Ch.21Chapter 21 – The Tiger’s Den

“…What did you just say?”

A few hours after learning that my life was in danger due to the reputation check system I received as a reward for solving the case.

“You heard me correctly, Miss Wilson.”

I was meeting Diana Wilson, the victim of the “Red Mana League,” at a café near the Auguste Detective Academy.

“I have no further business with you.”

More precisely, I was breaking up with her.

“Let’s end this relationship.”

Upon hearing those words, Wilson stares at me with a shocked expression.

“”………..””

Almost simultaneously, stares pour in from all directions.

Most people glare at me with cold eyes as if they knew I would do this again, then quickly avert their gaze.

Seeing such reactions from random people in a café rather than at school, it seems Issac Adler is quite notorious for this kind of behavior.

“At least.”

“………..”

“At least tell me why.”

As I quietly sigh, Diana Wilson asks me this with a pale face.

“…The reason, you ask.”

The truth is simple.

I’m already overwhelmed trying to accomplish the main quest, and I simply don’t have the capacity to handle her.

This applies not just to her, but to all the people involved in future cases and clients.

The original Sherlock Holmes series alone has 60 episodes.

And then there are those terrible original episodes added by the Story Department.

It’s already challenging enough to deal with the “main characters” connected to the “main quest,” but if I were to maintain relationships with everyone from those episodes, I can’t even imagine how thinly I’d be stretched.

So I need to establish one rule.

From now on, when a case ends, I’ll also end my relationships with the people involved in that case.

Except for those like the Queen of Bohemia or Lady Joanne Clay, who could help with my future conduct and survival.

Since I’m already overwhelmed dealing with the “main characters” connected to the “main quest,” this is unavoidable.

‘Besides, getting involved with me is dangerous in the first place.’

And this is also for the sake of Diana Wilson and future connections.

I’m being threatened by an unidentified entity that even the reputation system can’t identify.

Like the previous mansion explosion incident, many dangerous things will likely happen to me in the future.

I don’t want to drag people into these incidents just because they’re associated with me.

Especially, I don’t want to block the future of a girl who has just escaped a terminal illness and started to envision her future.

“I’m tired of you now.”

So, squeezing my eyes shut, I spoke harsh words to the girl in front of me.

“From the beginning, you were just bait to lure Sharlotte Holmes.”

“What do you mean…”

“The only one I was interested in was her.”

At that, she looks at me with a pale blue gaze.

“Thank you for serving as the connection between her and me, Miss Diana.”

Forcibly suppressing the rising guilt, I finished speaking, and after trembling for a while as she stared at me, Wilson eventually moved her hand to the water glass placed beside her.

– Splash…!

And a few seconds later, I was drenched with ice-cold water.

“I was going to… take my last trip with you.”

With tears in her eyes, she stands up, looks down at me, and whispers.

“You garbage of a man.”

After leaving those words, Diana Wilson turns away from me.

“…Drop dead.”

Finally, after leaving that short and intense statement, she quietly left the café.

“Goodbye, Miss Wilson.”

Among people who glance at me with satisfied expressions before averting their gaze again, I could only mutter with a bitter smile.

“Take care of yourself.”

Though it was only a week, the time I spent with her was quite enjoyable for me too.

I wonder if she received the anonymous letter I sent, saying there was a clue to break the Curse in Romania?

If she lives there, the birthplace of Vampires, she, as a pure-blooded Vampire, might be able to extend her lifespan.

I sincerely pray that she lives a peaceful and happy life there.

.

.

.

.

.

“Hello, Mr. Adler.”

“……?”

Just as Adler was quietly about to get up from his seat with these thoughts, a male student approached him.

“May I join you?”

Looking puzzled as if trying to recall if they knew each other, Adler only realized who the male student was after hearing a whisper in his ear.

“Nurse, we’re even now.”

“…Miss Holmes?”

Sharlotte Holmes, dressed as a man, was sitting down next to him.

“Um…”

Not across from him, but right beside him.

“…Never mind.”

Though he wanted to ask why, Adler swallowed his words, overwhelmed by her intense gaze.

“Was what you just said true?”

“Pardon?”

After watching Holmes cautiously for a while, he tilts his head at her monotone voice.

“Your reason for dating Diana Wilson.”

“Ah.”

“Was it really to create a connection with me?”

Of course, that wasn’t Adler’s only reason for dating Wilson.

“…That’s correct.”

But it was somewhat true, and feeling like he should answer that way, Adler quietly nodded.

