Ch.41Chapter 41 – The Case of the Missing Silver Blaze (3)

I took on the case of Silver Blaze more easily than expected, but there was still one challenge.

That was finding a place to hide Silver Blaze.

Professor Moriarty’s office had too many people coming and going, and hiding her in just any hotel meant Holmes could barge in at any moment.

“You’ll stay here until the case is over.”

“This is…”

After much discussion with the professor, her temporary residence was decided to be none other than my dormitory room.

Student rooms guaranteed strict privacy protection, and even without that, the academy itself was practically an autonomous territory where outsiders couldn’t set foot, making it perfect as a hideout.

“…Is it really okay for me to stay in a place like this?”

“Pardon?”

I opened the door while concealing Silver Blaze’s appearance with an invisibility spell, when a trembling voice came from beside me.

“It’s, it’s too luxurious!”

“………..”

“You, you don’t need to go to such lengths for me. Staying in a place like this might kill me from the pressure…”

“Where exactly have you been staying until now?”

Hearing her terrified reaction, I asked in a low voice, and received a truly shocking answer.

“The stables.”

“What did you just say?”

“All horse-type Werebeasts stay there. It’s quite unsanitary, but it gets better if you lay down on a pile of hay.”

Not a horse, but a Werebeast who is practically human, living in stables.

Is Rachel Watson right that the interspecies slavery system has really been abolished?

Although I’ve thoroughly examined this world, I never checked such deep aspects, so this is quite shocking.

Or perhaps the historical accuracy I insisted on resulted in an excessive reflection of the era’s conditions.

Somehow, I started feeling guilty.

“Come in.”

“Ah, aah…”

I grabbed Silver Blaze’s arm and pulled her into my room as she tried to back away.

*Click*

After quickly closing the door, silence began.

“Please sit here comfortably.”

“Ah, uhh…?”

I seated Silver Blaze on the bed as she stood there blankly, and her tail and animal ears stiffened straight up.

*Poke, poke*

Then, after poking the soft bed with her finger, she looked at me with an uncomfortable gaze.

“…I, I can sleep on the floor.”

What kind of treatment has she endured until now that her self-esteem has fallen so low?

This is really no different from slavery.

“It’s fine. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Nooo!! You, you really don’t need to…”

“Then shall we sleep together on the bed?”

“………”

When I asked that question, hoping somehow to get her to lie on the bed because I felt so bad for her, Silver Blaze’s face turned bright red.

“…Thank you.”

She quietly pulled the blanket to half-cover her face.

*Twitch, twitch*

‘…How cute.’

As her ears twitched unconsciously, she reminded me of a character from a horse anthropomorphization mobile game I enjoyed before falling into this world, making me smile without realizing it.

“You can bathe in the bathroom over there.”

“Ca-can I wash without permission!?”

“Of course. And you can wear my clothes for now. I’m not sure if they’ll fit, but…”

“No, no! They’ll end up smelling like me.”

“Don’t worry, you don’t smell at all. By the way, have you eaten? If you’re hungry, just tell me anytime. I’ll get whatever food you want.”

As I tried to treat her as well as possible, she rolled her eyes and broke into a cold sweat.

Having been treated strictly as a slave, she seemed uncomfortable with things that would be normal for people of this era.

As a result, I felt like a master who had purchased an abused slave and was treating them kindly without making them work.

“…Ca-carrots.”

“Pardon?”

As I scratched my head with that strange feeling, Silver Blaze completely covered her face with the blanket and whispered in a tiny voice.

“I want to eat carrots to my heart’s content…..”

Her ears, poking out above the blanket, turned bright red and wiggled from side to side.

“…Wait just a moment.”

I can’t resist this, damn it.

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A short while later.

“Ah……”

“Please eat as much as you like, Miss Blaze.”

Silver Blaze was staring blankly at the huge mountain of carrots on the plate before her, her mouth hanging open.

“……..”

“…Is it too much?”

Adler looked at her with a slightly worried expression.

