Ch.186Chapter 186 – The Butterfly Effect

“…sigh.”

“Master. Are you tired?”

“No… it’s nothing.”

The day after being subjected to interrogation disguised as harsh treatment by Lestrade, who had saved me in a moment of crisis.

“…You seem to be limping quite a bit.”

“I’m just feeling unwell these days.”

Taking advantage of Lestrade’s momentary distraction, I barely managed to escape the house and began crossing through London’s back alleys with Moran, who had been waiting at our meeting place.

“Isn’t your body feeling unwell separate from the strong female scent coming from your body?”

“Isn’t that the usual smell in London’s back alleys? And what kind of way is that to talk?”

As I was walking with some relief through an area somewhat distant from where I had been working until yesterday—a district where public order was still maintained—Moran’s tone of voice seemed unusual.

“…….”

“Hey, look at you.”

So I put on a stern expression to scold her, but she just stared at me with wide eyes.

“Am I in trouble?”

Feeling my heart sink slightly at the thought that even my cute Moran might not listen to me anymore, I put on an even scarier expression. After staring at me for a while, she quietly lowered her head.

“…I’m sorry for daring to question you when I’m just a hunting dog.”

She then murmured this to me in a low voice and began to cautiously watch my reaction.

“Y-yes. That’s better.”

Breathing an inward sigh of relief at her loyal behavior, I reached out to pat her head.

*Slap…*

“…Ouch?”

I stared blankly at her as she flinched and knocked my hand away with lightning speed.

“Why, why did you do that?”

What’s going on? Is she still holding a grudge from yesterday? Wait, what did I even do wrong yesterday?

“…D-don’t touch me.”

“I thought you liked being petted?”

“I-I’m on alert right now. P-please let me focus on the job.”

As I pondered this question, Moran muttered with a slightly trembling voice.

‘…Is it puberty?’

After staring at her with a puzzled expression for a while, I concluded that Moran must be going through puberty.

‘Well, considering her age, it makes sense…’

She’s been growing taller lately, and now she’s becoming sensitive about physical contact—it definitely seems like puberty.

“Alright, I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“No, that’s not it… after we’re done…”

“Just tell me in advance if something makes you uncomfortable, okay?”

“…Ugh.”

It seems I’ll need to be more careful with Moran from now on.

“…That smile on that face, it’s unfair.”

‘Even though she’s grown taller, she’s still a child…’

Having finished that thought, I looked warmly at Moran, who was mumbling something to herself before blushing and hanging her head low.

*Knock knock knock…*

“Anyone home~?”

Turning my attention to our destination, which we had arrived at without noticing, I looked around briefly before quietly knocking on the door in front of me.

“…Who is it?”

Not long after, awkwardly accented English began flowing from inside the tightly closed building.

“I’m here to see Mr. J. Davenport.”

The name I mentioned with a hint of amusement in my voice was that of an anonymous informant who had responded to a troll-like newspaper advertisement placed by Microsoft in the original story “The Greek Interpreter.”

“…Is that so?”

And the next moment.

“Master, danger…!”

Moran, who had been hanging her head low and shuffling her feet behind me, suddenly reacted to the killing intent and lunged forward, albeit slightly late.

*Bang…! Bang bang…!!!*

“…Oof.”

Reacting a step ahead of the bullets that began flying through the door, I twisted my body while pulling her into my arms.

“M-Master…”

“…Cough.”

One of the good things about being terminally ill is that it doesn’t matter if I rough up my body like this.

After all, this body will be buried in the ground and gone in six months, so what difference does taking a few bullets make?

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Therefore, unless they’re silver bullets, it’s more rational for me to take the bullets instead of Moran, since I’ll recover anyway.

“You don’t seem to be in good condition these days.”

However, that doesn’t mean the pain disappears, so gritting my teeth and forcing a calm smile, I patted the head of the frozen Moran.

“You rest here.”

Then I quietly turned around and walked inside, pushing aside the tattered door.

