Ch.156Chapter 156 – The Crawling Man (7)

“…why are you here?”

Upon entering the room and facing Professor Moriarty, Sharlotte stares at her for a long while before asking in a cold voice.

“Answer me.”

“I haven’t even said anything yet. Aren’t you being too hasty?”

“I can see the mischief written all over your face.”

“Hahaha… Do you really think you can read my expressions?”

Jane Moriarty bursts into laughter and shakes her head at those words.

“Where is Gregory Freud?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So that’s how you want to play this?”

Staring directly at her while gritting her teeth, Sharlotte steps forward and speaks as if spitting out the words.

“I don’t understand what gives you such confidence. Is there something you’re relying on, or have you finally begun to grow arrogant?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Unlike before when you skillfully evaded investigation, this time you’re directly involved in the case.”

“Hmm.”

“Do you think I can’t prove the simple fact that you just consulted on this case? Professor Moriarty?”

And then silence falls.

“…Sharlotte.”

In that silence, Microny Holmes, who had been watching Sharlotte with narrowed eyes, quietly speaks up.

“Sorry, but I don’t think this sister can prove it…”

“…Good heavens.”

Only then does Sharlotte look startled, staring blankly at her older sister.

“I think it’s a bit of a stretch to view this case as solicitation. The professor wasn’t involved from the beginning, and we can’t apply accessory charges either…”

“……”

“At most, maybe harboring a criminal? But this case isn’t that straightforward. Right now, Mr. Freud hasn’t been confirmed as the perpetrator, and technically, he hasn’t fled either…”

Microny, who had been enthusiastically sharing her opinions, looks dejected at Sharlotte’s next question.

“Why are you here, sister?”

“…You didn’t recognize me until now? That’s too sad, sister.”

“I asked why you’re here.”

As her sister’s voice grows even colder, she smiles with her eyes and answers.

“I’ve decided to become a crime consultant too. It’s more fun than I thought.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. You don’t find anything fun except moving the London government with a single word and nearly getting your blood sucked dry by Adler.”

“Oh my, that’s too harsh…”

With a genuinely hurt expression and downcast eyes, she quietly tilts her head to the side and asks.

“…By the way, you noticed?”

“You two suck each other’s faces off every weekend. I’d have to be an idiot not to notice.”

“Sigh… You used to be such a good child, clinging to me and calling me ‘sister~’. When did you start using such harsh words…”

She pretends to cry while saying this, then slightly raises her head to gauge Sharlotte’s reaction.

“Enough of that, just answer me. The professor doesn’t seem like she’ll talk, so I’m asking you.”

“About what? I’ll tell you everything I know except where Gregory Freud is~”

“…Why won’t you tell me that?”

“The world is already full of boring things. I shouldn’t make something boring.”

“Haa…”

As Sharlotte frowns deeply and is about to say something.

“Let’s go, Miss Holmes.”

“……..”

“There’s nothing to gain by wasting more time here.”

Lestrade grabs her arm and speaks in a low voice.

“You said you figured out the truth of the case from the books you read while waiting, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Then I’ll mobilize the police force to find Gregory Freud. Once I identify a suspect, I’ve never failed to catch them.”

Sharlotte, who had been quietly frowning at her words, eventually sighs and nods.

“Good thinking. Then…”

“Before that, I need to ask one question.”

“What?”

“Something’s been bothering me.”

She glares at Professor Moriarty and Microny Holmes, then asks in a cold voice.

“What’s with that cat?”

“…Cat?”

“I’m talking about the golden cat desperately swimming in your chest and reaching out, Professor.”

And from that point, a strange atmosphere begins to flow through the room.

“You mean this cute little one?”

“I’ve never heard that you keep a cat.”

“…I picked it up on the street. Isn’t it adorable?”

“So you’re saying it has no owner?”

Moriarty’s relaxed expression turns cold at those words.

“Miss Holmes. Usually when someone picks up a kitten from the street, that person becomes the owner.”

“…You never know. It might already have an owner.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Actually, I’ve been raising a golden kitten recently.”

