Ch.32Chapter 32 – Prelude to Confrontation

– Screech…

“Ho, Holmes!”

As the firmly closed basement door opens, Watson, who had been anxiously waiting outside, hurriedly steps forward.

“I already called the police. They’ll be here soon.”

“………”

“By the way, are you really okay? That black energy around you…”

She stammers as she sees Sharlotte and Adler coming out together.

“What……”

Dust-covered Sharlotte and Adler were wiping their mouths with their sleeves while avoiding each other’s gaze.

“…Holmes?”

Seeing the slight blush on their cheeks, Watson narrows her eyes.

“…Miss Holmes, this is a crime.”

Amid all this, Adler mutters in a low voice before leaving, head bowed.

“Please don’t do that again.”

“”…………””

And then came the silence.

“So… you… uh, um…”

Should she first ask why they were so filthy as if they’d been rolling on the floor?

Or should she first ask why faint black smoke was still rising from her partner’s body?

“Watson.”

“…Yes?”

Lost in this dilemma with a blank expression, Watson snaps back to reality at the sound of Sharlotte’s voice.

“I have a question.”

“You? For me?”

“…When it comes to common sense, you’re better than me.”

Surprisingly, Sharlotte was seeking an answer from her.

“Never thought I’d see the day.”

After looking surprised for a moment, Watson approaches Sharlotte with a gentle smile.

“So, what could our genius girl possibly not know?”

To Watson, Sharlotte asks in a monotone voice:

“How do you create a fait accompli?”

“…What?”

For a moment Watson doubted her ears, but Sharlotte was asking her with an unchanging voice.

“I asked how you create a fait accompli.”

“A, a fait accompli?”

Confused, Watson throws the question back, and Sharlotte mutters while gently touching her lips.

“I couldn’t proceed further due to lack of relevant knowledge.”

“……….”

“I thought you would know, that’s why I asked.”

Moriarty’s equal, her only rival.

Opposite professions: crime consultant and investigation consultant. Yet two geniuses with similar abilities, rated as equals by Adler.

Perhaps it was because of this unique relationship.

Through this case, the conclusion Sharlotte reached was almost identical to Professor Moriarty’s.

“Do you not know either?”

Any kind would do. As quickly as possible, create a “fait accompli” that Issac Adler couldn’t escape from.

“…Are you high?”

“I quit long ago for the sake of fait accompli.”

That was the key to victory in the great blood battle surrounding London.

“…You’re crazy.”

This was the moment when the real confrontation began between the two geniuses who simultaneously understood this fact.

“Sometimes you need to be crazy to obtain certain things.”

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After leaving the basement, I wandered around the mansion for a while but couldn’t discover why the erosion rate had increased.

“Professor, sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Adler.”

As I trudge out of the mansion with no results, Professor Moriarty waves at me from outside.

“What were you doing in there?”

“No, just… something was bothering me a little.”

As I board the waiting carriage with her, Professor Moriarty stares at me intently.

“Sharlotte Holmes?”

“No. Not her…”

“You’re still not good at lying.”

She smiles and reaches her hand toward me.

– Zzzzzap…

Black sparks block her hand.

“I carefully infused each of your mana circuits with my essence, yet somehow half of them have turned black.”

“………”

“It’s like having half your ownership taken away. Isn’t this a breach of contract?”

I thought she would find out, but not this quickly.

A few days ago, I would have broken into a cold sweat, but now I’m starting to get a feel for how to handle this.

“Sharlotte Holmes is…”

“Sharlotte Holmes is your arch-enemy, Professor. Excluding her now would be quite unwise.”

“……….”

As I close my eyes and try to speak, the Professor interrupts me.

“Wine tastes better the later it’s harvested. So now is the time to wait for it to age rather than harvesting it. Is that what you mean?”

“…That’s right.”

“Hmm.”

As I look at her with slight confusion for stealing my lines, Professor Moriarty bows her head with a dark smile.

“Adler.”

“…Yes.”

She quietly meets my eyes.

“I’ll be honest. I don’t like Sharlotte Holmes.”

“……….”

“Can’t you just be my assistant, detective, and arch-enemy all at once?”

“You’re too greedy, Professor.”

“But I like you, not Sharlotte.”