*Rustle*

At that moment, Silver Blaze carefully picked up the carrot on top.

“Miss Blaze?”

After taking a bite of the carrot, her body trembled.

“It’s delicious…”

Her eyes were brimming with tears as she murmured.

“Munch, munch… mmm…”

And so began Silver Blaze’s carrot hunt.

“Hnngg…”

She had been eating hurriedly with carrots in both hands, but now she clutched her chest with a pained expression.

“Here, some water.”

“Th-thank… *cough*…”

Adler quietly handed her water and watched intently as she drank.

“Phew…”

“Didn’t they feed you at the racetrack?”

As she exhaled and lowered her tail dejectedly, Adler carefully asked her a question.

“…They did.”

She answered with dark eyes.

“Based on performance, of course.”

“………”

“If your performance was poor, you’d get whipped instead of carrots.”

She scratched her head and smiled brightly.

“But I had good results, so I always received quite a lot of carrots. That meant I could share with everyone who didn’t get any. Hehe…”

Adler watched her silently.

“…This is the first time I’ve eaten such high-quality carrots to my heart’s content. Thank you.”

“Are you leaving the rest?”

“I-if my claim of self-defense is accepted, I’d like to share them with my friends…”

As Silver Blaze drooped her tail and ears while anxiously watching him, Adler was momentarily speechless before quietly reaching for the carrots and beginning to cast preservation magic on them.

“A-are you taking them back?”

“………”

“I-I’m sorry. For trying to be clever…”

“What exactly happened that day?”

Misunderstanding his actions, she began making excuses with frightened eyes, but then froze at his sudden question.

“…It was almost like any other day.”

After trembling for a moment, she closed her eyes tightly and began her story.

“I was locked in the punishment room being whipped by Mr. Straker.”

“Why?”

“I made a mistake in the last race and almost came in second. Colonel Ross, the racetrack owner, doesn’t tolerate such mistakes.”

Adler frowned, but Silver Blaze continued her story as if it were perfectly normal.

“After whipping me for quite some time in the punishment room, Mr. Straker went out to his room for a late dinner, and I started preparing for the race.”

“With your body covered in wounds?”

“There’s medicine in the waiting room that can hide the wounds. It doesn’t heal them, though.”

Adler’s expression darkened as he finally understood why old wounds remained on her body until now.

“After finishing my preparations and going into the hallway, I ran into Mr. Straker returning from his meal. It was very strange.”

“Why do you think it was strange?”

“Because no matter how badly I messed up, he always stopped the punishment right before a race. It’s only natural since it affects performance.”

“…So when Straker returned, he continued the punishment unlike usual?”

“Yes, and even more severely…”

Silver Blaze’s body trembled.

“He whipped parts he never hit before, even my face…”

Adler noticed the wounds on her thighs and forehead.

“I was enduring it while trying to stand somehow, when suddenly Mr. Straker pulled out something like a small knife.”

“…A knife?”

“It was too small to see clearly. But his approach was so threatening…”

Tears began welling up in Silver Blaze’s eyes.

“Without thinking, I pushed him with all my strength…”

“And he hit his head on the metal fixture behind him and died instantly.”

“………”

A long silence followed.

“…Did Mr. Straker seem unusual in any way?”

“The whipping started as soon as we met, so I don’t remember well. But the whipping was several times more brutal and rough than usual.”

As Adler tilted his head slightly and asked, Silver Blaze answered with her head bowed low.

“Do you remember what was served for dinner that evening?”

“…Curry. It’s a special meal that sometimes appears before important races. All the staff eat it together on those occasions.”

“I see…”

Hearing her testimony, the corners of Adler’s mouth began to rise.

“One last question. Was that day’s race important?”

“…It was the race with the highest betting volume ever. It was a heavily promoted event race with top competitors including myself, advertised for months.”

“Thank you for your answers.”

Rising from his seat, he smiled broadly.

“This is good news, Miss Blaze.”

