Ch.72Chapter 72 – The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (4)

“Adler…?”

“No, what is this…”

Sharlotte and Lestrade, who had brought the suspicious lady they met on the street back home, slowly widened their eyes.

– Crunch…

The girl who had been imitating Baines until just moments ago was now having her hair grabbed by Issac Adler, whose eyes had turned red, as he sucked blood from her neck.

“What are you doing?!”

Startled by the sight, Lestrade hurriedly stepped forward, causing the girl who had been resignedly exposing her neck to Adler to turn her gaze in that direction.

“………..”

Her pupils were dilated, her hair was disheveled, and her face, which had looked slightly mischievous before, was now bruised and damaged.

She was truly in a miserable, battered state.

The girl who had been fresh and spirited just moments ago was now withered like a trampled flower, surrendering her body to Adler’s violence.

“Excuse me…”

While Lestrade stopped in her tracks with a blank expression at the serious scene, the girl shifted her gaze back to Adler and slowly moved her chapped lips to whisper something.

– Splash…!

“…Ugh.”

But Adler roughly pulled his teeth out of her neck and drove a heavy fist into the girl’s stomach before she could finish speaking.

– Shudder…

Her eyes grew round like a rabbit’s, and with a pale face, she grabbed Adler’s arm and began to tremble.

– Slap!

But when Adler’s merciless hand struck her cheek violently, she finally clutched her bleeding nose and collapsed face-down on the floor.

“…Ugh.”

As Adler quietly looked down at her and placed his foot on her stomach, her body began to convulse slightly with a low moan.

It seemed that her face wasn’t the only part damaged by Adler’s violence.

“…What exactly are you doing?”

Therefore, it was only natural that an angry voice flowed from Lestrade’s mouth as she blankly watched the horrific scene.

“Even if she’s fake, you don’t have to treat her so harshly…”

“That’s strange. If the master had marked her with his seal, she should know better.”

But a voice tinged with laughter came from behind her.

“Hey, you don’t really know much about Mr. Adler, do you?”

“…What?”

Lestrade turned her head at those words and tilted it with a cold expression.

“What are you talking about?”

“If she belongs to the master, she should know better.”

The lady covered her mouth with an equally cold expression.

“The master never touches women who say no.”

“So you’re saying this is voluntary?”

Lestrade snorted and was about to step toward Adler.

“Excuse me.”

The girl quickly grabbed Adler’s raised arm and began to mutter with tired eyes.

“My face.”

Lestrade, who had been quietly listening, once again looked dazed.

“Hit me with your fist, not your palm.”

The girl, who looked pitiful even from a distance in her battered state, lowered her eyes and carefully pressed her cheek against Adler’s leg as she muttered those words.

“…How many times do I have to tell you.”

And then came silence.

“…Did I misunderstand?”

Behind the stunned Lestrade, Sharlotte, who had been watching the girl with sharp eyes, tilted her head and muttered.

“I think the alcohol in my system is starting to wear off.”

Adler, who had been looking down at the girl pressing her cheek against his leg with tired eyes, quietly shifted his gaze forward and began to mutter.

“…Could you please remove this person?”

His eyes looked as tired as the girl who was leaning against his leg with half-closed eyes.

“No matter how much blood I suck, she won’t listen to commands.”

“”………..””

“Help me.”

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A few minutes later.

“…You called me not because of the master, but because of that goose?”

After Sharlotte, who was sitting next to Adler with the unidentified girl handcuffed to the end of the sofa, explained the situation, the lady who had been listening quietly frowned and began to speak.

“That can’t be. I was so excited when I got the master’s message after months.”

“Excuse me. I wasn’t finished…”

“Master, have you abandoned us?”

Adler looked at her with a question mark on his face.

“Us?”

“We’re still waiting for you.”

“…Please explain about this ‘us’ for a moment.”

Sharlotte, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, asked with darkened eyes.

“…I don’t know about lower-class people like you, but there’s an unwritten rule among the high-society ladies of London.”

The lady began her story with an elegant demeanor, sipping the tea brought by Lestrade’s third sister.

“It doesn’t matter how many husbands we have, but we can only have one master.”

“Isn’t that quite disrespectful to the married men of London’s upper class?”

“You mean those who treat us like objects and constantly use violence against us because of unwanted marriages arranged for family reasons?”

Her eyes began to change frighteningly.