If we were lovers, this would have been quite flattering.

But since it’s Professor Moriarty…

“…Your face is red.”

“What?”

Lost in thought, I absentmindedly touch my cheek at her words.

“……….”

My cheek was quite hot.

“How strange.”

Unable to say anything, I watch as the Professor smiles and whispers in a low voice.

“What… do you mean?”

“When you’re with me, you wag your tail saying the Professor is the best. But when you’re with that girl, you flatter her saying Holmes is the best.”

I wanted to make excuses, but she had hit the nail on the head, so I could only close my mouth again.

“…It seems you have feelings for both of us.”

“Professor, I…”

“Surely you didn’t think I wouldn’t notice your life-threatening tightrope walk?”

Then, a moment later, a soft voice reaches my ear.

“Haven’t you decided yet?”

Hearing that voice, I close my eyes and quietly contemplate.

“Which side you’ll fall into.”

‘…It seems I haven’t.’

Though I have no intention of falling into either side yet, I still haven’t decided whose side I’m on.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t have a goal.

My main objective now is to prevent this world’s erosion and protect it from destruction.

‘I absolutely cannot allow a game over.’

I don’t know what mysterious harmony brought me here, but this world is a work I’ve staked my broken life on.

Sharlotte Holmes and Professor Moriarty. From the magic system to the extras, it’s harder to find places my hands haven’t touched.

So if they’re obsessed with me, I’m obsessed with this entire world, including them.

They’re as precious to me as my own children.

‘…Things have been going well so far.’

To prevent the “erosion” of this precious world, which side should I ultimately take?

Right now, as the Professor said, I’m precariously walking a tightrope.

But the ropes I’ll have to walk from now on will multiply exponentially.

“Professor, I…”

“Adler.”

As I smile awkwardly like some cheap romance novel protagonist, still contemplating who I should choose, Professor Moriarty’s eyes suddenly flash.

“I finally fully understand the rules of the game you created.”

“What?”

She grabs both my arms and pushes me against the wall.

“In the end, whoever completely possesses you becomes the master of London.”

Pinned helplessly against the carriage wall, Jane Moriarty leans in close.

“Isn’t that right?”

Am I crazy?

“…I wonder.”

Looking at Professor Moriarty smiling at me, my heart suddenly starts racing.

“I’m not sure.”

Sharlotte Holmes is definitely my favorite. So why?

“…Then, let me show you.”

As I stand there with a blank expression, confused by this strange feeling, her tongue slips into my mouth with surprising naturalness.

“Mmph…..”

After rolling her tongue inside my mouth for quite some time with her eyes closed, the Professor pulls back and says:

“Though I may not know how to love someone, I think I can make you love me.”

“…Professor.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m competitive by nature. For victory, this much is nothing.”

Saying this, she licks my lips and leans in again.

“…And, Issac. Remember this.”

I flinch, thinking she’s going to kiss me again, but she only whispers in my ear.

“The curse placed on me makes any crime I commit a perfect crime.”

But the impact of that whisper was at least twice as powerful as the kiss.

“Be prepared anytime, anywhere.”

“…….”

“If you make a wrong move, even I don’t know what I might do.”

[Probability of being ??ed: 20% -> 40%]

I’m starting to get a sense of what this probability means.

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Meanwhile, in Lady Roylott’s room.

“…Ha.”

Despite Issac Adler having thoroughly searched the place without finding anything, for some reason an unidentifiable black shadow was standing there.

“Haha.”

A moment later, the shadow reaches for the securely locked safe.

“It survived the explosion and still didn’t die.”

The shadow, easily retrieving something writhing like a snake from the safe, begins to smile chillingly.

“I love you, Issac Adler.”

Simultaneously, a message appears before Adler’s eyes as he moves away from the mansion in the carriage.

[??? feels a thrilling murderous intent toward you!]

[Probability of being murdered: 33%->40%]

[Erosion rate: 5%->6%]

“…Shit, really.”

“What’s wrong, Adler?”

The shadow remained standing there for quite some time afterward, but as soon as the sound of officers’ footsteps was heard on the stairs, it instantly melted into the floor and disappeared.

“…I’ll definitely butcher you to death.”

It uttered those words in an ecstatic voice before vanishing.