Ch.46Chapter 46 – The Professor and the Slave

“…Adler.”

Jane Moriarty, looking down at Issac Adler who had closed his eyes before her, quietly opens her mouth to call him.

“Wake up.”

Normally, he would respond to her call with a gentle smile or a slightly tense, cute expression—her assistant.

“………”

But now, there was no response from the one collapsed before her.

And the cause was all too clear to Professor Moriarty’s eyes, without needing any examination or investigation.

“…Issac.”

Moriarty kneels before Adler, her hand tracing over her assistant’s brutally mutilated abdomen, damaged intestines, and the red marks on his neck.

– Please save me, Professor.

Then, unlike his usual handwriting, hastily scrawled letters glow red, stained with Adler’s blood.

“Hey.”

Just then, an amused voice came from behind the professor, who had been blankly taking in the scene.

“Who are you?”

A human figure shrouded in shadows tilted its head, showing a chilling smile.

“…That’s not important.”

After quietly observing the figure, Professor Moriarty stood up.

“There’s only one thing you need to know right now.”

By the time Adler whispered in a low voice and closed his eyes, the expression that had appeared on her face had already vanished.

“…You won’t be leaving here in one piece today.”

However, after looking around briefly and coming to that conclusion, her inner self was more turbulent than ever before.

“For the first time in my life, I’m feeling something this strongly besides murderous intent.”

And in the very next moment.

“……….!!!”

A powerful gray energy began to emanate from Professor Moriarty’s body—something that could hardly be thought of as coming from a human.

“…So that’s the extent of your full power.”

“Oh? So you weren’t human?”

While Sharlotte Holmes, who had been frowning and waiting for an opening to attack, confirmed the aura and quietly retreated, Gil the Reaper, who had been smiling until then, showed a slightly surprised expression.

“What, are you some kind of Dragon?”

“………..”

“No? You look human to me.”

Then, with a disappointed expression, she clicks her tongue.

“I’d like to fight you… but it’s not the weekend, so I guess that’s impossible.”

Gil the Reaper then smiles with her eyes and waves her hand.

“Well, see you on the weekend.”

Simultaneously, her legs began to melt into the floor.

– Grrrrrr…

Professor Moriarty’s gray mana rushed toward her at a terrifying speed, but Gil the Reaper melted into the floor just a bit faster.

“Until then, be careful at night…”

In that situation, Gil the Reaper whispered in a chilling voice to Professor Moriarty, who was coldly glaring at her.

– BANG!!!

“…Ugh?”

Her pupils contracted with the sudden gunshot that rang out.

“I should have… cough… aimed for the head from the start.”

Colonel Rose, who had been lying on the floor until then, smiled faintly at the sight.

“Should have aimed for the head…”

Sharlotte Holmes, who had forced her black mana into the colonel’s broken gun, had just directly hit Gil the Reaper’s head by forcibly firing a bullet.

“Ugh…”

Whether it was correct to aim for the head as Colonel Rose said, or whether Sharlotte Holmes’s mana was effective, was unknown.

But it was enough of a blow to momentarily stop Gil the Reaper from melting into the floor.

“What did I tell you?”

Meanwhile, with an expression as if she had anticipated all of this, but with a surprisingly emotional voice, Jane Moriarty began to mutter to her.

“I said you wouldn’t return in one piece, didn’t I?”

“…Kuhuk?”

Her mana began to penetrate Gil the Reaper’s body, which hadn’t fully hidden itself yet.

– Crack, crackle…

“Issac Adler is mine.”

Thanks to that, after struggling briefly, she completely turned into smoke and began to melt into the floor.

“You touched something you shouldn’t have.”

Nevertheless, Professor Moriarty persistently infused her mana until all traces disappeared, and when the surroundings quieted down, she withdrew her mana and concluded.

“…Next time we meet, you’ll pay the full price.”

“Over here!!”

In the distance, officers were rushing into the room accompanied by doctors.

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“Adler.”

A gentle voice pierces my ear.

“Adler…”

“…Mmm.”

It was a soft and pleasant voice, but somehow it felt like I needed to respond immediately.

“Professor.”

Answering like that unconsciously as I opened my eyes, a truly welcome face entered my view.

“…Is this heaven?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

After staring at that face blankly for a moment, I asked jokingly, and the professor replied with a slight smile.

“As if we would go to heaven.”

The dark circles under her eyes as she said that had grown a bit more.

“To be precise, you didn’t die. It’s been a week since I rescued you from there.”

“So I’ve been lying in a hospital bed for a whole week?”

“Yes, you almost never opened your eyes again.”

She muttered in a slightly dark voice, then pointed to Lady Clay sitting on the desk far away.

“It’s fortunate that that admirable child was carrying a large amount of your blood.”