“Pardon?”

“It seems we might be able to overturn the case entirely.”

At this sudden hopeful news, Silver Blaze’s eyes widened.

“We might even be able to deliver a critical blow to the prevalent discrimination against Werebeasts.”

“………”

“Even if not, we can at least create an opportunity to unite the Werebeasts, who are currently divided by species and hostile toward each other.”

Issac Adler smiled as he continued his explanation to her.

“If you cooperate with us.”

“I-I’ll cooperate.”

Silver Blaze hurriedly stood up and agreed with him.

“But…..”

Then, she hesitated.

“Is just me really enough payment?”

She spoke as if she couldn’t believe it.

“This is something countless Werebeasts have wished for over many years.”

“………”

“And you’ll do it just for offering me to you?”

Issac Adler smirked.

“I don’t understand. It’s not proportional. If you’re not a good person, why would you do so much for me and the Werebeasts…?”

“This is a devil’s contract, Miss Blaze.”

His eyes began to turn cold.

“If the request ends successfully, you’ll be subordinate to the professor and me.”

“………”

“To be honest, it’s no different from the slavery you wanted to escape. You’re essentially surrendering your free will to me.”

And his explanation continued.

“That’s not all. The Werebeasts of England will gain unity by making you their representative, but they’ll slowly be absorbed into our organization.”

“Then…”

“After that, you’ll participate in overturning London and establishing the professor’s kingdom of crime. It will be an extremely wicked and difficult journey.”

Silver Blaze listened quietly and stared at Adler.

“I’m just using you for all of this. There’s no such thing as a good deed without a price in this world.”

“………”

“Do you understand now, Miss Blaze?”

Adler slowly approached her, placed his hand on her shoulder, and smiled with his eyes.

“You’ve already fallen into a swamp from which you cannot escape.”

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“…Well then, have a good day.”

“………”

“I’ll go fulfill the request.”

After finishing his words, Issac Adler gently patted Silver Blaze’s shoulder and turned to leave.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“I have a question.”

After staring blankly at his back, Silver Blaze asked.

“…Do I really not smell?”

Adler, who had been looking curious, burst into laughter at her words.

*Swish*

“Eek?”

Suddenly, he brought his face close to her neck.

“Wh-wh-what are you doing?”

“………”

“A-Adler, sir?”

As his breath touched her neck and collarbone, Silver Blaze, who had been hiding her tail between her legs, flinched and trembled.

“…There is a smell, actually.”

After some time had passed with Silver Blaze squeezing her eyes shut, Adler pulled away and murmured in a low voice.

“Ah…”

Hearing this, Silver Blaze quietly lowered her head.

“But it’s just a soft flesh scent.”

Yet somehow, Adler’s gentle voice quietly reached her ears.

“Don’t believe the insults humans throw at you, Miss Blaze.”

Adler gently stroked Silver Blaze’s head as she looked up blankly, and whispered with a devilish smile.

“Soon they’ll be people you look down upon.”

And silence fell again.

“…Hug me.”

“Pardon?”

Adler, who had been smiling at her and about to leave the room, turned his attention back to Silver Blaze, who was holding his sleeve and whispering in a tiny voice.

“Please hug me.”

“……..?”

Eventually, though puzzled by the sudden request, Adler embraced her.

“Of course.”

At his casual response, Silver Blaze organized her thoughts.

‘He’s different from the cold humans no matter how hard they try.’

If she could continue to feel this warmth…

If the Werebeasts who would join under him could receive the same treatment as her…

‘Even a devil is this warm without me doing anything.’

A life of being used by Issac Adler forever didn’t seem so bad.

‘…Then I’ll side with the devil.’

It was at that moment that she, once the pure idol of the Werebeasts, began to be tinged with Issac Adler’s golden color.

[Silver Blaze is now loyal to you.]

“…Why suddenly?”

“Pardon?”

The system message that appeared before Adler and her eyes, which had begun to turn slightly golden, proved this fact.