Ch.182Chapter 182 – Korean Interpreter (6)

“W-what’s the matter?”

As Issac Adler broke into a cold sweat at the unbelievable message that appeared before his eyes, the girl tied to the chair asked in a trembling voice.

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Only then did Adler come to his senses and turn his gaze toward her as he answered.

“Just… I got a somewhat creepy feeling for some reason.”

“……..”

The woman who had been looking at Adler with suspicious eyes as he muttered in a resigned voice soon quietly lowered her head.

“I appreciate your help. But…”

“……?”

“Your assistance is sufficient up to this point.”

Then she began to mutter with dark eyes.

“I’m already captured here anyway. Even if by some miracle I escape this place, I have no means to leave this unfamiliar foreign land.”

“……….”

“So you’d better give up on helping me and abandon the idea early.”

Upon hearing those words, Adler began to stare at the woman intently.

“Um…”

“And to be honest… I cannot trust you.”

As he was about to open his mouth, the woman spoke first.

“It’s certainly true that you’ve helped me yesterday and today, and I’m grateful for that. And I understand that you’re of mixed English and Joseon blood. But that doesn’t mean I can completely trust you.”

“Why do you think that?”

“How would I know if your kindness toward me isn’t just to gain my favor and lower my guard? For that reason, I cannot accept any more of your goodwill.”

“Hmm…”

Hearing this, Adler quietly began to scratch his head.

“This is troublesome…”

“W-what is troublesome?”

*Shuffle…*

“…Huh?”

Then he approached the still wary woman, quietly leaned his head forward.

“W-what are you d-doing…!”

As he stared intently into the woman’s eyes and began to caress her cheek with their faces almost touching, she widened her eyes and raised her voice while still tied to the chair.

“How dare you touch a woman’s body so carelessly, what are you doing?”

“Is someone who has endured such terrible torture until now really bothered by something like this?”

“W-well, at least they didn’t stroke me with their hands while looking at me with such eyes! Y-you looked like a lecher from the start… have you finally shown your true colors?”

As her face turned bright red, Adler lowered his hand with a bitter smile.

“Yes.”

“…What did you just say?”

“I said you’re right about me showing my true colors.”

As he tapped the red mark engraved on her lower abdomen, he began to whisper in a low voice.

“Since we’re half of the same blood, I want to save you somehow. But I’m also under contract, so I must find out the location of the documents.”

“…….”

“So, are you ready?”

As he wiggled his hands and faced her, the woman swallowed dryly with a pale gaze.

“…K-kill me instead.”

“Come on, why such an extreme reaction?”

“You say that while touching my body.”

“This is just checking your wounds before starting the work. It would be too much to stab where you’ve already been stabbed.”

“What a low-grade excuse. Go die.”

As she twisted her body and spat venomous words at Adler who was lifting her upper garment to look, he sighed and muttered.

“Seeing how shy you are, it seems like you’ve spent your life only studying… how did you end up like this?”

“S-stop it! Anything more… huh?”

“You’re covered in wounds everywhere…”

Adler clicked his tongue as he saw the numerous wounds and bruises that had already spread to her shoulders and chest, then asked the woman who was raising her voice with a flushed face.

“Excuse me, but how old are you?”

“W-why do you need to know?”

“……..”

“…Ah, fine, I’ll tell you!”

After speaking to him with a slightly defiant look, when Adler silently moved his hand lower, she closed her eyes tightly and opened her mouth.

“Just know that I’m close to coming of age…”

“…Huh.”

As soon as she answered with a slightly sullen expression, Adler quickly removed his hands from her body and began to look dazed.

“So… you’re 20?”

“N-not yet…”

“Then 19?”

“…….”

Eventually, instead of answering the question, the woman—no, the girl—hung her head low.

“I almost got arrested.”

“D-don’t stroke me! Whether you stroke my body or my head, it’s equally humiliating!”

“Then is it possible that they didn’t touch you sexually because of your age?”

Adler, who was sighing in relief that they hadn’t crossed the line, stroked the still growling girl’s head and asked.

“…Despite appearances, I passed the civil service examination two years ago. I am a proper adult and an official of Joseon, no, the Korean Empire.”

However, the girl shook her head and answered.

“You’re even more impressive than I thought. Then could there be another reason?”

“Probably because of that vile Japanese bastard…”

She began to recall the events of a few days ago, grinding her teeth.

“When I was dazed after being attacked, I overheard what the person who hired them was saying.”

“Is that so?”

“He, accompanied by an interpreter, ordered in Japanese that they should only torture me with pain, as he would take me when the job was done…”

“Hmm…”

Adler’s expression quietly furrowed upon hearing this.

