Ch.212Chapter 212 – Four Signatures

“Mr. Adler.”

“………”

In my hazy consciousness, the professor’s kind voice reaches my ears.

“Mr. Adler. Wake up.”

“Mmm…”

“I know you’re pretending to sleep, so you’d better get up before you’re devoured like a dog.”

“…Eek.”

Although I didn’t particularly want to open my eyes, after hearing what she said next, I had no choice but to snap my eyes open and get up immediately.

“……?”

Then I begin to see an oddly unfamiliar room before me.

It wasn’t dusty or rusty, but it didn’t feel very pleasant since it was poorly lit and sealed off.

“Where is this, Professor?”

“This place?”

As I look around cautiously for a while, the professor opens her mouth with a calm expression.

“This is the basement attached to my house.”

“What?”

“All the walls are made of silver, and there’s a cross hanging outside the only entrance.”

Hearing her subsequent words, I couldn’t help but doubt my ears.

“For a Demon like you, such magical confinement would be more effective than iron chains.”

“W-wait a moment, Professor…”

“No, I won’t give you even a moment more, so shut your mouth.”

When I tried to cautiously speak while watching her expression, the professor was resolute.

“…You’ve tested my patience too much.”

“What did I…”

“I put aside my lifelong pride and virginity to join bodies with you, and immediately afterward, you cast me aside and went after the detective stray cat, and now even the London police’s hunting dog.”

“……..”

“Mr. Adler. Who will you go after next? The ungrateful dwarf who’s full of thoughts about devouring you? The fox-like Vampire who pretends to be modest while secretly expanding her personal influence? Or perhaps your young bodyguard whose head is still wet behind the ears?”

I was about to feel a bit hurt, but after hearing the professor’s words, such thoughts completely disappeared.

“Please calm down first…”

– Crack…

“…Gack.”

But perhaps my expression betrayed my thoughts, as the professor looked down at me with a cold gaze of displeasure and punched me in the stomach once more.

“From now on, your home is the basement of my house.”

“…….”

“Understand?”

“Y-yes…”

As she muttered in a cold voice and clenched her fist again, I had no choice but to hurriedly nod.

“Thank you for understanding your situation.”

Then, with a satisfied expression, the professor began to walk toward the exit.

‘I knew I’d end up imprisoned.’

[Hey, this doesn’t even count as imprisonment.]

‘…What?’

As I was glumly muttering to myself while watching her back, I stared blankly at System’s message that appeared before my eyes.

[When I say 100% imprisonment, I mean a completely incapacitated detention state where all limbs and mind are neutralized, with zero possibility of escape forever.]

‘……..’

[Compared to that, this is just protection.]

What is she saying?

Well, since she’s a system managing a world that’s gone crazy, maybe her thinking is crazy too.

“Ah, I almost forgot to mention something else.”

As I was thinking about this and starting to consider how to escape this ‘room for great Demons,’ the professor’s voice, tinged with amusement, suddenly came from ahead.

“…Non-human, no. Hmm.”

“……?”

“The truth is, I’m infertile. But recently, I found a spell to solve that problem.”

The moment I heard those words, why did I start to feel chills all over my body?

“To complete the spell, I’ll need your genes, so please cooperate every day from now on.”

“…….”

“What’s wrong? We need an heir to continue the kingdom we’ll establish, don’t we?”

It wasn’t simply because I was about to develop a strong attachment that would prevent me from leaving this world.

[Warning!]

[Corruption rate 80% -> 90%]

[The world is in danger.]

At that very moment, a bold warning message appeared before my eyes, indicating that the corruption rate had entered the 90 percent range.

[It seems the mastermind has finally started to move properly.]

“…….”

[You have at most 3 months left. Maybe even less.]

That means I need to finish all the plans I originally set for 6 months within 3 months.

[Can you complete all the quests in time?]

[If you can’t, you can just return and abandon poor me and this world. I’ll just quietly resent you inside.]

“What do you take me for?”

Of course, there was nothing I couldn’t do.

[Is that so? I was sure you’d whine again…]

“But I have one condition.”

There was just one thing bothering me.

“If you’ll go on a date with me in human form later…”

[Go die.]

How could Lovecraft, still a young girl and so inexperienced that she revealed her identity with simple leading questions, have planned such a grand scheme by herself?

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“Hmm?”

While Issac Adler was tilting his head after receiving yet another suicide suggestion from the system.

“Oh, I didn’t realize I had guests.”

Professor Moriarty, who had come up to her living room from the basement, muttered with a slight smile.

“”………””

Meanwhile, Sharlotte Holmes and Zia Lestrade, who had occupied the dining table in the living room, were quietly glaring at her.

“You two are a detective and a police officer. You should know that this is trespassing unless you have a warrant, right?”

“…That’s right.”

“Then you also know that even if I killed you both right now, it would be self-defense?”

They responded to Professor Moriarty’s threatening statement without batting an eye.

“Try it if you can.”

“I agree with Holmes.”

“I find it truly disgusting to see inferior species so full of hot air.”

And so, the atmosphere began to heat up as usual.

– Rumble, rumble…!!!

Eventually, the relatively clear weather suddenly changed to a thunderstorm, and it seemed the brief peace was about to end.

“…Wait, time out!”

But just before that happened, a boy’s shout as he jumped between them instantly froze the air in the living room that was about to explode.

“Time out!”

Making Professor Moriarty’s carefully prepared confinement room look useless, Adler had escaped from it and was now blocking the space between the three women with a bright expression.

“”………””

Then came a chilling silence.

