Ch.71Chapter 71 – The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (3)

At the moment when the mysterious girl and Adler were facing off at Lestrade’s house.

“What are you saying, Ms. Holmes?”

“You really didn’t notice, did you?”

Walking through the snow-covered streets with Sharlotte, Lestrade raises her voice in confusion after hearing the shocking revelation.

“What do you mean the trainee Baines is fake?”

“Shh, are you trying to announce it to the entire neighborhood?”

“But… I just can’t make sense of this no matter how I think about it.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve known her for a long time. But today’s trainee Baines was no different from how she’s always been.”

Lestrade looks at Sharlotte with disbelief in her eyes.

“Could it be that you’re mistaken this time? Ms. Sharlotte Holmes?”

“…Not at all.”

“Then would you please explain why you came to such a conclusion?”

“I was just about to explain.”

Sharlotte shakes her head firmly and begins explaining in a low voice to Lestrade, who still looks unconvinced.

“I remember you mentioning trainee Baines a few times before. According to you, she was quite a brilliant child.”

“That’s right. She maintained the highest score in history until you took the entrance exam for Auguste Academy.”

“Do you think someone that intelligent would just stare blankly and nod along while Adler and I were making deductions with evidence full of clues right in front of her?”

“Well…”

Lestrade scratches her head, speechless after hearing Sharlotte’s logical argument.

“…I was too focused on preparing the duck in the kitchen to notice.”

“I’m sure you were. I clearly saw you secretly drooling when you took the duck to the kitchen.”

“………”

“Why don’t you finish brushing off those feathers on your clothes?”

Lestrade blushes slightly at Sharlotte’s remark and brushes off the traces of the poor duck from her clothes.

“Trainee Baines is usually a bit clumsy in character, isn’t she?”

“…How did you know that?”

“Because the person pretending to be her must have misunderstood after only observing her briefly. They probably didn’t have much time to study her.”

“Ah…”

Lestrade nods with a slightly understanding expression, then tilts her head and raises another question.

“…But couldn’t she have been quiet to appear humble?”

“You told me before. Trainee Baines is a fanatic fan of my investigation journals that Watson arbitrarily embellished.”

“Yes, that’s right. I visited her room once, and it was piled high with your quotes and investigation journals.”

“Would someone like that miss a rare opportunity to show off their skills and gain my recognition just to appear humble?”

“…You’re certainly right.”

Lestrade finally nods in complete agreement with Sharlotte’s explanation.

“Then how did they disguise themselves? If they were using magical disguise, I would have noticed.”

She asks Sharlotte with a puzzled expression.

“That’s true. With your innate detection ability, you’re known as the ‘natural enemy of wizards.'”

“Then…”

“The fake Baines actually exploited that very point.”

Sharlotte Holmes answers her question with a cold smile.

*rustle…*

“W-what is that?”

As she pulls out an extremely thin, face-shaped piece of leather from inside her coat, Lestrade asks with a startled expression.

“It’s a disguise tool called an inpimyeongu. It’s quite unfamiliar in Europe, including England, but was commonly distributed in the martial arts world of the Qing Dynasty.”

“…Is it worn directly over the face?”

“Cheap products are noticeable even at night, but high-quality ones like mine are difficult to distinguish unless you’re an expert.”

Sharlotte answers while caressing the leather in her hand, then holds it briefly against her face and adds:

“It’s an item that can completely circumvent European security methods, which have only developed to ban or detect magic over the past few centuries.”

“My goodness…”

“There’s a reason detectives are wary when Chinese people appear in cases.”

Lestrade looks astonished as the leather seamlessly blends into Sharlotte’s face despite barely touching her skin.

“Isn’t it a serious problem if such things are being distributed in England?”

“Don’t worry. The inpimyeongu has one fatal flaw.”

Sharlotte Holmes, removing the leather from her face, begins to explain as if to reassure her.

“Unlike magical makeup, this inpimyeongu cannot perfectly reproduce facial expressions.”

“…Why not?”

“The human face has incredibly intricate bone structure and muscles. That’s why we can make thousands of different expressions when classified in detail.”

Sharlotte stretches the leather sideways as she explains.

“But when wearing this, expressions become limited and constrained.”

“I see…”

Sharlotte’s gaze sharpens slightly as she looks at Lestrade, who now appears relieved.

“Nevertheless, the fake Baines showed almost no signs of being an impostor through perfect acting, eye movements, and voice modulation.”

“…That’s quite frightening.”

“Even I barely noticed it at the end. Someone who hasn’t experienced acting with an inpimyeongu like Adler or myself would probably find it impossible to distinguish.”

Then came a moment of silence.

“Wait a minute.”

“Yes?”

Lestrade suddenly stops walking, her expression turning cold.

“If someone that dangerous is impersonating trainee Baines with such a disguise.”

“……..”

“…Then what’s happened to the real trainee Baines?”

She looks toward the direction of her house, quietly emanating killing intent.

“Don’t worry. The inpimyeongu isn’t made from human skin.”

“But the impostor is openly pretending to be the real one! Something must have happened to trainee Baines!”

“Please calm down. Trainee Baines will be safe.”

As Lestrade continues to emit a cold aura despite her words, Sharlotte grabs her shoulder and whispers in a low voice.

“I think I know who’s behind this.”

“…I still think I should go back home.”

