Ch.229Chapter 229 – The Final Case (4)

“Mmm…”

It seems I dozed off for a bit. When I open my eyes, the sky outside the train has darkened.

‘Adler is… still here.’

I was worried that Adler might have abandoned me and run away, but now I see he’s nodding off with his head bowed in front of me.

“………”

Meanwhile, that arrogant little brat who somehow naturally joined us wasn’t sleepy at all, and was sitting close to Adler, staring at me intently.

“What are you looking at?”

“…Why do you smell like my master?”

“Are you a dog or something…”

Why are all the women around Adler like this?

I shouldn’t be the one to talk, but this seems a bit extreme.

“…And why are you speaking informally to me?”

“I asked why you’re so deeply permeated with my master’s scent.”

I briefly considered lecturing this arrogant brat, but gave up when I realized our conversation was going nowhere.

Besides, it would be unreasonable to lecture someone who’s much stronger than me anyway.

“Ugh… uh…”

“……..?”

Just as an awkward silence was settling in the compartment, a sudden groan broke out.

“Uah… ah…”

“Adler?”

Is he having a nightmare? Adler, who had been dozing, was now sweating profusely with a pained expression.

“No… this is… nothing but…”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s for your sake…”

Then he started mumbling incomprehensible things in his sleep.

“I’m not abandoning you…..”

“Hey.”

It bothered me too much to leave him like that, so I grabbed his shoulder and shook him, but he showed no signs of waking up.

I thought he was just dozing, but he seems to be in a deep sleep.

Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve seen this man make such an expression.

He’s the type who would grin even if his limbs were being cut off.

To think he’d make such a haggard expression over a mere nightmare.

Does he have some trauma?

From my experience as a soldier and doctor, people who make such expressions always have an unspeakable past.

But what kind of trauma could make someone who smiles even when stabbed on the street or dismembered by a serial killer grimace like this?

Even for me, who has encountered many horrific and cruel things due to my profession, it’s hard to imagine.

“Master.”

“Ugh…?”

“Are you alright?”

While I was thinking about this, Moran, unable to bear the situation any longer, shook Adler hard to wake him up.

“Ah…”

He stared at her with vacant eyes for a moment, then reached out with trembling hands to pick up a glass of water.

‘…This look is quite appealing too.’

A pretty boy with a troubled past making a decadent expression with trembling hands.

This different side of Adler, with such a gap from his usual self, is starting to stimulate my taste.

I think I’m beginning to understand why so many women want to torment this guy.

Maybe I should torment him a bit too.

‘…No, what am I thinking?’

After briefly entertaining such frivolous thoughts, I shook my head vigorously to escape these absurd notions.

Actually, I thought that putting him in a bag and carrying him around as a portable item had already far exceeded the level of torment, but anyway, that’s not what’s important right now.

“What kind of dream did you have to make you look so pale?”

“…It’s nothing.”

“Your expression says otherwise.”

Hearing this, Adler forces a smile.

“It’s really nothing.”

But there was no sincerity in that smile.

With cold sweat and a pale complexion, his forced smile only made him look more pitiful.

But why am I more drawn to him than usual?

‘…Calm down.’

I never thought I had this kind of preference.

I keep finding myself concerned about Adler’s suffering expression.

Have I become abnormal from living with an abnormal person like Holmes?

“Hick?”

Lost in these thoughts, I realized I was unconsciously poking Adler’s side with my finger.

“…Why, why are you doing that?”

Thanks to this, Adler, who had been trembling all over, raised his head at my approach and asked with an expression like a rain-soaked puppy.

“…Get away from my master.”

But I didn’t feel the need to answer and just stared at him blankly, when a cold voice came from beside me.

“Before I kill you.”

Moran, who had been fiddling with the air gun on her lap, was glaring at me and muttering like that.

“Don’t kill her, Moran…”

“Before she becomes disabled.”

“That’s not okay either…”

It was quite a dangerous situation, but I still couldn’t stop looking at Adler.

‘Perhaps this appearance…’

Besides my personal preference, there was another reason this time.

‘…might be your true self.’

Because this haggard appearance was starting to look like his true self, rather than the seemingly detached facade he shows to everything.

If so, why does this person hide this side and wear a mask even to those he truly loves?

