Ch.188Chapter 188 – Harbinger of the Storm

– Trudge, trudge…

Around the time Adler had just revealed a third of his name to Sharlotte, somewhere in the outskirts of London.

“…Excuse me.”

“…….”

“Are you sure this is the right way?”

For some reason, two rather young-looking women were walking through a dangerous area where even most adult men would hesitate to enter.

“……?”

“…Hmm, communication is indeed difficult when we can’t understand each other.”

However, the thugs who would normally emerge like a pack of wolves with gleaming eyes were strangely quiet today.

“I told you to wait until the interpreter arrives. Where are you in such a hurry to go…”

This was because one of the two women was none other than Inspector Zia Lestrade, someone skilled enough to single-handedly overturn an entire back alley.

“……..”

“…Sigh.”

She quietly sighed while looking at her companion, a girl with diplomatic status from the Korean Empire.

“Weren’t we heading to the embassy? This is clearly a back alley…”

“Ah, I don’t speak English…”

“…Hmm.”

After carefully asking a question, Lestrade received such broken English in response that she finally gave up and quietly continued walking.

‘…But don’t they usually select people who are fluent in the country’s language when dispatching diplomats?’

Just as this question crossed her mind.

“…….!”

“Hmm? What is it?”

The diplomat girl suddenly stopped and began to look serious.

“Did you witness a crime sce—”

As Lestrade turned her head to follow the girl’s gaze, cold sweat began to trickle down her forehead.

“What in the…”

Around a collapsed building that looked as if it had been bombed, people were lying unconscious and scattered about.

“Oh, no…!”

“W-wait! Where are you going?”

As Lestrade pulled out her baton from her waist at the sight of this crime scene, the girl, with a pale face, darted forward.

“It’s dangerous over—!”

“No, it’s not dangerous.”

As Lestrade urgently reached out to stop her, she froze with wide eyes at the voice coming from ahead.

“I’ve already eliminated all dangerous elements just now.”

“You… why are you here?”

She questioned Professor Moriarty, who was quietly dusting off building debris from his clothes as he walked toward them.

“I was conducting a personal investigation.”

“Investigation?”

“I needed to obtain something.”

Professor Moriarty then pulled something out from inside his coat and waved it as he answered.

“T-that…!”

At that moment, the diplomat girl opened her mouth with a shocked expression.

“I am Kim Cheongyeon, diplomat of the Korean Empire! What you’re holding is a confidential document that was to be reported to my homeland!”

“W-what? You.”

“If you don’t want to cause diplomatic friction, return it at once!”

As fluent British English came out of the girl’s mouth, an incredulous expression crossed Lestrade’s face, who had been sweating while trying to interrogate the girl.

“If you could speak English, why didn’t you do so from the beginning?”

“I apologize, but there were circumstances…”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”

Meanwhile, Professor Moriarty looked at the pale-faced girl with an amused expression and replied.

“W-why…”

“Return that document, Professor Moriarty. You are clearly committing a criminal act right now.”

Zia Lestrade pointed her baton at him and threatened the professor in a cold voice.

“Look here, Inspector Lestrade. What crime exactly have I committed?”

“Property destruction, personal injury, theft… and you’re even caught in the act. I could arrest you right now…”

“Arrest? Hahahahaha…!!!”

But the professor, who had been listening to her words with an incredulous expression, merely laughed as if mocking her.

“…Do you really think you can arrest me?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“No, I’m not talking about physical superiority… I mean legally.”

“What?”

“My goodness… to think this is the level of Auguste Academy’s finest talent… the academic achievement of today’s students must be quite a sight.”

But as the inspector took a stance as if she might pounce on him at any moment, the professor shook his head with a pitying look and continued his explanation.

“I merely attacked an illegal information gathering group located in a high-crime area.”

“…….!”

“Collecting illegal information in such a suspicious place, not an embassy, can only be considered the work of a puppet organization.”

Lestrade’s expression slightly furrowed as she realized that the people knocked down by the professor had similar appearances to the girl standing between them.

“T-then you should have reported it to the London Metropolitan Police. And the injuries you’ve inflicted here aren’t justified either…”

“What are you saying, Miss Lestrade? I am a professor at Auguste Academy.”

Despite Lestrade’s strained attempt to argue.

