Ch.151Chapter 151 – The Crawling Man (2)

“Ah, goodbye…”

“…….”

Adler, who had spotted Watson behind Sharlotte, reflexively closed the door while saying farewell.

– Thud…

“…huh.”

But when Watson, who had rushed to the entrance with superhuman speed, caught the closing door with her bare hand, he began to look flustered.

– Swish…!

And the next moment, Watson, with a stiff face, put her hand into her pocket.

– Tap…

“…what?”

But when Lestrade, who was standing next to Adler, pulled him back and grabbed Watson’s hand, a chilling silence began to flow between them.

“What are you doing, Officer?”

“…Protection.”

Watson quietly tilted her head to the side at the officer’s answer.

“I didn’t know you’d become desperate enough to protect criminals, Officer.”

“…I’m sorry.”

In response to her sarcasm, Lestrade muttered while deliberately avoiding Watson’s gaze.

“But a contract is a contract…”

“What?”

“…Hu-husband and wife. I must protect them.”

Upon hearing those words, Rachel Watson quietly lost the light in her eyes.

“This fu—”

“Calm down, Watson.”

“These bastards are making it impossible to calm dooooown!!!”

As she finally exploded and started shouting at the top of her lungs, cold sweat began to trickle down Adler’s forehead.

“…Wh-what’s going on?”

Meanwhile, a slightly frightened voice came from behind them.

“Just the usual at 221B Baker Street.”

“Sh-should I call the police?”

Mrs. Hudson, who had peeked her head around the stairs after hearing the commotion while enjoying her afternoon tea, asked in a frail voice.

“…Ah, that won’t be necessary.”

Upon noticing Lestrade beside Adler, she turned away with a slightly relieved expression.

“”………””

And then came the silence.

“Hey, you know.”

“”……..?””

“So why did you come here?”

Adler and Lestrade, who had been fidgeting as if sitting on pins and needles in that silence, doubted their ears at Watson’s cheerful voice as she lifted her head that had been bowed.

“I… I followed Issac Adler…”

“W-well… there’s a new… puzzle…”

“A puzzle? Then you’ve come to help our Holmes.”

Just as the two, who had been watching Watson nervously for a while, were about to speak, Rachel Watson suddenly clapped her hands, smiled brightly, and interrupted them.

“Holmes, what do you think?”

“…Watson.”

“Don’t you think it would be more fun if four of us went instead of just the two of us? I’m already feeling excited about what might happen!”

“Would you like to take a break and have some brandy?”

“Huh? Holmes, what are you suddenly talking about?”

When Sharlotte, who had been watching anxiously from the side, casually asked the question, Watson turned to her with wide eyes.

“I’m perfectly fine right now. So there’s no reason to rest.”

She muttered with a serious look in her eyes.

“…If you say so.”

“Well then, shall we go? Mr. Adler and Officer Lestrade?”

As Sharlotte, who was about to say something, finally sighed and turned away from her, Watson began to descend the stairs with a cheerful expression.

“…Are you really okay with this?”

“Hm? With what?”

Sharlotte, who had been quietly watching her from behind, asked in a low voice.

“Working with Issac Adler on this case…”

“Why should that matter?”

“You know now. Neville and Adler are…”

“Holmes.”

Watson, who had stopped halfway down the stairs, sighed and began to speak in an admonishing voice.

“My fiancé is not the type to get jealous just because I’m with Adler.”

“Are you being sincere?”

“Why are you acting like this?”

When Sharlotte still looked at her with concerned eyes, Watson frowned and began to get upset.

“How can you compare the world-class scumbag London playboy Issac Adler, who toys with women and throws them away, with the devoted and pure-hearted Neville St. Claire who only has eyes for me?”

“……”

“You keep talking as if they’re the same person?”

After saying that, she turned her head sharply and began walking toward the boarding house entrance.

“It’s offensive… being treated like that.”

And then came the silence.

“Maybe I should just go back…”

“…Issac Adler.”

Adler, who had been trembling in his spot consumed by primal fear, stiffened his expression at Sharlotte’s whispering voice that began to reach his ears.

“Don’t you have anything to say to me…?”

“…Hiccup.”

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That evening.

“W-we’ve arrived, everyone…”

Adler, who had been squirming under the persistent and eerie gaze of Zia Lestrade beside him, with Sharlotte and Watson in front, hurriedly got out of the carriage as soon as they reached their destination and began to speak.

“Th-the most intellectual university town in England welcomes us… shall we get out now?”

“”……..””