“…What are your last words before you die?”

In that silence, Professor Moriarty, who had just noticed from the corner of her eye that the cross she had installed was somehow changed to an inverted cross, asked in a remarkably subdued voice.

“I have a proposal for all of you.”

“Shut up.”

“Shut it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but shut your mouth.”

Trying to answer her question, Adler became slightly dejected when murderous voices simultaneously burst from the three women.

“…I was going to choose one of you whom I like the most.”

At his next words, the expressions of the three women, who had been facing each other with murderous looks while ignoring Adler, suddenly became blank.

“What did you just say?”

“What did you say?”

“What did you just say, sir?”

Eventually, they all turned their gazes to Adler and asked.

“I said I’m going to personally choose one of you whom I like the most.”

“””………..”””

“So why don’t you stop fighting and sit down to listen to what I have to say?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the three women, who had been quietly looking at each other, began to quietly sit down in their seats.

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“Now, would you like to sign this first?”

Professor Moriarty, Sharlotte, and Lestrade were sitting obediently in their seats, looking nothing like the women who had been emitting terrifying murderous intent just moments ago.

“Well, it’s nothing special. To summarize the important points…”

“This contract states that you must designate one of the signatories as your one and only lifelong companion.”

“Yes, the deadline is 3 months. I need time to organize my thoughts too.”

“And those who aren’t chosen must unconditionally accept and acknowledge the result.”

“For someone who likes to play tricks with contracts, this is surprisingly clean and simple content.”

They began to speak one by one as they shifted their gaze to the single document that Adler had just placed on the table.

“But what about us… What’s the penalty if you break this contract?”

Meanwhile, Lestrade asked with an unusually sharp gaze.

“…It’s simple. If I break it, I die.”

“””……..”””

“And the same goes for all of you.”

At Adler’s answer, the professor and Lestrade seemed to accept it, but only Sharlotte looked at him with a slightly disgruntled expression.

“But you are…”

“Let’s not say that death is meaningless to a Demon. I’m talking about permanent extinction from ‘this world,’ including the soul.”

“……..”

She was about to say something, but Adler’s immediate response left Sharlotte momentarily speechless before she muttered in a low voice.

“What, then… I was worried for nothing…”

“…According to ancient texts, Demons can be reincarnated even after death. There might be side effects like memory loss, though.”

Professor Moriarty glanced at her and muttered with a hint of amusement.

“Well, one might think that way with insufficient knowledge. I understand.”

“I’m sorry, but could you please shut up? Judging by your reaction, it seems you didn’t know this fact until recently either.”

“Ignorance is not a sin, Miss Holmes. One should always strive to increase knowledge like I do…”

– Swish…

Just as their war of nerves seemed about to start again.

– Scratch, scratch…

“”……..!””

Lestrade, who had been listening to them indifferently, suddenly picked up the pen in front of her and became the first to sign the document.

“Excuse me. Do you… understand the meaning of that document you’re signing, Officer Lestrade?”

“Yes, of course.”

“You’re truly fearless.”

When Sharlotte and Professor Moriarty each made a remark about her bold action, Lestrade, who had put the document down in front of her, shrugged her shoulders and replied as if she didn’t understand what the fuss was about.

“Well, there’s no way Adler wouldn’t choose me, is there?”

“”……..””

As soon as she finished speaking, Sharlotte and Professor Moriarty began to glare at her with cold expressions.

– Scratch, scratch…

They began to sign the contract in order, starting a silent battle of wills.

“Now it’s your turn.”

How much time had passed like that?

“Don’t think about playing tricks with the document again. No matter who you are, you can’t deceive the eyes of us three…”

“Wait, but something seems strange.”

Just as Sharlotte, who had finished signing, was handing the document to Adler and muttering, Professor Moriarty suddenly tilted her head and spoke.

“As far as I know, that document is written with your unique mana, so your signature isn’t particularly necessary.”

“That’s right.”

“Then why are there 4 signature spaces?”

When they heard this, Sharlotte and Lestrade simultaneously made puzzled expressions.

“Ah, there…..!!!”

Suddenly, Adler opened his eyes wide and shouted loudly, pointing behind them.

“””……….”””

But having already experienced all sorts of tricks from Adler, none of them looked back.

– Swish…!

“Oh my.”

Thanks to that, everyone clearly witnessed the contract in Adler’s hand instantly changing into a card with a joker drawn on it.

“…Hehehe.”

After briefly checking their reactions, Adler began to scratch his head with a bright expression.

– Swish…

“…Um, everyone.”

Then, looking at the three women who had risen from their seats with expressionless faces, he began to mutter in a shrinking voice.

“You’re not going to hit me, are you?”

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“Haah…”

Meanwhile, at that time. In the skies above London where clouds could be seen.

“…This is it.”

The phantom thief of France, with her cape fluttering, begins to quietly smile as she looks at the document in her hand.

– Pik…!

“……!”

But that was only for a moment.

“Ugh…”

Unable to dodge a bullet that flew up from below at a fierce speed, she began to fall, losing her balance.

“A thief who eats frogs between baguettes daring to take the master…”

“…Where did you learn to speak like that.”

In her field of vision, she could see Celestia Moran and Lady Clay on the ground, glaring at her with blazing eyes.

– Gooooo…

The next moment, she also felt the gazes of women from all over London, targeting the document in her hand, not Lupin herself.

“…Is eavesdropping legal in England?”

It was the beginning of a fierce battle for the right to be the owner of the “fourth signature,” which was no different from the bidding right to own Adler for life.