Ch.216Chapter 216 – Four Signatures (5)

– BOOM….!

“…hmm?”

Early dawn. At a time when the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, in an antique house located somewhere in London.

“Ughh… my back hurts.”

In the living room of that place, suddenly a drowsy voice begins to echo along with a booming sound.

“But where… is this? I was just at the horse races…”

The protagonist is none other than ‘Rachel Watson’, who just finished signing a contract she mistook for a betting slip.

“Ah… don’t tell me I’m at the police station…?”

“”……….””

“De-Detective Lestrade… you know me… I’m not some weirdo or homeless person…”

Having proudly secured the last spot that could rival Adler, she frantically begins to mutter after noticing Lestrade sitting beside her.

“I’m… an elite… a young and capable… elite doctor…”

Three cold gazes begin to pierce through her.

“So this woman is the last one, I see.”

“How interesting.”

“…Do you find this amusing?”

Sitting around a rectangular table, Professor Moriarty, Sharlotte Holmes, and Zia Lestrade quietly begin their conversation.

“I don’t find it particularly amusing. I’m just curious what Adler was thinking to lead to this outcome.”

“Indeed. What kind of picture has our Adler been painting lately?”

As they quietly shift their gaze…

“……….”

Adler was sweating profusely, dangling from a rope connected to the ceiling, spinning round and round above the dining table.

“Y-y-yes…”

How much time had passed like this?

“Th-th-this is… all according to my plan…”

Trembling while hanging from the rope, Adler begins to mutter with a pale complexion.

“I anticipated this outcome from the beginning. Ha, hahaha…”

“…Perhaps you intended to make that loyal hound the final signatory?”

“If that’s the case, it’s truly maddening. It would look like a dog to you.”

“This is the worst. Suddenly I want a divorce.”

They glance at him with suspicious expressions as they throw questions at him.

“What are you all talking about? Poppy is a dog.”

“””……….”””

“I may be a terrifying villain… but I’m not a psychopath who does that sort of thing with dogs.”

But to that question, Adler answers with a serious expression.

“…Judging by his eyes, he doesn’t seem to be lying.”

“Sometimes you seem selectively oblivious. Is it just my imagination?”

“…….?”

Professor Moriarty and Sharlotte Holmes mutter to themselves while glaring at the confused Adler.

“Get a grip! That creature is not a dog but a human…”

Detective Lestrade began raising her voice in irritation amid this atmosphere, but…

“Then perhaps you were trying to make this whole incident disappear?”

“It’s not a ‘perhaps’ but a fact. Adler never seriously intended to fulfill this contract from the beginning.”

“…..What?”

Momentarily silenced by Professor Moriarty’s sharp analysis, she quietly begins to listen.

“Did you think you wouldn’t live long if things continued this way? So you wanted to show an active approach to solving the problem?”

“But since you couldn’t choose just one person, you took out insurance. By including someone strong enough to keep the three of us in check.”

“After failing your plan once, you intended to use that mutt to create a sense of crisis.”

“To prevent us from treating you carelessly in the future. Well? Is there anything wrong with our deduction?”

And then silence fell.

– Hiccup…

In that silence, Adler, who had been blinking blankly, quietly begins to hiccup.

“…..Ha.”

After glaring at him with cold eyes, the detective opens her mouth with a betrayed expression.

“You were so eager to pound away before, and now you’re trying to impress these other women…”

But she closes her mouth with a look of sudden realization.

“…Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. Does it?”

“That’s right. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Sharlotte and Professor Moriarty, who had been glaring at the detective with momentarily murderous eyes, quietly avert their gaze and begin to summarize the situation.

“All four signatures have been collected, and the contract has been in effect for a few minutes now.”

“Unless it was torn up and sunk to the bottom of the Thames, with the contract in effect, Adler must absolutely…”

“Choose one of us as his eternal partner within 3 months. Is that correct?”

“…Um, excuse me?”

Hearing their words, Adler’s eyes begin to show increasing anxiety.

“From now on, I intend to do my best to become that one person, but what are your thoughts?”

“Of course. I knew you would respond like that. The only one among us with uncolored eyes, yet so full of possessiveness, you lizard monster.”

“Miss Holmes, I think you’ve misunderstood my words…”

But ignoring him, a colder atmosphere than ever begins to flow between the women as they continue their conversation.

“…If, three months from now, I am the only survivor among the people gathered here.”

“Adler must choose you, Professor?”

“Since you understand so well, I don’t think I need to explain further.”