“I’ll be back soon.”

It’s time to wrap up this case.

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“H-how can he be fine after being shot…?”

“D-do they have yokai in the West too?”

“I wondered why you came so boldly, but it seems you had something to rely on.”

As I quietly entered the shabby mansion and passed by the men pointing guns at me, the figure who was clearly the leader came into view.

“Excuse me, but would you be Mr. J. Davenport?”

“Hey, you shouldn’t know that name…”

When I approached right in front of him and asked this question, Davenport whispered back in a rather threatening voice.

“Because that name is an alias I use when hiring criminals in this country.”

“Are you referring to the Class 1 fugitive Harold Latimer who was arrested in the back alley yesterday, and his subordinate Wilson Kemp?”

“…Are you the subcontractor those guys hired?”

“Well, something like that. Somehow I ended up being a subcontractor of a subcontractor.”

The man, whose clothing, appearance, and build all unmistakably revealed him to be a high-ranking official of the Japanese Empire, tilted his head slightly and opened his mouth.

“What brings you here?”

“…Let’s be honest with each other now that we’re in this situation. If you return to the Japanese Empire like this, won’t Mr. Davenport be in a rather awkward position?”

Countering his question, Davenport seemed slightly displeased and answered in a cold voice.

“…Still better than your position right now.”

“But you don’t deny that we’re both in a difficult situation?”

“……”

“So I prepared this!”

At that point, I took out documents I had previously tucked away and waved them, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Fortunately, no bullet holes! Haha…”

“…What is that?”

“What else? It’s what you’ve been desperately looking for.”

As soon as I said that, a strange light appeared in Davenport’s eyes, which had been full of wariness.

“How can I trust that?”

“If you look at the handwriting and content, you’ll get a rough idea. That this is part of the plan the Korean Empire has been desperately working on.”

“Hmm…”

“Of course, I’ll only hand this over if you accept my conditions.”

Despite still harboring suspicion, when I used the term “Korean Empire,” his expression began to show undisguisable interest.

“What are your conditions?”

“Simple. You agree not to cause any trouble for us over this incident.”

“…Is that all?”

“In this business, reputation is everything. If even slightly bad rumors spread, we’d have to close shop immediately…”

I began to whisper a sweet offer that Davenport couldn’t refuse.

“Well, if you’re still concerned… would you mind spreading some rumors among your connections? As an accomplished diplomat, you must know quite a lot of people…”

“…You seem to know that too.”

“We’re not being said to be devouring London for nothing. Oh, and if you have any additional requests, I can offer you a discount.”

After buttering him up for a while, the official smiled slightly and shook his head.

“I’ll look at the content of the documents, and if they seem plausible, I’ll definitely spread the rumors. Is that really all you want?”

“Yes, of course~”

I smiled and handed him the documents I was holding.

*Rustle…*

Incidentally, at that very moment, a verbal contract was formed, and a small mark of mine was engraved on his forehead, but no one noticed it.

“Kuk, kukuk.”

As I was thinking about how to use this unpleasant fellow in the future, a sound like wind leaking came from in front of me.

“Kukukukuk… kukuk…”

The man, who had read about half of the documents, began to mutter while unable to hold back his laughter.

“The Hague Special Envoy? The International Peace Conference? Do you seriously think that would work? What a pitiful notion…”

“…….”

“…But I should make preparations nonetheless.”

Eventually, Davenport wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up.

“By the way, where did you find this?”

As he paused while preparing to withdraw his men, he asked me this, to which I replied with a bright smile.

“…That’s a trade secret.”

Though I said that, the source was actually a history textbook I had crammed from during high school to meet the minimum requirements for the college entrance exam.

There was no way I could find the confidential documents that the girl had protected until the end despite severe torture, having failed to persuade her.

But based on the historical background, situation, and the words the girl had almost left at the end, those documents were undoubtedly information related to the Hague Special Envoy, intended to expose the atrocities of the Japanese Empire to the international community.