“C-Cambridge looks quite nice. Haha…”

But the three women just stared at Adler from inside the carriage with cold expressions.

“…Actually, I-I find Oxford more familiar than Cambridge.”

“…Familiar, you say?”

“Yes, I once did language study…”

Adler, who had become awkward and was blurting out anything, suddenly covered his mouth.

“…I-it was a place I dreamed of. But I just ended up enrolling at Auguste Academy.”

“A British person doing language study?”

“Y-you seem to have forgotten. I’m not British, I’m a Demon. Haha, ha…”

Adler began desperately making excuses to Sharlotte, who was getting out of the carriage with gleaming eyes.

“…Come to think of it, my sister said your soul had black hair.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about~”

“Could it really be that your soul suddenly changed one day…?”

“W-wow! An eagle!!”

As he somehow spotted an eagle flying in the cloudy sky and made a fuss pointing at it, Sharlotte’s eyes slowly narrowed.

“Ms. H-Holmes, which university were you planning to attend?”

“…Me?”

“I’m very curious.”

Realizing this, Adler hurriedly threw a question at her to change the subject.

“…If it weren’t for you, I would probably be working on a thesis at Cambridge right now.”

“C-come on, how old is Ms. Holmes…”

“I had received early admission approval from the dean. But because of you, I submitted an application to Auguste Academy, so it’s all in the past now.”

“Ah, ahaha…”

Adler, who had been laughing awkwardly at her dark gaze, quietly turned his head at the chilling stares from the two women behind him.

“…I’m going to wither away at this rate.”

[As I’ve said before, you brought this upon yourself.]

“So, where is the client?”

Immediately brushing away the system message that appeared before his eyes, Adler asked Sharlotte beside him.

“I wonder if instructions will appear on a board-shaped panel?”

“Ms. Holmes?”

“It seems it can be physically touched and pushed away… if that’s the case, perhaps with Adler’s hand, it might be possible to counter it. If I get the chance later…”

“Excuse me.”

“…I’m listening.”

When he waved his hand in front of Sharlotte’s face as she was muttering something with an eerie aura, she finally responded and pointed ahead.

“Our destination is right there.”

“…It’s not far, is it? I thought we were going into the university.”

“The client for this case is not a university professor, but Trevor Bennett, the professor’s son and assistant. His mansion is right ahead.”

After saying that, Sharlotte quietly smiled and added in a low voice:

“…By the way, the client is a man. That’s a first since I’ve known you.”

“……..”

“Of course, that’s because I deliberately rejected all requests from women.”

As she began to walk with gleaming eyes, she glanced at Adler and whispered:

“…This time you’re out of luck, Mr. Adler, as you can’t seduce the client.”

“Come on, I’m not some woman-obsessed person…”

“””……..”””

After unconsciously clicking his tongue and muttering those words, Adler moved along with a gloomy expression under the piercing gazes from those around him.

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“Who… are you? All of you.”

“””………”””

However, Adler’s gloomy face didn’t last long.

“Instead of looking at me with that expression, please state your business.”

When Sharlotte Holmes knocked on the client’s door with a triumphant expression, what emerged was a rather intellectual-looking black-haired beauty.

“…What is this about?”

The woman, who pushed up her glasses and wrinkled the slight lines under her eyes, shot a cold look at the dumbfounded Holmes group and asked.

“W-well…”

It was at that moment when Sharlotte, uncharacteristically stumbling over her words at the dignified yet sharp appearance that was completely different from the client information she knew.

“M-mom. Sorry…!”

“…Are these your friends, Trevor?”

A boy rushed out to the entrance from inside the mansion, his face flushed.

“Y-yes, Mom. They’re my friends…”

“…I thought I told you not to bring friends home carelessly.”

“W-we were supposed to meet in front of the house. I-I’m not bringing them inside…”

“…Sigh.”

As the woman sighed at those words, the boy explained while sweating nervously.

“I-I’ve organized the thesis. I won’t drink and I’ll come back before it gets late…”

“…Don’t play too late, and come back early.”

“Y-yeah…”

After looking down at him with a disapproving gaze, the woman finally shook her head and went back inside.

“”……..””

And then came the silence.

“So, is that the person?”

Sharlotte, who had finally grasped the situation, broke the silence and asked the client in front of her in a cold voice.

“The professor who crawls around the house in a vulgar manner every night in secret, and even got bitten by a dog?”

“…Oho.”

Adler’s eyes, which had been completely dull, began to sparkle and shine from that moment on.