Ch.68Chapter 68 – The War Begins

“Adler oppa~”

“…Huh?”

A few days after the Sharlotte Holmes fake illness incident. I was staying at Zia Lestrade’s slightly shabby house thanks to her consideration.

“Let’s play house today!”

As I was blankly staring at the heavy rain that had been pouring for days from the living room window, Lestrade’s younger sister came running up to me and started tugging at my sleeve.

“Play house?”

“Yes, yes! We played hospital last time, so let’s play house this time!”

“Sure, I don’t have anything else to do anyway…”

“Yay!”

I smiled slightly and agreed since I didn’t have anything particular to do and I enjoyed playing with children. She started jumping around the room with a bright smile.

Though I’ve only been looking after Lestrade’s siblings for a few days as payment for staying at her house, as you can see, this kid really likes me.

“Oppa is the best!”

“…Pfft.”

By the way, unlike her older sister who always wears a cold-blooded expression, this one always has a bright and energetic look on her face.

Like the difference between a cat and a dog?

Even though they look almost identical, seeing the completely opposite behavior of her younger sister makes me burst into laughter when I imagine Zia Lestrade acting that way.

“Well, first let’s move to…”

“Sis, what are you doing?”

As I was quietly watching her jumping around the room with sparkling eyes while pulling on my sleeve, a voice suddenly came from far away.

“…Huh?”

“Big sis told you not to get too close to him.”

The youngest sibling, the third child of the Lestrade family, was speaking with a sulky expression.

“And sis definitely said before. That this guy is a bad person.”

Is it because they lost their parents too early? That kid seems to view his oldest sister, Zia Lestrade, as a mother figure.

Unlike the second child, he probably dislikes me because he’s diligently following Zia Lestrade’s advice.

“…So play house with me instead.”

Or maybe he thinks I’ve stolen Zia from him.

Judging by that hostile look, the latter seems more likely.

“But Adler oppa is nice?”

“What?”

“Think about it. If big sis really thought he was a bad person, she wouldn’t date him or leave us with him.”

As I was just scratching my head knowing the situation, the second child walked over to the third child and started defending me with a bright voice.

“Still…”

“Hey, lend me your ear for a second.”

As he continued to glare at me with a displeased expression, she smiled and started whispering something into the third child’s ear.

“Hey.”

“Uh, yeah?”

I couldn’t hear what she was saying since they were far away, but watching their cute expressions made me think they really were kids their age.

“Read the room.”

“……..!”

“Interrupt one more time, I swear.”

This is why I like children.

Whether in the world I originally lived in or in this world, human relationships have always troubled me, but pure-hearted children have only ever helped me, never made things difficult.

“Let’s do well, okay?”

“…….Okay.”

“Oppa! Come over here!”

As I was quietly smiling at that thought, the second child looked up again and beckoned to me with a bright smile.

“Hey, you be the son.”

“…Okay.”

“Oppa, you’ll be the dad, and I’ll be the mom…”

As I was tilting my head at the gloomy expression of the third child who had been designated as the son by the second child who was distributing roles efficiently, I was about to quietly nod at my assigned role when—

“…No, that’s not right.”

“Ugh.”

“The age difference is too big.”

Sharlotte Holmes, who had come out of the bedroom rubbing her eyes, was approaching with a cold smile.

“I’ll play the mother role.”

“B-but…”

“You would be better as the daughter.”

“………”

The second child, who had been fidgeting with her fingers with a pitiful expression, started staring at Sharlotte who wasn’t backing down.

“…Tsk.”

Then, she momentarily displayed cold eyes and clicked her tongue.

“That expression won’t work. Only those who know how to make babies can be mothers.”

“…I hate you, unnie!”

“Oh my.”

As I was rubbing my eyes wondering if I had seen wrong, the second child screamed and ran away, grabbing her younger brother’s arm.

“”………..””

And then came the silence.

“Miss Holmes, no matter what, you shouldn’t say such things to a child.”

I tried to admonish her with a forced smile, but Sharlotte just tilted her head and looked at me.

“It’s strange.”

“Pardon?”

“Although I spoke confidently just now, I might be mistaken about how babies are made.”

And then, a spine-chilling statement came out of her mouth.

“That can’t be…”

“Look.”

As I tried to make an excuse with a relaxed smile, Sharlotte took out a long stick from her bosom and started speaking in a dark voice.

“It’s been weeks since our first attempt, but there’s no news.”

“That… is that possibly.”

“It’s a test kit I asked Watson for. It’s the latest model powered by neutralized magic stones, so the possibility of it being defective is extremely low.”

Why does that single line drawn on the stick in her hand look so frightening?

“What do you think the problem is?”

“…Well, I’m not sure.”

“………”

After I trembled quietly and answered in a low voice, Sharlotte, who had been looking dissatisfied, quietly lit up her eyes and opened her mouth.

“…I need to go to the library.”

“What?”

“I think I’ve underestimated the method of making babies. There must be a more definite way to acquire genes, so I should probably seek help from literature…”

“W-wait a moment.”

