Ch.14Chapter 14 – Red Mana Alliance (3)

“…who could this be.”

“Hmm, well.”

A few hours before executing the plan.

I was out investigating to find out what Lady Clay was hiding from us, under Professor Moriarty’s instructions.

“If I’d known this assignment would end so anticlimactically, I should have asked Senior Wilson for a higher fee.”

As luck would have it, I ran straight into Sharlotte Holmes, who had received a request to find me.

“So, why were you lurking around the pawnshop run by my client’s family?”

From her appearance, it seemed she had just started investigating a new case.

‘…This is a good opportunity.’

I can’t miss this chance.

It’s the perfect opportunity to help Sharlotte Holmes right in front of me and accelerate her growth.

Honestly, it’s a bit funny that I’m helping her, but given the circumstances, I have no choice.

In the original work, Holmes solves his first case about 3 years from her current age.

And only about 20 years later does he use his accumulated experience to engage in a fierce battle with Moriarty, winning by a narrow margin.

But Sharlotte, while possessing the same brilliant mind and deductive skills, lacks the experience and expertise of the original Holmes.

That’s why she fails a few times in the game.

And one of those failures is in the game’s first case, “The Red Mana League.”

‘I should help her.’

Although it’s an event where she grows significantly mentally, in her current state, the possibility of a game over is quite high.

Partly because Joanne Clay, who has top-tier intelligence and physical prowess despite being in the early stages, appears as an enemy.

And also because Dr. Rachel Watson, who becomes more important the more dangerous the case, doesn’t seem to be accompanying her for some reason.

‘…It’s also problematic if I only nurture Moriarty.’

The peace of London can only be maintained if the two geniuses oppose each other and maintain an appropriate balance.

But right now, Professor Moriarty is growing at a frightening pace with my full support.

So at this point, where the balance could easily collapse, I think I should start intervening.

Yes, if the previous case was Professor Moriarty’s introduction to crime.

This case will be Sharlotte Holmes’s growth story.

“Seeing your silence, you must be quite flustered?”

“Miss Holmes.”

After organizing my thoughts, I addressed Holmes, who was standing in front of me with a confident expression, in a low voice.

“What a coincidence. I was also investigating this case.”

“The case of your own disappearance?”

“Miss Holmes. You’ve already noticed it. The complex inner workings hidden in this case.”

She smiles with interest and asks.

“But why is a self-proclaimed crime consultant investigating this?”

“My client is hiding something from me. So I’m trying to find out what it is.”

“Hmm…”

“It would be a big problem if it interferes with the work.”

As she frowned slightly and tilted her head, just as I was about to subtly suggest that we investigate together.

– Click!

Suddenly, I felt the cold touch of metal on my wrist.

“Then, let’s investigate together, Mr. Adler.”

Holmes, who had abruptly handcuffed my wrist, finished cuffing her own wrist as well, then linked arms with me and said.

“I’ll specially hire you as my daily assistant.”

“…What is this?”

I was a bit happy to receive the amazing title of daily assistant, but what on earth is this restraint play?

“Securing a potential accomplice or crucial witness. An important figure in the case.”

“You don’t need to secure me, I won’t run away. And detectives don’t have arrest powers.”

“Who knows? You might leave a letter and slip away quietly like last time.”

She said, shaking her wrist with a hint of a smile.

“And regarding arrest powers, there’s no problem. If necessary, I can testify that I was held hostage after being threatened by a magician.”

“That’s too much.”

“Well then, shall we start our investigation, my daily assistant?”

And so, with handcuffs linking our wrists, Holmes and I began walking down the street in broad daylight, attracting people’s stares.

[Villain Maker: Fulfilling the plausibility of Professor Moriarty’s appearance]

[Progress 15% -> 17%]

“What the hell.”

“Pardon?”

I wonder why the main quest progress increased slightly in the midst of all this?

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“By the way, why were you looking for the pawnshop?”

“This place?”

Sharlotte, walking in step with Issac Adler whom she had secured, opens her mouth in response to his question.

“I came to meet Victoria Spalding.”

“Why?”