“You’re still young, so you might not believe it. But even my husband, as you saw earlier, is an alcoholic and a very violent person.”

“………..”

“Would you want to be embraced by such a terrible being? Or would you prefer to be embraced by a master who genuinely cares for us and gives us warm smiles?”

As Sharlotte and Lestrade quietly closed their mouths at her resentful voice, the lady put down her teacup and smirked.

“If you include those who voluntarily carve seals on their stomachs and become slaves because they’re attracted to Adler’s appearance, probably more than half of the noble ladies would choose the latter.”

“…Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?”

“Surprisingly, I’ve confirmed it with my own eyes. Would you believe that most of the high-ranking ladies who dominate London’s social circles have the same golden seal carved on their stomachs as the ones on mine and yours?”

Sharlotte chuckled and asked.

“So you’ve been going around social clubs lifting ladies’ clothes?”

“If you recite a special spell, people with seals can recognize each other. It’s only natural that such people would gather and form a faction.”

But her face became slightly serious at that response.

“If such a faction really exists, why isn’t it noticeable?”

“There’s a reason they’re called high-ranking people, isn’t there?”

“That means…”

“…Why do you think the master, who crosses many lines despite being a magician, has never been legally prosecuted?”

Sweat quietly ran down Adler’s forehead as he blankly listened to the conversation.

“Organization… it already existed?”

“Recently, everyone’s been anxious because the master’s contact suddenly stopped.”

But the lady, not noticing his reaction, continued her explanation calmly.

“It must be because of that fox Zia Lestrade.”

“……..!”

“Everyone’s waiting. I don’t know how she seduced the master, but if they break up, surely…”

“I’ve heard enough.”

While Lestrade, who had been standing quietly beside them, began to have her eyes shake at the sudden outburst, Sharlotte Holmes interrupted the lady with an expression that suggested she understood.

“Going back to the goose story…”

“That doesn’t matter anymore.”

As she carefully tried to bring the conversation back to the original point, the lady shook her head with a coldly frozen expression.

“I was attacked by some crazy woman right after buying the goose, and when I came to my senses, I found myself in the outskirts of London, far from home…”

“…Hmm.”

“It must be some kind of supernatural phenomenon. That goose must be cursed. So, I don’t need it.”

“Do you really not need it?”

“It was just a tool to play the role of an obedient wife. I’ll just get choked until I nearly die a few times, whatever.”

Then, standing up and pointing to the hat on the desk, she said.

“Just give me back my hat.”

“………”

“Then, I’ll be going now.”

After Sharlotte silently handed her the hat, the lady put it on her head and started heading toward the entrance.

“…I don’t mind if you abandon us.”

But suddenly stopping in her tracks, she whispered in a low voice.

“But please contact us occasionally, master…”

And then came silence.

– Rustle…

“You should contact me from now on.”

“Why should I…”

As Sharlotte quietly lifted the corners of her mouth and lifted Adler’s upper clothes, the lady who instinctively turned her gaze was filled with shock.

“That’s…..”

“I believe you understand what kind of relationship we have.”

This was because Sharlotte’s black seal was engraved on Adler’s stomach due to the contract from the previous Raight incident.

“…I-I apologize.”

After staring at it blankly for a while, the lady quickly knelt before her with a pale face.

“Tell them to gather soon.”

“…Yes.”

She bowed her head respectfully to their new leader.

“I should ask Adler oppa to engrave one for me too.”

“…London is doomed.”

Different emotional voices flowed from the mouths of the second and third siblings who had been watching the situation from their room.

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“This was as expected.”

After the lady who had repeatedly bowed to Sharlotte left the house, Sharlotte picked up the cold tea in front of her and began to mutter in a low voice.

“The owner of the hat was that lady, and she was someone who was absurdly caught up in the incident.”

Then, sipping the cold tea and tapping her finger on the desk, she continued.

“So, what remains is the other person who was at the scene.”

“That’s right. It seems too late to catch them by mobilizing the police.”

“…Too late?”

Lestrade, who had momentarily stopped thinking due to the conversation that had been beyond her understanding, opened her mouth with a questioning look.

“London’s police are skilled at searching and arresting. I think within a few hours…”

“Considering how quickly they disappeared before Lestrade’s eyes and the lady’s testimony just now, the culprit clearly has the ability to jump through space.”

But Lestrade couldn’t finish her sentence and looked stunned at Sharlotte’s sharp voice.

“Is that even possible? I can understand objects, but a person teleporting?”

