confine you in the basement of Baker Street that I’ve prepared in advance. What can you do besides resist?”

“Uh…”

“Of course, legally it’s not a criminal act but a rescue operation, so rest assured. Even if half the women in England protest, I won’t be prosecuted.”

“…You’re going to fight and win against a demon? Even with a demon hound and werewolf to help you.”

“Inspector Lestrade will cooperate with the arrest. No matter how loyal your supernatural beings are, they’re powerless without contracts and magic, right?”

“………”

“Let’s start by synthesizing our genes and finding a way to stop supernatural beings. If we combine you and me in various ways, we’ll figure it out quickly.”

“Um…”

Finally, as Sharlotte, who had completely lost control, began to push him against the wall, Adler, sweating nervously, urgently turns his gaze behind him.

“”………””

– Grrrr…

Though she looked somewhat displeased, Zia Lestrade seemed to agree with Sharlotte’s plan for now, quietly taking out her police baton to block his loyal supernatural beings.

“Hmm…”

After quietly observing this scene, Issac Adler summons the ‘Return Ticket’ he had just received.

“Issac Adler, look me in the eyes.”

‘…Should I just use it now?’

“From now on, I am your master.”

His hand, which had been hesitating for a moment, slowly begins to move toward the small ticket-shaped emoticon.

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“I’m sorry, but I cannot agree with that statement.”

It was at that moment when a monotone voice, all too familiar to everyone in the cave, echoed.

– Whoooosh…..!

“Ugh!?”

“Uh.”

Within less than a second, a pressure of mana as heavy as deep-sea pressure begins to weigh down on everyone in the cave.

“I had my suspicions when the weather suddenly changed drastically…”

But Adler, who was uniquely free from that suffocating pressure, gives an awkward smile as he looks at the person slowly walking from the entrance of the cave.

“…As expected, it’s you, Professor.”

Issac Adler’s legal owner, who had somehow moved past the competitors to stand right in front of him.

“Adler.”

Professor Jane Moriarty, who had been watching the entire case from behind the scenes, pulls something out of her pocket with a bright expression.

“…Get married.”

It was a marriage registration form with her name signed in neat handwriting.

“…Huh?”

While Adler, who had been about to embrace the professor with a welcoming expression, becomes blank-faced.

“Don’t mess around.”

Surprisingly, Sharlotte, who had managed to shake off the professor’s mana by using her own rampaging mana, gets up from her seat and spits out curses with a fierce expression.

“…Hmm?”

A new message appears before Adler, who was watching the scene with an interested expression.

[Probability of being ??ed: 200%]

“…This really is a bug.”

The moment Adler mutters this in an unbothered voice, black and gray mana begin to clash, emitting flashing light.

[Let me correct that.]

[Probability of being ??ed by multiple people: 100%]

“…Oh my.”