Ch.162Chapter 162 – Masquerade Ball

“…Adler.”

It was quite a long time after Professor Moriarty rushed out of the office that she returned.

“Take a seat. I have something serious to discuss…”

“You’re cute, Professor.”

“………”

As she peeked her head through the door and muttered in her usual monotone voice, she froze with a blank expression at Adler’s blunt comment, who had been wearing a resigned look.

“…Do, do you have a death wish?”

“Never mind that, come inside.”

Though she spoke with a slightly colder tone, Adler simply smiled and gestured with his hand.

“Well done, Professor.”

“…Um.”

“Now, tell me what’s on your mind.”

As the professor hesitantly approached and sat beside him, Adler straightened up slightly and opened his mouth.

“What’s bothering you?”

“What are you…”

“If you have complaints, tell me now. That’s the only way I can fix them.”

As he boldly asked while stroking the professor’s gray hair, the pouting professor began to mutter in a low voice.

“…I already know you have something on your mind.”

“Yes, and?”

“But you know. Don’t you think you’re spending too little time with me?”

“Pfft.”

Adler snickered at those words.

“That’s not funny at all.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“…Sometimes I miss when we first met.”

Looking at him with disapproval, the professor continued muttering while fidgeting with her fingers.

“Didn’t you say it yourself? That crime consultation was the way to quench my thirst.”

“…I did.”

“And just as a detective always has an assistant, a crime consultant needs one too, so you said you would be my assistant.”

She stared at Adler for a moment.

“Back then, my heart was truly fluttering like a child’s.”

“……..”

“To have to accept the possibility of failing to kill someone. And even having to use my brain to eliminate that possibility. How enjoyable was that?”

The professor’s eyes began to darken.

“In fact, these past few months have been quite meaningful and enjoyable throughout my entire life.”

“I see.”

“But you know. That sensation is starting to dull now.”

Adler flinched slightly at those words.

“Actually, when you weren’t around, I personally consulted on several cases.”

“…What kind of cases?”

“Nothing special. Advising some fools who were trying to rob a bank disguised as stock exchange employees, showing how to kill an informant disguised as a long-term patient, and…”

“…So you handled cases of that caliber on your own.”

Despite not interfering with cases recorded in the Sherlock Holmes series, the ‘erosion rate’ hadn’t decreased.

As Adler, stunned by this fact, muttered this, the professor glanced at him and continued in a low voice.

“That’s right. But somehow, it wasn’t fun or enjoyable at all.”

“…Why?”

“Why do you think, Adler?”

Of course, both Adler and Professor Moriarty knew the answer.

“Was it because Sharlotte Holmes wasn’t there?”

“It was because you weren’t there.”

Although there was a slight difference in the answers they were thinking of.

“”…….””

After confirming this, silence fell between them.

“…Adler. I’ll be honest.”

“Yes.”

“I need you.”

Breaking the silence, she began to mutter in a sullen voice.

“I realized while consulting on several cases alone. Cases without you are too easy to control.”

“………”

“No variables occur, and clients follow all instructions diligently. Like a well-scripted play just for me.”

Today, her complexion seemed several times darker than usual.

“That sense of omnipotence turned from pleasure to displeasure a very long time ago.”

Adler watched the professor as she muttered quietly in such a dark atmosphere.

“Adler, I…”

– Stroke…

“…….?”

As he reached out his hand and began stroking the professor’s head, she quietly tilted her head to the side.

“Why do you keep touching me?”

– Stroke, stroke…

“…This is sexual harassment.”

Eventually, she muttered with her eyes lowered.

“…You finally noticed.”

“That you’ve been sexually harassing me all this time?”

“No. Professor, you already noticed, so why are you pretending not to know?”

Adler began to whisper in a low voice into her ear.

“Don’t you think our relationship is starting to flip?”

“………”

“Think about it. If I disappeared overnight, who would suffer the loss?”

Then, Moriarty answered with a slightly trembling voice.

“…I would.”

“That’s right. Not me, but you, Professor.”

“But if I don’t allow that…”

“You still don’t understand?”

Adler brought his face close to hers and began to whisper in a low voice.

“You’re no longer in charge, you know?”

“…….”

“If you try to force me to do anything, I’ll disappear from your sight forever. You know I can do that, right?”

At those words, the professor’s eyes began to waver quietly.

“Then your life will become several times more miserable than before.”

“Adler…”

“If the only being who can neutralize your curse disappears, you won’t be able to feel any sense of achievement no matter what you do in the future.”

She reached out her hand, drenched in cold sweat, and grabbed Adler’s arm.

“That’s enough.”