“Ah…”

“That’s not all. I called in medical experts from all over to save you. It was a major surgery that lasted a full 17 hours.”

“…I see.”

“Thanks to that, I’m now penniless.”

But as Professor Moriarty said this, she was grinning broadly and tilting her head as usual, seemingly pleased about something.

“…Professor.”

After staring blankly at her for a moment, I quietly opened my mouth.

“You’re cute.”

“……?”

“The way you tilt your head from side to side like a lizard. I find it cute every time I see it.”

Her eyes became blank for a moment.

“…Do you want to die?”

“Similar, but a bit different.”

I smiled with my eyes in response to her monotone voice.

“It’s something I wanted to say at least once before dying.”

Then came the silence.

[Probability of being killed: 99%]

“Professor, I don’t think I’ll live much longer.”

Looking at the unchanged probability in that silence, I began to speak in a calm voice.

“I think I’ll die soon.”

“Adler?”

“I had hoped to at least see you become the queen of crime before I died.”

The professor’s expression remained unchanged.

Well, that’s Jane Moriarty for you.

“I’m sorry, Professor.”

“………..”

“For not being able to stay with you until the end.”

With a relieved heart, I sincerely apologized to her.

“……….”

Then, Professor Moriarty, who had been silently looking at me, quietly stood up.

“Adler.”

And then, sitting down beside me, she took my hand.

“That won’t happen.”

“…Why not?”

Her eyes were quietly shining.

“Because London is my domain.”

Soon, her pale hand began to caress my cheek.

“You are my possession, belonging to that domain.”

Her expression remained unchanged.

“And you dare to say you’ll die without my permission?”

But somehow, why does it feel like a different atmosphere from before?

“I’ll say it again. You will not die.”

Overwhelmed by that atmosphere, I just looked up at the professor, who leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“I’ve just decided so.”

It was at that moment.

[Probability of being killed: 99%->1%]

That a miracle occurred.

“It’s the first time I’ve genuinely wanted to protect someone.”

The professor, who was gently stroking my head as I stared blankly at the message that appeared before me, grabbed my hand tightly with a dark smile.

“…Take responsibility.”

With a professor like this, I might really be able to take responsibility for a lifetime.

[Probability of being kidnapped: 50%->25%]

[Probability of being imprisoned: 70%->80%]

[Probability of being trained: 20%->50%]

[Probability of being ??: 40%->60%]

No, cancel that.

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“…Um, Professor.”

After receiving Professor Moriarty’s petting for a long time while sweating nervously, Adler opened his mouth with an expression that suggested he had just remembered something.

“By the way, how was the case resolved?”

“You mean Silver Blaze’s request?”

Then, tapping Adler’s forehead with her finger, Jane Moriarty began to explain.

“Of course, I took care of the aftermath. Colonel Rose’s blind cooperation made things easier.”

“Ah…”

“Articles exaggerating the racial discrimination at her racecourse by dozens of times have been hitting London for the past week.”

“…The atmosphere outside must be terrible.”

“Werebeasts across England are on the verge of rioting. And the focal point just finished an interview, I believe.”

“You mean Miss Blaze?”

As Adler’s eyes lit up while listening to the story, Professor Moriarty slightly furrowed her brow.

“She’ll probably be here soon.”

– Knock knock knock…!

“Speak of the devil.”

Just then, knocking sounds began to come from the door.

“Prepare the contract magic. Surprisingly, you’re better at that than I am…”

Jane Moriarty, who was heading toward the door with a smile, suddenly stopped speaking and stood still.

“…..Huh?”

And then, tilting her head, she looked down at the window with a cold expression.

– Creeeeak…

At that moment, the door opened and Silver Blaze, with her ears and tail drooping, entered the hospital room.

“A-Adler, sir…”

And then, after briefly checking their reactions, she opened her mouth with a trembling voice.

“I’m sorry…..”

Silver Blaze, who had completely hidden her tail between her legs, continued speaking tearfully.

“I couldn’t hide it….. my eyes…”

Only then did Adler realize that her eyes were dyed in the familiar gold color, and his mouth fell open.

“I heard from my colleagues later about what happened to you that day…”

“Uh, well…”

“Before I knew it, my heart…”

Silver Blaze, who was trembling too much with fear to finish her sentence, knelt before him and bowed her head deeply before speaking again.

“…..I have committed a mortal sin.”

The sight of journalists surrounding the hospital was reflected in Professor Moriarty’s eyes as she blankly looked down from the window.

“A-according to our contract, you can do whatever you want with me…”

[Silver Blaze submits to you.]

“…Please punish this foolish Werebeast.”

It was the beginning of a scandal that would shake all of England—one that neither the government itself nor the owner of the Bohemian royal family could cover up.