“Well? Perhaps because last time when I barged into the interview room, I secretly overheard your conversation through the door crack?”

“…You noticed well.”

“And that appearance was quite familiar too.”

Then, she takes out a wanted poster from her pocket and waves it.

“Joanne Clay. The last survivor of the Clay ducal family, whose entire membership was exterminated for treason against the state a few years ago.”

“………”

“Now known as the leader of ‘The Red Mana League,’ an organization plotting to resurrect vampires, she’s quite a dangerous individual.”

“And?”

“And now, she’s disguised as an innocent country girl named Victoria Spalding.”

Hearing this, Adler opens his eyes wide and agrees.

“As expected of London’s genius girl. You’re amazing.”

“Hmph.”

“How did you figure it out?”

Shrugging her shoulders, Sharlotte begins to explain.

“When you do a lot of disguising to solve cases, you learn. The discrepancy between natural hair color and hair color artificially changed using mana. The awkwardness that occurs when hiding one’s original body shape.”

“Oh.”

“And under her forehead, which she always covers with her hair, there’s a white spot that looks like a burn mark, right?”

As Adler nods, she adds, as if she had expected it.

“Why would someone like her work at this pawnshop for half the pay just as a hobby?”

“That’s right.”

“If I were to guess the reason, it would have to be the bank right next to the pawnshop. Whether it’s organizational funds or sacred artifacts that vampires have coveted for generations. London’s largest bank is certainly worth targeting.”

Saying this, Sharlotte takes out a cane from her pocket.

“So I came to investigate… but the pawnshop is closed. Well, can’t be helped.”

Then, raising her cane high, she mutters.

“But there’s always a way.”

And she begins tapping the ground with her cane.

“Miss Holmes. What are you doing?”

“……..”

“Are you perhaps not hearing the sound resonating from the ground?”

After stopping her action and tilting her head, Adler asks her in a low voice, and Holmes glares at him quietly.

“No, I’m not.”

“Actually, tapping the ground with a cane doesn’t make it resonate. If the interior was that hollow, the road would have collapsed already.”

“It could be fixed with magic stones.”

“Then the magic stone you possess would have already reacted, Miss Holmes?”

Hearing this, Holmes stares blankly at Adler.

“Mr. Adler, you already know everything about this, don’t you?”

“No. As you know, I was assigned to Miss Wilson, so I don’t know much about the trick.”

“…………”

Following behind Adler as he moves on after saying this, Holmes quietly sinks into thought.

‘He’s not falling for it.’

In fact, her tapping the ground with her cane was to elicit a reaction from Adler.

She couldn’t enter the tightly closed pawnshop, nor could she visit the bank’s security room without evidence.

So the remaining option was to observe the reaction of Adler, who understood the case.

“Well, what will you do now?”

But Adler just smiled slyly and said that.

“Are you going to give up on verifying the underground passage?”

With an expression and gaze that seemed provocative.

“No.”

“As expected of Sharlotte Holmes. To be able to determine the existence of a passage in this situation.”

Twitching her eyebrows at his gaze, Holmes lowers her eyes and sinks into thought.

“…I should prepare to fight vampires.”

Looking at her with eyes that seemed to find her cute, Adler clears his throat and mutters.

“If the client is really plotting something bad, we’ll need to think of a way to counter the red mana of the vampire clan…”

“…That’s it.”

“Pardon?”

At that moment, Holmes’s eyes begin to sparkle.

“Vampire mana is several times more powerful than other mana, but it can’t be controlled. That’s why crimes committed by vampires are easy to identify.”

“And?”

“Joanne Clay started working part-time here just a month ago. So if the underground passage is completed now, she must have used magic.”

Holmes’s expression brightens.

“But then the nature of the mana becomes a problem. Excavation work requires delicate control, and if such massive mana is poured in, this area would probably collapse?”

“But what if, as you said earlier, magic stones were used to prevent it from collapsing?”

“Then the ground would have resonated when I tapped it with my cane.”

After finishing her words, Holmes says with a confident expression.

“There is no underground passage, Mr. Adler.”

“Well done, Miss Holmes.”