“Ha! My, Professor…”

Eventually letting out a hollow laugh, Sharlotte opens her mouth with a mocking expression.

“Why have you become so ugly…?”

“……..”

“Ah, I see. How could an aging lizard reeking of chicken coop compete with fresh young girls like me and the detective…”

“…Listen. I think you’ve been misunderstanding something for a while now.”

Facing her, Professor Moriarty also begins to raise her voice.

“I’m in my twenties.”

“There’s a slang term for pathological lying, you know?”

“…How ugly.”

“No matter what you say, it’s useless. Because the truth doesn’t bend.”

Suddenly drawing her own conclusion, Professor Moriarty stands up abruptly.

“And I don’t know what’s so ugly about it. If using any means necessary to secure what you want seems ugly to you, then try waiting comfortably for three months without making any preparations.”

“”……….””

“…Well, I already know.”

With a chilling smile, she whispers in a low voice to Sharlotte and Lestrade, who were frowning.

“You both pretend on the surface that Adler will inevitably choose you, but inside, you’re already planning all sorts of schemes.”

At that, Sharlotte and Lestrade open their mouths to speak but simultaneously close them.

“…And I’m one step ahead in such schemes.”

“You’re so confident it’s actually appealing?”

“Well then, let’s see how well you do.”

Leaving them behind, Professor Moriarty quietly walks out of the room.

“…Try to survive from my grasp until three months later.”

“”……….””

“Of course, if your life is precious, you’re welcome to give up midway.”

Leaving behind that final declaration, which was nothing short of a declaration of war.

“…So, what are you going to do?”

“What… do you mean?”

After a moment of silence in the room, Sharlotte quietly asks Lestrade sitting beside her.

“Can you handle the Professor alone?”

“…….”

“If the two of us join forces, we could exclude the Professor…”

“Miss Holmes.”

Lestrade, who had been quietly observing her, tilts her head to the side and asks a question in return.

“…Are you scared?”

“………”

It was the moment when the final battle began, where the boundary between good and evil had blurred.

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“…You’ll regret this, Detective.”

Sharlotte leaves the room with quiet steps after leaving those words in a cold voice.

“I’m already regretting it, actually.”

Glancing at Adler behind her, Detective Lestrade mutters in a low voice as she also leaves the room.

“…I’ve actually come to like him, what can I do.”

As silence descended upon the room, Adler, who had been spinning while tied to the rope, speaks in a shrinking voice.

“P-please untie me before you go…”

At that very moment.

[If this was your plan, why didn’t you make the opposite plan from the beginning?]

A sassy font appears before him.

[How do you not have a single plan that works properly?]

“…Miss System.”

Seeing the system appear after a long absence despite his calls, Adler briefly shows a pleased expression before smiling slightly and answering.

“Are you nagging me?”

[Please go die.]

“…It’s a joke, a joke.”

As the system immediately responds with a serious message in a formal font, Adler hurriedly waves his hands and mutters.

“…Actually, this went according to my plan.”

[What?]

“From beginning to end.”

[Liar.]

The system window, which had tilted slightly at his continued words, quickly turned away to ignore Adler, but…

“For my plan, I needed Watson to be the last signatory.”

[……?]

“That’s why I sent the Hound of the Baskervilles. No one except the Professor could handle it… but according to the original work, Watson could defeat it.”

At his words, the system hesitantly turns its body back slightly.

“So, Miss System. Let’s make a deal.”

Adler opens his mouth with a quiet smile.

[What kind of deal?]

“Well…”

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“Hey.”

Just as the most secretive deal in the world was about to begin in the living room of the Professor’s house…

“Who… are you?”

“Gasp.”

Unfortunately, that secret deal was temporarily postponed by Watson, who had been lying face down on the table for a long time and just raised her head.

“I’ve seen you somewhere before…”

“…I-I’m Issac Adler.”

As she approached him with drowsy eyes, staggering to her feet, Adler began to sweat again and hurriedly tried to explain, but…

“Bullshit.”

Watson, who quietly leaned in toward him, simply whispered in an articulate voice with the most chilling smile ever.

“…You’re Neville, you idiot.”

“Eek…”

As her cold hand, which had been gripping his neck, began to slip between his clothes, Adler trembled and desperately raised his voice to call the signatories who had left, but…

“E-everyone!!! Hey…”

– Gasp…

“……..mmph.”

Not only his pitiful scream but also the subsequent moans were muffled by Watson’s lips and helplessly sank into her stomach.

“Neville… you’re Neville…”

“….! …..!!!!”

“So stay still, you fucking bastard…”

“………”