Ch.184Chapter 184 – Korean Interpreter (8)

“I think Mr. Adler sees me as some chess piece~”

“…I’m not Adler.”

As Microny Holmes opens her eyes slightly and enters the room with a bright smile, Adler, who was sitting down, averts his gaze and mutters.

“I’m sure I told you… that I would overlook anything you did this time as long as you kept your promise.”

“……..”

“Was Mr. Adler the kind of man who couldn’t keep even such a simple promise?”

Staring at him intently, Microny Holmes continues with a voice tinged with amusement.

“…Are you not going to answer me?”

There was a smile on her lips, but her slightly opened eyes held no trace of humor.

“What are you doing here, sister?”

“Hmm?”

“Can’t you see I’m taking on a case right now?”

Unable to bear the situation any longer, Sharlotte Holmes interrupts their conversation.

“If you have something to say, tell me later. I’m busy right now…”

“Sharlotte, have I ever come to this boarding house of my own accord?”

Still staring intently at Adler, Microny speaks without shifting her gaze.

“…No, you haven’t.”

“Then you should be able to tell that this matter is no ordinary affair, right?”

And then a brief silence falls.

“”………””

In that short silence, the sharp gazes of the two sisters clash in midair.

“Are you trying to interfere with ‘my case’ right now?”

“Well… I haven’t done anything yet.”

“The fact that you, who stays cooped up in your room like a shut-in, dragged your massive bulk all the way here is already an unspoken threat.”

“…Our Sharlotte still has such a harsh way of speaking.”

As Sharlotte speaks first in this situation, Microny sits down on the sofa next to her with a sullen expression.

“If my condition worsens and I suddenly drop dead, I wonder if you’d even shed a tear…”

“…Never mind that, just tell me why you’re here.”

“You’re always so prickly…”

Idly turning over Sharlotte’s half-smoked cigarette and sniffing it, she begins to mutter in a low voice.

“Sharlotte. Do you remember what I’ve always told you since you were young?”

“That nonsense?”

“A detective’s weakness is power that ordinary civilians can never hope to counter.”

“I’m not a detective, I’m an investigation consultant. And doesn’t that work both ways?”

At Sharlotte’s brazen retort, Microny lets out a chuckle.

“…Yes, that’s true. But that’s only when the detective has material evidence of the powerful person’s weakness.”

“…….”

“Also, that would be when the powerful person isn’t me.”

“What are you really after?”

As she speaks without a trace of humor, Sharlotte clenches her fists and asks.

“You weren’t this kind of person. Sure, you always had dark intentions and handled all sorts of dirty work for the government… but I thought you still stood on the side of justice?”

“…It’s similar, but my justice is slightly different.”

Microny sighs before answering.

“My standard for justice is the peace and tranquility of England.”

“…….”

“Anything that violates that standard is evil from my perspective.”

Her expression looked more serious than ever before.

“A detective operating in London would rarely cross that line. Even when you occasionally take on international cases like you do, it’s usually fine since they directly relate to England’s national interests.”

“So…”

“But after analyzing the potential outcomes of your involvement in this case from multiple angles… I felt I had to stop you now.”

As she finishes speaking, a chilling atmosphere descends upon the boarding house.

“Are you telling me to back off from this case?”

“Hmm… I’d like to say that. But you wouldn’t take it at face value, would you?”

When Sharlotte, who had been quietly glaring at her sister in that atmosphere, asks this, Microny scratches her head awkwardly before answering.

“You know me well. I understand your position, but don’t think you can stop me…”

“So, I prepared a gift for my cute little sister.”

The next moment, a newspaper is thrust in front of Sharlotte.

“A gift? What…”

Sharlotte’s expression hardens as she looks down at the newspaper.

[Advertisement: Looking for a person. 19-year-old East Asian woman with black hair and black eyes. The language she speaks is neither Chinese nor Japanese. Disappeared about two weeks ago. Reward offered for information.]

“…This advertisement appeared in most London newspapers this morning.”

Microny whispers in a low voice while quietly observing her.

“The culprits will probably read the newspaper while eating a late lunch, after taking turns monitoring and torturing throughout the morning. Shortly after Adler left that place.”

“…Damn it!”

“I imagine there must be quite a commotion by now?”

Sharlotte, her face turning pale, hurriedly gets up and puts on her coat.

“Watson! Bring your gun and follow me! We don’t have a moment to lose!”

“…Huh? Oh, y-yes!”

At her cry, Watson, who had been sitting in the corner in a daze without understanding the situation, picks up her gun with a bewildered expression and begins to follow Sharlotte.

“Good luck, sister~”

“…Ha.”

As Sharlotte was about to leave the boarding house with Watson in tow, she freezes at the voice from behind and glances back.

“I’m disappointed.”

And then, she directs an ice-cold voice toward her own flesh and blood.

“…How are you any different from the Professor?”

With those final words, the boarding house door closes, and silence begins to fill the room.

“That was… quite a cutting remark…?”

In that silence, Microny Holmes rises from her seat with a bitter smile.

“…Well, it can’t be helped. This is my job after all.”

“……..”

“Take care of yourself too, Mr. Adler. I understand you’ll be stepping away from this case…”

“…Please don’t deceive me too, Miss Microny.”

As she was waving her hand and heading toward the exit, she stops abruptly at Adler’s quiet voice.

“This wasn’t just about your loyalty and affection for England, was it?”

“Oh?”

“It was for your sister’s sake, wasn’t it?”

“Why do you think that?”

When she asks in a low voice without turning her head, Adler answers, also lowering his voice.

