Ch.66Chapter 66 – The Blooming Detective (4)

The London streets at dusk, as the sky reddened from the sunset and slowly began to darken into late evening.

As residents retreated to their homes one by one to avoid the lawless wanderers and mysterious phenomena that would soon fill the fog-shrouded streets—

– Trudge, trudge…

A woman was bravely walking quietly down Baker Street.

– Click…

Of course, Baker Street had recently been considered one of the safest streets in London thanks to the presence of the renowned genius girl, “Sharlotte Holmes.”

Nevertheless, due to the irregular strange phenomena occurring throughout London at night and rumors of a serial killer whom even Sharlotte Holmes couldn’t capture, the street that had been bustling with people until late hours just a few years ago had become quite deserted.

“…Haup.”

But as if such matters were of no concern to her, she took a small flask from her bosom, shook out some sugar cubes into her hand, and popped them into her mouth.

“Hmm.”

After briefly savoring the sugar with a contented smile, the gray-haired woman’s eyes gleamed as she continued walking forward.

“This must be it.”

[212B Baker Street]

“…This is my first time visiting in person.”

The woman, who had a cute, youthful face like a young lizard yet somehow appeared experienced, tilted her head from side to side as her gaze fell upon the sign of the place that had saved countless crime victims.

– Creeeeak…

As she opened the door and entered the boarding house, heavy air greeted her.

“Is anyone here?”

She quietly adjusted her clothes and called for the caretaker in a low voice, but there was no answer.

“…Well then, excuse me.”

Despite the silence, she murmured softly and began climbing the stairs.

– Creak…

The door at the top of the stairs, which creaked slightly from the many people who had come and gone, was slightly ajar for some reason.

“Hmm.”

After standing still in front of it for a moment, she opened the door with a cold smile.

“…Is that you, Moriarty?”

Soon after, a girl’s voice, sounding almost dying, reached her ears.

“Sharlotte Holmes.”

“Ah, I didn’t expect you to come here.”

“You look quite terrible.”

The visitor, Professor Jane Moriarty, tilted her head curiously as she observed the scene.

“Who contacted you to come here…?”

Sharlotte Holmes, lying in bed and sweating profusely, asked in an almost dying voice.

“I merely came to visit a cherished student who’s ill. Is there a problem with that?”

Professor Jane Moriarty’s voice was tinged with feigned sadness as she looked at Sharlotte with sympathetic eyes.

“…Well, there is a problem.”

“What might that be?”

“The fact that I’m in this condition is something no one should know about yet…”

But a slight sneer crossed the professor’s face upon hearing those words.

“I see you’re still deducing even in such a state.”

“……….”

“You don’t think I’m behind this, do you?”

But soon she sat on the bed with a worried expression again.

“Unfortunately, I’ve already been briefed on the situation by Issac Adler days ago.”

“That’s strange… Adler has been by my side 24 hours a day for days…”

“Are you saying he even took care of bodily functions from the bed? Obviously, he used those private moments to avoid agitating you in your unstable state.”

“…Was that really necessary?”

Professor Moriarty’s eyes gleamed coldly.

“Well, your paranoia is quite severe, so I suppose it was.”

“……….”

“If you had seen Adler writing a letter to me in your condition, you would certainly have mistaken us for plotting some dark conspiracy to take over the world and stabbed him in the back.”

“Cough, cough…”

Sharlotte Holmes frowned quietly and began coughing at those words.

“…I’d like to argue, but my body hurts too much for my brain to function.”

“There was a slightly unethical research finding that pain can alleviate symptoms in delusional patients. It seems that was true.”

“Listen, Professor.”

Sharlotte, ignoring Moriarty’s sarcasm, reached out her hand to her.

“…Save me.”

And then, a brief silence.

“I know you orchestrated this.”

Sharlotte’s hand, sweating profusely, waved through the air.

“I’ll destroy all the evidence I’ve found and pretend I don’t know anything, so please…”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“The ivory box—you intercepted it, didn’t you?”

Her frail hand finally managed to grasp Professor Moriarty’s sleeve.

“You knew I was investigating Claria Smith on charges of illegal sorcery demonstration…?”

“Please refrain from baseless delusions.”

“So you approached Claria Smith, threatening her with that information, and designed this crime.”

“I’m starting to miss that once-brilliant mind of yours.”

“Killing with someone else’s knife. Anyone wanting to eliminate me while posing as a crime consultant would naturally choose that method.”

Her hand, gripping Professor Moriarty’s arm, began to tremble.

“Otherwise, there’s no way such a terrible spell would have been in the box containing the ring for Adler.”

“That’s your weakness right there.”

Moriarty coldly brushed off her hand and leaned down to whisper.

“Your mind is quite brilliant, but you ruin everything by being excessively swayed by emotions.”

