Ch.195Chapter 195 – Five Orange Pips

– Knock knock knock…

“…Who is it?”

It had been several days since Adler was placed under protective custody(?) in Lestrade’s house.

“I brought your meal, Brother Adler~”

“…Oh, it’s you.”

Adler, who had been lying absentmindedly on the bed in Lestrade’s room playing word chain games with System, looked at the officer’s younger sister who opened the door and gave her a bright smile.

“Thanks as always…”

“…Ehehe.”

After she set the food down in front of his bed, Adler gently patted her head and whispered.

“By the way, your sister seems to be quite a good cook.”

“What?”

“This is good enough to open a restaurant.”

He tilted his head toward her with a nonchalant expression and muttered.

“T-that was cooked by me…?”

“Huh?”

“Until two days ago, it was my sister cooking, but she cut her hand badly while chopping.”

“…Oh dear.”

“So now I’m cooking instead! I’m a good cook!”

The officer’s sister exclaimed excitedly, as if seizing the opportunity to boast.

“That’s admirable.”

“Ah. Hehe…”

“What’s your name?”

When Adler asked with a gentle smile, she blushed slightly and fidgeted before answering.

“G-Gina Lestrade…”

“…I see, Gina.”

“Hup.”

When Adler called her name, she momentarily lost control of her expression and gasped.

“Could you possibly take me outside? For some reason, I can’t leave on my own… like there’s some magic spell…”

“W-why, why why why? M-my sister told me not to let you out…”

“She went through the trouble of cooking for me even when she hurt her hand, so I want to return the favor…”

Adler asked with an innocent smile.

“But my memory is a bit unstable right now, so I don’t know the area well…”

‘He’s so nice when he’s lost his memory. This could be delicious in its own way…’

“So I’d like to go shopping with our Gina…”

“……!”

Upon hearing this, her eyes widened for a moment before she began to smile sinisterly.

“I-if that’s the case… I should accompany you…”

‘…Good. First, escape.’

‘How much of his memory has he lost? Has he forgotten even basic knowledge? If so…’

Just as the daydreams of the boy and girl, both hiding their true intentions, were about to unfold—

“I’m afraid that won’t be necessary.”

“”……!””

A slightly gruff voice came from behind the firmly closed door.

“I’ll just accept your kind intentions.”

“S-sister.”

“You go shopping.”

As the door opened to reveal Officer Lestrade in uniform with her police hat pulled down, her sister glanced at her nervously before bowing her head and turning toward the entrance.

“…Tch.”

“”…..””

And then silence fell as the two of them were left alone in the house.

“Have your memories returned?”

“N-no, I’m still not sure…”

When Lestrade tilted her head and casually asked the question, Adler hurriedly averted his gaze and spoke.

“B-by the way… are you a police officer?”

“…I’m currently working as an officer at the London Metropolitan Police.”

“T-that’s amazing…!”

Adler’s eyes sparkled as if he truly didn’t know, opening his mouth.

“B-but… isn’t it hard to do police work and housework at the same time?”

“……?”

“I-I mean… shouldn’t I go out and earn some money…”

“Ah, that’s not a problem.”

Hearing this, Lestrade blushed like her sister earlier and fidgeted slightly.

“…You were the homemaker from the beginning.”

“Pardon?”

“I-I’ve always been the one earning money… and you took care of the house.”

Adler’s eyes wavered slightly at those words.

“R-really…?”

Just as he had lost half of his autonomy to Sharlotte and could no longer escape from her, Adler found himself unable to escape from Lestrade after entering into the ‘marriage’ contract.

Until now, he had somehow managed to find ways to escape by making her let her guard down, but with Lestrade deliberately patrolling around the house, even that had become impossible.

So Adler had started pretending to have lost his memory, hoping to persuade Lestrade to bypass the contract.

“Yes, really.”

“Ah… haha.”

But for some reason, his tricks didn’t work on Lestrade, who had become oddly fixated on keeping him confined to the house.

“By the way.”

“…..?”

“…I’m off duty now.”

