Ch.213Chapter 213 – Four Signatures (2)

“Crash…!”

“Kyaaaaaaah!!”

“A-a person… from the sky…”

Early morning pedestrians on London’s streets begin screaming as they witness a girl suddenly falling from the sky and landing face-first on the pavement.

“Owww…”

But for someone whose propulsion device malfunctioned and crashed from a great height, she appears surprisingly unharmed.

“Whoosh…”

“…Heh, I won’t fall for that twice.”

Having already suffered serious injuries once before when Inspector Lestrade shot her down from the sky, Arsène Lupin had prepared an air cushion as a precautionary measure for falls.

“Click…!”

“Ah, wait…”

But before she could fully enjoy the success of her precaution, compressed air bullets begin flying through the dust at a terrifying speed.

“Isn’t this a bit much in broad daylight on a main street…”

Lupin had assumed her pursuers would back off temporarily since she’d attracted public attention, but she’s startled by their blatant killing intent as she deploys her cards around her.

“Crash… Crash…”

Soon, their attacks begin colliding, creating eerie bursting sounds.

“Hey… kid. What’s this all about…? Are you one of Adler’s subordinates? Or… is there something you want?”

“……..”

“Want some candy? Or gold coins? I’ll give you whatever you want, just stop this nonsense, won’t you?”

In this situation, Lupin notices sky-blue eyes gleaming between her shattering card formations and speaks nervously.

“What you’re holding in your hand.”

“…What?”

Then comes a very simple answer from across the way.

“Hand it over to me, and I’ll spare your life.”

“You’re quite the joker, little one.”

Lupin frowns slightly and responds.

“Come back after drinking your mother’s milk for another 10 years.”

“Oh really?”

A slightly mocking young voice replies from ahead.

“But by then, how old will your sister be?”

“……….”

As Lupin shows rare confusion at this direct hit…

“Crackle…!”

The dust cloud surrounding her turns slightly red before sparks begin to fly.

“Ugh…”

The next moment, a wave of red flames engulfs her.

“…You’re unleashing a mass murder weapon in broad daylight just for a piece of paper?”

Lupin had narrowly avoided the deadly magic, but now the girl was surrounded by flames on all sides with no escape route.

“Everyone’s lost their minds.”

“Good, you’ve stalled for time well.”

With a relaxed smile, Duchess Clay speaks from beyond the flames.

“Well done. I’ll give you candy when we return.”

“…I’m not a child.”

As the Duchess pats Moran’s head beside her with an appreciative murmur, Moran frowns and slaps her hand away.

“Tsk, such bad manners.”

“……”

“Anyway, you. Hand it over.”

After briefly looking displeased, the Duchess turns to Lupin and commands in a cold voice.

“I won’t ask twice. I need to get it before the other bitches arrive. If you don’t hand it over by the count of three, I’ll just burn you along with that scrap of paper…”

“Swoosh…”

“…Huh?”

But she becomes momentarily dumbfounded when Lupin unexpectedly holds out the contract to her.

“Swish…!”

“…You have bad habits, but at least you value your life.”

After a brief moment, the Duchess snatches the contract Lupin was holding out.

“Hmph… Everyone else is worthless compared to me with royal blood flowing through my veins…”

She stares at the contract for a moment, then smiles slightly as she begins to draw red mana to her fingertips.

“Then it’s obvious who will be chosen…”

“Click…”

But just before her finger reaches the fourth signature line.

“…Huh?”

A cold gun barrel is pointed at the Duchess’s temple.

“Even for a Vampire, losing your head would be quite damaging, wouldn’t it?”

“You…”

“Put it down now.”

Moran, her eyes already wild, was pointing her air gun at the Duchess’s head while whispering in a cold voice.

“I was going easy on you because you’re young, but it seems you have no sense…”

“As I told that thief earlier, how old will you be when I turn 20?”

“Such an impudent girl. I’m a Vampire. I don’t age.”

“But that doesn’t mean you don’t get older.”

Thus began a battle of nerves between the Duchess and Moran.

“…What’s faster? You pulling the trigger? Or me burning you with the blood flames surrounding us?”

“I’m not sure. Shall we experiment?”