“As you well know, professors at Auguste Academy have investigative authority. Also, they generally receive the same protocol treatment as inspectors.”

“…Ugh.”

“And all those people lying over there are merely paralyzed. I didn’t inflict a single wound on anyone. Naturally, there’s no legal issue whatsoever.”

It was impossible to win a verbal battle against Professor Moriarty, who had already prepared everything perfectly.

“T-then… I request that you share the investigation details.”

“I must decline. According to those principles you’re so fond of, shouldn’t you come with a formal collaboration request?”

“I-I can’t let you tamper with those documents…”

“Don’t make baseless accusations. The only reason I don’t openly bury you socially is because I know young Adler would dislike it.”

Completely outmatched in logic, Lestrade trembled and lowered her head.

“R-return it. You won’t be able to read it anyway since it’s written in our country’s language.”

“…Is that what you think?”

The girl, who had been standing quietly until then, spoke up bravely through gritted teeth.

“But unfortunately, I know many useful spells… or should I say curses in your language? Anyway, I know many curses.”

“What do you mean…”

“I’ve already read all the documents and know that you’re trying to realize a hopeless dream.”

At the professor’s calm response, the girl’s eyes began to waver.

“How could you possibly…”

“There are many lost magics in this world. Truly a pity.”

“……..”

“In my personal opinion, I believe your homeland will also be lost before long.”

“Don’t speak so carelessly!”

At the professor’s provocative statement, her eyes began to burn fiercely once again.

“…Well, it’s not my place to interfere.”

– Whoosh…!

“Ah.”

The professor unexpectedly tossed the document to her.

“I’ve already memorized everything in it, so it doesn’t matter.”

“……..”

“Thanks to this, I’ve found a weakness of a bothersome individual and realized what I need to do to increase my influence, so I should give a small reward.”

She took out an old coin purse from her coat and threw it to the girl.

“That should be enough for you to abandon that useless operation and live comfortably for several years if you seek asylum in England.”

“………”

“Consider it payment for the information. I have thousands more like this in my rare… bank.”

The purse she threw was filled with gold and expensive jewels.

‘I want to throw it away immediately, but if I can obtain more information with this…’

“…By the way, this is just personal curiosity.”

As the girl stared at the purse for a long time, closing her eyes tightly while muttering to herself, the professor’s voice came from a distance.

“You haven’t developed feelings for that blond boy or made any promises for the future, have you?”

“………”

“Hmm? Why that expression?”

When the girl momentarily looked blank at those words, the professor tilted his head side to side and asked again with a cold gaze.

“…Just answer truthfully.”

“W-wh-wha-what…”

– Growl…

“Eek…”

As she stammered at the sudden question and killing intent, and even Lestrade beside her began to emit a cold aura, the girl backed away with a pale face.

“N-nothing happened…”

“”………””

“R-really. He just carved a strange mark on my lower abdomen…”

A slight smile appeared on the lips of the professor and the inspector as they heard her words.

“T-that disappeared on its own after a few hours. That’s all…”

“…Another contract violation.”

“I’ll have to unseal one more seal on his stomach…”

The two women began to mutter with dark expressions.

‘…What kind of country is England anyway?’

As Kim Cheongyeon, diplomat of the Korean Empire, muttered this to herself while witnessing the unseemly scene.

Later, after being selected as a special envoy to The Hague, she would retract that thought.

‘I’m not sure, but it must be the most bizarre country in the world…’

By then, a very small butterfly effect that had occurred in England had created similar chaos worldwide.

“…By the way, where is Adler now?”

“How should I know if you don’t?”

Incidentally, some conspiracy theories claimed that a certain professor from England was responsible for turning that butterfly’s wing flap into a storm, but the story was so absurd that it was soon buried.

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– Crackle…

Just as the ‘Korean Interpreter’ incident, which was either long or short depending on how you look at it, was about to conclude.

“”…….?””

The same golden message was simultaneously delivered to the palms of Lestrade, who was about to head to the embassy after taking care of Kim Cheongyeon and her colleagues, and Professor Moriarty, who was about to search for the elusive Adler.

– Help m

“”………””

– Ho is follow me…

After staring at the message for a few seconds, a terrifying killing intent began to emanate from both the professor and the inspector.