As she shrugs her shoulders, Adler chuckles and pats her head, whispering in a gentle voice.

“Shall we move on to the next destination?”

“Yes, Mr. Adler.”

Following behind him with a pounding heart, Sharlotte.

‘…Wait.’

Then she realizes that Adler had patted her head.

‘He said he didn’t know the trick of the case.’

And the fact that he had deliberately provoked her and dropped hints.

‘…That statement is likely true.’

Whether it’s true or not, according to Wilson’s testimony, Adler had been with her almost all day.

But then how did he know before her that there was no underground passage?

Could it be that he had completed his deduction before her?

“Miss Holmes?”

As Holmes stared at his back with a slightly dumbfounded expression, Adler’s gentle voice reaches her.

“What are you doing, not following?”

“………….”

“The next puzzle awaits us.”

Adler said, giving her a sweet smile.

– Thump…

It was at that moment that Sharlotte’s heart began to race.

‘So he’s the same kind as me?’

The look in Issac Adler’s eyes as he referred to the case as a “puzzle” was full of joy and anticipation.

And that look was so similar to her own excited gaze now reflected in the bank’s window across the street.

Therefore, although their purposes might differ, there was a high possibility that he and she were fundamentally the same kind.

“Excuse me?”

Her long-standing obsession with Issac Adler began at that moment.

Someone who understood her, whom she had never met before and thought didn’t exist anywhere in this world.

That promising candidate was smiling right in front of her.

‘Moreover, he’s on par with me in skill.’

And surprisingly, this kindred spirit was so excellent that he had once defeated her.

‘…Maybe even more.’

No, it might be more than that.

If she wasn’t mistaken, he had just completed his deduction instantly like her sister and subtly dropped clues for her.

And the process, unlike her sister’s, was incredibly gentle.

– Thump, thump…

Sharlotte’s heart began to beat more fiercely as she reached that thought.

Nothing is certain yet. It could just be a coincidence, or she might be disappointed by encountering a low-level trick at the next location.

But if her guess is correct, many puzzles will unfold before her in the future.

The crime consultant’s puzzles, made just for her, which might completely free her from the terrible “curse” of boredom and tedium that had plagued her since childhood.

‘…But why does he consult on crime?’

Walking quietly behind Adler with her head bowed to hide her expression, Sharlotte suddenly thinks.

‘He seems naturally kind.’

Her gaze falls on Adler’s burned left hand, which remains an unsolved puzzle.

‘…No.’

She shakes her head.

‘Of course he’s not doing it for me.’

Only her sister and Watson know about her “curse.”

Therefore, Issac Adler has no way of knowing about it, and even if he did, there’s no reason for him to try to solve it at his own expense.

‘…Professor Moriarty, was it?’

At that moment, the image of the young female professor sitting next to Adler in the office flashes through Sharlotte’s mind.

‘I should investigate her background.’

Frowning as she recalled the woman’s name, Holmes muttered quietly to herself.

[Villain Maker: Fulfilling the plausibility of Professor Moriarty’s appearance]

[Progress 17% -> 20%]

“This is driving me crazy, really.”

“What did you say?”

“…Nothing.”

A definite plausibility was developing in the narrative between Sharlotte and Jane.

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“Are you alright?”

“…Yes, I just felt dizzy for a moment.”

Adler, who had stopped walking and was staring into space while sweating, smiles and answers Holmes’s question from behind.

“That’s strange.”

But Holmes mutters with suspicion at his uncomfortable appearance.

“…….Ah.”

Then, recalling what happened a few hours ago, she quietly puts her hand in her pocket.

“………..”

The hourglass she took out of her pocket was running out, with only a fingernail-sized amount of sand remaining.

“Excuse me, I need to use the restroom.”

Adler asks cheerfully, scratching his head, to Holmes who had just realized this fact and was wearing a blank expression.

“Could you unlock these for a moment?”

After staring at his pale face for a long time, Holmes finally spoke quietly.

“…Let’s go together.”

“Pardon?”

“I need to stop by too.”

It was the moment when her long obsession with Issac Adler began.