Just as their standoff was heading toward disaster…

“Swoosh…”

Lupin, who had been quietly observing the situation, suddenly pulls out a card from her pocket.

“…What are you doing?”

“Hey, don’t move.”

But the Duchess and Moran were no ordinary opponents, and Lupin’s suspicious movement was detected in less than a second.

“Listen, you know.”

In this awkward situation, Lupin suddenly speaks with a shameless expression.

“I wonder if the contract you have is real?”

“”………””

“You never know, right? What if the one I gave you is fake, and I still have the real one?”

The two minions of Adler frowned and glared at her.

“Stop talking nonsense. You didn’t even have time to make a fake.”

“Well, if you don’t believe me, try signing it.”

Lupin looked at them with a rather relaxed expression and murmured in a gentle voice.

“To see if the contract is real…”

Then, as Lupin’s eyes seemed to flash slightly.

“Swish…!”

“…or fake!”

Suddenly she spread her cape forcefully to block their view while shouting.

“W-was it really a fake contract…?”

When the contract in the Duchess’s hand turned into an ace of spades with a puff of smoke, Moran muttered in a slightly empty voice.

“…No, she switched it with a card!”

“Ah…”

“What are you staring at? Shoot!!”

Proving why she was said to be the fourth smartest person in London, the Duchess immediately grasped what had happened and shouted urgently.

“Bang…!”

“…Argh!”

The next moment, Moran’s compressed air bullet pierced through Lupin’s defensive cape and struck her hand directly.

“Thud…”

As a result, Lupin dropped the contract that had just been marked with the letter A and collapsed, clutching her hand.

“Next will be your left hand.”

“There’s no escape anyway. If you just hand over the contract, I’ll remove the flames, so you’d better hand it over properly this time.”

As the impact caused all the card bundles on Lupin’s waist to spill onto the floor, Moran and the Duchess began threatening her with cold tones.

“Ha, haha…”

“”………?””

“Ahahahahahaha…”

But for some reason, Lupin burst into laughter despite her hopeless situation.

“What’s so funny…”

“…Do you like treasure hunts?”

She murmured while lightly flicking her fingers.

“Flutter, flutter…”

The next moment, all the cards scattered on the floor were copied to look exactly like Adler’s contract and began fluttering around.

“Gasp…!”

And the next moment.

“No!!”

“Whoosh….!”

All at once, they soared high through the surrounding flames and began scattering across London.

“One of those is real.”

As citizens began to murmur about this strange occurrence, Lupin smiled coldly at the two minions in front of her as well as everyone gathered around.

“Find it if you can…”

When she finished speaking, a momentary silence fell over the area.

And just a few seconds later.

“Rumble…”

Exactly half of the women gathered there scattered in all directions with fire in their eyes.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to look for…”

“That damn baguette bastard…”

“…Damn it!”

In less than a few hours, all of London had become the venue for the largest treasure hunt in history.

.

.

.

.

.

“Haha…”

Meanwhile, at that time.

“…Will England be alright like this?”

Adler, who had been thoroughly beaten by three women for his impudence and was now imprisoned in the professor’s basement, bound with silver chains.

[Will it be okay? England is already doomed.]

“Hmm…”

Having unexpectedly become the prize in the largest treasure hunt in English history, he smiles bitterly at the system’s seemingly resigned comment and turns his gaze to the side.

“…Then it’s time to proceed with the next plan.”

Then, quietly raising the corners of his mouth as he inhales, Adler.

“Poppy!!”

He suddenly calls out loudly.

“…Woof!”

In the blink of an eye, his faithful servant, the demon hound of Baskerville, with blue light still glowing in its eyes, jumps out from Adler’s shadow.

“I have one favor to ask.”

“Pant pant…”

The creature shows its belly to Adler and wags its tail vigorously with its tongue hanging out.

“If you do as I say, I’ll play with you however you want for a whole month.”

The creature’s innocent expression gradually darkened upon hearing Adler’s words.

“Can you do it?”

Unable to notice the change in expression of the creature that only he could see as a hunting dog rather than a human, Adler simply smiled with his eyes and asked.

“…Pant♥︎”

“That’s right, good boy…”