– Click…

If I had Holmes’s deductive abilities, I might have figured out the reason, but unfortunately, the sound of a gun being loaded rang out beside me, forcing me to pull back.

“…Moran, where are we now?”

“We’ll reach Canterbury station soon. I heard the train will stop briefly there before departing again.”

“Hmm…”

Finally relaxing, Adler asks Moran a question.

“Miss Watson. It seems we’ll need to get off at Canterbury station.”

“…What?”

I couldn’t believe my ears when he said this a moment later.

“Wasn’t our destination the pier? If we keep going, we’ll arrive safely? Even the professor can’t keep up with the train’s speed.”

“…The professor is not someone to be underestimated. He probably took a special train as soon as he lost us, and if you calculate the stopping time and arrival time, he can easily catch up.”

“Then…”

“So we need to get off at Canterbury station first. Then cross the fields to… where was it? Ah, Newhaven Port. We’ll cross over to France from there.”

I understand his intention. If we’re dealing with a dangerous person like Professor Moriarty, it makes sense to be this cautious.

But there’s one problem.

“What about our luggage? I checked quite a lot of my things into the baggage car…”

“…We’ll abandon them. Let’s just buy a cheap bag and get what we need as we go.”

“Ugh…”

“Isn’t it romantic?”

Adler said with a quiet smile, but his complexion remained pale.

It seemed he had had quite a serious nightmare, and he was clearly under mental strain, so I couldn’t complain any further.

“Then let’s get up now. It’s better to move as soon as the train arrives… cough.”

“…? Master?”

“Cough, cough…”

Anyway, just as we were about to get up according to his plan, Adler’s pupils suddenly shook and sporadic coughing erupted from his mouth.

“Ugh…”

“Blood, there’s blood. Master, are you okay?”

“…I’m just tired.”

“Don’t push yourself. Should I carry you?”

“Being carried by a 12-year-old makes me feel a bit guilty… I’m fine.”

While Moran seemed to accept his excuse despite her worried expression, my doctor’s eyes couldn’t be deceived.

If his pale face was due to deteriorating health, he would be reaching his limit by now.

Well, being a demon who has lived for centuries, he probably has a way to revive himself?

– Clank, clank…

“Cough, cough… Let’s move right away. I’m fine…”

“A short rest won’t hurt, right? Let’s just rest until your coughing stops.”

So, ignoring my growing anxiety, I helped Adler off at Canterbury station and persuaded him to rest for a while, even though he was trying to hurry despite coughing up blood.

“Ah…”

But just a few minutes later, we could only freeze in place when we saw a locomotive with only one compartment passing on the same track as the train we had been on.

“…..What did I tell you?”

Professor Moriarty, with fresh wounds on his face and arms, was sitting alone in that compartment, looking at us with a cold expression.

“Cough… Let’s get up quickly, before the professor jumps off the train.”

“……….”

That sight would probably remain one of the most chilling memories of my life.

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And so, after surviving several more life-threatening crises, the next morning.

“Mmm…”

Having boarded a ship bound for Belgium instead of France due to Adler’s sudden whim, I drowsily opened my eyes to the sunlight coming through the window.

“…Everyone must be tired.”

The cabin was extremely small since we had boarded in a hurry, but Adler, who was pressed close to my side, and Moran, who was crouched near the entrance, were still sound asleep despite this.

“We seem to be arriving soon…”

As the port was coming into view, I tried to shake Adler awake, but.

“Ugh, uh…..”

Seeing him suffering and sweating coldly just like on the train yesterday, I hesitated with my outstretched hand.

“I miss you… my friends…”

“……..”

And after watching Adler quietly for a moment.

– Slide…

I quietly offered him my shoulder.

“…….”

Then, the groaning man’s expression became more peaceful as he nestled into my neck.

‘This isn’t right.’

I wasn’t particularly trying to help him. I just wanted to observe a pretty boy suffering up close.

“…We still have time before we arrive.”

Well, since it’s come to this, I can’t help it.

“Haah…..”

Leaning back in my seat with that thought, I sighed and fell into contemplation.

‘This belongs to Holmes… what should I do?’

The feeling of starting to like someone I truly despised was very strange.

‘…But, was he ever really Holmes’s to begin with?’