Ch.93Chapter 93 – Intensifying Battle (3)

As evening fell with the setting sun, in a hideout located in a back alley.

“Adler.”

“…Yes?”

Inside, Professor Moriarty, who had just entered with Adler, smiles and speaks to her assistant beside her.

“Still a cozy space, I see.”

“…Is it?”

“I especially like the subtle aroma of black tea. It seems quite high-end. Do you perhaps have an interest in tea, Adler?”

“I drink a cup a day, but it’s not particularly a hobby.”

Adler gives a vague answer to avoid revealing that it was a gift from the ladies’ society he had recently reconnected with.

“I like black tea.”

“…Didn’t you prefer coffee?”

“To be precise, I like milk tea with sugar. Keep that in mind when preparing drinks for me in the future.”

Looking at him, Professor Moriarty whispers this and then looks around before speaking.

“By the way, will you continue using this place as a hideout?”

“Is there something you don’t like about it?”

“No, on the contrary, I like it. I’d even like to make this my office.”

“You’re not the type to make such a humble place your home.”

“Adler, are you always this prickly even to light jokes?”

As the professor tilts her head saying this, Issac Adler quietly avoids her gaze.

“So, what’s the problem?”

“I’m concerned that this location has been revealed to that murderer.”

The professor’s eyes darken slightly as she mutters, looking at the sofa where Gil the Reaper had sat.

“If we continue to use this as our base, wouldn’t we remain exposed to danger?”

“…That’s not a problem.”

Adler begins to explain with a composed expression.

“This back alley has always been exposed to danger anyway.”

“There’s a stark difference in the level of danger between back alley thugs and a serial killer who’s always after your life, isn’t there?”

“And at that time, I deliberately had my subordinates stay behind.”

“Why?”

Professor Moriarty’s eyes turn cold for a moment.

“I can’t die no matter how badly I’m butchered anyway. I wanted to meet that person and have a conversation.”

“……..”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

As her gaze turns toward him, Adler quietly scratches his head.

“Did you not consider the scenario where she, having failed to kill you, might dismember your entire body and kidnap you out of spite?”

“That… I didn’t think of that.”

A sly smile appears on his face after quite some time.

“…But in the end, wouldn’t you have come to save me, Professor?”

“Now that’s more like Issac Adler.”

After staring at him quietly, Professor Moriarty mutters this and turns her gaze away.

“However, I don’t have the capacity to keep rescuing you forever.”

“I know that. But it’s fine. I’ve already put several new defenses in place…”

“So, how about living with me while we have this opportunity?”

“…Pardon?”

Adler’s smile falters at her casual suggestion.

“I’m thinking of getting a house near London. I can’t keep living and working in my office forever, and since I no longer need to wander annually to quench my thirst, it’s about time I settled down.”

“Ah…”

“So you might as well stay at my house.”

The professor approaches right in front of him and whispers softly.

“I won’t charge you for lodging.”

“………”

“I’ll provide meals, clothes, and a place to sleep. You just need to bring yourself.”

“…And that body isn’t the objective?”

At Adler’s sharp question, a smile appears on the professor’s lips.

“Are you still considering the proposal I made earlier?”

“………”

“Personally, I don’t understand what’s there to contemplate.”

Eventually, leaning her head forward slightly, she whispers in Adler’s ear in a small voice.

“No matter how much you think about it, the possibilities you face are either consensual intercourse or rape, nothing else.”

Adler’s face turns pale.

“Ahah, hahaha… It’s a joke, just a joke.”

“………”

“So lighten up, Adler.”

After quietly bursting into laughter at his expression, Professor Moriarty pats his shoulder as if to comfort him.

“…Instead of exchanging a few words and having a consensual relationship, you wouldn’t want to be raped. Isn’t that right?”

“Um…”

“Well, let’s put this conversation aside for now.”

She turns toward the armchair placed in the center of the hideout, leaving Adler sweating behind her.

“We need to finish this case quickly, so that the time will come when I can color my eyes with your hue.”

Then, resting her chin on her hand, she begins to tilt her head from side to side.

“…So, where is the client?”

“They should be arriving soon.”

Just as she finishes speaking, sounds of someone approaching begin to come from outside the hideout.

