Ch.135Chapter 135 – Kidnapping

“Adler.”

“…Hmm?”

Adler, who had been dozing off with his head bobbing in the carriage, drowsily opens his eyes at the gentle voice coming from beside him.

“I’m hurt…”

“……..”

Then he sees Professor Jane Moriarty with handprints and bruises on her face, whimpering.

“Why did you do this to me…”

“Haa.”

Adler sighs as he looks at her, then quietly opens his mouth.

“Let’s stop the act now.”

“Adler…”

“Our cute professor doesn’t have this kind of image.”

Hearing those words, she slightly raises the corner of her mouth.

“It seems the atmosphere between us and the professor is more formal than I thought?”

“……..”

“According to my research, I thought you were close enough to call each other by first names.”

“…I’m not used to it, so please go back to your original self quickly.”

As Adler mutters in a low voice, unable to adjust to her playful expression, she smiles and quietly snaps her fingers.

– Swoosh…

Instantly, she transforms from a mature professor into a somewhat mysterious girl.

“Hehe.”

“What’s with the ‘hehe’?”

Adler sighs as Arsène Lupin, still wearing a collar and covered in bruises, gives him a bright smile.

“Besides, those injuries weren’t even caused by me hitting you.”

“…That crazy princess was quite strong.”

Lupin scratches her head and mumbles glumly.

“In my mind, princesses were just good sources of jewelry, but now I’m wondering if I might develop trauma.”

“If trauma makes you stop stealing, that would be a good thing.”

“Hey, but you know what? Aren’t you escaping responsibility too easily?”

She suddenly brightens her eyes and leans her face toward Adler.

“After causing all this chaos and using me to cleverly escape?”

“………”

“Even after getting into a fight with a crazy princess murderer and leaving scars on this cool and pretty face.”

Thanks to that, Adler stumbles over his words, and Lupin whispers while pushing her face even closer, almost touching his.

“And honestly, I think some of these handprints and bruises were actually caused by you.”

“………”

“A slap on the cheek, a punch to the stomach, and being kicked several times—it’s only natural, but still.”

“You forced me to do it…”

“Haha, it’s quite cute how you take jokes so seriously.”

Ignoring Adler’s indignant voice, Lupin starts patting his shoulder with a cheerful voice.

“…I really want to have you.”

A slightly dark voice unconsciously escapes from her lips.

“Well, anyway… does this mean we’re even now?”

But as if it never happened, she immediately returns to a cheerful mood and asks while clapping her hands.

“So, where are you getting off?”

“What?”

“Weren’t you using my name to fake a kidnapping and disappear from London?”

Adler tilts his head with a puzzled expression.

“That’s right…”

“So I’m asking where you’re getting off and what you’re going to do next. Since I helped with your operation, I can ask this much, right?”

“Ah, well.”

Adler, who had been looking at Lupin with a slightly troubled expression as she sat with a collar around her neck and a curious look on her face, eventually asked in a low voice.

“Aren’t you kidnapping me?”

“What are you saying?”

She immediately becomes serious.

“How could I kidnap you here?”

“What?”

“That’s impossible.”

Hearing her serious voice, Adler blinks and starts lowering his voice while sweating.

“How disappointing.”

“…Huh?”

“To think that France’s greatest phantom thief would back out because she’s afraid of a few monsters.”

Lupin looks at Adler with an incredulous expression.

“Why are you leaving out the fact that those monsters are on a national scale?”

“…But they should have decreased by now, right?”

“There are at least eight countries and organizations involved.”

“So the lady thief Lupin is a thief who calculates profit and loss…”

Her eyes narrow slightly as she hears Adler’s sigh-mixed voice.

“You really have no filter…”

“It’s true though.”

“That’s not why I can’t kidnap you.”

Hearing that, Adler quietly tilts his head to the side.

“What do you mean?”

“…Well, you can never be restrained.”

Lupin mutters in a voice dripping with regret.

“I’ve secretly observed you being tied up with handcuffs or ropes several times, but the moment I look away, you escape in the blink of an eye.”

“……..”

“That’s a perfect talent for a thief. What kind of Curse do you have?”

Adler falls into thought, recalling the times when Sharlotte had put handcuffs on his arms multiple times.

“…Come to think of it, that’s true.”

“Huh?”

“Maybe it’s because a Demon is always free unless bound by a contract.”

