Ch.261Chapter 261 – Ending

Several weeks after that rather unpleasant, sticky day at the hotel where Sharlotte, the professor, and eventually even Miss Microny had barged in—a day I’d rather not recall.

“Looking around, looking around…”

Having arrived at the address Sharlotte had sent in her letter, I began glancing around with eyes full of wariness and a tense expression.

“This looks like… an ordinary house.”

Contrary to my expectation of being imprisoned immediately after my arrival, I had spent quite peaceful days at my hideout for the past few weeks.

Despite the fact that most women clearly knew I had returned, those crazed women didn’t storm my hideout.

Rather, occasionally my loyal subordinates would casually come and go from the hideout to guard me, or the professor would sometimes bring the children over—that was all.

Because of this, I had been enjoying a brief period of peace, but today suddenly a letter arrived for me containing this address.

‘It’s obviously a trap.’

To be honest, there’s no way Sharlotte would have invited me here for any friendly reason.

Although I’ve lost both the demon’s power and the vampire’s strength, I’m very well aware of the chilling energy emanating from before me.

Probably, the person waiting there isn’t just Sharlotte alone.

“Hehe…”

But despite that, there’s a reason I obediently came here.

‘…As much as I’d like to run away again.’

I was clearly aware of what kind of disaster occurred when I ran away from them once before, and above all, I couldn’t leave my adorable children behind and go somewhere else.

And today, I’m confident I can escape even if that obvious trap waiting there turns into hell.

‘I think I’ve been too submissive lately… they should all prepare themselves…’

Though I may look quite pathetic these days, they’ll regret underestimating someone who once worked as a crime coordinator at the National Intelligence Service.

Of course, I specialized in hacking and information manipulation, but still.

If I can easily escape this level of crisis, won’t my future life become more peaceful?

[What are you smiling about?]

“…I’ll be counting on you later.”

[Sigh.]

As I smiled at that thought, I whispered in a gentle voice to System, who was the key to this plan, and began to move forward.

*Knock knock knock…!*

“Anyone home~?”

After a brief moment, I boldly knocked on the door of the mansion before me.

“Come in.”

After a moment of silence, Sharlotte’s calm voice was heard.

“Yes, I won’t hesitate then.”

*Creeeeak…*

And so, with a slightly pounding heart, I quietly opened the front door and stepped inside.

“…So, why did you call me here?”

Upon spotting Sharlotte sitting on the sofa in the living room right in front of me, I asked with the most relaxed expression I could manage.

“To show you this.”

Then, despite it being morning, she smiled in the darkened living room and held up something.

“That’s…”

What she was holding was something that would make any decent man break into a cold sweat.

“Do you see two lines?”

“……”

“It’s the latest product using premium magic stones. The probability of a false result approaches zero.”

Well, no matter how prepared I might have been, what man in the world wouldn’t feel his heart sink at the sight of a pregnancy test showing two lines?

“I’m pregnant.”

“Ah…”

“Listen to me. Don’t you understand what this means?”

But fortunately(?), as this wasn’t my first experience with such a situation, I managed to maintain a calm expression, which prompted Sharlotte to rise from the sofa and slowly walk toward me.

“It means your child is in here.”

“……”

“The seed you planted inside me a few weeks ago is growing, you know?”

And then, pressing her belly against me and looking up into my eyes, she whispered.

“How fascinating…”

To her, I expressed the honest emotion I was feeling right now.

Of course, the professor was the first to become pregnant with my child, but this was the first time I was witnessing someone’s pregnant state in real time.

“Right? Isn’t it fascinating?”

“…Yes.”

“So, have you decided on a name for the baby?”

As I was gently caressing her belly while muttering, Sharlotte asked me a question with wide, round eyes.

“The child will save the world in the future, so we should give it a good name.”

“Ah… that’s true.”

In response to her question, I began to answer casually while trying to hide my pounding heartbeat.

“Oh, come to think of it… I do have a name in mind.”

“Oh my, is that so?”

“Yes, so… it’s…”

Time to complete my final task as a plot device.

“…How about the name Sherlock?”

“Hmm…”

As I whispered this while deliberately avoiding Sharlotte’s gaze, the corners of her mouth suddenly turned upward slightly.

“You must have given it some thought?”

“…Ahaha.”

“I always thought you’d be an irresponsible father.”

I gave a slightly embarrassed smile at her subsequent remark.

“By the way, what a coincidence?”

“Huh?”

“If I had been born a boy, my parents were going to name me Sherlock.”

“Y-yeah…? Haha.”

At her seemingly probing remark, I avoided Sharlotte’s gaze again while breaking into a cold sweat.

“What a coincidence… how strange… haha…”

“…Well, your sister must have told you, I suppose.”

“Ah… y-yes. That’s right.”

As I was wondering how to plausibly explain the current situation, I eagerly seized upon the words Sharlotte had muttered quietly and answered.

