Ch.25Chapter 25 – Accumulating Karma

A few hours after the breathtaking time at the Diogenes Club.

“…Miss Holmes.”

“………..”

A strange atmosphere flowed between Adler and Sharlotte as they sat in a coffee house.

“What’s been bothering you?”

“…What do you mean?”

“You look quite sullen.”

Adler, who had been anxiously watching Sharlotte in that atmosphere, asks in a low voice.

“……….”

Sharlotte silently stares at Adler in response.

*Rustle…*

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, she leans forward and puts her finger into Adler’s mouth.

“……???”

As Adler blinks with her finger in his mouth, surprised by this sudden move, Sharlotte applies pressure and whispers with a cold gaze.

“From now on, drink my blood.”

The tangy scent of blood from the wound on her finger spreads into Adler’s mouth.

“”………””

Sharlotte, watching Adler with dark eyes, tilts her head while resting her chin on her hand, causing Adler to unconsciously avert his gaze.

“That’s the logical thing to do.”

“…Miss Holmes.”

“Keep biting.”

Adler, who was slowly trying to pull his head back, chews on her finger with a resigned expression after hearing Sharlotte’s cold voice.

“”………..””

And then silence fell in the coffee house.

“Your drinks are rea…”

The server who came to deliver their drinks trails off and backs away after witnessing this strange and bizarre scene.

“…Phew.”

Sharlotte’s blood donation finally ends after a few more minutes.

“Wait.”

“……?”

As she slightly softens her expression and tries to pull her finger back, she looks puzzled when Adler suddenly grabs her hand.

“It’ll get infected. The wound.”

Adler takes out a handkerchief from his pocket and wraps it around her finger to stop the bleeding.

“By the way, you seem to have quit smoking. I can tell from the soft fragrance on your fingers.”

“………”

“That’s really good. And your mana addiction symptoms have diminished significantly. At this rate, you’ll be no different from a normal person in a few months.”

Adler speaks in a gentle voice to Sharlotte, who is staring at him blankly.

“…But what is this scent?”

He suddenly tilts his head and mutters.

“It’s somehow sweet…”

“How crude, Mr. Adler.”

As he slowly leans in, Sharlotte hastily snaps at him and pushes him away.

“If we’re going there, Miss Holmes suddenly putting her finger in my mouth is more…”

“Shut up.”

Of course, Adler had a point, but she couldn’t help it.

She didn’t want him to discover that the sweet fragrance came from perfume she had randomly chosen from Watson’s dressing table before leaving the boarding house.

“…Stop staring at me like that.”

“……?”

And so, the awkward atmosphere between them began to flow again.

“Miss Holmes.”

“…What is it?”

“I have a question.”

Adler, who had been watching Sharlotte cautiously in that atmosphere, asked her in a low voice.

“What exactly is a Curse?”

Sharlotte stares directly at Adler.

“What are you plotting, Mr. Adler?”

“I’m not plotting anything. I genuinely don’t know.”

Sharlotte, who had been looking at Adler with suspicious eyes, eventually sighs and answers.

“It doesn’t seem right to casually discuss information classified as confidential by various countries in a café like this.”

“…I see.”

“Besides, you should know well since you yourself are cursed.”

Just as Sharlotte said this with a smirk while looking at Adler.

*Whoosh…*

Suddenly, golden messages began to appear in his hand.

[It’s been 21 days, why haven’t you come?]

[I waited for you in that place for days.]

[Is something wrong?]

Adler, who had been staring blankly at the messages, raises his head with cold sweat as he begins to sense an ominous atmosphere in front of him.

“…See?”

Sharlotte Holmes was smiling faintly and muttering in a low voice.

“You’re suffering from a curse too.”

“No, Miss Holmes. This is something I don’t even…”

“Do you know how many crimes I’ve prevented while walking the streets today?”

“know…”

Adler, who was trying to explain with a calm expression, trails off as he sees her smile growing darker.

“If it weren’t for me, by now, Mr. Adler, you would be dismembered and rolling through London’s sewers.”

“………”

“Or tied up and crushed by those seeking retribution against you.”

The faint smoke emanating from Sharlotte’s body had finally caught Adler’s attention.

“…Am I dreaming?”

“I’m thinking of going to the countryside for a short recuperation for a few weeks.”

“What?”

As Adler rubbed his eyes and looked at Sharlotte again, she began to speak in a low voice.

“You should come with me, Mr. Adler.”

“…Me?”

“While I’m recuperating, I simply cannot bear to see you killed by incompetent riffraff who lack even the basics.”

Then she grabs Adler’s sleeve and stands up.

“And anyway, I’m the only one who can resolve the curse that follows you so relentlessly, right?”

“That’s…”

“Pack your bags. I’ve already booked train tickets for tomorrow…”

“Wait, wait a moment, Miss Holmes.”

Adler, who seemed about to be ‘quasi-kidnapped,’ hastily stands up and says.

“I urgently need to use the restroom. Let’s talk about this in a little while.”

