Ch.146Chapter 146 – The Groom’s Identity (9)

“Well, with this, the ceremony is complete~”

As Lupin, who had been holding Watson and Adler’s hands, declared with a bright smile, the two quietly took a step back.

“With this, you two are now married both legally and magically.”

“”……….””

And then came the silence.

“Right?”

In that silence, Lupin’s eyes, which had been waiting for this moment throughout the wedding, quietly began to shine.

“I thought I was going to die trying to hold back.”

“…….?”

“Well, I should get going now and take care of my business…”

“…To be precise, that’s not correct.”

Just as she was about to reach for Adler while secretly salivating, a cold voice began to emanate from the pillar beside them.

“In modern British society, a wedding ceremony is merely a formality and does not itself constitute proof of marriage.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The marriage ceremony is literally just a magical act that bestows the duty of being owned by one’s wife. The legal relationship is only established when a marriage certificate is submitted to the city hall.”

Hearing this, Lupin, dressed as a nun, muttered with a bewildered expression.

“…What kind of place is England anyway?”

“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that the act you need to do to establish your marriage has not been completely finished.”

Ignoring her muttering, Professor Moriarty continued her explanation with a dark expression.

“But we’ve already completed the wedding ceremony…”

“You might be recognized as being in a common-law relationship. Or perhaps you could declare that you own this boy.”

“…Why are you saying that through gritted teeth?”

When Watson confronted her with a disgruntled expression, the professor began to glare at her with murderous eyes.

“T-that look doesn’t scare me… I’ve faced Neville before…”

“I’m merely stating facts.”

“Ah, I get it.”

Startled by the fierce intensity, Watson lowered her tail, then quietly sighed and pulled out the marriage registration form that had been folded in her possession.

“Then all we need to do is submit this to city hall, right?”

“……..”

“Then there’s no problem, right? Since the wedding ceremony is over, our marriage will be perfectly established both formally and practically.”

Professor Moriarty maintained silence for a moment at those words.

“…Hmph.”

“…….?”

When her lips suddenly twisted into an ambiguous, sinister smile, a question mark appeared on Watson’s face.

“Why is she suddenly like that…”

“Y-yeah, I wonder…”

“Well, never mind. Come with me, honey.”

“…Hmm?”

After reflexively agreeing with her muttering, Adler quietly tilted his head at Watson’s words.

“We need to go register our marriage.”

“…Huh?”

“All we need to do is submit the marriage registration form, but it would be more meaningful if we went together, right?”

As Adler unconsciously began to nod at those words, a semi-transparent system window appeared before his eyes.

[London’s Casanova: Being Caught in a Marriage Scam by Rachel Watson]

[50% -> 74%]

“Um, Rachel.”

“Yes?”

Seeing the probability displayed in the system window, Adler instinctively felt a threat to his life.

“I, I suddenly have a stomachache…?”

“A stomachache?”

“Ah, maybe something I ate this morning didn’t agree with me…?”

As he began to mutter with a pale face, a light of genuine concern appeared on Watson’s face.

“Come to think of it, you did look quite unwell since this morning.”

“Y-yes. I’m really not feeling well today.”

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Adler began to put on a desperate performance while breaking into a cold sweat.

“Sh-should we go to the hospital?”

“…I-I think so. So maybe we should postpone submitting the marriage registration form.”

“No, that won’t do.”

But Watson quietly shook her head and began to speak in a firm voice.

“Every time I’ve postponed something related to you, it has never ended well.”

“……..”

“So this time, I won’t postpone it. I’m not stupid enough to keep falling for the same trick.”

At that somehow reasonable argument, Adler looked up at her with troubled eyes.

“Th-then what should we do…”

“You go to the hospital first.”

“…What?”

“I’ll submit the marriage registration form to city hall.”

Hearing Watson’s statement, Adler opened his eyes wide and cautiously asked.

“Are you sure it’s okay without me…?”

“Yes, I should be grateful that I even got to have a wedding ceremony with someone who constantly disappears and goes missing. What more could I ask for?”

“…Ah, hahaha.”

After responding like that and letting out an awkward laugh, Watson gave her fiancé a gentle smile.

“But now you can’t go missing anymore, okay?”

“Haha…”

“Honestly, now that we’re married, if you don’t want a bullet in your leg, you should probably show some restraint, right?”

At her savage joke, Adler remembered the system’s probability, stopped laughing, and quietly closed his mouth.