“Wait a minute. Are we meeting them like this?”

“Yes, why?”

“Are you planning to reveal yourself to the client?”

“Of course not.”

At Adler’s slightly surprised voice, she quietly shakes her head.

“Now as before, I prefer to keep myself hidden.”

“Then…”

“Do you know what time London’s criminals prefer the most?”

As Adler tilts his head at her words, the professor gently raises her hand and her eyes begin to shine.

“…Dawn.”

Simultaneously, dense gray mana begins to emanate from her hand.

“- Tsuuuuuuuu…”

“Now as before, the streets become shrouded in fog that obscures vision.”

“Except that the main components are now mysterious energy rather than condensed water vapor.”

In the fog that has spread throughout the hideout, blocking everyone’s vision, the professor’s voice echoes.

“The client is at a nearby pub. Bring her here.”

“What? Wasn’t she just about to come in?”

“You must have mistaken the sound of my direct subordinates surrounding the street.”

At those words, Adler makes a slightly dazed expression.

“Since this is the first client who has come to us on their own, we don’t know what might happen.”

“………”

“Well then, I’ll leave it to you.”

He then quietly bites his lip and stands up.

“I’ll do my best.”

And as Adler quietly heads toward the exit.

“…..This won’t do.”

Just before going outside, his meaningful murmur quietly echoed in the room, but Professor Moriarty just smiled and looked ahead.

.

.

.

.

.

Several dozen minutes later.

“…Cough, cough.”

A young woman in a black suit, who entered through the shabby hideout door that Adler had left through, frowns and starts coughing at the acrid smoke flowing from inside.

“What is this place…”

“Come in.”

A slightly eerie female voice comes from right in front of her.

“Are you joking?”

“It’s no joke. It’s just a measure to protect each other’s identities.”

The woman, who had been examining the foggy interior of the hideout with a wary look, quietly extends her foot forward at those words.

“For identity protection, the smoke is too harsh.”

“Is it? I’m used to it. I apologize for my lack of consideration.”

“…Well, it’s fine. I didn’t come here for such kindness anyway.”

At her disgruntled muttering, an eerie laugh begins to come from the front.

“Is it true that you design any crime as long as proper payment is made?”

At the same time, as a chilly coldness spreads throughout the room, the woman, momentarily startled, asks in a rather confident voice.

“Of course.”

The response comes in a voice that is still eerie but slightly foggy.

“Except in cases where you try to reveal our identities, betray us, or refuse to pay, we guarantee a perfect crime.”

“…So as long as I strictly maintain our business relationship, there’s no loss for me.”

“Also, if you want to finish the job yourself rather than through us, we won’t be responsible for any mistakes that occur. Please keep that in mind before placing your request.”

The client, listening to the voice that clearly intended to conceal its identity, nods and responds.

“I understand perfectly.”

“I like your straightforwardness.”

Now accustomed to the gray fog, the client could faintly see a figure sitting in the armchair in the room.

“Then, please explain your request in detail to me and my assistant.”

“…What?”

“We need to hear what the request is to start working on it, don’t we?”

“Um, but…”

Looking at the figure with tension, the woman opens her mouth with a puzzled expression at the words offered by the blurry figure.

“There’s only you and me here.”

“Hmm?”

“Where is this assistant you’re talking about?”

A moment of silence flows through the fog.

“…Didn’t you see the person who came to bring you here from the pub?”

“That person told me the address of this place and then sat down at my table.”

As a slightly chilled voice emerges from the silence, the client answers with a tilted head.

“When I was leaving, he was ordering every type of alcohol in the establishment…”

“………”

A bead of cold sweat began to trickle down the forehead of the blurry figure sitting quietly.

“Work must be tough, huh?”

“…Oh dear.”

.

.

.

.

.

[Excuse me.]

Various bottles of alcohol lined up on the table, ordered in a fit of anger after sending the client from the pub to the hideout.

[Excessive drinking is harmful to your health.]

“…I’m already a mess anyway.”

Looking down at them, I started opening the bottles one by one, ignoring the system message that appeared before my eyes.

[You’ll harm your body.]

“I think I’ll be worse off if I don’t drink.”

Whatever happens, happens, fuck it.