Ch.278Side Story – The Adventures of Isaac Adler (12)

“Oh, what’s this all about now?”

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Rachel Watson looking down at me with a cold smile, while my entire body was tightly bound with rope.

“Awake?”

“Um, excuse me.”

“No, no, no. Don’t say anything.”

All I could see around me was a dense forest. I tried to open my mouth to say something, but Watson’s sharp rebuke came immediately.

“Open your mouth again and you’ll just lie to me with that wretched mouth of yours, won’t you?”

“…What do you—”

“Didn’t I tell you not to open your mouth?”

“I just want to know where you’re taking—”

“Forget it, just get in quickly.”

After a short while, I spotted something next to Watson and shuddered as old memories came flooding back.

“This is your home now, Adler.”

The enormous bag that she had once used to kidnap me was waiting to welcome me.

“Come to think of it, we never went on our honeymoon, did we?”

“…..”

“Perfect. Since we’re here, let’s do it now.”

Naturally, I wanted to escape, but with my entire body bound, there was nothing I could do.

“What did you just stick in my arm?”

“…Oh, that.”

Rachel Watson, who had casually jabbed a syringe filled with clear liquid into my arm, then nonchalantly revealed something terrifying.

“Medical anesthetic.”

“Is a doctor allowed to do this?”

All I could do now was appeal to her conscience. With that in mind, I pleaded in a desperate voice.

“Have you forgotten the Hippocratic Oath?”

“…I know Hippocrates, but what oath?”

Unfortunately, Miss Watson, being from the 19th century, was (understandably) unfamiliar with the Hippocratic Oath that was created in the 1950s.

“Should a doctor be abusing things like this…?”

“Do you still think you have human rights?”

Of course, even if she had known about it, nothing would have changed.

“Now then…”

Roughly stuffed into the bag, I curled up in resignation as I felt my body becoming light and floating.

“Wait, what? Who are you?”

But before Watson could take even a few steps after picking up the bag, ‘that incident’ occurred.

“No, what? Impossible. How can you be here right now…?”

“…?”

“W-wait a moment…”

The bag containing me dropped back to the ground, and I could hear Watson’s voice, seemingly startled by someone’s presence.

“…Ugh.”

And within seconds after that, a short scream echoed, followed by silence outside.

“Excuse me, I don’t know who you are, but thank you for saving me.”

“…..”

“Since you’ve saved me, could you please get me out of here?”

Having escaped the fate of being kidnapped to who-knows-where, I cautiously attempted to communicate with the person who had saved me.

“Hello?”

“…..”

“Say something, will you!”

But despite my repeated loud attempts at communication, there was no response.

“Ha, I knew it. Another kidnapping and rape?”

Yes, I should have known. Where in this world would there be someone with pure goodwill willing to help me?

“Help! Some crazy woman put me in a bag and is kidnapping me…!”

As I was making my last desperate attempt, trembling with betrayal toward humanity and women…

“Mr. Adler.”

I immediately closed my mouth upon hearing a voice I never expected to hear in such a place.

“Please be quiet.”

The voice coming from outside the dark bag was unmistakably the Professor’s.

*****

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Freed from the bag and ropes with the Professor’s help, I immediately knelt down and began pleading with both hands as soon as I regained my freedom.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well… um…”

But when I heard what men fear most from their girlfriends, even my barely functioning brain shut down completely.

“Well, actually, you don’t need to apologize.”

“Pardon?”

Looking down at me with her usual inscrutable smile, the Professor suddenly said that and began to utter incomprehensible words.

“Mr. Adler. Don’t you find something strange?”

“W-what?”

“Everything that has happened since you returned to this world.”

Something strange? Wasn’t the world just being cruel to me as usual?

“Why are you making such a foolish expression, Mr. Adler?”

“…..”

“Haha, do you really not know?”

As I stared blankly, unable to understand what the Professor was saying, she tilted her head from side to side as was her habit, then quietly raised the corners of her mouth and whispered:

“Let me give you a hint. The women around you, the so-called ‘alliance,’ have become strange.”

“Ah, that’s certainly…”

“Don’t misunderstand. You’re not entirely innocent.”

Just as something began to dawn on me and I tried to speak, the Professor was quicker.

“When you initially pulled that stunt, I seriously considered locking you in the basement.”

Though she was still smiling, the Professor’s eyes were quite cold.

“But in the end, I didn’t.”

“Th-thank you.”