Considering it a miracle that none of the cases she had handled so far involved sex crimes, I urgently grabbed Sharlotte’s shoulders and started whispering in her ear.

“When a man and woman sleep together, they should hold hands tightly while sleeping.”

“…What?”

“That’s the most reliable method.”

I hope this statement will buy us a little more time until the system is fixed.

“…That didn’t work.”

However, the words that came out of Sharlotte’s mouth as she stared at me were quite unexpected.

“I remember my parents and sister giving me that answer a few times when I was young.”

“What?”

“So I tried it secretly today without Lestrade knowing. But I didn’t feel anything special.”

“…Miss Holmes.”

Feeling thoroughly cornered, I quietly opened my mouth and started making excuses with all my might.

“That doesn’t work in one try. There’s a possibility of failure.”

“………”

“And this is Miss Lestrade’s house, right?”

Sharlotte’s lips started curling upward more and more.

“Doing such things in someone else’s house is quite inconsiderate.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes, and Zia Lestrade is officially my lover anyway. So…”

“I understand.”

Eventually, she interrupted me naturally and started whispering while gently stroking my hair.

“You mean we need to reach an agreement, right?”

“…What?”

“Speaking of which, here she comes. It seems not only demons come when you speak of them.”

At those words, I turned around slightly and saw a cold face appearing in my view.

“Mr. Adler.”

“…Miss Lestrade?”

For some reason, Zia Lestrade, who had returned from work much earlier than usual, was walking towards me with a scary expression.

“I heard you would be late due to interrogating the recently arrested Miss Claria Smith?”

“Thanks to her confessing while trembling with fear alone, there was no need for interrogation.”

“I see, but even so, at such an early hour…”

“Enough, I’ll ask you directly.”

As I stepped back with a surprised expression, her chilling voice echoed through the room.

“Was it you who completely paid off my family’s debt?”

Upon hearing those words, Sharlotte’s dark gaze quietly turned to me.

“…Well.”

“”………..””

“You see…”

I can already feel the absence of the system so keenly; the future looks bleak.

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“You should tell the truth. Otherwise…”

“Yes, it was me.”

Lestrade, who had been glaring at Adler as he hesitated and stumbled over his words, momentarily flinched and stopped speaking at his sudden answer.

“I paid off your debt.”

“”……….””

And then came the silence.

“…Why?”

After maintaining a blank silence for a moment, Lestrade asked with a look of incomprehension.

“Why, you ask.”

At that, Issac Adler burst into laughter and answered nonchalantly.

“Because you’re my lover.”

“…Ahem.”

Sharlotte quietly cleared her throat and started emitting a chilling aura, but Adler deliberately ignored it and continued speaking.

“As my lover, you’re supposed to like me no matter what I do, and in return, I’m supposed to look only at you. That was the contract, wasn’t it?”

“What does that have to do with the debt…”

“Isn’t it common sense to pay off the debt of someone you’re in such a relationship with?”

At that bold statement, Lestrade quietly trembled.

“…It was a debt I might not be able to pay off even if I worked as a police officer my entire life.”

“It doesn’t matter. Of course, I’m broke now, but I have many backers.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

She clenched both hands tightly and raised her voice.

“I appreciate you paying off the debt, but why do some people tremble just by seeing my face?”

“Did you go to see them directly?”

“I took time off to investigate the truth.”

At those words, Adler quietly avoided her gaze.

“Well, they were insulting your parents and you.”

“Even so…”

“Not only that, there were also several people who insisted on receiving the debt repayment directly from you.”

His eyes grew slightly colder.

“…Some even demanded something other than money.”

“……..”

“As someone who is supposed to look only at you, how could I let that slide?”

After muttering coldly, Adler cleared his throat.

“I instilled an appropriate amount of fear and trauma. So they won’t touch you again…”

“That’s a crime.”

Zia Lestrade cut in firmly, but her voice was trembling slightly, unlike usual.

“Those people, they just saw me and wet themselves while rolling on the floor.”

“Exactly as I designed.”

“Are you insane?”

At her questioning, Adler just smiled.

“…Were the missing people also your doing?”

“If I confirmed that here, it’s obvious that you and the little detective next to you would arrest me, so I won’t answer.”

“You really are out of your mind.”

Lestrade approached Adler with a stern expression.

“I could detain you right now and start an investigation.”

“It doesn’t matter. At most, only a few Werebeasts from the back alleys would be arrested.”

“…Ha.”

At his continued words, she let out a cold sigh.

“I’m sorry, but this is the kind of person your lover is.”

Adler whispered softly to her and quietly turned his steps towards the bedroom.

“Of course, there’s no need for the justice icon Lestrade to understand.”

“……..”

“You know the reason, of course?”

“…Yes.”

At his whispered words as he slightly turned his head, Lestrade answered with her characteristic cold expressionless face.

“Even so, I like you.”

Adler showed a bright smile at that small whisper and entered the bedroom.

“”………”””

And then came the silence.

“…Miss Holmes.”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you going to investigate?”

Lestrade, who had been quietly staring out the window, asked her in a low voice.