“So, it was you after all…”

“Though I’m not behind this incident, if I were the culprit who put you in this state, I would say this.”

The corner of her mouth curved upward quietly.

“That you’re a foolish detective who, blinded by love, didn’t even notice falling into a swamp.”

And then, silence fell.

“…Water.”

“Hmm?”

“Give me some water…”

Moriarty looked at Sharlotte Holmes, who was blinking her sunken eyes and muttering instead of arguing, and stood up with a smirk.

“Is it too late for us to have a constructive conversation?”

She quietly picked up the kettle from the desk and began pouring water into a cup.

“Coffee? Or tea?”

“Just… cold water…”

“Yes, that’s best for quenching thirst.”

As she approached Sharlotte with the water, her gaze quietly shifted to the empty space behind the bed.

“…How disappointing.”

Finally, she handed the water to Sharlotte with a sneer on her lips.

“Gulp…”

“If it were me, I would have hidden someone in the space behind the bed.”

“Phew…”

“The trap you’ve set should at least have that much security.”

As she watched Sharlotte gulping down the water, Moriarty suddenly raised her hand—

– Whoosh…!

The dark gas lamp on the desk began to burn, engulfed in gray mana.

“The room was too dark, so I tried to light it up, but unfortunately it wasn’t a magic stone product.”

“……….”

“By the way, do you need anything else?”

“Well…”

Sharlotte, who had been watching Moriarty’s irritated gaze, sat up in bed, mimicking the sneer that had been on Professor Moriarty’s lips just moments ago.

“I’m quite satisfied having fooled someone who was belittling me as below expectations for several minutes.”

“…You seem quite relaxed for someone facing me alone with your emergency contact destroyed.”

“My, such threatening words don’t seem appropriate for a law-abiding citizen.”

Sharlotte, who had instantly returned to her normal self, mocked Professor Moriarty, who had been exuding a chilling atmosphere, and pointed behind her.

“Please bring me those matches and cigarettes over there. Not the syringe.”

“………”

“Actually, never mind. I don’t need any of it.”

Then, with a gentle smile, Sharlotte Holmes stroked her lower abdomen.

“Since I’m carrying his child, I should abstain for a while.”

At those words, Professor Moriarty stepped forward and whispered to her in the coldest voice yet.

“Where is Issac Adler right now?”

“Aren’t you bothered? That you momentarily fell for my trick?”

“Not at all. I was never deceived by you. I was merely playing along.”

“For someone who claims that, your expression of shock was quite vivid.”

“You’re not the only one in this world who can act.”

And so began the icy battle of nerves between the two women.

“From the moment I received that sloppy contact before coming here, I already anticipated things would turn out this way.”

“You merely considered it one possibility. If you’re embarrassed, have the courage to admit it.”

“I don’t wish to argue with you anymore.”

Professor Jane Moriarty spoke with a terrifying killing intent.

“You’re illegally detaining Issac Adler.”

“Didn’t you say it yourself, Professor? Baseless claims are just nonsense.”

“Otherwise…”

“There’s no way you wouldn’t have been in contact with him for the past few days, right?”

But at Sharlotte Holmes’ sharp question, she quietly closed her mouth.

“But if you make that claim, you can’t explain why you came here. After all, you came here because you received contact from Issac Adler.”

“You should know when to stop.”

“That’s what I want to say to you, Jane Moriarty.”

Sharlotte Holmes addressed her with a cold expression.

“Don’t you really know where Issac Adler is yet?”

“………..”

“How disappointing. And pitiful.”

Her voice, mixed with contempt and anger, quietly echoed through the room.

“…What do you mean?”

“You mock me for being blinded by love, but I find you more pitiful.”

At those words, Jane Moriarty quietly tilted her head.

“You don’t understand what love is at all, do you?”

“……….”

“Yet you pretend to love Issac Adler. Without even knowing what it feels like when your heart flutters and pounds.”

Her expression quietly distorted.

“…Take that back.”

“A monster that merely mimics emotions.”

“Take it back.”

Simultaneously, Jane Moriarty’s hand began to tremble quietly.

“I love Issac Adler.”

To her, Sharlotte’s relieved voice flew.

“That’s the conclusion I’ve reached. Thanks to that, I was able to correct my wandering path and even grow more.”

“……….”

“You’re the one who got caught this time, aren’t you? Caught in your own trap, making a foolish mistake just like I did at Ryegate.”

Jane Moriarty quietly gritted her teeth at those words.

“But the difference between you and me is that you can never grow like I did.”

“…Why not?”

“Because you, pitifully, still don’t understand what love is, even at this moment.”

“………..”

“You’re merely exercising possessiveness, exclusivity, and dominance. Like a dragon hoarding treasures in its territory.”

“…You’re wrong.”

She shook her head and clenched her fists.