“But what about the other women, excluding me?”

Thanks to this, I had been sweating nervously, but hearing the Professor’s question again, I began to rack my brain.

“Something was strange. How should I put it? They became excessively violent? Like they were unleashed?”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head. To be more precise, all the women around you, except for me, have changed like that.”

“Wait, wait. No. The ones who led the Chastity Alliance were you and Sharlotte…”

“Oh my, there seems to be some misunderstanding.”

I looked puzzled for a moment, then was stunned by the Professor’s next statement.

“Did I ever assault you in that mansion?”

“Of course… wait, did you?”

“Let me be direct. While I did visit the mansion regularly, did I ever have sexual relations with you there?”

Only then did I realize that while I remembered the Professor always coming to my bedside for the past few years, I had no memory of being assaulted by her, and my mouth fell open.

“Your mind seems confused. Well, if you were brainwashed while being drugged to near-lethal doses, that’s understandable.”

“…?”

“I didn’t expect you to still be denying reality. Adler. By the way, everyone’s gone too far. The children were making a fuss about a white smell whenever they went to the mansion, and it was hard to make excuses.”

“…..”

“Of course, since I love you and the children, such things are nothing to me.”

I had been feeling something was off ever since escaping from the mansion.

But I never dreamed the situation would be this twisted.

“What exactly is going on?”

To better understand the situation, I asked a question, and the Professor came over and sat beside me, stroking my head as she began to explain.

“I’ll explain simply. You and the members of the so-called ‘alliance’ have been affected by the final curse of my father, James Moriarty.”

“What?”

“You and I realized this about a month after my father was sealed and London regained peace. Originally, we had agreed to punish you in that mansion for about three months before releasing you, but strange phenomena began to appear among us.”

And only then did I realize that what I had been experiencing was quite abnormal.

Well, I did do something wrong… actually, quite a lot wrong.

Anyway, despite my significant wrongdoings, being treated without any human dignity and abused to this extent was a bit strange.

“The symptoms caused by the curse are very simple and clear. All of our feelings toward you began to change from ‘love’ to ‘addiction.'”

“…What’s the difference?”

“Love makes the world look beautiful no matter where the object of affection is, but addiction makes it feel like the world is collapsing when the object isn’t in front of you.”

The Professor, who had explained in more detail about the final curse supposedly cast by James Moriarty, took out a piece of sugar from her pocket, chewed it, and added:

“Like the difference between sugar and opium, perhaps?”

“…When you put it that way, I understand.”

“That’s my father’s ability. Just as he twisted what should have been people’s innate talents into curses, he was unparalleled in twisting positive things into negative ones.”

Nodding blankly while chewing on the sugar cube the Professor had offered me, I soon recalled one question and cautiously asked:

“Wait, something seems off.”

“Hmm?”

“I heard that most of the drugs administered to me were made by you…”

“That’s not my area of expertise. It’s Sharlotte Holmes who is well-versed in magic stones and chemical experiments, not me.”

The Professor’s answer to my question was quite reasonable, but it didn’t resolve all my doubts.

“Then why wasn’t the curse effective on you?”

Receiving this question, the Professor smiled as if she had always wanted to say this, and answered me with lively eyes:

“Mr. Adler. I had been addicted to you from the moment I first met you, for quite a long period. It was closer to obsession and dependence than love.”

“…..”

“That’s why my eyes remained gray for a while, not changing to your hair color. Oh, of course, now that I understand love, my eye color is your golden color.”

I didn’t know there was such a backstory. So the Professor was in the same state as the other transformed women until I died once? Somehow, it sends chills down my spine.

“Anyway, because I experienced that situation, I can maintain my sanity now, conversely.”

“Then Sharlotte too…”

“Mr. Adler.”

But if that’s true, shouldn’t Sharlotte be fine too? She’s the embodiment of rationality after all…

“Why do you always overestimate that worthless woman?”

My train of thought was momentarily halted by the Professor’s question, which carried a hint of the murderous intent from her younger days.

“Do you like her more than me?”

“N-no.”

“Good, you shouldn’t be a father who embarrasses our daughter and son.”

The fortunate thing was that Professor Moriarty, now a mother, had become about 1,000 times gentler compared to the past.

From what I vaguely heard while lying in a daze at the mansion, she even went to kindergarten observation classes and handed out homemade cookies to the children, which is really hard to imagine.

“It’s a bit unfortunate, but Sharlotte Holmes is also clearly aware of the current situation.”