At his meaningful words, Lupin quietly licks her lips.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but the conclusion is that there’s no way to restrain you.”

“Hmm…”

“And honestly, I’m in worse shape than I thought.”

A stream of blood escapes from her lips.

“The princess was stronger than I expected.”

“…….”

“In this condition, not only can I not kidnap you, but if I were to seriously fight you, the chances of me losing would be over 50%.”

She quietly wipes her mouth with her sleeve, and her regretful gaze turns to Adler.

“So, unfortunately, I’ll have to wait for the next opportunity.”

“Next opportunity?”

“I don’t know what your purpose was, but I’m going back to France for about a year to regain my strength until that terrible mess you created in London calms down.”

Adler’s eyes begin to shake wildly at those words.

“I’ll kidnap you after that. There’s too much risk right now.”

“Uh, uhh…”

“So don’t die and wait for me.”

She gently caresses his cheek, then quietly stands up.

“…I’ll be going now.”

As she unfurled her cape and was about to escape through the carriage window, at that moment.

– Tug…

“…Ack.”

The collar around her neck suddenly tightens.

“What?”

She is pulled back into the carriage with tears in her eyes, and begins to look at Adler with a slightly flushed expression.

“…Bleh.”

After staring at her for a moment, Adler suddenly sticks out his tongue with a playful expression.

“What? Is that a signal for me to pounce on you?”

“…Hmph.”

“I don’t know what ability you have, but if you rely on just that, you might be in for a big surprise…”

As he pulls on the collar attached to her, Lupin mutters with a cold smile.

“…Ah, suddenly my strength…”

But the next moment, Adler suddenly clutches his forehead and collapses on the floor.

“My, my strength… is fading…”

“…….”

“Did, did Gil the Reaper secretly cast some strange magic on me…?”

He begins to quietly wag his tail while avoiding Lupin’s bewildered gaze.

“…I’m so weak that even a passing thief could kidnap me and I wouldn’t be able to resist at all….”

“………”

“What should I do about this…..”

As he glances at her, Lupin opens her mouth with a serious expression.

“…Are you joking?”

“………”

But Adler closes his eyes completely and subtly turns his hand to show the back of it.

“…A wedding ring?”

Discovering the ring on his hand, Lupin mutters in a trembling voice.

“You’re married?”

Her expression gradually begins to fill with a sense of taboo.

“…So someone else has ownership?”

“……….”

“If I don’t steal this, I’d be disqualified as a thief…..”

How much time passed like that?

“…Hey.”

Lupin quietly approaches Adler, who is lying on the floor of the carriage with his eyes closed, and begins to whisper in a low voice while spreading her cape.

“…..You brought this on yourself.”

At the same time, she begins to spread her cape wide.

“Get in here for now.”

“…Huh?”

Adler, who slightly opened his eyes at the ominous statement that reached his ears, began to tilt his head with a blank expression.

“What, did you think I had no way to kidnap someone?”

“Uh, uhh…”

It was because his body, wrapped in Lupin’s cape, was gradually shrinking and being sucked into her.

“Uh, uwaah…”

Thinking that if he stayed like this, it might be irreversible, Adler was about to struggle involuntarily.

[Thief’s Treasure: Being Kidnapped by Arsène Lupin]

[Progress: 0% -> 74%]

“…..Ah.”

But seeing the message that appeared before him, he muttered in an enlightened voice.

“I’m too weak… I can’t resist…”

“……..”

“I’m being kidnappeeeed…”

After he was completely sucked into her cape, Lupin remained silent for a moment.

“Ah…”

Then she sat down as if collapsing and began to mutter in a trembling voice with her head bowed.

“This is the first time I’ve absorbed something living…”

– Wriggle…!!

“Ah, the feeling of something crawling inside is awesome….”

It was the beginning of the strange kidnapping drama between Lupin and Adler.

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Meanwhile, at that time.

“……..”

There was a gaze watching the carriage that was leaving London at a fierce speed through the dawn streets.

“…Ha.”

The owner of that gaze, who had been watching the whole situation while hiding in black smoke, was none other than Sharlotte Holmes, whose dark circles had multiplied over the past few days.

“Trying to escape now?”

As she quietly stretched her hand forward, black smoke began to quietly wrap around the wheels of the carriage.

“…It’s too late.”