“…Well, alright.”

Sharlotte nods and looks at Adler.

“Anyway, London itself is no different from a huge prison for you.”

“………”

“Don’t disappear and end up as a corpse. Come back to me.”

Adler, who had been staring blankly at Sharlotte, quietly smiles with his eyes and says.

“You’re too obsessive, Miss Holmes.”

“I’m not joking.”

“Even without such threats, I would provide you with the next puzzle soon enough.”

After whispering that, Adler heads out to the restroom outside the café.

“…I’m really not joking.”

As she watches his retreating figure, Sharlotte unconsciously mutters in a slightly worried voice, when suddenly.

“My, my, Miss Holmes.”

Someone’s amused voice came from behind her.

“Who…”

Sharlotte frowns and turns her head, then stops speaking and opens her eyes wide.

“You look quite pitiful.”

Professor Moriarty, who had been eating a spoonful of sherbet at the table behind, was waving at her with an eerie smile.

.

.

.

.

.

“How long have you been there?”

“A detective disqualified. Asking questions to the subject you should be deducing.”

As Sharlotte sits up straight with an uncharacteristically tense expression, Moriarty, who had been munching on sherbet, quietly stands up.

“But considering your level, I’ll kindly answer. From the beginning.”

“That’s impossible…”

“You’re not the only talented person in London, Miss Holmes.”

Moriarty’s eyes begin to shine coldly as she says this.

“I just confirmed that fact moments ago.”

“…….?”

“A telegram arrived at my office a few hours ago.”

Moriarty sits across from Sharlotte and begins to interrogate her in a gentle voice.

“You must have someone close to you who is essentially the British government itself, Miss Holmes?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Otherwise, there would be no reason for the government to audit a new professor who has only been at August Academy for a year.”

Hearing this, Sharlotte clenches her fist and mutters inwardly.

‘…I told you not to interfere, sister.’

“Even so, they can’t touch my ownership of Issac Adler.”

Meanwhile, Moriarty continues to whisper with gleaming eyes.

“If you don’t want to worsen Adler’s curse, you should hand him over to me as my assistant sooner rather than later.”

“You seem to be making a rather arrogant misunderstanding. You’re not the only one who can neutralize his curse.”

The two gray gazes begin to intersect fiercely.

“Nor are you the only one who can quietly drip blood into his mouth while he sleeps.”

“………..”

“And you’re not the only one who can quietly dispose of the amateurs targeting my cute assistant.”

“I must be quite bothersome to you, Professor?”

When Sharlotte asks with a sardonic smile, Moriarty counters with a composed expression.

“I don’t feel bothered by a little girl who doesn’t even know how to properly use perfume.”

“……….”

“Is this your first time wearing makeup? It’s quite ridiculous and excessive.”

Sharlotte, whose insecurities had been targeted, slightly distorts her expression and says.

“Even so, you’re just a tool.”

Moriarty looks at her as if she finds her cute.

“No matter how much you smile like that, the puzzles he will create from now on are only for me.”

“Have you not considered that you might just be a device for my amusement?”

“I’m sorry, but that possibility absolutely doesn’t exist.”

Moriarty begins to whisper in a low voice to Sharlotte after she finishes speaking.

“This feels like our conversation is going in circles.”

“I think so too, Professor.”

Sharlotte says as she begins to stand up.

“I have no choice but to end our conversation today.”

“We probably won’t have any more conversations in the future either.”

“That’s true.”

Moriarty, who stood up following her, smiles faintly and whispers.

“We will never do anything together.”

“Don’t say such horrible things.”

“If you joined under my command, I was willing to give you special consideration.”

“How presumptuous of you.”

Just as the two women were about to completely settle their positions.

“Be prepared. From now on, I’ll also give it my all.”

“That’s what I wanted.”

At that very moment.

“Kyaaaaaaah!!”

A high-pitched scream echoed from outside the coffee house.

“”…………””

The expressions of Holmes and Moriarty, who turned their heads at the sudden incident, immediately froze.

“…..Ugh.”

Issac Adler, who had been the subject of their conversation until just now, was staggering after being stabbed by a girl’s knife.

.

.

.

.

.

“Mr. Adler…”

‘As I thought, it was this person.’

Having been attacked by a knife-wielding girl who had been following me since I left the restroom to return to the café, I inwardly smiled quietly and muttered.

“The speckled band.”

‘Now I don’t have to worry about Holmes and the Professor being bored.’

“It was the speckled band… that.”

At that moment, a message appeared before my eyes.

[Plausibility Warning!]

[Case: <The Secret of the Speckled Band> has significantly low plausibility!]

[Please secure the plausibility of the case to prevent the erosion of the world!]

Looking at that message with a satisfied smile, I turned my head to the side and spread my arms to the two women approaching me, announcing with a bright expression.

“It’s a new puzzle, everyone!”

“”……………””

Sharlotte Holmes and Professor Moriarty were looking at me coldly.

[Probability of being confined: 60%->70%]

Wait, why?