Chapter 11: Declaration of War
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 11: Declaration of War
“How did you find your way here, Miss Holmes?”
I asked the question while struggling to suppress my rising panic. Holmes, who had been scanning the room, stepped forward and finally spoke.
“I am planning to enroll in this academy.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Since the puzzles that need solving aren’t appearing anywhere else, it only seemed right for me to come here.”
Holmes’s grey eyes locked onto mine. I felt an inexplicable sensation that her gaze could pierce through the very fabric of existence. As I stared back, refusing to look away, she suddenly shifted her focus toward Professor Moriarty.
“Do you have a particular fondness for sugar?”
She flashed a subtle, knowing smile as she asked.
“Your cleaning habits border on the obsessive, yet there is sugar powder scattered all over the room.”
Moriarty looked intrigued, a faint smile playing on her lips.
“Not everyone who enjoys a clean environment has OCD, student.”
“True. But this is far too perfect to be a mere hobby.”
Holmes swept a finger across the sofa—the very spot where the dean had collapsed with a hole in his head just a few days prior. She tilted her head and murmured, “The cleaning was so immaculate that no evidence would remain even if someone had died here. I must have been mistaken about something.”
Then, she looked at both me and Professor Moriarty, a playful glint dancing in the depths of her eyes.
“I can understand, though. A mild case of dissociative identity disorder and delusions are common early symptoms of mana addiction.”
“That is also a chronic issue for detectives, is it not? Aren’t you reacting a bit aggressively to a light joke?”
Moriarty rested her chin on her hand, leaning forward to whisper to Holmes in a low, melodic voice.
“Judging by your fingernails and the dark circles under your eyes, it seems you enjoy experimenting with Mana Stones. They are an energy source remarkable enough to reshape human history, but continuous contact can induce severe mana addiction.”
“I have no need for your advice. I hear it constantly from my roommate.”
“I only mention it because you seem halfway to becoming a terminal patient. If you don’t prioritize your health and continue these experiments, even those brilliant eyes of yours will grow dull and dizzy soon enough.”
Seemingly out of nowhere, Moriarty pulled a sugar cube from her shirt pocket and offered it to Holmes with a gentle smile.
“If you find yourself with idle time, why not indulge in sugar as I do?”
“I must decline for the sake of advancing investigative science.”
“You aren’t quite on the level of my assistant, but you are a fascinating individual, student.”
After being gracefully refused, Moriarty popped the sugar cube into her own mouth, savoring the sweetness as if she had been waiting for that exact moment.
“Have you no plans to become a graduate student, like Adler?”
“I have no intention of participating in a slave system legally sanctioned by the nineteenth century.”
“Ahaha. Hahaha…”
Professor Moriarty burst into laughter before suddenly turning to me, her voice dropping to a soft murmur.
“Is this the child you referred to as Holmes back then?”
“Uh, yes. That’s right, Professor.”
Recalling that moment now, I realized that on my first day in this world, I had unintentionally upended Moriarty’s life by mentioning Sherlock Holmes. I had even called her Professor Moriarty’s ‘nemesis’—her perfect antithesis.
“You quenched my thirst, and now you’ve brought me a sweet beverage as well…”
“………”
“I’m reaching the point where I might not be able to live without you, Adler.”
Had she not been the final boss, and had she not been my assigned professor, I might have been delighted by that statement. But her poker face, always anchored by that faint, unreadable smile, never wavered. It was impossible to tell if she was being sincere.
Anyway, what am I supposed to do about this?
Setting her intentions aside, the situation was incredibly dangerous, even if I wasn't showing it. In the original game, Charlotte Holmes wasn't supposed to set foot in this academy for another year. Yet here she was, already standing on the grounds.
“So, are you a first-year freshman starting now?”
“Actually, I haven’t enrolled yet. Due to a slight complication, I am currently considered an outsider, but I will be a student here starting next semester.”
Even Professor Moriarty, who should have left the academy by now under normal circumstances, was still here. An unprecedented situation was unfolding—one that was utterly unpredictable.
“But I don’t sense any mana from you. How were you able to enroll in this academy without the ability to use it?”
“Let’s just say a recommendation letter from the Queen of the Bohemian Kingdom and some discreet pressure from a person who is essentially the British government itself was sufficient.”
“Are you admitting to fraudulent enrollment right in front of me?”
“Calling me a ‘fraudulent enrollee’ when I broke the all-time high score on the entrance exam seems a bit contradictory, doesn't it?”
Watching these two geniuses engage in a sharp battle of wits while maintaining radiant smiles made a cold sweat break out across my back. I needed to settle this before it escalated further.
“Miss Holmes, I’m sorry, but recruitment for the club has already ended,” I interjected.
Both of their gazes snapped to me.
“So…”
“It’s strange. Red mana is extremely rare. There shouldn’t be anyone in London who can wield it.”
Ignoring my interruption, Holmes stepped directly in front of me and held out her open right hand.
“Except for me, that is.”