“Well, I’ll be back soon.”

Leaving him behind, Rachel Watson turned around and headed toward the exit of the cathedral.

“Holmes, please make sure ‘my husband’ doesn’t escape.”

After emphasizing the words ‘my husband’ to her best friend who had been quietly observing the situation, she added as she opened the cathedral door.

“I really hope I won’t have to demonstrate my newly purchased tranquilizer bullets.”

As she left, silence began to flow through the cathedral.

“””………”””

In that silence, the gazes of Sharlotte Holmes, Professor Jane Moriarty, and Lupin began to intersect with their respective expressions.

– Pop…!

While that tense atmosphere lingered for a while, a sound of something popping echoed through the cathedral.

“Ah, hello.”

As their gazes all turned toward the source of the sound, Adler, who had returned to his original form unable to withstand the rate at which his mana was being depleted, opened his mouth while looking nervous.

“What just happened was a kind of event…”

– Slip…

And at that very moment, the professor’s restraints began to release themselves.

“…Oh my.”

– Swoosh…

Lupin, who had been standing in front of Adler who was staring blankly at the scene, also returned to his original form wearing a cape and monocle with just a light gesture.

– Tsuzuzuzuzu…

And finally, Sharlotte Holmes began to emit black smoke from her body with now quite familiar and natural skill.

“…Mr. Adler.”

“Ah, yes?”

“Detailed questions and answers about what happened today will proceed after we get you out of here first.”

Professor Moriarty, who had been looking down at them with a contemptuous gaze, announced to Adler, who was sitting on the floor swishing his black tail, in her characteristically monotone voice.

“Who decides that?”

“…There’s nothing more pathetic than claiming ownership after being rejected.”

“At least I’m not treated worse than a dog like someone here.”

And so began the familiar scene once again.

“I don’t want to hear that from someone who loses even to a dog.”

“I smell an old lady somewhere.”

“Don’t keep trying such childish and low-grade provocations when you don’t even know my real age.”

But if there was a slight difference from usual, it was that there was one more person involved in the scene who hadn’t been there before.

“There’s only one jewel… but so many people after it…?”

“”………””

“This is the best…”

As Lupin said that and began to twist her body, two gazes turned toward her.

“Are you aware that Inspector Ganimard has recently entered England to catch you? I hear he’s conducting a joint investigation with Inspector Lestrade.”

“Ah, of course I know.”

Hearing Holmes’ sharp words, Lupin burst into laughter and replied.

“But adding 0 to 0 doesn’t make it 1, does it?”

“That’s an arrogant statement. If two women join forces with determination, they could sweep away an entire city.”

“As you know, people with excessive strength often have muscles in their brains too.”

“…That’s true.”

“Yes, yes, so without a control tower, it’s very easy to deal with…”

But suddenly, Lupin stopped speaking and shuddered as if having a chill.

“I suddenly have a bad feeling.”

“…For a thief, you’re surprisingly unperceptive.”

As Sharlotte looked at her with an undetective-like evil smile, she spoke in a relaxed voice at that moment.

“Well, since you’ve noticed now… I should give you a chance.”

“Ugh…”

“Leave this place right now. Then you won’t have to face the person you dislike so much…”

“Excuse me.”

The quiet voice of Adler, who had been cautiously observing from between them, softly echoed through the cathedral.

“Is that inspector a woman too?”

The next moment, a deathly silence began to flow through the cathedral.

“I’m suddenly interested.”

“Mr. Adler, just keep hitting me instead…”

“Please stop increasing the number of potential murderers in London.”

After blankly watching the two women who had been emitting intense killing intent toward him just moments ago surrender at a single word, Lupin muttered to herself.

“Hehe, no.”

‘…Can I take that back to France?’

.

.

.

.

.

An hour later, at the city hall in London.

“…What?”

“As I said, the mana of the person who signed this registration form is already registered.”

Watson, who had submitted the marriage registration form with a pounding heart, began to look blank at the employee’s response.

“That means they’ve already completed a marriage registration with someone else.”

“That can’t be… There must be some mistake…”

“To prevent fraudulent marriages, marriage registration forms record the mana information of the signatories, so it’s certain.”

Hearing those words, Watson’s expression became even blanker.

“Would you like me to direct you to a nearby law office?”

She came to her senses when the employee’s businesslike voice pierced her ears.

“…I know a closer solution, so I’ll be fine.”

“Is that so, then…”

– Click…

“Ma’am?”