“Microny mentioned it to me in passing last time…”

“Oh, I see. That’s what I thought.”

“Ahem… well, that’s how it happened.”

“But how do you know it’s a boy when I’m not even a month pregnant yet?”

Just as I thought I had escaped her leading questions, I soon realized.

“That’s…”

“You seem so certain that a boy will be born.”

“……”

“Come to think of it, you’ve had many such incidents before, haven’t you?”

The being before my eyes right now.

“Somehow anticipating how sudden events will unfold, occasionally ruining everything with absurd mistakes… yet somehow managing to resolve the situation anyway…”

No matter how close we’ve become, Holmes is still Holmes after all.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“It’s time to honestly come clean.”

And such a person is now deliberately interrogating me.

“About your true identity.”

*Gulp…*

I involuntarily swallowed.

So it’s come to this after all.

I know very well that trying to gloss over things in this situation would only make matters worse.

But that means I have to reveal everything here and now.

“Well… it’s a long story.”

“…Yes, I’m sure it is. But it’s okay to take your time.”

Though I muttered this while breaking into a cold sweat, Sharlotte’s mind seemed already made up.

“You might regret it, or be disappointed…”

“…That’s right. But so what?”

Nevertheless, an inexplicable anxiety came over me, and I tried to avoid speaking until the end.

“I’m already carrying your child, and I’ve been dreaming of this moment for the past two years.”

“………”

“Do you think I would abandon you now?”

The moment her confident voice pierced my ears.

“So tell me.”

“I…”

“…Your final mystery.”

With my eyes closed tightly, I finally made a decision.

“I am…”

“Yes.”

To reveal to her the truth I had been hiding all this time.

“…from another world.”

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“Well, is that enough?”

As Adler finished speaking, a deep silence began to flow through the mansion.

“Hmm…”

In that silence, Sharlotte’s nasal sound suddenly resonated.

“Um… Miss Holmes?”

“…….”

“I’d like you to say something.”

Since there was still no response, I asked her with a slightly anxious expression.

“Why? Are you afraid I’ll abandon you just because you’ve solved the final mystery?”

“…Our relationship, if we trace it back to the beginning, was ultimately formed because of mysteries.”

At her question that finally came, I answered with a slightly dejected expression.

“Pfft.”

At that, she burst into laughter while looking at me.

“That was before I fell in love with you.”

The statement she eventually revealed was.

“I’m not an idiot who runs away to his original world leaving behind the people he loves, then returns after giving up all his powers because he got homesick.”

“…….”

“…I’m joking, just joking. Lighten up.”

Although it was full of playfulness, her sincerity was clearly felt nonetheless.

“Sharlotte…”

Thanks to that, I, who rarely called her by her first name rather than her surname.

“…I love you.”

Only then could I fully realize.

“Forever.”

That I now love not ‘Holmes’ but ‘Sharlotte’ herself.

Of course, that also applied to Professor ‘Jane’ Moriarty, but there seemed no need to mention that.

“Me too.”

As I scratched my head with such idle thoughts, I quietly smiled at Sharlotte’s gentle voice that soon returned.

“I’ll name the baby Sherlock as you suggested.”

“……!”

“…Whether it’s a boy or a girl.”

The next moment, what I had been desperately waiting for during the past few weeks unfolded before my eyes.

[Sherlock Holmes modification complete!]

[You have reached an ending branch!]

Yes, since we’ve confirmed our love for each other, this ending can only be a happy one.

Nevertheless, it’s not all over yet.

[Ending reward will be given.]

[1 Wish Token]

After all, we still need to have the final showdown to determine who will take the lead in the long married life ahead.

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*Click…*

Just as I was thinking that and preparing myself mentally, the sound of the mansion door locking came from behind.

“…What could that sound be?”

“I wonder?”

When I calmly asked after hearing that sound, Sharlotte also calmly responded while tilting her head.

“Could it be a mouse?”

“It’s too dark to see clearly, so I should turn on the lights.”

But I had no intention of playing along with her pace, so before her nonchalant words were even finished, I moved toward the light switch.

*Click…*

“My, aren’t you impatient.”

As light returned to the previously dark mansion, I couldn’t help but swallow a bitter smile at Sharlotte’s amused remark.

“”””…………””””

Inspector Lestrade with a thoroughly sulky expression, and the three subordinates whose expressions were not much different.

Rachel Watson quietly loading a gun beside them, and Microny Holmes looking glum while holding a pregnancy test with one line.

The lady thief perched on the windowsill with two joker cards in her hand, eyes sparkling, and the worst serial killer hiding in her shadow, glaring at me with gleaming eyes.

Poppy suddenly appearing behind my shadow with a smiling eyes.

And in front of all of them, the professor with her usual relaxed smile, tilting her head from side to side.

“Ha, haha…”

At the sight of all these beings—whether connections or karma I had created—gathered together, I could only let out a hollow laugh.

“The mice are quite large, aren’t they?”

The time to settle things has come.