“It’s a case where the culprit is obvious to anyone.”

“As he said, even if we investigate, only a few Werebeasts from the back alleys would be caught, so…”

“But…”

As she was about to object with a dissatisfied expression to Sharlotte’s leisurely statement, Sharlotte continued with a hint of laughter.

“…I’m not sure if punishing the idiots who were planning to kidnap your siblings is such a bad thing.”

“……..!”

At Sharlotte’s continued statement mixed with laughter, Lestrade couldn’t continue speaking and opened her eyes wide.

“Although I’m somewhat distant from police officers who pursue unconditional justice, Adler takes it a step further.”

“……….”

“Sometimes he looks like a demon who could grasp the world in his hands, and other times he looks like an angel extending a helping hand to someone who has fallen into the abyss. He’s truly an unfathomable person.”

Lestrade’s pupils were quietly trembling.

“That’s the kind of person Adler is.”

“……….”

“As he said, it would be difficult for you, with your nickname of ‘Holy Knight,’ to understand.”

Watching her intently, Sharlotte whispered in a low voice.

“So, let me make you a proposal.”

Between her quietly writhing lips, a gentle voice leaked out.

“…Why don’t you hand over the official position of his lover to me?”

At that, Lestrade turned her head and stared at Sharlotte.

“You asked me before. Whether I could handle him.”

“……….”

“To give you a definite answer, albeit a bit late, my answer is ‘I can handle him.'”

Only then did Sharlotte’s golden-dyed pupils enter her sight.

“But from what I see, it seems difficult for you to handle him, Miss Lestrade.”

“That’s…”

“But now I’m here.”

Perhaps noticing the slight change in her gaze, Sharlotte continued with a proud expression and raised eyes.

“You don’t have to meet a man you don’t like, even hate, while hypnotizing yourself with ‘because I like him.'”

“……….”

“So, if it’s alright with you, Miss Lestrade, could we hold a press conference this afternoon?”

As she was about to turn her steps back with her arms crossed.

“Of course, the content would be…”

“…No.”

Lestrade, who had been maintaining silence until then, quietly opened her mouth.

“It’s not alright.”

At her calm voice, Sharlotte quietly turned her head.

“…Because I like him.”

Was it just her imagination? For a moment, Lestrade’s pupils reflected in the window seemed to appear golden in her sight.

“Well, there’s no need to hide your feelings anymore.”

“I think I’m more suitable as a lover than you, who is too young.”

“Are you claiming that because of the age difference, which is legally unproblematic? If so…”

But after confirming that her pupils were still white when she looked again, Sharlotte frowned and started speaking.

“Of course, there are more reasons.”

However, Lestrade firmly cut off her words.

“Although it’s forced.”

She lowered her gaze and muttered in a slightly trembling voice.

“I’ve incurred a debt, so…”

“………”

“Since I don’t have money, I have to pay with my body.”

At those words, Sharlotte’s expression began to grow cold.

“Someone might misunderstand if they heard that?”

“I’m just stating the facts, little detective.”

Eventually, the sharp gazes of the two women quietly began to cross each other.

“Wow! Snow!!”

“…Snow?”

It was at that moment that Lestrade’s siblings, who had been playing house outside, opened their eyes wide at the snow that had started falling from the sky.

“Adler oppa! Let’s have a snowball fight~”

“…Why is it snowing?”

For reference, it was currently midsummer in London.

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“Hello, everyone.”

Just minutes before a massive snowfall, which would later be classified as a paranormal phenomenon, completely covered the midsummer London where heavy rain had been falling for days in pure white.

“Y-you are…”

“Who are you?”

“…Lower your voice, Miss Moran.”

The three executives who had been waiting desperately for Adler in a back alley hideout were looking at the person who had appeared at the entrance without any warning, with extremely tense expressions.

“I had no intention of touching the organization that my assistant had cutely built up.”

“””………..”””

“But given the situation, I have no choice.”

Jane Moriarty, with vampires dispatched from Romania behind her, was whispering to them with her eyes glowing gray.

“Cooperate.”

“Excuse me, but with what?”

Unlike the frozen Joanne Clay and Silver Blaze, Celestia Moran bravely asked her a question.

“In retrieving Adler.”

“I will cooperate.”

At her immediate answer, Professor Moriarty muttered with a chilling smile.

“…I would have thought it wouldn’t take this long.”

A massive snowfall originating from just one person’s emotional change was announcing the beginning of a great war that would shake London and England.

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“Excuse me.”

[Under maintenance]

And the cause of that great war was.

“I know you can display simple probabilities even during maintenance. I designed you that way.”

[Under maintenance]

“Don’t be like that. Please, just once.”

Lying in Lestrade’s bedroom and wagging his tail, he was poking at the system message that had appeared before his eyes.

[Under maintenance]

“Are you perhaps angry because I only use you when needed, even though I created you?”

[Under maintenance]

“Then, should I call you out and stroke you once before bed from now on?”

Issac Adler was now even hitting on the system.

[I said it’s under maintenance]

“…Oh my.”