But Lestrade murmurs with a slightly trembling voice.

“Mr. Adler and my siblings left at home could be in danger.”

“I told you not to worry.”

Sharlotte Holmes forcibly pulls her along and quietly whispers.

“Don’t underestimate my fated rival’s intelligence.”

“…Pardon?”

“Mr. Adler noticed everything from the beginning, unlike you.”

“But his combat ability…”

“…Shh.”

Sharlotte gently places a finger on Lestrade’s lips.

“Let’s focus on the case at hand.”

“Ducky… where are you…”

They could hear a woman’s sobbing voice coming from a street not far from where the incident had occurred.

“Please come back… ducky…”

After listening intently to the sound while holding their breath, Sharlotte and Lestrade slowly began moving forward.

“Tsk.”

“D-dear.”

They pause and lower their bodies as a new voice appears.

“Useless woman, as always.”

“T-that’s harsh…”

“What?”

“…Eek?”

Lestrade slightly raises her head at the sound of a scream.

“I’ll just…”

“Ugh…”

As a seemingly intoxicated man raises the bottle in his hand, the woman collapsed on the ground trembles and closes her eyes tightly.

*CRASH!!*

“…Hic.”

But the man throws the bottle against the wall, spits, and walks past her.

“Don’t think about coming home until you find it.”

“………”

“Do you understand?”

“…Yes.”

The woman quickly nods at his rough voice.

“”…………””

And silence follows.

“Excuse me.”

“Are you alright?”

Sharlotte and Lestrade, who had been quietly observing the situation, approach the woman sitting on the ground.

“…….”

The woman looks up at them.

“If you don’t mind, we’d like to talk…”

“…Did the master send you?”

“Pardon?”

The two, who were helping the visibly noble and fragile-looking lady to her feet, tilt their heads in confusion at what they just heard.

“It’s been a while. The master contacting me…”

“…….?”

The fragile-looking noblewoman who had been sobbing under her husband’s violence just moments ago was now speaking with a serious expression.

*rustle…*

“…….?”

“W-what are you…”

Suddenly, in front of the two puzzled girls, she lifted her upper garment and naturally bit the hem of her clothes with her mouth.

“”………..””

The bewildered expressions of Sharlotte and Lestrade gradually turned cold.

“…I’m not even surprised anymore.”

“That’s…”

They had discovered a golden seal on her snow-white belly, identical in design to the ones engraved on their own lower abdomens.

“Serbaehatae isa ahago meorani? (Why aren’t you greeting your senior?)”

Meanwhile, the noblewoman, still biting the hem of her clothes and breathing out, looks up at the girls and points to her seal while muttering.

“Yojeu aedeuleu ppajyeoneo. (Kids these days have no manners.)”

Her gaze begins to sharpen slightly.

“Myeogini? Neohuideuleu. (Which year are you from?)”

“”…………””

.

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Meanwhile, at that moment.

“Brother Adler~”

After roughly wiping the blood on her hands on her sister’s clothes, the second daughter came out to the living room with a plate full of duck meat.

“Let’s play Christmas games…..”

But her cheerful words trail off.

“…Heuk.”

The girl who had been disguised as Baines was lying at Adler’s feet on the sofa, breathing heavily as if she had been hit in the stomach a few more times.

“Look up.”

“Ugh.”

Issac Adler, looking down at the girl with cold eyes, grabs her delicate chin and forcibly lifts it.

*SLAP…!!!*

The next moment, an ear-splitting sound of a slap fills the living room.

“……….”

The girl’s head snaps to the side from the impact, and she covers her cheek with her hand, wearing an awkward expression as if this was the first time she had ever been hit by someone.

*SLAP!!!*

But Adler roughly grabs her arm, lifts it up, and strikes her exposed cheek harshly again.

“Ah…”

*rustle…*

The girl loses her balance and collapses toward Adler’s legs as her body goes limp from the shock.

“Using this anesthetic spray was your second mistake.”

“………..”

“These sprays typically contain alcohol, you see.”

Issac Adler, grabbing her hair tightly in his hand, shows her the spray he had taken from her, his eyes turning red.

“And I have quite a bad drinking habit.”

“Haa… ha…”

But the girl, slumped against Adler’s leg, could only breathe heavily and tremble, unable to respond.

“…Excuse me.”

It was just as Adler, who had been quietly observing her, was bringing his head close to her neck, baring his fangs.

“Could you hit me one more time?”

The girl collapsed on Adler’s leg began to whisper in a tiny voice, raising her eyes slightly.

“Ah, on this cheek this time…”

As Adler, who had been leaning in, stared at her blankly, she tilted her face slightly to reveal her uninjured cheek.

*SLAP!!!*

“…Augh.”

But Adler pulled her hair to expose the already red and swollen cheek and slapped it with all his might, causing her to tremble with tears in her eyes.

“…Um.”

A faint voice emerges from the girl who had buried her face against Adler’s leg, tears welling in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, but just one more time.”

The girl, who had wiped away the blood flowing from her bruised lips with her hand, was now muttering with Adler’s pants slightly in her mouth.

“A little harder…”

‘…There’s no way a masochist like this could be Lupin.’

Adler thought to himself with a puzzled expression, then raised his hand high again.

*SLAP!!!*

“…So cool.”

“Sis, please come to your senses.”