“Because if you die in six months, you won’t be able to look after Sharlotte anymore?”

Hearing those words, Microny flinches once more.

“So you’re trying to prevent your precious sister from getting on the wrong side of important people, while also giving her a dose of reality, aren’t you?”

“How did you figure out I’m terminally ill when I’ve even deceived my physician?”

“…How many liters of your blood do you think I’ve drunk?”

“My, how embarrassing.”

Though she puts on her usual relaxed smile and speaks playfully, she couldn’t hide the slight tremor in her voice.

“It’s a good thing I cast an anti-eavesdropping spell beforehand, or my sister might have discovered that peculiar secret…”

“Honestly, you look like you’re at your limit just standing there. Shall I offer you some support?”

“My, you seem quite full of yourself.”

When Adler whispers this while looking at her with sympathetic eyes, Microny tilts her head slightly and speaks.

“You’re also terminally ill, aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about…”

“Don’t try to deny it when you have exactly six months left to live, just like me.”

Adler, who was initially frowning and about to deny it, raises both hands and feet in surrender when she correctly guessed even his remaining time.

“Yes, and that’s why I’m going to be really serious from now on.”

– Click…

Simultaneously, Adler touches his ear and sends a signal somewhere.

“…Holmes is on the move. Proceed as planned.”

“Ha.”

“I’ve been too playful until now, haven’t I? Getting distracted by women.”

Microny, who had been watching this with momentary surprise, bursts into laughter at Adler’s smooth comment and asks.

“…So you knew I would place an advertisement in the newspaper?”

“………”

“And you even used it as part of your plan. Like a chess piece.”

“…I need to get serious now too.”

When Adler gives her a definitive answer, Microny blushes slightly and hugs herself.

“It’s the first time in my life someone has seen through me…”

“……..”

“It feels like having all my clothes stripped off in front of people, standing completely naked. This is a new kind of thrill…”

After trembling for a moment in that state, she asks a question to Adler, who has started to get up and put on his coat.

“…Tell me, how grand a picture are you painting?”

“I can’t tell you that, but I can tell you that the picture will end at the waterfall.”

At those meaningful words, Microny begins to look at Adler with a slightly different gaze than before.

“Well, from now on, I’ll do my best to complete my plan within the next 6 months.”

“……..”

“So, let’s not interfere with each other, shall we?”

Leaving her behind, Adler quietly begins to move toward the door.

“Hey.”

As he grabs the doorknob and is about to open the door and step outside.

“Am I included in that picture of yours?”

She asks in a small voice.

“I just thought for the first time in my life that I don’t want to die.”

“…That’s unexpected.”

“Hey, how about dating me instead of my sister? Just for six months.”

Adler, who had momentarily paused, opens the door and steps outside, leaving a quiet answer.

“…I’m sorry, but I’m already taken.”

And in the silence that follows again, Microny Holmes stands still for a while before muttering.

“What an increasingly fascinating man.”

Her previously unchanging gray eyes had brightened ever so slightly.

“…I wonder if he’d consider dating for just three months before I die?”

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The next morning. In an outlying area of England, some distance from London.

– Clank…!

“…Huh?”

A girl who had momentarily lost consciousness from severe torture raises her head slowly at the sound of the iron bars opening.

– Thud…!

“Ouch…”

Then her eyes fall on a now-familiar face that has just been thrown down beside her.

“In-Interpreter, sir.”

“…Yes, that’s me.”

Adler, who seems to have landed on his backside when entering and is frowning, immediately smiles brightly in response, and the girl begins to ask questions with hopeful eyes.

“D-Did the plan succeed?”

“……..”

“C-Can we leave now…?”

But.

“No.”

“……?”

“I’ve been captured too.”

Contrary to her expectations, Adler’s response is like a bolt from the blue.

“Then what are we going to do now…?”

“It’s fine.”

“W-What is fine? They’re now thinking of killing me instead of torturing me. It’s over…!”

The girl, finally noticing the ropes binding Adler’s body, begins to lament in a tearful voice.

“Why did you give me hope if this was going to happen…? Nothing is more cruel than having hope given and then taken away…”

“I said it’s fine.”

“But what exactly is…!”

“I got captured on purpose, after fighting off the guards.”

Adler whispers, reassuring her in a gentle voice.

“W-Why on earth would you do that?”

“To find out where you were being held, of course.”

“But what about the consequences…”

“Even if things went wrong, a buster call would have been sent to the world’s strongest by now, so don’t worry.”

“Buster… what?”

“…Just wait and see.”

He lies down comfortably and mutters in a relaxed voice.

“Besides, my subordinate is just about to…”

– Creeak…

“Right, here they come now.”

As the iron bars open again, Adler raises himself with a smile at the corners of his lips.

“Time to escape…”

But his relaxed expression suddenly hardens.

“Hello?”

“…….!”

The person who opened the cell door and entered was not Lady Clay, who was supposed to come in disguised as an interpreter.

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

It was Sharlotte Holmes, wearing a disguise and using a manner of speech similar to his own from yesterday.

“W-Who…?”

“…Switch to Plan B.”

After frowning briefly at the situation, he sighs and puts his hand to his ear to send a signal.

[So you even have a Plan B this time?]

‘…At this point, it’s wise to include the possibility of things not going according to plan. Only a fool would be caught unprepared.’

“Helloooo there?”

“…Huh?”

But when slightly awkward Korean comes out of Sharlotte’s mouth, his brain, which had been fully prepared until now, comes to a complete halt.

“So you do understand, don’t you…?”

Watching him with a sinister smile on her face, Sharlotte mutters.