So, I simply forged something to suit their taste.

Of course, it was as shoddy and absurd as to make someone like Davenport just now burst into laughter.

“I will repay this favor someday…”

“Yes, have a safe trip~”

Why did I deliberately make it that way?

“…Even if you don’t want to repay it, I’ll make sure you do.”

Because I hadn’t yet fully paid the price for failing to persuade the girl.

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After Davenport and his group had all left the building, silence descended upon the mansion.

*Click, click…*

“Hmm… was this the number…”

In that silence, I took out a portable communication device from my pocket that looked like an old telephone but had a magic stone embedded in the center, and began to dial.

“The magic stone and magic make things a bit better, but I still miss smartphones…”

The person I’m trying to contact now is someone whose voice I haven’t exchanged for quite some time since coming to this world.

And at the same time, someone who might have a slight possibility of granting the girl’s wish.

*Beep…!*

“…Did it work?”

Of course, the Hague Special Envoy, secretly dispatched to attend the International Peace Conference, failed in the original history as well.

And even if they had succeeded in attending, the grim situation of the Korean Empire would not have changed.

Still, if the girl desperately wishes for the success of the Hague Special Envoy, I should grant it.

It breaks my heart knowing how it will end, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

– A-Adler? Is that you, Adler?

“Yes, yes. Your Majesty.”

That’s why the person I took the liberty of calling was none other than the Queen of Bohemia.

– I-I! I think about you every day…!

“Is that so?”

Yes, the victim of “A Scandal in Bohemia,” the first case where I confronted Holmes together with the Professor after falling into this world.

– I’ve even rejected all the numerous marriage proposals that have come to me. My situation has changed drastically recently and I’m reaching my limit… but, c-can you praise me for that?

“Please calm down and listen to me first.”

– A-alright.

Scratching my head with a strange expression as if old memories were coming back, I shook my head and began to get to the point.

“Um… the Kingdom of Bohemia is part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, right?”

– Y-yes, but why?

The reason I asked this question was because one of the countries participating in the International Peace Conference was the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

I would prefer to ask the British royal family for a letter of recommendation, but that would mean meeting that terrifying Gil the Reaper again, so this was unavoidable.

“…Um, I’m just asking, but are you close with the Emperor?”

– Huh?

“If possible, I’d like to ask that person for a letter of recommendation…”

Of course, if the Queen doesn’t have the power to ask the Emperor for a recommendation, this would be all for nothing.

In the original history, the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire also served as the leader of Bohemia, but in Arthur Conan Doyle’s fiction, Bohemia is ruled by the fictional Ormstein family instead of the Habsburg dynasty.

So I don’t have high expectations. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just have to find another way.

– Um, Adler.

As I was thinking this and waiting for the Queen’s answer without much expectation.

– I-I am the Emperor?

“…What?”

Hearing the answer coming from the portable telephone, I couldn’t help but doubt my ears.

– R-right now, I am the ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire?

“What nonsense is that? Your Majesty’s name is Lilia Gotzreich Sigismund von Ormstein, right? You’re not even from the Habsburg family, so how…?”

– Habsburg family? Which country’s family is that?

“Well, I can’t answer that…”

– I-I memorized numerous families as part of my imperial studies since childhood, so I’m certain. There’s no such family in Europe.

Only then could I realize.

“…Let’s set that aside. Then why have you been calling yourself a Queen until now?”

“M-my coronation was just a few days ago. When the previous Emperor passed away, they said I was the only remaining imperial family member and crowned me Emperor while I was in Bohemia…?”

The person I had enslaved was not actually royalty but imperial nobility, and moreover, the last direct bloodline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s imperial family.

– So, do you need my help now?

“…….”

– I-if it’s a request from you whom I adore, I can grant anything except war. So please feel free to ask.

It seems the situation has gotten a bit bigger than expected.

– No, please tell me…

“…This is driving me crazy.”