“It’s a supernatural phenomenon that’s been reported a few times recently in France. There seems to be an organization that uses it for theft.”

Hearing this, Lestrade asked with a serious expression.

“Then, is there no way to catch the culprit who’s after the jewel?”

“It’s okay, there’s a way to lure them back.”

“How?”

“We need to use our advantage.”

A sinister smile, which always appeared when a case reached its highlight, began to form on Sharlotte’s face as she tapped the desk quietly.

“The Blue Carbuncle that the culprits were after is now with us.”

“Ah, that’s right! Anyway, we have the jewel!”

“And we also have that slightly crazy girl…”

Eventually, Sharlotte glanced at the girl who had been tied to the end of the sofa.

“……?”

“At first, I thought she might be the leader of the organization that’s been rampant in France recently, but it doesn’t seem so.”

As the girl, who was licking the goose meat from Adler’s hand while kneeling, tilted her head to the side, Sharlotte frowned and muttered.

“Such an extreme masochistic pervert couldn’t be the boss of an organization. Even my sister isn’t that bad.”

“Then?”

“She’s probably a henchman of the organization. Not a small fry though; judging by her disguise and acting skills, she’s likely an executive.”

“Hmm…”

At her words, Lestrade also began to look at the handcuffed girl with half-open eyes.

“We still don’t know clearly why the jewel that disappeared from the hotel a few days ago was swallowed by a goose in a grocery store, or how the culprit knew about it and attacked the lady who bought the goose.”

“……….”

“I have some guesses, but now is the time to make a move to catch the culprit rather than investigating and tracking evidence.”

Sharlotte rose from her seat and approached the girl, muttering.

“Mr. Adler, make a contract with this girl.”

“…What?”

“We’re going to use this girl as bait for fishing.”

Then, she handed Adler paper and a pen.

“…Don’t we need to teach these ruffians who dared to invade England a hot lesson?”

After pondering for a moment at those words, Adler nodded quietly and quickly created a contract, placing it in front of the girl.

“Sign it.”

“…I don’t want to.”

She looked up at him and shook her head.

– Slap!

But as the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the room again and the girl’s head turned, she picked up the pen from the floor with tears in her eyes.

“…Hey.”

Then, stroking her damaged face with her hand, she muttered in a tired voice.

“I’ve been saying this all along.”

“……….”

“Hit my face with your fist, not your palm.”

After saying that, she placed the pen on the paper and looked up at him, causing Adler’s expression to become slightly haggard.

“…Who exactly are you?”

A few seconds later, with the heavy sound of a fist embedding into flesh, the girl’s lower abdomen began to glow golden.

“…Ugh.”

“This is driving me crazy, really.”

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That night. The clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, later to be called “Big Ben,” London’s landmark and symbol warning of the appearance of beasts or supernatural phenomena.

“………”

The girl, who had been released from the house under Adler’s orders, was sitting on the roof, quietly stroking the golden seal engraved on her lower abdomen.

“…Who are you?”

Suddenly, a cold voice began to be heard from beside her.

“Who are you to go after the jewel we’re targeting?”

“……….”

The woman who had been fighting with the lady over the goose in the morning was pointing a gun at the girl’s head, with her hat pulled down deeply.

“What’s your identity?”

And then came silence.

“If you won’t speak…”

– Whoosh!

“…Huh?”

The woman, who had been squinting her eyes and applying pressure to the trigger, was suddenly surprised and opened her eyes wide.

“This is…”

A bloodstained ace of spades card was somehow stuck in her gun, blocking the firing mechanism.

“…Boss?”

After staring blankly at the sight for a moment, she opened her mouth with a disbelieving expression.

“Weren’t you in India?”

“……….”

“You said so in our last communication, right? The connection was terrible too…?”

As the girl listened quietly to those words while looking down at the quiet streets of London, her appearance had completely changed.

“When did you come to England?”

Her face, now completely healed, wore a golden monocle, and her body, which had been covered in bruises and even marked with Adler’s seal, was now draped in an elegant cape that fluttered.

“Ah…”

The pitiful figure that had been beaten to near death had somehow transformed into a mysterious presence whose inner thoughts were completely unreadable.

“…Getting beaten up while hiding my strength and being helplessly dominated is awesome.”

As she muttered in a calm voice, the woman standing beside her began to look dazed.

“…What?”

“I could get used to this.”

The London night was deepening.