“I love Issac Adler as much as you…”

“Pfft, hahaha…”

But before she could finish, Sharlotte Holmes burst into laughter as if it were ridiculous.

“Before saying such things, why don’t you do something about those gray eyes of yours?”

Only then did Professor Moriarty notice that unlike her own gray eyes, Sharlotte Holmes’ eyes had permanently turned golden.

“This is due to my special constitution.”

“Or your love is fake. I think it’s the latter.”

“Watch your mouth.”

“Why? Have you failed to kill me so many times that you want to do it yourself now?”

The professor bit her lip hard as she watched, and Sharlotte covered her mouth with her hand, mocking her.

“I failed to deceive you completely and get a confession from your own mouth, but that would have been a good opportunity to put you in prison.”

“I told you to shut your mouth.”

“You’re the one who should shut that abominable mouth, Jane Moriarty.”

The killing intent of the two women began to fill the room.

“No matter how much a monster like you tries to mimic love, Issac will…”

“…You’d better stop there.”

And the next moment, Professor Moriarty’s gray mana exploded like a bomb.

“…..No matter what you mutter, nothing will change.”

But Professor Moriarty withdrew her mana just before it could turn the room into chaos, and whispered to Sharlotte, who was sitting on the bed, with a chilling aura.

“No matter how much you love Issac Adler, the person he likes is none other than me.”

“…Is that so?”

“There’s no need to prove it.”

And with that, she pulled away the blanket that Sharlotte had been covering herself with, using all her strength.

“We can just ask him directly…”

“Yes. You should also check the color of his eyes…”

But the triumphant smiles on Professor Moriarty and Sharlotte Holmes’ faces suddenly went blank.

“…Mr. Adler.”

Issac Adler, who had been lying quietly next to Sharlotte Holmes under the blanket, was groaning with a feverish flush on his face.

“”………….””

And then silence fell.

Different thoughts were running through the minds of Professor Jane Moriarty and Sharlotte Holmes as they stared blankly at Issac Adler.

‘…Did I fall for Sharlotte Holmes’ plan?’

In Professor Moriarty’s mind was the rational inference that Sharlotte Holmes, having figured out her plan, had induced Adler to open the box and taken him hostage.

‘My already short lifespan has been further reduced because of the professor.’

In Sharlotte Holmes’ mind was the rational inference that the reason for Issac Adler’s sudden deterioration—who had been quietly sleeping until just moments ago—could only be Jane Moriarty, who had just visited them.

“”………..””

And it didn’t take long for those inferences to become certainties.

– Rustle…

The hands of Sharlotte and Moriarty, who had been quietly glaring at each other, simultaneously reached into their pockets.

.

.

.

.

.

‘…I wonder if this is enough.’

When I quietly woke up under the blanket, a terrifying battle of nerves was unfolding between Sharlotte Holmes and Professor Jane Moriarty.

Not only that, but spine-chilling possibilities were flooding the message box, exceeding its capacity.

‘This can’t continue.’

Therefore, the only judgment I could make was one thing.

– Gulp…

Just in case, I put one of the spell capsules I had taken from Miss Smith’s mansion for self-defense into my mouth and chewed it.

“”………..””

If I, the cause of the fight, became ill, this confrontation that could potentially end in game over would fizzle out.

Thinking that, I lay quietly and then slightly opened my eyes.

“…..Oh.”

I couldn’t help but look dumbfounded.

“Hand over Issac Adler’s whereabouts immediately.”

“I’m sorry, but unlike someone, we’re in love with each other.”

Professor Jane Moriarty and Sharlotte Holmes were pointing guns at each other’s heads with cold smiles.

“Let’s see if you can still say that with a hole in your head.”

“A duel, fine. Shall we write a contract first? The loser gracefully gives up Adler through death, and the winner…”

“…Hiccup.”

As I watched this ominous scene, I involuntarily hiccupped, and their gazes immediately turned to me.

“Mr. Adler.”

“Mr. Adler.”

After staring at me blankly for a moment, they both began to whisper.

“Just wait a little. I’ll definitely save you from this abominable girl.”

“This will be over soon. This time, I’ll save you from this crazy murderer.”

Simultaneously, a static message appeared before my eyes.

[Probability of imprisonment: Error]

[Probability of being trained: Error]

[Probability of being ??ed: Error]

“………Um, well.”

As I trembled looking at that strange content, they looked at me and pulled the triggers while asking questions again.

“You want that too, as my only assistant, right?”

“You who love me would naturally want that too, right, Mr. Adler?”

Somehow feeling like a black perforation line was being drawn through the middle of my body, I closed my eyes and pretended to lose consciousness, only to hear faint whispers again.

“Mr. Adler?”

“Mr. Adler?”

Come to think of it, just dying from illness right now doesn’t seem like such a bad option.

“…Let’s do first aid first.”

“That would be best.”

Oh for fuck’s sake.