“Is your curiosity satisfied now? Then please withdraw. And please stop stroking my head.”

“……..”

“Let me make it clear one last time: I have no intention of telling anyone the location of the documents, so whatever you do to me will be in vain…..”

Just as she was about to finish speaking with trembling eyes.

*Swish…*

“…..!?”

Adler, who had been quietly searching inside his clothes, suddenly showed her something.

“Ah…”

The girl, startled by something long suddenly being thrust in front of her, pulled her head back with surprised eyes, then began to focus her gaze on the object in front of her.

“This is bread I bought from the largest bakery in London before coming here today.”

“……..”

“It’s still warm, you should eat it before it gets cold.”

Adler gently stroked her head again and whispered in a low voice.

“…Mmph.”

At first, the girl firmly closed her mouth and stubbornly showed her refusal, but soon her eyes began to waver.

“There’s syrup… no, honey inside.”

*Gulp…*

For her, who hadn’t been able to eat anything for the past fortnight as part of the torture, the warm bread before her eyes was an irresistible temptation.

“I’m not asking about the location of the documents, nor am I trying to win your favor.”

“……..”

“This is just a small act of compassion for someone as skinny as you.”

“I don’t… need it.”

But she desperately turned her head away, resisting her instinctual desire.

“I’ve had enough pity already.”

“…….”

“And that bread might be laced with a potion or magic to induce confession. So…”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake.”

“Mmph?”

Adler, who had been quietly looking at her, sighed softly and suddenly reached out his other hand to grab her chin.

“Open your mouth.”

“Mmph? Mmmmph!?”

And then, Adler pushed the bread he was holding into her mouth.

“Chew.”

“………”

“If you don’t chew, I’ll chew it myself like a mother bird and pass it to you, wouldn’t you prefer to chew it yourself?”

After that, as he whispered with a bright smile, the girl who had been glaring at Adler with sharp cat-like eyes finally began to quietly munch.

*Munch, munch…*

And then came the silence.

“…Hic.”

“Oh, are you okay?”

When tears welled up in the eyes of the girl who had been munching on bread for a while, Adler began to mutter with a bewildered expression.

“I put a digestion spell on it so it should be fine to eat even on an empty stomach…”

“Ugh, urgh…”

“Are you choking? Then here’s some milk too…”

Eventually, as he was about to take out packaged milk from his pocket, Adler paused when he saw the expression on the girl’s face.

“Uuu, huuuu…”

Tears were streaming down from the eyes of the girl who had her cheeks puffed up with bread in her mouth.

“…It’s so good.”

“……….”

“It’s so delicious…”

Eventually, unable to control her tears once they started, she began to cry in a voice befitting a girl of her age.

“If, if I die like this… I won’t be able to eat such delicious things…?”

“……..”

“I don’t want to… I don’t want to die so miserably…”

“…Then, why don’t you tell me where the documents are?”

Adler, who had been looking at her with pitiful eyes, casually made a suggestion, but the girl shook her head and answered in a sobbing voice.

“…But, but I hate losing my country several times more.”

“………”

“So please stop now… please…”

For a long time afterward, the girl’s sobbing echoed throughout the room.

“…Well, I failed.”

Adler, who had been making an awkward expression while listening to her crying, soon muttered in a low voice.

“A demon who fails to tempt must grant that person’s wish.”

“…W-what did you just say?”

“This can’t be helped. Yes.”

Ignoring the still sobbing girl’s question, he quietly began to step backward.

[Tsundere.]

“Shut up.”

[I don’t have a mouth though?]

“…..Tsk.”

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That evening. 221B Baker Street.

“Holmes, were there no cases today…?”

Watson, who had just returned to the boarding house after finishing work at the hospital, entered and looked puzzled.

“Hello~”

“……….”

“I’m just an ordinary East Asian language specialist interpreter~”

A man in an excessive disguise that even Watson, who was completely unfamiliar with such things, could tell was too much, was requesting a case in front of Sharlotte in a rather ridiculous tone.

“Today I came to request a myster… a case from the great detective Sharlotte Holmes~”

“…What are you doing?”

As the man was enthusiastically gesturing while continuing his request, Sharlotte asked in a cold voice with her hand on her chin.

“…Do you know me~?”

After a long silence that began at that moment, the man began to speak while watching her reaction.

“I, I’m meeting Miss Holmes for the first time today…”

“…….”

“It seems you’ve mistaken me for someone else~”

Even to Watson, who had extreme antipathy toward the person suspected to be behind the disguise, the man looked quite pitiful.