“………”

Then, avoiding his gaze slightly, Sharlotte rests her chin on her hand and starts swinging her legs up and down.

“You’re the worst.”

The flush that appeared on her face for a fleeting moment as she said this was probably Adler’s imagination.

“Then is that also why you never revealed that you were the one who broke her Curse and saved her life?”

“Having achieved my goal, I needed to cut off any awkward relationships.”

“Trash.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Rubbing his eyes briefly, Adler smiles at Sharlotte, who is berating him with her usual cold demeanor.

“I’m glad I didn’t send that telegram revealing the truth.”

“What did you say?”

At these unsettling words, Adler’s eyes widen.

“Because you showed up at the academy the next day and the case ended as a simple incident, I didn’t have time to tell the client, Miss Wilson, the truth.”

“What do you mean…”

“And since she suddenly said she was leaving England today, I was going to send a telegram revealing everything to the hotel in Romania where she’ll be staying.”

Hearing this, Adler begins to sweat.

“If I had sent it, Miss Wilson would have realized upon arrival…”

“……….”

“That she had thrown water at and told a man to die—a man who took on the Vampire’s Curse in her place and became terminally ill.”

Trying to maintain his composure, Adler speaks.

“As I’ve said before, I’m not terminally ill. And anyway, it’s something that won’t happen.”

“It could have been really serious. Miss Wilson’s physical condition is so weakened that even if she learned the truth, she wouldn’t have been able to leave Romania.”

“……….”

“And what if some radical members of the ‘Red Mana League’ who rejected you and broke away approached her?”

But Holmes continues with a smile, speculating about possibilities.

“She might become the new leader of the ‘Red Mana League’ that would devour Romania, the homeland of Vampires, and target you for the rest of her life.”

“Miss Holmes, I didn’t know you had talent as a novelist.”

“This is no joke. It could very well happen.”

Then, with gleaming eyes, Holmes leans toward Adler.

“If I, who knows the whole truth, were to send a telegram to that hotel in Romania right now…”

“…Are you threatening me?”

“You guessed correctly, Mr. Adler.”

Hearing this, Adler sighs and asks.

“What do you want?”

“You need to come somewhere with me.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m quite busy today.”

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

When Adler firmly refuses due to an inexplicable sense of foreboding, Holmes begins to whisper in his ear.

“That woman at that table over there is targeting you right now.”

“What?”

“She gave everything to you months ago and was abandoned.”

At those words, Adler shifts his gaze across the tables and sees a woman in the corner staring at him with chilling eyes.

“There are two more such women. At the second table on the right and the third table on the left.”

“That’s not a man… that’s a female… that thing…”

– Shing…

And at the adjacent table, a bushy-haired woman muttering with an eerie expression, and a female student staring at him with lifeless eyes while caressing a dining knife.

“You’ve been followed since earlier, didn’t you notice?”

“Uh, well…”

“By the way, that person over there hiding behind a large newspaper and peeking at us is Miss Zia Lestrade.”

“Ah, I know that one.”

Looking at Lestrade, who had been voyeuristically watching him in a ridiculous disguise, Adler mutters this, and Holmes whispers in his ear once more.

“If you don’t come with me now, you’ll die.”

[Probability of being murdered: 69%]

Only then did Adler realize the credibility of the probability he had checked hours ago.

“I guess I have no choice.”

“Hmm.”

As he links arms with Holmes, she quietly smiles and stands up.

“I’ll postpone sending that telegram to Miss Wilson for now.”

Completely unaware that Professor Moriarty had already implemented the exact plan she had told Adler about this morning.

[Probability of being imprisoned: 36%->40%]

[Probability of being kidnapped: 21%->25%]

And unaware that because of this, a secret organization directly under Moriarty would be born in Romania a few months later.

“Shit, what the hell.”

“Pardon?”

And even Adler, who would become both the organization’s protection target and objective, was unaware of this.

.

.

.

.

.

“We’ve arrived.”

“…Miss Holmes.”

After evading the crazed women who were eyeing my life and Zia Lestrade who had been following us with terrible stealth even after leaving the café.

“This is…”

I froze when I saw the sign of the building that Holmes pointed to after stopping.

[Diogenes Club]

“The quietest place in England. Perfect as a hideout.”

I hoped my thoughts were wrong, but Sharlotte’s next words shattered that hope.

“By the way, my lazy sister is the president.”

It seems I’ve walked right into the den of a woman who is essentially the British government itself.

[Microny Holmes is watching you closely.]

Please save me, Professor Moriarty.