Suddenly, a fiery red mana began to rise from her palm like burning blood, flickering into the shape of flames.
What?
Was Holmes a vampire in this version? Did the insane story department add some backstory I didn't know about? No, more importantly, she wasn't supposed to be a mana user at all, was she?
“Miss Holmes, it is poor form to impersonate a mana user while hiding magic stone powder between your fingers.”
Moriarty’s observation brought me back to reality. In the original work, Holmes was a master of magic stone research who loved chemical experiments and published papers in scientific journals. The red mana she had just manifested was likely an artificial replication created using magic stones.
Even so, it was impressive. If she published her method, the academic world would be turned upside down.
“It’s strange,” Holmes countered. “The announcement clearly stated that anyone who can wield red mana is eligible. It didn’t say magic stones were forbidden, nor did it say you would only select one person.”
“Your point is entirely valid, Miss Holmes.”
But I couldn't just let her into the Crime Consultation Club. I began to slowly counter her argument.
“However, if expensive magic stones are required every time you use mana, that would be quite a burden, even for me.”
“I can bear that burden myself.”
“It would still weigh on my conscience. Besides, the number of members we recruit is ultimately my authority as the club president.”
Holmes stared at me intently.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked in a low tone.
“………”
She didn't press further. She simply kept her mouth shut and continued to scrutinize me.
Come to think of it, is this the first time I’m seeing her this close?
When we first met, she was disguised as a nun. When I saw her briefly in the hospital, I didn't have the chance for a proper look. Facing her at such close range, I could see exactly why she was the protagonist.
…She’s beautiful.
Despite appearing slightly haggard from her mana addiction and excessive experiments, she was undeniably stunning. She had shiny, short black hair, a cool smile gracing her plump lips, and grey eyes that seemed to pull at your very soul. Over her uniform, she wore her trademark black detective coat.
As a massive fan of the original Sherlock Holmes series, it was hard to look away.
“……..?”
I realized I had been staring blankly when I noticed her gaze was directed downward.
“…Holmes?”
Before I could ask what she was looking at, Holmes wordlessly lifted my left hand.
“This wound…”
“Oh, this?”
She was looking at the burn mark I’d received while rescuing her during the last incident.
“The mana circuit was damaged. Other parts have recovered, but this spot just couldn't be helped.”
“…….”
She held my hand, inspecting it from various angles. “Does this mean you can never use magic with this hand again?”
“Sacrificing the use of magic in one hand is a small price to pay for saving London’s resident genius.”
“…….”
Holmes lowered her eyes, looking as though she were on the verge of saying something important.
“About that incident…”
“Holmes, it’s time for you to leave.”
Professor Moriarty’s voice cut through the air. She was resting her chin on her hand again.
“I have a long discussion to have with my assistant, Adler.”
“I see. Then I should be on my way.”
Holmes gently released my hand. She withdrew her gaze and turned to leave.
“…But, Mr. Adler…”
As she reached the exit, she threw one last question over her shoulder.
“What exactly is your relationship with that genius professor standing next to you?”
“That is…”
“Are you with her against your will? If that is the case…”
“Miss Holmes, you should break the habit of becoming blindly jealous just because the person you like isn't your own assistant.”
Holmes tilted her head. “Are you suggesting that I am fond of Mr. Adler?”
“Otherwise, you wouldn’t have secretly attached a miniature mana receiver to the office door handle as you were leaving.”
Moriarty flicked her finger. With a sharp snap, the door handle was enveloped in a puff of smoke.
“…I’ll admit to that, but I disagree with your assessment of Mr. Adler. I am simply curious, nothing more.”
“I’m sorry, but Adler chose to become my possession of his own free will.”
“A person’s free will can easily be obscured if they are in a mentally compromised state.”
“We even drafted a contract recently. Both legally and magically, he is mine and mine alone…”
“Could I review that contract? I have a feeling there might be dozens of potential legal issues with it…”
Holmes and Moriarty’s gazes locked once again.
“I never expected someone as wise as you to be so irrational,” Holmes said.
“In this world, nothing is absolute. In fact, I am a very emotional person.”
“No, there is an absolute. And that absolute will be me.”
I watched this verbal duel with an anxious heart. Moriarty turned her gaze to me.
“Isn’t that right, Adler?”
“……Yes.”
In that fleeting moment, after weighing a thousand thoughts, I finally nodded. Moriarty frowned slightly as she looked at me.
“………”
On the other side of the room, Holmes did the same.
What the hell?
I wasn't sure why, but in the heavy silence that followed, I felt like I was being suffocated.
“Ah, right.”
After a long moment, Holmes spoke again.
“Mr. Adler, you should be careful. Inspector Lestrade, who applied to the London Police Department, will be returning to the academy soon.”
My head, already aching, began to throb painfully.
Quest List
– Freeze: Get a confession from Inspector Lestrade.
“When she sees you, she might try to beat you to a pulp.”
I couldn't even begin to imagine Lestrade—the strongest fighter at the academy—confessing her feelings to me with a flushed face.