At this, Sharlotte’s gaze also begins to grow cold.

“It came to me first, wagging its tail, so I fed it and even put a collar on it. But one day, I found it had left home.”

“…Perhaps your love was insufficient?”

“That’s not it. It was the type to wag its tail at any female it saw.”

“I see. And what’s your point?”

“This little one making the most pitiful expression right now might actually be the cat I was raising.”

Hearing this, Professor Moriarty begins to laugh mockingly.

“That’s quite an exaggeration.”

“I think it’s entirely possible.”

But ignoring her words, she begins to stroke the cheek of the cat that was peeking out from the professor’s clothes.

“P-purr…”

“See? If I were a stranger, it wouldn’t rub its cheek against me so obediently.”

“It’s just that this cat likes anyone female indiscriminately.”

“Didn’t you say you just picked it up? Somehow you seem to know a lot about it.”

“One doesn’t need to observe for long to see certain things at a glance.”

As the cat, caught between them with an expression of not knowing whom to side with, was about to have a mental breakdown.

“Excuse me, I don’t know how long either of you has been raising cats… but isn’t there a very simple way to determine the owner?”

“”……..?””

Lestrade, who had been watching their fight with pure curiosity, makes a statement that catches their attention.

“We get a lot of missing animal reports at the police station, so I know about this. There’s something called an ‘Ownership Determination Spell’ in the world.”

“”……….””

“Of course, the police station lacks mana users, so we usually turn people away, but you folks could easily use it, right?”

And then silence falls.

– Swish…

“…Meow?”

The golden cat, lifted by its scruff by Moriarty in the silence, begins to squirm its paws with an anxious expression.

“I forgot about that. It was a spell commonly used in the old days to settle ownership disputes over slaves…”

“…You speak as if you’ve experienced the slave era yourself?”

“Don’t try so hard to incite. There’s more information in the world that can be known through literature and records than just seeing with one’s own eyes.”

“Well, anyway, if it was used to determine slave ownership, it should be sufficient to end this argument.”

After carefully placing the cat on the desk, the two women begin to stare at each other so intensely that sparks might fly.

“Then, wait a moment. I’ll find the magic circle from a nearby library.”

“Didn’t you just say we shouldn’t waste time? Fortunately, I know the magic circle, so that won’t be necessary.”

“No, how can I trust you?”

“Then what do you suggest?”

At the professor’s irritated question, Sharlotte quietly turns her gaze to the side.

“It would be fairer to ask a third party.”

“…Indeed, that makes sense.”

“Huh? Are you talking about me~?”

Microny Holmes begins to smile with an interested expression.

“The magic circle is as follows. If you don’t understand…”

“I understand~ The structure seems fine to me~”

“Good to hear. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Professor Moriarty leans back in her chair with folded arms and whispers to Sharlotte in front of her with an arrogant look.

“When the results come out, I hope you’ll accept them gracefully.”

“I agree. I hope you won’t bring more storm clouds to ruin London citizens’ mood or make it snow unexpectedly in summer.”

Just as their argument was about to flare up again over the cat sitting on the desk in a loaf position and trembling.

“Yap!”

Microny Holmes, who had been quietly observing the situation, suddenly activates the magic circle drawn on the desk.

“…Gasp!?”

“The researchers are starting to give us looks, so let’s finish this quickly~”

And the next moment, the golden cat with a completely surprised expression floats up into the air.

“I don’t know how the professor caught you, but it’s time to come back?”

“…Any more escapades will be troublesome.”

The gazes of Professor Moriarty and Sharlotte, who muttered in low voices while looking at the cat, simultaneously begin to darken.

.

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.

.

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– Float…

But what’s happening here?

“”…….!?””

The Adler-like cat floating in the air is pushed by an unknown force not toward Sharlotte’s arms or Moriarty’s, but elsewhere.

“Huh?”

The cat heads toward Zia Lestrade, who had been mindlessly watching the situation from the side.

“Meow, meow~”

“Why, why me…?”

Professor Moriarty and Sharlotte Holmes, who had been staring blankly for a while, simultaneously become serious and begin to glare at her.