By the time Adler had quietly resigned himself to his fate, Lestrade carefully stepped forward and murmured.

“W-won’t you do what you always used to do when we were dating…”

‘…This is driving me crazy.’

Almost losing his composure at those words, Adler blushed slightly and wrapped his arms around her waist.

– Smooch…

“…Mmh.”

As Adler gently kissed her lips, the officer flinched as usual and bit her own lip.

– Trembling…

How much time passed like that?

“…Thank, you.”

With a bright red face, Zia Lestrade pulled back slightly, covering her mouth with her hand and murmuring in a small voice.

“N-next, my cheek too…”

– Snicker…!

“…….!?”

As she carefully held Adler’s waist with her fingertips and was about to offer her burning cheek, she suddenly widened her eyes and turned her head to the side.

– Swish swish!

The next moment, she reached out at superhuman speed, breaking the window and catching something that had silently flown toward her.

“…Looks like there was a mosquito.”

– Clink…

“D-do mosquitoes make metallic sounds these days…?”

“Anyway, this is a mosquito.”

After glaring out the window with murderous eyes for a moment, Lestrade corrected Adler’s words while hiding something that clearly looked like a bullet behind her back.

– Rustle…

“Ah…”

Then she quietly laid Adler back down on the bed and covered him with the blanket.

“Mosquitoes have been quite active lately.”

“R-really…?”

“But don’t worry. Whether they’re gray mosquitoes, black mosquitoes, or any other vermin, I’ll block them all.”

Lestrade whispered in Adler’s ear, then looked down at him as he watched her nervously.

“By the way.”

“……?”

“F-from today… I’d like to sleep like we used to.”

At those words spoken with a slightly shy look, Adler stared at her blankly.

“What do you mean by ‘like we used to’…”

“S-sleeping in the same bed… under the same blanket… holding hands…”

“Ah…”

“W-would you like to try? Even if not right away, at least for practice…”

Just as Lestrade, looking down at him with a pounding heart, was about to climb onto the bed where Adler was lying with trembling eyes—

– Ding dong…! Ding dong…!

Suddenly, the doorbell rang from the living room entrance.

“…Please wait a moment.”

“Y-yes…”

Adler, who had been watching Lestrade half-mounted over him while trembling and half-covering his face with the blanket, quietly nodded as she sighed and walked out of the room.

“……..”

And then silence fell.

“Holmes. I’ve told you many times. Adler is not here…”

Lestrade’s clear voice echoing through the silence suddenly cut off.

“Excuse me…”

“……..”

“What’s happening?”

Adler, whose curiosity got the better of him, poked his head out and asked a question toward the living room.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Just a package that arrived.”

“…A package?”

“Yes, and… what’s this?”

Responding to his question with a nonchalant expression, Lestrade tilted her head and picked up something that had been placed on top of the package.

“…Orange seeds?”

After opening the envelope, she muttered with a bland expression.

“What kind of person with nothing better to do would send five orange seeds in such an expensive envelope…”

– BANG…!!!

“…..!?”

The next moment, Adler, who had been staring blankly into space, suddenly rushed out of the room with a pale face at full speed.

“GET DOWN!!!!”

“Huh….?”

He tackled the officer, embracing her with all his might while unfurling black wings from his back.

– Tick, tick…

“…No way?”

– Click…!

The moment a low, ominous sound had been steadily emanating from the package, something suddenly activated.

– KABOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

And the next moment.

With a tremendous roar, a pillar of flame shot up, shattering the officer’s house to pieces and dyeing the darkening London sky red.

.

.

.

.

.

“…Ah.”

Meanwhile, at that time.

“Aaah…..?”

Celestia Moran, who had been waiting for an opportunity to snipe the officer from a forest slightly away from her house, stared blankly at the flames shooting high into the sky.

“”……….””

And the same was true for the previous truce members who had surrounded the officer’s house from various angles and were proceeding with a relatively peaceful approach.

“”…..Who the fuck was that.””

On that day when those words simultaneously escaped from their lips, not just London but the entire United Kingdom began to be shaken to its core.