“You’ll live trapped in helplessness for eons of time again. All because of that ridiculous mistake of trying to force something…”

“Please stop…”

“If that’s what you want, I can disappear anytime…”

As Adler finished speaking, Professor Moriarty urgently embraced him.

“Don’t go.”

“Hmm… what should I do?”

“…I’ll treat you better from now on.”

Hearing those words, Adler frowned quietly and opened his mouth.

“No. You shouldn’t be the one in control.”

“Then…?”

“It’s not about you treating me well, but about me treating you well.”

At the same time, Adler quietly began to apply pressure on her.

“…Adler?”

“What are you doing, Professor?”

“Why are you trying to push me down…”

“Why are you resisting when your assistant is trying to be nice to you for once?”

Hearing those words, the professor made a slightly shy expression and relaxed her body.

– Thump…

“Good job, Professor.”

And so, she was laid down on the bed, pushed by Adler without resistance.

“From now on, I’ll pounce on you whenever I want, so be aware of that.”

“……..”

“Answer me.”

Unable to meet his gaze, she turned her head to the side, and a small voice escaped from her lips.

“I understand…”

“That’s right.”

The eyes of Adler, who was straddling her, began to be tinged with a slight sense of conquest.

“…Well done.”

“Ugh…”

“Stay still.”

At the same time, Adler blinked his eyes, which had turned red, and sank his teeth into the professor’s neck.

“I haven’t eaten in quite a while, so I’m hungry.”

“……..”

“I find your blood the most delicious, Professor.”

“Is that so…”

For a while, the sound of blood being sucked filled the office.

.

.

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.

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“H-how does it taste?”

“Hmm…”

“My magic has been unstable lately, so it might not taste good…”

As Adler, who had finished his meal after a long time, wiped his mouth, the professor, still pinned under him, asked in a low voice.

“It’s decent.”

“Th-that’s good…”

After hearing his answer, she quietly blushed and opened her mouth.

“If you want, y-you can treat me more roughly like last time.”

“……”

“Would you like to hit me?”

At those words, the sense of conquest in Adler’s eyes began to deepen.

“No need.”

“…That’s a shame.”

But as he answered with some rationality still remaining, she muttered with a flushed face and buried her head in Adler’s chest.

“By the way, Adler, I have some good news…”

“…What is it?”

As she whispered softly in that position, Adler, feeling a tickling sensation in his chest, caressed her cheek and asked.

“A crime request has come in…”

“Hmm…”

“If, if you have time… would you like to consult on it together?”

Jane Moriarty asked with an increasingly hot face.

“Ah, why are you so cute?”

“……..”

“I’m not sure if you’re the murderous professor I knew.”

“So are you going to do it or not…”

Adler, who had been kissing her cheek and whispering in a low voice, soon smiled and answered.

“How could I refuse the Queen of Crime’s request?”

“……..”

“Though I am a bit disappointed.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

And then, Adler added in a low voice.

“…I’ll postpone taking you to bed for next time, Professor.”

Hearing those words, the professor covered her face with her hands and turned her head to the side, whispering in a tiny voice.

“The, the request form is on my desk…”

“…….”

“I mean, it is… ugh.”

After gently biting her neck once more and leaving a trail of saliva, Adler got up from his seat.

“Well, well.”

As he walked to the desk, he paused for a moment and muttered in a low voice.

“Why is this working…….?”

The fact that his bad boy strategy, thrown out in resignation with a “whatever happens, happens” attitude, had worked perfectly was causing cognitive dissonance.

‘…I guess it doesn’t matter since it worked?’

So, with a blank expression, he made that judgment and picked up the request form that had been placed on the desk.

“…..!?”

His expression slowly hardened.

“The address is… Cornwall?”

– Rustle…

“…Then this is ‘The Devil’s Foot’?”

It was because the case they were about to take on was one of the most dangerous cases in the entire Sherlock Holmes series.

[Since this case is critical, I’ll tell you once more.]

[The probability of being killed isn’t just about strangulation or shooting.]

As a result, Adler missed the small hint that System Yang had thrown out, breaking the rules because she couldn’t stand by anymore—a critical mistake that Adler would bitterly regret in the not-too-distant future.

[Accidental death is still being killed…]

‘…I’m not in the mood for jokes right now.’

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“…….”

Meanwhile, the professor had been lying on the bed with her face covered until then.

“Hmm.”

As she quietly watched Adler’s back through the gaps between her fingers, she instantly dropped her shy expression and began to mutter with a cold smile.

“…I should have done this from the beginning.”

Professor Moriarty’s final plan, pushed to the edge of the cliff, was just beginning to unfold.