“…I’m sure she is. She’s like the epitome of rational thinking.”

“Oh? Then what would you think if I told you that Sharlotte Holmes is the one who formed the ‘alliance’ against me and is responsible for escalating this situation?”

I had been distractedly thinking about other things, but upon hearing this rather unbelievable statement, my eyes widened.

“Why?”

“My, my. Mr. Adler. Why are you pretending not to know?”

But the Professor looked at me accusingly, as if I were responsible, and opened her mouth.

“You’re the one who corrupted two of London’s greatest intellects, embodiments of rational thought who had no interest in love.”

“Could that be…”

“Yes, I’m talking about Sharlotte and myself.”

No, I didn’t know things would turn out like this.

It’s probably too late to make excuses now, but still…

“And unfortunately, unlike me, her rational thinking seems to have become quite lax due to addiction.”

“…..”

“How does it feel to have corrupted such an innocent girl who only knew about cases and investigations? Do you feel a sense of perversion?”

I had been quietly looking down, but suddenly sensing a hint of falsehood in the Professor’s words, I slightly furrowed my brow.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

It’s not scientific, but I almost instinctively sensed that hint of falsehood, though I’m not sure what it means.

But it seems the Professor is intentionally hiding something about Sharlotte.

‘The Sharlotte—no, Holmes—I know wouldn’t have her rational thinking paralyzed by mere addiction.’

Perhaps she too isn’t simply cursed, but acting with some purpose in mind.

“Anyway, to get back to the main point, you and I recognized that final curse and formulated a plan. Of course, you seem to have forgotten due to the drugs.”

“What was it?”

“You would hold out against Sharlotte’s alliance, while I would search for a solution to the situation.”

Having decided to listen to the Professor’s explanation to the end, I continued to pay attention, trying to suppress the goosebumps all over my body as I saw her awkward expression, looking quite proud and seemingly wanting praise.

“So you should be grateful to me. I have finally found a solution.”

“What is this solution?”

“To resolve this situation, we must…”

“…Return to London?”

But when I preempted with the answer I already knew, a momentary look of surprise flashed across the Professor’s previously confident face.

“More specifically, to Auguste Detective Academy.”

“…Then, I suppose you already know who we need to meet.”

And for a very brief moment, the Professor looked at me with a sulky expression (which was quite cute) before composing herself and asking me seriously:

“Auguste Dupin. The first detective and the academy’s principal.”

Of course, I knew who we needed to meet.

“…A rather uncomfortable person.”

“Haha.”

“Indeed, there’s no more effective solution than meeting her.”

After all, she’s the manager of the omake room that I personally inserted.

“She’s the only person more knowledgeable about magic and curses than I am. So…”

“…What about Microny Holmes?”

“Shut up.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Excluding the exceptional existence of Microny Holmes, she was the person with the greatest ‘knowledge’ in this world.

“Anyway, if you understand everything, lie down on the bed now.”

“Yes, I’ll rest a bit and…”

Having concluded my reunion with the Professor and established our goal, I was about to lie down to organize the new information I had learned, but…

“Professor? Why are you taking off your clothes?”

“…..”

“Huh?”

I began to back away in horror as the Professor suddenly cast an intruder exclusion spell around the forest and started unbuttoning her clothes.

“Mr. Adler. I’ve been through unnecessary hardships for years trying to save you and all those ungrateful women.”

But the Professor easily caught me with gray iron chains she summoned, looking at me as if it were the most natural thing.

“And you’re not going to do it just this once today?”

“…No.”

“Mr. Adler.”

The restraint was loose and soft enough that it didn’t seem intended to truly constrain me.

“At least I do it with affection.”

“…..”

“Isn’t that nice?”

However, the intention behind it was quite clear.

“…Haha.”

The next morning, I began to follow behind the Professor, who looked quite refreshed, with trembling legs.

*****

Meanwhile, in a nearby forest.

“Hey.”

“…Mmm?”

“Hey. Wake up.”

Rachel Watson, who had been unconscious surrounded by a protective barrier after being subdued by Professor Moriarty, lifted her heavy eyelids at someone’s touch.

“Huh? What? Sh-Sharlotte?”

“…..”

“Y-you, why are you here again…?”

And then, seeing her old friend in front of her, Watson was shocked for the second time.

“It’s time for an adventure after a long while.”

Sharlotte smiled ominously as she looked at her.